Realm of the God of Destruction.
Beerus was sent flying.
The moment Son Gohan lost his target, his mind snapped out of that mysterious state of enlightenment.
"Huh… my strength went up again. Figures nothing beats a good fight for power-ups," Gohan muttered to himself.
Seeing him wake up, Beerus grinned savagely.
"Heh. Since you're awake… don't blame me for what happens next."
While Gohan had been in that trance, Beerus had been in a tough spot.
If he didn't fight seriously, he'd lose face.
If he did fight seriously and put Gohan down, he might interrupt that enlightenment.
"Lord Beerus? What do you whoa!!"
Before Gohan could finish, a brutal force slammed into him, blasting him hundreds of kilometers away.
He spat out a huge mouthful of blood.
Boom!
He had just started to push himself back up when another heavy blow crashed into him. The iron-hard fist made his vision go white.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Hmph! You little brat, making me lose that much face," Beerus snarled as he vented his anger with his fists.
"You hit way too hard…" Gohan dropped back into his base form and clutched his chest, grimacing.
"No wonder you look down on the God of Destruction's inheritance. You've already got Rules even better than what we use." Beerus' expression turned serious. "Kid, not bad."
"Hehe, you flatter me," Gohan scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.
"Hmph. Be too modest and it just turns into hypocrisy," Beerus snorted.
The two of them slowly walked back toward Whis and the others.
"Whis, take them inside," Beerus said, pointing at Goku and the rest. "I've got something to tell you both."
"As you wish, Lord Beerus."
Whis turned to Son Goku and the others.
"You'll be training inside the space within my staff. The environment there is much more suitable for comprehending divine power and refining godly ki. As for you three " he pointed at Goku, Vegeta, and Broly " I'll give you each a portion of divine power. If you can evolve it through transformations like the Saiyans, that would be ideal. If you can't, then you'll have to raise your ki itself to the divine level. God Realm ki…"
He began carefully explaining the difference between godly ki and divine power, how one was refined battle energy and the other was Rule-level force.
"Oh, right. Dad, you should teach Uncle Krillin the Kaio-ken," Gohan suddenly said. "His body and his martial arts foundation fit it way better. When he died and went to King Kai, the time between death and revival was too short. He never got to fully learn it."
"Got it, Gohan," Goku replied.
"All right, everyone beep."
A soft light flashed from Whis' staff.
In an instant, everyone except Whis, Beerus, and Gohan vanished.
"Lord Beerus, if there's nothing else, I'll head back to Earth," Gohan said. Now that he'd achieved his goal, he was eager to return and focus on fusing the Rules of Life and Death.
That fusion was insanely difficult and time was precious.
"Hold it."
Beerus narrowed his eyes. "Hey, Whis. That thing he did just now, isn't it…?"
Whis shook his head. "Not quite. It resembles it, but if he keeps developing down that path, he should be able to reach it."
"Master, Lord Beerus what are you two being so cryptic about? Can you just say it plainly?" Gohan asked, confused.
"You realized you were in a state of enlightenment just now, right?" Beerus asked.
"Yeah. I suddenly started remembering a lot of things from before," Gohan nodded.
"And when you were attacking Lord Beerus just now," Whis cut in, "were you doing it consciously, or unconsciously?"
"Unconsciously, I guess. The moment I put my hand on him, it was like my body auto-triggered, sensed the danger on its own, and picked the most effective response."
As he said it, Gohan's heart jumped, and five big words flashed in his mind: Ultra Instinct, Autonomous Movement.
"Hehe. Seems you've had more than a few 'coincidental opportunities' aside from my teaching," Whis smiled.
"It's not really fate or anything. I just picked up a bunch of martial arts moves on Earth," Gohan said casually.
Naturally, he wasn't about to admit that the Taichi he'd used came from his memories of his previous life.
"Son Gohan," Beerus asked, tone serious, "do you know about God Techniques?"
"I've heard a little," Gohan nodded. "God Techniques… Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego. One focuses on the body's reactions, the other on handling energy."
"Exactly," Whis said. "Ultra Instinct is a state where you cut your thinking out of the loop. The body moves on its own defending, evading, attacking as needed. In battle, every punch, every dodge, usually goes through your brain first. Your mind gives the command; your body follows. On a macro scale, that delay is minuscule. But on a micro scale, it's still wasted time. Ultra Instinct removes that step. The body acts first."
He paused, then added, "Of course, achieving that is incredibly difficult. At a minimum, your body needs a huge database of techniques to draw from."
As Whis finished, Beerus picked up the thread.
"Ultra Instinct can be learned by Gods of Destruction, angels, even mortals at least in theory. Plenty of people have a chance at it. But Ultra Ego is different."
He looked Gohan in the eye.
"Ultra Ego is built on the foundation of Hakai, the Power of Destruction. Your body uses damage and incoming energy as nourishment your Hakai breaks down the structure of that force and returns it to the most primal energy, which then gets absorbed and becomes your own. Strength, power, endless."
Beerus frowned slightly.
"But that technique has a flaw there's a limit. Your body can only withstand so much. Once the power of the opponent's attacks exceeds your tolerance, you will get hurt. That's why most Gods of Destruction who master Ultra Ego still go and learn Ultra Instinct afterward. Between attack and survival, survival comes first."
After listening to them both, Gohan's understanding of Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego deepened considerably.
"So what you're saying is… what I did just now is related to Ultra Instinct?" his eyes lit up.
"That's right," Beerus said. "You didn't move like full Ultra Instinct, where the body dodges on its own without you thinking. But you did choose the most effective counter, using weakness against strength. If you keep developing along that path, you've got a real shot at mastering it. You get what we're hinting at now, right? Most Gods of Destruction don't even have Ultra Instinct."
His eyes shone with a rare excitement.
"Master Whis, you definitely know it, right?" Gohan asked.
"Oh-ho-ho, of course. Not just me every angel has already achieved Perfect Ultra Instinct. We can trigger it freely, even outside of battle," Whis said, smiling.
"Master Whis, then please teach me!"
Gohan instantly gave up on the idea of heading back to Earth.
The fusion of Life and Death was too difficult. It made more sense to master Ultra Instinct first.
"Very well. If you want to learn Ultra Instinct, you'll need a huge amount of actual combat. During this period, you'll be sparring with me. I'll also use Ultra Instinct myself, so you can experience it up close."
"Aaaahhh… now I'm getting sleepy again. Time for a nap. Wake me when Vegeta and Broly come out of training," Beerus yawned hard and shuffled back toward his palace.
"Understood, Lord Beerus," Whis replied calmly.
And so, Son Gohan stayed behind on the Realm of the God of Destruction
stepping onto a brand-new path of training.