Martial Arts Master

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Here, martial arts are no longer legends. They have been passed on from generation to generation, from century to century.

After being confronted by science and technology, they have completely integrated into modern society and all kinds of martial arts competitions are taking place across the country as the consensus between who’s superior among scholars are hard to reach, but among martial artists, it isn’t that difficult!

Lou Cheng has found an unknown cultivation item that fuses with him and helps him with the first part of martial arts, meditation.

Facing his dream and the glory in his heart, he will advance step by step, becoming the warrior of this modern city and the hero of the era!

Associated Names
One entry per line
MAM
武道宗师
Related Series
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Recommendations
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Godly Model Creator (1)
Hunting for a Delicious Wife (After) (1)
Major General Spoils his Soul-guiding Wife (1)
Battle Frenzy (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. My next 5 out of 5 !!!
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10/11/22 The Book Hound... c72
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99 Reviews sorted by


Pearlybts
Pearlybts rated it
February 16, 2023
Status: c200
Those who say "why so much romance? Why does he flirt with FL all the time?"

Tells me you haven't had a proper date yet. Y'all r such a bunch of b*tchless virg*n blokes lmao. Also, atleast check the tags before u start reading.

So for my review, it's like a slice of life sports novel, with the sport being martial arts.

... more>> The best romance male MC novel which actually invested in building the relationship properly, like normal people would.

The characters r very relatable, the romance is relatable, everyone feels like an actual person.

The FL is not your regular shy or submissive stereotypical FL. She doesn't talk big or punch people. She just feels like a REAL person. Female representation done right.

4 stars coz it doesn't have conflict. But overall, it's a feel good story and I love it. It's heartwarming.

People who come here for an emotionless/senseless haughty MC or a damsel in distress FL or harem or f*cking-after-a-few-meetings typa romance, f*ck off.

You be like Luo Cheng and you'll get loyal b*tches.

Warning though, it does have some stereotypes and casual sprinkle of racism, which is also my biggest reason for one less star. <<less
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obsessed-reader
obsessed-reader rated it
January 22, 2018
Status: c340
Alright imma keep this short and sweet. Do you like action and romance novels?

You do? Well than, why aren't you reading this novel?!?! Its got the perfect blend and it doesn't take away from the story at all but pushes it forward. So happy I started reading this.
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readingmaniac7
readingmaniac7 rated it
January 19, 2023
Status: Completed
One of the best novels I have ever read, specifically because of the various insights and ideologies about life and relationships sprinkled across the book.

I finished this ages ago and also re-read it multiple times but I'm only writing a review now because of the numerous reviews criticizing it. This book is specifically for slice-of-life/romance fans with a little bit of coming-of-age and action. Imagine a highly martial arts oriented modern world, without much fantasy or cultivation - our ordinary MC gets a cheat and this novel describes his growth... more>> from a shy guy with low self-confidence to a calm, collected fighter of considerable might, all with the help of the people around him and situations that he faces. I repeat - this book is highly recommended for slice-of-life/romance fans, and marked for 'seinen', anyone else who reads it and doesn't like it can provide constructive criticism, but please don't complain about not finding what you wanted and demotivate others from picking this gem. <<less
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hinokio
hinokio rated it
January 7, 2022
Status: Completed
I just can't stop myself from sighing about these people who rate it 1 star, this novel has a genre of (Romance School Life Shounen Slice of Life) this explain all about the novel besides martial arts so if you are not in any of this genre don't start reading it and rate it low, this one is one of best of not the best one romance action novel I read even though I'm not in romance novels this one will get you hooked and excited if you only have... more>> 1% interested of how an MC pursuing his first love while the two of them pursuing their own dreams and succeed in winning each other heart even though the start you only get that the think of the MC only falls in love with her because she is beautiful but later you find more and more about the two of them and get engrossed in the story, have to say the author just wrote a masterpiece, have martial arts and tournaments and love and friendship and Familial love and sects and the whole story you only get one feeling that is relaxing, no revenge and bad drama and killing all the time like other Chinese Xuanhuan <<less
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akumetsu_F1
akumetsu_F1 rated it
March 24, 2021
Status: c753
Romance - 10/10
Holy shit, this was unexpected. I came here expecting a fighting novel but came out with some of the sweetest romance of all time. And male/female interactions that actually make sense. The author must be a love guru, the love strategies in this novel are on another level. Lou Cheng transformed from lousy boy to perfect husband material that any woman would dream of, without feeling forced at all.
Action -8/10
Decent wuxia elements with light cultivation stuff. (Cultivation doesn't become a bigger focus until way past... more>> halfway into the story, and its pure martial arts until around chapter 200+, where we see more fantastic powers and supermoves.) The fights are pretty good, but not as good as the character interactions and storytelling. At points, it feels like the the martial arts system is going to be in depth and fleshed out, but it never really reaches the level of Cuttlefish's later works like Throne of Magical Arcana.
Writing - 10/10
I cried and laughed a few times while reading this story. Even the struggles of side characters like Lin Que feel so real, and tugged on my heartstrings. His rivalries and friendships were stellar throughout. The writing quality is above and beyond most of the novels you see on this site.
Translation - 5 to 8 /10
The translation is the biggest detriment to this novel. The first 50 or so chapters are pretty good. Then it tanks to some MTL level of quality for like 300 chapters and then becomes good again until the end. Once again, the horrible quality control of Webnovel/Qidian rears its ugly head. the novel is not unreadable but having so many errors in a good story is too frustrating.

