If someone can imagine it, there's likely already a subcategory of numerous series related to it, and each region these stories come from has its own subgenres they are biased toward. For example, Japanese manga is rife with Isekai at the moment (such as Mushoku Tensei), while South Korean Manwha is seemingly obsessed with stories about worlds full of Dungeons and Hunters (with Solo Leveling being the prime example).
But, let's also not forget about Wuxia stories, a genre of fiction originating from China all about the adventures of Martial Artists. So, let's go over some of the most prominent stories that are ongoing in 2022 with at least some part of their narrative related to Wuxia or the Murim.
Updated November 23rd, 2022, by Jacob Buchalter: As always, there are new manga, anime, manwha, webtoons, and even web novels coming out or proving how good they are every single day. And, that means that there is also a lot of new series that take inspiration or are focused around Wuxia and the Murim.
So, let's go through and take another look at all these stories involving powerful martial arts, clans, and sects with hundreds of years of history, and battles between the forces of good and evil to see what Murim stories are making a splash in 2022.
10 The Lord's Coins Aren't Decreasing
While The Lord's Coins Aren't Decreasing might seem much more like a "standard" medieval fantasy story rather than a Murim one, it actually encompasses multiple genres. This is simply because the main character, Eren Steelguard, makes use of something called "Dimensional Trading" that allows him to barter, set up shop, and trade with others between different worlds, basically functioning as a multi-dimensional online marketplace.
And, for a large portion of the story, the main world that Eren trades with, known as System 1 and nicknamed "the Murim World", is one heavily based on classic Wuxia stories. Because of this, Eren is able to incorporate elements from his own world like his own family's "Breath of Steel" technique with Murim's techniques like cultivation and qi to propel himself to absurd levels of strength.
9 The Return Of The Crazy Demon
It's no exaggeration to say that The Return of the Crazy Demon is likely the most unpredictable recommendation on here. And the main reason for that is right there in the title, this story is about the "Crazy Demon" of the Murim world, Yi Zaha. Because of his self-diagnosed insanity and advantageous circumstances from regressing to an earlier point in his life after eating the Heavenly Pearl of the Demonic Cult, Yi Zaha constantly makes choices or says things that the reader would never expect.
And, unsurprisingly, this makes for a story that easily keeps the reader's attention. Add in the fact that the characters are well-written, the story is all about Yi Zaha building his own clan, and the fights are well-done, and it's no wonder this is one of the better Murim stories in recent memory. It's not like it stands up there with some of the all-time greats like Vagabond or anything, but Return of the Crazy Demon is entertaining and tries a lot of new stuff, and that's really what counts.
8 Wild West Murim
This next recommendation is a bit unique in that it's so incredibly new (at least at the time of writing this). Wild West Murim is both a Korean Manwha and Web Novel that's only been around for about less than a year, so there's not a ton to the story quite yet. That said, the concept of doing a Wild West story but replacing all the Americana elements with classic Murim ones is just so novel. And, at least so far, Wild West Murim pulls off what it's aiming to achieve quite well.
Some examples of well-implemented concepts are the fact that Martial Arts in this setting are a selective practice that only the military of this world has access to, people use classic Dao or Jian-type swords that are commonly used in Wuxia novels instead of guns, and they even have sedge-type hats that serve the same function as classic cowboy hats would.
7 SSS-Class Hunter Who Lives To Die
First up is SSS-Class Hunter Who Lives To Die (previously SSS-Class Suicide Hunter), one of the most popular series of the last two years or so. This series is a relatively newer Manwha (illustrated by Bill K), though the source material Light Novel written by Shin Noah is a bit older. Now, fans of the story might think that this is more of a hunter-based story than a Murim/Wuxia one, and they'd be right to a certain extent, as it has a lot of similarities to other, similar series, such as The Beginning After The End. But, at its core, and especially with the most recent arc of the Manwha featuring one Heavenly Demon, this story is intimately tied to the Murim.
For one, King of Death's ghostly teacher, the Sword Emperor, comes from a Murim-inspired world. Second, there is a ton of talk of classic Murim concepts like martial art manuals, cultivation of energy, and much more throughout the story. And lastly, the most recent arc before the end of season 2 and the start of season 3 (which hasn't been very long, compared to the hiatus some other series have gone through) have all been centered on a post-apocalyptic Wuxia world that went through a zombie infestation and subsequent ice age.
6 Leveling With The Gods
Let's also get this one out of the way, as it's another one that isn't all too tied to the Wuxia genre, and this one is titled Leveling with the Gods. LwtG includes a lot of the classic popular manga and webtoon tropes nowadays all in one story. For example, it has:
- A "regressor" main character who was sent back to the past with knowledge of the future in order to try and get the best possible result in every situation.
- Constellations and classic mythological characters also exist within this "tower" such as Son Wukong (who's even getting his own Soulslike game), the Greek pantheon of Gods, and plenty of actual ancient historical figures.
