c18: The Room of Spirit and Time
"You've arrived. From here on, Mr. Popo will guide your training,"
Kami said, a gentle smile appearing on his aged, wrinkled face.
"Understood,"
Li Xu nodded seriously.
In terms of both theoretical mastery and practical combat skills, Mr. Popo far surpassed Kami in many areas.
In the original manga, Mr. Popo had effortlessly restrained young Trunks and Goten, even though they were capable of transforming into Super Saiyans, revealing that Popo's true strength and skill in controlling Ki were incredibly deep.
However, during later arcs like the Garlic Jr. Saga, Popo was defeated by Garlic Jr.'s henchmen, and during the Majin Buu Saga, Popo was hardly involved in any combat, implying that his raw battle power remained modest, estimated around 600 units.
Still, Li Xu couldn't accurately gauge Mr. Popo's full strength right now.
At the very least, Popo was strong enough that his Ki was untraceable to Li Xu.
After speaking, Kami turned and quietly left, entrusting Li Xu fully to Mr. Popo.
"Your strength is considerable, but your control of Ki still lacks refinement. From now on, I, Popo, will train you specifically in mastering it,"
Popo said with his usual calm, expressionless face.
"Alright,"
Li Xu nodded again, mentally preparing himself.
Popo's training methods bore similarities to those of Korin-sama focusing heavily on Ki control but Popo's lessons were far more profound and detailed.
Twenty days passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, Li Xu had been focused completely on understanding and applying the principle that Popo had emphasized:
"Be as still as the heavens, move as swift as lightning."
Now, Li Xu sat cross-legged in the vast marble square in front of the Lookout, eyes closed, yet every subtle shift in the environment every breeze, every sway of a tree was vividly sensed through his Ki.
"Ki is truly a miraculous energy,"
Li Xu murmured to himself, opening his eyes with a bright look of joy.
"Your progress is astonishingly fast. The ordinary methods are no longer sufficient for you. It's time to move on to the next stage,"
Popo said without any change of expression.
"Understood,"
Li Xu replied calmly.
Following behind Popo, they walked deeper into the inner sections of the Lookout.
They passed through several winding corridors, almost like navigating a labyrinth.
It was only now that Li Xu realized the Lookout concealed far more space and secrets than he had ever imagined.
Finally, Popo stopped before a massive golden door, intricately patterned.
"Could this be like when Goku trained in another world under Kami's guidance in the original manga?"
Li Xu thought to himself, half-expecting Popo to send him to a separate dimension for training.
Instead, Popo pushed open the golden door and said:
"This is the Room of Spirit and Time. One year inside equals only one day outside. However, the environment is incredibly harsh. We will train inside for a full year."
"It's the Room of Spirit and Time!"
Li Xu's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected to step into such a legendary training ground so soon.
Inside, the gravitational pull was ten times that of Earth's surface. The temperature fluctuated wildly between freezing cold at -40 degrees and burning heat at over 50 degrees Celsius.
Moreover, the endless blank white space inside was an immense psychological trial by itself.
"You're still wearing a gravity suit. Since the gravity inside is already ten times greater, you should remove it first,"
Popo advised.
"No need,"
Li Xu smiled confidently.
A soft layer of white light appeared over Li Xu's palms, and in the next instant, the heavy gravity suit he wore transformed back into an ordinary set of clothes.
"You actually mastered Kami-sama's magic?"
Mr. Popo said with a rare trace of surprise on his otherwise stoic face.
"I learned it at a glance when Kami demonstrated it earlier,"
Li Xu replied with a smile.
This magic was not especially difficult; it belonged to the category of basic-level spells, about the equivalent of a one-star technique according to his system.
"Then let's begin your real training,"
Mr. Popo said, turning around and walking steadily into the Room of Spirit and Time.
Li Xu followed close behind.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the crushing pressure of the room's gravity ten times that of Earth's immediately pressed down on him. It felt like an invisible mountain pinned his entire body, and even moving a single step forward became a challenge.
"Bobo, you're not affected at all?"
Li Xu gasped in amazement.
Despite the overwhelming conditions, Mr. Popo moved as effortlessly as he did outside, his steps completely unaffected by the tenfold gravity.
This was no mere feat that could be achieved with only a few hundred points of combat strength.
"This gravity has no effect on me,"
Mr. Popo answered simply, without elaborating.
"...Alright then,"
Li Xu muttered, no longer bothering to question the mysterious depth of Popo's abilities.
In any case, it didn't matter to his own training.
"System, assign all automatic training plug-ins toward comprehending the Law of Force,"
Li Xu silently instructed within his heart.
Over the next year in the Room of Spirit and Time, he wanted to eliminate outside interference and fully focus on deepening his understanding of power itself.
—————
"Every unnecessary movement reduces your maximum combat effectiveness..."
—————
"The finer your control over Ki, the faster you can condense energy blasts; the same volume of Ki, when compressed properly, will unleash exponentially greater power."
—————
"Let your heart be still like calm water. Do not rely solely on your eyes; sense with your spirit..."
—————
In the blink of an eye, an entire year had passed inside the Room of Spirit and Time.
Li Xu absorbed Mr. Popo's teachings like a sponge.
His rate of progress was astonishing, even by Popo's standards.
Sometimes, Li Xu even sparred with Mr. Popo.
Yet, no matter how much he improved, he never managed to defeat him an experience that gave Li Xu an even deeper understanding of how strong Mr. Popo truly was.
He realized now: although Popo rarely fought or intervened, he possessed a level of mastery similar to divine beings like Whis, existing mainly to serve and assist gods without directly involving himself in worldly battles.
"A full year has passed. My guidance ends here. Your future progress will depend entirely on yourself,"
Mr. Popo said flatly.
"Thank you for this year of guidance, Mr. Popo,"
Li Xu bowed respectfully.
This year of training had built an unshakable foundation for him.
Without it, even if his combat strength increased rapidly through the system's automatic plug-ins, he would have been like Frieza during the Namek Saga possessing overwhelming power but lacking refined Ki control.
—— Personal Information Panel ——
Name: Li Xu
Age: Nineteen (time inside the Room of Spirit and Time not counted toward physical age)
Combat Strength: 12,000
Law Comprehension: Law of Force (1/100)
Active Plug-ins: Primary Automatic Training Plug-in (automatically increases combat power by 10 points daily), Primary Perception Plug-in (allows one-star techniques to be mastered instantly), Ordinary Saiyan Bloodline Plug-in.
——
After a full year devoted to cultivating the Law of Force, Li Xu had finally reached a 1% comprehension level.
He discovered that just this slight mastery allowed him to increase his total combat strength by an additional 10%, with no additional burden on his body's energy circulation.
Moreover, Li Xu noticed an unexpected phenomenon:
once his combat strength surpassed 10,000, not only did his Ki quantity increase dramatically, but the quality of his Ki had undergone a fundamental transformation.
Curious, he had asked Mr. Popo about it.
Popo explained that Ki, like energy, existed across multiple dimensions:
Planetary Level
Star Level
Galaxy Level
Universal Level
And even beyond, into realms that Popo himself admitted he didn't fully comprehend.
The threshold for stepping into the Planetary Level dimension was a combat strength of 10,000.
Thus, Li Xu had now officially crossed the boundary from an ordinary mortal into a true planetary-level existence.
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