They both were deadlocked in their fight for several hours. However, they thoroughly enjoyed it. Long Huafang used other martial arts to help her break the stalemate and this engaged Cao Yun even more into the fight. 'The Rabbit Grinds Jade', 'Flowing River of Silver' or 'Nightly Ghosts Dissipate' were some of her martial arts. They were not as refined as her 'The Dragon Howling at the Moons'. But the change of pace kept Cao Yun on his toes.
As the fight progressed, he was thinking of plans about how to end it. He was also in the process of forming his fourth star, the Room Star. This star was presented on the page dedicated to controlling the enemy's movement. It dealt in feints for example, but also in a number of low and very light attacks meant to either probe or even direct the enemy.
The movements in themselves were not very useful. Contrary to other techniques, they could only be practiced with someone else. Stabbing could be trained alone as it heavily relied on your own body. Of course, you also had to train your timing and your own positioning relative to your opponent. But feints and techniques to control your opponent's behavior could only be trained with an opponent. All those techniques were highly dependent on human interactions. You had to get inside your opponent's head. A feint too light would be seen through whereas a feint too heavy would not allow for a swift change and would just become a normal attack.
Cao Yun thought back about a book he loved reading when he was younger, 'Dashan's Discussion of the Thirty-Six Stratagems'. It had been written by Saint Dashan, one of the Four Saints. Saint Dashan was the greatest strategist of mankind. Without him, Emperor Nuwa's wars would have lasted way longer. Some even claimed that without him, she could not have won any of the major battles. The most memorable battle was the Invasion of the Pillar of Blood, when she finally killed the ruler of the demons, throwing their army in disarray and splitting them into several camps.
Saint Dashan was also known for the application of his military strategies to martial arts. 'Dashan's Discussion of the Thirty-Six Stratagems' was a book where he interpreted the main military strategies and explained how to use them alone in a duel.
Remembering this book, Cao Yun began to switch from defense to offense. He launched some feints, but amidst these feints were real attacks. Some were aimed at spots before Long Huafang could move there. This forced her to dodge in specific directions. By always changing, Cao Yun prevented her from adapting, and he controlled where he wanted her. The ring was a square. This provided Cao Yun with a very simple strategy. If he forced Long Huafang into a corner, she could not move as freely as before.
Of course, she saw right through his intentions. However, his sudden change and his new unpredictability made it difficult for her to find a solution quickly. Every time she tried to move away, she was faced with a barrage of attacks. When she thought they were feints, she would be grazed by one strike. Cao Yun was stronger than she was despite her cultivation one level higher. Even being close to one of his attacks was dangerous for Long Huafang.
As he was progressing forward, Cao Yun could feel the fourth star slowly forming itself. In his sea of consciousness, a tiny blue-white dot was now visible in the sky. Although it wasn't fully forged yet, its influence was already acting on the other three stars.
Sensing that she was being pushed back again and again, Long Huafang decided to test out the last move of 'The Dragon Howling at the Moons'. Contrary to Cao Yun who had never seen any of the moves from 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' in real life, she had since all her family members knew and practiced it. This was the defining manual of her family, invented by their ancestor seventeen thousand years ago. All of a sudden, she stopped moving and stared at Cao Yun's eyes.
'The Moon in the Eye'. Cao Yun froze up. In his sea of consciousness, a giant moon had appeared and was eclipsing the three complete stars of the Azure Dragon as well as the vague hue of the fourth one. Down below, the blue sea became silver as it reflected this gigantic moon. The silver aura of the celestial body spread throughout all Cao Yun's sea of consciousness. Even the Drop of Wrath had changed color. But when it tried to touch the five characters of 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks', it stopped. Shen, the Fire Spirit, which was above the four other characters burned. It was always surrounded by a bit of fiery energy, but right now, it was burning intensely.
This fire pushed back the Water element of this moon. All this happened in an instant in real life. The moon that had appeared in Cao Yun's consciousness was slowly being burned away. As such, he had regained his consciousness but he was still unable to move his body.
