So how powerful was the Yue Maiden?

[Han Solo]

She might not necessarily have disarmed all 2000. I was merely pointing out that dashing through the entire mass while disarming every single one that was in directly her path is more impressive than simply moving through the mass. That isn't anything like the Flash as KC like to insinuate.

What XZ and DY did was more impressive though- goinng through the main body of the Khitan army to snatch the Khitan king but i grant you that what ah ching did was impressive- however, from memory, it is not an army in formation as opposed to another similar situation where GJ had to fight the bigger dipper formation in early ROCH.

Han Solo

[PJ]

Then again, not even the greats could come and go as they pleased amongst thousands of soldiers to reach the opposition's army head

It was said that Xiao Feng would have no problem retrieving any object amid an army of 10,000+ people.

[K2Grey]

I assume Xiao Feng would be using not only his martial arts but also skills of disguise and infiltration. When he went to assassinate that one guy, didn't he strap himself to the underside of a horse or something in order to pass through the enemy lines?

[PJ]

I assume Xiao Feng would be using not only his martial arts but also skills of disguise and infiltration.

Yes, it could be a combination of skills.

Ah Qing's performance was really a showcase of speed. I can only imagine the calibre of Duan Yu or Dongfang Bubai sweeping through an army.

However, I have no idea which incident this is:

When he went to assassinate that one guy, didn't he strap himself to the underside of a horse or something in order to pass through the enemy lines?

[Bai Qi44]

It was said that Xiao Feng would have no problem retrieving any object amid an army of 10,000+ people.

Yes, and it was also said in ROTK (I Know it's not JY) that Guan Yu was the equivalent of 10,000 soldiers or Yan 13 can freeze time and space (got that from you). Guan Yu is not the equivalent of 10,000 soldiers and obviously Yan 13 can not freeze time with his swordplay. Dian Wei is Guan Yu's equivalent and Dian Wei got killed by 30-40 soldiers (granted, it was a sneak attack that did him in). Guan Yu did manage to kill Yan Liang by charging straight into an army with Red Hare, but I give more credit to the horse here. I think XF performed a similar feat. What Ah Ching did was amazing. She, without the assistance of a horse, went to and from through an army as she pleased and they faced her head on. I can't imagine XF doing that amongst 10,000 soldiers and what you said about Ah Ching's speed is the reason why XF can't do it.



What's said is one thing, but what's done is quite another.

[sarakoth]

It also can't be done unless one has Superman or Flash-like speed, which is really beyond wuxia abilities.

At least Ah Ching doesn't go back in time by running faster than the speed of light

[Ken Cheng]

At least Ah Ching doesn't go back in time by running faster than the speed of light

I sure hope not. If Jin Yong had written something like that, I'd retire from wuxia fandom.

[Ren Wo Xing]

It also can't be done unless one has Superman or Flash-like speed, which is really beyond wuxia abilities.

Since Jinyong really is the grandfather of wuxia in the present day, what he says is within wuxia abilities, is within wuxia abilities

On a more serious note, I recall a previous poster saying that JY never intended for Sword of the Yue Maiden to be included in the same 'continuum' as the rest of his stories, but that it was rather intended to be one in a number of 'mythological' type stories, with people who truly possessed suprahuman abilities. So in that sense, if true, Ah Qing, although certainly beyond the likes of his wuxia characters, can't really be compared to them, because they don't exist in the same continuum.

[Ken Cheng]

On a more serious note, I recall a previous poster saying that JY never intended for Sword of the Yue Maiden to be included in the same 'continuum' as the rest of his stories, but that it was rather intended to be one in a number of 'mythological' type stories, with people who truly possessed suprahuman abilities. So in that sense, if true, Ah Qing, although certainly beyond the likes of his wuxia characters, can't really be compared to them, because they don't exist in the same continuum.

Now that, I can live with. If Ah Ching is considered part of a separate wuxia geneaology altogether, I'm fine with that. But squeezing her into the more conventional Jin Yong canon really belittles the accomplishments of the better known heroes.

[PJ]

What's said is one thing, but what's done is quite another.

Yes.

BUT,

In Xiao Feng's case, when he proclaimed that he had the ability to traverse an army of 10,000+ people, there were hundreds of members of the Beggar's Union--and several other third party experts--present, who knew of Xiao Feng's prowess. They all agreed that Xiao Feng was not exaggerating.

[CC]

However, I have no idea which incident this is:

When he was saving Yelu Hongji's arse from Imperial Uncle.

[ChanceEncounter]

Reading over YueNvJian, she is truly a pretty legendary character.

Now, I know the Yue Maiden is actually a folk legend, but I was specifically looking at how Jin Yong's Yue Maiden compared in terms of her martial arts ability.

To put some of her feats in comparison:

-- She was able to disable a Wu swordsman in just 2 moves with her bamboo stick (one strike on the wrist to make him drop his weapon, and one poke in the eye to blind him). Keep in mind that these Wu swordsmen were superior to anyone in the Yue kingdom, and they used the teachings of Sun Tzu's Art of War, and were considered tremendous swordsmen (one of them was able to so perfectly bisect a goat that even its nose was divided into two equal halves).

-- She was able to easily defeat six Wu swordsmen (each of them first rate swordsman) at the same time. Some of these Wu swordsmen knew a defensive net technique that was said to easily hold off many swordsmen at the same time. They dropped one after the other, each of them blinded in one eye.

-- She fought with a mystical white monkey, who was said to be able to effortlessly kill Fan Li. She built up her 'sword' skills in this manner, by repeatedly sparring with the monkey. By the time the short story rolled around, she was able to rather easily counter all of its moves and break both of the monkey's arms when protecting Fan Li from him. When they were fighting, Fan Li saw them as a green (A Qing) and white (the monkey) blur that moved about. He couldn't even recognize that the white blur was a monkey until they slowed down. The skill that she used against the white monkey made the skills she used when defeating the Wu swordsmen look trivial; none of the swordsmen in the story were able to get her to use her high-level stuff.

-- Fan Li tried training the Yue swordsmen by having them spar her, but none of them could last even 3 move against her. Her 'sword' skills were said to be 'magical.'

-- It was said that none of them were able to witness her true skill, but even with the snippet of a snippet that they saw, they were able to build up the skills of the Yue army so that it was 'invincible' and beat the Wu army.

-- A Qing was able to transmit her voice from very far away, outside of the palace, and it was able to come across as very clear. This implies that her internal certainly isn't lacking.

-- When Fan Li tried to secure the palace, she was able to easily fight through two thousand guards (1000 armored soldiers and 1000 elite swordsmen) and came in through the window like a shadow. And after pointing her bamboo stick at someone (not attacking), her chi had managed to injure her.

It's really hard to say exactly how strong she is, since she was never so much as challenged by any human. That said, by feats alone, she's in the top tier, IMO.

[kyss of the sword]

the most basic idea of inner power devolpment is even basic inner power technique can lead to advanced inner power cultivation if one practises with a clear heart and mind long enough. SPT gained a very advanced level inner power after only five years of practising entry level shaolin inner power. yeu maiden may have well reached the acme of martial arts. her style was very similar to DGQB's sword intention.