The 22nd Martial Arts Tournament Starts Early

Zhang Wutian appeared in a desolate, sparsely populated mountainous region, with only a few patches of greenery dotting the barren landscape.

It was certain that this was still Earth, and there didn't seem to be any noteworthy dangers, so Zhang Wutian opened a portal once more to bring Son Wukong over.

"Can we go see Grandpa and the other Krillin?" Son Wukong didn't seem to grasp the situation yet. Because the process of entering the black hole to reach the other side was the same, she assumed this was still the world of the Evil Son Goku they had previously encountered.

"No, this isn't the same world as before. While it's possible to see similar people here, they are completely different existences from those we met in the past. You can think of this as Parallel World Number Two."

Son Wukong tilted her head, looking at Zhang Wutian with a blank expression.

"In short, the Krillin you train with is Krillin Number One, the Krillin we met in Evil Son Goku's world was Krillin Number Two, and if we happen to run into a Krillin here, he'll be Krillin Number Three!"

Zhang Wutian explained it in the simplest way possible. After hearing his explanation, Son Wukong finally nodded, seemingly understanding.

Then, the two took flight and began to explore the world.

After flying all the way to the Northern City on the edge of the mountain range and gathering various pieces of information, Zhang Wutian finally confirmed the nature of this world.

"It really is the Dragon Ball World."

A certain keyword he saw in the newspaper helped him confirm this.

"The 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament is about to begin? That's interesting. The timeline of this world is two years ahead of ours. Could this be the original Dragon Ball World? Will I be able to see the authentic Kakarot this time?"

After pondering the newspaper for a moment, Zhang Wutian said to Son Wukong, "It seems we'll meet many familiar faces here. Do you want to go see them?"

"Yeah, it should be fun to see the looks on their faces." Having already experienced something similar in the world of the Evil Son Goku, Son Wukong was well-versed in this.

"Alright, then we'll enter the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament and give them a scare."

"Hehehe..." Thinking of the amusing scene, Son Wukong covered her mouth and giggled.

The two resupplied a little, calculated the date, and flew toward the venue of the World Martial Arts Tournament.

They arrived at the venue right on time for the tournament. Although they had arrived quite early, the place was already packed with people and buzzing with noise, as lively as a festival. Having had the experience of participating once before, the two went to the registration desk and wrote down their names.

"Zhang Wutian and Son Wukong, is it?" Of course, the staff in this world didn't recognize Zhang Wutian, who had been the champion in another world, so they had no questions about his existence. However, when it was Son Wukong's turn to register, the staff member paused for a moment.

"Son Wukong? A girl? The name is quite similar to the previous champion's."

As he said this, the staff member looked up at Son Wukong standing beside Zhang Wutian, then said with a knowing look, "And the outfit is similar to the previous champion's, too. I get it, you're a fan of that champion, aren't you?"

"Who is this previous champion you're talking about?"

"The previous champion, Son Goku, of course!" The staff member gave Zhang Wutian a strange look, seemingly unable to understand why a companion of a fan-imitator wouldn't know the name of the previous champion. "In the last tournament, Son Goku won with an overwhelming advantage. He is recognized as the strongest of all the past champions."

Zhang Wutian continued to ask, "Who was Son Goku's opponent in the finals of the last tournament? Was it Master Jackie Chun?"

The staff member replied, "That's right, it was that old gentleman."

Giving up his spot to the person behind him, Zhang Wutian led Son Wukong into the contestants' tunnel.

As they walked, Zhang Wutian thought to himself, Son Goku defeated Master Roshi? I can tentatively assume that was a low-probability, freak occurrence. I still can't be certain if this is the original Dragon Ball World, but since both Son Goku and Master Roshi are here, the plot shouldn't deviate too drastically even if it changes. Living in this era, Wukong and I, who possess combat power that completely surpasses Old King Piccolo, should be able to dominate this tournament.

After randomly drawing their contestant numbers, Zhang Wutian and Son Wukong were assigned to two different brackets, so they parted ways for the time being, and Zhang Wutian went to his bracket alone.

"Contestant Zhang Wutian, please step onto the ring."

Zhang Wutian jumped onto the ring, saw the contestant standing opposite him, paused for a moment, and then smiled.

"Yamcha? I didn't expect my opponent to be you."

Of course, the Yamcha of this world couldn't possibly know Zhang Wutian, but having participated in the previous World Martial Arts Tournament, he naturally assumed Zhang Wutian must have known him from back then. He smiled and said, "Hello, let's make this quick."

