"BOOM!"
A terrifying explosion shook the very heavens and earth. The massive shockwave nearly blew the spectators surrounding the ring right off their feet.
Once the dust had finally settled...
The crowd slowly rose to their feet and turned their gaze toward the ring.
What they saw nearly made them collapse to the ground in sheer terror.
The ring—which had stood there moments before—had vanished completely, replaced by a colossal crater of unfathomable depth.
"What... what on earth is going on here? The ring...
The ring vanished completely in an instant!"
The blond-haired announcer voiced the thoughts of every single spectator present.
"Goku! Where's Goku? He's vanished!"
Krillin and Yamcha wore expressions of sheer panic.
Meanwhile, Master Roshi—disguised as "Jackie Chun"—also wore a grave expression.
"Such terrifying destructive power... It's several times stronger than even my full-power Kamehameha."
He looked up into the sky, scanning the area, but failed to spot any sign of Goku; his expression shifted once again.
"Could it be... he didn't make it in time?"
In his view, the best defense against the Kikoho Cannon was to leap into the air and dodge before the attack actually struck. That was precisely why he had managed to shout a warning to Goku just moments earlier.
But now, seeing no sign of Goku in the sky, a terrible premonition suddenly took root in his heart.
"Hahaha! Well done, Tien Shinhan! You truly are a worthy disciple of mine.
You've avenged your Uncle Tao!"
In stark contrast to the sinking hearts of Master Roshi, Krillin, and the others,
Master Shen was absolutely jubilant; he stood arrogantly where the ring used to be and burst into laughter.
"Chiaotzu, you did well, too! You helped freeze that brat in place; otherwise, it wouldn't have gone nearly so smoothly."
"What?! So that's how it happened!" Hearing Master Shen's words, Master Roshi glanced over at Chiaotzu—who had just lowered his hands—and instantly realized exactly what had transpired.
Overcome with rage, he nearly unleashed a Kamehameha wave right then and there to blast Master Shen into oblivion.
It all made sense now: given that Goku's power had already surpassed his own, and given that he had received his warning, it should have been impossible for him to fail to dodge the Kikoho Cannon.
"You despicable wretches!"
However, just as everyone assumed Goku had perished beneath the terrifying power of Tien Shinhan's Kikoho...
And just as Tien Shinhan, panting heavily, began his slow descent...
Goku's familiar voice drifted up from the bottom of the bottomless crater where the ring once stood.
"What an incredible technique! To think you could raise your Ki to such an extraordinary level..."
As the voice rang out, the figure of Goku—framed against the backdrop of the Gravity Magic Circle—slowly rose from beneath the arena floor, coming into full view of the spectators.
Moreover, he was completely unscathed!
There wasn't even a speck of dust on him.
Tien Shinhan's Ki Blast was indeed powerful, but it failed to penetrate the Ki aura enveloping Goku's body; the disparity in their fundamental strength was simply too vast.
Consequently, he hadn't bothered to heed Grandpa Jackie Chun's warning to dodge the attack.
Nevertheless, he still felt a sense of admiration for Tien Shinhan—to think he could unleash an attack of such caliber despite his current level of power.
If Tien Shinhan could sustain attacks of this magnitude continuously—even if they couldn't actually injure him—they would still be capable of pinning him down to a certain extent.
Of course, that would only be the case if Goku limited himself to his base strength and refrained from utilizing any of his hidden trump cards.
"It's a true miracle! Contestant Goku has actually survived such a terrifying attack from Contestant Tien Shinhan!"
Upon seeing Goku reappear, the blond-haired announcer immediately erupted into a frenzied shout of excitement.
The audience, too, instantly burst into thunderous applause, cheering loudly for both Tien Shinhan and Goku.
They had never witnessed such a spectacular battle before.
"No... How can this be? Not even the Kikoho could kill him!
To think a mere brat possesses such power... I refuse to believe it!"
Master Shen's booming laughter came to an abrupt halt, his face twisting into an expression of utter disbelief.
Even he—Master Shen himself—would have been reduced to dust had he taken a direct hit from the Kikoho.
Yet, the brat standing before him had managed to withstand the full force of the Kikoho head-on, emerging completely unscathed.
"Restore!"
Goku extended his hand and pointed downward toward the seemingly bottomless void where the arena had once stood; in an instant, the vanished arena floor regenerated at a speed visible to the naked eye, returning to its original state.
