The reason why Jin Yong's story can become a classic is not because of Jin Yong's excellent writing, nor because its main plot is particularly tortuous and bizarre, it is just a basic operation, in the author's opinion, Jin Yong's uniqueness lies in the spiritual core he gave the story, he once said that his story focuses on "chivalry" rather than "martial arts", he intends to convey the chivalrous spirit, rather than the grievances and hatreds in the rivers and lakes, so the image of those chivalrous people in the book will be particularly deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
However, for martial arts fans, reading martial arts stories is not for the mentality of "being educated", so the part of those stories that can infect readers is always the duel between masters, so topics such as "who is the strongest in the book" are always talked about.
So who is the number one master in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes"? The answer may not be the same as you think.
One or two protagonists
As a sequel to "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", in addition to the new protagonist Yang Guo, there is also the former protagonist Guo Jing, although Guo Jing is no longer the protagonist at this time, he also participates in the story as "Yang Guo's life mentor", and his sense of existence is not low.
(Guo Jing stills)
As the protagonist of the previous generation, Jin Yong naturally will not forget his old love when he has a new love, so when it comes to the third Huashan sword debate at the end of the story, he arranges for Yang Guo and Guo Jing to be promoted as the five masters in the world.
Needless to say, the two of them are the closest people in the book to the position of "No. 1 in the world".
However, in the author's opinion, Guo Jing and Yang Guo's emphasis is different, Jin Yong once said that a person to reach the highest level of martial arts, you need to have the mind to save the world, obviously, although Yang Guo is also a hero, but Guo Jing is undoubtedly the person who best meets this standard, he dedicated his life to Xiangyang, and even finally died with his wife and children, worthy of the name of "the great man of chivalry".
And Yang Guo is talented, after all, he is the only person in the book who has created his own divine skills.
(Yang Guo stills)
And Jin Yong once mentioned such a setting through Yang Guo's mouth: "It is necessary to know that practicing martial arts is no different from learning, skills, and entrepreneurship. ”
Therefore, those who can create their own martial arts are naturally stronger than those "apprentices" who can only inherit the experience of their predecessors.
From this point of view, it is really difficult to say which is stronger or weaker between Guo Jing and Yang Guo.
However, in addition to Guo Jing and Yang Guo, in fact, some hidden masters are also mentioned in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".
Second, the hidden master
When it comes to the hidden master, the first thing that comes to mind is undoubtedly the "Sword Demon" Dugu seeking defeat, it can be said that he is also the guide for Yang Guo to become a top master, about the swordsman, the book only mentioned a sentence through his epitaph.
"For more than 30 years, I have killed all the enemies and traitors, defeated all the heroes and heroes, and there is no resistance in the world, and there is nothing to do, but to live in seclusion in the deep valley and take the eagle as a friend. Woohoo, I can't get an opponent in my life, and I'm embarrassed to be lonely. ”
Of course, some people will think that Dugu is a deceptive and famous, after all, his deeds have not even been mentioned by the five masters, but Jin Yong later completed his character in "Smiling Proud Jianghu" and "The Legend of Deer and Ding", such as letting Feng Qingyang lead out the swordsmanship he used, Dugu Nine Swords, that sword move can break the world's martial arts, and it is reasonable for Dugu to be invincible in the world with that swordsmanship.
(Wang Chongyang stills)
In addition to Dugu's quest for defeat, combined with the overall background setting of the "Condor Trilogy", Huang Shang, a civil official in the Northern Song Dynasty who created the "Nine Yin True Scripture", and Songshan Doujiu Monk, who created the "Jiuyang True Scripture", are also martial arts mythological figures, and the positioning given to them by Jin Yong is at least higher than that of the Five Uniques, after all, even the masters of the Five Absolute Levels covet the martial arts treasures they created, which shows their high martial arts attainments.
However, whether it is Dugu seeking defeat, Huang Shang or fighting wine monks, they all face the same problem, that is, they are long gone, strictly speaking, they are only characters who objectively exist in the worldview, and they are not "masters of the Condor Era", so the real number one in the world in this era is someone else.
It was a person close to cultivating immortals.
3. Immortal cultivators
For example, in the twelfth chapter of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", it is mentioned that the predecessor of the Northern Song Dynasty, the master Xuzhu passed down the deeds of the beggar gang to descend the dragon and beat the dog.
Strictly speaking, the entire Xiaoyao School has a kind of temperament of cultivating immortals, and Jin Yong himself clearly mentioned in the book: "The narrative of this book has a lot of delusional imagination and exaggeration, and it is covered with the name of 'Tianlong Babu', and there are many symbolic abstractions, and it has stepped into the magical realm of magic." ”
(Zhou Botong stills)
Therefore, in Jin Yong's martial arts worldview, there are indeed some settings beyond the scope of martial arts, and it is not surprising that there are stunning settings in the field of cultivating immortals.
Of course, the master of the Condor Era has nothing to do with the Loose School, but that person has managed to stay young like Grandma Tong, needless to say, that person is Zhou Botong.
For example, in the plot of the Valley of Hundred Flowers, Yang Guo and Zhou Botong had a fight, and then Yang Guo commented on Zhou Botong: "Yang said: 'This eagle brother doesn't know how many hundred years old, it is much older than you!'Hey, old naughty boy, how can you rejuvenate yourself, and your snow-white hair has turned black?" Zhou Botong smiled: "This hair and beard is not up to anyone, in the past, it loved to change from black to white, so I had to let it change, and now it has changed from white to black, and I have no way to do it." ’”
In addition, Zhou Botong studied under Wang Chongyang, and he can be regarded as half a Taoist person, and the Taoist school pays attention to self-cultivation and Taoism, and even cultivates immortals, which is not surprising.
(Yang Guo roared stills)
To say that Zhou Botong's hard power is undoubtedly above Guo Jing and Yang Guo, in the battle of Baihua Valley, Guo Xiang said that Yang Guo only had one arm, and he suffered a slight loss, which is indeed the case.
Then in the third Huashan sword discussion, Huang Yaoshi said: "Old naughty boy, old naughty boy, you are really amazing, I, Huang Laoxi, is indifferent to the 'name', and the master of the lamp regards the 'name' as illusory, only you, but your heart is empty, and there is no thought of 'name', but you are a step higher than us." East Evil, West Madness, Southern Monk, Northern Hero, Middle Naughty Boy, among the Five Uniques, you are the first!"
In the realm, he is higher than Guo Jing.
In terms of martial arts talent, he also has his own left-right fighting, and his talent is not inferior to Yang Guo.
On the whole, it should be indisputable to say that this immortal cultivator Zhou Botong is the number one master of the Condor.