I binged this novel day and night when I first discover it. The manhwa is the one I read first, but I went to read the novel because I love the story and not patient enough to wait for the update once a week. And I must say, I absolutely love it. This novel updates daily on Naver and have around 1250+ chapters now and is still ongoing to this day. Currently I'm on chapter 1177. You might be wondering, "What the hell happened for this novel to have such a long chapters?" And I myself don't know too. All I can say based on my personal opinion after reading the novel, is that it doesn't feel boring at all. It's eventful and crazily hilarious. Some people may not agree with me because they feel that a story must have a fight going on all the time for it to not be boring, and while it's valid, I believe that all the talking and explanation in the novel is necessary. This novel also can feel slow paced, although I think you'll still be able to enjoy it since Cheongmyeong literally kick everyone's asses all the time💀
Sect Leader and Elders : Seriously though, I don't get why this novel doesn't feel boring at all despite soo many chapters. I keep wanting for more and more and it just keeps getting better. I love all the characters, webtoon onlys may say that they hate the adults for being "dumb", "useless", or simply a burden, but trust me that they have done their very best. It's already so great that they managed to keep the sect standing. There's only so much you can do while having no resources or support. After Mount Hua starts to rise, they become the disciples support. It's so wholesome to see them treat the disciples with so much warmth and made the sect as their home to return to and something that'll always support them. Hyunjong was never lacking, Cheongmyeong himself said that his ability was enough to lead the sect in its heyday. And this is a spoiler but Hyunjong was considered to be the main dangerous threat besides Cheonngmyeon that'll keep rising Mount Hua by a major villain that'll appear later.
Comrades : Besides the adults, the people that fight beside him is also amazing. Baek Cheon, Yu Iseol, Yun Jong and Jo Gol are the main ones. They all incredibly hard working, stubborn (in a good way), talented, and just overall good characters whom each have their own influences. The other disciple also not different. I love seeing the growth in their skills, the development is sooo satisfying when you see it in a battle. All of them are funny as fuck too. There are also a lot of ally from other sects and clans who are close personally to them.
Fight : The fighting in this novel can be bloody and cruel, especially when Cheongmyeong is the one who fighting. You can see it from what Cheongmyeong taught his disciples. He taught them to behead the enemy with a single strike and to keep calm in battle even when someone's head is flying beside them. The villain also often gives me chills from how cruel they are.
Villains and Conflict : Speaking about the villain, Heavenly Demon and his followers is the main one but that doesn't mean there's no other major villains. They are coming from Sapa or the unorthodox sect. This one villain is especially scary to me. Incredibly manipulative, cruel, and insane. No need any backstory as his reason, just pure incarnation of greed. This novel also brings up the hypocrisy of the justice factions, which become a huge problem in the story. To sum it up the main debate is "Would you sacrifice the important things of yours in order to fulfill justice? Or would you back down even if it defy the very thing you've always talked about? Would you fight in the frontline and then talk in front of the bloody corpse of friends about how heroic they are?"
Depressing Shit : I think you can already see a bit from the manhwa but Cheongmyeong is secretly very sentimental and traumatized (no shit sherlock). This fact shows up more and more gradually as the chapters goes by. He misses his friends and senior brother a lot, to the point of hallucinating his voice and responding to it even though he knew he's the one who imagined it. He regrets his past. There is this one mini arc in the novel, around chapter 700+ that is simply the saddest arc yet in the whole series. It was really heartbreaking. This arc is related to Cheongmyeong's past relationship with his junior and senior, and really highlighting his regret and sadness. I was fully sobbing by the time it reached the climax. There are 3 people from his past that influences Cheongmyeong the most, which also affects his growth in this life.