"Shall we continue? Do you have any even more powerful techniques up your sleeve?"
"I... I've lost." Tien Shinhan landed on the tournament stage, his chest heaving; clearly, he had not yet fully recovered his breath.
He sized up Goku from head to toe, then finally let out a sigh and immediately conceded the match.
To withstand his Kikoho head-on without suffering a single scratch—this fact proved that Goku's power level had already surpassed his own by a vast margin.
Back at the Martial Arts Hall, what he had mistaken for some sort of optical illusion was nothing of the sort; it was simply the overwhelming power of the Ki surging within Goku, exerting a crushing pressure upon him.
Now, having expended his energy on the Kikoho, he had barely enough Ki left within him to sustain his Flying Technique; he simply had no means to continue the battle.
Meanwhile, Goku's strength remained virtually unchanged.
"I never imagined that there could actually be such a terrifying master as you in this world!"
Having conceded the match, Tien Shinhan gazed at Goku and couldn't help but exclaim.
Before participating in the World Martial Arts Tournament, he had believed himself to be invincible—unrivaled in the world.
After all, even his own master, the Crane Hermit, no longer possessed true power equal to his own.
After clearing the preliminary rounds, this conviction of his only grew stronger.
Compared to himself, the other contestants—even the champions of previous tournaments—seemed to amount to nothing.
It was only now that he realized he had been like a frog in a well, ignorant of the vastness of the world beyond his limited view.
This world, it turned out, was home to martial artists far more powerful than he. The Taoist arts—
He was not just a little bit stronger than him, but vastly so.
If one were to pursue the absolute pinnacle of the martial way, then he still had a
very long way to go.
"Contestant Tien Shinhan has conceded! The winner of this match is Contestant Son Goku!"
Seeing that Tien Shinhan had voluntarily admitted defeat, the blond-haired announcer immediately declared the outcome of the match.
The stands once again erupted in thunderous applause.
And a significant portion of that applause was directed toward Tien Shinhan.
Although Tien Shinhan had lost, everything he did—from his initial "Hundred-Handed Fist," to the moment he grew an extra pair of arms, and finally, that terrifying "Kikoho"—
was absolutely spectacular. It left the audience in awe and was truly worthy of their enthusiastic applause.
As Tien Shinhan gazed at the spectators who were genuinely applauding him, the scales within his heart tipped once again.
"I will kill you!"
Amidst this atmosphere of such warmth and excitement, there was one individual who seemed utterly out of place.
That person was the Crane Hermit, whose rage had grown so intense that he could no longer control his facial expressions.
He once again circled around behind Goku, then suddenly flashed onto the ring, intending to launch a sneak attack and kill him.
Alas, before his attack could even land on Goku's body, Goku's figure had already vanished from his sight—only to reappear directly behind him.
"Whack!"
With a single sharp chop of his hand, Goku knocked the Crane Hermit out cold.
"A one-hit knockout."
Seeing that his master, the Crane Hermit—even with the advantage of a sneak attack—
couldn't last even a single move against Goku...
Tien Shinhan once again felt the vast disparity in power between the two of them.
"I'm sorry. Once we return home, I will try to persuade my master to abandon his quest for revenge. I hope you will spare his life."
Hearing this, Goku nodded. Unless absolutely necessary, he had no desire to kill anyone.
"Young man, there is still goodness within your heart; you are not the same kind of person as the Crane Hermit or Mercenary Tao."
"Indeed. "
"Leave them behind, and go pursue the life you truly desire."
As Tien Shinhan—carrying the unconscious Master Shen in his arms—approached Chiaotzu, Master Roshi—in his guise as Jackie Chun—offered this advice with a tone of earnest, heartfelt counsel.
In his eyes, both Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu were promising prospects—young talents possessing the innate potential to become exceptional martial artists.
It was just that they had been led astray by the likes of Master Shen and Mercenary Tao.
He viewed this as a great tragedy; thus, he felt compelled to intervene and offer a word of persuasion, hoping to see if they could still be set back on the right path.
This time, Tien Shinhan offered no rebuttal. Instead, he remained silent for a long while—his inner resolve clearly wavering deeply.
Just then, a massive airship came soaring in from the distance. It came to a halt directly above the tournament ring, casting a colossal shadow that enveloped everyone gathered below.