"Oh, this move is good!"
"Too naïve."
"To defeat me, try again in a hundred years!"
---
In the open area in the center of Earth Island, there were around ten people with different appearances sparring.
"These people… their martial arts are pretty good!"
Shen only glanced once and could immediately sense that all the people here were experts.
The tremors he had felt earlier when lying on the ground were clearly caused by the movements of these people fighting each other.
Some of them, though rough in their techniques, already had a level of skill not inferior to his own—experts capable of creating craters with a single kick.
Shen was shocked. It was rare to see such individuals, so how had they all ended up here, and fighting together? Wait… If he wasn't mistaken, was that the old turtle hermit, Master Roshi, standing among the spectators?
And wasn't that… Tien Shinhan next to him?!
Shen ignored Yamiru and Son Gohan standing beside Master Roshi and instead coldly glared at Tien Shinhan, who, years ago, had been his proud disciple.
Tien Shinhan, as expected, was quite sensitive to gazes. His third eye on his forehead twitched, and he quickly spotted the familiar dark green figure standing at a distance.
"Master Shen?!" Tien Shinhan exclaimed, guilt rising in his heart.
"Shen?" Master Roshi, Son Gohan, and Yamiru all turned to look.
Meanwhile, as Shen was still glaring at Tien Shinhan and the turtle hermit's group, a boy's voice rang out beside him: "Ah, it's you, bad old man."
That voice—!?
Shen instinctively jumped aside, quickly adopting his Crane Style stance, wary of the source of the voice.
The speaker was none other than Son Goku, smiling cheerfully.
After some time apart, Goku hadn't grown much taller, and his demeanor hadn't changed either—still exuding simplicity.
"......" Shen remained tense, a cold sweat dripping down his face. He vividly recalled how terrifying Goku had been when he transformed into an ape. He had personally felt the power. That time, if he hadn't used his ultimate technique, he likely wouldn't have had any chance to fight back, let alone use the flight technique to escape while Goku wasn't paying attention.
But Goku didn't seem to be thinking about that. He asked, "Bad old man, do you know where this place is?"
Shen grumbled internally. He couldn't believe Goku was pretending not to know. After all, Goku's friends were all around, so how could he not know what was going on? Shen himself had been lying in bed earlier, tossing and turning unable to sleep, when suddenly a thought struck him. He had tried something, and before he knew it, he was here.
When Goku noticed Shen wasn't answering, he mumbled, "What a strange person," and walked away.
He had already noticed the people fighting over there and could clearly feel their skills were quite good. Goku was eager to try.
At that moment, Yamiru and the others, who had been watching Shen, walked over and noticed Goku.
"Hey, Goku! Long time no see!" Yamiru extended his fist down.
Goku bumped his fist, grinning. "Hey, Yamiru. You've gotten stronger!"
"Mm." Yamiru nodded with a smile, letting out a gentle sigh.
Hmm? Shen's white beard twitched.
Master Roshi's sunglasses reflected the lower half of Yamiru's face.
Son Gohan lowered his eyes. "......"
The three martial arts masters could clearly sense… when Goku appeared, Yamiru seemed to have a faint… "sigh of relief" moment.
Yajirobe, with his head full of bumps, watched Goku and mumbled, "That long-tailed kid… so many strange people here."
"Where is this place?" Goku asked curiously. "After I finished my morning exercises and found Grandpa wasn't home, I went to catch a bear for breakfast. After eating, I still didn't see Grandpa, so I thought it was strange. I played around in the mountains for a while, but he still didn't show up. I thought it was really weird, then I realized I'd somehow learned a new technique and tried it out, and ended up here…"
Everyone was sweating. No wonder this kid arrived so late—he didn't even realize he had unknowingly learned how to travel to the spirit world…
Yamiru explained again. He gave the same explanation as before, saying this was a special training place he created with the Dragon Balls, a place that combined social, communication, and competitive functions—an online battle platform.
