Winners

A glowing fist grew larger and larger before Mary Sue.

However, just as Mary Sue had punched through Zhang Wutian's afterimage earlier, Zhang Wutian's full-power strike passed through an afterimage of Mary Sue's as well.

Moving at incredible speed, Mary Sue had left an afterimage where she stood, while her real body had already darted to the other side.

"Heh, just as I expected."

But Zhang Wutian was the one laughing.

When two fighters were evenly matched, using your head became the surest way to gain the upper hand. Zhang Wutian had deliberately used a technique similar to the Afterimage Strike to dodge Mary Sue's attacks. He had gambled that after seeing it, she would use a similar technique to counterattack.

This plan hinged on Zhang Wutian's understanding of Mary Sue—or, more accurately, Master Roshi. He knew Master Roshi had a technique like this, so he had deliberately steered her toward using it.

The moment Mary Sue used the Afterimage Strike to evade his attack, Zhang Wutian abruptly pulled back his fist and pivoted on his planted foot. The force of his step nearly shattered the arena stones as he swung around to face Mary Sue. Then the finishing move he had been building up burst forth.

"Got you!!"

A round ki blast shot from Zhang Wutian's fist. Unlike the flashy but impractical Kamehameha from earlier, this was a technique he had mastered through countless trials. It didn't look like much, but it suited him perfectly and let him unleash 100/100 of his fighting power.

The ball, about the size of a watermelon, flew toward Mary Sue. In theory, he should have been able to compress it further to give it greater power, but he still couldn't do so reliably. His failed attempt at Korin Tower was a good example of what happened when he forced it. In a real fight, Zhang Wutian rarely insisted on producing the perfect attack. This was already enough.

Mary Sue had only just finished using the Afterimage Strike and was still locked in place. Staring in shock at the ki blast hurtling toward her, she knew she couldn't dodge. Her only option was to defend herself.

With no other choice, Mary Sue crossed her arms over her chest and took the attack head-on.

"Ooooooh!!" With a shout, Mary Sue was driven backward by Zhang Wutian's ki blast. The tournament arena was thoroughly wrecked. After enduring one destructive blow after another, its surface was now gouged by two deep furrows.

Mary Sue poured out all the ki she could to resist the blast's force, while working to adjust the angle of her arms. Just before she was pushed off the ring, she finally deflected the ki blast and sent it into the sky.

The ki blast flew upward. About three seconds later, Zhang Wutian released his control over it. Its unstable energy erupted in a massive explosion. A blinding flash engulfed the sky above the tournament grounds, creating a scene like the heavens themselves had collapsed. Every spectator instinctively covered their eyes.

Mary Sue had just deflected the blast and hadn't yet recovered her strength, but she sensed the danger concealed beneath the explosion.

Zhang Wutian was coming.

Mary Sue shook her arms, but in the end she couldn't raise them.

The earlier defense had consumed too much of her ki and pushed her arms beyond their limits, leaving them temporarily numb and immobile.

A flying kick struck Mary Sue in the chest, sending her—unguarded at the edge of the ring—flying off the platform.

When the spectators recovered from the blast, they were astonished to find Zhang Wutian standing alone on the ring. Mary Sue had landed outside it.

"Th-the winner is... Zhang Wutian!!!!!"

The announcer seemed to recover faster than anyone else and used his voice to whip the crowd into a frenzy.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the champion of the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament has been decided! It's the young Zhang Wutian! He defeated Mary Sue to claim the title, making him the world's greatest martial artist!"

"Heh, the footsteps of a new age have passed me by and moved on ahead..." Below the ring, a wistful smile appeared on Mary Sue's face.

Taking advantage of the crowd's excitement, she slipped into an unoccupied corner.

The next moment, her body changed dramatically. Her curvaceous young figure gradually shrank, until she had become a short, plump old woman.

