When his tired eyes finally opened, Vance Hart found himself once again in that pure white space.
The alternate dimension of the Forbidden Ground.
By now, all the wounds on his body had completely healed.
That was the Forbidden Ground's specialty.
No matter what kind of injury you suffered inside the trial world, even if your limbs were severed or you were on your last breath, the moment you returned to this alternate space, your body would be perfectly restored.
But this time, what had been damaged was not just Vance's body.
His mind had taken a heavy hit too.
In that final clash, his remaining mental energy had been so low he could not even trigger Armament Haki anymore.
And that kind of "injury," the kind that did not pose a real threat to his physical health, was something the Forbidden Ground could not heal.
Only time and rest could bring his spirit back to its peak.
"Congratulations. Your performance in this Forbidden Ground has been outstanding. You have completed the final mission and earned the highest evaluation."
"In addition, you are the very first challenger to clear the final mission of this Forbidden Ground. Special congratulations are in order…"
The disembodied system voice echoed from nowhere. Vance could not help but give a helpless smile.
This Forbidden Ground…
I am not asking you to congratulate me, he thought. How about giving me more rewards instead?
"Rewards are now being distributed…"
"You have obtained 300 freely assignable attribute points."
"You have obtained the skill: Ultra Instinct."
With each crisp notification that rang through the alternate dimension, Vance's rewards settled in one by one.
Then a mantle of silver gray light wrapped around him, dazzlingly bright.
The entire alternate space seemed to be washed in that light. A holy, sacred aura flooded the world.
Only after a long moment did the silver glow disperse.
The space returned to normal.
As the rewards finished integrating, Vance could feel a portion of his mental fatigue lifting.
At the same time, it was as if his body had suddenly been granted its own awareness.
Every small movement, every strand of muscle, responded to his intent perfectly.
"Ultra Instinct… phew."
Thinking back to the reward he had just received, Vance could not help but suck in a sharp breath.
That was the legendary Ultra Instinct, the apex state he had just witnessed in the Dragon Ball world.
At the same time, a block of information about Ultra Instinct unfolded in his mind.
"One of the Divine Combat Arts, born from the deepest reaches of the gods' domain.
It is a further expression of potential after breaking through one's own limits.
Even gods who have trained in related methods find it difficult to attain its perfected state."
"When Ultra Instinct is activated, the user enters an entirely new state.
The body and consciousness begin to separate.
Facing danger, every part of the body reacts beyond mere instinct, responding to threats without needing the brain to think."
"Warning: Before mastering Ultra Instinct, you will suffer corresponding backlash.
Once the body reaches its limit, the resulting pain will multiply geometrically, and you will fall into a coma."
Vance read it all in one go and gained a brand new understanding of Ultra Instinct.
And he already had a very vivid impression of that backlash.
In the battle just now, Goku had been struck down by the recoil of Ultra Instinct more than once.
If you could finish the fight in a single burst, that was one thing. But if you hit your limit at a critical moment, you would be throwing yourself into a living hell.
"Unless it is absolutely the last resort, I cannot use Ultra Instinct."
At the same time, Vance noticed another important detail in the system description.
"Activation condition: inner calm, no distracting thoughts, return to the self…"
He read it out slowly, then nodded slightly in understanding.
Unlike Goku, who had needed outside pressure to awaken it, this version of Ultra Instinct was more like an active skill.
"That works for me. It really is a final trump card."
Vance nodded to himself.
This time, he did not immediately trigger Ultra Instinct for any experiments.
First, this alternate space only had him in it. There was no opponent to test things on.
Second, the backlash of Ultra Instinct was terrifying. He had no confidence he could endure that level of pain in a "trial run."
After all, once he left the alternate dimension, as the first person to perfectly clear Forbidden Ground No. 6, he was guaranteed to be the focus of everyone's attention.
And right now, he did not want to be in the spotlight.
Besides, it was not as if there was nothing he could test. He still had three hundred free attribute points to spend.
No surprise there. Vance dropped them all into Spirit.
In an instant, that dull, groggy feeling in his mind vanished. The moment the attributes settled, the system panel updated.
Name: Vance Hart
Race: Human
Physique: 10,356
Spirit: 3,623
Strength: 9,867
Agility: 10,232
Bloodline: Saitama Physique (awakened)
Innate Ability: Hellflame
Skills: Demon God Advent (upgradeable), Conqueror's Haki, Armament Haki, Observation Haki, Byakugan, Ultra Instinct
This was Vance's current status.
And it was not just the Spirit stat that had gone up from the free points.
Throughout the Tournament of Power, Vance had threaded the edge of death multiple times. All his attributes had risen accordingly.
Right now, his Physique and Agility had both broken through the ten-thousand mark.
Swish.
With his stamina fully restored, Vance naturally had to test his current strength.
He moved at full power.
His figure vanished from where he stood.
The next second, he reappeared nearly a hundred meters away.
He glanced back. The alternate space around him was still endless, stretching out with no visible boundary.
Next up was Hellflame.
A three-hundred point boost in Spirit did not look like much on paper, and it did not produce any earth-shattering transformation.
The main changes were a higher temperature and faster projection speed.
The number of body parts he could Hellflame at once had not increased.
From his rough estimate, Vance judged that if he wanted Hellflame to step up to the next tier, his Spirit would have to break four thousand at least.
"Yeah. Still a long road ahead."
He sighed softly, then went on to test his other abilities.
For example, Demon God Advent.
With his Strength and Physique both enhanced, the moment Vance stomped his foot down, ripples surged through the alternate space like waves.
The range covered was many times larger than before.
His Byakugan had improved as well.
It had not undergone a major evolution, but the vision clarity and coverage had both sharpened.
After checking everything, Vance nodded in satisfaction.
The greatest gain this trip, of course, was Ultra Instinct.
With his current power more or less confirmed, it was time to leave the alternate dimension and return to the real world.
Even though the battle had only lasted forty eight hours, to Vance it felt like far, far longer. He could not help an impatient itch to go back.
The dimensional exit was still on his left.
Exactly where it had been when he first came.
Without any hesitation, Vance turned and walked toward it.
Outside the exit of Forbidden Ground No. 6, the guards on duty were yawning, bored out of their minds.
"Seriously, what is the point of keeping this Sixth Forbidden Ground around? Hardly anyone goes in, and even fewer come out. I remember some kid wearing a mask went in once. No one even knows if he is still alive in there."
"Yeah, this place gives me the creeps. If you die in there, who knows what happens to you. Speaking of which, there was a pretty boy who went in with him last time. How come he still has not come out?"
"Maybe he… tsk. That is what you get for being too handsome. Good thing I never have to worry about that kind of problem."
"That is right. I also… wait, what is that? What in the world… is that a golden legend?!"
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The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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