Chapter 159: Born at the Cosmic Level

As Taro and the Grand Kai's battle grew fiercer, the terrifying shockwaves from their clashes became increasingly devastating. At times, a stray ki blast would streak through the air with a sharp whoosh, piercing straight through Duan and Jiam before they could even react.

The two spectators grew increasingly awestruck and fearful. These were mere unintentional aftershocks, not even deliberate attacks, yet from such a distance, they could still injure them so easily?

They glanced at the bloody holes in their arms. Thanks to their unique Other World physiques, the wounds healed at a visible rate, fresh tissue growing rapidly. Even so, they wisely chose to retreat farther back.

Meanwhile, the battle continued to escalate.

They could see Taro launching massive white palms of ki, which closed in on the Grand Kai from all directions, leaving no room to dodge or retreat.

Though they were only half-trained martial artists, Duan and Jiam could immediately tell that these terrifying giant hands were condensed from ki of incredible density and strength. What terrified them even more was that these colossal hands were being controlled entirely independently of Taro's body.

Taro himself was still executing other attacks!

"Controlling ki remotely and shaping it with such precision and structure?!" Duan and Jiam exchanged a glance, their expressions blank with disbelief.

If they had been astonished by Taro's overwhelming power earlier, what they witnessed now left them in awe of his perfect mastery over energy, ki, and his own body. What level of mastery in martial arts and ki control was required to achieve such a feat?

This man had already elevated the use of ki to an art form.

The Grand Kai, however, was no mere defender. Surrounded by Taro's massive ki hands, he neither dodged nor retreated. With his white beard flowing and a hearty laugh, boom! the pale golden aura around his body flared even brighter, surging as if erupting from within him, radiating an even sharper intensity.

Boom!

The enormous ki hands enveloped the Grand Kai, only to collide with the egg-like ki barrier surrounding him! Immediately, countless tendrils sprouted from the "egg", lashing out with incredible speed. They wrapped around the massive hands, tightened with immense force, and pulled — tearing the giant ki constructs apart into scattered fragments.

It was the same technique of shaping ki into forms.

Whether the Grand Kai had been inspired by Taro's use of the technique or had long mastered it himself was unclear, though it was likely the latter. After all, the Grand Kai was a deity-like figure who had existed since time immemorial, before even the upheaval and fragmentation of the universe.

The battle raged on.

Having just neutralized the ki hands, the Grand Kai suddenly found himself facing a powerful punch from Taro. It was a punch like a surging river, vast and unstoppable, hurtling toward him from the front.

Simultaneously, from five other directions — left, right, above, below, and behind — five white arrows of ki suddenly materialized! These arrows, as intricately sculpted as if carved from white jade, tore through the air, locking onto five of the Grand Kai's vital points in an instant.

"Ah, it must be his technique of projecting ki, using that remote control method to set this up beforehand, then suddenly condensing them into form," the Grand Kai thought in the blink of an eye, piecing together how the scene had unfolded.

Boom!

The six-directional assault clashed fiercely, causing the very space they occupied to tremble. Hum! The terrifying shockwaves rippled outward in an instant, forcing Duan and Jiam to stumble back repeatedly. They quickly retreated further.

Eventually, they backed up to the solitary door standing amidst the infinite white expanse of the Netherworld. Only then did they realize that entering a certain perimeter around this door created an invisible field of energy that shielded the portal — and, by extension, them — from the overwhelming pressure of the distant battle.

Thanks to this, the two were finally able to watch the awe-inspiring duel unfold to its conclusion.

Until the storm passed, or rather, until the battle ceased.

The terrifying aura that had blanketed the endless white plains finally began to dissipate, fading slowly into the still air.

The smell of scorched air lingered everywhere. The two fighters' incredible speed, combined with the friction of their relentless ki clashes, had raised the temperature sharply, while chaotic airflow only intensified the effect.