My only issue big issue with the story itself is that the ending feels a little abrupt. It's not a bad ending. In fact, I was quite satisfied and had some good laughs. But an epilogue or a few more chapters showing some slice of life moments would have been more satisfying.
Spoiler

I wanted to see the kids goddamit. Why must you blue ball me, author :' (

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Still, it's better than most.

Ignoring the translation issues, this novel is a near 5 stars. Very good read. Highly recommend people give it a try for the romance at least.

Note: this is NOT a cultivation novel, the cultivation aspect is almost non-existent if you compare it to the martial arts aspect. This is NOT a xianxia. <<less
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druiseeker
druiseeker rated it
October 10, 2017
Status: c30
If you're looking for a traditional Xuanhuan, look elsewhere. It's more a story about the life and development of a martial artist in a modern-ish society with minor elements of Xuanhuan. It's a great read with very well developed characters and environment. I can't wait for more.
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Kergonan
Kergonan rated it
May 19, 2022
Status: c753
CuttleFish That Loves Diving is one of my favorite Chinese writer and since I finished his last completed story and the current one is far from over, I decided to proceed with one of his earliest work, « Martial Arts Master ». So, did this string of excellence date even further back ?

The characters are of excellent quality, even if, as it is logical, not everyone has the same depth. The protagonist, Lou Cheng, is a very well made contemporary martial artist, obviously not with the usual callous attitude found... more>> in this kind of novel, although he shows ressources of strong willpower and lateral thinking, he has the refreshing normalicy of a modern young adult/student. Outside of martial arts and his passion for his girlfriend/wife, he is a serious, tame otaku as well as a good son and friend. Speaking of his love interest, Yan Zheke is a real deuteragonist in this novel (in fact, if not for her noticeably shorter « screentime », she would be a true second protagonist). She is equally well-written, strong and feminine, remarkably intelligent (often more perceptive than the MC) and driven.

The rest of the cast is excellent, with each character having his own flavor, whether it is for the sassy best friend Cai Zongming (who really deserves the nickname « Talker »), the mentor, geezer Shi, the other friends, Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke’s parents and grand-parents (all of them likeable and concerned about their descendants’ life, but quite different in their behaviors and backgrounds), the rivals, competitors and antagonists, all of them are finely made, this is definely a big strong point of the book.

The setting is also pretty good, in fact I find that it is the one that best answers to the « Magical Realism » definition. It is our contemporary world, but an added level of low-to-mid supernatural abilities. China, America and Japan are all present (although with some liberties, but nothing major) with their real names and other countries are also present, but under different name (Gaul for France, Albion for the United Kingdom...). As for supernatural powers, they are part of the world, almost entirely because of martial arts, but they are not omnipresent (being a martial artist at a significant level is a full time job that relatively few people have the talent for, especially at the higher levels) nor omnipotent (martial artists are powerful, but they can’t go against the might of a state level, well equipped and trained army, even at the « Physical Invulnerability » level). As it is, the setting created here by Cutttlefish That Loves Diving shines because he has made it « credible ». On a side note, there is a patriotic bias of the author, but it keeps quite clear of the obnoxious nationalism found in a lot of Chinese contemporary fantasy novels.

