At the heart of Earth's vast continent lay an expansive, fertile wilderness—a sprawling ancient forest larger than some nations, where the smallest of the primordial trees were thick enough to require five or six people to encircle their trunks. Their dense canopies blotted out the sky.
This place, untouched by humans, was home to scattered demons that roamed the jungle.
But today, the usually predator- and demon-infested jungle was eerily quiet.
The stronger the demon warrior, the more they trembled on this day—the darkest in their history. Far from indulging in their usual savagery, they wished they could flee the planet entirely.
"By the heavens… all the Demon Kings are gone…"
Demons shared a telepathic link, though the higher-ranking ones had the privilege of "initiating calls," while the lower ranks could only "receive."
And for a long, long time… none of them had received a single "call" from any of the Demon Kings.
"Even the Great Demon King Satan was defeated?!"
"What's happening to this world?!"
Just as the demons of the jungle were stewing in fear, a magic carpet suddenly appeared above the endless green sea of trees…
Mr. Popo's flying carpet, at least on Earth, possessed the ability to teleport instantaneously.
Though, perhaps due to Mr. Popo's poor memory—or maybe because Goku had been in too much of a hurry—when Goku returned from King Kai's planet, Mr. Popo hadn't used the carpet to send him straight to battle Nappa and Vegeta. Had Goku arrived even a little sooner, Piccolo, Chaozu, and the others might not have died…
"This seems like a good place to build something," Yamiru mused, shielding his eyes as he gazed at the blue sky.
"A fine location for a divine palace," Mr. Popo agreed with a nod.
"I meant Korin Tower," Yamiru corrected. "I plan to build a tower here—so high that no ordinary person could possibly climb it. You and Annin must've heard my announcement to all Earthlings, right? I'll also enchant this tower so that even accomplished martial artists would have to risk their lives just to reach the top…"
His words trailed off as a sudden realization struck him.
Damn it… I nearly died climbing that thing back in the day.
No. The enchantment had to be harsher.
The success rate had to be less than 1%—and not 1% of all Earthlings, but 1% of those daring enough to challenge the tower.
Mr. Popo interjected, "Lord Kami, as the first Earth's Kami, you have the ability, authority, and duty to establish a divine palace…"
'So you just want me to be a glorified contractor and build an Other World embassy on Earth, huh?' Yamiru nodded. Then, without warning, he raised a hand toward the sky. "But first, let's clean this place up."
A blinding white beam erupted from his palm, shooting straight into the heavens!
Hidden demons throughout the jungle looked up as the beam reached its zenith—then exploded, scattering countless streaks of light in all directions like fireworks.
Wait, no—those aren't fireworks! They're coming for us!
Even the strongest demons barely had time to process the thought before a searing pain split their skulls.
The barrage of energy beams rained down like divine retribution, precisely piercing the foreheads of every high-ranking demon in the jungle.
The survivors were terrified.
"Much better."
Yamiru lowered his hand. The remaining demons would serve as the perfect "dungeon" for future martial artists daring enough to challenge Korin Tower.
"Now then…"
He pressed two fingers to his forehead, channeling his divine power—the architectural authority granted to him as Earth's first Kami.
A moment later, he pointed downward.
ZAP!
A bolt of white lightning shot from his fingertips, tearing through the foliage and striking the earth. The ground trembled, then ruptured as a colossal stone pillar erupted from below!
The pillar soared—first a hundred meters, then a thousand, then piercing the heavens themselves, its peak vanishing into the clouds.
With a sharp exhale, Yamiru unleashed another spell, engulfing the tower in crackling energy. Its rough surface reshaped itself into the familiar form of Korin Tower.
Simultaneously, an invisible force enveloped the structure.
Any who dared to climb it would face an unprecedented trial.
Stamina. Endurance. Willpower. Conviction.
Fail in any one, and the only outcome was a deadly fall.
But those who overcame the challenge would emerge stronger than ever before.
"Did I create history… or am I just following it?" Yamiru wondered.
Not that it mattered. He had no idea who the original Earth's Kami was in canon, or how Korin Tower had been built. So he had no reservations.