Looking at the slightly arrogant Yamcha, Zhang Wutian chuckled and took his stance.

"As you wish."

The Yamcha of this world was not his friend, so Zhang Wutian could strike without any reservations.

"The match begins!!"

At the referee's command, Zhang Wutian suddenly vanished and appeared right in front of Yamcha.

"Borrowing the wind to send you to the clouds!"

Zhang Wutian threw a punch, stopping it precisely in front of Yamcha's chest.

The next moment, the violent gust of wind from the punch blew Yamcha away, knocking him off the ring.

Yamcha fell onto the floor outside the ring with a look of disbelief. He never expected that, after boasting to Tien Shinhan of the Crane School that he would teach him a lesson in the finals, he would fail to even pass the preliminaries. This... was too embarrassing!

"So... so strong! How could this be? Who exactly are you?"

"I'm your opponent in the preliminaries," Zhang Wutian said with a smile. "My name is Zhang Wutian, nice to meet you."

Leaving the bewildered Yamcha behind, Zhang Wutian took advantage of a break in the matches to slip over to the ring where Wukong was.

Wukong was fighting an unfamiliar extra. The opponent was clearly not in the same league as her, and within a few moves, he was tossed off the ring.

"I won, Zhang Wutian."

"Well done." Zhang Wutian patted Son Wukong's head and said, "I ran into Yamcha just now. It seems this world shouldn't be much different from ours. Did you see anyone you know?"

Son Wukong nodded and said, "I think I saw Krillin in the distance."

"Did you see anyone who looks like you, like that Evil Son Goku?"

Wukong shook her head.

At this very moment, a discordant voice drifted from behind Zhang Wutian.

"Turtle Hermit School fellows are everywhere. Is this little girl also a disciple of the Turtle Hermit School?"

At fourteen and a half, Wukong's body had begun to mature, so unlike when she was a child, others could now tell at a glance that she was a girl.

Because she was wearing the Turtle Hermit School's martial arts uniform, Wukong was clearly mistaken for a disciple of the Turtle Hermit School in this world.

Tien Shinhan, who loathed the Turtle Hermit due to his own sect's history, walked over from behind Zhang Wutian.

"Tien Shinhan?" In the Evil Son Goku's world, the Tien Shinhan there had become a man of few words after witnessing the deaths of his master and junior fellow apprentice, but this Tien Shinhan appeared much more hot-blooded and aggressive.

"I don't think verbal disputes are meaningful. If there are grudges, let's settle them in the ring." Having trained and fought side-by-side with the other Tien Shinhan, Zhang Wutian was unwilling to quarrel with this one, even though they weren't the same person, out of respect for the other. Thus, he replied indifferently.

"Are you also a disciple of the Turtle Hermit School?"

"No, I am not."

"Is that so..." Tien Shinhan scrutinized Zhang Wutian and then said, "Your spirit is decent, but you need the strength to match it. You were right about one thing: martial artists should seek victory in battle. If you can make it to the finals, I will let you witness the power of the Crane School. By then, you will understand how foolish it is to associate with those from the Turtle Hermit School."

"This Tien Shinhan seems to hate me," Wukong said, puzzled, after Tien Shinhan had left.

"Because he is a disciple of the Crane School. The Crane School is naturally at odds with your Turtle Hermit School. This is how a proper Tien Shinhan should act; the one we met before had actually gone astray," Zhang Wutian explained.

Afterward, the preliminaries resumed. Zhang Wutian went through a few more battles, though he did not encounter any familiar faces this time. After easily defeating his opponents, he earned the qualification to enter the final rounds.

Son Wukong, on the other side, did the same; after knocking down a few passersby, she successfully advanced to the finals.

In the end, eight contestants stood out and gathered before the Announcer to determine the tournament bracket via a drawing.

The contestants who entered the finals were Zhang Wutian, Son Wukong, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, Krillin, Son Goku, King Chappa, and Pamput.

Setting aside the latter two minor characters, the others were all familiar faces to Zhang Wutian.

However, the moment he saw the Son Goku of this world, Zhang Wutian suddenly froze, turning to stone.

To Zhang Wutian, the Son Goku of this world was indeed very familiar: the signature spiky black hair, the arrogant sneer, the sharp gaze, all paired with a Turtle Hermit School uniform that looked completely out of place on this boy—everything pointed to a cruel reality.

This was no orthodox Dragon Ball World! How far off the rails could the timeline go for something like this to happen? Everything was in complete chaos!!