Pybara the Great Elder

On a huge weathered rock pillar, Supa looked at the two before him with a respectful attitude.

"The Grand Elder's temple is on the other side of the planet. If you don't mind, I can take you there directly."

"Directly?" Bulma's azure eyes lit up. "Is that the Instant Transmission move Goku told me about?"

Supa nodded, stepped forward, and placed his rough, suction-cupped palms on their shoulders.

"The first experience may make you a little dizzy. Please relax as much as possible," Supa warned, bringing his other two fingers together and pressing them against his forehead.

Watching that iconic gesture appear vividly before his eyes, Son Goku could hear his heartbeat quickening.

Before Bulma could mentally prepare herself, ripples spread through the air.

Bulma felt her stomach churn as the scenery before her stretched into bands of light. Her vision and sense of balance failed, and before she could cry out, the intense sensation of weightlessness suddenly vanished.

The solid feeling of ground beneath her feet returned.

Bulma failed to steady herself and stumbled forward. Son Goku quickly caught her around the waist.

"Ugh... this kind of jump that doesn't even need to travel through a wormhole... it makes no sense! It's incredible!" Bulma clutched her chest and dry-heaved, her face pale, yet she was visibly thrilled.

Unlike Bulma, Son Goku showed no outward reaction, but his heart was just as stirred.

In that instant, he had experienced this divine technique firsthand. One second he had been in the wilderness; the next, he could smell the fragrant plants of the temple.

So this is Instant Transmission... the coolest divine technique in the Dragon Ball world.

He suppressed the excitement in his heart and looked around.

They stood inside an enormous stone temple. Its dome soared high overhead, while natural minerals embedded in the walls emitted a soft white glow.

At the center of the hall floated a short, plump Yardrat elder with two small white mustaches.

"Grand Elder." Supa hurried forward and bowed his head. "This is the martial artist Son Goku from Earth, along with his fiancée. He hopes to learn secret techniques from you."

Grand Elder Pybara slowly opened his eyes and lightly descended to the floor. His clear gaze rested quietly on Son Goku.

The hall was exceptionally silent. Pybara studied him for a long time, and a hint of appreciation appeared in his aged eyes.

"Young man, Saiyans are a warlike race, but your ki... is remarkably calm. How did you achieve that?" Pybara stroked his white mustache, his voice unhurried.

"You flatter me, Grand Elder." Son Goku stepped forward and gave a slight bow. "I grew up on Earth. There, martial arts are not for slaughter, but for cultivating the mind and surpassing oneself."

Pybara nodded approvingly. "No wonder you have tamed your own bloodline. What do you wish to learn?"

"Instant Transmission." Son Goku went straight to the point.

Pybara was not surprised. He sat down on a meditation cushion and patted the empty spot beside him.

"Many cultivators in the universe only treat ki as explosives. They constantly compress it and detonate it in exchange for destructive power." Pybara raised a hand, his withered fingertip lightly tracing through the air. "But here, ki is called spirit. It is the thread by which life operates."

Son Goku sat cross-legged and listened intently. The ki within his body began to circulate, confirming Pybara's theory.

"To achieve Instant Transmission, the first step is control over ki."

Pybara spread open his palm. A small stone by his feet defied gravity and slowly floated upward.

"Once ki leaves your body, your mind becomes its hands and eyes. You must make it as nimble as your fingers, without any destructive force." Pybara looked at him. "This is the foundation. Many powerful extraterrestrials have sat here for years and still failed to make even a leaf float without damaging it."

Son Goku smiled as he watched the floating pebble. For him, this sort of ki control was no challenge at all.

He calmly extended his right hand and raised his index finger through the air.

In a corner of the temple, hundreds of discarded stone bricks trembled faintly. Then, they rose into the air in perfect unison.

Under Son Goku's control, the hundreds of stone bricks rapidly arranged themselves in midair. The process flowed smoothly, without a single collision.

Within only a few breaths, an elegant stone chair with a sturdy structure was assembled under the watchful eyes of Pybara and Supa, then settled firmly behind Bulma.

"Bulma, your legs must be sore after standing around all this time. Sit down first." Son Goku turned his head and called to her.

Then he looked back at Pybara, resting his hands casually on his knees. "Grand Elder, can I skip the basic lessons?"

Pybara looked at the stone chair and smiled peacefully.

"It seems this old man has encountered a prodigy today." Pybara gave a slight nod, his expression solemn. "Since your control over ki is already so perfect, the earlier training is indeed unnecessary. Then let us begin directly with sensing the rhythms of space."

Pybara closed his eyes. "Space is a net. When your ki merges with that net, distance is no longer an obstacle. You must learn to sense another distant cluster of ki as a coordinate. Then, fold space so the two coordinates overlap, using ki to create a tiny wormhole."

Son Goku nodded, closed his eyes, and slowed his breathing.

In the Grand Elder's perception, Son Goku was vanishing at an astonishing speed. His aura was being assimilated by the planet's vast natural magnetic field, merging seamlessly into the environment.

The elder and the youth entered deep meditation, and the hall fell silent.

Left to herself, Bulma soon grew restless. She stood up and openly wandered around the temple.

Ancient patterns were carved into the walls, and glowing minerals pulsed at strange frequencies. Bulma leaned in to examine them, her professional instincts immediately kicking in.

She pulled out a portable analyzer, put on her goggles, and began collecting spatial data and electromagnetic bands. Watching the streams of flickering data, she immersed herself in the world of research.

One week later.

On the plains outside the temple, the droplet-shaped spaceship sat quietly docked. Its hatch stood open, and Bulma sat on the boarding ramp, checking the final set of data.

"Collection complete. We'll compare the experimental results once we return to Earth."

Bulma stretched and rubbed her aching neck. Looking up toward the temple, she muttered, "I wonder how Goku's training is going. He hasn't even had a sip of water for a whole week. Can training really replace food?"

She stood up, just about to get herself a glass of ice water.

Pop!

A faint burst of air sounded in midair behind her.

Then, without warning, an aura carrying the temple's faint incense enveloped her. A strong arm reached out from behind and naturally wrapped around her waist.

"You still have to eat."

A familiar, smiling voice sounded beside her ear. "Though just now, I vaguely sensed someone secretly missing me."

Bulma turned around. Son Goku had somehow appeared out of thin air behind her.

"You..." Bulma's azure eyes widened.

She looked back at the temple, now only a distant silhouette, then at the man right beside her. "You learned it that fast?!"

"Bulma." Son Goku reached out and flicked her nose. "From now on, no matter how far apart we are, as long as you miss me, I can appear right in front of you."

Bulma's heart skipped a beat. Days of exhaustion vanished in an instant as she turned around and hugged him tightly.

Feeling the girl's real warmth, Son Goku gently stroked her long hair.

Over the past week, he had continuously sensed the spatial network through meditation. After the initial confusion and countless failures, he had finally caught that trace of rhythm hidden deep within space.

It felt like obtaining a key that could open any door. With a single thought, he could ignore distance—and the first coordinate he had chosen to test this divine technique was Bulma's aura.

He raised his head, his gaze passing over Bulma's shoulder and turning toward the stars.

Now that he had learned Instant Transmission, he could spread outward along the web of space into the depths of the galaxy.

The countless stars were no longer unreachable physical coordinates, but doors he could push open at any time.

"Let's go." Son Goku patted her back.

"Where to?" Bulma lifted her head from his embrace.

"First, let's get something good to eat!" Son Goku smiled.