At first thought, this is a world for the experienced and very capable verser. Yet, even one with moderate talent might find it a good world to be in.
Shenxou is a planet of a hundred huge islands, and thousands of tiny ones. It is green, and lush, except where volcanoes have recently erupted which is a commonplace.
It has not suffered a catastrophe in its past such as the Flood, or a close passage of a planetary comet, or the impact of an extinction level meteor. There are no vast desserts, no huge swathes of fossil beds, and the planet lacks for true mountains as the tallest one on the planet is but five thousand feet above sea level.
The locals drive three-wheeled hydrogen powered cars, and take trains for longer trips, and ferries from island to island. Only the wealthy or the elite of the government or military can afford to charter a seaplane.
The Hundred Islands yield the Hundred Governances, in theory. There are several city-states, and one Empire of the Islands that controls five islands, and two governances split up four different islands to make eight governances for these specific islands.
Most people are fairly self-sufficient with solar power providing electricity which then runs the robo-hydroponics shed for vegetables and grains. Some of the electricity is siphoned off to the water purification household 'plant', and some is sent to crack water into hydrogen for the family car.
Most people live on the shore, or on a creek so that there are large areas of deserted land without sufficient water supply for their lifestyle. Some, of course, dig wells for water, but culturally, this is considered rather odd. Its the type of thing that isolationist, antisocial hicks would do is the general thought.
There are those who have the Gift. They can see the future in dreams, or tell fortunes by palmistry or tea leaves. And all of them are predicting a great disaster.
Upon this peaceful, and largely inoffensive world, is granted the 'honor' of being the host site for the Pan-Galactic Martial Arts Challenge. Competitors from Andromeda, the Lesser and Greater Magellanic Clouds, and our own Milky Way Galaxy are coming for the fight of a century. Whoever wins will receive great reward from his patron, and the patron will receive even greater reward from the Powers.
Two of the Powers are openly represented. The Lords of Order, and the Spawns of Chaos come down to this world. Traditionally, both bring out great champions, but they are willing to make a deal with the winner so as to receive great advantages for their own side in their continual war with the opposing force.
Past independent champions have received such gifts as 'being the founder of a star empire that lasts for a thousand years of an age of gold'. Order gladly paid up in exchange for the power to harry Chaos for the next century across uncounted galaxies.
However, if Order wins, it likes to memorialize the occasion by turning the planet of its victory into a perfect, sterile monument with no messy sapients around to clutter things up. If Chaos wins, the planet devours itself as it falls into primordial (meaning the earliest form of) chaos. First governments begin to fail, then relationships with friends, then sanity, then the laws of chemical bonding, then the laws of atomic valences, then the laws of quarkial existence until what is left is a boiling rot of Pure Chaos.
The Challenge is launched by the Childe who brings out the Sphere of Calling. This device bends probability to the point where exceedingly unlikely things will happen. The wish is for 'warriors to come here, to make an interesting fight." The result is sudden gravitational vortexes, and time tunnels, and a thousand other bizarre coincidences that bring to this small world Champions from all over time and space and other dimensions.
Its commonplace for one to meet ancient nemesis at this fight.
The competitors can be of any skill level so as to accomodate the verser. Some are versers, and some are not human. Some may be the distant descendant of another contestant.
The Childe is forbidden to say anything he is not told to say unless he is questioned. However, he is the representative of the Firemind that created this universe. He desires the Challenge for he wishes to see his creation test themselves, and show greatness. But he balances love and justice, free will and law. Both the Lords of Order and the Spawns of Chaos are rebels against his righteous rule. Order wants perfect stasis and beauty with no humans. Chaos wants untrammelled expanses of reality to bend and shape at his/her/its whim.
If the verser is wise, he may notice the Childe, and ask the right questions. In that case, he may choose the Childe as his patron, and thus save Shenxou from destruction, and let the PGC be turned to what it is supposed to be instead of what it has been corrupted into being. The Childe has been 'caught' in an agreement that binds him, but he has plans for this. His catching was essential to limiting the evil Powers.
The competition allows the usage of psionic and martial arts attacks, but no technological attacks. The universe is powerblocked for all but 3@1 and lower Magic skills, except for the physical presence of avatars of the Powers. And these Powers are limited to physical and psionic attacks except for normal Magic skills.