Liancheng Jue, aka A Deadly Secret (ADS; incorrect translation: Linked Cities), is a novel which doesn't seem to generate much discussion on this forum. However, I appreciated the intricate mystery within the plot, the multidimensional characterizations, as well as some exciting martial arts. In this discussion, I attempt to explain my thoughts on the martial arts level of the era, and hopefully we can exchange our ideas with each other. NOTE: If you see any errors or less-than-ideal translations, feel free to comment!
Firstly, there is often the question of when exactly did the story take place. According to WuxiaPedia.com, Athena wrote "The biggest change [in the third edition] is that now we are certain that this novel takes place in the Qing dynasty. Wu Liuqi of the Duke of Mount Deer is mentioned." I guess we're still not sure whether ADS comes before Book & Sword, but at least we know it is after DOMD.
Ranking
Personally, I would rank the martial artists of ADS as follows:
1. Jueding Gaosho / Elite fighters: Ding Dian, Di Yun
2. Yidengyi Gaosho / Cream of the Crop fighters: {"The Four Marvels of the South" Shui Dai, Liu Chengfeng, Lu Tianshu, and Hua Tiegan}, The Lord of Crimson Sabre
(The Four Freaks of the North, Mei Niansheng)
3. Yiliu Gaosho / First Class fighters: {5th generation Crimson Sabre Sect disciples Shengdi, Shanyong, and Baoxiang (and 2 nameless disciples)}
4. 2nd class fighters: Yan Daping, "5 Clouds Hand Expert" Wan Zhengshan, Qi Changfa, Ling Tuisi
(The nameless taoist who competed internal energy with Ding Dian in jail)
5. 3rd class fighters: Wang Xiaofeng, Shui Sheng, Lu Tong, Geng Tianba, Ma Daming
6. 4th class fighters: Wan Zhengshan's 8 Disciples
Impressive Kung-fu spotlights
VOICE TRANSMISSION
The Four Marvels of the South were able to transmit voices across a range of 5 Ancient Chinese miles (5 li). In ROCH, Jin Yong wrote that elite practioners of Yideng's Thousand Mile Voice Transmission method could possibly transmit voices over a range of several miles/li; suggesting that several miles was near the maximum range reachable to ROCH experts, and this criterion was certainly met by the Four Marvels. In DGSD, SWORD GOD, LOTUS FAIRY, and Taoist Buping were able to transmit voices clearly over a distance of 4+ miles. Based on this feat alone, the Four Marvels of ADS should be on a similar level as SWORD GOD and Yideng. Personally, I think the Four Marvels could be as good as the 7 Heroes of Wudang.
ATTACKING SPEED
Here is an excerpt detailing the speed of good ADS fighters:
汪啸风跟着又挺剑刺去,眼见便要刺中,突然当的一声响,虎口一震,眼前红光闪动。他百忙中不及细想,顺手使 出来的便是九式连环的“孔雀开屏”,将长剑舞成一片光屏,挡在身前。但听得叮叮当当,刀剑相交之声密如联珠 ,只一瞬之间,便已相撞了三十余声。汪啸风剑法已颇得乃师水岱真传,这套“孔雀开屏”翻来覆去共有九式,平时练得纯熟,此刻性命在呼吸之间, 敌人的刀招来得迅捷无比,哪里还说得上见招拆招?只是自管自地照式急舞,使这一套“孔雀开屏”,便似是出于 天性一般。血刀老祖连攻三十六刀,一刀快似一刀,居然尽数给他挡了开去。 群豪只瞧得目为之眩。
Suddenly, an instance of bright red flashed in front of Wang Xiaofeng's eyes. Without time to think, Wang Xiaofeng executed the first move that entered his mind, a defensive mechanism called "The Peacock Spreads Its Fan." In the blink of an eye, 30 or so sounds of weapon exchanging blows were heard. The Lord of Crimson Sabre had executed 36 attacks, every attack appearing faster than the previous move; who would have expected that this series of alarmingly fast attacks could be countered by the opponent? The crowd of experts felt dizzy as they witnessed this incredible display of speed.
Linghu Chong in half-dead mode executed 30 sword stances in a flash; here The Lord of Crimson Sabre exceeded Linghu Chong's record by 6 sabre strokes.
WALL-SHATTERING
In an attempt to break through an extremely tall wall while not startling the prison guards, Ding Dian put his back against the wall and generated his supreme internal power, which loosened the bricks in the lower part of the wall, only generating tiny noises.
It may have been possible for Ding Dian to shatter the wall using LDA, but that would probably cause more damaging noise, which he definitely did not want.
LONG (or Short) DISTANCE ATTACK
Di Yun (at about 70% of his peak, I would think) was able to launch a palm attack to strike down a vulture from several feet away. Hua Tiegan, whose internal base was less profound, could not project his palm power to such a long distance. In ADS, the attacking distance seems to be internal energy-dependent (which was not necessarily the case for the Condor Trilogy).
SINGLE-STANCE EXECUTION
Ding Dian slaughtered a few dozen martial artists in one stance each. It was explained that Ding Dian has reached the stage of being able to kill any First Class fighter in one stance. Unfortunately there seem to be some inconsistencies with this notion, since Ding Dian failed to instantly kill one of the Crimson Sabre Sect disciples after 3 stances, even though this disciple didn't live long afterwards. The explanation could be that Ding Dian exchanged blows with this disciple after hitting other monks, and as we see throughout the novel, the amount of internal energy decreases as the fight drags on. If Ding Dian were to exchange blows with the disciple first, perhaps the disciple would not withstand one of his stances. This theory further makes sense because the monks that only received one stance from Ding Dian also did not survive.
THE ART
Shen Zhao Jing, aka The Heavenly Glow (alternative meaning: Divine Empowerment), is hailed as the #1 martial art of the era. Ding Dian methods from Heavenly Glow to resurrect Di Yun, who had stopped breathing for a long time. Has anyone else other than the Sweeper Monk performed this feat?
Ding Dian considers himself to not have reached the peak of perfection in Heavenly Glow, because he said he is unsure whether he would be able to overcome a group of experts. Therefore, one who has attained the level of perfection in Heavenly Glow should be undefeated even when facing the combined forces of tens of elite experts.
There seems to be a lack of auto-protect function associated with Heavenly Glow (as far as I can remember anyway). For example, Qi Changfa could effortlessly drive a dagger into Di Yun's body, despite the latter having semi-mastered Heavenly Glow AND advanced Crimson Sabre techniques --> which makes me think it's not quite as profound as 9 Yin, 9 Yang, or the extreme Yin- and extreme Yang-combined, Pre-[Arhats Demon-Taming Art] Shi Potian, who could already automatically repel people at Bei Haishi's level (贝海石二根手指按到了那少年的手腕之上,蓦地里手臂剧震,半边身子一麻,三根手指竟被他脉搏震 了下来。) And after the Arhats art, he could repel Zhang San and Li Si!