Fourfold Fission Qi Reaches Apex, Cell Breeds Undercurrents to Submerge the Surface

The day after they returned to Turtle Hermit Island, the gravity array on the beach completed another round of upgrades. Bulma typed in the final line of code, and ten new gravity generators lit up with blue light at once. A tenfold gravity field instantly spread across the entire training area, pressing the sand and stones beneath their feet several inches into the ground. Even the waves crashing against the shore seemed to slow by half a beat.

"Ten times gravity, plus energy-pulse acupoint stimulation—the maximum load is fifty percent higher than before." Bulma tapped the detector on her wrist as various physiological readings flashed across its screen. "I've set all the safety thresholds. The moment there are any signs of a ki core collapsing, the gravity will automatically drop. Train without worrying."

Qi Tian stood at the edge of the gravity field, black-gold divine essence condensing into a thin stream at his fingertips. "The core of Fourfold Fission is not compression, but 'gestation.' A ki core must give birth to another ki core within itself, like a mother and child nested together in an endless cycle. Only then can energy density rise to another level. Never forcefully squeeze it together. If the ki core collapses, your cultivation will regress at best; at worst, you'll damage your very foundation."

The three immediately sat cross-legged and entered meditation, focusing their minds on breaking through the bottleneck. Goku was the most impatient. Within his dantian, the ki core of Triple Fission spun at high speed, collapsing inward with all its strength. But the instant it touched the threshold of the fourth level, the ki core trembled violently. Cracks spread rapidly, and a surge of reversed blood energy rushed up his throat. He let out a muffled grunt and quickly dispersed his strength, cold sweat beading on his brow.

"This is way harder than I imagined..." Goku wiped away the sweat, yet there was not a trace of discouragement on his face. Instead, his eyes shone even brighter. "The harder it is, the more interesting it gets!"

He stopped rushing for success and instead recalled the sensation of condensing fiery energy in a volcano's core and tempering his body under the crushing pressure of the deep sea. He integrated his understanding of external pressure into the circulation of his ki. Once, ten times, a hundred times... Whenever he failed, he adjusted his breathing and started again. The backlash of ki left his meridians aching, but he paid it no mind.

At noon three days later, beneath the blazing sun, a powerful burst of ki suddenly erupted from the beach.

Pale blue ki flames surged skyward around Goku. Within his dantian, a smaller point of light was born at the center of the rice-grain-sized main ki core. The mother-and-child dual cores pulled at each other in an endless cycle, generating energy without end. He suddenly opened his eyes and brought his hands together at his waist. A deep-blue point of light, as thin as a needle tip, formed in his palms. The surrounding air was violently drawn in, forming a visible vortex.

"Kamehameha: Fourfold Fission!"

The needle-tip-sized point shot through the air, so fast that it left behind only a thin pale-blue streak. It landed in the distant sea. After several silent breaths, the surface of the ocean suddenly caved inward into a massive hollow before exploding with a thunderous boom. A wall of water over a hundred meters high surged into the sky, and the shockwave swept outward, even sending several reefs near the shore flying.

"I did it!" Goku excitedly pumped his fist, then leaped several yards into the air beneath ten times gravity. "It's more than three times stronger than Triple Fission!"

Not far away, Krillin soon broke through as well. He took a more meticulous approach. Rather than forcibly breaking through the bottleneck, he used the refinement of his Destructo Disc as an opportunity to gradually integrate the force of Fourfold Fission into the blades. At that moment, six ki blades danced around his fingertips, each wrapped in the searing cutting flames of fourfold refinement, humming deeply as they spun.

"Destructo Disc: Six-Star Spinning Blade Formation!"

The six ki blades flew out at once, weaving into a formation in midair and rapidly cutting around a reef pillar several yards tall. In only a few breaths, the hard stone pillar was sliced into dozens of sections. Every cut was mirror-smooth and incomparably precise. Better still, the blade formation could be controlled at will through thought, splitting or merging as desired, with tracking abilities far superior to before.

"I used to rely on a single blade to win. Now I can finally put out some area suppression." Krillin withdrew his ki and let out a long breath.

