She saw the Quanzhen Seven Masters sat in a formation inside the room; it suddenly dawned on her, “This is the Big Dipper constellation! Hmm, right! Didn’t Qiu Daozhang mention the Big Dipper formation?” Huang Yaoshi was proficient in astronomy and the study of calendar calculation (almanac). When Huang Rong was small she often sat on her father’s knees in a clear night, looking at celestial constellation, hence she immediately recognized the positions of the seven Taoist priests.
The Quanzhen Seven Masters’ Ma Yu took the ‘tian shu’ [sky pivot] position, Tan Chuduan took the ‘tian xuan’ [sky jade/gem] position, Liu Chuxuan ‘tian ji’ [sky pearl], Qiu Chuji ‘tian quan’ [sky power/authority]. These four people formed the head of the constellation. Wang Chuyi took the ‘yu heng’ [jade (measuring) weight], Hao Datong the ‘kai yang’ [open sun], and Sun Bu’er ‘yao guang’
[shaking ray (of light)]. These three were the handle of the Big Dipper.
Among the seven stars of the Big Dippers, the light of the ‘tian quan’ was the darkest, but it was the link connecting the head with the handle. It was the most important position; hence it was occupied by the strongest among the Quanzhen Seven Masters, Qiu Chuji. Among the handle, ‘yu heng’ was the most important; hence it was taken by the second strongest Wang Chuyi.
Mei Chaofeng’s ‘du long bian’ was moving toward Sun Bu’er’s chest. It seemed slow but it was very fierce; who would have thought that the Daogu [Taoist priestess] was still sitting motionless.
Huang Rong followed the movement of the tip of the whip and saw that there was a skull embroidered on Sun Bu’er’s Taoist robe; she was secretly amazed. “Quanzhen Sect enjoys the reputation as a Taoist orthodox school, how come her clothing resembles something from Mei Shijie’s pathway?” She did not know that when Wang Chongyang took Sun Bu’er as his disciple he drew a skull and gave it to her. His meaning was that somebody’s life was short, that very quick death will come, and the person would change into a skull; so she must cultivate the true and admired ‘way’ [‘Dao’ of the Taoist means ‘the way’]. In memory of her deceased master, Sun Bu’er embroidered this skull on her robe.
The ‘yin bian’ [silver whip] seemed to move slowly, yet it carried a gust of wind. The tip of the whip was only about several inches apart from the embroidered skull on her robe, suddenly with an abrupt movement the silver whip flew back, just like a python when its head was chopped with a knife, or like an arrow it flew straight back towards Mei Chaofeng. It was so strange and swift; Mei Chaofeng only felt that her hand was slightly shaken and the wind had already caressed her face.
Quickly she ducked and the silver whip brushed through her hair. “Dangerous!” she cried out inwardly as she pulled the whip back and re-attacked. This time the whip was aimed toward Ma Yu and Qiu Chuji, who were still sitting motionless. Tan Chuduan and Wang Chuyi raised their palms and parried the whip away.
After they exchanged several stances Huang Rong was able to see clearly that the Quanzhen Seven Masters always parry the incoming attack with one palm, while the other palm was holding the shoulder of the person sitting right next to them. Huang Rong pondered deeply and it dawned on her, “It turned out that they are using the same method I use to help healing Jing Gege’s injury.
They are combining seven people’s strength into one; how can Mei Shijie resist?”
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The Big Dipper Formation was Quanzhen Sect’s highest and most mysterious martial art, developed by Wang Chongyang with countless meticulous care. The main principle was combining forces in combat with a wide range of variations; it might even be used in the battlefield. When the enemy attacked, the one directly bearing the brunt did not need to exert any energy to resist; it was the companions on his/her flanks who would launch the counterattack. It was as if one person with several people’s martial art; the power was truly irresistible.
Several moves later Mei Chaofeng became increasingly panicked, since she realized that the enemy no longer fend the whip off and shake it away, but she felt the whip was being pulled and redirected so that the circle of the whip movement was decreasing, getting smaller and smaller. A short moment later as the several ‘zhang’s long silver whip was moving halfway toward the enemy, she could not pull it back anymore. If at this time she has let the whip go and jumped back, she might escape unharmed; but she had spent innumerable painstaking efforts in training with this long whip, how could she just sit quietly when the enemy was trying to snatch the whip away from her hand?
