400 times... Yamiru was truly impressed. Even Vegeta, that self-torturing maniac, only pushed himself to 300 times!
"Then, how much has Uncle Bardock's battle power increased?" Yamiru asked. Although he knew that Bardock's battle power was already beyond the scope of a scouter's measurement, as a seasoned Saiyan warrior who had once been part of the Freeza Force, Bardock should have a rough estimate of his own battle power.
Goku shook his head. "I don't know, Dad left Mount Paozu a while ago."
"He left Mount Paozu?" Yamiru asked in surprise. "Did he leave alone?" Since just now, Goku had mentioned Gine, implying that Gine was still living with him on Mount Paozu.
Sure enough, Goku replied, "Yeah", as he wagged his tail and scratched his head, smiling, "Dad said... his battle power was already more than enough, even reached its peak, and it was hard to improve anymore. What was missing was just more S cells... he said he would visit Bulma's house first, and then I don't know where he went after that."
"He probably went to train in solitude..." Yamiru muttered. "A peak... can Saiyans even reach a peak?"
Does this mean that the so-called "2 million battle power" threshold for transforming into a Super Saiyan is essentially... the limit of normal Saiyans' "ki"?
Once their normal state reaches the limit, with the new S cells, they can undergo a transformation, rejuvenating and shattering that threshold...
"No," Yamiru pondered. "If I think about it this way, a Super Saiyan who has undergone the S cell transformation is, strictly speaking, no longer the same as a regular Saiyan at the core... In other words, there's a difference in bloodlines—an evolution, if you will—which rewrites the 'ki limit'. This is why Goten could easily transform into a Super Saiyan when he was born... because he was born without a 'threshold', with S cells that were already evolved into those of a Super Saiyan... Essentially, Goten and little Trunks were already Super Saiyans at birth—just not yet able to control the transformation."
Goku noticed that Yamiru had once again fallen into deep thought. He went off to the side and started practicing punches and kicks.
"For Earthlings, normally, through physical training, the limit is around 200 or less," Yamiru sat cross-legged on the ground, meditating, "But through martial arts comprehension, meditation, or simply possessing exceptional talent, martial artists and a few masters can train their ki... When the ki breaks through the body's constraints, from latent energy to manifest energy that can be directly refined, even Earthlings can undergo a huge leap—an increase in ki. This is why in the Saiyan Saga of the manga, Krillin and the others rapidly increased their battle power..."
He recalled the scenes from the Namek Saga, particularly when Krillin's battle power soared after being stimulated by the Elder.
"If I'm not mistaken, Krillin's battle power was over 10,000 after his potential was unlocked..." Yamiru thought quietly. "And after that, there was no mention of any changes in Krillin's battle power, not even through narration or the evaluation of other characters. The only time it was mentioned was during the Majin Buu Saga, where Goku and others referred to Krillin as the 'strongest Earthling'.
"But actually... even with a battle power of over 10,000, calling him the 'strongest Earthling' is more than enough."
Yamiru couldn't help but think pessimistically, "For Saiyans who don't have opportunities, their normal limit is between 10,000 and 20,000, but for those like Bardock, Goku, and Vegeta, who received scientific training, their normal limits could reach 2 million or even 3 million... While for Earthlings, the normal limit is 200. After activating the potential of their ki, they might only reach a level like Krillin's—10,000 or so."
In the manga, Krillin, after the Ginyu Force Saga, never fought against major enemies again.
And considering Krillin's role after the Ginyu Force, with a battle power of over 10,000 or 20,000, would he even be able to hold his own in a fight? It seems he could...
"The only exception is Tien Shinhan," Yamiru thought quietly. "Tien Shinhan used his new Kikoho to stop Second-Stage Cell's actions... But if we think about it from another perspective, Tien Shinhan's desperate move didn't actually harm Cell at all. The only effect was a slight limitation of Cell's movement. If a desperate move is merely used as a control technique, can we really say that Tien Shinhan's battle power surpassed Krillin's at that time? The Solar Flare is a technique of controlling the battlefield. If Cell didn't know about it, even if Master Roshi used the Solar Flare, it would temporarily blind even Perfect Cell... So can we say that Master Roshi's battle power surpasses Cell's?"
In the Dragon Ball universe, ki techniques that don't cause direct destruction can often bypass energy levels.
For example, the Solar Flare.
Or... Instant Transmission.
On the other hand, even Super Saiyan Blue Goku could be killed by an energy blast through his heart due to carelessness. Then Second-Stage Cell, while unaware, was slightly restricted in his movements by Tien Shinhan's desperate new Kikoho... but that doesn't seem to prove that Tien Shinhan's power far exceeded Krillin's.
In other words, the theory of "Earthlings' ki limit being 10,000 to 20,000" hasn't been disproven.
"Saiyans can use S cells as a stepping stone to break through their limits and transform into Super Saiyans..." Yamiru thought helplessly. "What about Earthlings? And, I'm not even sure I can make my ki grow like Krillin and others did, to break through the body's constraints... Right now, I can't even fully grasp my own ki, so how could I train it fundamentally?"
He sat alone on the open ground, cross-legged.
After playing for a while, Goku did not disturb Yamiru, and left with Gohan to return to Mount Paozu for a meal.
"Even when facing the same kind of difficulty, different people will achieve different results." When bidding farewell to the Dragon God, the god said this to Yamiru, "In reality, the difficulties and answers have always been there. Some people find their answers and continue moving forward, while others remain confused and stuck in place, only discovering their answers much later, then continue their journey. But are the answers obtained by the two groups of people the same? Are they equal? I don't think so."
At the time, Yamiru was just confused. "I don't understand what you mean."
"I think you, who are difficult for me to read, might develop in an interesting way," the Dragon God Elder said with a light, carefree smile, "The Spiritual Realm gave you a chance, but it wasn't without conditions. I'll test you when I see progress... like this," he said, casually waving his hand. A bolt of lightning struck down beside Yamiru. Yamiru didn't even have time to react. By the time the lightning faded, his hair stood on end, and he was covered in cold sweat. "This is too much... A thunder tribulation?" he couldn't help but mutter.
"I just thought that if you had made progress, you should be able to dodge this kind of lightning," the Dragon God said lightly. "If you become more interesting, perhaps I'll actively help you or create opportunities for you to progress... This Spiritual Realm seems to be quite a useful tool."
...
Yamiru looked up at the calm sky on the Spiritual Realm Earth Island. In fact, it wasn't really the sky, but more like an unchanging kind of void.
"Thunder... will it fall someday?" he muttered.
In other words... when will I be able to comprehend my ki?
The silence of the sky, the speed of lightning...
Yamiru understood the meaning behind the Dragon God's "thunder tribulation". He also knew what level of mastery was required to understand ki, but in this world, the truth is right in front of you. Even if you write it a hundred times every day, it might not lead to much comprehension. Yamiru knew what he needed to do, but it was incredibly hard to accomplish. The level of ki mastery in martial arts was like a form of "breaking through limits" that overturned all previous understanding.
Unlike physical training or ki techniques, the "breakthrough of limits" in terms of consciousness and spirit was to subvert one's own logic...
Sometimes, he really envied the characters in the manga...
Yamiru thought faintly, my "logic" and "understanding" have accumulated over two lifetimes... It's like two mountains stuck together, almost impossible to move...
"You seem to be in a difficult situation,"
The old man's voice broke Yamiru's deep thought. He opened his eyes and saw the Turtle Hermit in his flowery shirt and large shorts standing in front of him.