The enormous disparity, even for a powerhouse like him who had lived for endless years, stirred up a faint ripple in his heart.

But fortunately, he himself was the senior brother of the Nine-Layered Giant Tower, very clear about its purpose, and also clear what exactly this newcomer currently undergoing the trial represented.

Immediately, the senior brother stopped speaking and merely stared quietly at Xu Ran in the mirror.

...

"Dong!"

"Dong!"

"Dong!"

"Dong!"

...

That sound imbued with an intense Spiritual Attack kept echoing throughout the Dueling Arena.

As the sound grew louder and louder, the sound waves that should have been formless actually solidified in midair at this moment.

In the blink of an eye, thousands of Ancient Bronze Swords appeared before Xu Ran; these swords were constantly trembling and vibrating.

With every tremor and vibration, they resonated with the sound waves spreading out, thereby amplifying the sound.

"Xiu!"

Before Xu Ran could start Observing Carefully, those thousands of Ancient Bronze Swords suspended in midair emitted a series of buzzing hums, and without any warning, the rain of swords lunged straight toward Xu Ran.

"A Spiritual Attack?"

Xu Ran looked at the Ancient Bronze Swords attacking him, his expression fearless.

These Ancient Swords were not particularly fast; what was truly most frightening was the continuous Spiritual Attack they unleashed.

But Xu Ran’s Sea of Spirit had long since been reinforced by Innate Qi; the entire Sea of Spirit was filled with golden Innate Qi. Although he could not mobilize it right now, the Innate Qi had always remained within his Sea of Spirit.

Trying to use a Spiritual Attack to make Xu Ran momentarily dazed was simply impossible.

"Weng!"

"Weng!"

"Weng!"

"Weng!"

The Ancient Bronze Swords that were rapidly striking toward Xu Ran halted the instant they were about to touch his body.

At the same time, the sword bodies that had been continuously vibrating now shook even more violently. Accompanied by sword cries resonating in sync with the heaven-shaking sound, formless Spiritual Power spread out like ripples, and at this moment, passed through Xu Ran’s body and entered within.

"The Spiritual Power has entered that newcomer’s body!"

The junior martial sister outside the Dueling Arena, seeing this scene, cried out in surprise.

As a Cultivator who specialized in Spiritual Power, and moreover one whose talent was unprecedented in all history, she could clearly see the formless Spiritual Power.

"I didn’t expect the Spiritual Power emitted by those Ancient Bronze Swords to pass through the newcomer’s body so easily. I’m afraid it won’t be long before it gathers inside him and then lunges straight toward his Sea of Spirit!"

"In just a short moment, the newcomer’s thoughts will slow, and his Sea of Spirit might even shatter, thereby damaging his foundation!"

There was no trace of her earlier schadenfreude in the junior martial sister’s tone; instead, her face was full of worry.

Although undergoing the trial inside the Nine-Layered Giant Tower would restore the body afterward, as for whether the mind injured by Spiritual Power could recover—there had never been a precedent.

Once the Sea of Spirit truly suffered damage and the Nine-Layered Giant Tower could not repair it, then no matter how great this newcomer’s potential was, it would all be useless.

All the Soul Bodies, upon hearing the junior martial sister’s words, revealed the same worried look on their faces!

Although their talent and potential were not as high as those of the three senior brothers and senior sisters in front, they had lived so long that they knew at least the basics.

They too understood how important the Sea of Spirit was to a Cultivator. Even if you were someone who specialized in tempering the flesh, the Sea of Spirit was still crucial.

The Sea of Spirit did not merely contain Spiritual Power; even comprehension itself was intimately connected to it.

Once it was damaged, one might directly become an idiot.

At that point, no matter how high your innate talent and potential were, if you were already a fool, what use would that be?

"Don’t worry!" The senior brother’s voice rose, "Don’t forget, this newcomer’s body is covered with Innate Qi that has seeped out from within him!"

"Where does Innate Qi remain in the body? Naturally in the Sea of Spirit!"

