Tournant Format and Kung Fu Soccer
The city-level main tournant for the Martial Arts Competition had two parts: group stage and elimination rounds.
The group stage used a round-robin format.
Each group had ten contestants who'd face off in single-round matches, competing in both unard combat and weapons categories.
A contestant who wins both categories earns three points. A win and a loss earn one point. Two losses earn zero points.
The top three point-scorers from each group would advance to the elimination rounds.
The elimination stage was straightforward, winner takes all, loser goes ho. They'd fight it out until only the city's top ten remained, earning their spots in the provincial tournant.
With so many participants, the group matches were held on the soccer fields at the outdoor stadium in the sports center, running multiple matches simultaneously.
Speaking of soccer fields, you really had to appreciate how wild sports were in this world.
With martial arts being a thing and everyone practicing so form of combat, the various sports competitions here were absolutely insane to watch.
Although all sports prohibit martial artists of the True Qi Realm from competing, contestants at the Inner Force Realm are not barred. By the way, the True Qi Realm and Inner Force Realm were what the Great Ming Dynasty and other countries in the Ming cultural sphere called these levels.
Western nations had different traditions and cultivation thods from the Great Ming, so the energy they developed was quite different from Inner Force, True Qi, and Astral Qi. Naturally, they had their own terminology.
The West called the energy equivalent to the Great Ming’s Inner Force "Source Power," energy matching True Qi was "Sacred Power," and what corresponded to Astral Qi was "Divine Power."
Those wielding "Source Power" were called "Masters," equivalent to Inner Force Realm martial artists in the Great Ming cultural sphere.
Those with "Sacred Power" were called "Legends," matching the True Qi Realm grandmasters.
Those possessing "Divine Power" were called "Ancient Gods," equivalent to the living buddhas and gods of the Astral Qi Realm.
The term "Ancient Gods" ca from how these powerhouses resembled the deities from classical mythology, such as the Olympian gods and Norse gods. They possess terrifying power, do not require faith or worship, and are subject to the sa seven emotions and six desires as mortals.
Whether East or West, sporting events at most allowed Inner Force Realm level personnel to compete.
Even so, every sport beca incredibly entertaining.
Take this soccer match that Chu Tianxing had watched once. Both goalkeepers were peak Inner Force Realm experts who could project their internal energy. They'd just stand there in front of the goal, and when a ball ca flying, they'd extend their hand, release their internal energy, and snatch the ball right out of the air from several ters away.
Their goalkeeping was rock solid.
But even with that level of defense, goals still happened.
Attacking was naturally easier than defending.
Strikers who specialized in leg techniques could either use powerful, direct shots to smash through the goalkeeper's projected internal energy or employ tricky angles and fancy techniques to fool them completely.
Picture this.
A ball flying through the air suddenly makes a ninety-degree turn without touching anything. Or a ball that looks like it's being passed back to the opponent's half suddenly does a complete one-eighty, drawing a U-shaped arc in the air before curving into the dead corner of the goal...
These bizarre things happen all the ti on soccer fields in this world.
Soccer had endless tricks, and basketball was just as crazy.
All sorts of fancy footwork and movent techniques, incredible slam dunks that defied gravity, and blocks that were so skillful they seed supernatural.
Interestingly, ultra-long-range three-point shots are a practical impossibility.
While every basketball player possesses the strength to make a full-court shot, the ball's extended airborne ti allows defenders ample opportunity to intercept it mid-flight.
Both soccer and basketball ban players from using any offensive martial techniques.
But that didn't stop players from having intense physical confrontations on the court.
Can't use hands and feet to attack?
No problem, just flex those chest, abs, back, and glute muscles, and use internal energy to blast your opponent away.
You'll often see sothing like this: two players are fighting for the ball, shoulder to shoulder, when suddenly one of them goes flying, does a 360 in the air, hits the deck, and slides for about five ters or so.
In Chu Tianxing's old world, that would've been obvious diving and fraud.
But here? Totally normal.
The guy who sent soone flying acted like nothing happened, and the one who got blasted didn't complain; he could only bla himself for being inferior.
