The Robust Trio of Unprecedented Underrated Talent

[PJ]

After consulting the novel, I have become an all-embracing admirer of the Robust Trio of Unprecedented Underrated Talent. The trio consists of three extremely mysterious and, at the same time, indefatigably skilled members. I will hereby write a few words to introduce this awesome trio to the wuxia community. In the next post, I will present More FACTS from the novel that support and communicate their awesomeness.

[PJ]

The first member of The Robust Trio of Unprecedented Underrated Talent, is by now no stranger to the ears of any wuxia fan. SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan is the strongest member of this trio. However, he was only *slightly* stronger. At this point, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan's 2 fellow colleagues that together formed one of jianghu's most dynamically formidable alliances. To strengthen the suspense, I will talk about her in the next post

[PJ]

The first colleague of Zhuo Bufan is the beautiful LOTUS FAIRY Cui Luhua. She demonstrated excellent mastery of hidden projectiles such as the elegant flying daggers. She was able to throw daggers and they would fly right back into her hands, as if her hand possessed extensive force-sucking ability. I don't think anyone else in Jin Yong wuxia has demonstrated mastery of this sometimes taken-for-granted skill.

IF pulling and catching daggers through the air with exquisite control was the *only* thing that LOTUS FAIRY Cui Luhua is good at, there would be little point talking about her. Indeed, her colleagues and she demonstrated some more extraordinary feats that would propell them to an extremely high level up the martial arts chain.

Read the next topic to find out what additional feats were performed by SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan and LOTUS FAIRY Cui Luhua.

[PJ]

Some of you might have wondered why SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan deserves to be labeled having reached the peak of perfection in swordplay. Just because his sword positioning skills are accurate and fast, does that quick feat alone really convince us that he has reached the peak of perfection? I doubt it. However, now I have found more passages from the novel that help confirm their competency.

Below is a passage translated straight from the novel. BUT FIRST, I must first introduce the third colleague of SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan, and that is the KING OF SCALY DRAGON, Taost Priest Buping. There are several key facts that highlight his competency:

1) The reputation of KING OF SCALY DRAGON makes everyone's ear tremble. When he first appeared, one of the fighters in the novel tried to explain who he was. He said: "My friends, this guest is of extremely high significance. He is truly a distinguished guest. He.... He.... He is.... Scaly.... Scaly.... Scaly......" This fighter could not even finish the sentence, perhaps due to too much excitedness. Furthermore, Brother Wu said at his arrival: "Are you really the Taoist Priest Buping whose name is well-known throughout the realm? I have long heard of your distinguished name, which trembles the ear like the thunder! Pleased to meet you."

2) The lightness kung fu of KING OF SCALY DRAGON has reached a high level as well. He was standing on the top of a tree. The thin branch that he stood on was settling up and down, and he settled along without any need to "hang on" to the branch. Upon witnessing this extraordinary demonstration of lightness kung fu, Murong Fu was convinced that this person must be extremely proficient in the field of martial arts!

3) The internal energy of KING OF SCALY DRAGON is just as profound. When he came down from the top of the tree, he defied gravity by sending a tremendous force to the ground first, which enabled him to gradually descend in a graceful manner. Upon witnessing this extraordinary display of profound combination of internal energy and lightness kung fu, Brother Wu could not help but exclaim in praise.

SO, now that you know how awesome is THE KING OF SCALY DRAGON, Taoist Priest Buping, in the next post I will highlight some more impressive performances by him and his fellow members of the Robust Trio of Unprecedented Underrated Talent.

p.s. I'm splitting up these long messages into separate posts to make it more readable.

[PJ]

The following has been translated directly from a passage in the novel:


Suddenly THE KING OF SCALY DRAGON, Taoist Priest Buping [sarcastically] raised his voice: "The LOTUS FAIRY and my fellow brother SWORD GOD, I am in trouble. Save my life, please! If you don't help me, I will die today." His voice was delivered far into the depth of the mountains. Before he could finish, another voice of cold arrogance came from the top of a peak far away: "Cow-nosed Taoist Priest Buping, If you can escape then escape; if not then you must meet your fate. The subordinates of Tianshan Tonglao are not easily subdued. I can give you information just fine, but if you ask me to save your life, I'm afraid I cannot be of further assistance." This voice came from at least three to four miles outside. Just when he finished, still another new voice was heard. This time it came from the top of an even farther peak! The voice was clearly transmitted: "Taoist priest, Who asked you to interfere with Tianshan Tonglao's affairs? Let me go consult with her and see what she thinks should happen." This voice came from farther than the second voice. When everyone heard these voices, they were all struck with astonishment. The 2 people who spoke were from farther than 3 to 4 miles away... judging from their voice transmission through the air, their internal energy must be extremely profound. Even if they could be caught and greatly outnumbered, who can say that they can be defeated for sure?"

