The visuals are amazing. The acting good. The Story not so much.

Even though thought the two leads are visually stunning and good actors, together they don't seem to work at all. There's such a lack of chemistry.

The story also fails them. The FL approaches the ML with a ulterior motive, dupes him for a while but falls in love with him instead. Ultimately, to protect him, the FL lies to ML and kicks him off a cliff with a stab in his chest, expecting him to live. The ML finally believes her lies and we can't really blame him for it. He comes to hate her for it and in the end, just as she leaves one prison, she is captured by him and imprisoned again. The FL just keeps exchanging one prison for another.

That's a concise version of the entire story. Despite its amazing visuals & stellar cast and characters, It is so damn boring, I couldn't have finished part 1 without the fast forwarding. But for some reason, I'm glad that I watched it.

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If you don't like to see FL being blamed for everything that goes wrong, skip this one.

First things first, the description of the show on MDL is not entirely accurate.

Since going in I already knew that this was going to be at least 3 different lifetimes for the lead couple to finally get together, i was waiting with abated breath for Chong Zi to die. I did read some reviews but majority were moaning about the actress's skills. Honestly, she isn't bad. I have seen other actresses do worse. So, to me, she wasn't that annoying, just a minor tolerable nuisance int he back of my mind.

1st Lifetime: Episode 1 to Episode 14/15
The one thing I was curious about the most was how did she die in the 1st lifetime, lo and behold, the ML killed her himself. The FL was too devoted to him, while he was devoted to her, his major concern was controlling her evil miasma. And even though he had feelings for her, they were not enough to find a way to save her in that lifetime. It was especially saddening to watch because Chong Zi though the world of him and he did seem like a intelligent and powerful sage, maybe it was his plan to kill her and allow her be reborn and he did go out of his way to ensure she was reborn again. But pretty coldhearted no.

2nd lifetime: Starts episode 15 & doesn't really end at least not until ep 39/40.
The leads are super messed up, in the second life they continue the same cycle. Chong Zi was such a goner over Luo Yin Fan that she was quick to forgive him no matter how many times he let her down. She just went right back to him. In Chong Zi's second lifetime, Luo Yin Fan decided that he would protect her at all costs but he was the most unsuitable person to protect her. He actually put her in more harm and no matter how many things his sect did wrong, they all just blindly decided to overlook those things, but Chong Zi took one misstep and it was a crime. They all, including Luo Yin Fan treated her abominably. Although he claimed to love her, he never really accepted all of her. It wasn't a love story that I rooted for.

Instead I was hoping that Qin Ke would win her over. Even though he didn't much help Chong Zi in the beginning, in her second lifetime, he always helped her, protected her and stood up for her against the sect, even when Luo Yin Fan tried to kill her on numerous occasions.

The immortal sect, all high and mighty was so corrupt. None of the people in the sect were logical at all. Its all black and white to them, immortals= good and demons= evil. All they see is evil miasma/breath, and they get murder in their eyes. Anything anytime goes wrong, kill Chong Zi! They really had so much hatred for someone who had done nothing to them. It was just plain awful to see.

And how does it all end, Luo Yin Fan sacrifices himself, but even with a powerful actor the scene was so underwhelming for me.

3rd lifetime: 3rd for Chong Zi & 2nd for Luo Yin Fan. (Episode 41 *Special mini episode*)
It was too short and not really interesting to my liking. The first 2 lifetime while not really romantic were at least interesting to watch. At times, they were intense. But its fine for people who hoped they ended up together.

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Gets Intense From Time To Time

Initially, I thought this was one of those mini dramas that are just fluffs that make you happy, but that wasn't the case. While it had some of those elements that make you feel giddy, it also had some pretty terrible moments.

FL is such a cutie, too damn trusting for her own good. I had so much fun watching her and see her become friends with the woman who tried to hate her in the beginning. Since the moment she married the ML, she was suspected of being a mole. The ML wet out of his way to treat her poorly, let's all forget "innocent until proven guilty". When that arc was over, we got the better version of ML but he blew too hot and cold a little too fast.

In my books, the worst thing a ML/FL can do is marry another woman and be cruel to the FL/ML. That is the line I draw. This cliched marry another woman/man to protect their partner trope has been used so many times that I'm over it. It just sheds light on the imbalance between their relationship. Can the fools not trust each other and play the game together? No, instead it is better to play the other. What's worse the poor FL had to be the bridesmaid and give him away to that women and he still went through with the marriage. What a spectacle. Even before that, the ML treated FL poorly when he found out his brother's death. Yes, you are allowed time to grieve and push people away for a while, but to not trust her at all. Just the whole lack of trust dynamics makes him ill-suited for her. What's the use of all the sacrifices, when all you ever do is leave your partner behind. Wouldn't she be better off?

