"Woo woo woo!"

The sound constantly echoed in the dueling arena, as if it were whispers from hell, and this wailing seemed to penetrate a person’s body, striking directly into the depths of the soul.

At the moment Xu Ran heard this sound, his thoughts in his mind paused for a moment, but he quickly woke up.

"This sound can affect the Sea of Spirit!"

When that sound rang out just now, Xu Ran could vaguely feel that an invisible thing had entered his mind, invading the Sea of Spirit.

If not for the fact that his Sea of Spirit contained a sufficient amount of Innate Qi, his soul might have gotten completely lost due to the emergence of this sound.

Once his thoughts cleared, Xu Ran’s gaze swept around, looking at the Chaotic Ancient War Puppet surrounding him, and he also saw the black Nether Rune appearing beneath their feet.

"This is... an array?"

At this moment.

In Xu Ran’s eyes, though he couldn’t understand the Nether Rune appearing beneath his feet, he could clearly perceive it.

Among the nine Nether Runes, there was an almost imperceptible black aura linking the nine Nether Runes together, and at this moment, the space was sealed, unable to break out.

"Is it that I have to break the array to get out?"

Xu Ran wasn’t very knowledgeable about arrays.

However, he knew that all difficulties could be broken with power.

Moreover, he had just improved his control over his physical body and power, now was a perfect time to test his results.

Subsequently.

Xu Ran closed his eyes, mobilizing the Spiritual Qi within him, preparing to shatter this array with one blow.

At the same time.

Outside the dueling arena.

The junior sister’s gaze was fixed on the Nether Rune appeared in the mirror, her brow furrowed.

"These appearing Nether Runes will invisibly cause damage to the Sea of Spirit!"

The younger sister specialized in Spiritual Power, and she immediately noticed something was amiss, her gaze turned towards Xu Ran.

She saw that he showed no signs of discomfort, as if nothing had happened, with a hint of confusion in her eyes.

"This newcomer doesn’t have strong Spiritual Power, so how could he be unaffected?"

A moment later, her eyes brightened, and she spoke with a hint of helplessness.

"Ah, right, his Sea of Spirit is full of Innate Qi, even Nether Qi cannot invade his Sea of Spirit!"

Subsequently, she looked at the senior brother and inquired.

"Senior brother, what is this array?"

Everyone present noticed the array at the feet of the Chaotic Ancient War Puppet immediately, however, no one had seen it before, even ancient texts did not record it.

Thinking it was related to the Nether Abyss made sense, they could only turn their gaze to the senior brother.

At this moment, the senior brother was also squinting his eyes, carefully observing the array under the Chaotic Ancient War Puppet.

"This is... the Nether Array!"

Nether Array?

The moment these two words appeared, all the soul bodies were bewildered.

What kind of array is this? They had never heard of it before.

Among the soul bodies present, there was no shortage of geniuses specializing in arrays, yet even they hadn’t heard of this array, let alone seen it or knew of its function.

Before everyone could inquire, the senior brother directly explained.

"The Nether Array doesn’t have much lethality; it only has one function, to trap and then assimilate the creatures within!"

"Assimilation turns all creatures within the array into Nether Abyss creatures, capable of living only in the Nether Abyss!"

Nether Abyss creatures?

There are actually creatures in the Nether Abyss?

"As far as I know, the conditions to inscribe a Nether Array are extremely stringent and the consumption enormous; generally speaking, it’s impossible to use!"

"But if out in the world, encountering a remarkably talented genius, the creatures of the Nether Abyss would inscribe the Nether Array to assimilate them into Nether Abyss creatures!"

"This newcomer’s talent has already been recognized by the Nether Abyss, intent on transforming him into a Nether Abyss creature!"

The senior brother’s words directly struck the hearts of all soul bodies.

They never thought that the Nether Abyss could have such a means!

Simultaneously, a sense of loss swept through their hearts.

Being chosen by the Nine-Layered Giant Tower meant they were the most outstanding geniuses of their era, yet even so, they weren’t selected by the Nether Abyss during the trial.

Conversely, this less than two-year-old infant was chosen by the Nether Abyss.

Although the Nether Abyss isn’t a place of fortune, this is enough to demonstrate that Xu Ran’s talent surpasses everyone present, so much so that the Nether Abyss is willing to pay a high price to transform him into a Nether Abyss creature.

"But..." At this moment, the second senior brother inquired, "Senior brother, this is a trial of the Nine-Layered Giant Tower, and whether it’s the Ancient Bronze Gate or Chaotic Ancient War Puppet, they aren’t real, just projections!"

"If the newcomer fails to escape in time, will he still be assimilated?"

This indeed was a problem.

"Yes!" The senior brother directly explained, "The power of the Nether Abyss is extremely mysterious, even if it’s just a projection, it possesses all the functions of the Nether Array!"

"As long as the newcomer doesn’t escape in time, he will be assimilated into a Nether Abyss creature!"

With that said, the senior brother’s brows furrowed, clearly, he was also at a loss for this sudden accident.

They couldn’t enter the trial, and even if they could, they had no way to break the Nether Array, leaving everything to Xu Ran’s methods.

...

The discussions outside were unknown to Xu Ran, who simply closed his eyes, mobilizing all the Spiritual Qi and Innate Qi within his body that he could.

"Hmm?"

In the process, Xu Ran also sensed something was amiss.

"There seems to be something else within my body?"

To Xu Ran, who had a decent grasp over his body, he faintly perceived that something was added within him.

"That thing seems related to the appearing puppet?"

This aura was very familiar; it was exactly the Chaotic Ancient War Puppet that appeared.

"Looks like I must break through quickly!" Xu Ran decided.

He could feel that as time went on, the foreign entities within his body increased, and he could even see through introspection that a thread of black substance appeared on his bones.

"Time to break through now!"

Having fully mobilized all Spiritual Qi and Innate Qi, Xu Ran suddenly opened his eyes.

"Hoo!"

In an instant, an invisible gust of wind howled out from his body, accompanied by streaks of golden light, boundless Spiritual Qi swirling around his periphery.

The black mist that already permeated the entirety of the array noticed Xu Ran’s actions and immediately converged into a dense black mist, attacking Xu Ran, attempting to disrupt his momentum.

"Bang!"

With a dull sound echoing, the black mist attacking Xu Ran seemed to hit something, dissipating instantly in the air, transforming into streaks of black mist, floating away.

"With my power, break the array!"

When the mist had dissipated, a shout of rage erupted from within, followed by a golden fist emerging from the mist, like a golden meteor falling swiftly, reaching the edge of the Nether Array in the blink of an eye.

The nine Chaotic Ancient War Puppets were startled by the sudden turn of events.

The mist that had just attacked Xu Ran scattered in the air, momentarily obscuring their line of sight.

Xu Ran performed the Wind Control Skill, using the brief moment their sight was obscured, he broke through at extreme speed, reaching the edge of the Nether Array.

"This is the array’s eye!"

With that, the golden glowing fist fiercely struck the edge.

In an instant, a dazzling golden light burst forth, illuminating the entire dueling arena, blinding everyone.

In the moment of lost vision.

"Crack!"

Only the crisp sound of breaking could be heard.

"Boom!"

A subsequent rumble echoed, accompanied by fierce gales, roaring through every corner of the dueling arena, swiftly blowing away the black mist that filled it.

Once the golden light faded and vision was restored.

It was visible.

The previously surrounding nine Chaotic Ancient War Puppets, the Nether Runes beneath them were shattered, and the black flesh on their lower limbs dissipated, leaving only dark golden bones.

Moreover, the black runes on the nine Chaotic Ancient War Puppets’ bodies had dimmed significantly!