The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 3 – Seeking a master in Mount Zhongnan, Part 9

The tall Taoist retorted, “You’ve come to Mount Zhongnan with force, you must be tired of your life. I don’t care how powerful you are, you are incapable of reaching Chongyang Palace.” As he was speaking the short and skinny Taoist thrust out a sword, and as soon as he finished his sentence he stepped up, ran along the peak of the rock and used the “Separating the Flower, Brushing Away the Willow” (fen hua fu liu) aiming at Guo Jing’s waist.

Guo Jing thought, “I haven’t been in Jianghu for ten years, have the rules changed?”

He moved his body to evade the strike, and as he was about to speak, the other three Taoists extended their swords, surrounding Guo Jing and Yang Guo.

Guo Jing said, “What can I do to convince you four that I am Guo Jing?”

The tall Taoist snorted, “If you could remove my sword from my grasp.” As he said this, he performed another move, this time the sword heading straight for the chest. The sword that was coming at him was light, the tip of the sword swaying. It wasn’t like an ordinary sword hacking downward and he wasn’t showing any respect to Guo Jing; he performed this move casually.

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Guo Jing chuckled and thought, “How hard will it be to remove your sword?” As he saw the tip coming towards him, he held his second finger with his thumb and flicked out at the sword tip, after a “weng” noise, the Taoist couldn’t hold on to the sword, and sword was released in midair. Guo Jing didn’t wait for the sword to come down, three more flicks followed by three “weng” noises, and the handles of the other three long swords were up in the air, the blades brightly shining in the moonlight.

Yang Guo shouted out, “Are you convinced now?” Normally Guo Jing would aim to keep the opponent standing, but he was offended by the tall Taoist’s lack of respect in his stance so he used the “Divine Flicking Finger” skill. This was Huang Yaoshi’s most refined skill; Guo Jing had lived on Peach Blossom Island for a few years and was taught it by him. His internal energy is profound and when he used the skill; it was something out of the ordinary.

The four Taoist’s swords were forced from their hands, and they didn’t know what move the enemy used to do this. The tall Taoist shouted, “The scoundrel uses witchcraft, let’s leave.” As he said this he jumped behind the Old Woman Cliff, and hurriedly escaped. The other three followed and disappeared into the night.

Today, Guo Jing heard someone call him a “scoundrel” for the first time, and now someone said he uses witchcraft; he didn’t know whether to be angry or to laugh. He said, “Guo’er, place the swords neatly on a rock near the path.”

Yang Guo said, “Yes.” He picked up the swords, and along with the two he was holding, placed them on a green rock. He was in awe of Guo Jing’s skills, his mouth wanted to open up and say the words, “Uncle Guo, I don’t want to learn from the smelly Taoists, I want to learn from you.” Then he remembered all the events of Peach Blossom Island and he swallowed the words.

The two turned around two bends and eventually wound up at what seemed to be a large area of wilderness. Suddenly, the sound of weapons unsheathing could be heard; seven Taoists leapt out from the pine forest, each one holding a long sword.

Guo Jing saw that they had leapt into a formation, four to the left of him, three to the right; it was the “Big Dipper Formation”. His heart shivered, and thought, “There will be some difficulty in facing this formation.” He didn’t dare to be over confident, and quietly whispered to Yang Guo, “Go back to the rock behind us and wait for me there, go as far as possible so I won’t be hindered by looking out for you.”

Yang Guo nodded. He didn’t want them to look weak in front of Taoists, so he loosened his pants and called out, “Uncle Guo, I’m going to the toilet.” After he said this, he turned around and hurried to the rock. Guo Jing was pleased, “The child is very clever, catching up to Rong’er, but I hope he goes on the righteous path and learns well.”

Guo Jing turned around to face the seven Taoists. The seven had their backs facing the moon, he couldn’t see their faces that clearly, but he saw that the first six had long beards, they were not young, the seventh was smaller, and his age must be lower compared to the others. He thought, “The most important thing is to go up the mountain and explain any misunderstanding to elder Qiu, why should I tangle with these people?” He shifted his body, and shimmied to the left, assuming the “Northern Star Position”.

The seven didn’t hear him say anything, only seeing him hurriedly moving to the left, and didn’t know what he was up to. The Taoist in the “Tian Quan” position whistled, ordering the six others to the left, wanting to encircle Guo Jing. Guo Jing knew they would move together so he moved right two steps to force the enemy to move again, still assuming the “Northern Star Position”. The Taoist in the “Tian Quan” position wanted three of them to attack, but saw Guo Jing’s position was strange; the three of them weren’t able to attack him. Instead, the seven of them were open to attack; the seven weren’t able to defend each other and each of them suffered a sudden attack. Their left hands waved, and then they turned their formation around. As they were moving their feet, Gou Jing moved two steps forward maintaining the “Northern Star Position”, spreading the position of the “Big Dipper Formation”. The seven were in an ineffective position; it was hard for them to attack and hard for them to defend.

