"Tien Shinhan, are you heading out again? I thought you were about to start your next round of training."
After their match, Goku learned that Tien Shinhan would be leaving Korin Tower again.
"But you'd better watch out. If you're gone too long, my training gains will surpass yours!"
Goku chuckled, not paying much attention to why Tien Shinhan was leaving again.
"Me too, me too! I'm going to start training at Korin Tower too. Don't let me catch up to you as well, Tien Shinhan!"
Krillin's eyes lit up at those words, and he immediately joined this race to outdo one another in martial arts.
Tien Shinhan smiled confidently at their words.
"I'm not going out to have fun, either. But if you can catch up, go right ahead, so you don't end up getting left far behind when I return!"
Sharpening the axe wouldn't delay the woodcutting. Although Tien Shinhan would have to spend some time rapidly absorbing the Ultra Divine Water's medicinal power in his body to multiply the effects of his Limit Breakthrough.
This was to lay a foundation for his longer-term development in martial arts.
Besides, he didn't think his strength would necessarily stagnate during this trip. Meeting the requirements for this method would involve quite a few trials.
"Brother Tien, do you really not need me to come along this time? Even if it's dangerous, I'm not afraid."
When Chiaotzu, standing nearby, learned that Tien Shinhan would be leaving alone this time, he asked with some reluctance to part.
After all, over so many years, the two had grown used to eating, living, and training together.
Now that Tien Shinhan was going on an adventure alone, he still felt somewhat unaccustomed to it and worried.
"Yes, of course I know you're not afraid of danger. But you've already absorbed all the Ultra Divine Water you drank, so there's no need for you to take this risk.
My situation is different from yours, so I have to make this trip.
Wish me luck. I hope everything is as I guessed."
Tien Shinhan nodded to Chiaotzu, telling him to stay and train hard rather than take this unnecessary risk with him.
"Come back soon, Tien Shinhan!"
As Launch called out, Tien Shinhan waved and flew down from Korin Tower.
He had a method in mind, but it was still only a conjecture Tien Shinhan had made based on the plot he remembered. He didn't know whether it would succeed.
Several hours later, Tien Shinhan flew back to Fortuneteller Baba's desert palace.
"It's only been two days. Why have you come looking for this old woman again?
Do you really have that many things you want divined?
Young man, sometimes, if you calculate too much, you stop being like a young man."
Fortuneteller Baba was rather pleased to see Tien Shinhan return.
After all, she was just an old woman staying here most days. Although she had some servants, promising youngsters like Tien Shinhan were still a rare sight.
But the delight in her heart couldn't change the barbs in her words.
"Haha, if I want to grow stronger, I have to consider more things.
Besides, this is only the second time. It just happened to fall close to the last one, which is why I came back so soon."
Tien Shinhan naturally understood that Fortuneteller Baba had a sharp tongue but a soft heart, and meant no real harm.
After that brief explanation, he took out the billion zeni he had earned from selling the airship to Bulma.
"Here is your divination fee. Please accept it."
Banknotes piled into a small mountain emerged from the Hoi-Poi Capsule, and Fortuneteller Baba nearly drooled at the sight.
Her money-grubbing nature was fully unleashed at that moment.
Fortuneteller Baba jumped off her crystal ball and hugged the mountain of banknotes, unable to let go for a while, before remembering that Tien Shinhan was still watching beside her.
"Ahem. What do you want divined this time? Tell me.
Since you're being so generous, I won't limit you to just one question this time.
As long as it's about the same matter, ask all the related questions you want until everything is clear."
Fortuneteller Baba cleared her throat twice, reined in her true nature, and sat upright on her floating crystal ball again.
"I can ask about all the related details?"
Tien Shinhan's eyes lit up at her words. This was an unexpected delight.
Since his method was based on nothing more than conjecture, Tien Shinhan had been struggling to decide which question was the most crucial.