Yamcha found another path for his breakthrough. Rather than obsessing over pure ki-core fission, he completely fused the fourth-level force with his movement technique and fist intent. Not only did the penetrating power of his punches rise to another level, he also grasped a method for remotely controlling ki. With a flick of his hand, he tossed a pale-blue ki ball into the air. It hovered there, able to alter its trajectory at will according to his thoughts, its speed fully under his control.

"Spirit Ball: Wolf Fang Style!"

The ki ball suddenly accelerated, blasting into a reef with spiraling force. As it exploded, fist force scattered outward like wolf fangs, piercing the surrounding rock walls full of holes. Combined with his afterimage movement technique, he could control several ki balls at once, combining close-range and long-range attacks into a seamless offense and defense. His greatest weakness in combat had been completely remedied.

In just five days, all three had broken through to Fourfold Fission, more than doubling their normal combat strength. Even if they faced Piccolo again after he had fully mastered his demonic arts, the three of them would now have the confidence to confront him head-on instead of endlessly retreating.

Atop the cliff, Qi Tian sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. Within a hundred yards of him, golden aura slowly flowed, forming an invisible domain. In recent days, he had not rushed to break through to the sixth level of the body tempering art. Instead, he repeatedly fused the fifth level's aura with Divine Essence Heaven-Burning, forging a Heaven-Burning Aura Domain. Within the domain was both the force-dispersing rebound of aura and the scorching effect of Heaven-Burning flames. Any sinister energy that entered would be instantly purified.

[Ding! Detected that the host has fused divine essence and aura. The Divine-tier Body Tempering Art has been deduced to perfection, triggering a high-level sign-in.]

[Sign in?]

The system prompt sounded. Qi Tian's gaze shifted slightly as he silently confirmed.

[Ding! Sign-in complete. Rewards issued.]

[1. Permanent combat strength +3000. Current normal combat strength: 25700.]

[2. Divine-tier Body Tempering Art · Fifth Level Great Perfection: Heaven-Burning Aura Domain covers a hundred yards, dispersing fifty percent of force and rebounding forty percent; physical strength comparable to divine iron, severed limbs can regenerate, and damaged internal organs can slowly recover.]

[3. Divine Essence Heavenly Awareness: Perception range expanded to ten thousand li. Can see through illusions, concealed auras, and energy barriers, and precisely lock onto an enemy's origin core.]

A warm current swept through his limbs and bones, while his muscles, tendons, skin, and flesh produced an unceasing series of crackling sounds. Qi Tian slowly opened his eyes, and Divine Essence Heavenly Awareness spread outward. Every aura within ten thousand li entered his perception in perfect detail.

In the mountains to the west, Piccolo's aura had not weakened due to his injuries. Instead, it had become increasingly condensed and profound. Amid the bloody fiendish energy was an ancient, weighty power of demonic origin, steadily recovering and evolving. His combat strength was likely several degrees greater than before his defeat.

Deep beneath the desert, within a spherical incubation chamber in the heart of the laboratory, a complete life aura had already taken shape. It belonged to a bizarre existence somewhere between biological and mechanical. It was madly devouring the demonic genes, divine essence factors, and martial arts data within the nutrient fluid. Its aura grew stronger by the day, and it had even begun independently absorbing the surrounding energy circuits.

It was Cell.

Dr. Gero believed everything was under his control, yet he had not expected Cell to have developed independent consciousness long ago and to be quietly slipping free of his program's control.

And in the depths of space, the two Saiyan auras had drawn much closer. Under Divine Essence Heavenly Awareness, Qi Tian could already vaguely sense the outline of their spacecraft. One figure was strong and the other weak, and their violent aura was clear even across the distant starry sky.

Only four and a half months remained until they reached Earth.

Qi Tian slowly withdrew his perception, his brows knitting together.

The situation was more complicated than expected. Piccolo had turned disaster into fortune and fused with demonic origin power. Cell was evolving independently and escaping control. Add the incoming Saiyans, and three looming crises were stacked atop one another. Time was growing increasingly urgent.

In a demonic cavern deep in the mountains a thousand li away, a pool of blood churned without end.

