Unfortunately, success or failure defines a hero. In the end, Tian Gang was a move behind and fell at the hands of Zheng Shanyin, thus failing to achieve his goal. He went from being the head of the Mystic Sect who single-handedly destroyed the Divine Sect to a shameless cripple in the Sword Pavilion, essentially serving himself up to be humiliated, while ironically contributing to the other's achievements, squandering his own luck in the process, leaving him with no choice but to hide in a house, isolated, which was quite embarrassing.
But Lingxu was obviously much more insidious. He didn't have that Sword Sect Leader's tendency towards romantic heroism, one man taking on an entire family. Even to fight a cripple, he would use Tie Dan to make the first move, gathering a bunch of old Mystic Sect members as strong support. He planned meticulously and designed escape routes before making a move, giving no chance for a comeback.
