Relative lack of inter-sect strife during LOCH, ROCH

In most wuxia stories, conflict and strife among martial arts sects typically drives much of the story. In many wuxia stories, it's common to see Shaolin, Kunlun, the Beggar's Union, Mo Dong, Ngor Mei, Mt. Hua, and assorted other sects struggling against each other for power or vengeance.

In LOCH and ROCH, however, there seems to be surprisingly little inter-sect strife in wulin. There were some small inter-sect conflicts (i.e. Cheun Jen Sect vs. Ancient Tomb Sect), and certainly the Greats had *individual* conflicts of various sorts against one another, but the larger inter-sect conflicts that characterize most other wuxia stories were not so evident in LOCH and ROCH. A part of this might be attributed to the fact that during LOCH and ROCH, China was being threatened by foreign invaders and thus, wulin had to present a united front against the foreigners. However, in periods of relatively greater inter-sect conflict such as DGSD and HSDS, there was still a foreign threat to contend with.

Since JY did not explicitly claim that 'peace was all over wulin', I'll take it to mean that minor inter-sect competition and squabbles still existed but were not written about since the central plot did not require it. Just like there being no mention of Shaolin did not mean that Shaolin was not around.

Look at the end of ROCH. Those bunch of goons competing on Mt Hua proved that little rivalries still existed but it was from small timers which our central characters (like the Greats) did not have to bother about.

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Originally Posted by CC

Since JY did not explicitly claim that 'peace was all over wulin', I'll take it to mean that minor inter-sect competition and squabbles still existed but were not written about since the central plot did not require it. Just like there being no mention of Shaolin did not mean that Shaolin was not around.

Look at the end of ROCH. Those bunch of goons competing on Mt Hua proved that little rivalries still existed but it was from small timers which our central characters (like the Greats) did not have to bother about.

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I suppose. I realized how relatively tranquil ROCH-era wulin was because during the two Heroes Conferences (at Luk Manor in Dai Sing Kwan and at Seung Yeung sixteen years later), everybody from Chinese wulin seemed to be on the same page. The only people looking for trouble were the Mongols. In most other stories, if there's a Heroes' Conference, the attendees are typically at each other's throats.