Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen. Well, considering the story, just Gentlemen.

This review will be pretty basic. Why? Because many others have already mentioned the most important points, so there's no need for me to go in depth with them.

Anyway, what you need to know first is that there are two groups of readers, and seeing the reviews of those who read at least as far as I did, you'll see them clearly. 1) Those who rated it high and really liked it. 2) Those who rated it low and dissed it.

What's... more>> the difference? It's simple. It supposedly gets better later, but at least as far as I read, readers no. 1 are simply those who haven't read much xianxia/xuanhuan/whatever-cultivation-story or aren't too demanding from whatever they read. So if you're like them, go ahead, you should enjoy the story at least until the end of the phoenix island arc.

The second group of readers? They are, like me, those more demanding ones. They've often read many stories of similar genre, and no longer like them just because they're fresh (yes, I liked many stories at first but wouldn't read them again now too). And honestly, suffice it to say that reading their reviews (2-3 star ones) was waaaay more enjoyable than any single part of the novel itself for the last couple hundred chapters. Actually, this is a telltale sign for many CN webnovels: if you see many reviews like those, and feel especially amused when you read them HAVING READ THE STORY ITSELF (or part thereof) IN ADVANCE, you'll know there isn't much point in reading more unless you're bored (I just tried to read it again, but was only able to read 200-300 chapters further than before).

So anyway, refer to those other reviews for details, but I'll still run over the main points. Mild spoilers possible.

• • MC is bland; it's hard to feel emotional attachment for (or any interest in) him; he's supposedly not talented and it was supposed to matter a lot, but doesn't

• • Female interests are bland 1D characters. They only carry a sliver of originality when they appear, but it disappears when they get closer to MC (I honestly can't tell the personality of the first two apart at that point). They aren't relevant to the story at all, at most serving as a pretext for mc's actions. Supposedly in the late part of the story new ones are better.

• • Villains are bland and s*upid. They also kindly wait with launching their nefarious plans for mc's return when he is away. 'nuff said.

• • Other characters are bland too. They only exist to comment on mc's being-tr*sh-then-epic-super-duper-genius-reversal crap. This also refers to most of mc's supposed friends. I also really lolled whenever MC met with his parents, he'd go kowtow saying he returned and sh*t and that was the entirety of his interaction with his parents (it repeated twice within those 700 chaps). I mean, why bother? It was literally just 1-2, maybe 2-3 paragraphs, and it didn't mean sh*t in the end. Supposedly over 1000 chapters later the parents get some decent screen time, but... do I have to wait for that? The author f*cked up in the part of the story I read at least, and that doesn't change.

• • Plot is boring and repetitive. You can predict almost everything. Nothing feels exciting or immersive. And gods, the tournaments! The villains seeking death! Ugh. It wasn't bad until MC reached Houtian cultivation, but then it's shite since it was rinse and repeat a good 100 times too many.

• • The way everything is written is hard to endure in the long run. The crowd, the comments, useless details, skipping the important details only to give us the barest data... It doesn't really feel nice to read, let alone interesting.

So anyway, you can read the first several hundred chapters and see. It's not as bad a story as some others, but once you read quite a bit from this genre, it's so meh it couldn't be more meh. <<less

This novel is definitely above average (compared to most of the Chinese cultivation BS out there) but not really anything overly spectacular. Really, I think the only thing that kind of had me interested in the later parts of the novel is the unexpected romance and also mysterious nature of the cube. Everything else is basically generic and s*upid.

As with most Chinese cultivation BS, the characters are very one dimensional in the sense that all the characters lack a sense of realism.

The main character basically has no flaws in his... more>> personality, and anything that can be perceived as a flaw is buttered up and set up so that it seems reasonable. For example, whenever Lin Ming kills someone, it seems as if he has some logical justification to do so. But we never actually see the consequences of such heavy actions. Whenever you kill someone, their friends and loved ones would also grieve and suffer. But when you read the novel, such emotions are heavily downplayed and emotions such as anger and desire for revenge are amplified. It doesn't make sense that some young teenage boy can judge whether or not someone should die, so the author makes it so that when Lin Ming kills someone, that person deserved to die. There is never a case where Lin Ming kills someone and then realises that he made a big mistake. Lin Ming will never kill someone he is never meant to kill because the author bends the world in such a way that only fully bad people die from Lin Ming.