She hesitated only for a moment but her opportunity to escape was gone. Once the Big Dipper Formation started to move, all seven people moved swiftly as if they were one person, unstoppable unless by the person occupying the ‘tian quan’ position. By the time Mei Chaofeng realized her precarious situation, it was already too late for her to back off. The only thing she could do was clench her teeth, let go of the whip handle and stake it all.
Liu Chuxuan’s palm made a pulling action, with a loud ‘bang!’ the whip flew and hit the wall, shaking the whole building; the roof tiles rattled loudly and dust and debris from the roof fell down to the ground. Mei Chaofeng staggered; she could not resist this pulling force and was forced one step forward.
Although this one step was only about two feet, it was crucial in determining victory or defeat. If Mei Chaofeng had let her whip go sooner, she would not be pulled forward and she could turn around and escape out the door; the Quanzhen Seven Masters might not necessarily pursue her, because even if they did they might not necessarily able to overtake her. But now that she had moved forward one step, she knew the situation was unfavorable to her; she wielded her palms to the left and right, and they happened to meet with Sun Bu’er and Wang Chuyi’s palms. As she slightly added her palm strength, Ma Yu and Hao Datong’s palms came striking from behind. She knew perfectly well that if she moved another step, her situation would become more dangerous; but under the circumstances, she had no choice so her left foot treaded half a step forward. At the same time with a loud shout her right foot flew up and successively kicked Ma Yu and Hao Datong’s hands.
“Good skill!” Qiu Chuji and Liu Chuxuan cheered together, while simultaneously their palms struck, one from the front, the other from the back, to prevent her from continuing her attack.
Before her right foot even landed, Mei Chaofeng’s left foot flew up and like a flash kicking Qiu’s and Liu’s palms; but as her right foot landed she moved one more step forward. This way she went even deeper into the Big Dipper Formation; she will not be able to escape unless she managed to overthrow one out of seven people.
As she was watching the battle, Huang Rong’s heart was secretly anxious. Under the pale yellow moonlight she saw Mei Chaofeng’s long hair flutter in the air as she was leaping around and her palms striking, her feet kicking. Each hand and each foot carried a light wind, like a tiger leaping or a leopard flitting about.
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The Quanzhen Seven Masters were still sitting cross-legged; when the head is struck the tail responded, when the tail is attacked the head responded, when the middle is struck the head and tail responded, while all the time keeping her firmly inside the formation.
Mei Chaofeng had successively used the ‘jiu yin bai gu zhua’ [nine yin white bone claw] and ‘cui xin zhang’ [devastating heart palm] trying to dash out of the tight encirclement; but every time she was forced to go back by the Seven Masters’ palm strength. In her anxiety she let out a strange
‘wah, wah’ cry.
By this time if the Seven Masters wanted to take her life they would be able to do so without too much effort, but all along they had never launched a deathly strike. Huang Rong watched for half a day before she realized what was happening, “Ah, right! They are borrowing Mei Shijie to train this formation. It is not easy to find an opponent with her high level of martial art. I think they are going to weary her to death before they’ll stop.” Actually her guess was only half true; they were borrowing Mei Chaofeng to train their formation all right, but Taoism did not tolerate killing easily, therefore, they never had any intention to kill her.
Huang Rong did not have a favorable impression toward Mei Chaofeng, but seeing the Seven Masters humiliate her like this Huang Rong was seething with anger; so after watching for a moment longer she didn’t want to watch anymore and gave the hole back to Guo Jing. She still, however, heard the gusts of wind in the other room sometimes intensifying and sometimes slowing down, a sign that the battle was still raging.
At first Guo Jing was puzzled to see the fight; he did not understand why the Seven Masters was fighting Mei Chaofeng by sitting in an irregular formation on the ground. Huang Rong whispered in his ear, “They are sitting according to the Big Dipper Constellation; seven people’s internal strengths are connected to each other. Do you see it?”
It was like a reminder to Guo Jing; he remembered the second part of the Nine Yin Manual mentioned the Big Dipper quite often. He had memorized this part by heart, yet he did not understand its meaning. Looking at the Seven Masters launching palm attacks while sitting in a formation suddenly he understood what the Manual was talking about. The more he watched, the happier he became, finally he was unable to restrain his excitement and stood up.