Please be my partner.

Mellen said calmly, "Now that I'm here, I'm not afraid of any trouble. Why don't you invite me up for a chat? Perhaps I can offer you some good terms."

The girl paused for a moment, then sighed.

Before long, the three arrived at a private room on the second floor.

After a brief self-introduction, Mellen got straight to the point: "Ms. Lian Mei, it's clear that you don't actually want to sell Tianfu Martial Arts Hall, otherwise the signboard on the first floor wouldn't be so spotless."

Lian Mei remained silent.

Mellen continued, "To be honest, my only purpose in acquiring Tianfu Martial Arts Academy is to secure an invitation to the World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament. If you temporarily sell Tianfu Martial Arts Academy to me, I can sign an agreement with you to return it after the tournament ends. In the meantime, I will also help you resolve the troubles you are currently facing. How about it?"

Even Mei looked surprised, not expecting Mei Lun to say that.

The robust young man, Eugene Dong, frowned and said disdainfully, "You think you can..."

But before he could finish speaking, Mellen gave him a look, and Eugene Dong felt as if the heavens had collapsed. Those huge eyes covered the sky, and when he came to his senses, he had already fallen to the ground, covered in cold sweat, and his body was gasping for breath as if he were lacking oxygen.

Unless absolutely necessary, Mellen has never liked to play dumb, so he naturally wouldn't wait for Eugene Dong to finish mocking him before teaching him a lesson.

Lian Mei looked at him with surprise and uncertainty, and asked, "Was that... a superpower?"

Mellen shook his head and smiled, "The essence of martial arts."

Lian Mei exclaimed in surprise: "Martial arts realm? You're a grandmaster?"

Grandmaster, also known as Martial Saint, may have slightly different names in different worlds, but they are essentially the same.

After a long silence, Lian Mei asked, "Since you are a grandmaster, why would you choose our small Tianfu Martial Arts Academy? Any martial arts academy would be willing to give you a spot, wouldn't they?"

Mellen explained, "As I just said, I need an invitation from Tianfu Martial Arts Academy. In addition, I have one more small request..."

"That is, during my tenure, the martial arts school must be renamed 'Shinryu-ryu'. Such a capricious request is unlikely to be agreed to by other martial arts schools."

Chapter 659 I can bring you everything you want

No wonder!

Lian Mei muttered to herself.

In the steampunk world, martial arts masters are already considered superior individuals. In any city, they could easily become a member of the upper district. With such status, they would be treated with great respect by joining any martial arts school.

However, this kind of 'courtesy' does not include changing the name of the school of thought as well.

Clearly, Mellen is the kind of martial artist who wants to become famous through the World Martial Arts Tournament, but missed the preliminary rounds for some reason. In order not to waste more time, he came to us.

If what Mellen said is true, that it's just a temporary loan of the martial arts school's spot, and that not only will they help them solve their problems later, but they will also return the school to them after the martial arts tournament, then they would naturally be more than willing to accept such a 'deal'.

But the fear is that these are all just excuses for Mellen, and his ultimate goal is still to usurp the throne.

Lian Mei's expression was uncertain as she fell into thought.

Mellen didn't interrupt. Eugene Dong got up from the ground and looked at Mellen with a hint of fear in his eyes. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but then swallowed it back.

A moment later, just as Mellen was getting a little impatient, Lian Mei’s expression suddenly hardened, and she said, “I can agree to Mr. Mellen’s conditions, but I also have a small request.”

Mellen raised an eyebrow and asked, "Tell me about it."

Lian Mei glanced at Eugene Dong and then said, "I hope that Mr. Mellen can guide our martial arts training during his tenure at the martial arts school."

This kind of thing was of no concern to Mellen, who casually said, "Sure, but only for the two of you, and only when I have time."

Lian Mei stopped haggling and became more respectful: "Then, I'll leave the rest to you."

Soon, Lian Mei obtained a notarized document from the city's network. The terms were simple, just what they had mentioned before. The only minor hiccup was that Lian Mei did not charge Mei Lun any fees for this purchase; it was essentially a transfer of Tianfu Martial Arts Hall to Mei Lun.

Although Murron didn't care about such small amounts of money, it represented all of Murron's wealth, including some of his beliefs. Murron was impressed by his courage in having such a large sum of money.

In fact, this was the result that Lian Mei had no other choice. She had been forced into a corner and had to deal with those ruthless people in order to protect her last remaining family members. This put enormous pressure on Lian Mei, who was not yet twenty years old this year, and she was already physically and mentally exhausted during this period.

Now that Mellen has suddenly appeared as a troublemaker, even May is worried that it might be a trap, but she really has no choice but to trust her now.

The transfer procedures were completed in less than an hour.

Lian Mei said, "Mr. Mellen, I know you are very capable, but those who covet Tianfu... those who covet this martial arts gym are not simple."