[TommyH]

I realized that you've been talking about this Zhuo Bufan guy in many threads recently now. Is he from JY universe? Are the other two? What book his ZBF from?

[PJ]

Now, just how impressive are the voice transmissions of "SWORD GOD" Zhuo Bufan, "LOTUS FAIRY" Cui Luhua, and "KING OF SCALY DRAGON" Taoist Priest Buping? The description is useless unless we can compare it with feats from the other novels. Here I offer a description of Reverend Yideng's Thousand Mile Voice Transmission from ROCH:

Although this art is known as the Thousand Mile Voice Transmission, of course it cannot possibly really transmit voice over a distance of 1000 miles. In reality, if there is no big mountains blocking the way, one who has reached a high level in martial arts can deliver his/her voice to several miles away.

这功夫虽然号称“千里传音”，自然不能当真声闻千里，但只要中间并无大山之类阻隔，功夫高深之人可以音送数 里

Presumably, we can infer this "one who has reached a high level in martial arts" to be Yideng. So, Yideng can transmit his voice to several miles away. So can the Underrated Trio in DGSD! Does this mean that Zhuo Bufan, Cui Luhua, Priest Buping etc have reached the same level as Reverend Yideng?

Yeah, you wish (I do wish this also). Regrettably, In ROCH, the description continues with this statement:

And furthermore, the voice transmitted will sound as if the speaker was next to you. The higher his/her internal energy, the softer the voice will be.

In DGSD, there is no mention that Buping, Zhuo Bufan, and Cui Luhua's voices sounded as if they were standing next to everyone. That means they have yet to reach the ABSOLUTE PEAK OF PERFECTION in voice transmission which Jiumozhi and Yideng have grasped. Which is not surprising after all. BUT even so, being able to transmit your voice to outside 3-4 miles is an extraordinary accomplishment that demonstrate great compentency for the Trio.

But one thing is for sure: with the presence of LOTUS FAIRY Cui Luhua, who was described to be a beautiful woman in her middle age, the trio has reached a higher level in beauty than Yideng or Jiumozhi can ever attain, try as the monks might. This is one area in which the trio cannot be beaten by many. It is most unfortunate that LOTUS FAIRY's appearance was very brief. I have a feeling that if Jin Yong went into detail to describe her real beauty when she was young, then even if Li Qiushui came back from the grave, or if Little Dragon Girl was born several hundreds of years earlier, they would nevertheless face some tough competition.

[PJ]

I realized that you've been talking about this Zhuo Bufan guy in many threads recently now. Is he from JY universe? Are the other two? What book his ZBF from?

Geez, you just realized this? SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan has been the unofficially recognized important celebrity of the month for over 30 days now. Many an elaborate reference hath been made to him over the past month. Perhaps with the exception of Yang Guo, SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan would be the most talked about character of recent. My goal for the near future is for the Underrated Trio to surpass the vicious character Yang Guo in terms of talked-about-ness./

But yes, he is a REAL character from the Jin Yong universe. His 2 buddies, which I have described above, are also REAL characters from the Jin Yong universe. They are all from DGSD. They are highly obscure characters, largely unknown to the wuxia community. However after reading about their accomplishments, I felt that they deserved more respect and fandom from the wuxia community. Thus I became compelled to write a few words about the trio.

[TommyH]

Geez, you just realized this? SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan has been the unofficially recognized important celebrity of the month for over 30 days now. Many an elaborate reference hath been made to him over the past month. Perhaps with the exception of Yang Guo, SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan would be the most talked about character of recent. My goal for the near future is for the Underrated Trio to surpass the vicious character Yang Guo in terms of talked-about-ness./

But yes, he is a REAL character from the Jin Yong universe. His 2 buddies, which I have described above, are also REAL characters from the Jin Yong universe. They are all from DGSD. They are highly obscure characters, largely unknown to the wuxia community. However after reading about their accomplishments, I felt that they deserved more respect and fandom from the wuxia community. Thus I became compelled to write a few words about the trio.