As for the villains, well there was one major villain in the novel that was quite persistent and relatively 'cunning' (at least compared to most of the idiots that jump to their deaths), but it's not anything beyond surface level thinking. Don't expect any 'Death Note' moments occurring here. Actually, don't even expect any of that in any cultivation novel.

As for the side characters... About 90% of them get left behind and the other (more relevant) 10% catch up. Actually, I like the fact that the author remembers the old characters and old locations. Lin Ming actually revisits many previously ventured areas. It kind of feels like a NewGame+ with Lin Ming having hack level stats when he revisits the old locations. It's a very refreshing feeling, and the author makes sure not to overdo it.

As for the world-building, as the scale of the novel gets larger it gets more and more ridiculous (which is as expected). The world building is nothing special or creative. I would just say that it is mediocre. But I don't think anyone reads these kinds of things for the world building anyway. (Actually, now that I think about it, the absolute death zone in the Sky Spill continent was quite a unique concept. Props on the author for coming up with that.)

Then what about the story? The story is the most important part of any novel, right? Yeah, well, don't go reading cultivation novels expecting a good story. But from what I've heard people say in the other reviews, the ending is quite spectacular and we all know that the ending is really all we care about in a good story. After all, when you think of a really good story, you don't think about the setting, you think about the ending. So in terms of story, I would say the beginning is pretty average, the middle is just a lost cause akin to any cultivation novel and the ending is pretty good (according to other reviews).

So overall, I would say that the characters are unrealistic and not very interesting. I would also say that the fight scenes are pretty good. The cultivation system is also pretty good. The romance is very good. The world building is just okay. So yeah, the novel, in general, is above average in terms of entertainment value. In terms of intellectual value, I would say it scores well below average. The complexity of the story and characters is just as complex as a bloody two-year-old. <<less

This novel is "good (3★) " and would have been one of the "best (5★) " novels out there if "redundancy", "nameless person's PoV/conversations" and "useless explanations" didn't exists. Which inturn reduce the number of chapters from 2261 down to only about 1300-1500.

Also, this is a world where everyone talks in light speed. Yes, talk. Not transmission of thoughts or anything, talk! If you realize this you will uncover the truth behind how good the story and how crappy the plot. You will realize how obsessed the author is in... more>> increasing word count. Those redundancy and useless pov is the not only thing the author used to increase word count. If I didn't have the power to skip those things, I might have dropped this already. The story is great but the author is crap. <<less

Many people don't seem to understand this novel. It's repetitive and the protagonist will always win, but that's the point. There is a VERY good level of progression, and even though the MC is going to get stronger and stronger, the author does a good job of showing boundaries and where they are. Constantly we sit there and go "oh he's super strong" just for the author to show us that the world is a big place and this strength isn't as high as we think it is. It's not... more>> a novel to take seriously. It's fun and people read it because they want to watch Lin Ming kicking ass. Don't expect some super serious complex story, but do expect a fun martial arts novel with a good feel for progression. Also the world building is very nice, and unlike other Xianxia novels it's very easy to get a feel for the world, how it works, and where Lin Ming fits into it all. That's honestly one of my favourite aspects, even though there's alot here it isn't too complex, and even though the author repeats things alot, it actually makes it much easier to understand everything. I really don't think this needs the "harem" tag either, it's misleading. Lin Ming has two wives, that's it. <<less

I personally love this story and how it's shaping especially in comparison to true martial world the magic cube is a lot more interesting then crystal origins and the story curves and twists in a much more interesting way

Welll, my first review ~yey

This will keep it short, I mean I dont want to write a Novel by myself. I give this novel 5 stars why?

1. MC is badass :)

2. I dont feel bored while reading

3. I like his conversations with the female characters

4. MC's weapon is not a sword! Well, I'm bad in writing reviews, still if you like strong and smart MC's you will like this.

