.....
Time slowly passed. With every second that slipped away, the atmosphere surrounding the arena grew more tense.
This was a competition that brought together two universes. Before the idea of holding this tournament had ever been proposed, their respective Mortal Level Indices had been 3.80 and 4.0.
Yet after the Universal Martial Arts Tournament was announced, only three years had passed before those figures rose from 3.80 to 4.0 and from 4.0 to 4.20.
The Sixth and Seventh Universes now ranked ninth and tenth throughout Zeno's universes.
Every God of Destruction and Supreme Kai had witnessed this terrifying rate of growth. Naturally, they all wanted their own universes to improve in the same way.
That was why they had come here.
They wanted to learn every essential aspect of the Universal Martial Arts Tournament!
Only by doing so could they complete Zeno's punishment within ten thousand years.
Half a day finally passed.
Beerus and Champa at last stopped wrestling. Both of them stared intently at the two preliminary-selection venues below.
"The preliminary selection is about to end!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Every God of Destruction and Angel in the stands stood up.
Oppression, tension, anticipation...
At this moment, these emotions filled the hearts of all the Gods of Destruction.
Gran stood at the edge of the viewing platform. Now that he had returned, there was no longer any need for Beerus to oversee everything on his behalf.
He looked down.
All the testing machines below were beeping incessantly.
[The preliminary selection has ended. The list of participants advancing to the main tournament will be announced shortly. Please do not leave, contestants.]
Every machine was broadcasting the same announcement.
Billions upon billions of martial artists stood motionless, their eyes filled with anticipation.
One minute later...
[The list has been finalized. The participants advancing to the main tournament will now be announced.]
The next instant!
Every machine released a radiant screen, each one filled with names.
In one tribal settlement, a young man shouted excitedly:
"Hahaha! Father, look! I qualified for the Intermediate Division!"
"My goodness! My son has a battle power of five million, yet he only qualified for the Intermediate Division. The Seventh Universe is truly terrifying!"
"Father, make sure you watch me later!"
"Of course. I'll be watching you, but remember to be careful."
"Mm! I'll definitely bring back a Life Fruit!"
...
Over at the Galactic Patrol's group...
"Damn it! I never expected our Seventh Universe to be filled with so many hidden powerhouses. I only qualified for the Beginner Division!"
"What about Lord Paragus and the others?"
"They can all transform into Super Saiyans now, so they qualified for the Advanced Division!"
"My goodness! Even Super Saiyans can only enter the Advanced Division? Just how terrifying must the Peak Division and God Division be?"
...
Among Son Gohan and the others...
Gohan clenched his little fists.
"We can finally fight!"
Piccolo placed a hand on Gohan's small shoulder.
"According to the rules, we will be divided among five divisions. We only need to fight one match."
Krillin nodded.
"Winning one match will grant us the corresponding number of points. Since every match will determine victory or defeat, the battles will certainly be intense. We must not become careless."
Tien's gaze was filled with determination.
"I don't know whether our Seventh Universe will ultimately win, but I will definitely claim the points from my own match!"
Yamcha nodded forcefully as well.
"Me too!"
...
Over in Moro's group...
"Based on the strength measured during the test, I possess a battle power of twenty billion. I never imagined that someone of my strength would only qualify for the Peak Division. When did this universe gain so many powerful fighters?"
"However..."
"At present, I possess less than one-tenth of my peak strength. Once I recover my full power, I will definitely be able to enter the God Division!"
"The contestants in the God Division should be much more delicious!"
...
Over in the Sixth Universe...
Natasha gathered all the Saiyans together and issued an order:
"Almost the entire list of qualified participants is filled with our Saiyans. You had better give it everything you have and make sure you win your matches!"
"Yes!"
...
Elsewhere, a certain spiky-haired man sat collapsed on the ground.
His eyes were empty.
"I couldn't even qualify for the Beginner Division. And I actually dreamed of participating in the God Division!"
"Damn it!"
...
The contestants who had qualified were all visibly excited.
Meanwhile, from his position on the viewing platform, Gran observed the divisions of the tournament. Based on what he could see, they were roughly arranged as follows:
Beginner Division: 100,000–1,000,000 battle power.
Intermediate Division: 1,000,000–10,000,000 battle power.
Advanced Division: 10,000,000–100,000,000 battle power.
