Flower Stealing Master

Chapter 960: Trapped in the Great Formation

Song Qingshu arrived beside the two women and found himself in front of a vast circular platform, surrounded by mountains. At the foot of the mountains lay a large pool, its surface shimmering under the moonlight, which should be the Sword Cleansing Pool that Ouyang Feng had mentioned earlier.

At this moment, about a hundred daoists stood sparsely in front of the pool, all wearing yellow crowns and gray robes, wielding long swords that sparkled brilliantly.

Song Qingshu’s gaze sharpened; it turned out that the daoists were arranged in groups of seven, forming fourteen Heavenly Big Dipper Formations. Each of these seven formations combined to create a larger Big Dipper Formation. From the Tian Shu to the Yao Guang, the momentum was indeed formidable. The two large formations, one positive and one negative, complemented and countered each other, forming a mutual defense.

Song Qingshu suddenly understood; no wonder the two women had stopped in their tracks. Just a single Heavenly Big Dipper Formation had almost left them helpless, and now this formation’s power was at least ten times greater.

“Who dares to intrude upon Chongyang Palace? State your name!” The leader was an older daoist. Song Qingshu had no prior dealings with Chongyang Palace and could not recognize his daoist title.

At this moment, Ouyang Feng and Qiu Qianren also arrived. They had high seniority in the martial world, with figures like Ma Yu and Qiu Chuji being their juniors. They couldn’t possibly recognize everyone from the generation of Yin Zhiping and Zhao Zhijing, let alone this person before them.

Faced with the daoist’s question, Song Qingshu smiled slightly, not showing any anger, and replied, “We are envoys from the Jin Dynasty, here to confer an edict upon your esteemed sect.”

“Jin Dynasty?” Upon hearing his response, the group of daoists began to whisper among themselves. The Quanzhen Sect had always prided itself on justice; its founding ancestor, Wang Chongyang, was a righteous warrior against the Jin. As disciples, how could they not be aware of this relationship?

For many years, the Jin Dynasty had been preoccupied with its own troubles and had not bothered to deal with Chongyang Palace, thus both sides had coexisted peacefully. Why had the Jin court suddenly come to confer an edict now?

Although the daoist was only a fourth-generation disciple, he was older and more experienced, knowing that such a conferment could not be accepted lightly; otherwise, Chongyang Palace would lose its standing in the martial world.

However, since Chongyang Palace was under the jurisdiction of the Jin Dynasty, they did not dare to openly resist the court. They still had to maintain appearances. The daoist cleared his throat and replied, “I hope the esteemed envoy will understand that our sect is currently holding the inauguration ceremony for the new leader. During this time, we cannot receive any outsiders. You may rest at the foot of the mountain for now, and after our ceremony is complete, we will send someone to invite you.”

He intended to buy time for the sect to discuss a proper response, to avoid a sudden confrontation with the Jin court.

Song Qingshu nodded secretly, realizing why there had been defenses along the way. Today was indeed the inauguration ceremony for the new leader of Chongyang Palace. Therefore, not only were there ordinary Heavenly Big Dipper Formations along the way, but these two large formations were also set up to guard against any potential invasion by enemies.

Chongyang Palace had once been the number one sect in the world. Although it had declined in recent years, its foundation remained. In the original work of “The Return of the Condor Heroes,” they were caught off guard by the Mongols because they had changed leaders twice in one day, and the internal strife between Zhao Zhijing’s faction and Yin Zhiping’s faction led to a lack of defenses.

In this world, Zhao Zhijing had been killed by Song Qingshu, and no one was competing with Yin Zhiping for the leadership position, so Chongyang Palace could naturally arrange its defenses normally.

Upon hearing the daoist’s words, Song Qingshu immediately understood his intentions. Before he could speak, Pucha Qiucao interjected, “What are you saying, daoist? We are here to confer an edict, and it just so happens that we encounter your sect’s inauguration ceremony. As the saying goes, ‘There’s no time like the present.’ With our court’s conferment, wouldn’t your new leader be even more justified?”

The daoists’ faces darkened with anger, thinking, why should the leader we chose need the Jin court’s conferment to be justified? If they didn’t realize the gravity of the situation, they might have shouted back.

The older daoist’s expression soured, and he coldly replied, “I have already said, our sect cannot receive outsiders during the inauguration ceremony.”

Qiu Qianren sneered, “What if we insist on going up?”

The older daoist snorted coldly, drew his long sword, and waved it in the air. The blade sliced through the wind, producing a buzzing sound that echoed continuously: “I bear the heavy responsibility of guarding the mountain. If you force your way in, then I will have to be rude.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the other daoists each drew their long swords, and ninety-eight blades danced in the air, instantly stirring up a gust of wind, creating a dazzling web of sword light.

Since it was Yin Zhiping’s inauguration, all the third-generation disciples were his brothers and sisters, and they naturally had to participate in the ceremony. Thus, those stationed at the mountainside were all fourth and fifth-generation disciples. Although their seniority was not high, they were all selected skilled peers, and their simultaneous swordplay was impressive and not to be underestimated.

Ouyang Feng snorted, “The disciples of Wang Chongyang are becoming increasingly incompetent, relying on a single Heavenly Big Dipper Formation to act so arrogantly. Isn’t that just taking advantage of numbers? A mere Heavenly Big Dipper Formation is nothing to me.”

The group of daoists were immediately enraged: “You really are brazen! If you are so capable, come and try our Big Dipper Formation!” Most of these were young disciples who had never witnessed Ouyang Feng’s previous assault on Chongyang Palace; otherwise, they would not have spoken so disrespectfully.

Ouyang Feng chuckled, “Let’s give it a try!” As soon as he finished speaking, he flashed forward, charging towards the seven daoists nearest to him.

His speed was so fast that the others barely had time to react, let alone help. Fortunately, those seven young daoists were well-trained and instinctively crossed their swords in their left hands, linking them together, and simultaneously struck out with their right palms, using their combined strength to block his attack.

Years of experience allowed Ouyang Feng to wield his power with finesse, possibly even surpassing Song Qingshu. A seemingly ordinary palm strike had the effect of turning decay into wonder. The forward push was indeed powerful, but what was even more formidable was the subsequent retraction. The seven daoists managed to block his fierce push, but unexpectedly, they felt a tremendous force pulling them forward, causing them to lose their footing and fall to the ground. Although they quickly got back up, they were all covered in dust, feeling deeply ashamed.

The older daoist with the long beard was shocked to see how powerful Ouyang Feng was, knocking down seven of his disciples in one move. He let out a long howl, activating the fourteen Big Dipper Formations, which intertwined heavily, believing that even if the enemy’s palm strength was ten times stronger, it would be impossible to push back ninety-eight people with just two hands.

Ouyang Feng was taken aback; he hadn’t expected the opposing formation to react so quickly, and its power was not to be underestimated. He had personally experienced the Heavenly Big Dipper Formation before, but he had never seen this larger Big Dipper Formation, which he guessed must have been developed later by Qiu Chuji and the others.

Previously, after Song Qingshu’s hint, he had thought that even if he faced the Seven Disciples of Quanzhen personally, he would be confident in easily breaking the formation. But now, with one formation being positive and the other negative, there were a total of fourteen positions of the Big Dipper stars. How could he, alone, respond to such a situation?