Hearing someone scream ‘three-eyed baldy’ didn’t sit well with Tien.
It was just a blatant insult.
Beside him, Chiaotzu was equally displeased; an insult to Tien was an insult to him.
They both looked at the woman, but neither recognized her.
After all, the last time they saw her, she was just a little girl.
People change a lot growing up, let alone over the course of decades.
Setting their annoyance aside, Tien and Chiaotzu floated over to Alex and bowed respectfully.
“Master.”
Alex pointed to a neatly folded pile of clothes on the ground.
“Put those on.” He had anticipated that surviving the time chamber would leave them looking like they’d been dragged through a meat grinder.
“Yes, Master!”
Grabbing the clothes, the two darted into the dojo.
A few moments later, they emerged in fresh martial arts gis.
Before Alex could even say a word, Yurin shrieked again.
“Three-eyed baldy!
Prepare to die!”
Tien frowned.
Why did this random woman keep calling him that?
He had never even seen her before, much less done anything to offend her.
But looking closer, there was something vaguely familiar about her.
“Who are you?” Tien asked, genuinely confused.
“And why do you keep calling me that?
Isn’t it a bit rude?”
‘Could she be a friend of Master’s?’ Tien wondered.
‘No, Master wouldn’t associate with someone so deeply impolite.’
Seeing that Tien still hadn’t recognized her, Yurin’s fury boiled over.
It was obvious he had completely wiped her from his memory.
Her face flushed bright red as she screamed, “You really did forget me, you jerk!”
Tien blinked.
‘Wait, have we actually met before?
Why can’t I remember?’
Alex finally chimed in, tossing out a hint.
“Back at the Crane School.
The three of you trained under Master Shen together.”
That sparked a memory.
Tien finally recalled a fierce little girl running around the Crane School grounds.
Looking closely at the woman now, the resemblance was definitely there.
‘Wait, what was her name again…?’ Tien’s mind blanked.
Beside him, Chiaotzu gasped.
Is that you, Yurin?”
Tien’s eyes widened in realization.
Right, Yurin!
This grown woman in front of him was actually that little girl from their past.
Talk about a glow-up.
Seeing the shock on Tien’s face, Yurin felt a spark of smug satisfaction, her heart fluttering just a bit.
“That’s right!
I’m Yurin!”
‘I bet you’re regretting not taking me with you now, aren’t you?’ she thought triumphantly, subconsciously straightening her posture to show off her impressive curves.
“What are you doing all the way out here?” Tien asked, tilting his head.
Alex mentally facepalmed.
‘Is he seriously that dense?
Can’t he tell she’s desperately in love with him?’
Then again, if Tien actually picked up on those kinds of signals, he wouldn’t have been single his whole life.
Even Krillin had managed to score a beautiful, badass Android wife, while Tien had literally nothing going on in the romance department.
Yurin clenched her fists in frustration.
There was no way she was going to admit her real feelings out loud.
Instead, she pointed fiercely at him.
“I’m here to take your life!”
“Huh?” Tien just looked bewildered.
‘What on earth did I do to deserve that?’
Done talking, Yurin whipped out another paper talisman with a sharp flick of her wrist.
“Your so-called master told me I wasn’t a match for you!
Well, I’m going to show him exactly who’s stronger today!”
She began her chant.
“Rin!
Pyo!
Lightning!”
The paper instantly combusted, burning to ash in the blink of an eye.
It was the exact same magical attack she had tried to use on Alex.
Above Tien’s head, dark, oppressive thunderclouds rapidly coalesced, rumbling with volatile energy.
Tien saw right through the parlor trick.
Even before his training, this wouldn’t have been a problem.
But now?
After enduring the Super Hyperbolic Time Chamber and awakening the first stage of the Three-Eyed Celestial Bloodline?
He was on an entirely different level.
Seeing Tien standing completely still, Yurin grinned smugly, assuming he was paralyzed by fear.
‘Just stand there and get fried into a crisp, you three-eyed baldy!’
She violently slashed her right hand downward.
CRACK!
A massive, thick bolt of lightning tore out of the clouds, plunging straight toward Tien’s head.
Tien casually raised a hand and fired a quick, effortless ki blast into the air.
BOOM!
The golden energy didn’t just obliterate the lightning bolt; it punched straight through the dark clouds above, scattering the storm entirely.
A gentle breeze blew past, erasing any trace of her magic.
Yurin staggered back, absolute shock washing over her.
Her hands trembled as she stared at Tien with wide, watery eyes.
She couldn’t believe it.
He had effortlessly swatted away her ultimate technique with a basic ki blast!
Tien looked at her, his expression calm and unreadable.
He could sense her energy—her power level was only in the low tens of thousands.
Did she really think she could fight him with that kind of strength?
Not a chance.
He wasn’t the same martial artist he was yesterday.
He was now a Three-Eyed Celestial.
“Yurin, you are no match for me,” Tien said plainly.
“You need to focus on your training.”
The magic lightning was her trump card.
Seeing it dismantled so easily forced her to accept a harsh reality—she really was no match for him.
But she refused to swallow her pride.
She had put herself through decades of brutal training just to make him suffer, just to make him regret abandoning her!
She wasn’t going to roll over and give up now.
Gritting her teeth, she snatched another talisman from her pouch.
Her eyes darted from Alex, whom she knew she couldn’t touch, directly to Chiaotzu.
With a burst of speed, she lunged at the floating psychic, aiming to slap the talisman right onto his forehead.
If she could just land the tag, she could turn him into her personal puppet!
Alex knew exactly what that talisman did.
In the original timeline, Master Roshi had fallen victim to it—though, to be fair, Roshi was a massive pervert whose defenses dropped to zero the moment a pretty girl flashed him.
Alex didn’t even bother warning Chiaotzu.
With the little guy’s newly boosted power level, dodging an attack like that was literal child’s play.
Chiaotzu watched Yurin charge at him, thoroughly confused.
‘Why is she suddenly attacking me?’
Whatever her reasons were, he wasn’t about to just let her slap a weird piece of paper on his head.
With a casual burst of flight, he easily sidestepped her lunge, floating high out of reach.
Yurin gasped, staring up at Chiaotzu in horror.
If she remembered correctly, Chiaotzu used to be incredibly weak—weaker than her, even!
But right now?
The speed he just displayed proved he was vastly stronger than her too.
‘That’s completely absurd!’ she thought frantically.