Not sure what you're getting at, since Yang Guo basically traversed through many years worth of progress in just one or two months. He probably improved about 5x after he left Dugu Qiubai's valley. That definitely rivals Linghu Chong's progress with Dugu 9 Swords.
I don't believe so. There are infinite ways to pose a surprising position. In fact, what Yang Guo did goes along with Dugu 9 Swords' principle of always sticking the sword against the palm; the sword always follows the palm.Both incorrect examples. QQR was surprised by the weapon and put into a poor position. Run that fight again with QQR in a clear mind and YG would have lost.
You must realize that Golden Wheel Monk FORCED Yang Guo into a competition of internal energy (gee, I wonder how he actually got the right idea that time, since he's nearly always doing the wrong thing), at the disadvantage of Yang Guo not being able to move. Were it a normal combat, Yang Guo would have won, since there's no way he position himself into a competition of internal energy WITHOUT the HIS may I add. And lest not forget, Goldie didn't even dare go near Yang Guo due to the fear of the HIS. This is why Yang Guo keeps thinking "16 years ago, this monk was already not a match for me..."Against GWM that's an even poorer example. YG lost out the internal energy fight until XLN intervened. If we IGNORE XLN, then we have YG trying to sneak in and use his sleeve to strike GWM. So much for SIMPLICITY.
Yang Guo with Heavy Iron Sword IS superior to both Qiu Qianren AND Golden Wheel Monk 16 years ago.
Yes, and I wonder how is a practitioner of Gugu 9 Swords supposed to acquire the internal energy? Certainly not from the technique itself. Dugu 9 Swords neither requires nor thrives with internal energy. Of course it CAN be used with lots of internal energy, but by then, presumably, you're ready to move onto something better, like the Wooden Sword stage.A normal practicioner of DG9J would have had to train diligently for over a decade just to compete with the masters of wulin according to FCY. Even training orthodox Huashan internal energy for that long would give you a solid base.