In my opinion, this story is the best xianxia on the site. Mostly because Lin Ming is a pretty great protagonist, not homocidal like Yun Che or sketchy like Meng Hao, but he isn't a pushover either. He's a good guy. Hyorinmaru is also one of the best translators, releasing 14 regular chapters per week! On the downside, the antagonists are all arrogant like every other xianxia, but for some reason, perhaps my bias, I feel like they are more bearable than the rest. Definitely recommend.

The MC starts out as your average joe training martial arts, with slightly better than average talent. Because of certain reasons, he starts devoting all his time and effort on martial arts and cultivating. The story would be pretty boring if it kept that up, so with little luck, he manages to get a treasure, which helps him on his martial path with his mediocre talent.

This MC is truly, true to his personality and being still a teen, he does make mistakes and learns from it. He acts his own... more>> age, even though he is a bit more mature than most teens, it isn't overly unrealistic so. As many other MCs in this genre, he's calm, collected and good at critical thinking, but not an arrogant, genocidal maniac. He just want to get stronger, see how far he can get, what he can learn and achieve on his martial path. He's not overly OP in the beginning, but quickly powers up with luck and effort, making him quite unparalleled on his own level.

What I like about this MC, is his pure goal for strength and peak of cultivation/martial arts. There's no revenge plot, or the like. His "heart" for martial arts is what drives him forward, wanting to see what lies next, which makes it quite refreshing and exciting to read.

Interactions between MC and side characters isn't the greatest, as the story focuses more on his martial path/ cultivation that anything else, so it suffers a bit, but you do have a few love interests introduced, but nothing is explored in any details yet. Hopefully it doesn't turn into a tasteless harem, but very unlikely, considering his heart for martial arts, cultivation and personality it's almost impossible, unless the author changes it.

The power structure is also easy to understand and it's translated beautifully, it's a joy to read.

As of right now, 4/5. It's good, but nothing mind-blowing. The fights, terms and explanations for techniques is what really makes this story good and drives it forward. With more interactions and friendships, this could be really great.

I'll be updating this review in the future, as this is one of the best, current novels I read. <<less

it is currently 4:45 am where I'm at. I stayed awake just to read the last chapter. A bit of a cliffhanger but still a gem. I joined novelupdates way back and one of my first novel selection was this one. I think it was around 600+ chapters back then. I have never missed a single update since then. I have no greater words to convey to the martial world team that I am grateful for your dedication and hard work. It saddens me to see this end but we... more>> will see each other again. Once again, thank you for this lovely experience. <<less

Well, this novel is supposed to be 3 stars, you can read it if you got the time, but not a must read.

I gave it 2 stars though...

The best point of this novel is the story itself, it's not that much different from your usual weak to strong, but I found my self able to plow that 2000+ chapters without the thought of quitting halfway, so it worth something at least.

... more>> Though I said the story is good, unfortunately there are a lot of glaring downside to this novel:

1. The combat is weak, the author just lack a lot of creativity, the MC got few moves and it's not like those moves are ultimate art or something like that, those got replaced eventually. It feels even more absurd when the author wants to prolong the fight, the MC got these so called finisher moves but delay and delay and delay without any to fill in between (or something made up that feels strong but eventually gone without any mention in the future).

2. Speaking of prolonging, the pace until the latter-middle part was also slow as snail, Yup this author got that tendency to squeeze as much as words as he can, whether it's the fight, the way people watch and comment on stuffs that we know already, the long description and reminiscence, etc.

3. Side characters are weak... it's forgivable for me though, not a lot of novels can get this right.

So honestly, you can read this BUT with a trick, just skip, skip all those comments from what I called plebs, even skip the long winded fights, go ahead and just read what the characters said. Only read when you felt it got interesting. Also it almost got completely translated, that's a plus for this novel

but yeah, unfortunately, this kind of writing is only worth 2 stars... <<less

Martial World is an excellent novel by cc. As far as the writing goes its definitely not novel quality. The ultra exposition, tendency to overexplain and embellish mid action, and so on is very bad. As far as the story goes and the storyweaving this is an excellent novel. It could be easily 1000 less chapters if not for the s*upid repetition that happens in almost every chapter due to the need for word count to increase it's renminbi value. Besides all that it's a much better novel than True... more>> Martial World which although almost carbon copy similar works on the strong points of this novel while also drawing far too much on its weak points to pad the word count and make more money.

