Verdant Tarn Town was a border town located in the southeasternmost part of Autumn Tarn City's jurisdiction. In the empire's territory, there were millions of such towns, and each town had a resident population of at least 50,000 people.
The empire had always held martial strength in high esteem. Origin ability users with extraordinary abilities had a very high social status, and origin ability warriors were even more outstanding. Almost all of the empire's citizens regarded becoming an origin ability user as their greatest glory.
Even for ordinary citizens, practicing martial arts was almost a lifelong habit. This way, they could better train their body and strengthen their physique, so as to be able to perceive origin ability earlier.
Therefore, no matter if it was a city or a village, no matter if it was a street or a small alley, martial arts halls, cultivation halls, martial arts halls, and martial arts squares could be seen everywhere. There were all kinds of people cultivating in these places, from high officials and dignitaries to lowly peddlers.
Because it was a border planet, Verdant Tarn Town's level of technology wasn't high. On the contrary, it was somewhat backward. Therefore, when Adu stopped the trailer at the crossroads, Ding Meng easily saw the words "Vast Verdant Tarn Martial Arts Hall".
It was a sign projected by an intelligent crystal advertising device. It worked on the same principle as the ion transmission system on spaceships in space, which could produce a remote three-dimensional projection at any time.
The words "Vast Verdant Tarn Martial Arts Hall" were not only very eye-catching, but the image under the sign was constantly changing. Not only did it accurately display the three-dimensional model, structure, area, function, and location of the martial arts hall, but it also refreshed with rows of subtitles. The content included consumer prices, service items, types of recruitment, selection criteria … It was very clear and detailed. In short, no matter what you wanted to do at the Verdant Tarn Martial Arts Hall, you would be clearly arranged here.
But looking at the restaurants, shopping malls, and business centers next to the dojo, they all used ordinary electronic signboards. Just from this point alone, it could be seen that this newly opened dojo was quite powerful in Verdant Tarn Town, no matter how one looked at it.
There was already a long queue outside the entrance of the martial arts hall. It seemed that this place was very popular with the residents.
"Wow, so many people."
It was obviously the first time Little Rascal had seen such a scene, "Ding Meng, we can cultivate in this martial arts hall. The environment must be good."
Ding Meng's eyelids drooped. "You need money. Do you think you can use it for free?"
He had already seen it on the signboard. It provided all kinds of equipment and tools. There were even nutrition cabins, induction cabins, and medical cabins, but the price … Even the simplest dumbbell and tab cost 5 tokens for an hour of use.
He did not know if it was expensive for others, but for Ding Meng, it was daunting because he did not even have a single feather in his pocket.
"Hopefully, I'll be successful this time." Ding Meng prayed to himself.
The long line lasted for 20 minutes before it was his turn. The uniformed staff at the entrance was very polite. "Excuse me, sir, are you a member of our club?"
"Hello, I'm here to apply for the recruitment," Ding Meng replied in a low voice.
The staff smiled at him. "Hello, please come with me."
The martial arts hall was divided into three floors. It covered a large area of about 2000 square meters. The hall on the first floor was the basic training hall. It had all kinds of equipment, such as barbells, dumbbells, pullers, bends, bicycles, treadmills, rowing machines … the most basic equipment was very complete. Every piece of equipment was neatly arranged and used by people.
The middle section was the strength training room, which was also a large hall. However, the number of people here was obviously not as many as the basic training hall. Here, there were many burly men doing various body movements. From the looks of their muscles, these people should have been training for some time.
There was a side hall near the stairs of the strength training hall. There were rows of black targets on the wall. Dozens of men and women wearing boxing gloves of various colors were seriously hitting the targets. The hall was filled with the sounds of "Ha ha ha ha".
Ding Meng noticed that every time the boxers punched, the electronic scoreboard above the target would show the score of the strength of the punch.
"Interesting." Ding Meng was very interested.
"Yeah, it's not bad."
Little Rascal was also very satisfied with this new environment. Of course, her focus was on the data. According to her calculations, these people's scores were mostly in the range of "30 to 60". After all, the people who came to the martial arts hall were normal people. This range was the standard for normal people. Moreover, these people were considered to be stronger than normal people.
Finally, the staff brought Ding Meng to a small room in the side hall. "Sir, please come in. Manager Hu is here."
The translucent glass door opened automatically. Ding Meng took a deep breath and walked in with his chest puffed out. In the end, he was here to apply for the recruitment. It was better to keep his spirits up.
He thought he looked good, but the people in the room didn't see him that way.
Hu Qi was the human resources manager of the martial arts hall. He was forty years old this year, the most attractive age in a man's life. This was indeed the case. He was dressed in a suit and leather shoes. His tie flowed elegantly. His handsome and mature face paired with gold-rimmed glasses gave off the impression of a refined, professional elite.
In his eyes, the people who came to apply for the recruitment today were roughly divided into two groups. One group was tall, powerful, and burly. These people were mostly physical trainers, martial arts instructors, and strength trainers. The other group was dressed neatly and had an extraordinary appearance. These people were obviously office workers.
However, the person who came in now was already outside of these two groups. He didn't know where the tattered clothes he was wearing came from. There were two holes in the knees of his pants. His hair was messy as if it hadn't been washed for many days. He looked extremely sloppy from head to toe. Most importantly, he was clearly a child. He wasn't tall, powerful, or elegant.
Who was he?
What was he doing here?
"You …" Hu Qi was stunned for a moment in his office chair.
Ding Meng was very direct. "Hello, Manager Hu. My name is Ding Meng. I'm here to apply for the recruitment of a sparring partner."
It took Hu Qi a long time to come back to his senses. "Ding … Ding … Little Brother, are you in the wrong place?"
Ding Meng was puzzled. "I'm not in the wrong place. This is the Vast Qingze Martial Arts Hall. I'm here to apply for the recruitment."
Hu Qi intuitively believed that this was a kid from some town who was used to being wild and came to the martial arts hall for fun. It was reasonable to say that at this time, he should inform the security to take the kid away and then hand him over to the public security office across the street so that the kid's parents could take him back.
However, his good professionalism prevented him from doing so. This was because he saw that Ding Meng did not wear the miniature wrist device that symbolized citizenship on his wrist. Thus, he thought of a clever way to drive people away. "Ding … Ding Meng, right? Did you leave your wrist device at home?"
This was a hint to the other party in disguise. Ding Meng was also a bit helpless. "Manager Hu, your martial arts hall did not say that you would not recruit people without citizenship. My home is at Yuanshan Farm in Qingxi Village 5. You can check it out."
Hu Qi immediately turned on the miniature optical computer on the office table. The holographic screen quickly rose. Not only did it show Ding Meng's information, but at the end of the message, there was also a message from Qingze Town's Civil Protector, Douglas Fred. "Foreigner, no bad record."
It was obvious that Ding Meng had left a good impression on Fred. There was even an additional note attached. It was obvious that he sympathized with Ding Meng because he was an interstellar refugee. This could also be considered as a way to take care of him in disguise.
Of course, if Fred knew who had died at Ding Meng's hands, he would probably vomit blood.
There was indeed no bad record, but his record of killing people was solid. Moreover, the people he had killed were all fierce people.
"This …" Hu Qi had a headache again. After thinking for a while, he waved at the staff at the door. "Xiao Wei, take this Mr Ting to the strength testing machine outside to test his strength. According to the procedures, our martial arts hall's sparring partners also need to meet the strength requirement."
"Yes, Manager Hu."
Xiao Wei understood tacitly. He knew that Hu Qi was trying to drive people away in disguise, so he politely bowed to Ding Meng and gestured. "Mr Ting, this way please."