Goku reunited with Grandpa Gohan at Fortuneteller Baba's place. The grandfather and grandson still had a sparring match, but neither of them went all out, so the fight was not intense.
Grandpa Gohan could tell that the grandson he had picked up was now very strong, and that was enough for him.
Because they did not waste time on several matches, Grandpa Gohan had enough time to remain in the human world and continue catching up with his grandson and Master Roshi.
"Oh right, Grandpa, I can use the Dragon Balls to bring you back to life!"
"There's no need for that. I'm doing quite well in the Other World." Grandpa Gohan was not very interested in being revived, partly because he was already very old, and even if he were brought back, he would not have much lifespan left, unlike Master Roshi, who was immortal. "Besides, in the Other World, I don't have to worry about getting sick or anything. I think things are pretty good now."
Everyone is eventually subject to birth, old age, sickness, and death. Grandpa Gohan was very old. From his appearance, he seemed to be about the same age as Master Roshi, clearly at the final stage of his life.
Most people at this age, besides having little time left, experience a steady decline in physical condition, with all kinds of ailments constantly bothering them. If not for fear of the unknown after death, probably no one would find such a life very comfortable.
Now that he knew he could enjoy himself in the Other World after death, free from those annoying illnesses, Grandpa Gohan truly had no desire to be revived.
"Then I'll revive Upa's father first."
Goku's purpose in gathering the Dragon Balls this time was to revive Bora, Upa's father. Since they had plenty of time this time, Grandpa Gohan also went with everyone to Korin's Sanctuary to see the legendary Shenron with his own eyes.
"So this is Shenron!"
Shenron granted the wish and revived Bora, Upa's father, then scattered in all directions again.
This time, Goku was prepared and intercepted the Four-Star Dragon Ball before it could fly away. That way, he would not have to travel all over the world searching for his grandpa's keepsake a year later.
Actually, Grandpa Gohan did not consider the Dragon Ball a particularly important item. It was just a ball he had picked up and brought home on a whim. However, he had left behind almost nothing else special, and only this ball was relatively eye-catching, which was why Goku kept it as a memento.
Next came the grandfather and grandson's time to catch up. Goku told Grandpa Gohan about his experiences over the past few years, and they talked until evening before stopping.
"I have to go!"
Fortuneteller Baba could freely travel between the worlds of the living and the dead, and she could also borrow some deceased masters from King Yemma to put on a show for her, but these dead people could only remain in the human world for a maximum of one day.
Grandpa Gohan had come specifically to see his grandson. Knowing that Goku was doing well and had so many friends who cared about him, he felt at ease.
When the time was almost up, Fortuneteller Baba came specifically to pick up Grandpa Gohan. After this, if Goku wanted to see his grandpa again, he would have to go to the Other World himself.
Still, come to think of it, Goku seemed to die quite early...
"Does everyone have any plans?"
With that, everything seemed to have come to an end.
Goku had already kept his Four-Star Dragon Ball safe in advance, so there was no need for him to set out on another journey to search for the Dragon Balls.
"Train! I want to become stronger!"
Goku's thoughts were always that simple, train, train, and train more.
"In that case, let's meet again at the next World Martial Arts Tournament!"
The next World Martial Arts Tournament was in three years, and strictly speaking, it was now less than three years away. Everyone thought that was a good suggestion, and Goku also genuinely wanted to win the championship.
"What about you guys?"
Krillin's first choice was still to return to Master Roshi's place. Besides there, he had nowhere else to go, and he felt he could still learn more from Master Roshi.
Yamcha had originally wanted to go there too. After all, Master Roshi was a world-famous martial arts master. However, he found that his progress was also very fast when training with Ethan, and he could also ask Korin for guidance. Having too many options at once left him unsure of what to do.
In the end, he could only turn to Ethan. "Ethan, what are your plans?"
Ethan casually pointed at Korin Tower nearby. "I've decided to learn more from Korin before going back to Bulma's place in West City to continue training."
His original plan had been to get the Senzu Beans and go back to train. According to his plan, he wanted to complete 100-kilogram weighted training before the next World Martial Arts Tournament.
If that happened, his battle power should be somewhere between 300 and 400, which would be enough to deal with the threat posed by King Piccolo.
As for the revived Piccolo and the more distant Saiyan Saga, that was still many years away. With that much time, as long as he did not get lazy, he could definitely give those Saiyans a big surprise.
However, he had suddenly remembered something just now. Korin also seemed to know how to use the Air Dance technique. He had actually forgotten about it before, so he decided to learn the Air Dance technique before returning to Bulma's place.
"Huh? Learn from Korin?"
