Time rewound, and on the other side, Su Luo and An Ran returned to the villa together.
"Brother Su Luo, do you really only possess the strength of a Third-Grade Grandmaster?"
An Ran’s beautiful eyes shone with a special light as she stared at Su Luo incessantly.
Su Luo smiled and said, "Why, don’t you believe it?"
An Ran shook her head slightly and replied, "It’s not that I don’t believe you, but rather that the combat strength you’ve displayed, to say the least, seems to surpass even an average Fifth-Grade Grandmaster, let alone a Third-Grade one."
Su Luo smiled and said, "My strength cannot simply be evaluated based on my martial arts level. I’ve just conveniently used the Grandmaster rank as a point of comparison."
"So that’s how it is." An Ran blinked her beautiful eyes, yet she didn’t pry further into Su Luo’s secrets.
"By the way, when we were leaving just now, I vaguely heard other students mention the names Qin Tian, Zhang Yuanqin, and Chen Baobao. Who are Zhang Yuanqin and Chen Baobao? What kind of strength do they have?" Su Luo asked.
Seeing that Su Luo didn’t ask about Qin Tian, An Ran assumed he already knew about Qin Tian, so she explained, "Zhang Yuanqin, you are actually familiar with him. He is the brother of Zhang Yuanqing from the Shu Territory Zhang Family whom you encountered in the Southern Martial Association contest, a Fifth-Grade Grandmaster with the ability to fight across levels. He has contended with a veteran Sixth-Grade Grandmaster without defeat."
Zhang Yuanqing’s brother?
Su Luo remembered Zhang Yuanqing; at that time, he had cooperated with Zhang Yuanqing and Su Jinyun. His impression of Zhang Yuanqing was rather good, but he wondered what Zhang Yuanqin was like.
An Ran continued, "Chen Baobao, the name alone suggests a beauty, and indeed, she is quite tall, almost reaching 1.8 meters, also a Fifth-Grade Grandmaster. On the day she registered, she heard a male student commenting on her height in a rather offensive manner, so she acted immediately, punishing him. Her actions were quite ruthless, and she quickly made a name for herself. Her strength should be on par with Zhang Yuanqin; as to who’s stronger or weaker, it’s currently unclear."
Su Luo nodded.
If they are both Fifth-Grade Grandmasters, that’s not a concern for him. Even if they joined forces, Su Luo wouldn’t be afraid. It seemed like securing a spot in the top three and earning the right to soak in the Life Essence Pool should be no problem.
An Ran looked at Su Luo and, although she knew Brother Su Luo had already heard about Qin Tian, she still reminded him,
"If it were half a month ago, Qin Tian, Zhang Yuanqin, and Chen Baobao might have been of similar strength, but now, Qin Tian’s strength should be the greatest among them."
Su Luo raised an eyebrow.
So, Qin Tian’s strength improved greatly during this half month?
"What do you mean?" Su Luo inquired.
An Ran said, "I’ve encountered Qin Tian twice in the back mountains, and each time I saw him, his strength had grown a bit more than the previous days. His progression has been incredibly rapid during this period. I speculate that he, like Qin Feng, probably gained access to some secret techniques from the Qin Family that only a Great Grandmaster could cultivate beforehand."
Su Luo nodded.
If An Ran’s guess was true, then it was probably due to Qin Tian bringing back the Spirit Storage Map, right?
"Brother Su Luo, this time, by showing your hand, you’ve probably revealed your strength prematurely. When the new students’ martial arts competition arrives, if they feel threatened by you, they might join forces against you," An Ran suddenly said with a smile.
Su Luo also smiled and replied, "I’m not worried; I have you, a hidden expert by my side. If I can’t handle it, I’ll let you step in."
An Ran stood tall and proud, "Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. You’ll definitely have a place among the top three."
Su Luo couldn’t help but laugh.
"Ahh, Brother Su Luo, what are you laughing at?" An Ran stared at Su Luo in feigned anger.
"I just think that being taken care of is definitely quite nice." Su Luo chuckled.
...
In the following days,
Su Luo hadn’t visited the training ground, nor had he attended any classes, but instead continuously cultivated inside his villa, utilizing the Yin and Yang energies absorbed from the Xuan Yang Jade Pendant, Xuan Yin Jade Pendant, and those contained within the Yin Stone and Yang Stone for cultivation.
Moreover, to better feel the fusion of Yin and Yang energies transforming into Chaos Qi, Su Luo deliberately refrained from using the Chaos Bead, choosing to absorb and refine the Yin and Yang energies through the "Chaos Creation Technique," turning them into Chaos Qi, which he would then absorb and refine into Chaotic Power.
This process, although it slowed down the enhancement of Su Luo’s strength and level,
held great long-term benefits for him.
It was equivalent to solidifying his own foundation.
It’s just like how only after laying a solid foundation can one build a stable skyscraper.
The two are based on the same principle.
Despite Su Luo’s objections, An Ran simply moved into Su Luo’s villa, officially starting their cohabitation.
Su Luo had wanted to refuse since it wasn’t good for An Ran’s reputation.
But An Ran blocked his retorts with just a few words.
An Ran, looking wronged, said, "Brother Su Luo, do you really want to abandon me after having your way with me?"
Su Luo felt even more wronged, "When have I ever had my way with you? I haven’t even touched your hand."
As a result, An Ran reached out her hand, took the initiative to hold Su Luo’s hand, and giggled, "Now you have, right?"
Su Luo: "..."
In the end, he simply went along with An Ran.
If An Ran wanted to live together... then they would live together. After all, the rumors had already spread. Even if An Ran moved back, no one would believe they were completely innocent.
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, the day of the new pupils’ martial arts competition arrived.
The Kunlun Special Training Base had been established for eighteen years.
This batch, including Su Luo, was the eighteenth batch of students.
Five hundred in total.
Three hundred Inner Strength Students.
Two hundred Grandmaster Students.
The Inner Strength Students all had to be under eighteen and were selected based on talent.
As for the Grandmaster Students, they had to be under thirty years old and were also mainly selected based on talent.
Of course.
Inner Strength and Grandmasters were completely separated.
Su Luo hadn’t seen any Inner Strength Students during his time at the Kunlun Special Training Base, and today, their eighteenth batch’s competition was also separate.
He and An Ran arrived early at the Arena Square.
The Arena Square was similar to a small stadium, with an arena in the middle and seats all around, except it was entirely open-air.
When Su Luo and An Ran arrived, there were already many students who had arrived even earlier.
"Young Grandmasters through and through, there are even some teenage Grandmasters."
Su Luo’s gaze swept over them, and he couldn’t help but remark inwardly.
In other places, Grandmasters were rare, but here, there was a gathering of so many Grandmasters, all of whom were young and extraordinarily talented. This number, if spoken aloud, would shock many beyond measure.
However, when one thinks about this number of two hundred compared to a population of over a billion... it really wasn’t much at all.
"Su Luo is here!"
As Su Luo and An Ran walked into the Arena Square, looking for seats, they were quickly noticed.
"An Ran is here too!"
With those two exclamations, numerous gazes instantly converged on Su Luo and An Ran.
Originally, Su Luo was already a person of interest to many, and with An Ran being the goddess of this batch with high popularity, Su Luo and An Ran temporarily became the focal point of the Arena Square.