Back then, because of that "Burely," Vegeta had managed to develop a certain level of skill in concealing his own energy.
He had also, in the process, cultivated the ability to sense the energy of others.
Now, on this supposedly low-grade planet listed in the archives, he was sensing an alarming number of high-level energy readings! Around 1000, around 950, 1200, 1100… and clusters upon clusters of energy responses with power levels in the hundreds!
Damn it! How could a place like this possibly be classified as a low-grade planet?
Vegeta cursed that bastard Frieza in his heart, then turned his gaze to the two people walking across the icefield toward them—Tienshinhan and Chiaotzu. From them, he sensed an intimidating aura… especially from that tall, three-eyed man. Though his visible power level was just the tip of the iceberg, Vegeta had a gut feeling: this man was absolutely not to be underestimated.
This was troublesome.
And not only that—the three old men floating in the nearby sky also made Vegeta feel instinctively uneasy.
Just what kind of planet had he landed on?
Why had Frieza suddenly sent him and the Ginyu Force here in person?
Vegeta couldn't make sense of it.
Time flies whether one is immersed in books or not. From the moment Vegeta and his 25 subordinates rose into the sky, to when the three grandmasters arrived, to when Tienshinhan and Chiaotzu approached—it had only been a short moment. Yet in that time, Vegeta had already begun to evaluate the situation.
"I don't want to take lives unnecessarily. I'll give you one chance—turn around now, and get the hell back to space!" Tienshinhan strode forward with Chiaotzu across the icefield. Having trained in the afterlife, he held a deeper view on life and death, good and evil, and was reluctant to kill without cause.
The 25 alien warriors around Vegeta burst into laughter at his words.
"I gotta see what kind of primitive dares talk this big!" sneered one of the aliens, who wore a helmet-like device. He pressed a button, and the screen inside his helmet displayed a string of data, locking onto the speaking figure down on the icefield—Tienshinhan.
Beep beep!
The others also checked their scouters.
Tienshinhan: 500!
Chiaotzu: 500!
The Three Grandmasters: 500!
"Huh? That's weird… Can people on your planet only grow their power levels up to 500?" one alien warrior said in confusion.
The others laughed uproariously. "That's just pathetic!"
Tienshinhan looked up and said calmly, "So you've chosen not to turn back?"
"Screw your turn back!" one alien warrior snapped. He sneered coldly, then swung his hand and unleashed a bluish energy wave!
Zzzhhh—
The energy wave was scorching hot, with a power level of two to three thousand, arcing down toward Tienshinhan on the icy surface.
In their eyes, this single attack was more than enough to obliterate that babbling native who dared spout nonsense.
"So be it." Tienshinhan calmly watched the energy wave rushing toward him. He didn't dodge or evade—he simply reached out with his hand and caught it head-on. A faint, white-golden radiance glowed from his palm, making it look like a flawless piece of jade.
That bluish wave, powerful enough to fracture the entire icefield, was caught cleanly in Tienshinhan's hand. It stirred not even a ripple, as if it were feeble and weak—flowing gently into his palm without the slightest explosion.
In that instant, these 20-some warriors—seasoned in deadly missions across the galaxy—seemed to grasp something.
On their scouters, a sudden spike of data flashed and vanished—the power level that flared when Tienshinhan made his move.
In a blink, his power had multiplied more than tenfold!
Other aliens might not have perceived it clearly, but Vegeta's heart tightened!
That casual move had just revealed the tip of the iceberg of that three-eyed man's power!
That aura—so fierce! It felt like a mountain collapsing before him, overwhelming and hopeless!
"If they won't leave, then none of them get to leave! Tienshinhan, don't hesitate—these alien freaks are innately cruel. We mustn't let them live!" bellowed Master Jifen, whose explosive temper matched his fiery ki. With a roar, he charged forward, turning into a red blur.
"So fast!!" Vegeta's heart jolted in shock, his pupils contracting into pinpoints!
He no longer suppressed his power. With a shout, he burst into full strength—the air around him exploded with a bang as he flashed away.
"Oh?" Master Jifen raised an eyebrow in slight surprise—but it was expected.
Nearby, Master Yixin and the Monk of the Orin Temple remained calm, as did Tienshinhan. Their individual power levels might differ, but their martial arts mastery was nearly equal. The three Grandmasters needed no elaboration. As for Tienshinhan, he had trained under both the Tsuru and the Muten Roshi, and had spent years honing his skills through life and death. His depth of martial comprehension was among the finest in the world.
And though divine techniques often overlapped, their awareness was sharp. Their senses might not match Taro's Ki Sense from Yardrat, but when it came to detecting hidden energy, they all shared an intuitive grasp.
So all three Grandmasters and Tienshinhan had already sensed that among these alien invaders, only Vegeta was hiding his energy. Now that he was fighting with full force, none of them were surprised.
