After returning from Zeno's Planet, Ji Ming spent three full days holed up in the Gravity Chamber.
It was not Vegeta-style life-or-death training, but a quieter, experimental regimen of repeatedly examining every fluctuation of energy. Bulma installed new bioenergy monitoring probes for him, with data collection density five times higher than the old model. Every contraction of every muscle fiber, every shift in the brightness of his aura, was converted in real time into wave-frequency charts and projected onto holographic screens. Whis occasionally offered a few pointers through a remote channel, speaking at an unhurried pace, yet every issue he pointed out was precisely the point where Ji Ming had gotten stuck.
"The essence of Crimson-Gold Ultra Instinct is that Ultra Instinct and the Crimson-Gold Light Core are operating within your body at the same time. At present, you do not yet possess the ability to truly fuse them. You can only use powerful mental strength to force them together. All the additional energy you expend in battle comes from this conflict—inside you, they are like two magnets with opposing polarities. Every time you throw a punch, they repel each other once, and then you use your will to pull them back together." Whis's cursor on the holographic screen lightly tapped the space between the two peaks of the Crimson-Gold Ultra Instinct wave curve. "But here—during the interval between each repulsion and recovery—there is a lingering superposition state. If you can make the two operate in sync during that interval, what you gain will no longer be an overlap, but a fusion. And that will be more than merely Crimson-Gold Ultra Instinct."
Ji Ming sat cross-legged atop a massive boulder on Mount Paozu, the old notebook that was nearly filled spread open on his knees. Ultra Instinct's silver-white aura flowed