"Step!"

"Step!"

"Step!"

"Step!"

...

Xu Ran was pacing alone in this narrow space where he couldn’t use his Divine Sense, wanting to come to the wall where torches were placed, to see what kind of anomaly might be present.

"Whew!"

Just as Xu Ran reached the wall, he suddenly felt a faint breeze blowing from behind, as if something had appeared there.

Then, he quickly turned his head, and the scene before him made him wince in pain.

"When did this appear?"

Xu Ran muttered softly to himself, noticing a bald figure suddenly appearing before him, with bronze skin all over the body inscribed with incomprehensible runes.

His eyes had no pupils, just the whites, like a blind man.

"Huh?!"

The bald figure appeared surprised as Xu Ran suddenly turned around, tilting his head slightly.

"You little kid, your sixth sense is so strong that you could detect me right away?"

The bald figure stared at Xu Ran, and in his pupil-less eyes, Xu Ran’s reflection seemed faintly covered with a golden glow floating behind him.

"Great Success of the Innate Saint’s Sacred Body, interesting, the Sea of Spirit is filled with Innate Qi and it keeps producing!"

He shook his head as he spoke.

"But what a pity, your body is full of Energy, yet you’re clueless about how to utilize it, it’s a total waste!"

His tone was filled with regret, as if the various Energies within Xu Ran’s body were a disgrace.

"With your physical condition, it may take you decades, or even centuries, to get out of the Nine-Layered Giant Tower!"

"No, that’s not right!" the bald figure shifted his tone again.

"You little kid, under two years old, with such Energy and Cultivation, even if it takes hundreds of years, your progress is remarkably fast!"

The bald figure’s tone turned to admiration, as if spending several hundred years was nothing significant at all.

Hearing this, Xu Ran was momentarily stunned, then shook his head.

Forget about hundreds of years, just spending one year in the Nine-Layered Giant Tower would probably drive Lian Ji and Xu Binghu crazy with worry.

Within seven days, those two might overturn the entire Great Mountain.

"The time is too long; I can’t stay here for that length of time."

Xu Ran said calmly, his tone full of confidence.

"Wow!" The bald figure was a bit surprised, "You little kid, you’re quite confident!"

"Confidence comes from strength!"

Xu Ran showed no fear at all.

For him, it was indeed the case; he had the strength to back up such words.

"Heh heh!"

"Then let me see your confidence!"

With that said, the scene around them suddenly changed dramatically, the narrow space turned into a huge dueling arena.

Xu Ran’s eyes lit up at the scene.

"Isn’t this the dueling arena from the beginning?"

Xu Ran looked around and immediately recognized this dueling arena as the one filled with souls when he first entered.

However.

Now it was different from the beginning.

The once fully occupied dueling arena was now empty, except for three Soul Bodies sitting at the front.

One pink, one black, one blue.

The pink Soul Body exuded endless Soul Power all over, causing even the Divine Sense, usually ineffectual in the dueling arena, to tremble intensely.

This tremor wasn’t due to his ability to use Divine Sense, but the pink Soul Power agitating his Soul Power.

To achieve such a level showed terrifying mastery over Soul Power!

The black flame-covered Soul Body, though its Soul Power wasn’t overwhelmingly strong, was nonetheless an invincible presence for Xu Ran at present.

Furthermore, being pure Soul Body, he could feel an endless Physical Strength emanating from it; if the true form of this black Soul Body stood before him, the sheer pressure from its Physical Strength alone could annihilate Xu Ran.

As for the blue-light emitting Soul Body, the surrounding air seemed as if it had frozen.

Even though this blue Soul Body’s Physical Strength and Soul Power weren’t as potent as the other two Soul Bodies, it wasn’t much inferior either.

Moreover, he could clearly feel that if the true form of this blue Soul Body were here, it would exert tremendous pressure on him.

The three Soul Bodies here clearly were the ones who had broken through the constraints of the mirror’s Soul Power.

After breaking through the mirror’s constraints, they had come to this place and coincidentally encountered Xu Ran and the bronze-bodied, rune-marked bald figure.

The junior sister turned her head to stare at the senior brother, inquiring.

"Senior brother, who is that bald guy? He looks kind of clueless?!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she felt a sharp gaze fixed on her. Following her Perception, she noticed it was the bald figure, glaring at her unfriendly.

Seeing his gaze, the junior sister was immediately startled.

"Isn’t he just a Gatekeeper? How can he have a will of his own?"

In previous trials, there were Gatekeepers, but these Gatekeepers should have had no consciousness, acting purely on instinct.

Encountering an intelligent Gatekeeper had never happened before.

But now, looking at this trial’s Gatekeeper, it was apparent he was intelligent.