"Good afternoon, esteemed guests, ladies, and gentlemen."
"Welcome to the annual Superhuman Martial Arts Tournament, jointly hosted by various countries, at the Las Vegas sub-venue."
"I am your old friend, Pierre."
At the Lion's Arena in Las Vegas City Square.
A robust, burly blonde man in his forties was standing in the center of the arena, enthusiastically greeting all the spectators present.
His name was Pierre James, an ordinary esper with super-strength abilities.
Although his abilities were not enough to reach the entry threshold of a Grandmaster, this status allowed him to host the martial arts tournament.
"Due to well-known reasons, this year's tournament will be held in two parts."
"The first part is the sub-venue competition, where super-powered individuals from Asia, Europe, and Africa will duel each other on this Lion's Arena to compete for supremacy."
"The winners of these matches, along with the winners from the Boston sub-venue, will participate in the final competition held in Niudu a week later."
"Alright, without further ado, please welcome the strong contenders from each country with applause!"
"The first team, from the great British Empire!"
"Next, the Holy Roman Empire!"
"Dragon Country!"
"Eastern Sun Country!"
"Stick Country!"
"Bear Country!"
"..."
As Pierre's voice echoed throughout the venue, over twenty countries and more than three hundred powerful individuals from the Asian, European, and African continents successively entered the competition arena.
Some were jumping with joy, others were somber and gloomy.
But overall, from their outward appearance, there was no discernible difference between them and ordinary humans.
"So there are so many superhumans in this world!"
With the personnel in place, Qin Xuan and the others also arrived at the preparation area designated for Dragon Country.
Looking at the dense crowd of superhumans in the stadium, Qin Xuan couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
If he hadn't, by chance, gained the ability to hear inner voices, and then coincidentally obtained the Body Refining chapter left by his master.
He probably would never have known that there were so many extraordinary strong individuals in the world.
Before long, a prompt sound was heard.
As Pierre's voice reached everyone's ears again, the martial arts tournament at the Las Vegas sub-venue officially commenced.
Similar to the martial arts tournaments held domestically.
This preliminary round of the competition was also conducted simultaneously on multiple arenas.
However, it differed from the domestic tournaments in one aspect.
This competition did not distinguish or group participants by their power levels.
Instead, it was purely based on a draw.
This meant that even if you only had Grandmaster-level strength, you could still be matched against someone with Grandmaster-level strength.
And once such a match-up occurred, the Grandmaster would have almost no chance of winning, except by surrendering.
This left Qin Xuan and his companions completely bewildered after hearing the competition format, unable to comprehend the purpose behind it.
They ascended the stage in order and drew lots in batches.
Everyone's luck was quite good.
Yuan Mengqi and the others all drew Grandmaster opponents from other countries of the same level.
Qin Xuan, on the other hand, drew an opponent from an East African country who was also a Grandmaster.
"Tanzania, Mutu Tu?"
Looking at the slip of paper in his hand, Qin Xuan curiously raised his head and scanned the African contingent.
He had only heard of Tanzania but didn't know much about it.
Now that his opponent was from there, a hint of curiosity arose in his heart.
However, what made him feel a bit awkward was that while he had heard of Tanzania, he had never seen its flag.
Furthermore, all the people in that contingent were black, so after searching for a long time, he couldn't locate his opponent.
After the draw, some were happy and some were sad.
Most people were relieved that their opponents were of similar strength to them.
As for those Grandmaster powerhouses who drew opponents of a higher level, their faces were filled with worry, and they were prepared to surrender at any moment.
It was only now that Qin Xuan suddenly understood the purpose of this competition format.
The pure reliance on drawing lots was to preserve the number of Grandmaster-level powerhouses as much as possible.
After all, compared to Grandmaster powerhouses, battles between Grandmasters were always more exciting.
Moreover, this was only the preliminary round.
If some countries were unlucky enough to have all their Grandmaster-level powerhouses eliminated, it would be a huge embarrassment if other countries found out.
As the competition began, Qin Xuan also followed the instructions and made his way onto the arena.
This time, he finally saw the young opponent he had been searching for.
The Mutu Tu was six feet tall with dark skin.
He wore simple cloth clothing, as if a bedsheet had been draped directly over him.
His dreadlocks reached his waist.
"This young man is interesting."
Looking at this clean-faced man who showed no signs of stage fright,
Qin Xuan couldn't help but break into a smile.
To be so composed when facing someone he could never defeat.
Based on this display alone, Qin Xuan felt he deserved sufficient respect.
"Hello, my name is Mutu Tu."
Perhaps sensing Qin Xuan's friendly gaze, Mutu Tu greeted Qin Xuan in broken English.
Qin Xuan smiled in response, also informing the other party of his name.
Mutu Tu was very happy, his smile pure and natural.
And the moment the signal for the match sounded.
His eyes seemed to transform, becoming sharp and filled with killing intent.
"Ah!"
With a loud shout, Mutu Tu attacked Qin Xuan before he could.
He held a sturdy long staff in his hand and thrust it towards Qin Xuan.
The movement was simple, but the speed was very fast.
Seeing this, Qin Xuan did not rush to end the match.
He also wanted to see what kind of strength this young man, Mutu Tu, possessed.
With a light leap, Qin Xuan easily dodged the opponent's staff.
Seeing this, Mutu Tu pulled back his staff and swept it horizontally towards Qin Xuan's legs.
Thus, the two began a tug-of-war, a game of chase and evasion.
What surprised Qin Xuan was that although the opponent could never match his speed, it was because his physical body couldn't keep up.
In other words, in terms of eyesight and reaction, Mutu Tu could follow Qin Xuan's movements.
This phenomenon became even more apparent when he used his early Grandmaster-level speed.
This made Qin Xuan very curious about the young man's potential.
If he were to teach him how to further enhance his physical body, could he then easily reach the realm of a Grandmaster?
Lost in thought, Mutu Tu was already somewhat exhausted.
Before Qin Xuan could make a move, he raised his right hand and signaled the referee to surrender.
After surrendering, he clasped his hands together and said "Thank you" to Qin Xuan.
Then, he cleared his throat and began to shout loudly at the surrounding crowd.
"I am Mutu Tu of the Maasai tribe, and the warriors from our homeland are very good fighters!"
"If any esteemed person is willing to hire us, please proceed to Room 1288 of the Polly Hotel for further discussion!"