The World Martial Arts Tournament preliminaries were in full swing. There were as many as 138 contestants, and the arena area was divided into four sections, each of which would select two contestants to advance to the quarterfinals.
Wumu was assigned to Section A, Son Goku to Section B, and Krillin to Section C, while Yamcha and Jackie Chun were in Section D.
Each arena could send two contestants through, so as long as Yamcha did not run into Jackie Chun, everything would be fine.
"Number twelve wins! Now, contestants thirteen and fourteen, please enter the ring!"
(⊙o⊙)?
The referee's voice came through the loudspeaker, and Wumu knew it was his turn.
Wumu took a deep breath, loosened up a little, and walked toward the ring.
His opponent made a flashy entrance, somersaulting into the ring in a tight outfit, sporting an afro.
As soon as he entered, he began shouting, looking exceedingly arrogant.
"Hahaha! My opponent is a soft little brat like you? Get down from here, or I'll beat you until you run home crying to Mommy!"
"Number thirteen sure is lucky. His first opponent is just a little kid."
Hearing his opponent's taunts, Wumu remained expressionless. He could shut him up in a moment anyway, so he could not be bothered to waste words.
Whoosh!
Bam!
In an instant, a loud crash rang out. Before contestant thirteen could react, Wumu sent him flying out of the ring with a single punch, and he slammed heavily into the ground.
The entire venue fell silent. The spectators stared in astonishment, having completely failed to see Wumu's movements.
Wumu turned and walked off the ring, saying calmly to the referee, "Shouldn't you announce the result?"
The referee froze for a moment before coming to his senses. "Huh?! Oh, right! Number fourteen wins! Next pair, please enter the ring!"
(⊙o⊙)?
"Huh? What happened?!"
Everyone below the ring looked bewildered. How had the match ended so quickly?
Wumu stepped down, found a corner, and sat cross-legged, closing his eyes to rest.
An opponent like that posed no difficulty for him at all. He was basically still at the level of an ordinary person.
He would certainly not slowly feel them out the way Son Goku did.
He just needed the quarterfinalists to be decided quickly and to get a clear sense of his own strength. The later power-level system did not exist yet, so strength could only be judged by feel.
Wumu had a clear understanding of his own strength.
His National Martial Arts realms did not conflict with this world's Ki. Ki was the foundation, while his National Martial Arts realm increased his total amount of Ki.
Every breakthrough to a new realm would multiply his strength.
National Martial Arts realms: Ming Jin, Hidden Force, Transformation Force, Dan Jin, Outer Gang Jin, Inner Gang Jin, Breaking the Void and See the Indestructible God.
Breaking through to Hidden Force doubled his strength; each breakthrough doubled it from the previous realm.
Transformation Force meant four times the strength; Dan Jin, eight times; Outer Gang, sixteen times; Inner Gang, thirty-two times; Breaking the Void, sixty-four times; Seeing the God, 128 times.
If his initial power level at the Ming Jin stage had been around sixty, then after breaking through to Hidden Force, Wumu's power level had already reached around 120 to 130. Of course, this was only an estimate. His actual combat strength would still need to be confirmed through matches with Son Goku and the others.
Someone had estimated Son Goku's power level at this point when Wumu browsed Tieba in his previous life. It should have been roughly accurate: Master Roshi should have been around 137, and Son Goku around 120.
Wumu had no cheats. He could keep up with Son Goku early on through National Martial Arts, but once the Planet Namek arc arrived and Goku became a Super Saiyan, the gap would grow enormous. Breaking through a National Martial Arts realm would double his combat strength, so as long as he trained his base power well, those multipliers should keep him from falling off track.
"Sigh!" Wumu found this deeply troubling. Unlike other transmigrator predecessors, he had no system to help him kick the Grand Minister and punch Zeno after just two and a half years.
"I'd better just train honestly. At this stage, there's no way to increase my strength quickly. I can only wait for the Fruit of the Tree of Might to appear later, and for Planet Namek's Grand Elder to unlock my potential."
As for whether the Grand Elder would help unlock Wumu's potential, Wumu was not worried. He only needed to build a good relationship with Son Goku now and go with him on his adventure to Planet Namek when the time came.
