"Oh, right, this is a spirit tree fruit. I picked some back then, and I can give them to Dr. Gero to research." Mentioning Turles's world and the Mental Tree, Rhode casually took out a collected spirit tree fruit from the Time Chamber and threw it to Aira, stating his intention.
Looking at the palm-sized fruit and recalling the effects Rhode mentioned, Aira couldn't help but be a little skeptical: "This is the spirit tree fruit? Is it really that miraculous?"
"It does increase power, that's true, but the increase is only average! That Turles must have planted countless Mental Trees and eaten countless fruits, but when I first saw him, his Battle Power was only in the tens of thousands. The spirit tree fruits grown on Earth are more potent; one can increase Battle Power by several hundred thousand, but the first one has the best effect, and subsequent ones don't provide as much of a boost." Seeing Aira's curiosity, Rhode smiled and recounted Turles's performance after eating the fruit. "My plan is to take this for research, understand its principles, and then use those principles to develop techniques against enemies. As for eating it, I'll pass. Not only does it not increase power much, but I'm also unsure if there are any unknown hidden dangers."
"That's true!" Hearing Rhode say this, Aira also agreed wholeheartedly. In fact, she was only curious about its effects; if she were told to eat it, she wouldn't.
"After that, I went to a world where an evil Namekian was causing trouble, and then I appeared in the world where those two little ones had grown up, or more precisely, the world after they had been modified." Between his words, Rhode briefly recounted his experiences in Slug's world and the world of one-armed Gohan.
"I never imagined that in different parallel worlds, the fates of the same people would differ so greatly!" Listening to Rhode describe what Android 17 and Android 18 did after being modified, and then thinking of those two innocent little ones who were not yet ten years old, Aira couldn't connect the two.
After Rhode's explanation, Aira finally understood why he had collected the dragon balls and wished to change Dr. Gero's personality before recruiting him. Such a genius scientist, once out of control and turned to evil, would cause too much harm. Thinking of this, Aira looked at Rhode in front of her and couldn't help but think, 'My counterparts in those worlds must have died too!'
'How have you been living these past years while I was away?' After recounting his experiences, their eyes met, and Rhode smiled as he asked Aira about her experiences over the years.
"There hasn't been much trouble. Just cultivating, researching techniques, and living a peaceful life. That's all." Facing Rhode's question, Aira replied casually, summarizing five years of stories in a simple sentence.
However, seeing Aira speak so simply, Rhode was a little suspicious: "Really?" After all, he had just returned and witnessed a major battle.
"Of course, with my power, plus the Great Ape Power, what could possibly happen? It's naturally very peaceful, so peaceful it's boring!" Seeing Rhode's disbelief, Aira immediately explained. As for the previous battle, she could have completely avoided it if she had wanted to.
Hearing Aira say this, and then considering Aira's strength and various methods, Rhode thought carefully and concluded that there didn't seem to be any problem. Although there were strong individuals in the universe whom even his current self couldn't defeat, they generally wouldn't pay attention to Earth, a planet on the edge of the galaxy.
"Oh, right, I also learned many techniques. Do you want to learn them?" Thinking of the many techniques he had mastered during this journey through different worlds, Rhode couldn't help but ask Aira.
"Of course!" Facing this, Aira unceremoniously accepted, but with a smile, she also said, "It's a good thing I can teach you the Self-Evolution Technique and the Self-Modification Technique. Especially the Self-Modification Technique; you'll be very surprised once you learn it!"
"Alright, let's begin then!" Hearing Aira say this, Rhode didn't hesitate and immediately began to humbly learn.
In the days that followed, Rhode and Aira began their studies and cultivation. Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a year passed. In one year, under Aira's meticulous, hands-on guidance, Rhode successfully mastered the Self-Evolution Technique and the Self-Modification Technique.
The Self-Evolution Technique was relatively straightforward. Although it was somewhat similar to self-evolution, it was at most a rudimentary form, still far from true self-evolution. While Rhode wasn't particularly suited to this technique, with Aira's persistent teaching, he still managed to master it, achieving a twofold increase in his own power. As for the effect of further increasing power with rising fighting spirit, that would require more time to experiment with.
The focus was on learning and mastering the Self-Modification Technique. The Self-Modification Technique, as Aira said, was a technique created by combining the Recovery Technique and cell modification technology. It involved using one's ultimate control over ki to modify one's own body and cells with ki. However, during the modification process, the Recovery Technique was perfectly integrated, thereby achieving the effect of providing the body with abundant stamina and super recovery ability.
The effect of the Self-Modification Technique created by Aira was largely similar to what Rhode had imagined. After successfully modifying himself, the body's recovery speed for injuries, stamina, and ki was greatly enhanced. Besides this, what concerned Rhode most was that the Self-Modification Technique indeed had the effect of preserving youth and extending lifespan, just as he had suspected.
Dr. Gero's cell modification technology already possessed the effects of preserving youth and extending life. Although the current stage of the technology hadn't reached later levels, when combined with the Recovery Technique, the combined effect was even stronger than the Android modification technology Rhode had collected.
After fully mastering the Self-Modification Technique and modifying himself, Rhode could vaguely feel that his lifespan had greatly increased, at least by several tens of times compared to before. Originally, although the Saiyan period of youth was long, their actual lifespan was similar to that of Earthlings, only about a hundred years. However, now, after being modified by the Self-Modification Technique, Rhode and Aira's current lifespans had reached several thousand years!
With a lifespan of several thousand years, there was no longer any need to worry about the life consumption from using the Time Chamber. However, cultivation requires constantly breaking through one's own limits. During the rapid power increase phase, one can use the Time Chamber to reach the critical point in the shortest time. But once the critical point was reached, power increase slowed down, and simply spending time was useless for breaking through the upper limit. Thinking of this, Rhode abandoned the unrealistic idea of using the Time Chamber to cultivate to invincibility in the shortest time.
The Self-Modification Technique's ability to quickly recover, provide abundant stamina, and extend lifespan were indeed delightful effects. However, at its current stage, the Self-Modification Technique still had some gaps compared to Rhode's envisioned effects. Firstly, the lifespan extension wasn't enough. Secondly, while stamina was abundant, it still had an upper limit. Finally, the recovery speed, although fast now, was only 'fast'; it couldn't be called 'super-fast recovery,' let alone 'instant recovery.'
In Rhode's vision, the ultimate effect of this technique should be immortality, infinite stamina, instant recovery, and even regeneration from a drop of blood. IFurthermore, after fully mastering this technique, one should even be able to perform modifications on others!
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