"My, my, I really am getting old. I'm aching all over after just that little bit. At this rate, I'll never catch the eye of a handsome young man..." She patted her back and, once again in Master Roshi's form, strolled leisurely toward the stands.

On the ring, Zhang Wutian was giving an interview amid the cheers.

"How does it feel to be the world's greatest martial artist?"

"The world's greatest? I still have a long way to go. There's no end to the path of martial arts. My journey has only just begun."

"How humble of you."

The announcer had only gotten halfway through his sentence when Son Wukong charged onto the ring.

She threw herself against Zhang Wutian, wrapped her arms around him, and laughed delightedly. "That was amazing, Zhang Wutian! You're the champion!"

"Congratulations on becoming world champion." Krillin walked over as well. His chest still ached a little, but he nevertheless expressed his respect for Zhang Wutian as a strong fighter.

"Thanks." Zhang Wutian smiled at Krillin, then pulled Son Wukong off him and held her up in front of himself. "Quit squirming. You're all sweaty, and it's too hot with you pressed against me."

"Hehehe." Dangling in front of Zhang Wutian, Son Wukong grinned. She was clearly sincerely happy that he had won the championship.

Seeing how delighted Son Wukong was, the expression on Zhang Wutian's face softened. Then he smiled too. Unlike the polite smile he had given Krillin, this one came straight from the heart.

"Are you hungry? I'll take you out to eat."

"Yeah!" Son Wukong answered without hesitation. For a Saiyan, the only things that could rival getting stronger and fighting were probably eating.

"You can come too, along with the rest of our friends," Zhang Wutian said to Krillin.

"Is that all right?"

"Of course. The tournament prize money is more than enough to treat everyone to a meal."

After Zhang Wutian accepted the 500,000 prize money from the announcer, the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament finally came to a close.

The group—which included Son Wukong, Krillin, Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong, Puar, and Master Roshi in her old-woman form—then headed to a nearby Chinese restaurant, where they proceeded to gorge themselves.

Although the tournament had used up a lot of energy, Zhang Wutian still couldn't eat several times his body weight in food the way Son Wukong could.

So, by the end of the meal, the whole thing had basically turned into a one-woman show starring Son Wukong.

Just after picking up a chicken leg and taking a bite, Son Wukong suddenly stopped. She looked at Zhang Wutian, who had already put down his chopsticks and was sitting off to the side, and asked in confusion, "Zhang Wutian, aren't you eating?"

"I'm full."

"That won't do!" Son Wukong frowned. "How can you get stronger if you don't eat? Have some more. Come on, open wide."

As she spoke, she held the chicken leg she had bitten into up to Zhang Wutian's mouth.

"Son Wukong is actually paying attention to someone else while eating? There's definitely something going on," Bulma remarked.

"No, the really amazing thing is that she's sharing her food with someone else," said Oolong, who had traveled with Son Wukong all the way there. "This makes no sense."

Looking at the chicken leg held out to him, still marked with her teeth, Zhang Wutian laughed helplessly. With a resigned expression, he took another bite, covering the spot Son Wukong had bitten.

"Hehe..." Seeing that she had managed to feed him, Son Wukong smiled happily. She bit the chicken leg, covering Zhang Wutian's bite with her own teeth marks, then held it out to him again.

Zhang Wutian could only take another bite.

The two of them went back and forth like that, and in no time at all, the chicken leg had become a bone.

"So dazzling! I can't even keep my eyes open!" Oolong covered his eyes, looking jealous.

"Bulma, maybe we should too..." Yamcha suggested.

"No, let's not..." Bulma's face was a little red, but she still turned down the suggestion Yamcha hadn't finished voicing. It was just too embarrassing. She wasn't some mountain monkey girl!

"..." Watching the two of them, Krillin suddenly felt that the world was full of malice. Maybe he really should take refuge in the Buddha after all.

"Father and daughter, huh..." Master Roshi smiled knowingly, surveying Zhang Wutian with the satisfied gaze of someone looking at a son-in-law.