The Return of the Condor Heroes

In front of him was a large plain, the four sides surrounded by the mountain, at the foot of the mountain was a large pond, and the surface of the water reflected the moon, the silver light shimmering. In front of the pond were about one hundred Taoists, wearing yellow hats and dressed in grey gowns, a long sword in their hands, the swords shone brightly to the eye.

Guo Jing looked on, the crowd was made up of groups of seven, and formed fourteen sets of the "Big Dipper Formation". Each group of seven sets of the "Big Dipper Formation" formed one single large "Big Dipper Formation". From the "Tian Shu" to the "Yao Guang", the force of them was extraordinary. The two large "Big Dipper Formations" were different from each other, one normal, one odd, opposing each other, forming the angle of a wing. Guo Jing gasped, "I have never heard of this type of "Big Dipper Formation" from elder Qiu, presumably this formation has been created within the last few years. Compared to the original one that ancestor Yang created, this is another level." He slowly made his way forward.

He heard a whistle from a person within the formations, ninety-eight Taoists scattered, moving forwards and backwards, the formations changed irregularly, and circled Guo Jing. Each one pointed their swords to the ground; their eyes fixed on Guo Jing and didn't make a noise.

Guo Jing folded his hands in salute and turned around once and said, "I have sincerely entered this sacred mountain to meet elder Ma, elder Qiu and elder Wang, I plead with you please do not block my way."

A long bearded Taoist from the formations said, "Our guest here has excellent martial arts, so why do you not use it for good, instead of causing trouble with the evil ones? I offer you some good advice: a woman can cloud someone's mind and your skills that you have trained hard for over the last ten years could be threatened and lost in a single day. Our Quanzhen sect has never met you, and we have no quarrels, so why have you come to our mountain and caused so much trouble over this witch? If you leave immediately now, we could still meet again another day." He spoke with a deep voice, but every word was crystal clear, it was clear that his internal energy was profound, his advice was sincere.

Guo Jing was angry but was also laughing, he thought, "I don't know whom the Taoists have mistaken me for, if Rong'er was by my side, then there wouldn't be any of this misunderstanding. He said, "I know nothing of being clouded by women or witches, if you allow me to see elder Ma, elder Qiu and elder Wang, then everything will become clear."

The long bearded Taoist coldly said, "You still do not heed the advice and persist on wanting to see elder Ma and elder Qiu and try out your skills on them, well first you are going to have to break our large 'Big Dipper Formation'."

Guo Jing replied, "I am only one person, my skills are of a low level, how could I dare come up against your sect's greatest skill? Please release the child that came with me, and allow me to see your sect's master and elder Qiu."

The long bearded Taoist shouted out, "You have come here, caused trouble, and put on a show in front of Mount Zhongnan's Chongyang Palace; how can we let such a scoundrel be so rude." As he said this, he waved his sword in the air, the blade pierced the wind, the sound of the blade lingered. The crowd of Taoists waved their long swords, ninety-eight blades swept across, a wind was created, and the swords resembled a shiny net.

Guo Jing was secretly worried, "The two large formations are the opposite of each other; how can I maintain the "Northern Star Position" by myself? Today's matter is really troublesome."

Before Guo Jing made up his mind, the ninety-eight Taoists merged together from the left and right, the light from the swords weaved about, he was trapped like a fly and it would be difficult to escape. The long bearded Taoist said, "Pick up a weapon! Quanzhen sect will not harm an empty handed person."

Guo Jing thought, "This formation may be hard to break, but you may still not be able to harm me. The formation has many people, its power great, but each one's skill varies. There will definitely be a weakness; I'll study this formation first before I decide on anything." He slowly turned around, and then quickly moved in a northwest direction and used the "Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms", the stance "Hidden Dragon Has No Use" (qian long wu yong), one palm out and one in, as he pushed off against the ground. Seven young Taoists swapped their swords into their left hand, each one joining together and stretched out their right palm, using their strength to repel his palm. The palm skill that Guo Jing used had been practiced and refined, and has now reached its peak; the force he generated was extremely strong, and he had more powerful moves hidden. Each one of them used all their strength to block this fierce attack but they didn't expect a strong force pulling them forward. The seven could not stand still, and all of them fell onto the ground; though they got up straight away, each one of them had dirt on their face, and was slightly embarrassed.

The long bearded Taoist saw that Guo Jing had unleashed a powerful stance; in just one move he had caused seven Taoists to fall onto the ground, he was slightly frightened. He gave a whistle and led the fourteen "Big Dipper Formations" and merged them. Even if the enemy's palm strength was ten times stronger, it would be difficult for him to push away ninety-eight people.

Guo Jing remembered the battle that he had on Jun Mountain (Lord Mountain); he and Huang Rong were battling the beggar clan, although individually they were weak, but once they united they were hard to defend against. He didn't dare to use force to overcome them; he could only use his lightness kung fu and escape from the formation, and try to find its weakness.

He hurried to the east and leapt to the west, and drew the formation with him, in just a short while he realized that if he wanted to break the formation by himself, it would be a difficult task made harder. One, he didn't want to hurt anyone; two, the formation's defense was second to none. There wasn't a single weakness; thirdly, Guo Jing is not the most astute person; the formation changed quickly so even if there was a weakness, he would not pick it up in such a short period of time.

Under the light of the full moon, the light from the swords resembled water, the scene like a wave, there was no point in trying to run away again.

They fought for a period of time, the formation was getting tighter, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to dodge within the gaps. Guo Jing thought, "Why don't I rush through the formation and make a dash for Chongyang Palace and see elder Ma and elder Qiu?" He raised his head and faced west; he saw there were twenty or thirty buildings and a few of them had large open spaces. He thought that Chongyang Palace must be one of them; he then hurried rapidly to the east, and after a few leaps, he turned and ran towards the west.

The multitude of Taoists saw that he was increasing in speed; a grey blur was within the formation like a falling star rushing through the sky. It was almost impossible to see where he was, they were dazzled or dazed, and they slowed down. The long bearded Taoist called out, "Everyone be careful, don't fall into the scoundrel's trap."