The later half of the drama is too depressing. With these dramas, you have to got to know, when one of the lead couple makes a promise, its bound to be broken and worst is yet to come. And it has a sad ending, which is thankfully overtaken by the special episode.

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Loved This Version Of Story For Little Red Fox & Imperial lord.

I started watched this right after Eternal Love. I wasn't a big fan of the ending these two got over there and am glad that this sequel was made.

If you watch it right after Eternal Love, right off the bat, you'll notice the difference in production, some of the central cast members, and character behaviors. Bai Feng Jiu from Eternal Love was a bit more mature compared to this one. But that stopped bothering me once we see her turn into a fox, she is so damn adorable. The male lead is of course gorgeous, however his appearance in the Eternal Love was a bit better, in terms of styling, the hair, the outfits, the colors in this one took some time getting used to.

I was hoping to see Mo Yuan/Ye Hua, but that didn't happen. At first, I thought that they didn't exist in this universe but they do they are just never seen.

This is one of the shows where the female lead falls first and falls very hard, whereas the Male lead takes forever to notice her affection. While he is not one of those who falls harder but he wasn't able to figure out his feelings on his own, his friends had to prompt him and tell him about all FL has done for him. Anyways, once he decides to pursue the FL, he is all in. That's what matters.

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What a rollercoaster! (lot of spoilers, avoid reading if you don't want major spoilers)

This was one of the dramas that I put off watching for a while. Mainly because it has too many female antagonists trying to ensure the female lead's life is full of sufferings.
1. Xuan Nü: She fell in the love with Li Jing, a guy the FL was dating at the time. So, she put in some efforts to split them apart. However, the guy was really no angel. He claimed to love the FL but was easily seduced by the Xuan Nu. He found ways to justify being with her and didn't really put in any effort to stay with FL, resulting in the breakup and him getting married to Xuan Nu.
2. Su Jin: She had such a good beginning with Ye Hua. They could have been friends who shared each other troubles. Instead, she tried to force her attentions on him. When that didn't work, she did everything possible to make sure he didn't have happy life with anyone else, even when he clearly stated many times that he didn't care for her. But her schemes were the reason that the ML had to treat the FL like utter crap, and he also had his share of blame to take for that part. Anyways talking about Su Jin , she just didn't know when to admit defeat and made everyone miserable.
3. Miao Qing: Another person who liked the crown prince Ye Hua. She was easily manipulated by Su Jin into trying to seduce Ye Hua, who saw through it often enough.
4. Le Xu: Ye Hua's mother. I had expected her to treat Su Su fairly when she was in nine heavens, but her neglect was the worse. She was biased towards Su Jin and made sure to show it every time, not really seeing that she didn't have her son's best interest in heart. Even when everything was out in the open, she still kept Bai Qian from visiting her Ye Hua's body, showing that she really was so heartless.

One of the worst and repulsive characters was Hao De [Heavenly Lord]. I remember one thing he said to Ye Hua, "You can have as many concubines as you want but don't get tangled with a woman who'll lead you astray" He said so many misogynistic things that his character was hardly tolerable. He also was one of the people who allowed Su Jin to torment poor Su Su.

Now about the male lead (Ye Hua), there are times when you think he is adorable and then you just want to outright murder him for hurting Su Su so much.
The period when I hated him:
In the beginning when he tried to be indifferent to to her to protect her, I was thinking, okay i can roll with this punch. But then things took a drastic turn. When Su Jin framed Su Su, he leapt to his feet, picking up Su Jin and leaving a confused and a bit hearbroken Su Su behind, who was questioning her sanity at this point. He did this knowing that Su Jin framed Su Su, but he had to pretend that he didn't care much about Su Su. And if that wasn't enough, he took Su Su's eyes and gave it to Su Jin, quite unforgiveable in my books. But since I knew this show had a happy ending, I wanted to see how Ye Hua would redeem himself, that is if he could at all.
The period when he redeemed himself:
When Su Su jumped off the Zhu Xian Terrace, he dived in after her when he could have clearly stopped himself in time. Later, when he met her as Bai Qian, he went out of his way to be good to her. Even when he thought that Bai Qian might love Mo Yuan, he was okay with it as long as she had a little affection for him as well. Not only that, he also went through many challenges to bring Mo Yuan back to life for Bai Qian, knowing that she might choose Mo Yuan. Also, the Male lead has never been unfaithful. He hated Su Jin and didn't every look at any other women.

