Sitting in the lotus position Krillin was in deep thought about his future, there was three paths that laid before him.
Go to Korins lookout, learn 'selflessness state' and gain some Paradise herb, or get the Bansho Fan and meet earths spirit guardian.
'Selflessness State is learnt by mastering your Ki, I've just learnt Ki so It'll be impossible for me to learn it right now so I'll put it off for later. As for the Bansho Fan...'
The Bansho Fan, despite being very powerful, wasn't a weapon but actually a tool! This fan was used to control the flames of the Furnace of Eight Divisions, the same furnace that was a gateway to the afterlife on earth!
This furnaces steam prevented the sinners and evil spirits from escaping hell and rampaging about on earth, the only thing about it was that it got so hot that the furnace itself started melting! This melted furnace sprung a leak and was why Chichi's father, the Ox King, constantly had his mountain burn in an inextinguishable fire!
With this Fan Krillin could hypothetically get into the afterlife without having to die! Of course their was the guardian who was signed by king Yama to protected the furnaces flames from being extinguished.
'I doubt I can survive hell right now, but the guardian of the gate to hell was very nice to Goku..... It's best if I go to Korins tower before Yajirobe. After that I'll pick up the fan, i won't enter Hell but I might gain something by meeting with the guardian.
With his destination set, Krillin just had to get directions.
******
"I guess this is goodbye for now Goku" Krillin said as he stood outside, the night sky illuminated just Krillin Goku and Master Roshi.
"Do you have to leave now Krillin? Can't you stay and watch my final match tomorrow?" Goku's voice was filled with sadness, he didn't want to leave his first rival so quickly.
"Why do I need to watch when I already know the results? I know your gonna kick that Jackie Chun's butt no problem." As he said, this Master Roshi let out an involuntary cough but remained silent.
"Despite us doing the same training you've some how still surpassed me, I can't waste my time gawking at your greatness I need to catch up!" Patting monkey tailed boy on the shoulder Roshi stepped forward.
"It's fine Goku you two will meet again. Korins tower is to the west Krillin, just keep traveling until you see the largest tower on the planet. And remember, no matter where you go or how you end up, always remember the turtle hermits ways Krillin!"
With a deep nod Krillin turned his back and began sprinting West like Roshi directed.
*****
(2 weeks later)
In a dense forest, a bald boy wearing a red martial arts uniform was walking alone. He was carrying an extremely large rock on his back and wore two long ropes on his ankles that dragged two sturdy bags filled with rocks. Who else could this person be but Krillin?
He'd originally planned on running towards Korins tower but decided against it, the main attraction which was Korins Divine water was of no use to him as he'd already drank a safe version of it.
All he really wanted from the Cats was its stash of Senzu beans before that fatty Yajirobe eats them all, and he srill had years before Yajirobe even meets Korin so he decided to take his time and train properly.
It had only been two days since he'd departed and yet this training seemed to be working wonders for Krillin, his power level was a whopping 111! He'd surpassed Goku but that didn't mean much as Saiyans will surpass you if you let up for even a second!
As he mindlessly walked westward towards Korins tower his system suddenly went off.
[Creature with power level of 47 is fast approaching Host location]
Krillin read that message just in time to jump backwards still carrying the huge rock only for a large centipede to break through the ground and attacked the spot he once stood with its mandibles!
The creature rose high in the sky and stood at an impressive 20ft in the air! It gnashed it's pincers in anger at missing its target and quickly spun towards Krillin and attacked once again.
Looking at the slow moving centipede rushing towards him, Krillin grunted heavily as he took one hand off the rock he's carrying and aimed it towards the Centipede. Without any fanfare a small ball of white transparent energy shot out of his hand and pierced straight through the brain of the Centipede.
"Thankfully goodness, I was worried I'd run out of food!" Slowly walking over to the dead centipede, Krillin once again lifted his arm off of the large rock and touched the centipede, making it disappear into his storage after he dumped out the skeletal remains of a 12ft tall bear!
After having his Genes purified Krillin felt his appetite grow much larger but this was the only negative side affect from the processes, he'd gained a powerful benefit that made up for it!
After being Purified he realized his body had a slight healing factor! It didn't allow him to regrow an organ or a missing arm but it did help him recover from training much faster and stop light cuts from bleeding.
The healing factor wasn't much use in combat but it allowed him to constantly train 24/7 and drastically reduced his need to sleep! So long as he had constant source calories and the occasional sleep, Krillin could train 24/7!
******
(Two months later)
Standing at the bottom of the marble tower that seemed to pierced into space, a disheveled krillin threw the 15ft tall boulder off his back with a loud Thump and felt immediately relief as he collapsed to the floor.
He'd been carrying that same boulder for three days without sleep, he even forgot what it felt like to move without it.
Krillins shoe's had eroded away to nothing and forced him to walk barefooted, the bottom of his pants had been shredded from all of the shrubbery he walked through and the back of his shirt was complete missing from weight and friction of the rocks rubbing against it.
Despite all of the signs of wear and tear on his clothing, Krillin himself looked fine. He of course had to occasionally go through the painful process of manually ripping out his hair to remain bald but his healing factor quickly healed the wound within a day.
This process of remaining bald was something the original Krillin cared deeply for so the new Krillin respected their wishes and kept their tradition alive.
Laying on his back Krillin looked up at the sky, even with his enhanced vision from the purification he still couldn't see the very top of Korins tower.
'System show me my status' activating the function that all systems had, Krillin wanted to see his growth.
[Host:Krillin
Race: Pure human
Powerlevel: 137
Skills: Shaolin monk fighting style (basic), Turtle Hermit fighting style(intermediate), Ki blast(basic)]
'2 months of constant training for a whopping 26 increase in my powerlevel...' Krillin thought sarcastically
'Perhaps this world operates on the idea of the strong getting stronger.' Krillin knew the Dragon ball series had terrible power scaling, he just wanted to find the in universe explanation for it.
Over the course of multiple years goku raised his powerlevel from 10 all the way to 900, meanwhile on namek he went from 90,000 to 150,000,000 in just one day. Later in the series just a few days of training raised peoples power levels by millions while early in the series, years of training resulted in an increase of just a few hundred.
Krillin could only surmise that the stronger you are, the easier it was to become even stronger
Giving his status one last glance before he went to sleep, Krillin closed his eyes and rested for tomorrow's climb.