Chapter 777: Chapter 336: Nine-Level Divine Tower 2

At the same time, because of Xu Ran’s age, they were afraid that he might accidentally roll down, which prompted the warning.

He didn’t want the layout he had spent many long years setting up to be ruined today.

In his layout, Xu Ran had to succeed, no matter how long it took.

"Boom!"

Just after the mysterious person gave the reminder, Xu Ran’s small feet suddenly stepped onto the 200th step of the White Jade Stairs, extremely easily, without the previous grim expression.

This step came naturally, like walking on an ordinary staircase.

"Buzz!"

When Xu Ran stepped onto the 200th step, a buzzing sound only he could hear echoed around him, like bees circling his ears.

As this buzzing sound arose, a swath of pure white suddenly appeared before Xu Ran, as if his vision was obscured by snow, a wave of coldness sweeping over him.

Instantly, even Xu Ran, whose body had broken through its physical limits, had his hackles rise, with smooth skin showing cracks like spider webs.

In just a moment, the whiteness melted away rapidly like encountering spring warmth, the hackles dropped, and his skin returned to its former smoothness.

As the whiteness gradually melted away, his vision restored.

Xu Ran found himself in an expansive valley, not much different from the one in the first trial.

However, the previous valley was lush green, with countless giant trees and vegetation, the towering leaves blocking out the sky so that only slivers of sunlight reached the ground through gaps in the foliage.

This time, the valley was completely gray, surrounded by piled-up stones encircling Xu Ran.

At the forefront of the valley, there was a peak several hundred meters tall, barren with scattered rocks every which way on the mountain.

The entire valley, like a lifeless corpse, showed no signs of life, as if, apart from Xu Ran, there was no vitality there.

[Nine-Layered Giant Tower difficulty increase: kill everything alive you see!]

While Xu Ran was still a bit surprised, a voice without emotion came from above, identical to the one when he first entered the valley.

Having heard this voice for the second time, there were no surprises.

However, what the voice said did cause quite a bit of confusion for him.

"Kill everything alive you see? This valley is lifeless; even the flying fluffs in the air are gray. In such an environment, let alone life, it seems even a cactus couldn’t survive!"

As he muttered to himself, Xu Ran was observing the surroundings.

Though he said this, his body did not relax in the slightest, vigilantly watching his surroundings.

Since the voice in the sky said so, there must be a reason, he just hadn’t yet discovered the key to it.

...

In the Dueling Arena.

The Soul Bodies saw Xu Ran appear in the gray valley, once again falling into silence, even the color of their unmoving Soul Bodies stopped changing.

It seemed like they themselves had been paused.

"It looks like the Nine-Layered Giant Tower doesn’t want this newcomer to pass the trial so easily!" The little junior sister, seeing Xu Ran’s situation through the mirror, looked a bit schadenfreude.

"You have the nerve to laugh at others? Don’t forget how you got stuck in this trial back then!"

At this time, the second senior brother’s untimely words sounded in her ear, instantly reminding her of things long past.

At that time, this valley was her fifth trial.

The way to pass was simple: kill everything alive you saw. However, these living things needed to be awakened.

Back then, due to her strong Soul Power, she quickly discovered that the living things in this valley were those stones piled by the roadside and the towering mountain at the front of the valley.

You needed to awaken these stones first, then kill them one by one to pass.

Though she realized these stones were living creatures early on, these stones had formidable defense, and she, a cultivator who specialized in souls, could not break them.

So in this trial, she held on for several hours.

Of course, these hours weren’t her contending with the stones but her getting beaten by them for hours!

This scene was witnessed by her senior brother and second senior brother, and it was an experience she didn’t want brought up.

"Hmph!" Of the second senior brother bringing up her past embarrassment, she was somewhat resentful. "So what? This newcomer surely doesn’t have Soul Power as strong as mine and won’t find the targets immediately!"

"By the time they realize, they’ll probably already be surrounded by stones, and it’ll be too late!"

The second senior brother didn’t argue with her; instead, he spoke to another topic.

"Being surrounded by stones is a minor issue for this trial; the main issue is what happens after!" the second senior brother said mysteriously.

His words piqued the curiosity of all the Soul Bodies.

None among them, except for the three Soul Bodies at the forefront, had experienced this trial.

So upon seeing this trial, all the Soul Bodies were baffled.

Except for the three Soul Bodies at the front, the others had at most only passed the second trial. Some even barely managed to pass the first trial, failing immediately upon entering the second due to lack of energy.

Moreover, their qualifications, as judged by the qualification testing Divine Stone, ranged from deep red as the lowest to light purple as the highest, while the three Soul Bodies at the front were of the deepest, deepest purple.

At first glance, the differences seem small, but in reality, the difficulty of the trials faced was worlds apart.

Therefore, they had never witnessed this trial and couldn’t understand what challenges it entailed.

Moreover, the three ranked senior siblings were the first three to enter the Dao Field, and no one had seen their trials.

For things unknown, even Soul Bodies naturally hold curiosity.

"Again, only saying half of it?" The little junior sister was a bit dissatisfied.

As the youngest, she entered the field later than the senior and second senior brothers, and only knew about their trials from earlier words. In comparison with her own experiences, she realized the gap in capabilities.

As she understood, the second senior brother also went through five trial layers, with this fifth layer trial being the same gray valley.

However, to what extent the trial progressed, she didn’t know.

In the second senior brother’s words, it seemed he experienced deeper aspects of this trial layer.

"Heh!" This time, the second senior brother didn’t keep them in suspense and spoke directly.

"These stones, once awakened, have formidable defensive power. But if you thoroughly shatter them, they will restore to their original form. Moreover, their defense will be several times stronger than before, cycling endlessly!"

"When I underwent the trial, I shattered them at most three times. By the fourth restoration, the release of their defensive aura alone ground my flesh body into mincemeat!"

In the second senior brother’s illusory visage, there was a trace of reminiscence, with a subtle, almost undetectable shiver. This valley trial left a deeply engraved mark on his mind.

"However..." Just as everyone thought that was the end, the second senior brother spoke again. "I felt that even after these stones couldn’t restore, something even more fearful would follow!"

As he said this, his gaze turned towards the eldest senior brother seated in the middle, emitting a constant chill.

"As to what transpired, only the eldest senior brother would know!"

"Back then, the eldest senior brother was the genius who passed this trial!"