Beerus glanced at Taro, who was looking up at the sky with a thoughtful expression, but didn't bother him and continued enjoying his food.
"Although Earth is quite weak, your cuisine is really impressive!" he praised without holding back.
Whis nodded in agreement, scooping up a mouthful of cold, soft, fragrant, and sweet ice cream, squinting his eyes as he smiled, "Even compared across the entire universe, this is an exceptional delicacy!"
Hathaway smiled softly and whispered, "Perhaps it's because Earth lies on the edge of the galaxy, far away from the battles raging across the cosmos…"
She recalled what her husband had told her about the atrocities committed by Frieza's army in the universe, and the magic star, the planet Yadrat, and Fabeli's homeworld, among others… In an instant, entire planets—their nature, races, and cultures—would be wiped out, becoming cold and cruel reflections of the universe's harshness.
Compared to that, Earth was quite lucky.
The Phoenix stood on the long table, pecking at the food while warily watching Beerus… Beerus grinned broadly and maliciously stretched out his sharp-clawed hand toward the Phoenix, which immediately fluffed up its fiery red feathers and fluttered over to Taro's side.
"Lord Beerus really is like a child!" Whis finished the last bit of his ice cream.
"Hmph!" Beerus stood up and picked at his teeth, "It's about time to head back."
Seeing them about to leave, Taro didn't try to stop them but remembered something and asked, "Lord God of Destruction, I once visited the Kaioshin Realm in that timeline. There was a sealed sword called the 'Z Sword' which contained the spirit of an old Kaioshin from fifteen generations ago…"
He squinted slightly, "And he called himself… 'Kavishir.'"
"Oh, isn't that the ancient Kaioshin from Beerus's era… Fifteen generations ago, the Great Universe had already split by then, right?" Whis was surprised. He frowned and looked at the crystal on the top of his staff, showing confusion.
Beerus, however, was not surprised. Having experienced the destruction and aftermath of the Great Universe, he knew many secrets but showed no interest in telling Taro, saying only, "Does that sword have a life of its own? No, right? That Kavishir guy… hehe, the true form of that sword exists…"
True form of the sword?
Taro's mind flashed back to that barren world—the world accessed through Kaioshin Kavishir's training chamber that he had once visited. There, he approached a divine light and sat in meditation, eventually understanding the natural vital energy and divinity... The passage to the divine light inside that cave was marked by a sword stuck in a mountain peak of that barren world.
That sword was very similar to the 'Z Sword' he pulled out in the parallel timeline's Kaioshin Realm.
"Don't try to trick me here. Focus on your training; I'm still waiting for a fight with you." Beerus turned, his dark yellow eyes cold and ruthless. He grinned, "In all these years, you're the first with the best hope of becoming a true God…"
"You're not the last hope either." Whis elegantly stepped beside Beerus, tapping his staff lightly on the ground.
Boom… Without a sound, a swirl of multicolored divine light enveloped the two of them. In the blink of an eye, before Hathaway could even react, Beerus and Whis had disappeared. She looked up and saw the arc of multicolored divine light stretching toward the sky, vanishing into the clouds.
The Phoenix flew back to the table beside Taro and resumed eating heartily.
"It's not your fault. Theoretically, in the concept of parallel timelines formed by infinite possibilities… any kind of outcome inevitably exists. For every perfect ending, there must also be a final ending, because things always have two possible developments. From this perspective, some things are just predetermined facts." Hathaway said softly, trying to comfort her still-silent husband.
She also looked up at the sky, smiling, "I wonder if I'll ever meet you again in another timeline…"
"No, you won't." Taro said. Seeing Hathaway look at him, he smiled and added, "Because of my own cultivation, the timeline I exist in doesn't split due to different results. So there are no parallel timelines related to me…"
Hathaway was surprised. "So, that means the parallel timeline you went to, and the several time periods in which you existed, are all stable? They didn't branch off due to different historical outcomes?"
"I think so. Sometimes I have that intuition," Taro sighed.
"Then what about Lord Beerus? He has existed since ancient times within the universe, does that mean... our universe has never had parallel timelines?"
"No. Beerus is a true god... so it probably doesn't affect whether parallel timelines split."
"Are you saying that an existence like him has transcended universal spacetime?"
"Maybe. You can tell from what they just said, right? Even though they're in our timeline, they can observe events in other timelines. Beerus..." Taro pondered this title, thoughtfully. "He is the Destroyer from the ancient Great Universe era, not just the Destroyer of the Seventh Universe after the split... so how could he be bound by the Seventh Universe's parallel timelines?"