Peak Division: 100,000,000–20,000,000,000 battle power.
God Division: 20,000,000,000 battle power to the Seventh Order of the Divine Realm.
Gran looked at the list below.
As expected, even the weakest Beginner Division required a battle power of 100,000 to qualify.
The standard of this Universal Martial Arts Tournament was truly astonishingly high!
"My goodness! The Sixth and Seventh Universes have become terrifying!"
The Ninth Universe's God of Destruction, Sidra, swallowed nervously.
His Ninth Universe ranked dead last among all of Zeno's universes.
Now that he had witnessed such a stark contrast, he felt both envious and bitter.
"Damn it! They've already caught up to my Tenth Universe!"
The one who spoke was Rumsshi. The words envy, jealousy, and hatred were practically written across his face.
The Tenth Universe's Mortal Level Index was 4.50.
It was now only 0.30 higher than that of the Seventh Universe!
The other Angels were also shocked by the overall strength of these two universes.
They had truly grown far too quickly!
"Gran, I'll leave it to you."
Beerus stood on the viewing platform with his arms folded across his chest.
"Now that I've returned, there's no need to trouble you any longer, Lord Beerus."
Gran nodded and was just about to turn around.
Suddenly!
He turned back.
Gran's unexpected action caused all the Gods of Destruction and Angels to pause in confusion.
"You all..."
Gran looked at the Gods of Destruction and spoke calmly.
"I know that you came here because you want to copy this Universal Martial Arts Tournament."
"Since you want to copy it, I won't stop you. However..."
"Before you start copying it, you'd better pay the patent fee first."
Gran's voice was calm, but anyone familiar with him could hear the unmistakable threat behind his words.
Beerus looked at the Gods of Destruction and smiled.
"Oh, right. The fee is ninety percent of a Divine Fruit. Don't you dare pay less!"
"Beerus, you're despicable!"
The Gods of Destruction glared at Beerus's smug expression, grinding their teeth in anger.
"Hmm?"
Gran raised his voice slightly.
Giin, the sea-monster-like God of Destruction, was the first to nod.
"Don't worry. We won't be short of the patent fee!"
He had offended Gran before, so he was the first to express his agreement. His goal was simply to prevent Gran from causing trouble for him.
After Giin nodded, the other Gods of Destruction also agreed one after another.
The smile on Old Kai's face grew increasingly radiant.
His Seventh Universe was truly becoming better and better, and all of it was thanks to Gran.
Seeing Gran's imposing appearance, Bulma wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth again.
Gran is really so handsome.
"Broly, you can go down now."
Gran ignored the other Gods of Destruction and instead spoke to Broly beside him.
Ever since Broly had temporarily served as Beerus's Candidate God of Destruction, he had continued wearing that set of God of Destruction attire.
The muscles exposed beneath his clothing were extremely well-developed, making him look like a ferocious beast.
The Gods of Destruction also shifted their gazes toward Broly.
Judging by his aura, Broly's strength did not seem particularly impressive. He had not even reached the Divine Realm.
However...
Those Saiyans possessed another transformation.
Once they transformed, their power became frighteningly immense.
In the eyes of the Angels, Broly was a Saiyan of the ancestral-regression type. He had inherited the bloodline of Odys, the progenitor of the Saiyans.
As long as his body could endure it, his strength could continue rising without limit!
Of course, this power still had its drawbacks.
For example, he could lose consciousness and enter a berserk state...
However, they had heard that this fellow had already used the Super Dragon Balls to resolve that problem.
Using external forces to solve an inherent flaw was actually the lowest possible strategy. It would leave him dependent on others.
A true powerhouse would never rely on such things.
Regardless, there was no doubt that Broly was the trump card of the Seventh Universe.
As long as no God of Destruction intervened, Broly was invincible!
"All right, Big Brother Gran. I'll head down first."
Broly nodded at Gran.
He had also registered for this Universal Martial Arts Tournament.
"Broly, do your best!"
Bulma cheered for her little brother from the viewing platform.
"Mm."
Broly flew down from the platform and landed among the Seventh Universe's participants.
As soon as he landed, all the martial artists around him turned to look at him.
"That seems to be Broly. He looks incredibly strong!"
"What kind of stupid question is that? He's a contestant in the God Division!"
"Lord Broly, our Seventh Universe is counting on you!"
"..."
