Seventeen years later, in the year 667.
Sayuan City has become more and more lively. The size of the city has nearly doubled compared to more than a decade ago, and a mountainous area that was once on the outskirts has now been included in the city's development plan.
Modern cities don't have walls, and though Sayuan City was once a remote small town, it is now a modern city. Since the successful conclusion of the first World Martial Arts Tournament, which attracted global attention, the city government began planning, step by step, to integrate the Broken Mountains, where the Muten School flow is located, into the city map.
Now, thanks to the world-renowned martial arts landmark Muten School Martial Arts Hall and the Martial Arts Competition Arena from the World Martial Arts Tournament Finals, thousands of tourists from all over the world visit Sayuan City daily.
During the bi-annual World Martial Arts Tournament Finals, Sayuan City becomes packed with people. At that time, all the eyes of the world are focused on this small city that is gradually prospering.
Now, the World Martial Arts Tournament has been held three times.
In the last tournament, the third one, the popular martial arts star Noah Robe finally claimed the title of World's Number One from Muten School's top fighter, Monkey D.—of course, this "World's Number One" title is only for the champion of the tournament.
The true World's Number One, the universally acknowledged top fighter, hasn't been seen since he made a brief appearance seventeen years ago. He has not appeared in public ever since.
Master Taro.
Or rather, Master Roshi.
Since he won the global championship without fail all those years ago, it was as if he vanished from the earth. At first, people tried to search for him. After all, such a man, who seemed to be the closest thing to a god... how rare was he? Ordinary people were eager to learn more about him, a legendary figure that could only be found in myths.
But after many years, no one found anything.
That's when people remembered that the Muten School existed in the world even before the first World Martial Arts Tournament. Before we knew anything about him, was there any way we could find him? Clearly, if the Muten School didn't want anyone to know of his existence, no one would be able to find him.
People also recalled what Mr. Tam from Planet Company had said in passing before the first finals.
For the first World Martial Arts Tournament, the title had to be well-deserved.
It seemed... the reason Master Taro appeared to us back then was merely to support his child (people had never been clear about the relationship between Tam and Taro, thus always referring to them as "child" and "elder") in the tournament. That's why, after the competition, he vanished again.
He was a man everyone knew, but no one had seen.
Since the martial arts tournament seventeen years ago, martial arts halls have sprung up all around the world, teaching ancient martial arts.
The reason they hadn't appeared before and are now appearing is because it is only now that modern people truly understand the power and potential of these ancient martial arts—not that no one knew about folk martial artists before, but... after all, it's rare to find top martial artists like Monkey D. or Noah Robe.
Most people encountered were just martial artists with a bit of strength, but their lives weren't necessarily any better than anyone else's.
Ask yourself, if that was all martial arts was, who would be foolish enough to practice it in such a hard and painful way? Which modern person would accept this kind of martial art?
But after the World Martial Arts Tournament, it was different. People finally understood that practicing martial arts could lead to that level... you could fly! You could release powerful ki blasts! A single punch could break a wall! You could be invincible!
The Muten School, invincible!
Taro has been revered as an idol by martial artists worldwide. All the competition videos from the first World Martial Arts Tournament are now permanently collected by martial arts enthusiasts across the globe. In countless surveys, Taro is considered the strongest and greatest martial artist in the hearts of martial artists and martial arts fans.
Now, who would dare deny the existence of this martial arts path that has been present on Earth since ancient times?
Even though the martial artists, boxers, and dojo masters encountered by ordinary people may not have much real skill, they no longer deny martial arts itself. Instead, they feel they just haven't found a truly great master yet.
Although the national craze for learning martial arts has slowly cooled down, from another perspective, those who genuinely aspire to study martial arts are certainly more numerous than before. At the same time, those unwilling to endure the hardships of training have still developed the habit of watching martial arts competitions. Moreover, people now have more ways to encounter true martial arts.
New martial arts halls appear every day, and if it's a dojo that gained fame from the World Martial Arts Tournament, the number of people lining up to register and become disciples is enormous! For example, the Wolf Fang School of Martial Arts, the Soft Fist School of Martial Arts, and so on…
Among them, the most famous is undoubtedly the Muten School ,backed by Planet Company.
In fact, many people who joined the Muten School School originally came to seek out the legendary Muten Roshi as their Master. However, they were destined to be disappointed because the disciples of the Muten School themselves couldn't find their master.
...
If the first World Martial Arts Tournament was the turning point for the revival of martial arts, then the second tournament marked another symbolic turning point.
It should be noted that before this tournament, the Federation government's attitude toward the folk martial arts trend was very vague and ambiguous. It neither explicitly denied nor suppressed this "evil trend" that contradicted the development of science, nor did it express clear support for the promotion of martial arts.
That was until the second World Martial Arts Tournament.
That was twelve years ago, in the summer of 655.
That year, the "Earth Martial Artists Association" passed the government's review and was officially established. The Federation government changed its previous stance and no longer blocked martial arts organizations. Instead, they opened the gates with a green light, offering the greatest silent support, even though they remained silent about it.
...
"Now, when I think back to what you did back then, old man, I still find it quite funny..." Tam said, laughing as he turned his gaze away from the table and spoke to Taro.
Seventeen years had passed, and Tam was now nearly sixty years old. However, he held a high position and had inherited Taro's excellent physique, which he had maintained well. He looked no older than a man in his forties, with hardly any gray hairs.
At this moment, their family was gathered for a simple meal at a small restaurant in Sayuan City.
Taro, Hathaway, Tam, Lavinia, Ninn, Ninn's husband, and a child in Ninn's arms, a few years old. Of course, the small red bird, the immortal bird, who had developed a love for alcohol under Taro's care, was also present.
Upon hearing Tam's words, Taro put down his wine glass and smiled casually.
Back then…
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