There are far too few all-out death matches between top-tier fighters or formations in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils—the lack of these scenes where everyone really ought to have gone at it leaves me feeling quite regretful.
In Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, apart from the unreasonable Sweeper Monk, the top-tier fighters are roughly: Xiao Feng, Xu Zhu in the latter part of the novel, Duan Yu once he has settled into his abilities, Jiumozhi, Murong Bo, Xiao Yuanshan, and the two Elders of the Carefree Sect (Wuya Zi is disqualified because he was crippled). There is also one-and-a-half top-tier formations: the Six Monks of Tianlong count as one, while the makeshift combination of Murong Fu and Zhuang Juxian barely counts as half.
So how many fights were there in which these top-tier fighters or formations actually went all out against one another?
Strangely enough, it seems there were only two.
The first was Jiumozhi’s Flaming Sabre against the Six Meridian Divine Sword of the Six Monks of Tianlong; the second was the final battle between Tianshan Tonglao and Li Qiushui in the ice cellar. In the entire novel, these are practically the only two clashes in which the top-tier fighters or formations all revealed their trump cards, used every signature move they had, and fought to their hearts’ content. (Though Jiumozhi’s fight against the Six Monks of Tianlong never escalated into a fight to the death, neither side was holding much back by the end.)
Other than those two clashes, virtually every bout between top-tier fighters in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is the sort of fight where everyone is just going through the motions, stopping short of real harm, nursing their own schemes, worrying about consequences, and keeping something in reserve.
Of the three brothers, only Xiao Feng and Duan Yu ever competed in a race on foot—and even that stopped short of a real contest.
Xiao Feng and Jiumozhi never even crossed hands.
Duan Yu is almost always on the receiving end when facing Jiumozhi: either he cannot get the Six Meridian Divine Sword to work, or Jiumozhi goes berserk and has his internal energy drained away.
In the Shaolin fight between Xu Zhu and Jiumozhi, Jiumozhi is irritated and agitated by the fact that Xu Zhu possesses the Carefree Sect’s martial arts and has seen through the Unadorned Formless Skill. Xu Zhu, meanwhile, is constrained by his identity and the circumstances, fighting timidly and unable to display his abilities. This is a case of both sides nursing their own schemes and worrying about consequences; in reality, both men’s performance is seriously compromised.
And this is how that fight ends:
Jiumozhi drew back and bent at the waist, pulling a dagger from his cloth sock, then suddenly thrust it toward Xu Zhu’s shoulder. Xu Zhu had learned nothing but bare-handed techniques for dismantling attacks. When the dagger flashed toward him without warning, he did not know how to defend against it, so he lunged for Jiumozhi’s right wrist. This was the grappling technique of the Tianshan Plum-Folding Hand: fast and precise. As three fingers came to rest on Jiumozhi’s wrist, the thumb and little finger immediately closed in. At that very moment, Jiumozhi released a burst of force from his palm, sending the dagger flying from his hand. Xu Zhu still had both hands locked around his opponent’s wrist. With a soft thud, the dagger buried itself in his shoulder, all the way to the hilt.
—That was seriously underwhelming.
Xiao Yuanshan exchanged a single palm strike with Jiumozhi, knocking a few roof tiles loose, and that was it.
Xiao Feng traded one palm strike and one flick of the sleeve with Murong Bo, sent a bookcase flying, and that was it.
Xiao Yuanshan fought Murong Bo three times without either gaining the upper hand, yet none of it received any direct description;
After Xiao Yuanshan and Xiao Feng escaped Juxian Manor, the two of them mimed a brief exchange with their fingers. That was merely going through the motions; they never really fought.
Finally, there was Xiao Feng against the Murong Fu–Zhuang Juxian combination—the only time in the entire novel, practically speaking, that Northern Qiao Feng faced Southern Murong head-on. Yet Southern Murong unexpectedly kept something in reserve:
(Murong Fu) thought again: ‘After killing Qiao Feng, Zhuang Juxian will become a major enemy. If he eventually takes the position of martial-arts-alliance leader, I will instead have to obey his commands, which would be deeply inappropriate.’ So when he launched his attacks and strikes, he secretly held back some of his internal energy. On the surface he seemed to be attacking with all his might, recklessly and without regard for his own safety, but most of the force of Xiao Feng’s “Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms” was absorbed by You Tanzhi. Murong Fu’s movements were so ingenious that no one watching could see what he had done.
In sharp contrast to this v2 confrontation was Zhang Wuji’s final battle against the Two Elders of Xuanming in The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. Both sides used every resource at their command and fought to the death. Now that was a thoroughly exhilarating fight.
Why didn’t Jin Yong arrange more death matches like that in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils? Was it because Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils had such lofty ambitions? Was it because the novel focused on the tragic fates of its protagonists—‘Everyone with love is doomed; no one is free of grievance’—and therefore played down the martial-arts fights? But Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils certainly does not lack death matches among second- and third-rate fighters below the top tier. The Four Great Retainers of the Murong family alone contributed how many fight scenes?
I just can’t make sense of it.
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