Mark

The Martial Alliance suddenly became a sensation. Faced with this sudden rise to prominence, many people outside the martial arts world felt confused. In their eyes, this Martial Alliance was just like those places that taught martial arts, with less practical value than combat sports.

However, ordinary people certainly had their reasons for following the trend blindly, wanting to learn martial arts. Even some elderly men and women joined in the fun. Jiang Yun, who learned of this, felt a mix of amusement and helplessness, but if others wanted to learn, the Martial Alliance would teach them.

The Martial Alliance also owned several fitness clubs. Using some exercise methods that could strengthen the body to fool those elderly folks was more than enough. In their eyes, martial arts were just for physical fitness; they could never imagine the true potential of martial arts.

But being able to strengthen the body was enough; many people came for exactly that!

At this moment, a young man was training hard. He was kicking a sandbag, sweat streaming down his cheeks. The boy muttered to himself, "Two hundred thirty-seven, two hundred thirty-eight, two hundred thirty-nine..."

The boy had an afro, and looking at his face, one could easily believe he was in his twenties or thirties; he looked impossibly mature for his age.

"Mark! Mark! Come look at this!"

Just then, a chubby boy shouted Mark's name loudly and ran toward him. He tripped and fell face-first onto the ground with a thud, but he stood up quickly as if nothing had happened and waved at Mark excitedly.

"Mark! Look! What is this?"

The chubby boy excitedly handed the newspaper in his hand to Mark. Mark took it and read: "Martial Alliance sponsors the World Martial Arts Tournament. Prize money to be significantly increased. First place will receive fifty million, second place thirty million, third place ten million, and everyone who makes the top eight will be rewarded with one million!"

Mark only focused on the prize money and ignored the rest. As for this Martial Alliance, Mark had only heard of it recently. He had always only cared about the combat sports world and wasn't interested in other things.

His goal was to become the uncrowned king of the combat world; that was what a man should do.

However, before becoming the uncrowned king of the combat world, one still had to live. Mark's eyes were already filled with dollar signs, and he couldn't help but let out a lecherous laugh. He had already imagined himself punching the contestants, stepping on the runner-up, then gloriously taking home the fifty million and marrying a wealthy beauty...

The little chubby boy watched Mark leering at the newspaper, even drooling, and thought, Has he gone stupid? He immediately wore an expression of disgust and shook Mark with his hand.

Mark finally came to his senses, wiped the drool from his mouth, and looked at the chubby boy, saying, "Lada, why are you showing me this?"

Seeing Mark's hesitation, Lada couldn't help but chuckle and say, "Mark, don't you want to be a combat athlete? Being a martial artist is the same thing, and the prize money is exceptionally generous!"

Lada didn't pause and continued, "The Martial Alliance recently issued a notice wanting to recruit a batch of disciples under sixteen. Those who perform well will not only get generous rewards but can even become core disciples of the Martial Alliance. Although I don't know what a core disciple does, it must be a high-ranking position within the Alliance!"

"But we don't have any money!"

Mark couldn't help but say dejectedly. Mark thought the Martial Alliance was like those combat organizations that required fees, and he felt distressed. In reality, the reason Mark wanted to become a combat champion was because he wanted to live a good life. Schooling was out of the question; he was just an orphan, and Lada was an orphan too. He only had this one path to take. He didn't care if he was a combat athlete or a martial artist; everything was an effort to survive!

Mark couldn't help but feel that life was too hard, and it had been even harder since his master died. His master had been cruelly murdered because he once mocked a strange person's hair, so Mark vowed never to attack anyone unfamiliar or anyone who looked like they couldn't be judged by their appearance again.

Seeing Mark's sorrowful look, Lada, who knew what he had been through, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Mark. The Martial Alliance is different. They don't need money to recruit disciples, and I heard the benefits of joining the Alliance are very good. Previously, someone became their core disciple, and the Alliance not only helped his grandmother get treated for her illness but even arranged a house for him!"

Mark was a bit surprised. Shouldn't the Martial Alliance be like those black-hearted organizations that exploited their subordinates? Hearing Lada's answer, Mark couldn't help but feel a bit of goodwill toward the Martial Alliance.

"Alliance Leader, why are we sponsoring that unknown World Martial Arts Tournament? We could completely organize a top-tier event ourselves."

This Martial Alliance disciple didn't know why Jiang Yun wanted to sponsor a martial arts tournament with low popularity; this World Martial Arts Tournament couldn't even compare to some combat events.

Jiang Yun shook his head and didn't speak, instead looking into the distance. What the disciple didn't know was that the World Martial Arts Tournament was an immortal myth in the heart of every Dragon Ball fan; it was the youth that one never regretted!

On the other side, Mark followed Lada to the Martial Alliance registration site. When the staff member saw Mark and heard he also wanted to register, he said, "Sorry, we only recruit teenagers under sixteen."

Hearing this, several black lines appeared on Mark's forehead. Why did everyone bring up his appearance? This was maturity, maturity, understand?

Lada on the other side explained, "Sorry, sir, he is my friend. He is the same age as me, only thirteen."

"Thirteen? Alright, fill out the form and go in." He said this, but thought to himself, This kid looks really aged; he looks not much younger than me.

Mark and the others waited in line for a long time, and it was finally their turn!

"Satan? Who is Satan?"

The staff member inside shouted.

"Me! I am Satan!"

It was Mark who spoke. He chose this name to commemorate Satan City, where he once lived.

"Come in, Satan."

Then, Satan followed the staff member into the room!

Although Lada didn't know why Mark used a fake name, he figured there might be some consideration, so he didn't think much of it. After all, there was no rule that one had to use their real name, and they weren't the only ones using fake names; he even saw some people using nicknames, like one called Cape Boy. The names were all strange.

In reality, in the Dragon Ball World, many names were strange, and only a few had surnames, just like how Goku followed Gohan's surname, Son.

When Mark and Lada went in, they experienced some strange and ancient things. Could they really be selected just by doing these? What they didn't know was that these were things Jiang Yun had painstakingly created to test potential. The Martial Alliance didn't accept just anyone; currently, only geniuses could become core disciples, otherwise, you wouldn't be able to keep up with the progress of learning real skills.

What Jiang Yun didn't know was that under his influence, one person's life had been completely changed. But he still didn't know how much of a storm this butterfly of his would stir up; that remained to be seen!