Flower Stealing Master

Chapter 958: The Two Sisters Join Forces

Daiqisi felt anxious in her heart, and her movements quickened a bit. However, it wasn’t long before the sound of clashing weapons came from the distant pine forest. When she saw the situation over there, the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curl up slightly.

It turned out that Pucha Qiucao was entangled in a fierce battle with seven Taoist priests. She had tried several times to break free, but the seven priests worked seamlessly together, firmly surrounding her. Although she wasn’t in immediate danger, escaping was utterly impossible.

Daiqisi smiled and said, “Thank you, sister, for holding off the strong enemies for me. I’ll go ahead first.” With that, she soared up the mountain.

Pucha Qiucao felt both anxious and regretful. If she had known earlier, she would have blocked the Old Woman Rock, after all, there were only four priests there, while here there were seven. Although the difference was just three, their coordination was exquisite, and the pressure she faced was growing. It was already a miracle to ensure her own safety, let alone continue the competition.

Just as Daiqisi was about to move forward, a flash of sword light suddenly appeared before her. The priests, hearing the women refer to each other as “sister,” assumed the two women were allies and sent a few of their number to block her.

Daiqisi frowned, about to use her previous trick again, but she found that she couldn’t deflect the weapons of her opponents. Instead, she almost got her fingers injured by another person’s sharp sword.

It turned out that in addition to the seven priests being more skilled than the previous four, they had formed the renowned “Heavenly Big Dipper Formation” of Chongyang Palace. The power of each move was amplified by the combined strength of the seven, making it impossible for Daiqisi to deflect their attacks.

With this delay, the seven priests took the opportunity to encircle the two women within the formation, their seven swords continuously attacking the two.

Daiqisi’s brows furrowed deeper. She could clearly feel that her martial arts were far superior to those of the priests. If it were a one-on-one fight, no one could match her. Yet, for some reason, the seven working together rendered her powerless. Sometimes she clearly had the chance to knock someone down, but their companions would retaliate, forcing her to change her tactics to defend.

She tried several methods, but every time she struck at one, another would respond. Striking at the waist would prompt responses from both ends, and the two women were firmly trapped in the formation, their space for movement shrinking. Eventually, they had to back up against each other to face their foes.

Daiqisi felt secretly angry. If it weren’t for the time spent being treated like a favored concubine by Song Qingshu, she wouldn’t be without weapons or hidden projectiles now.

If she had weapons, she could use her powerful inner strength to shatter her opponent’s sword during their clash. If she had hidden projectiles, these priests would have long since perished under her Deadly Golden Flower, instead of being in such a frustrating situation.

Song Qingshu and the others had long been watching from the side. After glancing a few times, Ouyang Feng couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wang Chongyang is indeed a genius! The Heavenly Big Dipper Formation he created is incredibly marvelous, allowing several ordinary martial artists to withstand a master with far superior skills.”

These were just a few ordinary Taoists. If the Seven Disciples of Quanzhen were to use it themselves, the power would be extraordinary. Even the strongest among them, Qiu Chuji, would likely lose his life in just a few moves against any of the Eastern Heretic, Western Poison, Southern Emperor, or Northern Beggar. Yet, the Seven Disciples of Quanzhen, when forming the Heavenly Big Dipper Formation, could actually hold their ground against Huang Yaoshi without losing the upper hand, which made Ouyang Feng deeply admire.

Song Qingshu, however, was considering another issue. Back in the day, Qi Jiguang fought against the J@panese pirates, achieving an astonishing kill-to-loss ratio that left countless history enthusiasts in awe. Often, hundreds or thousands of enemies would fall, while only a few of Qi’s troops would suffer minor injuries. Many of those pirates were samurai who had wandered over during J@pan’s Warring States period, and there were not a few top experts among them. In the early days, dozens of pirates could sweep across a province!

There were many reasons for this astonishing kill-to-loss ratio, but everyone believed the most important factor was the special formation of Qi’s army. Song Qingshu naturally didn’t understand those formations, but this world also had many miraculous formations, such as the Beggar’s Sect’s Great Dog Beating Formation, Wudang’s True Martial Seven Section Formation, Shaolin’s Arhat Great Formation, and Chongyang Palace’s Heavenly Big Dipper Formation, all of which allowed a group of ordinary martial artists to defeat top experts.

If these formations could be integrated into an army, wouldn’t his forces be invincible in the world? Song Qingshu’s eyes sparkled as he began to carefully observe the formation of the priests.

If the Seven Disciples of Quanzhen were to use it themselves, it would not be so easy for Song Qingshu to spot the flaws. However, the martial skills of the priests before him were far inferior, and after observing for a moment, he began to see the clues.

“Daiqisi, Miss Qiucao, step left four paces, then retreat five paces,” Song Qingshu instructed.

Pucha Qiucao hesitated a bit, but Daiqisi knew how high Song Qingshu’s martial arts were and naturally didn’t doubt him. She grabbed her and moved to the position Song Qingshu indicated.

The seven priests, seeing the two retreat to an inexplicable position, were still trying to understand the intention behind it. The priest in the “Tianquan” position let out a low shout and instinctively led the other six to turn left to continue encircling the two.

The Big Dipper was shaped like a spoon, with the spoon’s bowl formed by the three stars of Tian Shu, Tian Xuan, and Tian Ji, while the handle was made up of Yu Heng, Kai Yang, and Yao Guang in order. The star connecting the bowl and the handle was Tian Quan, so the person in the Tian Quan position had to be the strongest among the seven, responsible for the timing of advance and retreat.

Song Qingshu continued, “Step right two paces.” Daiqisi and Pucha Qiucao followed his instructions.

The Tian Quan priest originally intended for the three at the handle to take the opportunity to launch a side attack, but suddenly discovered that the position of the two women was extremely strange. The three swords couldn’t reach them, while the seven were left wide open, unable to defend each other, each exposed to the other’s attacks. At that moment, he waved his left hand, leading the formation to turn.

However, just as the Yao Guang priest moved his foot, Song Qingshu spoke again: “Step right forward two paces.”

Seeing that they had just forced the enemy’s formation back for the first time, the two women felt invigorated and followed the instructions without hesitation. The seven priests rearranged the Big Dipper formation, only to find themselves still in an awkward situation of being hard to attack and defend.

“Wonderful!” Ouyang Feng also saw the clues, “You let them firmly occupy the North Star Position! So the flaw in the Heavenly Big Dipper Formation lies here!”

Song Qingshu smiled slightly, also admiring Ouyang Feng’s keen insight. The Heavenly Big Dipper Formation was an extremely advanced skill within the Quanzhen Sect. When practiced to perfection, the combined efforts of seven masters could indeed be said to be invincible in the world.

However, according to the laws of the universe, all things are born and restrained by one another. There cannot exist a martial art without flaws in the world. When facing this formation, as long as one occupies the North Star Position, they can control the formation, binding the Big Dipper formation and rendering it unable to act freely.

Of course, it was also because the seven priests had not yet mastered this formation and did not understand the importance of the North Star Position. If it were Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji, and others presiding over the formation, they would never allow the enemy to easily occupy the North Star Position.

Next, the seven priests changed their positions several times, and Song Qingshu guided them, ensuring that the two women maintained their crucial positions.

The priest in the Tian Shu position was older and wiser, and he had already noticed something was off. He shouted, “Change the formation!”