during the 1st Hua Shan Lun Jian.
Point 1: Tournament lasted 7 days.
This suggests that the fights were close and took a long, indicating that WCY, while clearly better, was only slightly better.
Some would argue that there was a theory part. But let's face it, there was no way the 5 of them would have sat down and started fighting theoretically. H7G and OYF did, but there was only two of them. Could you imagine them reaching any conclusion given the variance? The theory part would probably be just talk about how to improve MA, but then again, would any of them really share their true secrets? Why would WCY share his lifelong learning; so that H7G could improve and lead his Beggar Sect to become wulin's number 1 sect over Quanzhen? HYS didn't even allow his disciple to pass down Peach Blossom Isle skills to their offsprings, much less talk about his arts with his closest rivals. YYZ was mainly a family art. So was Ha Ma Gong; only one heir to White Camel Mountain Sect. The theory part of the tournament, was probably superficial (with respect to the Greats) and pretty much pointless. The second tournament saw no theory part.
There are those who believe the other Greats vied for #2. This, to me, would be pretty ridiculous. The Greats were all proud people; I really can't see them going "WCY is #1, I shall settle for #2". If anything, I see them leaving once it becomes clear that WCY is #1, to return home and hone their skills more. Besides, let's consider there was a #2. It definitely wasn't OYF. Now if there was a #2 and it wasn't OYF, then surely OYF, with his vile scheming nature, would seek to sabotage the #2. But no, that wasn't the case. OYF, while he did try to sabotage the other three, he did not actively seek to ensure their demise. OYF wasn't there to make sure Ying Gu finished the job on 1Deng. OYF had the map to Peach Blossom Isle, but didn't gave HYS a surprise visit. Sure, he did incite fights, but when that failed, he didn't do anything else. Furthermore, it wasn't like he was trailing HYS and finding a chance to strike. The same can be said about OYF-H7G as well. OYF did injure H7G gravely, but again, it wasn't like he was trying to find H7G. JY himself removed the line which H7G said 1Deng was slightly superior in the third edition, further suggesting that the other Greats were equal.
Point 2: 1Deng didn't became almighty with XTG+YYZ.
First, allow me to set some premises. Buddhism and Taoism are very similar and share many same concepts. 1Deng was a very enlightened monk. 1Deng was also a MA genius.
Given these conditions, one would expect 1Deng to be able to master XTG to a sufficiently strong level. So if XTG was awesome, 1Deng would be insanely powerful, except that he wasn't.
Could it be that 1Deng was, indeed crazy powerful before he expended his energy to save HR? No, it cannot be. There was no indication of this, and we know JY's intent was for the 4 Greats to be on par with each other. Thus, if we had to assume, we would have to assume that unless otherwise stated, the 4 Greats were equal.
If 1Deng was indeed crazy powerful before healing HR, then he couldn't have expended all his energy to save HR. 1Deng himself already had very strong internal; coupled with XTG, how could he have needed to use his entire energy to save HR? Furthermore, it was specified that QQR was afraid of WCY. I find it very plausible that XTG could dispel Iron Palms just like YJJ energy cannot be sucked by XXDF.
It is not possible that 1Deng, being the MA fanatic he was, did not train or at least master XTG to a prolific level. WCY would have made sure 1Deng was capable of subduing OYF and that means a decent level of XTG would be mastered.
So 1Deng had XTG but wasn't crazy powerful. This leads me to conclude that XTG wasn't all-powerful, but probably on par with the other Greats' skills. I mean if H7G learnt OYF's Snake Staff skills and OYF learnt DBS, neither would really improve drastically since both skills are comparable/about the same level.
Point 3: But the Quanzhen 7 Zi and ZBT said WCY would whoop GWM!
They probably extrapolated WCY's progress. Isn't it logical? Not sure how many of you lift weights/go to the gym. Suppose you had a training partner but parted ways after some time. If after a year, you are asked to gauge his/her strength, surely you would make a guess with the assumption that he/she improved as well, won't you?
In addition, the Quanzhen 7 Zi and ZBT sort of idolize WCY, so they probably elevated him to a higher level.
Point 4: WCY did not seek out OYF after the tournament.
We all know that OYF was a wicked person who went around messing stuff up. ZBT commented to GJ during their first encounter in Peach Blossom Isle caves that if OYF were to return, the wulin would be thrown into chaos again. This strongly suggests that OYF went around doing evil and starting nonsense. To exterminate evil, would be everyone's responsibility. So why didn't WCY went to look for OYF after the tournament to kill him if he was that much better than OYF? Doing so would only earn praise from the wulin and bring even more prestige to QuanZhen. But no, instead, WCY makes a trip to Dali. Perhaps WCY knew his end was near and he didn't have full confidence of subduing OYF in a fair fight-again suggesting he wasn't that much better than OYF/other greats.
Point 5: WCY did take HYS' pills.
If he wasn't exhausted, why would he take them? One can argue that he was being polite and accepted only out of courtesy, but that was no mention of this in the novel at all. If JY did intend for WCY to be that strong, why didn't he state that WCY didn't need the pills?
Old age is a pretty non-factor here. You can argue that WCY's older age made him tired faster, but then again, given his older age, he could have amassed a greater internal energy and thus tire less quickly.
Either way, since WCY did get tired, it shows that he did have to put in a lot of effort to beat the rest, again pointing towards the fact he wasn't far better.
In conclusion, I believe WCY, during the 1st Tournament, was only slightly better than HYS, H7G, OYF and 1Deng. The gap could be something like QQR and the Greats. On a bad day, WCY could have lost to any of the Greats.