Daoist Xu Shan is a minor character that appears in Ode to Gallantry. He was a master of Qingcheng Sect and said to be very famous, but in the context of the story he is mainly relevant for the manner in which he was died - insta-killed by the teenage Zhang San and Li Si after he declined their invitation to the Xiake Island. What makes him really impressive, however, is the way he declined the invitation - he took the two copper medallions, and in the space of a long laugh, melted the two copper medallions into scrap metal with his internal energy.
This is farkin' incredible. He didn't just break apart a copper item or even cut out a piece of copper/bronze from a cauldron like Jiumozhi - all very impressive feats in their own right - he freaking melted it!最先接到铜牌请柬的,是川西青城派掌门人旭山道长。他长笑之下,将两块铜牌抓在手中,运用内力,将两块铜牌 熔成了两团废铜。这原是震烁当时的独步内功,原盼这两个狂妄少年知难而退。
The first to receive the copper medallions of invitation was Daoist Xu Shan, the headmaster of Sichuan's Qingcheng Sect. He let out a long laugh, grabbed the two copper medallions, then activated his internal energy and melted the two copper medallions into two lumps of scrap metal. This was an awesome display of his outstanding internal energy, with the intention of letting these two unbridled youths know that it would be best for them to retreat.
Ode to Gallantry/Xia Ke Xing is often viewed as an outlier in Jinyong novels in terms of its martial arts, and the more I re-read the Chinese the more I feel this is with good reason. Some of the feats in this novel are just absolutely stupendous and incongruous with the rest of the Jinyong canon. Someone as powerful as Xu Shan was killed by the teenage Zhang San and Li Si - who many years later were still just middling in terms of the Xiake Island disciples - who were far inferior to the two Island Lords - who were basically exhausted to death by trance-state Shi Potian.
This novel is crazy.