Bet you didn't expect to see *this* thread rising back to the top!
I've revived it to discuss one very specific issue in comparing Gwok Jing and Yeung Gor's martial arts development up to the age of twenty.
At the end of LOCH, with "only" Gong Nam 7 Freaks martial arts, limited Cheun Jen Sect training, Left/Right Hand Technique, the complete Hong Lung 18 Palms, and incomplete 9 Yum Jen Ging training, Gwok Jing was powerful enough to credibly battle two Greats up to 600 total strokes at the Second Mt. Hua Sword Tournament, making him the seventh most powerful martial artist in the world at the time. This was Gwok Jing, supposedly a "dumb" guy who learns slowly.
To the point just before he first encountered the Divine Condor in ROCH, Yeung Gor, having learned the complete Cheun Jen Sect and Ancient Tomb Sect martial arts systems, a little bit of Ha Mo Gung, a little bit of 9 Yum Jen Ging, Dog Beating Stick Technique, Jade Flute Sword Technique, and Divine Snap Technique, was still not necessarily powerful enough to defeat Lee Mok Sau one-on-one. That's considerably weaker than Gwok Jing was at the end of LOCH, and Yeung Gor was supposed to be a smart guy who learned fast.
How did did twenty-year old Yeung Gor not attain a higher level than twenty-year old Gwok Jing did prior to acquiring Dook Goo Kau Bai's legacy? Was Gwok Jing's fuller knowledge of the 9 Yum Jen Ging the difference?