“My grandfather was originally a martial arts master, but he was seriously injured in an accident. After that, Tianfu Martial Arts Academy began to decline, and my grandfather’s former enemies did not intend to let us go.”

"Although the city's laws prevent them from taking direct action, it's easy for them to pull some dirty tricks behind the scenes, which has led to the situation you see today."

At this point, Lian Mei sighed. Her grandfather originally wanted to train a martial arts master before he died, so that even if the master wasn't a match for his enemies, he could at least protect them. Unfortunately, the time left for her grandfather was ultimately too short.

After hearing this somewhat clichéd plot, Mellen remained noncommittal. He first gestured for Lian Mei to take down the "Tianfu" signboard, then went to a training stone about the height of a person, stretched out his palm and wiped it from top to bottom, smoothing out all the fist marks of varying depths on the stone's surface.

Then, Mellen stretched out his fingers and moved them around casually. Soon, the three large, flamboyant characters "Shenlong Liu" were engraved on the stone, and each stroke was exactly three inches deep.

When Mellen reached out to touch the stone, even Mellen and the others were already shocked. When he wrote the three characters 'Shenlongliu', they were so shocked that their jaws almost dislocated.

Training stones are not actually rare; they are simply a special type of stone, but their hardness and toughness are comparable to alloys.

An ordinary martial artist would be considered a master if he could leave a few marks on it. Even a martial arts master would find it easy to leave a three-inch mark. What is difficult is to do it as easily and casually as Mellen.

This alone shows that Mellen is no ordinary person.

Mellen laughed and said, "Let's put this outside the door. I believe that with this sign, most people won't be able to ignore it."

Lian Mei gave Mellen a deep look, knowing that the "ordinary people" the latter was referring to were the martial arts masters who caused trouble for Tianfu Martial Arts Academy.

She directed Eugene Dong to place the new signboard at the entrance of the martial arts school, while taking down the old signboard of Tianfu Martial Arts School and carefully preserving it.

In the following days, just as Mellen had predicted, no one bothered the Shenlongliu Martial Arts School anymore. All the complaints that had previously caused the Yuantianfu Martial Arts School so much trouble, as well as the official harassment, all stopped.

Some people may be unhappy with Mellen's "reaping the rewards" behavior, but after seeing the "Shenlongliu" signboard and realizing that it is a powerful dragon, their dissatisfaction gradually dissipated, replaced by some martial arts schools trying to win him over and testing him.

Mellen rejected all of these offers and ignored them.

Even Lianmei couldn't sit still and came to ask Meilun if he wanted to recruit some students, but Meilun directly refused.

In the past few days, Mellen, as the head of the Shenlongliu Martial Arts Hall, applied for the city-level competition of the World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament. Since it inherited the authority of the original Tianfu Martial Arts Hall, the Shenlongliu Martial Arts Hall naturally had the qualification, so the application was quickly replied to.

With about two weeks left before the auditions ended, Mellen took the opportunity to learn a little about the martial arts of the steampunk world.

"The mainstream martial arts today are divided into three types: traditional martial arts, super martial arts, and mechanical martial arts."

"Traditional martial arts are the traditional way of martial arts. Martial artists cultivate according to the ancient methods passed down, without making unnecessary modifications to the body. At most, they use some enhancement drugs."

"Superweapons and mecha weapons are both newly emerging..."

"Super martial arts are achieved by modifying genes or through other means to awaken superpowers, and then combining these superpowers with martial arts to produce incredible results."

"Generally speaking, super weapons require a strong research team to help with various studies. And because of the increasing potential shown by super weapons, some large companies and groups are also willing to sign cooperation agreements with people who have awakened superpowers due to various accidents."

"But I've heard my grandfather say that things are very complicated here, and ordinary people without any background will most likely not end up well."

"Mechanical martial arts are easier to understand. By modifying oneself with machinery and combining it with martial arts, one can unleash greater destructive power. However, due to the precision of machinery, mechanical martial arts practitioners often require a large logistical team to provide support."

"Although weapon warriors are prohibited from using weapons of mass destruction in formal competitions, they should not be underestimated even so."

"..."

Although Lian Mei is young, she has a grandfather who was a martial arts master, so she has a relatively deep understanding of the martial arts world.

After patiently listening to Lian Mei's story, Mellen asked, "What realm is above the Martial Arts Grandmaster?"

"Above the Grandmaster of Martial Arts?" Lian Mei thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "I don't know, my grandfather never told me anything like that."

Mellen nodded slightly. This world is more powerful than the Great Hua World, so there must be legendary powerful figures here. However, Mellen has not sensed any of them yet, nor has he heard of any.

Just then, Eugene Dong knocked on the door and came in, saying, "Mr. Mellen, a young lady from the Upper Town requests to see you."

“A young lady from the upper town?” Mellen muttered. The only person he knew who fit the description was Rolanda, whom he had met when he entered the city. So he said, “Bring her up.”

A moment later, Rolanda strode over, while the butler, as always, had a dark face and didn't give Mellen a friendly look.

