The pillars were changing positions at high speed like moving maze walls. At this moment, a sudden gravitational force struck Raditz, and he felt the surrounding air instantly drain away. It became difficult to breathe as sweat poured profusely from his body.
At this time, the distortion of the entire space intensified, and the pressure on Raditz's spirit also increased suddenly. It seemed an ancient, high-ranking divine voice was tempering Raditz's spirit and elevating his dimensional awareness. If this alone were the case, it would be manageable, but what was distressing was that while his spirit was being forged, he still had to continue moving forward.
The space before him suddenly extended infinitely, transforming into an endless road stretching to infinity with no end in sight.
"This is the beginning of the God Trial Ground. Everyone who wants to reach the god realm must come to the end of this road. But for everyone, the length of this road is different, depending on your current level."
Vados explained from the side.
Raditz understood what she meant—everyone had a different starting line, Gods of Destruction were at the finish line, and Raditz was still on the journey.
Walking on the road, with every step the gravity, harshness of illusions, and mental oppression increased. After walking for half an hour, Raditz felt as if half a day had passed. Vados guided him, telling him to "relax," "comprehend," and "don't rely on brute force to break through."
After persisting for another half hour, Raditz was defeated and pulled out of the trial space by Vados.
"Hah... hah..."
His rapid panting sounded like a blower at full power as Raditz lay limp on the ground, not wanting to move anymore. His clothes were soaked in sweat.
Vados poked Raditz with her staff and smiled slightly. "This won't do—it's just the beginning. You have to persevere to grasp the key points of comprehension." After that, she lowered her hand slightly, and the staff lit up with shining white light that revived Raditz's body in a flash.
An Angel's recovery ability was several grades faster than Kibito's, healing almost instantly.
"Alright, let's continue. I have to increase the difficulty." Vados said with a smile.
Raditz thought it was just a joke, but Vados was serious!
Floating bubbles appeared on the endless road, drifting through the air, sometimes suddenly accelerating. Once they touched anything else, they would explode immediately with power comparable to Broly's energy balls. Apparently, Vados had calculated carefully and chosen explosive energy that Raditz's body could withstand, but it was even more difficult to avoid attacks under such circumstances.
"Vados, shouldn't we take it step by step? Start gently at first?" Raditz pleaded like rainfall.
Vados floated above Raditz, her eyes suddenly becoming serious as her tone grew calm and stern. "Where do you think this is? This level of training is already the lowest level. The exercises Lord Champa has endured are much stricter than yours!"
"I understand." Raditz gritted his teeth and responded as a large bubble flashed beside him. The colorful sphere contained great power and would explode without warning.
Just dodging one, several more flew at him with tricky angles and extreme speed. Without the slightest hesitation, Raditz transformed into Super Saiyan 2. Instantly, his body became much lighter as he twisted his form and dodged the bubble attacks at incredible angles.
Under the golden flames, Raditz's speed increased, and he gradually became more comfortable dealing with various attacking bubbles.
Vados raised her eyebrows and frowned again.
"Oh, and the color changes of your hair and ki are transformation effects, right?"
Raditz had no time to answer, so he could only shout: "Yes!"
"This golden flame transformation seems to be your means of improving strength. Your energy level has increased significantly after transformation, but it's also a great burden on your body, and you haven't used your energy to the extreme. If you want to progress on this road and stimulate your potential, it's best not to transform. So... you can only use your normal state when training from now on."
"What?" Raditz exclaimed in surprise.
But thinking carefully, what Vados said wasn't unreasonable. Super Saiyan transformation was a means to stimulate physical strength. Super Saiyan 2 was an advanced version of Super Saiyan 1, with greater strength increases that also placed greater burden on the body. Transformation didn't seem to have any effect on realm improvement.
Raditz, who heeded Vados's advice, returned to normal for training...
After training, Vados and Raditz flew to where Champa was, and the three enjoyed snacks together. Then Vados mercilessly blocked the food storage, making Champa once again fall into a cycle of cuteness, pleading, and failure.
After resting for about two hours, Raditz approached Vados again.
Vados rejected Raditz:
"Training isn't about duration. Efficiency and comprehension come first. Today you've reached your limit. Even if you practiced for half a day more, you wouldn't make progress. So for the remaining time, you should be like Lord Champa—go fishing, play ball, and let your body relax. This too is practice."
"Additionally, your original strength foundation isn't bad—at least you can rank among mortals across all universes. But if you want to aim for godhood, it's far from enough. It requires tremendous effort."
Raditz said frankly: "I know this. I just want to shorten that gap as much as possible."
The path from Super Saiyan 2 to God of Destruction level was long, and Raditz didn't expect to reach such heights in three years.
"Haha, optimism is a good thing." Vados squinted and smiled.
"Um..." Raditz scratched his face. "I still want to ask something. When I was fighting Lord Champa, my spirit body technique hid my form and ki, but Lord Champa was still able to hit me. Why was that?"
Raditz had been thinking about this question from the moment he was struck and couldn't figure it out.
"Hohohoho, that's Lord Champa's fighting technique. At his level, he no longer needs brain commands and can completely rely on unconscious reflexes from various body parts to launch attacks and defenses. Reaction speed, movement speed, and perception ability are all elevated to a realm of selflessness, requiring no conscious intervention. However, hehe, even Lord Champa isn't perfect!"
Although Vados didn't say it clearly, Raditz already understood—Ultra Instinct! So this was Ultra Instinct!
Even Gods of Destruction hadn't fully mastered this technique, and the only ones truly proficient were probably Angels.
"Can I practice it too?" Raditz looked at Vados with curious eyes.
"Not for now. This technique is very sophisticated and difficult to comprehend." Under Vados's long eyelashes, her beautiful eyes held a smile as she added four more words:
"You are too weak."
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