A month later, atop a rock beneath the waterfall at Dragon Bone Village. Goku sat cross-legged with his eyes closed; his presence had vanished completely, as if he had merged into one with the waterfall.
He had gained a great deal during the week he spent learning potential-unlocking methods from Bai Yuekui.
Most of the potential-unlocking and combat techniques at Dragon Bone Village originated from the Heluo Civilization of the Old Era.
They encompassed extensive research on physical development and techniques for controlling internal energy.
For instance, there was the "Guiyuan" (Return to Origin) technique for concealing one's presence, which allowed the body and mind to enter a state of "flow"—a condition of perfect coordination.
These techniques shared many similarities with what he had learned from Master Roshi and Kami, allowing him to draw parallels and fully master the ability to maintain the "Transparent World" state as a constant.
Now, unless he voluntarily revealed his Ki, he could easily go unnoticed, and the energy within him was almost impossible to detect.
In terms of combat, he had achieved a unity of essence, energy, and spirit, and had even grazed the realm where the body moves before the mind consciously decides to act.
In terms of his state of mastery, he was now on par with Mr. Popo.
"Today, he should be ready to voluntarily unlock his potential!"
Below, Bai Yuekui nodded as she watched Goku, who had achieved that perfect unity of essence, energy, and spirit.
In his current state, Goku met all the necessary criteria for voluntarily unlocking his potential.
In reality, most of the past month had been spent training to achieve that state of "flow."
It wasn't that Goku lacked talent; the main issue was that he was completely clueless when it came to video games.
Dragon Bone Village's training method for achieving "flow" involved playing various types of video games.
And Goku had never even touched a game console before. "If we don't unlock his latent potential soon, our village is going to run out of food reserves!"
The old man responsible for overseeing the villagers' potential-unlocking process tugged at his beard in agitation.
Goku had an insatiable appetite; even with Dragon Bone Village's advanced folding composite agricultural zones, he had nearly devoured the entire village's food supply.
Fortunately, the Lighthouse had provided some food aid.
"Once the Mana ecosystem is dealt with, we won't have to worry about food anymore."
Bai Yuekui replied nonchalantly.
Once the Mana ecosystem was completely eradicated and the Phage Beast vanished, the combined technology of Dragon Bone Village and the Lighthouse would ensure they never had to fret over resources again—not with the entire planet at their disposal.
"Is he really up to the task?"
The old man harbored some doubts.
Although his granddaughter had described how Goku had obliterated a Monarch-class Phage Beast with a single blow, he hadn't witnessed it himself.
He still found it hard to imagine that the simple, naive boy standing before him possessed such terrifying power.
Bai Yuekui patted the old man on the head.
"Xiao Tian, don't worry. If even he can't do it, then no human can."
Spending the past month with Goku had given her a much deeper understanding of his capabilities.
She had initially assumed that the feat of crushing the Monarch-class Phage Beast represented the extent of his power, but she was mistaken.
According to Goku, the state he was in at the time accounted for less than one-tenth of his full strength.
Factor in the unlocking of his latent potential, and—honestly—even the high-dimensional Mana civilization didn't seem quite so terrifying anymore.
High-dimensional civilizations were indeed formidable, but they were bound to have their own limitations.
Besides, if the Mana ecosystem truly possessed the power to easily wipe out human civilization, humanity wouldn't have managed to cling to survival for this long.
That was why she remained highly confident in the planned all-out offensive.
Furthermore, although Goku hadn't explicitly said much, she had managed to glean a great deal of useful information from him over the past month through careful questioning.
Her hypothesis was that Goku did not originate from their dimension; he likely hailed from a higher dimension.
However, compared to the Mana ecosystem, Goku was far kinder and friendlier, and he held a positive view of humanity.
In any case, she didn't believe humans could ever match Goku's terrifying level of power.
That afternoon, inside a sealed chamber separated from Dragon Bone Village by a single mountain peak...
Goku stood upon a circular platform, preparing to undergo potential awakening; he was surrounded by intricate and complex instrumentation.
Standing beside this equipment were Bai Yuekui, Mark, and the others.
This chamber was the very place where Dragon Bone Village housed the "Phenomenon-based" technology left behind by the Old World's Heluo civilization.
If anything went amiss—or if Goku failed to awaken his potential on his own—they would immediately use the equipment to forcibly trigger the process.
"Goku, you may begin!"
As Bai Yuekui's voice rang out, Goku slowly closed his eyes.
Following the method Bai Yuekui had taught him—using emotion to unlock potential—he began the first step: generating "Willpower."
"Hah!"
Goku let out a fierce roar, his face contorting into an expression of extreme rage.
Indeed, a month of experimental testing had shown that anger was the most effective emotion for him to generate Willpower.
Thus, the first step of this awakening process was to harness that intense rage to produce the necessary energy.
As the anger on Goku's face intensified, the Ki within him began to surge wildly; the powerful energy fluctuations caused the entire chamber to tremble.
"What terrifying power!"
Sensing the immense energy radiating from Goku, Bai Yuekui couldn't help but exclaim in awe. She then looked toward Maiduo, who was monitoring the instruments:
"Are there any changes in his physical state?"
"The electrical currents between the synapses in his brain are rapidly intensifying; an electromagnetic field is about to form.
The field has formed, and the Source Matter is entering a state of turbulence—the first step is a success!"
Hearing that the first step had succeeded, Bai Yuekui breathed a sigh of relief.
In truth, the first step was the most critical part of the awakening process; once it was completed, the rest would generally proceed without major issues.
"Done!"
"The primordial essence has entered a turbulent state; the second step is complete."
"The latent genes have been activated; entering the final stage—"
"—potential unleashing!"
Just as everyone thought the process was about to conclude, a cry of surprise suddenly came from Maiduo:
"Huh? Boss, something's wrong! New, unknown cells have appeared in his body, and his internal energy is surging dramatically!"
"Haaah!!!!"
At the same moment, the roar of Goku—who was standing right there—suddenly intensified, and his black hair and eyebrows instantly turned gold.
His hair spiked upward, and his entire body was enveloped in a golden aura.
The energy within him was so immense that the entire mountain housing the secret chamber began to tremble.
Cracks appeared in the walls surrounding the chamber.
"Is this what it means to unleash one's potential?"
Transformed into a golden warrior, Goku struggled to control the ki that had suddenly surged fifty-fold; a look of delighted surprise crossed his face.
He hadn't expected that unleashing his potential would boost his strength to such an extent.
However, his joy lasted only five seconds; feeling that his body could not sustain this state, he reverted to his normal form.
Yet, even after returning to his normal state, he discovered that his strength had more than doubled compared to before the potential was unleashed.
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