The power system is also quite well-made. In fact there are quite a number of them, all linked to martial arts (even distantly) but each with distinct characteristics, strength, weaknesses and cultural background. One is clearly based in the hard body training of Muay Thai, a Japanese one has clear influence of Karate’s Kiai, others in America and Europe are based in Christianism, Satanism, Animism/New Age, and I leave the Egyptian one and the rest to your imagination. The most detailed system is the Chinese one (logical) and it is quite diverse in itself (one sect is Buddhist, another Taoist and pretty much everyone at high level has powers related to one or more elements), unified by the various stage the martial artists go through : Body Refining, Dan Qi (use of Chi), Inhuman (acquisition and /or reinforcement of supernatural abilities) and Physical Invulnerability (relative). The protagonist is a peculiar case, as due to events I won’t spoil here, he includes elements of the mostly abandonned Cultivation system in his martial arts path, which makes him a bit of a trailblazer and is a significant part of the plot.

For the plot, sadly it is where it shows that the author was writing one of his early novel. The story is good, but he tried to include too many genres into one. You see, Martial Arts Master is a martial art novel, a sport novel, a romance novel and a cultivation novel, all rolled into one. And while Cuttlefish tries to keep every plot type separated in its own chapters, it is simply too much, even if each element is very good by itself (especially the cultivation and romance parts, which seem natural and believable). Add to that long chapters (good to keep most fights in one chapter) with pacing problems (mostly due to the overwhelming number of tournaments chapters compaired to other types of action chapters), and you get a story that, while being good, very good in some parts, is also rather heavy to digest, forcing the reader to take breaks regularly (which is a pity, as the food scene are very good ; clearly Cuttlefish is a gourmet). The somewhat abrupt ending is, for this reason, appreciated.

The translation is pretty good, especially for the description during combat, although with (I may be mistaken) some technique names of the side character change from one chapter to the other.

So, in conclusion, Martial Arts Master is clearly an early novel of Cuttlefish That Loves Diving : the characters are excellent, the setting and power system are very good but the plot, although good, is overstuffed and suffers from pacing issues (something the author greatly improved in his next novels). With the few translation problem found there, you got a good story, with some very good parts and some others you really have to push through. Overall, my final verdict is a 7 out of 10. It is obviously above average, but not in the same league as the excellent novel Lord of Mysteries and Throne of Magical Arcana (both 10 out of 10).

P.S : Thanks to Cuttlefish That Loves Diving for writing this book and Larbre Studio for translating it. <<less
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Zeiren7
Zeiren7 rated it
March 17, 2021
Status: Completed
A fantastic casual read without any particularly heavy drama and very good romance, especially the early stages of the couple getting to know each other, beginning to like and eventually love each other. A rare long novel that maintains it's quality throughout, without changing settings, losing focus or reverting character development for the sake of drama. If you enjoy the beginning you will most likely enjoy all 753 chapters, except maybe for the last one as you'll feel sad it ended.

... more>>
Spoiler

Both the MC and female lead are loyal, attentive and tolerant, and every conflict they have, which aren't many, gets addressed and dealt with in a reasonable and satisfying way. Their lives, especially the MC's, end up pretty much revolving around each other, as he specifically uses her as his main motivating force to develop his martial arts. The MC is pretty simple minded about his devotion to the female lead, but altough not super complex, their relationship to me never felt excessively forced or unrealistic.

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The fights are pretty fun but not very technical, mostly revolving around the use of the techniques correspondent to the level the martial artists are at, which can be somewhat repetitive, but the results aren't really predictable so it's still fun to read. The different characters, styles and moves are fun to imagine, making me think this would make a great animation if ever adapted. The martial arts systems are pretty open and even somewhat abstract, giving way to a variety of fighting styles and different powers as the fighters can inherit or develop different supernatural abilities as they make progress.

The MC finds a "Cheat" early on that gives him a clear advantage and allows him to progress faster at the beginning and catch up to other fighters his age. Altough his progress is faster, he doesn't automatically become the best, and more importantly, he doesn't win fights through unexplained Deus Ex Machina, and always has to put in proper work for his development.
Spoiler

At around chapter 400, the female lead went to study overseas, and I personally think the story got less interesting, as their relationship was pretty much settled and they have less interactions, but it's still nice reading about the MC's progress, crime fighting shenanigans and their meetups. This is considering their interactions and the romance are actually my favorite part of the novel. The ending felt pretty bad, just because I'd like the author to spend at least some 300+ chapters detailing their married life, them having children, and the MC's journey of winning titles and reaching the Forbidden Realm, as well as the rest of the characters getting more development, but at least it doesn't suffer from the author losing direction and ruining the story after milking it dry.