"I don't quite understand."
Hathaway changed the subject: "So that means, because of your cultivation, the two of us are the only ones across all parallel timelines who can be together, right?"
Taro took Hathaway's hand gently and whispered, "I think so."
Hathaway smiled and said, "Is that so? That's not bad at all!" She stretched out her other hand, slender and graceful. Due to her unique constitution, her skin had become increasingly translucent and jade-like over the years, seemingly flawless.
Her hair danced and curled around her fingertips, a thin, pale aura of energy swirling about.
"Yes, it's nice."
---
Taro lived in seclusion on Earth's Muten Island. Without Goku and the others around, the island's days were peaceful and undisturbed.
Occasionally, Hathaway would video call Bulma, and when feeling adventurous, she would travel to the Western Capital. Most times she took the Phoenix with her, sometimes inviting her husband Taro along. Life was simple, but Hathaway enjoyed it deeply. Even Bulma often envied the serene, carefree, and almost immortal-like life Hathaway and Taro shared.
Taro trained daily without pause, a habit sustained for over a century.
However, cultivation of natural energy was incredibly difficult, incomparable to mortal martial arts training. Even the training of a Super Saiyan couldn't compare. One is mortal-bound cultivation, the other is a half-divine path.
Moreover, as Beerus said, the natural energy's divine nature was one of the hardest paths to achieve among the myriad divine ways.
Taro's training was steady and patient.
He didn't train 24/7. His wholehearted focus was only from night till dawn — a conclusion drawn from many years of experience. Excessive training was useless. The rest of the day, he maintained only a light passive absorption of natural energy from the environment.
On Mount Paozu, Gohan trained, read, walked, drank tea, meditated — cultivating his body and mind.
Across the world, countless people had embarked on the martial path inspired by Taro's "The Martial Artist's Notes." Some sought renowned masters, some joined dojos, some endured three years of self-training, others participated in annual martial evaluations held by martial associations.
Thanks to the Muten Tower in the Muten capital on the virtual Earth network, martial artists could more easily and directly sense ki, and upon sensing it, integrate Muken into reality — greatly enhancing their combat strength.
Now, martial competitions big and small were thriving, with countless participants. Among them, the most famous and authoritative remained the World Martial Arts Tournament held every five years.
A lean man wielding two knives at his waist traveled the world. His journey's final destination was the Eastern Capital's World Martial Arts Tournament arena. Two years later, he would arrive there, compete, and strive to reach the finals — to prove himself to a certain girl.
Meanwhile, at a small town on the edge of the southern desert, the "Ox-King's Signature Restaurant" had closed. The owner, with his only daughter, headed north to the big city to seek a master to teach her martial arts. He remembered his old friend Satan and wondered how he was now. Planning to bring his daughter to him, having a familiar face made things easier.
In the Other World, Tienshinhan, benefiting from the post-mortem body, researched his concept of Mutsuken. With help from the King King and many Other World experts, he even found the soul of a former Three-Eyed clansman in Heaven, receiving guidance and making great progress.
On the white rabbit planet, between two major countries, war was on the brink. Yet, a peculiar bald man stood up at the critical moment. Fierce and fearless, he led three armies but remained neutral, neither siding with White Rabbit nor White Eagle. With incredible martial skill, he traveled the world, playing a key role in preventing full-scale war.
On the Beast Planet, those dozen or so Frieza Force warriors, after unlocking their potential through Taro, had their strength surpass Goku's. They searched everywhere for Goku on the planet. Taro had already told them: to survive, they must kill Goku within two years, or they would have no chance to live. So they dug deep every day.
Though young, Goku's martial skill was profound, with excellent ki concealment techniques, making him incredibly hard to find for these cosmic warriors.
At first, each enemy was stronger than him. Goku had to fight guerrilla style, outsmarting them, trying to create one-on-one fair fights. Yet at first, he was often bloodied badly. Without the Senzu Beans saving his life once or twice, he would have long visited Tienshinhan in the Other World — no doubt facing plenty of mockery. Goku would exclaim, "That was close! That was close!"
Sometimes, Goku would let Kakarot fight those warriors. Kakarot's Saiyan fierce fighting style deeply impressed Goku. Kakarot didn't care — he just fought with joy, the first time since birth he fought so freely and completely.
Time passed just like that.
...
...
Soon, two years had passed.