The surrounding contestants shouted excitedly.
Broly did not respond. He merely kept his head raised, as though he were waiting for something.
Sure enough!
A figure soon flew out from the viewing platform.
The newcomer was also wearing a set of God of Destruction attire. He had handsome, sharp features, and a tail swayed constantly behind him.
Billions upon billions of martial artists below stared at the figure in the sky.
Among the crowd, Son Gohan pointed upward and exclaimed excitedly:
"It's Uncle Gran! So I really wasn't mistaken before. Uncle Gran has returned!"
Piccolo's throat moved slightly.
"I thought Lord Gran wouldn't come to watch this tournament. Who would have thought he would show up in the end?"
Elsewhere, Son Goku was not standing with the other Z Fighters.
Looking at Gran's figure, he wore a broad smile.
"I can finally see Big Brother Gran again. This time, my strength shouldn't disappoint you!"
The few interesting fellows who had come out of the Galactic Prison, along with the five mysterious powerhouses who possessed the strength of the Fifth Order of the Divine Realm, were all studying Gran with strange looks in their eyes.
...
Over in the Sixth Universe...
The Candidate God of Destruction, Roz, vigorously nudged the assassin beside him.
"Hit, did you see that? It's Lord Gran!"
Hit replied indifferently:
"I'm not blind. And could you stop getting so excited?"
"How could I not be excited? That's Lord Gran! I wonder how powerful Lord Gran has become now."
"If you want to know how powerful Lord Gran is, just challenge him directly."
"Do I look like an idiot to you?"
Roz was rather thin. He leaned toward Hit.
Hit looked at him as though he were an idiot.
"Not just a little."
"Get lost!"
.....
Elsewhere in the Sixth Universe...
Jim nudged his niece again.
"Natasha, make sure you seize your own happiness."
Natasha merely rolled her eyes at her second uncle without saying anything else.
.....
In another part of the Sixth Universe's crowd...
"It's Gran!"
The speaker had an extremely high hairline in the shape of an M. However, compared with Gran's height of 1.85 meters, he was considerably shorter.
"Although I know I can no longer catch up to you, I will still work hard to follow in your footsteps. I'll soon comprehend Destruction Power as well!"
The speaker was none other than Vegeta.
He clenched his fists, his eyes filled with determination.
The reason he was in the Sixth Universe was mainly because he had made a deal with Champa.
Champa had allowed Vados to guide him, but in exchange, Vegeta had to represent the Sixth Universe in two Universal Martial Arts Tournaments!
.....
High above the arena...
After Gran leaped from the viewing platform, he continued looking down at the densely packed martial artists below.
If their numbers were to be summarized, there were at least hundreds of billions upon hundreds of billions of them.
It could not be said that every powerhouse from the two universes had gathered here.
However, any martial artist who yearned to exchange blows with other powerful fighters had undoubtedly come here.
"I am the Candidate God of Destruction of the Seventh Universe..."
Gran finally spoke.
His voice was not loud, yet it resounded like heavenly thunder, silencing all things. Every word was as heavy as a mountain, striking the ears of the mortals below and shaking their minds!
"From this day forward, a Universal Martial Arts Tournament will be held here once every ten years!"
"Any side that achieves victory will receive the corresponding Life Fruits..."
"The list of participants for the main tournament has been finalized. I hereby announce that the first Universal Martial Arts Tournament officially begins!"
As Gran's words fell...
Whis and Vados immediately leaped out from the viewing platform.
They hovered beside Gran, each holding a staff. With a simultaneous wave, they pointed their staffs forward.
Two mysterious powers burst forth from the staffs!
Rumble!
The entire space began to tremble violently.
The martial artists below tensed their bodies.
In the next instant, the contestants participating in the first round of the main tournament suddenly rose into the air.
"Ahhh! What's happening?"
"Why am I flying? Why can't I control my own body?"
"..."
The contestants in the first round were frightened and thrown into a panic. In the end, they were all transported onto the arenas.
There were not many arenas.
There were only 83,000 of them, meaning that two rounds of matches would be required to complete the entire tournament!
The tribal youth, Son Gohan, and the other Z Fighters were all contestants in the first round as well.
Compared with the panicked participants around them, Gohan and the others remained exceptionally calm.
END OF CHAPTER
Disciple of Beerus - MrBehringer's Secret
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