Piccolo floated bare-chested in the center of the pool. The demonic markings across his body had turned dark gold, and faint horns protruded from his forehead. Rather than crippling him, the backlash from the blood-burning secret art had shattered the shackles of his bloodline, allowing him to successfully commune with the demonic origin. At that moment, the demonic blood essence within the pool continuously merged into his body, and his Demonic Essence Blood Armor was evolving toward the higher-grade Demonic Essence Mystic Armor.

"Qi Tian..." Piccolo opened his crimson eyes, golden light flashing within them. "I'll make you repay our last score twice over. Once my Mystic Armor is complete, Turtle Hermit Island will fall."

He closed his eyes again. The blood pool's water level visibly dropped as all its essence was drawn into his body.

In the underground desert laboratory, Dr. Gero stared at the incubation chamber's display, watching the fusion rate rise without pause with a face full of excitement.

"Eighty-five percent... eighty-eight percent... it's at ninety percent!" He rubbed his hands together, his voice trembling. "Cell, my ultimate masterpiece! Goku's Saiyan cells, Piccolo's demonic regeneration, Qi Tian's divine essence traits... the strengths of every powerful being are gathered within you! Once you emerge from your cocoon, you will be the strongest life-form in the universe!"

He failed to notice that inside the incubation chamber, the tube at the tip of Cell's tail had silently opened, quietly absorbing the energy being transported through the pipelines. Several tiny mechanical tentacles had even secretly pierced the spare android energy cores nearby. Cell's tightly closed eyelids twitched faintly. Beneath them, his dark-red pupils rolled once, flashing with greed and brutality.

When night fell over Turtle Hermit Island, Bulma ran over with the latest cosmic detector in hand, her expression unusually grave.

"We detected it. A large spacecraft is heading toward Earth at incredible speed." She handed the screen to everyone, where the spacecraft's energy readings were clearly displayed. "At this rate, it'll arrive in four and a half months. There are two extremely powerful life signals aboard. Their energy levels... are dozens of times greater than complete-form Android 17."

Goku leaned in for a look. Rather than being afraid, his eyes lit up brilliantly. "That strong? Great! This is the perfect chance to test the power of my Fourfold Fission!"

Krillin and Yamcha exchanged a glance, each seeing the gravity in the other's eyes. Strength dozens of times greater than a fully developed android was already beyond anything they could comprehend.

Master Roshi held a pipe between his lips and looked up at the stars as he slowly spoke. "They're Saiyans. A true warrior race of the universe, born to fight. If they're coming to Earth, it probably isn't for anything good."

Qi Tian stood at the cliff's edge, his black robe snapping in the night wind.

Four and a half months—neither long nor short.

His Divine-tier Body Tempering Art could still break through to the sixth level. Goku and the others still had room to grow, and they could even train in more extreme environments. But the Saiyans' upper limit was unknown. With Piccolo watching like a tiger eyeing its prey and Cell liable to hatch at any moment, there were simply too many variables.

"Starting tomorrow, we're leaving Turtle Hermit Island." Qi Tian turned around, his tone calm yet unquestionable. "Gravity training has reached its bottleneck. Next, we're going to King Kai's Planet."

"King Kai's Planet?" Goku froze. "What kind of place is that?"

"Above the Heavenly Realm, where King Kai resides. There are more unique training conditions there, as well as more profound martial arts techniques." Qi Tian spoke evenly. "If we want to stop the Saiyans in four months, that's the fastest shortcut."

Goku's eyes lit up at once. Rubbing his fists together, he said, "The Heavenly Realm? There's a place even better for training than Turtle Hermit Island? Let's go, let's go! I can't wait!"

Krillin and Yamcha were invigorated as well. As long as they could grow stronger, they were willing to go anywhere, no matter how harsh or difficult.

The night was deep, and waves crashed against the shore.

A training journey to the Heavenly Realm was about to begin, while undercurrents continued to surge across the earth. Piccolo's evolution, Cell's awakening, and the approaching Saiyans—every thread was converging toward the same point.

Four and a half months later, Earth would face its true trial of life and death.