Long Huafang was coming straight at him with her sword. 'Shining Fang' stopped right on Cao Yun's neck. If she had pressed on, his head would have been cleanly cut off. Now that he was out of the trance, he could see the eyes of Long Huafang. They did not look like their usual silver, but they were as two moons shining brightly.
She was sweating profusely. Obviously, this technique was taking a huge toll on her. On her face was a big grin and she started talking while heavily panting.
"Seems like I won."
Cao Yun surprised her then. His hand finally moved and he touched the blade to gently push it away.
"Seems like you did."
Long Huafang was impressed that he had been able to free himself from her 'The Moon in the Eye'. Even though she did not fully master it yet, this was the ultimate technique of 'The Dragon Howling at the Moons'. In fact, it was this technique alone that had pushed the ranking of her family's martial art all the way to the 1-star Heaven rank. Her ancestor was said to be able to stop one's heart just with a stare. This technique could literally attack the soul. Of course, she wasn't masterful enough to go to such an extent yet. Right now, she would only affect one's perceptions to the point where they would black out for a few seconds. But for Cao Yun, it didn't last more than five or six breaths.
Another kind of smile appeared on her face. Long Huafang was a bit of a battle maniac. Contrary to Cao Yun who was loving the martial arts in themselves, Long Huafang loved fighting. What she loved most was being pushed to her limits and finding out that she could still push further through.
When they stopped, they realized that Chief Elder Baishen was there.
"Great! Amazing! You're both exceptional." She walked to Cao Yun. "Did you almost forge the fourth star?" Her spiritual senses went all over him. It was rather impolite but she was just too excited. These two kids had thoroughly pushed each other further and further. That was exactly what she loved in her duty. Deep down, she loved pushing disciples and witnessing their progress.
Then, she turned to Long Huafang. "It's rare to see you or your brother here. How moons did you carve yet?"
"What?! How do you know about the moons?" Long Huafang was quite shocked and let go of her usual attitude for an instant.
"Of course I would know! I trained your father when he was in the Wubei Sect. When he left he had already carved seven moons. It took him even longer to materialize the remaining five. Oh? Are you worried that I'll tell your father about how much you like to fight all the time?"
Long Huafang's shocked face changed. "Worried? Why would I worry about this? Father will never be mad at me! And who told him to have children who looked just like him?"
Chief Elder Baishen laughed out loud. "That, you're right! He was as much fascinated by fighting as you and your brother. But try to understand him a bit. He already lost his family once, losing you would crush him."
"I know! I know..." In fact, she really was worried about her father. Not because she feared his scolding, but she hated his sadness. She knew Long Cheng was hiding it before his children, but he truly was sad to see them throw themselves into every fight. However, he never tried to control them, because he knew their feelings.
"However, it doesn't mean you should not follow the path you desire. Just be nice with your father next time you see him. And tell him that Baishen sends her regards. Anyway, how many moons?"
"Hmph. Only five. I'm pretty confident in reaching seven before my fifth-year, but they are more and more difficult to materialize." Just like 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' had seven stars to forge, 'The Dragon Howling at the Moons' had twelve moons. Contrary to Cao Yun, Long Huafang could not enter her sea of consciousness to observe them. However, she had many accounts of her family members describing them.
"Well, if you keep training with this little genius, you'll carve them even faster." Chief Elder Baishen took Cao Yun by the shoulder while speaking.
"Little genius? I won! 'I' won! Didn't I?"
"And you think next time, he won't be able to free himself from your 'The Moon in the Eye' faster? Hell, you still have to make eye contact considering your level, right? He just has to not look at your eyes."
Indeed, if she mastered this move a bit more, it could work without eye contact, but no Mortal cultivator had ever been able to reach this level. Most people in her family reached it by the middle of the Mortal Warrior realm in fact.