Goku was in awe, while Shen listened with a face full of impatience, coldly glaring at Tien Shinhan, who seemed guilty and unsure of how to speak. After that, Shen simply disappeared from the spirit world.
Tien Shinhan remained silent, while Master Roshi nonchalantly said, "Don't mind him. That guy has always done things his own way!"
"I'm hungry," Yajirobe couldn't stand the atmosphere, "Is there anything to eat here?"
"According to Yamiru, even the stones here are just projections of Earth," Korin pointed to the nearby pits left from a sparring match between some martial artists. Those pits were slowly beginning to heal, "Do you think there's anything here that can fill your stomach?"
"Tch, this is so boring!" Yajirobe pouted.
"How is it boring? The people who can come here are rare masters," Tien Shinhan perked up, countering Yajirobe's words, "Sparring with more masters isn't a good way to improve your martial arts experience? Fatty, you're pretty good. How did you train before?"
"Who are you calling fatty, Three-Eyes!" Yajirobe was annoyed, then casually added, "What training? I don't understand that! I just sneak around, run in the mountains, and occasionally watch some wild beasts. The key is to eat enough! Once I'm full, I get stronger, you idiot."
"Eat until you're full and you'll get stronger..." Tien Shinhan was shocked.
Master Roshi chuckled, "Actually, it's not a bad martial arts style. In some ways, it's similar to the Turtle School."
Son Gohan nodded in agreement, while Son Goku happily asked, "I love eating bears, tigers, and leopards. How about you?"
"Dinosaurs," Yajirobe said.
"Dinosaurs are great too!" Son Goku's eyes sparkled. "Too bad there aren't any dinosaurs on Mount Paozu..."
Yajirobe nodded. "The mountain I live on has fewer and fewer dinosaurs..."
You probably ate them all! Tien Shinhan and the others thought silently.
---
Other martial artists who entered out of curiosity or for a try, after sparring, eventually "logged off" once the excitement wore off.
Some disappeared directly, while others, a bit more polite, greeted Master Roshi and the group with a "See you next time" before quietly leaving.
"Shouldn't we build good relationships with them?" Korin licked his paw. "Didn't you say this place was created by a wish to spar with different masters through Shenron?"
Yamiru replied, "There's no need to rush. Anyway, I'll be training here every day in the Spirit World. I think others will slowly get used to entering the Spirit World for training. Over time, as our schedules align, meeting often and sparring will become natural."
In fact, Yamiru hadn't told anyone outside his close circle about Shenron or the Spirit World. On the surface, he and the others seemed as clueless about this strange place as the other martial artists. It wasn't that he was trying to deceive anyone but rather that he felt it was best and least troublesome not to explain anything to strangers.
Son Goku raised his hand, "I'll come often too!"
Tien Shinhan nodded, "Me too. But for daily training, the Turtle Hermit's house is enough. If I need to spar or exchange ideas, I'll definitely come. Or..."
Yamiru laughed, "Or when you think you can defeat me, right?"
Tien Shinhan nodded seriously, then disappeared on the spot.
Korin and Yajirobe also left one after the other. Soon, only Yamiru, Son Goku, Son Gohan, and Master Roshi remained on Spirit World Earth Island.
"Come to think of it, it's not bad to just walk around here."
Master Roshi and Son Gohan leisurely wandered. The island's perimeter had all kinds of Earth terrains and climates, almost miniaturizing the Earth's geographic features into a small island the size of a city. It was truly a rare sight. Master Roshi and his disciples were quite interested in admiring it.
"Why hasn't Mom come in?" Son Goku wondered.
Yamiru explained to him that the entrance had a battle power standard, and Aunt Gine's strength had far exceeded the upper limit of that standard. As for Bardock, it was needless to say.
Speaking of Bardock, Yamiru casually asked, "What about your dad? How many times has he set the gravity chamber?"
"Dad hasn't used the gravity chamber for a long time," Son Goku said. "I think he last used it at 400 times gravity. He said that if he increased it anymore, it would only torture his body and wouldn't have any effect."