Zhao Luo looked slightly happy but it only lasted for a while.
'This is just a stop. I still have a long way to go.'
Zhao Luo murmured while staring at his bronze badge and listening to the words of the two elders.
"Once you exit this room, you will be in the entrance zone of the inner hall. It is also called the Group Zone and believe me, you will find many lost cases chasing after you."
The elder with the silver robe gave a heads up to Zhao Luo before the two elders vanished right before his eyes.
"Ah, I couldn't even say goodbye to them. But..."
"What could he mean by saying that I will be chased?"
Zhao Luo wondered who he will be chased by when he is simply entering the inner hall.
In front of him, a door appeared right where the elders were standing before and a black space with an endless depth could be seen as the door opened.
Surprisingly, the space between the door was the same as the one outside the inner hall.
'Let's go.'
Zhao Luo entered the door without any hesitation and appeared on the other side.
"So this is the entrance zone."
Zhao Luo who had seen many extraordinary things till now was surprised once again as he looked around the gigantic zone and the number of inner disciples that were present here.
'Are all the disciples of the inner hall here?'
Zhao Luo wondered as his eyes fell on some familiar faces.
These disciples were the ones who had come to spectate the outer disciples ranking tournament.
"Little Brother."
Just then Zhao Luo heard a voice and instantly knew who it belonged to even before he turned towards the direction where the voice had reached him.
"Senior."
Zhao Luo turned around with a smile and all of his brother disciples were with Senior Cutie and they were all walking towards Zhao Luo.
"What took you so long?"
Xiao Yu questioned Zhao Luo with a curious look.
"Did I really take that long?"
Zhao Luo was also interested in knowing how long it had taken for the others to clear their tests.
"Little Brother, I had arrived here twenty minutes ago and Brother Xiao Yu was already here."
Senior Cutie told Zhao Luo.
Zhao Luo had entered the inner hall around 30 minutes ago, which was almost the same for the others too.
"How long did you fight the puppet?"
'Did he take less time than me?'
Zhao Luo questioned Xiao Yu while thinking of comparing his single slash with Xiao Yu's time.
"I destroyed it with a single palm."
Xiao Yu said confidently as though no one else could have broken his record, especially not Zhao Luo who had taken so long.
But how could they that he had to play a game as a source of entertainment for the two elders, that too against a senior who was a one in a million case.
Zhao Luo simply nodded his head at Xiao Yu's answer after which his eyes seemed to be longing for something as he gazed around.
"Little Brother, are you looking for your love?"
Senior Cutie had a grin on his face as the surprised expression on Zhao Luo's face confirmed that he had hit the spot.
"Umm, where is she?"
Zhao Luo didn't deny it and instead asked about her since she wasn't with them.
"She was taken away."
Feng Ma told Zhao Luo while barely standing straight.
"Taken away?"
Zhao Luo heard Feng Ma's words and was angered. These words were the triggers that made him remember the sight he had seen after entering the test room.
'Mo Suo.'
Zhao Luo mumbled awhile thinking that it may be his doing.
'He must have taken her away.'
Zhao Luo clenched his fist as his eyes trembled with anger.
"Calm down, little brother."
Senior Cutie patted Zhao Luo's shoulder and glared at Feng Ma.
"Stop drinking."
Senior Cutie looked like he was scolding him but Feng Ma who was extremely drunk at the moment couldn't resist taking another sip from his wine flask.
While looking at Feng Ma continuing drinking, Senior Cutie shook his head and turned to Zhao Luo.
"She has already joined a female-only group and has already left with them."
"A Group?"
Zhao Luo who initially couldn't understand Senior Cutie's words suddenly calmed down as he remembered the words of the elder.
'He did say that the entrance zone is called the Group Zone.'
Zhao Luo tried to stay calm while listening to Senior Cutie's words.
"There are four groups in the inner hall. Little sister has joined one of them, and already left with them."
Senior Cutie explained to Zhao Luo and the earlier misunderstanding finally cleared.
Zhao Luo looked at Feng Ma whose unusual words were the reason behind his earlier aggression and tried to snatch the wine flask in Feng Ma's hand.
Zhao Luo in no way was slow, but Feng Ma who was completely drunk twirled around like a leaf and dodged his hand.
"Gulp, Gulp."
Feng Ma took two more mouthfuls of wine and then glanced at Zhao Luo with shaky eyes.
"B-Brother, Are you after my wine too?"
Feng Ma asked Zhao Luo while Zhao Luo could only laugh awkwardly.
'It seems like everyone has gotten stronger.'
Zhao Luo mumbled as he stared at Feng Ma before moving his eyes on Si Chen who had his eyes closed.
'He must be going over his fight against the puppet.'
Zhao Luo thought and found that Pi Hao had his eyes closed too.
"Little Brother, look."
Senior Cutie called out Zhao Luo while pointing his head towards the right.
Zhao Luo followed his gaze and realized that a group was coming towards them.
But even before he could make anything out by watching them advance towards him, two more groups were coming towards him.
Soon, three groups were gathered around them.
Si Chen and Pi Hao had also moved beside Zhao Luo and Senior Cutie.
Feng Ma was still wobbling on his feet even after more than twenty people had surrounded them.
'Tsk.'
Xiao Yu clicked his tongue as he lowered his body and clasped his palms.
Zhao Luo felt troubled since he hadn't even realized till he and the others had already been surrounded by this many disciples who to him seemed like one big group.
But if one looked closely they would realize that the disciple who had surrounded them could be differentiated.
Zhao Luo looked around them and realized that each and every one of the disciples was at least at level four 'IV' of bronze rank.
'What is up with the color over their badges?'
Zhao Luo wondered as the moment he had looked around to see who he was dealing with and how strong they were, he found out that each of the disciples had a colored stripe attached over their bronze badge.
The group of disciples in front of him had a red stripe over their badges, the ones on the right had a blue color on their badge, while the ones on the left had a green stripe over their badge.
The six disciples with the red stripe over their badges, who were in the front suddenly parted into two subgroups as they made some way between them to walk towards Zhao Luo.
"So you are Zhao Luo."
A man walked towards them.
He was not only the most handsome one of this red stripe group but also the strongest one.
'A level eight.'
Zhao Luo mumbled while looking at the badge on his chest.
A bronze badge with five marks 'VIII' shined as he made his way towards Feng Ma.
"Indeed someone with such classy moves can become famous as the friend of the second elder."
The level eight disciple who seemed to look like the leader of the red group grabbed Feng Ma's hand before shaking it gently.
Even though there was a seven level difference between the two, the senior still showed respect to Feng Ma who was nodding his head, every time his hand would go down.
The greeting came to a point where Feng Ma's almost stumbled left and then continued his drunk dance as his body fell towards the right, all this happened while his hand was still in the level eight disciples' hand.
"Oh, these must be the moves that brought you victory in your last fight."
The disciple looked excited as he tried reading where Feng Ma would move towards next.
Zhao Luo and the others looked at this disciple with a smile on their faces.
He had clearly mistaken Feng Ma for Zhao Luo and was trying to praise whatever he could while eng Ma was just moving around while being a drunkard.
"Who are you senior?"
Zhao Luo looked at the man and asked politely.
"Who gave you permission to speak against the great one of the red group."
The disciples behind him shouted at Zhao Luo as if they were privileged to show him his place for speaking out of turns here.