Ping pong, badminton, and tennis players were like thousand-ard Guanyin or hundred-ard Arhats. When the matches got intense, the ball moved so fast that ordinary people could barely see it as streaks of white light bouncing back and forth.
With competition this fierce, the balls had to be tough as hell.
Whether large balls or small ones, they were all made from special materials, sotis even using extraordinary materials with unique origins, to the point that even an Inner Force Realm martial artist cannot easily destroy them.
If the balls were that durable, the areas around the courts obviously needed solid defensive asures too.
Otherwise, if a ball flew into the stands, there'd be bloodshed.
These matches, full of tricks and unexpected monts, were naturally extrely popular.
And it's not like having all the athletes be Inner Force masters made them disconnected from the masses or anything.
This was a world where everyone practiced martial arts. Even ordinary folks who hadn't developed Internal Force had received martial training since childhood.
If you really wanted to push it, regular people could claim to be External Refinent martial artists who just hadn't broken through and had let their skills rust after starting work...
In Chu Tianxing’s previous world, athletes in different sports could already be considered superhuman, possessing abilities that far surpassed those of ordinary people.
Take NBA basketball players, for example. NBA basketball players with their monster-like physiques had a bigger gap with ordinary folks than the difference between regular people and Inner Force Realm martial artists in this world.
At least in this world, ordinary people could call themselves External Refinent martial artists and had once trained alongside Inner Force Realm fighters, learning the basics together...
So even though Inner Force Realm martial artists dominated various sports in this world, it didn't dampen regular people's love for sporting events.
In fact, because the entire population practices martial arts, sports in this world are even more popular than they were in Chu Tianxing's original world.
That said, events such as sprinting, long-distance running, high jump, long jump, weightlifting, diving, competitive swimming—and other sports without direct confrontation—gradually disappeared from this world.
The widespread nature of supernatural power ant that purely individual limit-pushing events with no direct physical or technical confrontation had lost their aning.
Because the ultimate limit was at the Astral Qi Realm.
Only those sports that demanded fierce physical and technical clashes managed to thrive.
But no matter which sport we're talking about, none of them could match the heat generated by the most direct display of violence in this world.
The Martial Arts Tournant.
This was the competition that all of humanity was passionate about.
When Chu Tianxing and Qin Ling arrived at the sports center, they found the place was packed like the Spring Festival travel rush even this early in the morning.
Loads of Embroidered Uniform Guards and volunteers organized by the Martial Arts Association were running around trying to maintain order,
Chu Tianxing said in amazent, "Why are there so many people? Isn't this just the group stage of the city-level tournant? There are way too many spectators! A lot of these people don't look like they're here supporting their kids or relatives either."
Qin Ling shrugged. "The Martial Arts Tournant is this lively every year. Besides, it's the weekend and people don't have to work, so lots of people co to watch the matches!”
"This is just the group stage. There'll be even more spectators during the elimination rounds. During the finals, the entire stadium will be packed to the brim. Co on, let's hurry up and get checked in."
She grabbed Chu Tianxing's hand and led him toward the contestants' entrance.
As they were walking, they suddenly ran into Xiao Hu swaggering through the crowd with a few of his buddies.
Seeing Chu Tianxing, Xiao Hu was shocked.
"What? Chu Tianxing, you signed up to compete too?"
Chu Tianxing gave him a friendly look. "Don't panic. I'm already eighteen, so I'm competing in the Young Adult Division, not the sa group as you."
Xiao Hu imdiately relaxed, though he tried to look nonchalant.
"Even if you were competing in the Youth Division, it wouldn't be a big deal. After the real combat experience I've had these past few days, my martial arts have improved significantly. I wouldn't be afraid of you."
With that, he led his buddies into the contestants' entrance.
Yeah, Xiao Hu's friends had signed up to compete too.
Though with their skill level, they had absolutely zero chance of advancing from the group stage. But hey, participation was what mattered.
After Xiao Hu's group went in, Chu Tianxing and Qin Ling didn't waste any ti and quickly entered through the contestants' entrance to check in.
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