What followed was rather unremarkable.
After entering the eighth trial, Wang Anye had tried to break through it on his own. But his foundation in formations was ultimately too shallow. Once inside, he felt as though he had fallen into a muddy mire, unable even to lift his legs.
After giving it a brief try, he sensibly gave up on struggling by himself and obediently began spinning the Heaven-Slaying Dao Sword in circles.
Before long, he smoothly passed the eighth trial, then passed the ninth in exactly the same manner.
At that moment, all nine stars upon the Nine-Star Formation Stele lit up. The nine stars connected into a line, forming nine stars aligned. Their brilliant radiance cast the entire formation stele in a soft layer of white light, with the visual effects utterly maxed out.
The plaza fell silent.
By all rights, the plaza should have erupted in thunderous cheers by now.
Yet this inconceivable "nine stars aligned," this astonishing result of directly clearing the ninth trial, had temporarily robbed them of speech.
The overwhelming majority of people in the plaza were shocked beyond measure. Their hearts had suffered an immense impact, and their minds were completely blank.
Jiang Wuwang's expression had frozen completely as well.
He stared blankly at the gleaming Nine-Star Formation Stele, his eyes dull and his expression bewildered, as if he were questioning his entire life.
Passing the eighth trial had already involved a measure of luck for him.
He simply could not believe that such a genius truly existed in this world—someone so young who could actually clear the ninth trial.
And compared with the clueless spectators, the atmosphere within the Three Formations Dao Master's courtyard was even more eerily quiet.
None of the three people, including the Taishang Immortal Emperor's projection, spoke. There