Chapter 38: Three Palaces and Six Courtyards (Patreon)

The next day, dawn broke.

Oryon and Lunch stepped outside. Lunch put on the Scouter while Oryon raised his ki to its absolute peak.

"Beep beep beep!"

Oryon's Power Level reading began to skyrocket.

It quickly shot past ten thousand, and by the time the number stopped climbing, a delighted smile had spread across Lunch's face.

"Wow, it really did go up!"

"How much?"

"Your current Power Level reading is: 12,424."

Oryon blinked in surprise.

A single night's gains had somehow outpaced an entire grueling week in the Gravity Chamber.

"Talk about a rich harvest!"

Then again, sticking together like that every single day wouldn't produce this kind of effect.

That was precisely because he'd spent the past several days buried in training, neglecting Bulma and Lunch.

Then yesterday, he'd stopped training and gone back to spending time with them instead.

The shift in his routine had caught them off guard, like an unexpected windfall — that was exactly why yesterday's intimacy had paid off so richly.

Novelty mattered enormously for emotional pleasure.

Sometimes a short, necessary separation worked better than being together every single day — it yielded a richer harvest.

Oryon couldn't resist fantasizing: "If I had a whole imperial harem of seventy-two consorts, staggering my time between them so every single interaction triggered that 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' bonus — wouldn't I rack up twenty or thirty days' worth of cultivation gains every single day...?"

"No, wait — too many, and I'd get drained dry.

Fewer would be better. Twenty-something ought to do it, with a day or two of rest each week..."

Just as he was lost in thought, Lunch pulled off the Scouter and ran over to him.

"Oryon, I get it now — training doesn't raise your Power Level right away.

Training tears the muscles, but afterward they repair themselves, and once they do, your strength grows. It's all thanks to your grueling training in the Gravity Chamber!"

Oryon ruffled Lunch's hair and laughed. "That's a very scientific theory."

In truth, it was the System's doing — though body repair did play some small part too.

Lunch said, "So you'll keep training in the Gravity Chamber today too, then?"

Oryon shook his head at once. "No way. I'm never setting foot in that Gravity Chamber again.

I think I need to spend more time with you two normally. I can't let training make me forget to live."

With that, he wrapped an arm around Lunch's slender waist.

"After all, no matter how strong I get, it's only to protect you two — and to build a happy life together with you. Right?"

"Mm, that's so true!"

Lunch planted a sweet kiss on him, then nestled happily into his arms.

"Oryon, having you around is so wonderful. I feel like I wasted the first thirty-odd years of my life..."

As if. The Gravity Chamber was exhausting and thankless — nowhere near as fast as cheating with the System.

Oryon mused that if he ever got the chance, he should try being intimate inside the Gravity Chamber itself — maybe that would net him cultivation days on top of the chamber's own training.

If he could really pull off that combo, he'd be making leaps and bounds in no time.

Beating Vegeta senseless wasn't really a problem anymore, but less than a month after dealing with Vegeta, he'd have to face Frieza.

If he couldn't manage some kind of explosive growth, he'd damn well fall behind.

For raising his strength, all he had for now was the slow daily grind of intimacy with Bulma and Lunch — if he wanted an explosive leap, he'd need to find another way.

So far, Oryon had only thought of one option: once he'd dealt with Vegeta, head to Namek along with everyone else.

If the Grand Elder could awaken his hidden potential, he wouldn't need to end up like Vegeta or Goku had — brutally injured and on the brink of death.

Oryon used to think the whole near-death-revival exploit sounded great.

But a few days back, training in the Gravity Chamber, he'd cranked the gravity a bit too high for a moment and nearly slipped into a near-death state himself.

Tsk. That feeling had been beyond excruciating.

In that instant, he'd practically seen his own great-grandmother — the near-death sensation was simply unbearable.

For a moment, he'd even felt like living wasn't worth it.

Thankfully, Bulma had built a voice command into the Gravity Chamber to cut the gravity, and he'd shut off the multiplier just in time — otherwise he'd have been done for.

King Kai's Planet.

Goku's training was progressing quite well.

"Hm, the Saiyans are already in flight. By my calculations, there are still 135 days left."

Goku exclaimed, "Wow, amazing — you can figure out exactly how many days are left!"

"Of course I can," King Kai said with a laugh.

Goku scratched his head and asked, "But... is that really enough time?

I heard the Saiyans have a Power Level over ten thousand, and mine's still under a thousand."

King Kai laughed. "As long as you keep training hard and master the Kaio-ken soon, there's plenty of time."

"Really?" Goku still didn't sound too sure.

King Kai said, "A hundred days of training with me on this planet equals several thousand years of training on Earth!"

"What?!"

"How could it possibly have that powerful an effect?"

The next moment, King Kai let out a sigh.

"Still, even if you master my life's best techniques, it's not certain you'll be able to beat the Saiyans.

The two Saiyans heading for Earth have strength that's truly unfathomable.

Frankly speaking, their strength is above mine."

Goku was stunned all over again.

"What — stronger than you, Lord King Kai?"

King Kai nodded. "That's right. But there's no need to worry.

You're a Saiyan too, after all. Once you master my Kaio-ken, you might just break through your race's bottleneck."

"All right, let's get back to training. The technique I'll teach you next is called the Kaio-ken.

Before we start, put that weighted suit back on — that'll be the equivalent of training under twenty times gravity, for even better results!"

"Got it!"

Goku obediently put on the weighted suit and began a fresh round of training.

Some time passed.

Goku raised both hands overhead, and King Kai hurled a brick straight at him.

"Spirit Bomb!"

Goku channeled a thread of energy and slammed it into the brick.

Boom!

The brick shattered into pieces.

"Whoa, it actually worked!"

King Kai said, delighted, "Impressive, Goku — I didn't expect you to handle the Spirit Bomb this well already.

Next, I'll teach you to stop relying on just your own energy — we'll gather energy from nearby living creatures instead.

That's the only way to break through the bottleneck and make the Spirit Bomb even more powerful...

But don't blame me for nagging — a truly powerful Spirit Bomb carries terrifying destructive force.

If you're not careful, it could even destroy the very planet you're trying to protect, so make sure you learn this properly!"

"It's that powerful?"

"Yep!"

"I can't wait!"