[collapse]

Overall, a really solid, entertaining read that left me wanting more of the characters and the world. <<less
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Niurem
Niurem rated it
September 6, 2020
Status: Completed
Very nice romance ok fight scenes. I was reading op MC novels just before but this is the best slice of life like novel I've read.
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1234gary
1234gary rated it
July 9, 2020
Status: Completed
Amazing novel, around a 4.5/5 for me. At its core this is a martial arts novel and not a cultivation novel. It is very nicely written and avoids a lot of the cliche plot holes that other novels normally fall in.

Thoughts:

  • Martial Arts and Romance focused. The romance is a huge part of the early parts of the story and is written in a realistic way. Instead of cultivation, this is more of a martial arts sports novel.
  • The main character is calm collected and talented. Do note he gets a cheat that basically lets him join into the scene late and lets him improve at a breakneck speed. However, even without the cheat, he is extremely hardworking and has true talent in combat sense.
  • No annoying characters, no grudges, no racism, no random offense taken, none of the normal cultivation cliche stuff.
  • Translation is a big problem. It feels like several groups of people are carelessly working, and between chapters terms and notations change around weirdly. It's still very readable though.
  • The ending wraps up everything cleanly. Although it may seen as abrupt and I would have loved to see more of the journey, there isn't too much wrong with it. The character reaching the apex would just be a predestined matter of time after the ending, and there wasn't a way to finish the novel with a big bang (a.k.a big bad) without having something like a world war which would bring in alot of racism (something the author tries to avoid actively).
Overall a very refreshing and non-standard novel. As expected of the author Cuttlefish. Would highly recommend.
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Solracmar
Solracmar rated it
January 14, 2020
Status: Completed
A complete novel no plot hole at the end. Sweet romance without drama and tragedy. Great and complex fight scenes. Overall a most satisfying novel.
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Tilgarial
Tilgarial rated it
June 28, 2019
Status: c450
This novel has two main aspects; the cultivation and the romance. Usually I'm not a fan of romance as main part of a story, but this one is just awesome.

Instead of making it love at first sight or an easily convinced maiden, this has actual courting, and even starts out with the MC being all jittery and nervous around his crush.

The process of the MC and the female lead getting together takes a couple hundred or more chapters; however not once does it really stall. It is logically bulit in... more>> a way to simulate what I would call a good start to a relationship, and as such takes time and dedication.

In a sentence, good romance!

The other aspect is the cultivation; and even here the author is ready to surprise his readers! Not a single fight is won in a way that is 'unbelieveable', fights that couldnt be won are naturally even lost, no plot armor. The only thing the MC has above others is a little starting help; but even that is no more than bringing him up to the standards of his age group.

Throughout the novel, the MCs dedication is shown; but not in a repeat this, repeat that fashion, everything stays authentic and is shown in a way thats different than the times before.

Of course, if you were to nitpick and look for bad things or clichés in this novel, you would most likely find them. However, even the clichés are displayed in a reasonable and explainable fashion with nothing seeming out of place, too much or just 'dumb luck'.

Thats why, this is a great novel and definitely one I would recomend to read.

As always, thanks for reading and have a good day/night!~ <<less
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rhianirory
rhianirory rated it
May 20, 2019
Status: Completed
i was hoping for modern cultivation and fighting, or even a laid back slice of life, but what I got a was a romantic-comedy fluff SoL with occasional martial arts tournaments. If you like modern slice of life with a very heavy emphasis on romance you will more than likely enjoy this.

as for me I kept wanting him to get to the cultivating and instead he kept obsessing over the girl and flirting, which was irritating. In the end I was disappointed. Not my kind of novel.
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shuiko
shuiko rated it
January 25, 2018
Status: c292
Love it, properly written story progression, even the romance (long for some people) advances properly.

Fights scenes are awesome and well thought out.
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Salexe
Salexe rated it
November 29, 2017
Status: c205
This novel is very good. Just wanted to start off with that. It is very sweet, at times too sweet which makes me wonder when the sour will come. I feel like it could use a bit of sour some resistance, opposition or heck even heartache.

Most of what needs to be said has been said by WinByDying. But I want to add some personel Cons.

1st. The martial arts battles are a little hard to follow since it isnt based in normal fights like MMA. Normally you would never block a... more>> punch with a punch or dodge by rolling around. It feels like a mix of a Karate, or similar asian fighting style, tournement with their footwork. But their techniques and blocking is asian movie inspired. I dont know if they move fast or slow, how their different moves look like or if it is based in relativly normal world view (or movie based).

