Your average reincarnation and revenge in a Murim setting. Generic premise but it was well executed for the first half. Plot is of course as cliche as it gets but storyboard was planned well, pacing was just right and there were no pointless fillers as the narrative goes mostly towards the main plot with a few interconnected side stories. The storytelling & tone feels like the 90s & 2000s wuxia films. The ending was anticlimactic and rushed but the epilogue was a nice touch.
Towards the middle of the second half of the manhwa was when everything starts to fall apart. Pacing ramp up suddenly overlooking the good parts of the narrative which were condensed and rushed through, like the wars in Zhongyuan, the geopolitics, character growth and relationships. And in a baffling move, several plot devices author invested in the first half of the manhwa were tossed aside, like the Sword Empress's story or the tavern siblings. Ultimately it felt like the author wanted or planned a complex story that has depth but maybe the series got axed or author was unable to tie in all the different side stories, so he abandoned them, resulting in their abrupt conclusion. And there's the rushed, unsatisfying ending.
The state of the narrative applies to the characters too. They had potential and although some do receive ample character development in the first half of the manhwa, the rest were neglected. In the second half of the manhwa, ALL of them end up as background static. The same goes for the relationships, it became an afterthought. The protagonist is likeable but had too strong of a presence. It feels like the author diverted all screentime and character growth away from the supporting cast into the MC.
The art and design appeals to me. It has a tint of the 80s/90s retro artstyle. Its all about personal preference here.
The fights and battles are a mixed bag, leaning more towards being a let down. Fights where the protagonist displays overwhelming power were cool. Wars and huge battles were pretty much glossed over and did not get the screentime they deserved plus they only lightly touched on the strategy portion which is disappointing. The duels and difficult fights look flashy but had no substance and lack tactics.
Lastly, just a little nitpick, the translations are very inconsistent. It can get confusing as every season, certain terms and names keep changing from romanization to literal translations to interpreted translations and vice versa.
If the author fixed the deficiencies in the second half of the narrative and invested more effort into developing the secondary characters, this could have been a good manhwa. Maybe introduce more technicals into the fights and go into deeper detail of the wars, this could qualify as a great manhwa.
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