Why did wulin finally lose interest in the Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre?

[Whsie]

Most well-informed wulin people from HSDS, however, knew of the legends of Gwok Jing and Yeung Gor; they were still relatively recent enough in wulin history that the memory of their achievements had not yet disappeared. Even the generation of Greats who preceded them were still fairly well known during the time of HSDS.

Yep, this could be evidenced by the fact that Yin Tian Zheng made the mention of GX's father as the legendary GJ or Mie Jue mentioning YG.
Even H7G was still well known. When the beggar sect attacked ZWJ and Chen You Lian used "cheap tricks" on ZZR, ZWJ mentioned whether or not CYL is afraid of ruining H7G's name.

[IcyFox]

I think it'd be helpful to fix the view "many people in Wulin" to an absolute point of reference. From my POV the term [Wulin] refers to the general society in Jianghu which in HSDS includes, but isn't restricted to, Wudang, Shaolin and E-Mei. Others, though, refer to [Wulin] as the upper-class society consisting of well-informed seniors of society like the heads of Wudang, E-Mei and the Heavenly Eagle Sect.

[Ken Cheng]

Interestingly, even Tse Tsun, who had the Dragon Sabre in his possession for upwards of twenty years, eventually seemed to lose interest in the weapon. After ten years on Ice Fire Island, it seemed that Tse Tsun had stopped investing any time or energy into trying to figure out the Dragon Sabre's secret. He kept it at his side mainly as a handy and powerful tool/weapon and as leverage against his enemies after he returned to China.

[Loke-Gao-Zhu]

because the wulin wish to overcome the mongols, and they all think ZWJ is the best leader so they want ZWJ to wield the weapons

[S Beaver]

They were only interested in DS as it would led them to XX whom had lots of history with the Wulin community due to his insane killings.

i always thought it was implied that ppl were in general more interested in finding the DS...while some may truely want to seek xie xun for revenge, it seemed more like a legal excuse for them to hunt after the guy.

[pannonian]

Just resurrecting an old thread which is on the page where my bookmark points to. Towards the end of the novel, the sabre is publicly reforged by the Ming Cult, who also declined to repair the sword. Afterwards Zhang Wuji offered the sabre to Saholin's abbot, who refused it, on the grounds that the sabre did not make one the most revered in wulin, but conversely the sabre should belong to the most revered in wulin, which was Zhang Wuji. After the show of power by the Ming Cult, and the uniting of the sects under Zhang Wuji to defeat the Mongols, the weapons had lost their significance, as the Ming Cult were clearly by far the most powerful, and also the most deserving of leadership, of all the sects, with or without the weapons.

[PJ]

Why did wulin finally lose interest in the Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre? Why?

Short answer: Because God (read: Jin Yong) wanted them to.

If God (Jin Yong) wants ppl to forget something, they will instantly forget it, while if God (Jin Yong) wants ppl to remember something, they will remember no matter what.

The best example is Dugu Qiubai. While it cannot be said for sure that no one in LOCH/ROCH heard of him, at least no one other than Yang Guo ever mentioned his name, and this was only about 100 years after his death. But in SPW, like 300 years after his death, Feng Qingyang more than heard of him, while in Duke of Mount Deer, 600+ years after his death!, Reverend Chengguan/Dengguan spoke of Dugu's name! It's amazing.