If you're one of the main protagonists in a Jin Yong wuxia story, it's very possible that by the time you're around twenty years old, you will be knocking on the door of becoming a Greats/Elites-level martial artist. It happened for characters such as Deun Yu, Hui Juk, Gwok Jing, Yeung Gor, Cheung Mo Gei, and Ling Wu Chung, who were all in their twenties when they attained high enough mastery of martial arts that they could rival the Great/Elite martial artists of their eras or, at the very least, be the next most powerful characters after those Greats/Elites (who were typically middle-aged or seniors at the time).
But how good were those middle-aged/senior Greats and Elites when they were in their twenties? How powerful was twenty-year-old Janitor Monk? The three Siu Yiu Sect Elders when they were twentysomething youngsters? Dook Goo Kau Bai at age twenty? Central Divinity Wong Chung Yeung and Ancient Tomb Sect Founder Lam Chiu Ying when they were fresh out of their teens? East Heretic, West Poison, South Emperor, North Beggar, and Central Mischief when they were just twenty years old? Were they already among the elites of wulin at that age, or were they far weaker than the protagonist heroes were in their twenties?