Mo Yuan (The one we all thought was the male lead): From the get go, it was easy to notice that Mo Yuan treated Si Jin (Bai Qian disguised as man) differently, with affection. But with the way Si Jin treated Mo Yuan, it was hard to guess if the devotion was one of purely of disciple towards that of a master or anything romantic. Had Ye Hua not existed, may be there would have been something between the two. When Mo Yuan came back to life, it was easy to see how bothered he was that Bai Qian loved Ye Hua. It was plain to see in his eyes. However, by the end of the show we could see that he had accepted it.

Let's talk about the female lead (Si Jin/Su Su/Bai Qian )
Its hard not to love Si Jin and her shenanigans. It was nice to her grow into someone who could lead an army alongside her brothers from Kunlun Mountain. Her loyalty to her master remains unchallenged. After she left the mountain with Mo Yuan's body, she continued to grow into her identity of Bai Qian, the great lady.
As Su Su, she was kind but had the worst fates. The words "this world can be so cruel to the kind," remind me of her. All of the people in the nine heavens messed her up. The only person who grieved her passing was Ye hua, for others she was just a passing mortal. She was so messed up that she left her child behind, something that I'm conflicted about. I don't like her for abandoning her child, but at the same time she was too messed up to care for one. Even when she regained her memories as Bai Qian, she made the decision to forget not just her worries but also her baby.

Coming to the story, when it comes to Bai Qian's identity as the monarch of Qingqiu, there were times when she didn't pull her weight. I felt the same way about the Mo Yuan, the god of war, especially when he came back to life. All the Xianxia dramas I have watched have so much corruption in the heavenly realm, starting with the emperor himself. So, there are a lot of characters we end up wanting to punch.

I have been binge watching continuously without even taking time to leave reviews, but this one made me want to take the time and write everything down! That's how much I was invested in it. Although the ML eventually grew on me, once in a while I let out that silly giggle because he kept reminding me of Professor Snape.

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Terrific Actors. Riveting Story.

After watching this, I realized that Bai Lu is actually a good actress. I have watched her in two dramas before this and didn't really think much of her acting skills. Its not that she didn't stand out, she is terrific and charming, but the scripts just weren't right for her. Kunning palace was such a terrific scripts, with a lot of plot holes and missed potential, regardless it was riveting until the very end.

And after watching Zhang Ling He play the role of Xie Wei / Xie Ju'an, I have come to realize that he was made to portray historical characters. He is so unrecognizable from his modern day roles, where he reminds me of a teenager. In his roles historical roles, he bring us a different aura, just like he did with his role in Love Between Fairy and Devil. I'm going to check out few of his other dramas as well to see more of him. In some scenes in Kunning Palace, he kinda overdid it and we have to ask the directors what were they thinking. For example, the first scene where they introduced him, they gave us a close up of his neck. It just looked so damn funny. But apart from some of these weird instances, he did a phenomenal job with this character.

You'll Keep Guessing Who The FL ends up with until the last few episodes (Spoilers below)
Let's begin with the adorable Yan Lin, he brought light to Ning's life. While she never showed any romantic affection for him, she cherished him a lot.
With Zhang Zhe, the story was so complex that it wasn't fully explored. Even though it seemed slow paced, it felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities to make their story flow. After claiming to like him so much, Ning seem to have given up way too quickly on what could have been between them and so did he. Despite her being a stranger to him, he was attracted to her and we can see in his expression that it was not just because of her looks.
Xie Wei / Xie Ju'an, the reason I was glad that it didn't work out with Zhang Zhe. While Ning would have had a sort of peaceful life with Zhang Zhe, he would never truly have understood Ning as a person. He was a bit too rigid for her, sometimes that makes a good choice but the chemistry between Xie Wei & Ning was just too strong to notice anything else.

What really pissed me off was the story between Jiang Xuehui & Shen Jie. Shen Jie seemed like such a powerless character that it was hard not to feel sad for Jiang Xuehui and kind of curse Shen Jie for not having spine.

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Chemistry between the leads is good, worth the time spent watching it!

I usually tend to avoid mini-dramas like these because they lack flow and are not very coherent. This one flowed smoothly, was easy to follow and the chemistry between the leads was so damn good. It was also the light drama that I needed to watch to get rid of the C-Trauma I watched before this.

The acting was good. The story was nice. All is on a good drama.

The only thing amiss was the ending. It is an happy ending, but it would have felt nice, if the ML would have acknowledged that he remembered the past times. But the way it ended, we aren't sure if he remembers. Other than that, this has made me want to give mini-dramas another try.