Cocooned Cow basically means lots of farts mostly from a hot girl you are trying to sleep with in this novel. In true martial world its more like a fat friend you don't want to hang out with doing most of the farting. I would lower my score but novelupdates has an outdated archaic review system that doesn't particularly work for webnovels at all so lets say 3/5 as opposed to 4/5 and put tmw at 2/5 <<less

Martial World reads like a 4+ star novel initially, however as you grow accustomed to the formulaic developments that tend to repeat in each arc, the novelty starts to wear off.

That being said, Cocooned Cow does execute well the things that should be expected to be done well from your typical Xuanhuan; if only the series wasn't so repetitive it would have been a great work. If you are a beginner to this genre and you are enjoying your experience so far, then you will more than likely become engrossed... more>> and enamored with MW just as many of us (including myself) were. If you're a veteran however you won't find anything new here.

I found myself slowly drifting away from MW (and TMW) and forgetting what a lot of the arcs were even about in the first place as they were all so similar to one another. The memories obtained from reading the book tend to fade into a murky haze. <<less

At first you think it's just a normal xianxia without anything special about it. You have a generic 'special' MC who finds a cheat artifact and a series of events where he beats down young masters as the underdog, but this novel is so much more once you get invested in it. It's nothing like MGA and Peerless Martial God where the MC only lives to offend people, and instead it's about a martial artist who want to reach the top just to see what it's like.

Although the motivation is... more>> similar to Undefeated War God, the MC's way of doing things are more calculator. He's not the one who will act like a sheep in wolfs clothing but he will hide his cards and try to grow with every battle.

I could go on and on about why I like him but here's the main reason I recommend this: It's as interesting as ISSTH!

Great plot, good foreshadowing to big events, and an MC that isn't hypocritical in his actions! These are the many reasons I like it. <<less

Very Unique elements such as cultivating system and ways in which MC gains power by absorbing soul fragments. The plot is good and pacing is one of the strong points of this novel. I won't say much and would only ask all to read it!

First of all, whew it was a long read.

But you can skip paragraphs and still follow the story (which is what I did and I feel a bit bad for the amazing translation team who put so much effort into every one of them rip but I really wanted to know what happens next asap ;-;). This isn't one of those books you read to enjoy the literature and writing style--few translated novels are, from my experience, especially if it's a translation of a webnovel and not an actual published... more>> novel. You must understand all webnovels are generally like this; like boi most of these authors update 4-5 chapters every day as they are writing, they're usually contracted with the platform they post on and earn a percentage of the money readers spend on their work. So the key is consistent updates that aren't too short and a level of plot progression that leaves the readers satisfied enough. Inevitably, this results a lot of fillers but well, I think it's plenty good enough already if the pacing is consistent and there are no plot holes. You have to know how hard it is to remember everything you wrote--I have people in our scan who can't remember how they romanized the names for a work with 10~ characters and this isn't even writing our own story smh.

And this work is consistent, scarily so. I also can't think of many plot holes aside from how sometimes the author seems to have forgotten about the side characters but they remember later and adds a few lines about them lol. The part following Sheng Mei stealing the MC's eternal soul was a pleasant surprise--we revisit what happened to all the side characters on the Sky Spill Continent. This was really the first time he ever lost, he would always win at the last moment so I expected he would too there tbh. The arc followed the MC almost giving up and wandering around the continent, almost resigning himself to fate, which is a stark contrast to how he is everywhere else and tbrh this was the arc I enjoyed the most. If that part didn't exist this would truly be a linear story.

There's practically zero character development but well, this isn't that kind of story. Don't read this book if you must see this.

I saw a lot of people complaining about how the MC's plot armor is too strong and it really is but I wouldn't complain, personally. There's some comfort knowing he would be able to overcome any problem thrown at him and the ending would be more or less happy. I don't like to read works that have tragic or open endings. Plus imagine writing about like a mob character that dies upon meeting their first enemy, that would be one chapter lmao, not 1000+ chapters webnovel material unless you add a sh*t ton of fillers or make one-worded chapters or smth.

