The real master who founded the Xiaoyao sect: The secret revealed by the Condor Hero himself beside Yang Guo

The stories of characters in Jin Yong's martial arts novels are always a topic that attracts the attention of readers. Among them, the mystery of the origin of Tieu Dao Tu, the founder of Tieu Dao sect, is still a hotly discussed topic.

The mystery of Tieu Dao sect and its connection with Linh Thu Palace

Kim Dung's martial arts stories always attract a large number of readers to discuss passionately. That attraction does not come from the plot but also from the fact that Kim Dung cleverly inserts “hidden meanings” into his works that make readers have to think and imagine for themselves.

A typical example is the Xiao Yao Sect in “Thien Long Bat Bo”. Although Doan Du and Hu Truc both became famous thanks to this sect, readers are still in the dark about its origin. Even the story of Xiao Yao Zi, the sect's founder, has never been mentioned. So who is Xiao Yao Zi?

Sohu news site has answered this question, that is, if readers read the original work carefully, we can find the answer.

“Thien Long Bat Bo” gives readers a feeling of disconnection because the storyline related to Tieu Dao Phai is quite separate from the main storyline. Characters like Vo Nhai Tu, Thien Son Dong Lao, Ly Thu Thuy seem to only have connections with Doan Du and Hu Truc and rarely appear with other characters.

Among the first three disciples of the Xiaoyao Sect, Wu Ya Zi was the second sect master, Li Qiu Shui went to Xi Xia to become a royal concubine, and Tian Shan Tong Lao was the lord of Ling Shu Palace. Many people mistakenly believe that Ling Shu Palace is a branch of the Xiaoyao Sect, but in reality it is not. Based on the details in the story, it can be seen that Ling Shu Palace and Xiaoyao Sect are not related or equal, but Ling Shu Palace is the first place that the Xiaoyao Sect set foot.

The Secrets of Vulture Peak

This is proven through the martial arts secrets hidden in Linh Thu Palace. After Hu Truc was passed the position of Linh Thu Palace's palace master by Thien Son Dong Lao, the four maids Mai, Lan, Truc, and Cuc led him to the secret room behind the palace. Here, many martial arts secrets of Linh Thu Palace were hidden.

Let's see what Mai, Lan, Truc, and Cuc said to Hu Truc: “Palace Master, in the stone chamber behind Linh Thu Palace, there are hidden murals left by the previous palace master from hundreds of years ago. This servant once heard the old lady say that these murals are related to the Life and Death Talisman. Please come and see.”

When entering the stone room, what martial arts manuals did Hu Truc see? They were Thien Son Chiet Mai Thu, Thien Son Luc Duong Chuong, Sinh Tu Phu,… This was strange, shouldn't these martial arts belong to Tieu Dao Sect? Moreover, according to the four maids, these were what the previous palace master left behind from hundreds of years ago.

It seems that these martial arts already existed before the appearance of the Xiaoyao Sect. Could it be that they were not created by Xiaoyao Zi? In fact, there is a bolder hypothesis, which is that these martial arts were still created by Xiaoyao Zi and he was the previous palace lord that the four maids mentioned.

Secrets in Vo Lao Truong Xuan Coc

If Tieu Dao Tu was the lord of Linh Thu Palace from hundreds of years ago, how could he have lived until the “Thien Long Bat Bo” era and taught martial arts to his three disciples? Actually, it's very simple. In the editing of “Thien Long Bat Bo”, Kim Dung intentionally mentioned Tieu Dao Tu at the end.

At that time, Vuong Ngu Yen wanted to go to Vo Lao Truong Xuan Valley to search for the secret of immortality. Doan Du led everyone to find the place, but the secret of immortality was gone. In the story, it is written as follows: “In these strange lines, it is mentioned that in Vo Lao Truong Xuan Valley there used to be a magic book that taught people how to become immortal. But now that magic book has been taken away by a person named 'Tieu Dao Tu'. In the valley, there is only a stream left that whoever drinks from it can stay young forever. The two bird's nest pickers also said that occasionally someone would climb up the vines on the big tree to climb out of the valley, but once they got out, they could never return.”

So, it is understandable that Tieu Dao Tu obtained the divine book and the secret of immortality. But this raises another problem. Kim Dung writes martial arts stories, characters who have reached the realm of immortality like Tieu Dao Tu are really not suitable to appear in the main story, so the author can only briefly describe him.

However, this still cannot answer the question “Who is Tieu Dao Tu?”. But if combined with the plot in “The Return of the Condor Heroes”, we can find the answer.

Yang Guo and the Condor Heroes give the answer.

More than a hundred years after the events of “Thien Long Bat Bo”, during the time of “The Return of the Condor Heroes”, Yang Guo encountered a giant Condor in a deep valley on the outskirts of Xiangyang. Although this Condor could not speak, it was very wise and understanding. According to the story, it looked more like a vulture.

Its appearance was described as follows: “Before his eyes appeared a huge Divine Condor, taller than a normal person, and extremely ugly. The feathers on its body were sparse, looking as if someone had plucked half of them. The feathers were yellow and black, looking very dirty, but hard as steel, exuding a strong aura. Its shape was somewhat similar to the pair of eagles on Peach Blossom Island, but its beauty and ugliness were worlds apart. This ugly Divine Condor had a sharp hooked beak, a bald head, but a red fleshy lump grew out of it. There were countless birds and beasts in the world, but never had I seen one as strange and ferocious as this one.”

So, Yang Guo calling it “Brother Dieu” was actually a mistake, it should be called “Brother Kêng Vulture”. In Chinese, the pronunciation of vulture is Thu. This reminds people of Linh Thu Cung. Linh Thu Cung has never had a bird called “ling thu”. If this “Divine Condor” was the “ling thu” bird of the past, then everything would be much easier to understand.

Answering the question about the origin of Tieu Dao Tu

We all know that the “sword demon” Dugu Qiubai is the companion of the Condor. So, in other words, Xiaoyao Zi is Dugu Qiubai in his old age.

Let's put together the timeline, in the story it is mentioned that since his youth, Doc Co Cau Bai has been dominating the world, he relied on Doc Co Cuu Kiem to break all martial arts in the world, defeating countless experts. Thien Son Chiet Mai Thu of Linh Thu Cung is also considered the “Doc Co Cuu Kiem” of “palm technique”, can break all martial arts moves in the world, these two martial arts have similarities.

In other words, Du Gu Qiubai created the martial arts of Ling Ji Palace when he was young and founded Ling Ji Palace, then he traveled the world. It's just that most of the time, he used sword techniques to defeat his opponents, so he called himself the “sword demon” Du Gu Qiubai. Based on the story of the last sword in the sword tomb that Yang Guo saw, it can be seen that when Du Gu Qiubai retired from the world, he was only in his fifties. So where did he go after that? A martial artist like him definitely wouldn't die so easily.

It was simple, he went to Vo Lao Truong Xuan Coc. Martial arts world was no longer interesting to him, his goal was to pursue “immortality”, so he went to Vo Lao Truong Xuan Coc, took away the “divine book”, then became Tieu Dao Tu, founded Tieu Dao Sect and then accepted three disciples.

If Du Gu Qiu Bai is Xiao Yao Zi, then all the mysteries in the story will be explained reasonably. Many readers may wonder “if Du Gu Qiu Bai is Xiao Yao Zi, then how could that eagle live for hundreds of years?”. In fact, Yang Guo once told Zhou Botong: “This eagle brother has lived for hundreds of years, he is even older than you!”. It can be seen that Jin Yong also implicitly acknowledged this.

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