Well I didn't have internet access for the past month so it wouldn't make sense for me to know you've been mentioning ZBF in every thread possible. It's funny how you capitalize SWORD GOD each time you mention ZBF.

[K2Grey]

Hey, JMZ was supposed to be pretty handsome.

[PJ]

Hey, JMZ was supposed to be pretty handsome.

Especially at this moment:

他伸手乱抓胸口，内息不住膨胀，似乎脑袋、胸膛、肚皮都在向外胀大，立时便要将全身炸得粉碎。他低头察看胸 腹，一如平时，绝无丝毫胀大，然而周身所觉，却似身子已胀成了一个大皮球

[Whsie]

Um.... dude, your sarcastic aren't you?

Anway, as a side note: the word li 里 does not equal to a mile. According to my chinese-english dictionary, a li is 1/3 of a mile or 1760 feet or if you use the standard of 10 feet = 1 zhang, then 1 li is 176 zhang.

[PJ]

Um.... dude, your sarcastic aren't you?

Now, when I proclaimed in the opening post that I will present More FACTS from the novel, I already sealed the fate of this topic with the utmost seriousness. (Except for a few minor details.) I am convinced that these 3 extraordinary fighters--KING OF SCALY DRAGON Taoist Priest Buping, LOTUS FAIRY Cui Luhua, and SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan--are of extremely high calibre. And I backed my opinion with evidences found in the novel.

Anway, as a side note: the word li 里 does not equal to a mile.

Right. I should have used the term Chinese mile instead.

[CC]

As a basis of comparing the feats of SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan, Lotus Fairy Maiden Cui and Priest Buping against the feats of Yideng and YG, its ok since they were using the 'ancient chinese mile' in ROCH as well.

This IS a serious topic. Its to prove that these relatively unknown DGSD characters would be considered rather elite if they were dropped into the LOCH/ROCH story.

[Whsie]

This IS a serious topic. Its to prove that these relatively unknown DGSD characters would be considered rather elite if they were dropped into the LOCH/ROCH story.

Not neccesary. Other than the Greats, these 3 would have a pretty big name, but I wouldn't say "elite" yet. Do notice that JY in DGSD concentrated the whole wulin. In ROCH, JY was very focused on the Great level; not mentioning the middle level much. The middle level to me is the people that came to GX's birthday or celebrated her birthday. And those people are like Wuse of Shaolin( who celebrated ), 5 Fuo Tai San Abbot, Kwun Lun leader- Ching Ling Zhi. Later, also noteworthy is Hu Zu Dao and Ling Bao of Kwun Lun. And at least to me, those people do not seem inferior at all to Zhuo Bu Fan and the people you mentioned.

[PJ]

Here is further proof showcasing SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan's unprecedented, underrated talent. It might not be the strongest proof in the world, but for what it's worth, it's worth a look.

It has been said Tianshan Tonglao had the reputation of being able to kill one of the cave/island leaders in one stance. That's one of the evidences that propells her to the very top of the martial arts chain. Now, I ask you to consider this passage directly pasted/translated from the novel:

Brother Wu raised his voice: "My fellow brothers, let's unite today to overthrow the establishment of Tianshan Tonglao. Does anyone object to my proposal?" He asked 3 times. On the third time, a man turned and ran away from everyone. Brother Wu yelled: "Leader Qu of the Swordfish Island, where are you going?" This Leader Qu did not respond, and continued to run as fast as he could. He was extremely fast; in the blink of an eye, he had already ran past the immediate mountain. The crowd shouted: "This man ran away due to fear, we must capture him!" At this time, roughly 10 people chased after Leader Qu. Every one of these 10 chasers possessed excellent lightness kung fu, but due to the distance, they might not have been able to capture their target.

Suddenly, everyone heard a long miserable cry coming from past the mountain: "Ahhh!" This cry striked everyone's nerve, and their facial expression could not help but turn dreadful. With a whirling sound, a round item flew to the chasers from far away. Brother Wu caught this item in his hand. Under the light, he could see flesh and blood; this item was none other than the head of Leader Qu. "Island Leader Qu...." Brother Wu could not comprehend how come Leader Qu would have lost his life so quickly. A petrifying thought suddenly crossed his mind: "Unless the [Child Mistress of Heavnly Mountain] Tianshan Tonglao has arrived?"

