The World Martial Arts Tournament

Jiang Yun, deep in thought, suddenly raised his head. His eyes practically glowed as he continued to voice his theories.

"Right! In the original story, Dende's Healing Art consumed his own energy. It wasn't like mine, which I can use almost endlessly. The energy he used to heal someone was permanently consumed."

Jiang Yun kept explaining his ideas, like a top student from his previous life solving one impossibly difficult math problem after another.

He seemed almost possessed as he continued, "What if the energy I transform could replace the life force of the person being treated? Instead of stimulating their cells, I could guide them to regenerate. Rather than consuming the patient's own energy, I'd use the special energy I transformed myself. That would let me heal people just like Dende!"

Great!

That was it! This approach really could work!

Jiang Yun quickly began testing it. Using the energy he had transformed into the same green healing energy Dende used, he stopped stimulating the cells and instead infused them with the energy to guide their regeneration. During the process,

Jiang Yun found that the energy consumption was ten times greater than before. But that wasn't a problem, since the previous treatment barely consumed any energy, and it had recovered almost instantly.

After testing it on plants, Jiang Yun moved on to animals. He found that treating animals consumed slightly more energy than treating plants, and the amount varied depending on the severity of the injury. This reminded him of the law of conservation of energy. It seemed his experiment had succeeded.

Next came human trials. Jiang Yun believed they were essential. Otherwise, if his skill had little or no effect on people when he eventually put it to use, that could be disastrous.

Jiang Yun didn't know how effective it would be on people, or whether those skilled in using ki could heal themselves.

He simply slashed his own arm. Blood immediately ran down it. With one hand, Jiang Yun covered the wound with his transformed energy. He felt a tingling sensation in his arm, and after a while the wound became smooth, as if it had never been there.

After that, Jiang Yun tested the skill on several Martial Alliance disciples. Every one of them was astonished that ki could actually heal injuries.

Bu Chen even said, "Alliance Leader, can we learn this? If we master this skill, we won't have to worry about getting hurt."

Bu Fan scratched his head and said sheepishly, "I want to learn it too. If I master this, I won't have to worry about being disabled anymore. That'd be awesome! It's such a great way to show off!"

The others all said they wanted to learn it too. It was an incredibly useful skill!

"Hahaha, you can all learn it. I developed this skill mainly so you could learn it. We need to train our own medical staff. Members who aren't very talented can work as full-time medics, and we'll give them better pay."

Jiang Yun said happily, "We can't always rely on Senzu Beans and medical machines. You can't exactly carry medical equipment around with you when you're fighting."

As Jiang Yun thought this, his mind kept returning to what Bu Fan had just said: not having to worry about being disabled. Right! He decided to name the skill Healing Art for now.

The skill guided cells to regenerate. Even a severed hand could be regrown to its original shape. It would simply consume more energy than basic healing, since regrowing an arm meant producing a lot more cells, which naturally required more energy.

Jiang Yun was already thinking about making a fortune with this skill someday.

No! He'd be helping the public!

But it would take a lot of people. Jiang Yun even considered preserving the healing method outside his own body, but that would be a major research project in itself. He'd need to find people to study it. His thoughts had already jumped ahead to the future, but that was still a long way off. Never mind—he could look into it later.

Jiang Yun was thinking about the upcoming World Martial Arts Tournament. Goku was about to make his entrance, and the tournament would be a good chance to put the Martial Alliance's new generation through their paces. He didn't expect them to get good results. Taking part and broadening their horizons would be worthwhile enough.

Meanwhile, the Turtle Hermit and the others had brought Goku and Krillin to the venue. Goku and Krillin, dressed in little suits, had arrived at the World Martial Arts Tournament.

Looking at the enormous venue, the Turtle Hermit couldn't help feeling astonished. The tournaments of previous years couldn't compare to this one. With the Martial Alliance's publicity, it had become a massive event that ranked among the biggest in the world. Not just martial artists had come; plenty of people involved in other forms of fighting had been drawn by the enormous prize money.

The event was still being held on Papaya Island, and the Announcer was the same man who loved martial arts. Jiang Yun thought it was a shame that someone like him didn't practice martial arts himself, so he had decided to bring the Announcer back with him after the tournament.

Looking at the crowds streaming through the venue, Goku exclaimed that he had never seen so many people in one place before.

Bulma explained, "It's so lively because the Martial Alliance is sponsoring the event. They've even increased the prize money. The champion will win fifty million!"

Everyone was instantly captivated by the amount Bulma mentioned. They began imagining what life would be like if they won, dollar signs practically flashing in their eyes.

The Turtle Hermit wondered how many of the latest magazines he could buy with that much money. His face immediately flushed. Yamcha imagined himself surrounded by beautiful women, while Krillin pictured luxury cars and women lining up to date him. Come on, little bald guy!

Seeing everyone lost in their fantasies, Bulma couldn't help shouting, "Wake up! What are you all thinking about?"

Bulma put her hands on her hips, clearly aware of what everyone had in mind.

Everyone came to their senses. Seeing their expressions, Goku looked up at Bulma in confusion and asked, "Bulma, what are you talking about? Why are you acting so weird?"

Goku scratched his head, looking completely puzzled.

Bulma covered her face with one hand, looking exasperated. "It's an adult matter. Kids shouldn't concern themselves with it!"

Everyone burst out laughing, leaving Goku scratching his head in confusion.

Getting back to the point, Bulma was telling everyone how the Martial Alliance had risen to prominence. At first, they hadn't thought much of it, assuming it was just a fighting association with a bit of money.

But when Bulma mentioned that the Martial Alliance had once defeated the Crane School, the Turtle Hermit's expression suddenly turned serious. Other people might not know, but surely the Turtle Hermit did.

The Crane School was the school of his old rival, Master Shen. The Martial Alliance had actually defeated Master Shen and his people. Their character might have been poor, but they were quite skilled.

Bulma continued, "Back then, that so-called world's strongest assassin, Mercenary Tao, showed up. He really did take down a lot of Martial Alliance disciples, but then someone appeared and stood in his way. That person still couldn't beat Mercenary Tao, though. Then the Martial Alliance's Vice Alliance Leader came out of nowhere and defeated him in one fell swoop. Come to think of it, Mercenary Tao was pretty pathetic. How could he still call himself the world's strongest assassin after that?"

The Martial Alliance was hugely popular in West City, so Bulma had naturally heard some of the stories. But she wasn't part of the martial arts world, so she had no idea just how formidable Mercenary Tao really was!