Krillin, who had originally planned to return to Master Roshi's place, had known about Korin before, but he did not know the details, and he had never thought about challenging Korin Tower.
At this moment, he suddenly realized that everyone else had already challenged Korin Tower, and it seemed that he was falling even farther behind.
"Krillin, actually, if you want to keep improving, staying here and challenging Korin Tower is the best choice."
Krillin had originally wanted to go back to Master Roshi's place, but now he felt Yamcha's suggestion made sense. It just seemed a little awkward to change his mind right after saying he would go back.
Fortunately, Master Roshi was not the kind of teacher who would ignore his student's future just to save face. Instead, he encouraged Krillin to challenge Korin Tower.
"Actually, I've already taught you everything I can. The rest of the path is one you have to walk yourself."
Master Roshi might have some bad habits, but as a teacher, he was absolutely excellent.
It was Master Roshi who laid a solid foundation for Goku and Krillin and established the right values for them, allowing them to grow into the strongest in the universe and the strongest Earthling, respectively.
Goku, who had originally planned to leave, was also persuaded by Ethan to stay. He would first learn some things from Korin, then go back and train on his own.
Since everyone else was staying at Korin Tower, only Master Roshi and Launch were leaving. This time, Puar did not stay at the bottom of the tower. Yamcha could now easily climb Korin Tower, and carrying light Puar was no trouble at all.
After resting for a night, only Krillin was climbing the tower the next day, while Ethan and Yamcha flew to a nearby town for a big shopping trip.
After the last time, Yamcha also knew to buy some gifts for Korin, perhaps in hopes of getting a few more pointers from him.
Once they had bought enough gifts, they quickly climbed the tower, even overtaking a grimacing and struggling Krillin halfway up.
"Keep going, Krillin!"
"Keep it up, work hard! You can do it!"
"Gurgle~"
Although he had eaten breakfast, the long climb and huge physical exertion had made Krillin hungry long ago. However, even if he had brought dry food, he could not eat it while climbing up here.
"Damn it!"
Krillin, who had sped up in excitement, quickly found his hands and feet going numb, and he could not hold on to the tower anymore. Then he yelled and fell off.
"Ahhhhh!"
Although they could not see what was happening below, the screams coming from underneath told them exactly what had happened.
"Krillin seems to have fallen."
"It's not strange to fall on the first attempt."
"With Krillin's strength, as long as he manages his stamina well, he can definitely make it. It's just a matter of taking more time."
Yamcha and Ethan both thought it was normal. Krillin's current strength was far below theirs and Goku's, but he was not climbing with weights, so the difficulty was lower as well.
No one thought Krillin would fail, so no one worried about him. After quickly reaching the top, they greeted Korin as if they were coming home, then filled the large freezer they had given him last time with the pile of gifts they had bought.
"You're back so soon?"
Holding the dried fish snacks Yamcha had given him, Korin had not expected these young people to return so quickly, but with so many good things brought along, it was fine if they came back a few more times.
Puar was seeing Korin for the first time and was surprised to find someone of the same kind.
"What is your purpose for coming back this time? Let me make this clear first, there aren't many Senzu Beans left!"
Now that he had realized the importance of Senzu Beans, Korin would no longer casually waste the stock he had stored. Perhaps this would affect Yajirobe in the future. Most likely, he would no longer have the chance to eat large amounts of Senzu Beans.
"Korin, I want to learn the Air Dance technique from you."
"Air Dance technique? Just that?"
"Yes!"
If for no other reason, then at least so he would not have to keep climbing up and down Korin Tower in the future, he had to learn it.
Besides, in just a few years, being unable to use the Air Dance technique in battle would be a huge disadvantage.
"If you want to learn the Air Dance technique, you must first learn how to control your energy!"
Energy is the power within living beings. Powerful martial artists possess powerful energy within their bodies. The key to learning the Air Dance technique is learning how to correctly and precisely control the energy inside one's body.
Ethan knew this was not absolute, because many aliens in this universe could not precisely control the energy in their bodies, but they could still fly.
He guessed it was because they had enough energy in their bodies, making it easier to manipulate.
However, the energy level of Earth's martial artists at this time was not high, and if they wanted to fly, they needed more precise control, perfectly making use of the limited energy in their bodies.
Just as Korin officially began teaching Ethan and the others how to sense the energy in their bodies and how to control it for flight, Krillin finally climbed up.
"Finally made it up..."
He did not waste time on the lower levels. After walking up the stairs to the upper platform, he saw Ethan, Yamcha, Yoruichi, and Goku all sitting there with their eyes closed.
"What are they doing?"
Just then, Krillin watched in shock as Ethan slowly rose off the ground.
"He's... he's flying!"
(To be continued.)