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Could have been better

I have seen the original Korean Drama W (2016) and its natural to make comparisons. The chemistry between the two leads in W (2016) is undeniable.

I was glad to come across The Next Stop W (2023) but its not very well-written or executed. Everything is a miss.
The lead actors didn't have much of a chemistry.
While the ML is attractive, he lacks the charm that Lee Jong Suk brings to the table.
The FL was fine, the script poorly written, trying to smash everything together, just rushing to the ending.

I believe this could have turned out better if the durations of the episodes were longer, and the script better written.

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Love the outifts, the characters, and the concept.

While both Ding Yu X and Yang Chao Yue played all their characters to the T, Ding Yu X is a pro. They both also looked great in all the life times they shared together. Except for Chu Kong's standoffishness after the couple's first love tribulation together, he was pretty decent to the FL. They also had good chemistry.

We got to see so much of their lives as Lu Chang Kong & Song Xiang Yun that I had hoped, we could have gotten more details about the other life times as well. The ending was also too rushed and just not enough closure for us who sat through all these lifetimes.

Except for the first tribulation where Xiu Ming practically engineered their sad fates, his characters mellowed down and didn't do much damage. There was too much wasted potential there.

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Enemies To Lovers, Hilarious Body Swaps Occasions, & Great Outfits

Loved watching it. The lead couple were good together and there were only a few times that I had to curse at them for being idiots. But the drama was interesting. Having seen the ML in other modern shows, I didn't actually think much of his acting skills, but this show changed my mind. He along with the FL did a fantastic job. I did find Orchid's character annoying the beginning, but eventually got used to it.

The supporting characters were decent. Shang Que was adorable. You also can't help but like both Fairy Dan Yin & Jie Li. Other characters didn't' leave much of an impression.

The characters are great, but lets also talk about the beautiful outfits worn by Dongfang Qing Cang! He had some great headdress! The stylist did a wonderful job on all his outfits as well as look.

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You might want to skip the subplot and focus on the scenes with the main leads

First in Broker and now in this, Luo Yun Xi seems to be a pro at leaving the viewers heartbroken. I do not like these kinds of endings, I kept hoping that he would reappear or be reincarnated so they could actually meet again but nope. If going into the drama I had known this, I wouldn't have watched it but then I would have missed out on a decent drama with leads that share powerful chemistry.

Of course there are many scenes that were too dramatic but the show kept things interesting. However after all the suffering these two went through they deserved to be happy together.

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Somewhat Confusing Secret, But Adorable Babies & The Couples are also good

ML & FL had good chemistry, however someone said it right the ML failed to show the range of emotions that FL presented flawlessly. The two children were just adorable and it was easy to miss them when the plot focused too much on the adults.

The story itself was okay, I was hoping a bit more from it. I'm still unsure about the role FL's sister played in the entire story apart from being the mother of those children. That part was so boring I had to speed it up.

The worst part of the show was the little boy chasing the car, asking his mother to not go. Worst decision made by FL, she was too hasty and selfish. We all know how much it had to hurt knowing ML married her with ulterior motives in mind, but in that moment, she failed to protect that little boy who adores her.

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Was written by a teenager for teen audience?

If it wasn't for my curiosity, I would have dropped this drama in the 1st 10 episodes. The central plot of this drama goes like this, The Lead couple get together for 2 minutes, promise to be together forever, and then separate 2 minutes later. Every episodes is just a weird version of this. They are constantly stuck in this loop. As if that wasn't enough in season 1, they decided to do the same in season 2 as well.

There were only two things i liked about this drama, first were the characters, however none of them got a good story arc. Second, the ending. While it isn't usually an ending i prefer, the entire drama was so childish that I thought the ending was wonderful.

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The Male Lead character looked utterly disinterested in everything

If there was an award to be given for, Bland Face, Unresponsive, and Inactive Male Lead with zero expressions it should go to the ML in this show. Even when the scene called for it, the Male lead didn't show any expression a lover would show for their partner. The FL here got the short end of the stick, and the ML lucked out.

The people around him were more caring for the FL then he ever was. He always had to be coaxed into reaching out to her, even when he had done her wrong. I wanted to like this character but he doled out affection as if it cost him his life.

The story for the ML was also not written well, although it was a 42 episode long arc, they failed to show all the good things he did for the FL, instead they kept telling us that he did it. That didn't engender me to him.

There were far too many characters to remember by name. I liked Xie Yan Ran the most, for a supporting character she is one of the best I have seen. Pretty straightforward, not blaming FL for all her problems, and a great friend to her.

Now, let's not even get started with the ending. While the lead couple gets their happy ending, the story is not clearly explained. Just a lackluster ending.

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