After secretly feeding King Chappa a quarter of a Senzu Bean from the bag, his chest finally began to rise and fall again.
Yamcha slowly let out a sigh of relief.
"Referee, he's not dead. Announce the result already."
The referee, stunned for a moment, stepped forward to check King Chappa's condition and then began a ten-second countdown.
A mere quarter of a Senzu Bean was enough to save King Chappa's life, but a full recovery was out of the question—so as expected, he had lost the ability to continue fighting.
"The champion of this year's World Martial Arts Tournament is—Contestant Yamcha!"
Standing amidst the cheering crowd, Yamcha thought to himself:
"Underestimating an opponent's strength like that... it's too reckless. I need to be more cautious from now on."
From that moment, Yamcha made a firm decision to never blindly trust what others say again. He would trust his own judgment.
The prize for winning the World Martial Arts Tournament was 500,000 Zeni. Although that amount of money was nothing significant to Yamcha, it was something he had earned fair and square—and of course, he pocketed it.
After all, it's enough to buy a few Hoi-Poi Capsules, right?
After the tournament, Yamcha had a rough idea of where his power level stood.
Somewhere between the era of Goku's fight against Mercenary Tao and his performance in the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament.
If he wanted more accurate data, further testing would be required.
But that could wait. His top priority now was to improve his strength.
Even if he surpassed the Goku from the 22nd Tournament, in the grand scheme of the Dragon Ball world, that still made him a small fry.
The average soldier in Frieza's army had a power level of around 1200.
After returning to his base at Mount Frypan, Yamcha resumed his path of training.
The gravity chamber had already been built and successfully transported to the base.
Created by a certain Red Ribbon Army scientist, it could go up to 5 times Earth's gravity.
Although 5x gravity was nothing compared to the hundreds of times used by Saiyans later on, at this point in time it was quite impressive.
Mainly because Yamcha believed he was still in his physical growth phase, and using too high gravity could hinder his development. He didn't want to end up with Vegeta's tragic 160cm height.
"Let's start with 2x gravity for now."
Yamcha stepped into the gravity chamber.
The moment the machine activated, he felt pressure wash over his entire body—he nearly collapsed to the floor.
Doubling his body weight was manageable in itself.
But the scariest part about gravity is that it doesn't just affect the body's exterior—it also puts strain on the internal organs.
"First, adjust the breathing."
With a rhythmic, unique breathing technique, Yamcha's body immediately felt lighter. Under 2x gravity, he was now able to move freely.
The miracle of Hamon (Ripple) lay in this breathing style. Simply breathing in this way could give the body extraordinary strength, even allowing it to generate inner "light" like the sun.
What's more, Ripple breathing didn't just strengthen the outer body—it also enhanced the internal organs.
Long-term training in Ripple breathing greatly boosts physical fitness and significantly slows aging.
"Now to try the second ability."
"Nen!"
In the next instant, a thin, invisible layer formed around Yamcha's body.
This time, Yamcha felt like his body had fully adjusted—as if there was no gravity at all.
Nen was truly incredible.
No—it was better than incredible. The 2x gravity no longer affected him. His Nen was being consumed slightly faster than usual, but that was perfect for training it further.
Nen is life energy. Training Nen is essentially training life force itself, and the Ripple breathing technique boosts life energy.
Combining the two wasn't just 1 + 1 = 2.
Especially since both methods enhanced life energy, just like how Netero from the Hunter x Hunter world—one of the greatest Nen masters—lived for hundreds of years or more.
Most crucially, while training these two, Yamcha's Ki was also increasing.
Ki is the fundamental energy present in all living things. In a sense, it's not that different from Nen—just expressed differently.
So, by training Nen, Yamcha was also training Ki. Combined with Ripple breathing, his training efficiency soared to terrifying levels.
That's why Yamcha, in less than a year, had reached a level that had taken young Goku years to achieve.
In the Dragon Ball world, there's no such thing as inner energy cultivation manuals.
If we compared training methods, other Z Fighters were essentially using basic-level internal arts, while Yamcha had directly skipped to top-tier techniques like the Nine Yin Nine Yang manuals.
Call it a cheat if you want—because it kind of is.
But he had no choice.
Dragon Ball's original series still had some martial arts theory and technique.
By the time we get to Z, everything revolves around Saiyan near-death boosts and Super Saiyan transformations.
Super Saiyan transformations became the main path forward.
The only time we saw anything close to a "state" cultivation was during the Cell Games, where Goku had Gohan maintain Super Saiyan form constantly for ten days.
It was epic, sure—but all the other Z Fighters were reduced to background characters. Even though they trained on King Kai's planet, they never got to use Kaioken or Spirit Bomb. All they got was a ten-times gravity trial.
Yamcha wasn't a Saiyan. He wasn't a Namekian. He wasn't even a descendant of the Three-Eyed people. He was just an ordinary Earthling.
If he wanted to survive in this world, he had to make use of everything available to him.
Fortunately, he had the backing of the entire multiverse—and he had already found a method.
And now, reality confirmed that his strategy was working.
Ripple breathing, Nen, Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, and Stands—these were only pieces of Yamcha's puzzle. He had far more he intended to integrate.
Every world he visited served a purpose.
In Yamcha's vision:
The Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist was a martial technique that could evolve over time.
Nen and Ki were both forms of life energy and worked in synergy.
Nen's various categories (Ten, Zetsu, Ren, Hatsu) offered him different internal cultivation techniques.
Ripple breathing was his internal cultivation method, which, through controlled breathing, amplified life force and physical strength.
At their core:
Nen = Life Energy = Ripple = Ki.
It was only a partial puzzle, though—he still lacked:
A catalyst for life energy evolution
Unmatched explosive power
A massive foundational energy reserve
When all pieces came together, they would fuse.
Layering all these powers would push Yamcha's training to absurd levels.
In fact, he already had some idea which three other worlds he'd need to tap into for those missing pieces.
Of course, Yamcha's preparations didn't stop there—he had many more plans.
"Even if I can't become a Super Saiyan, I'll still become the strongest."
That was Yamcha's vow.
"Alright then—activating 3x gravity!"
He pressed the button again, and an even greater pressure crashed down.
"Keep your mind calm. Control your breathing. Use Nen to maintain Ren!"
Yamcha threw himself fully into his long journey of training. Nen, Ripple, and Ki were all steadily growing stronger in sync.
Steady, steady, and more steady. Stronger, stronger, and even stronger.
"I'll show this world that Earthlings aren't just androids—true martial artists can also become the strongest through effort!"