"This newcomer’s Sea of Spirit has already completely transformed into Innate Qi. In that case, how could there still be a Spiritual Attack capable of breaking his Sea of Spirit?"

Upon hearing the senior brother’s words, everyone suddenly saw the light and recalled all of Xu Ran’s previous trials!

The senior brother had already explained to them why Innate Qi existed on the surface of Xu Ran’s body.

And it had only been a short while—yet they had already forgotten?

The senior brother’s words made the junior martial sister’s cheeks flush bright red!

Immediately she stopped talking and instead quietly watched Xu Ran in the mirror.

...

The reality was just as the senior brother had said.

The Spiritual Power that had entered Xu Ran’s body condensed into a gigantic Ancient Bronze Sword, rampaging within, and in an instant converged at his Sea of Spirit.

Once inside, that massive Ancient Bronze Sword was illuminated by an intense golden radiance. Without any subsequent movement, the huge Ancient Bronze Sword changed from bronze to gold, then plunged straight into the Sea of Spirit.

It had been directly assimilated by the Innate Qi.

Xu Ran was currently troubled by the slow generation of his Innate Qi, which had caused all the Innate Qi overflowing onto the surface of his body to be completely depleted.

Now, however, such a massive Ancient Bronze Sword had surged into his Sea of Spirit, merged into the ocean, and been converted into Innate Qi.

That meant there was surplus Innate Qi to overflow onto the surface of his body again.

The moment that Ancient Bronze Sword plunged into the Sea of Spirit, wisps of golden aura emerged from the edges of the Sea of Spirit.

In the blink of an eye, the Innate Qi that had been exhausted from Xu Ran’s body surface reappeared.

"Heh!" Xu Ran let out a cold laugh. "These Ancient Bronze Swords can actually still do something good and replenish my Innate Qi!"

"Dang-lang!"

As his words fell, the clanging sound of bronze falling rang through the Dueling Arena, and the sword cries that had filled the arena vanished at this moment.

All the Ancient Bronze Swords that had been suspended before Xu Ran now fell to the ground.

"They’ve already made one move; why hasn’t the Gold Attribute Puppet shown up yet?"

Xu Ran cast a sidelong glance at the Ancient Bronze Swords lying on the ground and muttered.

If the Gold Attribute didn’t appear, he would have no way to destroy its body, and without that, he couldn’t clear this level!

"Weng!"

Just as he finished speaking.

A strange light suddenly rose from the center of the Dueling Arena without any warning; at first it was faint, like a candle flame that had just been lit.

But moments later, this light spread at an astonishing speed. Everyone’s gaze was drawn to this sudden radiance, and Xu Ran was no exception.

"Dang!"

Immediately, an ancient clang resounded from within the light. As that ancient sound rang out, something seemed about to appear amidst the blazing radiance.

"Something is about to rise out from that light!"

The voice outside the Dueling Arena had just fallen.

A massive Bronze Gate slowly rose from the ground, like a rising sun. In an instant, a Bronze Giant Gate a full hundred meters tall and several hundred meters wide appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Xu Ran’s eyes gleamed with golden light as he stared at this Bronze Giant Gate, somewhat puzzled.

Immediately, with a buzz, the light completely dispersed, and the Bronze Giant Gate was fully revealed before them.

Only to see—

The surface of the Bronze Giant Gate was covered with mysterious and intricate patterns, like ancient characters containing endless stories waiting to be explored.

Each pattern was like a winding giant serpent slithering freely across the surface of the Bronze Gate.

And at the center of the Bronze Giant Gate was a huge circular design. That pattern looked like a massive eye radiating white light, and also like a colossal portal, as though something was about to come out from within.

The instant this Bronze Gate appeared, the entire area outside the Dueling Arena fell silent. Every Soul Body’s gaze shone with a strange light, as if drawn by the patterns on the Bronze Giant Gate.

Just as all the Soul Bodies were stunned, a white figure suddenly appeared in the highest sky.

Looking closely, it was the Gold Attribute Puppet, its entire body emitting white radiance, standing out from the crowd as it stared down at Xu Ran below!