He acted on instinct.
Cutting away all unnecessary movements—even the extraneous thoughts in his mind.
That was a lesson Korin himself had once taught him.
In mere moments, Yamiru had already flown to the tower's summit.
Staring at the bare, rounded summit of the stone pillar, Yamiru channeled a bit of divine energy. In an instant, a two-tiered, flattened ellipsoid palace—just like the one in his memories—materialized atop the tower.
Whoosh!
Mr. Popo appeared behind him, stepping off the magic carpet as if teleporting. Yamiru circled the newly constructed Korin Tower Palace before leading Mr. Popo inside.
He paced around, inspecting every corner, while Mr. Popo stood quietly with his hands behind his back.
Same me, different world…
Yamiru leaned against the railing, gazing into the distance. The scenery before him was nothing like what he remembered.
Then, abruptly, he leaned further out, eyeing the impossibly slender tower beneath him—so thin it looked like it might snap in the wind.
That was when he remembered… the Flying Nimbus.
Back then, fleeing from Dr. Gero's lab, lost in the freezing mountains, hunted by the Red Ribbon Army, delirious with fever—it was his dream of riding the Nimbus that had kept him going, that had saved him.
And later, when the Nimbus had dropped him mid-flight, it had led him to meet Tights, the runaway girl who would change his life.
When he had calmly leaped off Korin Tower, it was the Nimbus that caught him—proving he had truly changed, that he had become a better martial artist, a better man.
Yamiru closed his eyes, deep in thought.
"If I remember right… when I asked Korin back then, he said the Flying Nimbus was made by blending Heaven's energy with Earth's physical matter…"
His brow furrowed.
As a Kami, he had the authority to draw upon Heaven's energy—but only to reconstruct bodies for the dead in the afterlife.
For any other purpose? No approval from the higher-ups.
Yamiru flew out of the palace, hesitated for a moment, then dove downward, zeroing in on a passing cloud.
He tested his energy reserves—already slightly depleted from wiping out those low-tier demons earlier. Not by much, but enough that he couldn't use it as an excuse to "borrow" Heaven's energy.
So he raised his left hand, igniting a white ki flame. The edges sharpened into a blade.
Without hesitation, he swung it down onto his right arm.
A flash of light—
A barely suppressed wince—
A thin black line appeared on his right arm… then his severed limb dropped from the sky, blood trailing behind it. A ki blast chased after it, reducing the arm to dust.
Even though his afterlife body had been forged from Heaven's energy, once formed, it was irreversible flesh and blood. Losing an arm meant losing an arm—it wouldn't revert back to energy.
But now, Yamiru could feel it—a trickle of Heaven's energy, seeping slowly from the golden halo above his head, like a weak signal struggling to connect.
As a Kami, it was perfectly reasonable for him to repair his body using Heaven's energy.
And as for any "extra" he might borrow? Well… that was just an acceptable margin of error.
He reconstructed his right arm, then carefully infused the leftover energy into the cloud before him.
---
Hours later, Yamiru returned to Mount Five Elements alone, leaving Mr. Popo behind at Korin Tower. His expression was gloomy.
Now that the tower was built, it wouldn't do to leave it unattended. He'd promised the Earthlings that those who climbed it would be rewarded. It'd be a letdown if someone risked their life scaling it only to find that Kami wasn't even home. (Though realistically, no one even knew the tower existed yet.)
He had left Korin Tower at dusk, flying so fast that night caught up in an instant—the moon racing past the stars to claim its place in the sky.
By the time he reached Mount Five Elements, it was deep into the night.
Annin, seated beside the Furnace of Eight Divisions, looked up in surprise as Yamiru emerged from the demonic mist, his expression troubled.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Ran into a little setback."
He landed on the edge of the furnace, sitting at roughly eye level with her.
"Tried an experiment. It failed." He rubbed his face, then gripped his right arm, which still felt unnaturally cold.
This isn't sustainable…
If he had to chop off a hand every time he wanted to make a Nimbus, how was he supposed to keep this up?