Taoist Priest Buping chuckled: "The SWORD GOD and the GOD-LIKE SWORD, really lives up to his name. Well done, Brother Zhuo."

A crip voice came from past the mountain: "You are most welcome. To the leaders of the caves and islands, please pardon my unannounced interference."

At this time, the crowd finally awoke from their fear. Everyone said unanimously: "If the SWORD GOD did not interfere, we would have suffered abominable consequences."

We can infer a few things from this passage:

1) SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan's quick execution of Island Leader Qu was elite enough to cause people to fear that Tianshan Tonglao had done the deed! While this doesn't quite put SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan in the same league as Tianshan Tonglao, it does strengthen SWORD GOD's image quite a bit. Because now, we know that the feat that propelled Tianshan Tonglao to the top of the chain, SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan can also perform.

2) Another extraordinary feat that will definitely strengthen SWORD GOD's image more than ever before, is the ultimate swinging LDA that he performed with his sword. SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan has possibly performed a LDA with a range of approximately 4920 to 6560 feet!

Upon hearing this claim, You might be thinking, how the hell did PJ come up with those numbers? I will give you my reasons. And feel free to consult the novel.

Please note, when I use the term mile here on down, I am referring to the ancient Chinese mile. 1 Chinese mile =~ 1640 feet ( source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_%28Chinese_unit%29 )

In the previous chapter (chapter 44 of DGSD), it was confirmed that SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan stood approximately 3 to 4 Chinese miles outside the crowd. In the passage above, from chapter 45, Island Leader Qu started running in Zhuo Bufan's direction. About 10 people started chasing after him. Since Zhuo Bufan subdued Leader Qu, it means that either Leader Qu had ran to 3-4 miles outside of the crowd, or Zhuo Bufan ran to the crowd. Or perhaps they met in the middle somewhere. We don't know exactly what happened. In the MOST FAVORABLE scenario, Leader Qu would have run to Zhuo Bufan's territory 3-4 miles away from the crowd. (as I said before, there are several possible scenarios)

Next, SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan threw Leader Qu's head, and it was caught by Brother Wu. I conclude that Brother Wu had not chased after Leader Qu, which means he would have been 3-4 miles away from SWORD GOD. How do I know this? Well, the novel said that approximately 10 people chased after Leader Qu. Brother Wu should not be one of the 10 chasers, because the novel hinted that Duan Yu and 1000 other men were in close range of Brother Wu. And the novel specifically said that only 10 people chased after Leader Qu. So all 1000 people could not have chased after him. Which means they must have remained relatively static, approximately 3-4 miles away from SWORD GOD.

The fact is that SWORD GOD threw the item to Brother Wu. In the most favorable scenario, the distance between the 2 guys would have been 3 to 4 Chinese miles, or 4920 to 6560 feet. If that is the case (it is not 100% clear, but this deduction is quite possible), then SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan might have inflicted the greatest Long Distance Attack (LDA) in the history of wuxia fiction.

If you would like any clarification regarding this feat, please feel free to inquire and either I or another reader will do our best to explain the FACTS found in the novel.

[Han Solo]

Erm,

A lot of creative accounting there to make your "astounding" claim.


Han Solo

[CC]

If you note the original text. It was written that the voice of SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan came from _beyond_ the mountain (after the throw).

Ignore PJ's numbers. Ask yourself how big is a _Mountain_. JY didn't use the character for 'Hill' or 'Slope'. It was mountain.

The voice was noted as 'crisp' and 'clear'. Not described like Yideng's or JMZ's 'next-to-you' but it does imply a certain unstrained clarity.

And if the voice came from beyond the mountain after the throw, the throw must have originated from beyond the mountain too.

It doesn't matter if Wu was part of those that chased after Qu or SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan ran towards the crowd. The fact is that the clear voice transmission and throw was from _beyond_ the mountain!

[Ren Wo Xing]

You're doing a good job. I'm starting to be swayed....

[Whsie]

gasp! Does that mean SWORD GOD Zhuo Bufan may actually be around Xuanci level or even higher?