2nd. It is too easy. Everything is simply going way too good. I feel like it could all fall to down in mere seconds and I both dread it and want it. I feel like it could be a huge motivational boost and also a huge character progresion if it happened. It fells slightly stagnant at the moment and I would dislike it alot if it happened later in the story.

Thats it from me. I very much recommend this story if you are into romance. Not so much for the action. Romance is ahat this novel does best. <<less
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Minokyuu
Minokyuu rated it
October 19, 2017
Status: c95
Great Romance

Average MC though not op but talented character and they take time to get to know each other, not just some side-line female character that you won't care even if she died,

the fighting scene can be confusing though, sometimes I get lost in the middle of the scene.
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aattss
aattss rated it
October 10, 2017
Status: c15
The romance is surprising for a Chinese WN with a male protagonist. The guy goes up and talks to the girl, and they end up become friends. As opposed to the girl being some ice cold beauty who becomes wet when the guy acts like an as*hole or does something really "cool" or something.

The martial arts in general is also decent. Like, people spar with other people of differing levels of skill, for practice. The martial arts feels like martial arts in real life. Overall, the protagonist really feels like... more>> a real life college student going to college and also wanting to become a serious martial artist, as opposed to any other Chinese WN protagonist aiming to become the number one VRMMO player or something where college is some background fluff. <<less
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cpzombie
cpzombie rated it
December 24, 2022
Status: Completed
I honestly didn't think I'd like this before reading it, because I've never read a sports novel before and I tend to be really annoyed by naive protagonists. The only reason I gave it a shot was because I loved the two other novels by this author that I've read (LoTM & Embers), and I definitely don't regret it. I don't like it quite as much as the other two but it's still one of the best Chinese novels I've read in many areas.

The protagonist gets his cheat early on,... more>> but it mostly just jump starts his growth and the rest is hard work and talent. There are others with similar levels of talent too, so he's not impossibly OP.

The best part of the novel imo is the romance and general interaction between the characters. It's by far the best and most realistic romance I've read in a Chinese novel (admittedly not the main genre I look for). He starts out like an average inexperienced boy, overthinking everything and struggling. With time and guidance (how I wish I had a Cai Zongming when I started college) he grows to be charismatic and learns how to best interact with people.

The MC isn't a naive idiot when it comes to violence either. Despite the general light-hearted atmosphere, the world is realistic and fleshed-out. The MC isn't afraid to kill in defense of himself or his friends, which comes into play multiple times throughout the novel.

Overall, I highly recommend giving it a try even if you don't exactly gravitate toward sports stuff. The fights and such are great, but the best part is the romance and characters. <<less
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Uukrul
Uukrul rated it
October 15, 2021
Status: Completed
I'll try to keep it short.

I consider this the best novel Cuttlefish (author) wrote so far (yes, it's better than LotM).

Why?

  • Really rare mix of genres - wuxia/romance. From a male author. Pretty much as rare as Qilin horn/Phoenix feather :) The only similar novel that comes to mind - Mao Ni's "Way of choices".
  • Simple plot theme - coming of age. M/F leads meet at university, fall in love and after few years we leave them in a quite open finale. Really nothing fancy, but it's really hard to get such plot right.
  • Best character development out of all Cuttlefish novels. Not only main characters, but (some) side characters as well.
  • Some really well placed light humor. Banter between MC and his best friend or MC and his master interactions always brings a smile.
  • Down to earth romance. Some readers can even pick up some dating tips :) Also I still can't understand how some scenes got trough censorship.
  • Cool fight scenes (although translation failed in some of them)
The only downside of this novel - you won't find anything similar. Which is a shame.
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AsianessPride
AsianessPride rated it
November 22, 2020
Status: c753
Ignore all the idiots that gave this anything less than a 5 star. I honestly don’t know what problems they have with this novel. The writing is so good, the characters are so abstract and each have their own personality, style, and reason to be in the novels. The author balances romance and actions nicely, Yan Zheke doesn’t distract Lou Cheng; she doesn’t disappear and is very loveable.

I literally can’t stop reading this! I was feeling kinda disappointed after the university arc was over however, seeing Lou Cheng go through... more>> life & dearth situations and fight though his injures is awesome. The higher tier fights are more exciting and detailed. <<less
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