I think a lot of people just don't understand what it's like to be a webnovel author or even a writer in general. I mean, if you ever want to see the perfect book that you can't find any complaints about, you're always free to write your own. But I tell you, if you post the conventional English works that are considered quality works, concise and all, you probably wouldn't do well on webnovel platforms.

TLDR, this is a great book, probably one of the best ones in this genre and trope, and if you don't like it, you probably shouldn't be reading this in the first place. <<less

I really wanted to like Martial World, and I'm surprising myself to be ranking it lower than True Martial World, but here we are. I'm abandoning this series after a few too many boring battle and training arcs that fail to stand out. I just can't do over 2000 chapters of this.

I could see this as a decent introduction to those who are new to the genre, except maybe for the constant proofreading errors, past-present tense changes, translation inconsistencies, etc., especially in the early chapters. It's an earnest cultivator novel... more>> about training, battling, and ranking highly in various trials. For readers who aren't already well familiar with basic xianxia concepts like cultivation and martial intent, talent and bottlenecks, internal demons and tribulations, this is the kind of novel that attempts to introduce these things in its own words instead of just taking for granted that they're supposed to be there. That's nice to have. But for someone who has read a lot of these already, the word I keep coming back to is "plain". It never quite got its hooks into me.

Occasionally the hero Lin Ming does something I wouldn't expect, or there's a pretty cool worldbuilding gimmick. It wasn't compelling enough to make me stick through the rest, but I do want to give credit where it's due.

I'm willing to admit that TMW might not actually deserve a better score, but I read it many years earlier and at the time I did feel like TMW's Yi Yun exploited his way to the top more often through cheat skills and other fortuitous shortcuts that I thought were generally more engaging early on. I don't really want an "earnest" martial artist's journey so much as a good-hearted thieves' one. MW still has a taste of that rogue heart in it -- Lin Ming pins mu*ders on other people, steals treasures from powerful beasts and so on when the option has fallen right into his lap, but he's more interested in doing things the mindless and 'proper' way. If you enjoy a protagonist getting dozens of beautiful superficially-formidable women to fall in love with him, there's that too. But in my opinion, there's just not enough of a creative edge to justify worth reading through 50+ chapter arcs of tournament battles or repetitive trial floor climbing.

With the author Cocooned Cow, you can expect a novel that avoids the worst sorts of plot holes but is never brilliantly-planned either, occasionally awkward sexist double-standards that are more eye-rolling than offensive, no unbearably bad philosophical notions, somewhat safe picks to read but ultimately kind of revealing of the author's childishness. Lin Ming doesn't usually solve problems so much as rely on Protagonist Luck to compensate for his stubbornness. He's also pretty bad about falling to the level of grade-schooler diss contests with throwaway villain characters. I know Yi Yun was like this too, but while it was still cringe when he did it, it was perhaps less at odds with his other supposed character traits. How is Lin Ming supposed to have the heart to pursue martial arts so single-mindedly and yet also keep getting goaded into all this baby stuff?

The author dooms every arc to play out the same way because he can't let LM suffer indignity for even one day, even when he's crippled and teleported to a foreign land, which is an utterly wasted opportunity. And every time someone forms a death grudge with Lin Ming, I want to yell "How are you this fragile! Go to therapy!" The fear of cultivators creating potentially irreconcilable internal demons within their hearts if they suffer the slightest shame is too excessive. It's clearly just an excuse to goad characters into s*upid fights and drive the story forward, but this idea of never being outshone in any area by a junior else risking the destruction of one's 'heart of martial arts' is a very weak concept of strength -- brittle and immature. You're supposed to grow from your losses, not grow by never losing, but even that obvious truism is too sophisticated of an insight for this author.

I really can't overstate how messy the writing can be, either. Some is definitely the fault of the translators and some is from the author himself. If you took a shot every time a battle described floor tiles getting destroyed, you would die. Numbers mean nothing and the same distances can become ten times longer or shorter the next time they come up. Regular human characters are 8-10 feet tall because the translation changes 'chi' into 'feet' without converting the measurements.