Master Jifen smiled, but his aura suddenly turned dangerous. He had once been an ordinary man with no affiliation to any major sect or school. His growth had come solely through the resources of the Martial Arts Association. His tenacity of mind and razor-sharp fighting will were not to be underestimated.
As Vegeta leapt away, Master Jifen transformed into a red blur and shot after him, fist raised to strike.
"He's even stronger now!"
Vegeta was shaken. Master Jifen moved like his shadow, relentless and impossible to shake. At first, he hadn't feared the man, but after several rounds of combat, he was horrified to find that—even though his opponent's power level was technically lower—his strikes carried unbelievable weight and impact, far beyond reason!
It defied everything Vegeta thought he knew.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang! …
The two clashed fiercely, their terrifying power radiating through the air in waves.
"What the hell?! His power level… it's reading 10,224?!" The alien soldiers were dumbfounded. Ever since Master Jifen had launched his attack, their scouters had gone berserk, flashing red with a violent alarm.
One of the aliens scowled. "Maybe the scouters are malfunctioning…"
Suddenly, someone screamed, "Look at Captain Vegeta's power level! It's shot up to 76,000!! How is that possible?!"
"That guy is holding his own against Captain Vegeta at 76,000 power level?!"
"No way! That's impossible!"
The alien warriors were struck dumb, their understanding of reality shattered in an instant.
The longer the battle dragged on, the more hopeless Vegeta felt. His opponent still had energy to spare, while he was rapidly losing ground. Sweat poured down his forehead—how could this be happening? His power level hadn't changed, yet each of the man's strikes felt heavier and more terrifying than the last!
He had gone all out—but was still being overpowered!
On the icy plains, Tienshinhan stood with Chiaotzu, gazing toward the north. At the other pole of the planet, several other energy signatures were also engaged in battle. Yet he wasn't worried. He could faintly sense Goku's current aura—it had undergone a massive transformation, far beyond anything of their generation. Perhaps… only Frieza could still stand toe-to-toe with the Goku of today.
"Hm?" Tienshinhan suddenly turned his head and gave a cold smirk.
He looked toward one of the twenty-five alien soldiers who was trying to escape. With a flick of his wrist, he hurled a deep blue ki blast that he had been quietly forming in his palm. It surged forward like a tidal wave, enhanced by his own energy, and in the blink of an eye, the alien was reduced to a charred corpse.
"What's wrong?" Master Jifen said, his fists blazing like fire. A single punch carried the force of an explosion. "Do your kind actually care about your comrades?"
His ki-infused strike crashed into Vegeta's body, violently rattling his inner energy and leaving him in agony.
Vegeta, nearly at his limit, roared desperately to the twenty-five subordinates he had brought: "Idiots! Scatter and run! There's only five of them!!"
"He's right!"
"Run!!"
Only now, under the overwhelming presence of the five martial artists, did the alien warriors snap out of their daze. They shouted in panic and fled in different directions through the air, some still holding out hope they could make it back to their spacecraft and escape Earth at the last second…
"Amitābha…" a solemn chant rang in their ears. Then came a sudden heat atop their heads, followed by numbness—they were dead before they knew it, their bodies falling into the snowy crater where the ship had landed.
Unseen by anyone, a section of machinery detached silently from the underside of the spacecraft and burrowed deeper into the polar ice.
Master Yixin was about to unleash dozens of ki blasts to wipe out the fleeing alien soldiers when he was suddenly stopped by the elderly monk of Dorin Temple.
"Why are you stopping me?" Master Yixin frowned.
"The crisis has only just begun—this is just the prologue. Wouldn't it be better to let more people get involved…" the old monk said as he opened his portable Babata terminal and instructed his assistant to post a message on the virtual Earth network.
"You're right!" Master Yixin nodded. Decisive as ever, he retracted his attack and began broadcasting on the network as well.
But back to the battle—Vegeta, locked in a death struggle with Master Jifen, found an opening. He went mad with desperation, squeezing every drop of potential out of himself. And somehow, he did find an opportunity. He took the hit, coughing a mouthful of blood, and fled the battlefield in a sorry, battered state.
"Think you can escape?" Master Jifen snorted coldly and was about to unleash the full force of the Twelvefold Muken to pursue.
"Elder, please wait." A white light descended from the sky—Tienshinhan had arrived, blocking his path.
"Tienshinhan?" Jifen frowned.
Calmly, Tien said, "Elder, did you happen to notice the tail on that man's waist?"
Jifen paused, furrowing his brows in thought. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "That tail… I've seen it before… I remember now!" he shouted, "It's exactly the same as that little guy Son Goku's tail!"
Tien smiled. "Exactly. The Muten Roshi once said Goku was a child he brought back during his travels through the universe. Perhaps this one is of the same race… In any case, he won't be able to stir up trouble here on Earth. Let's just let him go for now."
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