He hadn't expected Fortuneteller Baba to be so understanding and let him ask until everything was clear.
People who can divine really are frightening. Could Fortuneteller Baba have already sensed the purpose of my visit beforehand?
That billion zeni was well spent!
With Fortuneteller Baba's assurance, Tien Shinhan began asking freely.
"Does the Grand Supreme Kai have a method that can let me quickly finish absorbing the Ultra Divine Water's medicinal power?"
"Yes!"
Fortuneteller Baba was somewhat surprised by the question. She hadn't expected Tien Shinhan to even know of the Grand Supreme Kai's existence, but she immediately performed her divination and answered.
"How can a living person reach Mount Five Elements, where the Grand Supreme Kai is?"
This question from Tien Shinhan surprised Fortuneteller Baba even more.
This boy not only knows the Grand Supreme Kai exists, he even knows the Grand Supreme Kai is on Mount Five Elements!
"After killing yourself, use your good deed of slaying King Piccolo to ask King Yemma to let you keep your body.
Then run along Snake Way to the spatial entrance to Mount Five Elements, where the worlds of the living and the dead meet. That will let you reach the summit of Mount Five Elements, where the Grand Supreme Kai is."
"Uh, is there a way that doesn't involve killing myself?"
"Yes. This old woman can send you straight to the junction between the worlds of the living and the dead, but only to the foot of Mount Five Elements.
If you want to go up the mountain to find the Grand Supreme Kai, you'll have to climb it yourself.
But this method also carries a risk of death. If the assorted fiends formed from souls at the foot of the mountain kill you, you'll die just the same."
As Fortuneteller Baba explained the two ways of reaching Mount Five Elements, she found Tien Shinhan increasingly mysterious. This boy seemed to know quite a bit about matters between the worlds of the living and the dead, too.
One means certain death by suicide, while the other means I might be killed.
With my strength, I should have a chance of making it up Mount Five Elements alive.
Tien Shinhan analyzed silently.
After the questions above, he confirmed that his conjecture was correct.
The Grand Supreme Kai in Dragon Ball did indeed have a method that could let him rapidly absorb the Ultra Divine Water's medicinal power.
But reaching Mount Five Elements, where the Grand Supreme Kai was, carried considerable risk.
This proved that his earlier conjecture was correct and the method he had thought of was feasible.
Of course, after confirming that this method was feasible, Tien Shinhan didn't forget to ask one more question.
"Aside from what the Grand Supreme Kai has, are there any other methods on Earth that can let me rapidly absorb the Ultra Divine Water's medicinal power?"
"No."
Fortuneteller Baba stroked the crystal ball in front of her and soon gave a definite answer.
If he could solve the problem without taking risks, Tien Shinhan wouldn't deliberately go courting death.
But now that he had Fortuneteller Baba's answer, the risky method of going to Mount Five Elements to seek the Grand Supreme Kai seemed to be his only choice.
"Thank you, Fortuneteller Baba. That's all my questions."
Since he had confirmed that the only method was feasible, Tien Shinhan asked no further questions.
"Yes. Since you've asked so much about the Grand Supreme Kai and Mount Five Elements, it looks like you're determined to go there.
Choose, then. Will you use the first method, killing yourself and running along Snake Way, or the second method, climbing from the foot of Mount Five Elements?"
Fortuneteller Baba nodded. Whichever method Tien Shinhan chose, she would still have more to do afterward.
If he chose the first, she would have to go plead with King Yemma on Tien Shinhan's behalf to let him keep his body.
If he chose the second, she would have to take Tien Shinhan to the foot of Mount Five Elements.
"The second. I'd still rather venture there as a living person."
Tien Shinhan didn't hesitate.
If he chose suicide outright, even if he could be revived with the Dragon Balls later, he would still have to wait nearly nine months for the Dragon Balls to regain their power.
On the path of martial arts, failing to advance meant falling behind. He didn't want to waste so much time waiting to be revived after killing himself.