I would be able to brush off some of the more superficial faults if the story worked for me otherwise, but I can't say that it does. If this was a novel you loved reading years ago and you've read several others since, you might find that it's not as good as you remember.

But in seeking the perfect introductory xianxia story to recommend to new readers instead of this, it would be tough to say. Maybe people don't need their introduction to the genre to be perfect. After all, the bar is much lower. (I still like Against the Gods, though.) <<less

I know its CN but I hated the polygamy. It was really unnecessary. It would've been perfect if the first heroine would've been the LAST heroine.

I couldn't even understand the reason y he hooked up with the other girls.

Ah and the rest was all good.

Its my favourite xianxia till now.

But still I cant find a single novel that I actually finish reading

It's good as far as cultivation novels go.

It doesn't have any incredible qualities but at the same time doesn't fall into the usual pitfalls. It doesn't have any strong parts but neither does it have any boring ones. Quality is constant, progession is steady and 'believable', plot holes are minor enough, it is not too blatantly repetitive (hey, it is a CN cultlivation level, I already know it will be repetitive, I only ask for it not to be slapped in my face)...

However, while it doesn't do any real mistakes,... more>> it's so generic it becomes boring.

Still, I would say that it's one of the best generic CN novels I've ever read and easily gets into the top 20 (maybe en top 10) of xianhuan/xianxia. That's a real compliment here. Generic chinese novels tend to have so many flaws that's it's refreshing to have one actually doing good. <<less

I'm new with all these wuxia stuff but I realized that most of MC's are powerful, cheat characters, cultivation machines. But Lin Ming is a really likeable fellow. He doesn't forget his family (only first 2 wives) and friends.

Sometimes history becomes repetitive, the author keep writing things like how ruthless and fierce somebody is.

Overall it's really good. Currently I'm att 1999 chapter and the plot is still good. Keep your mind open and you will enjoy MW story.

Note: rant incoming

Ok, to be honest I don't understand all the hate. I mean sure, the main character lets himself get pulled into the plot and intrigue of the Martial world. Sure the MC joins sects and has a sh*t tonne of tournaments. He does all of this and more, falling for so many "young master/arrogant cultivator" plots that it does get a bit annoying.

However, the main character is amazing. If you haven't noticed, the main character lets all these happen simply to temper himself. The main character is a... more>> true addict of the Martial Way. He doesn't cultivate to become strong, he cultivates for the sake of cultivating. He wants to teach the peak of the MARTIAL WAY, not become the strongest in the universe/33 heavens.

Rant over. Now to the actual reveiw

This book is the story of Lin Ming, an averagely talented boy from a small planet who loves the martial way. One day, Lin Ming finds this cube called the Divine Magic Cube (true name revealed at chap ~1400) and it kickstarts his future.

This story is a generic Xuanhuan story done right. The characters are fleshed out and detailed. The relevant/important characters have their own backstory while the irrelevant ones all have some degree of history. The plot starts off quite slow, but underneath all the "generic" arc plots, a perfect overarching plot is hidden. The cultivation system is by far the most ordered and natural seeming one I have seen, excluding the sequel of this book "True Martial World". Although the author seems to have a habit of abandoning cultivation systems like the whole Battle Spirit and Fire Essence-Thunder Soul thing, the truth is the main character doesnt need these systems and his strengths are different.

The only complaint I have with this story so far isnt even with the story itself, it is with the translations. I am not saying the translantions are bad, in fact they are amazing. I am just annoyed at the fact that the translation of True Martial World started early enough that it has given some major spoilers to Martial World. Example is in spoiler bar.

Spoiler

When I was current with both. At around the ~1100 chapter mark of TMW, it spoiled a future wife of Lin Ming. WHO WAS LITERALLY JUST INTRODUCED 25 CHAPTERS AGO. Another thing was that I found out about the details of the Divine cube, purple card and essence beads connection to eachother in tmw before martial world.

[collapse]

so I would recommend not going past the Luo clan arc in TMW before around 1500 of MW or reading past the 1300 or so tmw chap mark for a while.

Anyway, luv the book. Absolutely recommend it so yeah <<less