For manhwa like Gosu, start where Gosu readers do: in two r/manhwa threads asking for something similar, they point to The Legend of the Northern Blade, another murim revenge story about a young fighter who trains alone in the mountains, and it's finished. After that, the right choice depends on what kept you reading Gang Ryong's story. Return of the Blossoming Blade is the long ongoing murim series WEBTOON itself pairs with Gosu, The Breaker moves the master-and-student setup into a modern Korean school, and Nano Machine gives its hero a shortcut to power and makes him survive a ruthless succession fight anyway.
What Gosu is, in one paragraph
WEBTOON's English blurb gets the joke in early: "When his master dies, Gang Yong pledges to avenge his teacher at all costs." He trains "in seclusion," heads to town to hunt the traitors, and finds they're "already dead? Well, what's he supposed to do now?!" (Naver's Korean original spells him Gang Ryong, 강룡.) It's a classic wuxia setting, not a modern one, and Naver lists the finished run as 236 episodes, published from September 2015 to April 2021. Gosu is also the follow-up to Yongbi the Invincible by the same writer and artist, Ryu Gi-un and Mun Jeong-hu; Naver's synopsis opens by billing them as Yongbi's "최강의 콤비" (strongest duo). Studio N and Toei Animation signed an agreement in April 2023 to co-produce a Gosu anime.
Manhwa like Gosu at a glance
| # | Series | English edition | Status | Closest to Gosu's |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Legend of the Northern Blade | Tappytoon | Completed, 202 chapters | Revenge for a master, mountain training |
| 2 | Return of the Blossoming Blade | WEBTOON | Ongoing, Season 3 | Murim world, a sect to rebuild |
| 3 | The Breaker | WEBTOON (Eternal Force) | Korean run on hiatus | Master and student |
| 4 | Nano Machine | WEBTOON | Ongoing | Borrowed power, ruthless rivals |
1. The Legend of the Northern Blade: the one Gosu readers name first
The Legend of the Northern Blade, Korean volume 1 cover (image via AniList).
Tappytoon's summary: when the leader of the Northern Heavenly Sect is accused of colluding with the enemy, "he is forced to disband the sect and commit suicide to protect his son, Moowon." Moowon escapes to the mountains, "trains to master the fighting techniques of his predecessors," and comes back down to "avenge his father's death." Swap master for father and it's Gosu's opening move, played straight.
It's also the pick Gosu readers reach for. In an r/manhwa thread asking for anything similar, one reader wrote that it's "for sure a similar in terms of how both really loves to destroy the landscape," and in another thread someone put it as "both MC kind of wants to avenge their master/family. It is Murim too same as Gosu." AniList has the Korean run finished in November 2024 at 202 chapters, and Tappytoon marks the English edition completed, so you can read it straight through. Our Legend of the Northern Blade review has the full verdict.
2. Return of the Blossoming Blade: the long murim run WEBTOON pairs with Gosu
Return of the Blossoming Blade (image via WEBTOON).
WEBTOON lists Gosu under "You may also like" on this series' page, and the setup explains why. Cheongmyeong of the Mount Hua Sect dies after killing the Demonic Cult's leader, then "awakens a hundred years in the future" to find his sect "reduced to a mere shadow of itself," and sets out "to restore Mount Hua to its former glory."
Where Gosu is finished, this one is the commitment pick. The English edition is in its third season, with Episode 179 of Season 3 posted on October 13, 2026, and new episodes every week. Pick it if what you want after Gosu is more years in the murim world rather than a story that wraps up. Our Return of the Blossoming Blade review covers it in depth.
WEBTOON's own trailer runs just over a minute and shows the art and tone before you commit:
*WEBTOON's official trailer for Return of the Blossoming Blade (YouTube).*
3. The Breaker: the master and student, in a modern school
The Breaker: Eternal Force (image via WEBTOON).
The Breaker is the one pick here that leaves the old murim world. In Eternal Force, the current WEBTOON series, a bullied student named Haje Kang meets an upperclassman who "happens to be one of the most powerful martial artists in the Murim, the hidden world of martial arts," and begs him for training. If Gosu's appeal for you was the bond between a fighter and the master who shaped him, this is the same relationship from the student's side.
Know the status before you start. WEBTOON's English run of Eternal Force stops at Episode 100, its Season 1 finale, posted June 9, 2024, and Naver lists the Korean series as on break. The two earlier parts, The Breaker and The Breaker: New Waves, are finished and in print in English from Ablaze. The Breaker reading guide sorts out the order.
4. Nano Machine: power handed down, then fought for
Nano Machine (image via WEBTOON).
Gang Ryong walks into the murim with his master's techniques; Yeo-un gets something stranger. WEBTOON's blurb: a "mysterious nanomachine injection from a future descendent" lands on a boy whose mother isn't one of the High Priest's official wives, in a "fierce competition against his powerful half-siblings." Pick it if the part of Gosu you liked was a young fighter carrying power someone else gave him into a fight he isn't supposed to win. Our Nano Machine review goes further, and best cultivation manhwa has more inherited-power stories.
If you want Gosu's creators again
Readers in the same threads keep pointing back to Yongbi the Invincible. "Gosu is the sequel to Yongbi and the side story so check that out if you haven't already," one wrote. It isn't a numbered pick because AniList lists no English storefront for it, and you don't need it first: in a thread asking exactly that, one Gosu reader said, "I read Gosu from start to finish and never knew it had a prequel. think you're good."
Our take
Start with The Legend of the Northern Blade. It's finished, it shares Gosu's revenge-for-a-mentor spine, and it's the series Gosu readers name first. Pick Return of the Blossoming Blade instead if you want something to follow every week for a long time, and save The Breaker for when you specifically want the training relationship rather than the murim world.
How we checked this
For this update we checked Gosu's WEBTOON page, Naver's listing and synopsis, AniList's entries for all five series, Tappytoon's Legend of the Northern Blade page, the WEBTOON pages for the other three picks, Naver's 2023 press release about the anime and three r/manhwa threads. We haven't reread these series for this update; the comparisons come from the publishers' blurbs and from those readers. This update fixed the setting (Gosu isn't a modern-day story, so The Breaker's school setting is now the contrast, not the match), corrected Gosu's episode count to Naver's listing, removed an unsourced claim about a later Studio Mir announcement, and dropped the TL;DR, Key Takeaways and FAQ.
Last reviewed: October 15, 2026
Related Reading
- Gosu manhwa review: whether Gosu itself is worth starting.
- Gosu reading guide: how the finished run is laid out.
- Best martial arts manhwa 2026: the wider field, historical and modern.
- Best murim manhwa 2026: the genre ranked.
