Yi Yang Finger

Yi Yang Finger is a martial technique delivered through the finger, combining internal force with a direct, precisely aimed strike. Its effectiveness depends on the practitioner's mastery and circumstances: Duan Zhengchun's use is initially limited by his inferior reach and reserves of strength, but the same technique becomes decisive when Xiao Feng secretly restores his freedom and lends him internal energy. The passages therefore present Yi Yang Finger not as an automatic measure of skill, but as an art whose practical force is shaped by training, timing, and support.

Form and Reach

In the contest between Duan Zhengchun and Duan Yanqing, the weapons make the disparity in reach visible. Duan Zhengchun's sword bends under pressure against Duan Yanqing's iron cane, and he answers by extending his right finger with Yi Yang Finger. His finger force can travel only about three chi, while the joined lengths of the sword and cane amount to eight chi; the attack is thus not aimed at Duan Yanqing himself, but at the cane. The choice shows the technique being used tactically even when its range cannot reach an opponent beyond a weapon's length.

Duan Zhengchun's finger strikes the cane three times. Each impact makes the weapon tremble and allows his bent sword to straighten somewhat, gradually restoring it toward its original shape. In this exchange Yi Yang Finger serves less as a long-range attack than as a means of directing force into the object controlling the fight. Xiao Feng initially judges the move to be a limited point-blocking technique rather than evidence of a more profound sword art, since Duan Zhengchun has not used the Six Meridians Divine Sword. The scene distinguishes the two arts rather than treating them as interchangeable.

Duel with Duan Yanqing

Duan Yanqing counters by using his iron cane as an extension of his finger. The cane's technique and internal energy match those of Yi Yang Finger, while its length gives the attack greater reach. When Duan Zhengchun meets the strike with his own finger force, his arm aches and tingles; he draws back, then struggles to answer the next attack before it arrives. He recognizes that Duan Yanqing can circulate his internal energy more rapidly and has a much deeper accomplishment in the technique.

As the duel continues, Duan Yanqing accelerates his assault, sending nine cane stances in a moment because he fears that a prolonged fight could bring Duan Zhengchun's subordinates into the contest. Duan Zhengchun manages to parry, but his internal energy falters at the ninth stance: the cane pierces his shoulder and his sword breaks. The sequence establishes the limits of his Yi Yang Finger under pressure. He can use it skillfully to redirect force and resist, but cannot sustain the exchange against Duan Yanqing's greater mastery and rapid succession of attacks.

Assistance and Use Against Madam Ma

The technique's later use reverses that disadvantage. At the Ma residence, Madam Ma has bound Duan Zhengchun's wrists with ox-tendon rope and has weakened his martial ability. Xiao Feng, concealed outside the room, silently makes a hole through the clay wall and places his palm against Duan Zhengchun's back. When Madam Ma bites his shoulder, the moment of pain coincides with Xiao Feng tearing the rope free and sending profound internal energy through Duan Zhengchun's channels.

Duan Zhengchun understands that unexpected assistance has arrived. With his breath moving freely again, he transfers the energy from his back through his arm to his finger and activates Yi Yang Finger. The strike lands beneath Madam Ma's ribs, causing her to fall onto the bed. Xiao Feng withdraws his hand once Duan Zhengchun has gained control of her. The scene makes the change in outcome concrete: the same fighter whose finger technique had been outranged and outlasted in the duel can now use it effectively after his restraints are removed and his internal energy is replenished.

Significance and Distinctions

Across these encounters, Yi Yang Finger is defined through specific applications rather than a general claim of invincibility. In the duel, it can strike an iron cane, help straighten a bent sword, and meet a similar technique, but Duan Zhengchun's limited reach and diminishing reserves prevent it from overcoming Duan Yanqing. At the Ma residence, restored freedom and Xiao Feng's assistance let him direct the technique against Madam Ma and regain control. The contrast ties its effectiveness to both cultivated ability and the conditions in which the practitioner acts.

The surrounding evidence also separates Yi Yang Finger from the poison-related practices of the Xingxiu Sect. The Divine Wood King Cauldron attracts poisonous creatures, whose fluids Ding Chunqiu needs to suppress the dangerous consequences of the Great Energy Dissolving Skill; it is not part of Yi Yang Finger. Likewise, the wet-revealed diagram in the Tendon-Changing Sutra gives You TanZhi a method for channeling energy and neutralizing external poison, while the frost-silkworm poison he expels remains perilous to Feng BoE. These distinct mechanisms clarify the scope of Yi Yang Finger in the account: it is the finger technique through which Duan Zhengchun contests and strikes, not a cure, a poison-gathering device, or the concealed diagram's method.