Although the battle had ended, the surrounding temperature and electromagnetic fields remained unstable. If an ordinary person were to approach that area now, there would only be one outcome: their brain's electrical activity would be disrupted, leaving them an imbecile. Additionally, the moisture in their body would evaporate almost instantly, leaving them as a desiccated corpse — or perhaps a roasted one.

Both Taro and the Grand Kai, however, could seal their body's pores to prevent water loss. As for the extreme heat, it was negligible to such supreme warriors. Their bodies were not only incredibly resilient, but their ki and biological energy offered further protection. Environmental temperatures, unless at the level of a star's surface, posed no threat to them.

From the swirling aura in the distance emerged two figures, one tall and one short — who else but Taro and the Grand Kai, the combatants of that earth-shattering battle?

Taro's clothes were in tatters from the fight, while the Grand Kai's attire — likely made of some divine material, given its status as a god's uniform — remained completely unscathed.

"A galactic level of power… one hundred million in battle power… Even in the ancient cosmos, among the endless sands of mortal races, that was a tremendous threshold," the Grand Kai remarked as he stepped out of the scorching zone. Exhausted, he plopped onto the ground with a sigh.

This battle had allowed him to thoroughly gauge Taro's strength, comprehend the intricacies of the Muken, and understand the bottleneck and challenges Taro currently faced with it.

Taro, on the other hand, appeared largely unaffected. Thanks to his God tree constitution, his recovery abilities were astonishing, and his stamina seemed boundless — he was practically a perpetual motion machine in human form. By now, his Muken had caught up to the progress of his ocular abilities, even integrating techniques like shaping ki into martial arts without relying on his Nine Tomoe Rinnegan. As a result, he rarely activated his eyes anymore. Moving forward, it was unlikely he would ever face exhaustion in combat again.

(This was because his ocular abilities consumed a special type of mental energy, which, unlike physical stamina, had its limits. Once depleted, his combat effectiveness would drop significantly.)

"Yes. I can feel it as well. This barrier is indeed difficult to overcome," Taro nodded slightly in agreement.

Seeing the Grand Kai sitting there, Taro reached into his belongings and tossed him a senzu bean. Although his stock of senzu beans was running low, he rarely needed them himself — his divine tree constitution allowed him to recover naturally unless he suffered catastrophic injuries like a pierced heart or a partially shattered skull.

The Grand Kai caught the bean without hesitation, popped it into his mouth, and chewed. Instantly, his strength returned, and he stood up once more.

Glancing toward the gate in the distance, where Duan and Jiam stood watching in awe, the Grand Kai chuckled and walked over with Taro. After offering a few words of guidance, he provided the pair with directions and sent them through the partially open portal.

As the two departed, Taro suddenly asked, "Earlier, Grand Kai, you mentioned that the Frieza clan is a 'galactic-level' race from before the universe split. Does that mean this species is born capable of breaking the 100-million threshold?"

"Not necessarily. It's a generalization," the Grand Kai replied, shaking his head. "You must understand, there are always individual differences within a species. Among the Frieza clan, some individuals may not reach the galactic level even in adulthood, while others may surpass it at birth. It varies. The term 'galactic-level' simply refers to the average potential of their race."

Adjusting his sunglasses and stroking his beard, he added, "Of course, in the grand cosmos — oh, that's what I used to call the universe before it split — there were countless races. There were even those born at the cosmic level."

"Cosmic level? Born at the cosmic level?" Taro repeated the term twice, the mere sound of it conveying an overwhelming sense of power.

"Cosmic level… cosmic level…" he murmured. The implication seemed clear — it referred to power sufficient to dominate an entire universe. And not just the fragmented, smaller cosmos they now inhabited, but the original, vast, and infinite universe where countless races coexisted.

"Indeed…" The Grand Kai nodded, a hint of weariness in his tone. "I don't remember it too clearly, but such beings — if they existed — were likely mutations. In my memory, there was a race of rage incarnates in the grand cosmos. Occasionally, one of them would be born with the terrifying power of a cosmic-level being."