The “Big Dipper Formation” was the Quanzhen sect’s highest kung fu. At its most refined state, when seven people of extremely high martial arts combined together, it could be said that it has no match under heaven. Guo Jing knew the essence of the formation; only by assuming the “Northern Star Position” was he able to drive the position, and control its movements, not allowing it freedom. However, because the seven of them weren’t fluent with the formation it allowed him to do this. If it was Ma Yu, Qiu Chui Ji who was controlling the formation, the enemy would not be allowed to so easily to assume the “Northern Star Position”. The seven of them changed positions a few times, Guo Jing dominated the formation and he didn’t make a sound, just concentrating on maintaining the important position.

The Taoist in the “Tian Shu” (Hinging Sky) position was experienced and noticed that something wasn’t right and called, “Change formation!” The seven Taoists scattered, heading right and swerving left, hurrying from east to west, wanting to jumble up the formation, trying to confuse the enemy. After a short while, the seven Taoists were in formation again. The Taoists had changed positions amongst themselves, and now they had moved from a western position to a southeast position where they arranged the formation. Once they were in position, the Taoists in the “Tian Xuan” (Jade Sky) and “Yu Heng” (Weighing Jade) positions pointed their swords and rushed forward, seeing the enemy in a northern position from their rearrangement, his feet motionless and his palms uneven, a smile crept upon their faces. However they suddenly realized, “If us two go and rush forward, the positions “Kai Yang” (Opening Sun) and the “Tian Xuan” (Jade Sky) will be in great danger.” As they stopped, the Taoist in the “Tian Shu” shouted out, “Don’t attack, quickly retreat!” After a motionless while, the startled Taoist in the “Tian Quan” position ordered the other six to change formation.

Yang Guo didn’t understand, only seeing the Taoists moving around wildly. Guo Jing would either move east, west, south or north a few steps, the seven Taoists still could not unleash even half a move. The more he watched, the more interested he became, and suddenly Guo Jing clapped his palms together shouting, “Apologies!” and moved left two steps.

The “Big Dipper Formation” was now in Guo Jing’s control, and he rushed to the left. If the seven Taoists didn’t follow, their backs will be exposed with no way to defend. In martial art terms this was extremely serious and ominous so the seven Taoists had no choice but to follow to the left. After a while, the seven Taoists fell into Guo Jing’s trap, unable to hold the formation. When Guo Jing ran fast, the seven Taoists ran fast, when Guo Jing slowed down, the seven Taoists slowed down. The young Taoist had the weakest internal energy and after being forced to circle around over ten times in an urgent manner by Guo Jing, his head spun and his breathing was ragged. He felt like he could collapse at any minute but he knew that if the “Big Dipper Formation” had one less person, the whole formation would break down; he could only grind his teeth and exert all his energy to hold on.

Guo Jing wasn’t young, but since he had lived on the island with Huang Rong and he had little contact with the outside world, he had lost little of the young Guo Jing. When he saw the seven Taoists were rushing around amusingly he thought, “Today I have suffered insults for no reason at all; not only did they call me a perverted scoundrel, they said I used witchcraft. I didn’t use any witchcraft for you to see; then doesn’t that mean I’ve been insulted in vain?” He then loudly called out, “Guo’er, watch me use some witchcraft!” He suddenly leapt up to the tall rocks. The seven Taoists were under Guo Jing’s control, they of course had to follow; if they didn’t follow, the weakness of the formation will be revealed. As a few of them hesitated, the Taoist in the “Tian Quan” position quickly ordered everyone to leap up, bringing the formation onto the cliff. Before their legs had steadied themselves, Guo Jing swiftly moved onto the top of a pine tree. Although they were at a distance from each other, it was neither too far nor too close; he was still maintaining the “Northern Star Position” and it would be convenient for him to attack from above.

The seven Taoists all secretly feared the worst and thought, “Where on earth did this tyrant appear from; today our sect will lose face.” With these thoughts in their minds, they couldn’t afford to stop and each one leaped up to a tree branch.

Guo Jing laughed, “Come down!” He leapt down from the tree and stretched out his hand towards the Taoist in the “Kai Yang” position and grabbed his leg.

The strongest aspect of the “Big Dipper Formation” is being able to respond from the left and right, mutually aiding each other. As Guo Jing attacked the “Kai Yang” position, the “Yao Guang” (moving light) and “Yu Heng” position could not come down and help. If the two did come down, the “Tian Shu” and “Tian Quan” positions would have to come down with them; the whole formation will be pulled down.

Yang Guo was watching closely from the side, being surprised endlessly, thinking, “If I could reach the level of Uncle Guo in the future, I wouldn’t mind suffering a lifetime of hardships.” But then he changed his thoughts, “How can I ever achieve the level that he is at? Only Guo Fu and the Wu brothers have that sort of luck. Uncle Guo knew that the rotten Taoist’s kung fu couldn’t compare with his and that is why he sent me here to learn martial arts.” The more he thought, the more troubled he became, he almost cried. He turned his head away from Guo Jing battling the seven Taoists. He was still a child, and eventually could not resist turning his head back to the fight.