Long Huafang was a bit sour about this. "So what? I also saw his moves. I already thought of ways to counter them!" She then turned to the boy who was trying to get away from under Chief Elder Baishen's arm. "Chen Guo, let's fight again tomorrow! I'll show you that this wasn't just a fluke. I'll convince this old hag!"
"What? Who is an old hag here? Has your father ever spanked you? I'll discipline you in his stead, little brat!"
The old woman chased after Long Huafang who ran out of the martial art pavilion in panic. With her cultivation she could have caught her in an instant, but she was just playing around. However, she kept chasing her outside for a few minutes.
Cao Yun was a bit disconcerted by the comic duo.
Before walking back to his room, he stayed to meditate on everything he had learned today. This fight was rather enjoyable and to be honest, he was looking forward to another duel, even if the girl had not asked for his opinion. Moreover, he had gained a lot of benefits. Even the fourth star had almost been forged. He focused on it and realized something. This star was related to controlling the movement of your opponent. When he put it into practice, he was shocked to find out it was very similar to array formations.
However, instead of using flags or objects, he was using his own attacks. And he wasn't controlling the flow of Qi in the environment but the flow of his opponent to direct him where he wanted him. Maybe, by studying array formations a bit more, he could develop this star and find out about its move faster. He would also reread 'Dashan's Discussion of the Thirty-Six Stratagems'.
Moreover, this reminded him of 'Dying Poems Under the Mirage Pavilion', a collection of poems attributed to Saint Dashan. He had always found that there was a sad and yet beautiful feel to them. According to the legend, he had made all these poems after the end of the war. Every single poem was in memory of a great battle and the people who had died in it.
Even though they were sad, Cao Yun had always imagined that reading them brought back to life all those heroes who had sacrificed everything for mankind. That was probably why Saint Dashan had written them. Thinking about this, Cao Yun also remembered his family, and his parents who had died so that he could live.
Some verses of 'Dying Poems Under the Mirage Pavilion' came to his mind.
'The butterflies, into the fire, soar,'
'Like lions roar, wings in sorrow burn,'
'Turn into dew as the living mourn,'
'Refresh the young, who now will soar.'
They strangely made him think about his parents. He had never quite understood these verses before. But now, he clearly pictured soldiers dying in battle so that the young generation could live on.
With a light and refreshed mind, Cao Yun walked under the moon and remembered many poems. By the end of his walk, he was even singing a few of his favorites. This night was quite magical.
Finally, he was back in front of his room. Strangely, he felt bad going back inside. The night felt particularly nice.
As soon as Cao Yun opened the door, he saw blood on the floor. Right in the middle of the main room, Huang Cixi was lying on the floor, with blood coming out of her mouth. She was still breathing, but extremely faintly. Instantly, Cao Yun took out the paper talisman Xiao Xuefeng had given him, and crushed it.
Carefully, he scanned the room before approaching the wounded girl. Then, he walked toward the girl whom he tried to talk to but she was unconscious.
All of a sudden, Xiao Xuefeng was in the room. When Cao Yun had crushed the talisman, she received a telepathic signal and moved as fast as she could. The moment she got there, she understood why the boy had called her. Cao Yun felt her presence and moved out of the way. He knew that she was able to deal with it better than he could.
The elder went to Huang Cixi's side and felt her pulse. While touching her wrist, she sent her perception throughout the girl's body. She felt something strange but soon realized that wasn't the problem. The cause of this was pretty obvious, sadly.
"She's suffered from Qi deviation. She was probably cultivating and tempering her Lower Dantian. But her state of mind was not stable enough and she lost control of her Qi. I fear that her Lower Dantian is severely damaged. I'll take her to Chief Elder Qinghe."
"I'll come too!" Cao Yun did not hesitate one bit. And Xiao Xuefeng, not wanting to waste any time, took him with them. The three of them suddenly rose in the sky under Xiao Xuefeng's powers, and flew in the distance.