When Goku flew up to the tiled Lookout, he found that Kami and Mr. Popo were already waiting for him.
With Goku's current power level, how could Kami and Mr. Popo not pay attention to him?
In fact, Kami had noticed Goku the moment he left Master Roshi's island. After all, someone that strong had almost never appeared on Earth.
As time went on, Goku's power level grew more and more ridiculous. If Kami hadn't been able to sense from Goku's Ki that he was a kind person, he would have thought Earth was doomed.
"Are you Kami?" Goku asked.
"Yes, I am Kami. This is my servant, Mr. Popo. We've been watching you for a long time."
"Hello, I'm Mr. Popo."
"You've been watching me for a long time?"
"Yes. With Ki as powerful as yours, how could we not pay attention?"
"Haha."
Goku scratched his head. That was true. His power level was probably over a million now, which was absolutely overwhelming for the Earth of this time.
"I already know why you're here. Train with Mr. Popo. He's better at it than I am," Kami said, pointing to Mr. Popo.
Kami wasn't wrong. Mr. Popo was better at teaching than he was, and Mr. Popo was actually stronger than him too. As for how much stronger, even Kami didn't know. After all, Mr. Popo had already seen several generations of Kamis come and go.
"Mr. Popo, please teach me!"
"Mm, follow me. We'll start training right now."
Goku followed Mr. Popo to an open area.
"Do you know what the secret of martial arts is?" Mr. Popo asked Goku.
"A calm mind, with Ki moving as the heart wills?"
"No, that's only true at your current level. The highest realm of martial arts is to be as calm as the sky when defending and swifter than lightning when attacking. At the same time, you must not lose your calm even when moving swiftly."
"Is that so?"
Goku thought about it. It was a lot like the secret of Ultra Instinct. That showed just how thriving Earth's martial arts were-they had even touched upon the angels' Divine Technique.
But they had only touched upon it. Whether they could master it was another matter, and even if they did, they couldn't use it without God Ki.
Whether it was Master Roshi or Mr. Popo, what they did might look similar, but it was nowhere near the boost in strength that Ultra Instinct provided.
"Lower your Ki until it's half again as high as mine, then attack me," Mr. Popo said, releasing some of his Ki.
"Okay!"
Goku loosened up, lowered his Ki until it was half again as high as the Ki Mr. Popo had revealed, and threw a punch at him.
But Mr. Popo easily dodged the punch and struck Goku in the stomach with a counterpunch. Goku had no time to dodge.
Even though Goku's Ki was half again as high as Mr. Popo's, he still felt a sharp pain. He staggered back several steps and rubbed his stomach.
"Again!"
After more than ten exchanges, Goku gradually grew impatient. Nobody liked getting beaten up, after all. Even a cornered rabbit would bite.
"Don't raise your Ki, or the training won't do any good."
Mr. Popo stopped Goku from raising his Ki. Goku gritted his teeth and continued attacking him. He would endure it, all to grow stronger.
Half a day later.
How could Goku's current state be described? Chen Rui looking in a mirror-Uncle here is dying.
Goku lay sprawled on the ground, staring at the sky and gasping for breath.
"Mr. Popo, you really don't hold back."
Don't ask why Goku, with a power level over a million, had been injured by Mr. Popo. The body had its limits in Dragon Ball, and its defense depended almost entirely on the strength of its Ki.
Goku was only using Ki half again as high as Mr. Popo's, so of course he could be hurt.
"There's no helping it. The harder I hit, the faster you'll improve."
"Sigh!" (っ◞‸◟c)
"Actually, it's also because you don't have enough control over your Ki. Normally, with your Ki half again as high as mine and your martial arts at the same level as mine, you would be able to defeat me easily. If you could keep your whole body covered in Ki without leaving a single gap even while attacking, my attacks wouldn't have hurt you this badly."
"Easy for you to say, but hard to do!" Goku said helplessly.
"Yes. Among mortals today, only your master Roshi has achieved it, and your master has lived for hundreds of years."
"All right, let's go eat. Today's combat training is over."
Hearing Mr. Popo say that, Goku suddenly realized he was very hungry too. No matter how big the world was, nothing was more important than a meal.
This time, Kami and Mr. Popo were also shocked by Goku's appetite.
More than half a year later
Two figures clashed incessantly in the sky. Each clash involved dozens of exchanges of attack and defense, and the sounds of blows rang out across the heavens.
"Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap..."
Mr. Popo punched at Goku. Goku caught it with his left hand and casually counterattacked with his right.
Bang!
Mr. Popo blocked Goku's attack as well. The two continued to grapple in midair, moving from the sky to the ground, then from the ground to the Lookout.
With a casual swing, Goku flung Mr. Popo away. He spread his arms like a drawn bow, clenched his right fist, and leaned forward to strike at Mr. Popo.
"Let's stop. Your fighting skills are on par with mine now."
Hearing Mr. Popo's words, Goku stumbled as he came in to attack.
"Hey, Mr. Popo, couldn't you say that earlier next time?" Goku said irritably. Damn it, I just put all my strength into that. Is this some kind of stop-at-the-last-second challenge?
"You can start training your control over Ki now. Actually, over the past six months, your control has already reached a fairly high level, but it can go higher. You need to use one hundred percent of every bit of power," Mr. Popo told Goku.
"Okay. Oh, right, Mr. Popo, has it been more than half a year since I came here?"
"Yes." Although Mr. Popo didn't know why Goku had suddenly asked about the time, he nodded.
"Then can I take a few days off? I promised a friend of mine I'd do something."
Goku didn't dare forget what he had promised Bulma. She had been gentle with him before, but if he dared make her angry, he definitely wouldn't have an easy time of it.
"No problem." Mr. Popo was very understanding.
"Thanks, Mr. Popo. Say goodbye to Kami for me. I'll be going now."
West City
Bulma was leaning on the balcony, gazing at the distant sky in utter boredom.
Ever since Goku left, she had come to this balcony to look into the distance almost every day, for no other reason than that Goku had left from here.
"Damn Goku, it's been more than half a year and there hasn't been a word from him. He hasn't forgotten about that, has he?" Bulma gritted her teeth at the thought.
"Bulma!"
Hearing that familiar voice, the previously dejected Bulma couldn't help tearing up with joy. She looked up, and the familiar figure gradually came into focus.
"Goku!"
"Yeah, I'm back. Come on, let's go find the Dragon Balls."
Damn it! Bulma, who had been a little moved, flew into a rage the instant she heard that. He'd only just come back, and all he could think about was finding the Dragon Balls. So he'd come back just to find the Dragon Balls, had he? The clueless idiot!
But Bulma didn't show it. She had long known that Goku was a clueless idiot, and after spending more than half a year with him, she had grown used to it.
She was already glad that he had come back.
"Okay!"
With that, Bulma rushed into her room. After about five minutes of getting things together, she came back out.
"Let's go. Everything's ready."