What angered the butler was that their young lady was of noble status, and it was already a great honor that she would condescend to meet with Mellen, but Mellen had no manners or etiquette at all and did not even go to greet her personally.

Mellen, of course, was unaware of and unconcerned about the butler's ulterior motives. He looked at Rolanda and smiled familiarly, "Rolanda, what brings you here?"

The fact that the butler addressed his young mistress by her full name caused his face to darken even further.

Rolanda smiled gently and said, "Mr. Mellen, I was really rude last time. I didn't expect you to be a martial arts master. I happened to hear that you had established a dojo, so I came to congratulate you."

As he spoke, the butler placed a gift on the table and said meticulously, "This is a gift personally selected by Miss. There are also some other gifts that are being moved downstairs."

With just a quick scan of his spiritual sense, Mellen understood that the gifts below were all the latest training equipment and instruments. With the help of these professional training tools, the training efficiency of those below the Martial Saint level could be greatly increased.

As for the one that Rolanda personally selected, it was a vial of potion that emitted a pale green fluorescence.

The butler said, "This is Enhancement Potion Type IV, the flagship product of the Ziling Group. It can significantly enhance the body, with stable effects, and can even work for martial arts masters."

Mellen nodded and smiled, "Thank you for your thoughtfulness."

After accepting the gift, Mellen said, "Rolanda, you've probably figured out my personality. I don't like beating around the bush. Tell me why you've come."

Rolanda said, "Mr. Mellen is so carefree, it's truly enviable."

"My purpose in coming here is very simple: in addition to offering my congratulations, I would also like to ask Mr. Mellen about the cooperation he mentioned last time."

Mellen said, "Oh, this? My goal is to win the World Martial Arts Tournament, so I want to cooperate with you, or rather, with the Greenwood family behind you."

Rolanda asked, "What kind of cooperation method is it?"

"I need your family to do everything they can to promote me, and ideally, make my name known throughout the world," Mellen said.

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

The butler's lips twitched, and Rolanda also showed a strange expression.

They never expected that Mellen would make such a request. However, Mellen's expression was calm and serious, not at all like he was joking.

"This..." Rolanda hesitated, unsure how to respond.

The butler suddenly said, "Mr. Mellen, cooperation is naturally mutual. If you want the Greenwood family to help you with publicity, then you naturally need to pay an equivalent amount."

"Also, I must remind you that you may not know the significance of the Greenwood family."

Strictly speaking, a qualified butler should not interrupt when the master is discussing serious matters, let alone speak with sarcasm.

But the butler couldn't help himself when he heard Mellen's tone of "asking you for help is giving you face."

Mellen chuckled and said, "I know that it's hard to be convinced by empty words, but today is just a brief mention. Whether we should cooperate or not can be discussed later."

"As for what I can bring to the Greenwood family? Ha! I can bring you everything you want."

The butler was even more disdainful of Mellen's arrogant words. He admitted that it was impressive that Mellen could become a martial arts master at such a young age, but the world was a very complex place.

Floating warships, super-powered soldiers, nuclear missiles, destructive mechs, annihilation cannons...

Which city doesn't possess extraordinary power? But even so, humanity can only remain confined to individual cities. The powerful individuals among the mutated life forms each possess world-destroying abilities, and the extraordinary life forms should not be underestimated, not to mention those forbidden zones.

The butler shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Everything? Mr. Mellen, it seems you don't understand one thing: there are always people more capable than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding. Do you think what you see is the whole world?"

Mellen was speechless, but he also knew that the natives confined to their small boxes could not understand the vastness of the world, so he did not intend to mock them back, because that would be meaningless.

Mellen waved his hand and said, "Alright, let's leave the discussion here. The specifics depend on what you guys think."

The butler suddenly seemed to be holding back his anger, and his face gradually turned red.

Rolanda said gently, "If Mr. Mellen wants to cooperate with my family, I really can't make the decision on my own. I need to communicate with the family first. We'll explain the specifics later."

"However, I hope that even if this collaboration does not come to fruition, it will not affect our personal friendship."

Mellen was speechless. It really is true that familiarity breeds contempt. He had only met Rolanda twice in total, but the latter even brought up their personal friendship.

On the way back, Rolanda remained thoughtful, and the butler also regained his composure.

Rolanda asked, "What do you think?"

The butler said seriously, "He probably has some secrets, but his words are a bit too exaggerated. Such a person is not trustworthy."

Looking out the car window at the martial arts gym receding into the distance, Rolanda suddenly said, "What if what he said is true?"

The butler was taken aback and instinctively asked, "Really? Which part is true?!"

Rolanda muttered to herself, "Perhaps..."

"all?"

Chapter 660 Obtaining a Spot in the Official Competition

"Whoosh—!!"

"Oh oh oh oh ah ah ah ah!!!"

In the enormous martial arts arena, countless lights shone, and fixed cameras and drones moving freely in the air recorded every exciting moment.