It a creative and hilarious story with masterful action/ sect progression, and while doesn't do anything extremely unique for the first part, it sure as hell does it properly. It has a wide fanbase in korea, but western circles do not discuss it as much, in my observation. For me, it is one of the best murim manhwa out there, but I haven't really read another clear contender for first place just yet either.
Characters 10/10
Not only does this manhwa embody the spirit of martial arts well, it also grounds the overpowered MC with such logical limiters and personality that despite his arrogance and severe lack of discipline I can see the legendary martial artist in him. Cheonmyeong is the character that carries this entire plot (quite literally). You will see what he does right, and what he might be doing wrong, and the writers give you substantial space for you to make these speculations and characters that are there to embody these speculations, (such as that one "villain," given reasonable motivation to criticize Chenmyeong that comes in the later half of the pre-hiatus arc). The answer is mostly that he is very much in the right though and even if he isn't, the people can't do anything about it, which results in some pretty hilarious scenes. The comedy resulting from the character reactions to the MC is really top notch.
Story 7/10
Now this is a rather straightforward story, but its depth comes from how clearly it executes the dynamics between sect members. Everyone's reaction to everyone is very reasonable, and in a genre plagued by contrivances (I read too much garbage manhwa to not point this out), this goes above and beyond in every aspect. In fact, its delightful simplicity makes it such a fun reread, as it still has details you can watch out for in the background, in the artwork, and in the small interactions between the characters. I have reread the first part of this manhwa (as of me writing this, it just began continuing publishing its second part) 3 times over and it got better through each read. In fact, the jump of quality between the 1st and the 2nd read through is amazing particularly because of how you know everything will play out.
(Edit: After reading the LN, the story is more complex than I was able to pick up on in the manhwa, and this complexity is present in the manhwa too but because you cannot read the MCs inner thoughts consistently, you can easily overlook this. In the LN this is a story about trauma as well as sect building, but it is hard to convey with the webtoon style.)
Art 9/10
The style is great-- everything is well-drawn and simple, but still detailed enough to be original. Every character is perfectly designed, and they have this incredible balance between under-designed and normally designed that you are shocked at how such a simple look to a character can seem so original and unique. Cheonmyeong just has a black ponytail and pink eyes as his defining features, yet he is so vividly imagined and distinct. Also the character expressions in this manhwa are just perfect, you must see them for yourself.
Overall 9/10
Blossoming blade isn't perfect, obviously, as it sometimes drags on strange moments, and it is easy to differentiate between important characters and background characters and this can sometimes remove immersion (as literally the most relevant third grade disciples are the most non-generic looking ones and the rest are look like filler with small exceptions.) Sometimes, characters can have sudden mood changes. Yet these feel like nitpicks on the grand scheme of things. The scale of the world is limited for the first part, but it kind of makes sense as it is very much focused on Mount Hua and how it must be saved from the brink of collapse.
Anyway, I couldn't recommend reading this and then rereading it enough, it really enhances enjoyment, trust me bro.