- And finally, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult makes an appearance, a Wuxia classic, as well as the Heavenly Flame.
This last aspect, in particular, is where this story makes a lot of its connections to classic Murim tropes. Kim Yu-Won, LwtG's protagonist, has some ties to the Demonic Cult and there are entire floors of the tower in this story where the setting is basically set in the Murim.
5 Return Of The Mount Hua Sect
There are a couple of things that are almost ironclad rules for any author creating Murim or Wuxia-inspired manga. Just to name a few of them, most of these stories tend to include:
- Cultivation of energy or "Qi" in the Dantian usually denotes how "enlightened" a martial artist is.
- Complex Martial Arts forms and techniques are usually kept in scrolls or books within well-guarded libraries.
- Including specific Taoist sects such as the Wudang, Qingqong, and Mount Hua Sects.
The constantly recurring Sects aspect is the focus here, as many of them never actually existed, or if they did it was not usually a Sect focused on martial arts. Yet, for some reason, they're a must-have in any Murim-based story. Return of the Mount Hua Sect is a story that focuses on one sect, in particular, which is the Mount Hua Sect, a sect that has intimate ties with plum blossoms and flora in their culture and martial arts.
This story is pretty different from many other Murim stories for a couple of reasons. One, it focuses on one sect primarily, which is rare for these tales (excluding stories that focus on the Demonic Cult). Two, it's a genuinely hilarious comedy, with Chung Myung (the MC, previously known as the Plum Blossom Sword Saint) usually taking the lead as the comedic relief. And three, it's focused on the growth of an individual sect rather than one martial artist's growth over the course of a journey or the battle between many sects in some larger war.
4 Nano Machine
Of course, there couldn't be any talk of currently popular Wuxia manga without mentioning Nano Machine. Nano Machine is one of those stories that sounds hilariously absurd with a glance at its description, but very quickly proves itself to be a story well-worth reading. Essentially, it's like all the other stories centered around a character climbing the ranks of the Demonic Cult, but instead of being a story focused around a protagonist gifted with innate talent, reincarnation, and knowledge of their past life, magic, or time travel, Cheon Woon has a more technological cheat ability.
The ways that Cheon Yeo Woon uses the Nano Machine AI he was gifted to solve classic problems seen in many other Murim stories is always a blast and the way he gets back at his siblings who used to bully him is, as always, just so satisfying.
3 The Legend Of The Northern Blade
The Legend of the Northern Blade is a story that might not be at the forefront of Wuixa fans' minds right now, given that it's currently on a break from publication while they prepare for its second season, but it's still one of the most popular, most unique, and most enjoyable Murim-based stories released in the last decade. Primarily, this is thanks to having an incredibly unique starting point from the story, a lot of divergences from iconic Wuxia concepts, and an absurdly likable protagonist and main cast. Additionally, Jin Mu-Won, the protagonist of this series, is a very refreshing take on the classic "overpowered" main character. He's very self-reflective, conscious of everyone around him, and immediately accepting of his own mistakes, which is what makes the reader root for him just as much as most of the primary characters in the story do.
But, outside of all that, Legend of the Northern Blade just has some of the best Martial Arts fights seen in both manga and anime at the moment, though they are assuredly a bit less rooted in reality and more akin to something like a classic Dragon Ball Z battle.
2 Peerless Dad
Peerless Dad is another story that is so unlike any other story around it, which makes it twice as interesting. This is a manhwa all about a dad (Noh Gajang) who wants nothing more than to settle down and live happily with his kids after he escapes a life of fighting. But, because he's dumb, strong, and lives in a Murim world where the strong thrive and the weak struggle, he can really only make "good" money working for one of the orthodox sects such as the Heavenly Dragon faction. Basically, it's about an overpowered MC that has no idea how strong he is compared to everyone else and is finding that being a father is more difficult than any fight he's ever had. For all the same reasons that Kratos and Atreus' relationship is so compelling, so is the relationship between Warrior Noh and his three kids.
That said, the internal politics of this story, the slow reveal of Noh Gajang's past, and more all quickly ramp up throughout the 100+ chapters, so readers shouldn't go into this thinking it'll just be a simplistic martial arts movie in picture form.
1 Doctor's Rebirth
And finally, let's talk about Doctor's Rebirth. This manhwa starts with a pretty classic isekai anime sort of setup: a guy dies in a "normal" version of Earth and is reborn in a Murim-based world. Only this time, the MC (Jin-Cheon Hee) is reborn within the world of one of his favorite Wuxia stories, one that he already knows inside and out.
Not only that, but Jin-Cheon Hee was also a well-meaning and talented doctor in his first life. So, with all of his memories intact, Cheon Hee is now able to not only introduce modern medicine to the Murim world by becoming part of their medical faction, but he also uses his knowledge of the novel to save characters from death or prevent them from treading down dark paths.