"Go, Krillin!"
That familiar voice abruptly interrupted Wumu's thoughts.
He looked toward the voice and saw Son Goku standing below the ring in Section C, cupping his hands around his mouth and cheering loudly for Krillin.
In the ring, Krillin was facing off against his opponent.
The man was a senior fellow disciple from his temple, the one who had always bullied him.
Facing this opponent who had brought back his nightmares countless times, Krillin still felt a surge of fear and timidity.
"Those guys aren't strong! Krillin, take him out with one punch!"
At those words, Krillin's body began trembling involuntarily, and his legs started shaking too.
He knew Son Goku was cheering him on, but the fear in his heart could not be dispelled so easily.
Seeing Krillin's reaction, his senior fellow disciple gave a mocking smile. "Hehehe, not going to run away like before? Your improved courage does deserve some praise. Ahahaha! Then I won't hold back!"
With that, he assumed an opening stance, rushed at Krillin, and threw a punch.
Seeing the fist coming, Krillin instinctively jumped.
In midair, he was surprised to discover that he could actually dodge his senior fellow disciple's attack. This made him realize the results of his training under Master Roshi.
He immediately landed, then used the rebound from the ground to launch himself at his senior fellow disciple, kicking him in the chest.
In an instant, his senior fellow disciple flew out of the ring. All the other senior fellow disciples who had bullied Krillin at the temple stared at him in terror.
"N-number ninety-three wins!" the referee announced in astonishment.
Krillin jumped down from the ring, and Wumu and Son Goku immediately came over to meet him.
"See? I told you! After training with the old man, we've gotten stronger without even realizing it."
Son Goku struck a muscle-flexing pose, his face full of pride.
Seeing this, Wumu smiled slightly. "Congratulations, Krillin. You've overcome your own nightmare."
Krillin looked at his hands. Hearing Wumu's words, he thanked him, but he still stared at his hands in disbelief.
Wumu smiled and turned to Son Goku. "Goku, my next match is about to start. I'll head over first. Good luck, you two."
Without waiting for Son Goku to reply, Wumu walked toward the ring in Section A.
After that, the preliminary matches continued one after another, and Wumu advanced with an unbroken string of victories.
Meanwhile, Son Goku and the others also defeated opponent after opponent in the other rings, eventually all qualifying to compete in the World Martial Arts Tournament proper.
The eight contestants who qualified were Wumu, Son Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, Jackie Chun, Mr. Nam, who had struggled over a water shortage in the original story, Monster Giran, and the beautiful, purple-haired Miss Ranfan.
After the preliminaries ended, all eight quarterfinalists went to the tournament's main arena to wait. Then the dedicated blond referee who appeared throughout the entire series called out.
"All right, all contestants who will be competing, please gather here."
Once everyone had gathered around, he continued, "Now we'll draw lots to decide your opponents and the match order."
The results of the draw.
First match: Jackie Chun vs. Ranfan.
Second match: Son Goku vs. Giran.
Third match: Wumu vs. Nam.
Fourth match: Yamcha vs. Krillin.
Because of Wumu's inclusion, the match order had changed. Son Goku and Master Roshi would face each other early in the semifinals, while Wumu's side would depend on whether Krillin or Yamcha advanced.
This bald guy isn't simple either, Yamcha thought to himself, glancing at Krillin.
"It's settled. This is the lineup," the referee told them, following the procedure.
"There's no time limit. You fight until a winner is decided. Simply put... anyone who falls out of the ring or surrenders loses," the referee explained. "But there is one thing: attacks to the eyes or genitals are fouls."
As he spoke, he demonstrated with gestures.
Then, just as in the original story, Son Goku asked what genitals were, drawing a burst of laughter.
Afterward, the referee told them the tournament would begin soon and asked everyone to get ready here before going out shortly.
Since Son Goku was hungry, he asked the referee where he could eat, then ran off to get food.
The referee went to the ring to make preparations, leaving the others in the waiting room, some meditating and others practicing martial arts as they quietly awaited the start of the tournament.