Just as the Eagle Country was secretly preparing to transform its national park into a natural bomb, Li Xingkong stopped testing his Sword Control Technique, as the commotion was too great and inconvenient.
Meanwhile, in Divine Land, news about the first World Martial Arts Tournament has already begun to spread.
Although the name sounds a bit absurd, after all, who hasn't watched the famous Dragon Ball? When this competition was first proposed, everyone thought it was a joke.
The news was only released by the relevant official account, which then obtained official verification from all social media platforms within just half a day.
Well, the organizer of this competition is probably a post-90s generation. Only young people like these could come up with something like this.
After all, although the name of this martial arts tournament is familiar throughout the country, it doesn't actually have any copyright protection, and anyone can use it.
And this title is indeed useful.
Claims of no-rules fighting or boxing championships might not interest many people; they'd just glance at them and move on. But the mere mention of a competition name that originally belonged to a comic book piques everyone's curiosity, making them want to take a look.
On one hand, people wanted to see how this competition, adapted from a comic book, would be conducted in real life; on the other hand, the familiar name reminded many of their own youth, perhaps stirring up things that had been deeply buried in their hearts.
The simple name prompted many people who were originally just going to take a look to sign up.
Just imagine, a few years from now, when your son is engrossed in Dragon Ball manga, you show him your proof of participating in the World Martial Arts Tournament. The way your son looks at you will make you look incredibly proud.
Indeed, whether or not one can actually play is not important; simply participating in the competition is enough to amuse many people.
Martial arts practitioners, whether they are Sanda masters, traditional martial arts experts, or boxing masters who have participated in many competitions, have responded very enthusiastically to this nationwide competition.
In their eyes, wasn't this the country paving the way for them? Who in the country could fight better than them? Absolutely not. This immense wealth seemed like a gift, and inexplicably, they found themselves standing at the crossroads of fate.
Suddenly, all sorts of martial arts schools emerged, and it seemed as if there were martial arts masters everywhere online. The Internet of Things in Divine Land seemed to have turned into an online martial arts tournament.
Of course, professionals focus on different things than ordinary people. Ordinary people might just watch the excitement and participate simply to join in the fun, but those who make a living from this have much more to consider.
The rules of this World Martial Arts Tournament are too simple.
It's so simple that they don't even know how to put it.
Even mixed martial arts, which has the fewest rules in the world, has many forbidden moves and is mainly for performance purposes, but the rules of this martial arts tournament are even simpler.
There are no prohibited body parts, no prohibited moves, and not even weight class distinctions.
In the eyes of professionals, this was nothing more than a third-rate competition organized by unprofessionals.
However, given the scale of the publicity and the massive amount of traffic and buzz it generates, it's absolutely impossible not to participate; we have to.
Even if it's just for that little bit of traffic, you still have to participate.
After all, in modern society, what are internet celebrities fighting for? It's nothing more than traffic. If you don't fight for it, you'll never get ahead.
Go up there and fight, even if you only win a few games, that's still a chance to make an appearance.
Therefore, after this competition was announced, many well-known and highly skilled individuals showed up to register, hoping to ride this wave of popularity and make a fortune.
All Lightning Five Consecutive Whips people, from those who can't fight but can only perform the feat of breaking concrete with their palms day after day, to those internet celebrities who spend their days exposing frauds and challenging others, have all devoted themselves to preparing for this competition.
There are no uniform regulations for protective gear in the competition. The preliminary round only stipulates that participants cannot wear armor. Everything else is up to individual interpretation.
What do you mean by "personal interpretation"? Does that mean I can wear a full rugby uniform to a match?
Many people have their own opinions on this.
Some borrowed fireproof suits from the fire department, some wore full cycling protective gear, and others wore several layers of soft armor underneath their clothing—is soft armor even considered armor?
It wasn't just about defense; some people also got creative with their offensive methods, since the rules only said to be unarmed, not that you couldn't carry weapons.
Therefore, adding sharp spikes to clothing has become a trendy defensive measure.
And so it went, day after day, with Heavenly Capital, and the day of the competition was getting closer and closer.
The competition venues in various cities are almost ready, and they are mostly held in local stadiums. The top three finishers in the local competitions can continue to participate in the next stage of the competition.
Although there are slight differences in the quality of people from different regions, and some people choose to participate in less popular smaller cities in order to make it to the event, the authorities have not paid too much attention to this behavior.
After all, the purpose of this competition wasn't so pure; it was merely a promotional tool.
In the days leading up to the competition, many people from abroad also participated, with various heavyweight competitors taking to the field, including many strong men who were over 2 meters tall and weighed over 200 kilograms.
It's that kind of strength that gives you a deep sense of powerlessness just by standing in front of it.
These people came to participate in the competition with a political mission; they came to compete and to overshadow the Divine Land People.
However, the arrival of these individuals was exactly what the official Divine Land team wanted, and they even considered sending them to the next stage of the competition.
After all, they are all Divine Land People. Some people might think there are shills if it's an older person, but if it's a foreigner, the possibility of that is much less, especially if it's a world-renowned competitor, the credibility is much higher.
In reality, only the participating professionals will qualify for the next stage, and for them, weight is the most important factor in the competition.
Or rather, in their view, the competition doesn't need to be so complicated. Just start by weighing people, and if you're not in the same weight class, you can basically forget about winning.
This is all based on years of experience in combat sports, which is why they have some complaints about the competition's mechanics.
But despite the complaints, they still had to participate, since that's what their job is.