Martial Peak starts out with the observation of Yang Kai carrying out his daily tasks as usual. His daily tasks essentially consisted of sweeping and being made a laughingstock. His clothes were black and simple to clean.
While the task of brooming and sweeping is simple, he managed to do it in a way that displayed elegance. It was as if the specks of dust were moving in unison with the broom and the way Yang Kai elegantly moved his body.
Yang Kai was, after three years of cultivation within the highly ranked High Heaven Pavillion Sect, only able to achieve Tempered Body Third Stage. The ranking system goes quite in-depth, though essentially in those three years the other students were able to cultivate a much higher rank.
By achieving a higher rank, they were allowed to enter the main building of their sect, pay their respects and advance toward their future. However, Yang Kai’s rank was nothing more than mediocre, and therefore he was given the option to either leave or stay as a Trial Disciple. He chose to stay, though was never allowed into the main building. He took up a sweeping job to make ends meet.
High Heaven Pavillion was known for having a highly competitive atmosphere which drove its disciples to grow and compete against one another. Friendships and bonds were fake and tattered, with the base of sole self-growth and nothing more. With Yang Kai’s inability to be much of a competitor, he was known as his sect’s shame.
With over 3000 disciples, the number of trial disciples was less than 10 mostly because of the humiliation they faced. As Yang Kai was walking along, a crowd of 30-40 surrounded him, all challenging him to fight according to the sect’s rules.
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- Part 1: Predictability through the Beginning of Martial Peak
- Part 2: Main Theme of Martial Peak
- Part 3: The Length of Martial Peak
- Part 4: Wrapping Up
Part 1: Predictability through the Beginning of Martial Peak
Martial Peak has a good introduction, in the sense that we get a good chunk of background to Yang Kai’s motivation and drive, a good understanding of what type of person Yang Kai is, a shared sympathy for Yang Kai, and a rush of excitement waiting for him to become what he was destined to be.
However, the introduction was lackluster in numerous ways. There are so many novels that start out with the main character being humiliated in one or numerous ways, finding some sort of power-up or special ability, then proving everybody else wrong and making themselves look cool or fascinating.
Doesn’t that fit right into Yang Kai being tormented and then finding a black book of cultivation to change his life? The execution itself was quite nice, though the concept itself could have been more unique with a couple of changes.
The purpose of the introduction was for the reader to pity the state of the main character, in order that they might find it more fascinating for said character to become overpowered and essentially unbeatable. That fascination gets diluted by the predictability of the incoming empowerment, which everyone expected.
Part 2: Main Theme of Martial Peak
As observable in its very name, Martial Peak is a story comprising of martial arts – a very interesting take on it at that. With a little mix of alchemy and cultivation, we get a neat amalgamation that encompasses both fantasy and a little hint of realism. The action sequences in this novel, as a result, go very in-depth almost as if a movie was playing in the reader’s mind.
While it seems completely irrelevant judging by the manner in which the story started out, the story does have a harem aspect to it as well, with Yang Kai having numerous plot hole-proliferating wives. This aspect is probably the weakest within the novel since Yang Kai’s refusal to touch more than one woman in the novel starts getting annoying.
They are quite the attraction for erotic scenes and while they do get pretty entertaining and steamy, the context behind those scenes really ruins it. A world-threatening event could be happening while Yang Kai’s off trying to satisfy himself which also somehow makes him stronger.
The ranking system plays a role as well in expressing how strong an individual is. At the bottom are the Ordinary Disciples, which Yang Kai initially failed to achieve. Then come the Lower Base Disciples, the Elite Disciples, and the Core Disciples.
Self-growth and empowerment are quite obvious tropes in this novel, which was executed well, to say the least. Yang Kai’s definitive motives to improve his cultivation were solid and his resolve in fights felt very justifiable and realistic to the reader.
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Part 3: The Length of Martial Peak
The original work of the country-of-origin spans over 6009 chapters till completion, with the translation having around 4000 chapters. The chapter count may be a good thing for a few, and a bad thing for others. Though, what can be said is that the quality of the series drops severely after chapter 500. The story’s continuity gets severely affected, and the constant realm-hopping starts receiving pacing issues.
The story gradually loses its very understanding of itself, becoming more of a power fantasy than a martial arts novel. The concepts behind each arc also get dumber each time, which is very frustrating as you keep reading through, unwilling to do so.
Part 4: Wrapping Up
Martial Peak is an initially well-built concept with some of the most excellent displays of action, worldbuilding, fantasy, and adventure which a first-time reader can fall in love with gradually. Seeing Yang Kai evolve into someone greater after literally being a sweeper is a satisfying sight to see.
One of the amplifications to the satisfaction derived from Yang Kai’s development and action sequences where he puts down his enemies has to be the fact that he was a sweeper. The author definitely felt the irony in that and used it to their advantage.
While the first few chapters aren’t especially unique, that takes a turn in the later chapters when Yang Kai starts getting a grip on life. His inheritance of the Demon God stood out and elevated his character. His way of fighting is especially entertaining with his thirst for blood, and outside battle, he can be likable as well with an interesting side cast.
While the chapters get worse progressively, the worsening itself happens quite late into the novel when the reader develops a certain love for it which is what a novel strives to do. I would recommend Martial Peak as a great novel for people trying to get into the genre of foreign web novels.
Read a similar novel, The Greatest Martial Arts Cultivator, now!
