The Nine Heavens Swordmaster

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So, let's talk about "The Nine Heavens Swordmaster" (NHS) manhwa as it kicks off its second season. Like any good murim manhwa, it's got its fair share of genre tropes, including the classic prodigal son theme that pops up in many power fantasy manhwa. But hey, just because it borrows from other manhwa doesn't has nothing original to say.

NHS really shines when it comes to artwork and its story, though I have to admit, there are a few chapters that feel a bit off due to pacing issues. Despite that, the story stays pretty exciting overall. The gang that sticks with the main character is ... a likable bunch, even if the lead himself can seem a bit stiff because of his backstory. Yet their bond feels real and you which makes certain events tense. And the bad guys? Well, they're not too shabby either. One of them unexpectedly becomes the comic relief, adding a whole lot of fun and entertainment to the mix.

In a nutshell, "The Nine Heavens Swordmaster" is definitely worth the read.

7.2/10

To keep it a buck, my first impressions were not that good. The art was average considering the standards manwhas have set so far and the storyline wasn’t anything new. However, one of the two did change, which was the art. I don’t know if the art progressively gotten better or there were more instances to showcase the artist’s real ability in fights; but, my impressions certainly did improve from the former. But here’s my problem with the manwha in general. Which is, it is a very predictable story. Time after time, the Mc gets enemies, who doubt his strength, and wipes the floor with ... them without killing them. There is no struggle, or the struggle is very slight. Even with what we consider “strong” mcs, they, in one way or another, get humbled. Also, another issue I have with the storyline is that the family arc is virtually nonexistent once it is over. Either way, the story in its entirety is it being a “Mc gets strong, goes into world, thinks he’s weak, realization that he is strong, builds empire of friends,” that we see so often in mangas. Yet, the only difference is that it’s set in a murim world. Though the plot is lacking, I enjoyed it in general. It’s basic, but not too basic where it is on the verge of annoyance. I would give it a shot if you like mcs easily take care of his enemies with some cool and flashy colors; but do not expect any intense, deep lore.

Reading Rankings (Portnoy inspired)
10 – God’s penmanship
9 – Must-read. Drop everything else.
8 – Instant bookmark
7 – Entertaining
6 – Good to past time
5 – Why are you reading this?
4 – Bad.
3 – Typical garbage.
2 – My head hurts.
1 – Retirement is a thought.
0 – “Did they even give you a story?!”

This is probably one of the most frustrating, infuriating and headache inducing manhwas I've read. TLDR at bottom
Beneath its pretty art lies a sea of superficial stupid characters, a bunch of dragged out arcs with chapters that feel absolutely useless, senseless plot armor, nonsensical power scaling and comically evil villains that barely get punished for their actions

Art 9/10
Legit the only thing that's good about this manhwa

Plot 3/10 - *very minor spoilers that won't affect your reading experience
This is another typical murim plot about an underdog who everyone hates that magically stumbles upon some secret plot no jutsu and ends up becoming super OP; also his ... dad used to be super OP. I'm not against cliché stories, as long as they're entertaining or stand out positively. Unfortunately, that's not the case
Anyway, as a former noble, he ends up joining a group of bandits and from then on, it's just MC reacting to a bunch of external factors. He has absolutely no goals other than "protecting his bandit family" nor does he have any sort of action himself. Every single plot point is about some random external people that try to piss him off and then he reacts to them, because the MC has barely any personality or dreams outside of OP character who protects his family. Instead of trying to i dunno, become the fcking pirate king or something to actually have the status and political influence to protect his family, all he does is passively wait and scratch his nutz, so that the author can show off his skills when the next villain suddenly decides to piss him off
A lot of plot points are basically nonsensical - if the characters had even a single brain cell, there would've been no conflict at all. Half of the fights on this manhwa could've been avoided if people had common sense.
Most of the villains who show up end up getting no punishment at all. One dude even tried to r*pe the girls from MC's bandit family and all he did was kick his ass and let him go. That same dude was later caught blatantly lying to his superior and once again, suffered basically no real punishment at all. Another villain, due to a case of negligence that lead to a misunderstanding, nearly kills people from MC's family - once again, they fought and then there was no real punishment at all. A bunch of demon cult infiltrators were found but they let them go, because reasons lmao
The worst about all of this is that everything is so freaking artificially dragged out. Every chapter ends as a cliffhanger. Every chapter barely has any plot progress. Most fights are like this - random dude underestimates MC and messes with him/his family, tons of talking, MC fights and overpowers him - CLIFFHANGER - more talking, villain gets serious and uses secret skill, MC looks like he got hurt - CLIFFHANGER - MC is actually fine and uses bigger skill, MC wins fight, but lets villain go after giving him a beating, more talking, villain swearing he'll get revenge - CLIFFHANGER

Characters 3/10
Characters have barely any development at all. I legit don't give a single sh*t about any of them from how absolutely lifeless they feel to me.
MC's strength feels completely undeserved; his bandit family's strength also feels undeserved since they also get OP due to plot no jutsu magic; everyone's character motivations are weak af or just make no sense at all
Villains feel petty, incredibly arrogant and just annoying - author always loves to shove the sexual assault trope for some characterization. Instead of being actually threatening, they're like annoying flies that you wish would disappear; and obviously, there's no tension because you just know that MC can beat every single one of them. But none of them get actual real punishment and end up returning later just to mess with the MC again, so it just gives you the feeling of being constantly blueballed/cucked after every fight
Characters are stupid, rash and act nonsensically - a big part of why this manhwa is so bad

TL;DR save yourself some brain cells and go read another manhwa. If you want to look at pretty pictures, you're better off searching random posts in pixiv than reading this blueballing garbage