Reading the Novel made me appreciate/love the Drama better - CONTAIN SPOILERS

To be honest, some may prefer the novel better and this is a matter of personal preference on what appeals to an individual taste.

However, on my end, I prefer the Drama better because in the Drama Moonlight Mystique, I always love that side to Bai Shuo where she showed me she have a clean cut with Chong Zhao and when it comes to between the two she will choose Fan Yue over Chong Zhao and she made it clear and showed how Fan Yue is special to her in that sense. I always love how Drama Bai Shuo show a clear decision on who is important to her early on(so I will always appreciate this change done in the drama). 

It doesn't matter to me if this hurts Chong Zhao in the process because he is not going to be endgame with her anyway so its better he gets a wake up slap earlier rather than later.

I am not doing up this thread to make it sound like a novel hater, I just prefer the Drama over the Novel and while the Novel did have some enjoyable moments I like (which I will list at the end of this post), but the bad(unappealing points) overshadowed the good things in the novel for me, so I am not a Novel fan despite I love Tian Qi/Fan Yue and the pairing Tian Qi and Yuemi on my side here.

So I will start with one of the things I didn't like about the Novel, in comparison to the Drama. It is the dragging on about the whole LT...I wish the writer made a clean cut in the novel (like the drama) where she is more clear about who she really loves. While in the Novel, Bai Shuo still cared for Mumu, she didn't make it clear for Fan Yue how she felt for Chong Zhao, clearing this whole drag of an LT until that time when they finally confessed, which is in the Final Chapter... yes, the FINAL Chapter.. (!!)

But I don't know man, sometimes I felt maybe this is Tian Qi's retribution (karma???) Because in the past(Shang Gu Novel) he didn't know how Yuemi felt for him until very late and his affection was directed at Shang Gu and this have hurted Yuemi because her love was unrequited. So it felt like the writer is doing this on purpose to show that "this is Tianqi's turn to feel what Yuemi felt back then".

I don't support it back then since I felt sorry for Yuemi, and I don't support it now because I feel sorry for Novel Fan Yue/Tian Qi. 

This is why for me, in MM, I didn't mind their backstory was changed because I love how Jing Yuan only ever loves Xing Yue on his end. I love how his love for her was directing at the right person(Xing Yue) who can return his love. Honestly, for me, I am open for changes if those changes are done in a better light for me, and in the Drama, it was a change I liked on my end. 

Novel vs Drama comparison
Finding the 5 contemplations is something that was changed in the Drama. This didn't happen in the Novel. There is no 5 contemplations like in the Drama. But Fan Yue still have the Seven Stars Soul Burning Seal on him (even when it was for a different reason in the Novel). Novel Fan Yue needed to collect the Divine (Bodhi) wood to get rid of the seven stars soul burning seal on his chest so he can regain his original divine being - True God Tianqi and regain his memories.

Ling Long and Rong Xian tragic backstory did happened in the Novel(although I kinda just skim past that arc in the novel), and the whole Fox arc where Mu Jiu fallen in love with Tian Huo and wanted to marry her did happen in the Novel. Tian Huo and Mu Jiu interactions in the Novel was more enjoyable to me when compared to the Drama (so I guess this was a plus in the Novel). In terms of character, Mu Jiu is also more useful in the novel when compared to the drama. At least in the novel he was stronger and can actually fight.

Fu Ling and Bai Xi is not the same person. Fu Ling is a Half Demon. Demon from her mother side, and Immortal from her father side, and I was quite shocked to find out that Jin Yao was her father, because I wasn't expecting that at all. In the Novel, Chong Zhao and Fu Ling was pretty unrequited on Fu Ling side, and I don't see the appeals in that pairing on my end. To be honest here, I actually like the Drama version/portrayal to Fu Ling is Bai Xi, and they are the same person since it makes her character more complex and interesting. In the Novel, I don't care for them at all. How the Drama handled Fu Ling and Chong Zhao, although it was late(almost half way through the story), their love story at least was believable to me, where I came to like/care for them in the Drama. And this is coming from someone who said I don't think Fu Ling can redeem herself for me, but she did in the end. In the Novel, they failed to give me the same impact/appeals the way the Drama did. This was mainly due to Chong Zhao feelings for Bai Shuo didn't change, not even in the end. So all this time, I didn't feel his romantic love for Fu Ling in the Novel so that is another negative point for me.

Unlike the Drama where Bai Shuo and Fan Yue goes through things together early on, In the Novel, Fan Yue and Bai Shuo is separated for the most part and it is only when he was Mumu is when they get to share those times together. I can tell you this is the main reason why I keep putting the Novel on hold, on/off because I didn't enjoy the times when they are separated doing their own things... They only really started to live together, not as Mumu and Bai Shuo, but as Fan Yue and Bai Shuo is when Chong Zhao deflected from the Immortals and joined the Cold Spring Palace... And that was towards/almost near the end too...

When Fan Yue went through the memory loss and was Mumu for a while. In the Drama, Bai Shuo said she was his lover, but in the Novel, she said she was his Master (so there's a difference here).. Drama Bai Shuo cares and accepts both versions of Mumu and Fan Yue being the same to her, and she never separated Mumu and Fan Yue as two different people. I love that in the drama from her. 

But in the Novel, Bai Shuo actually separated them at first and I honestly really disliked how selfish Novel Bai Shuo was when she did that purposely the second time to have Fan Yue revert to Mumu because it really will hurt Fan Yue in the process, she only cared about wanting Mumu back, yet she didn't take into consideration that by doing so, this will really hurt Fan Yue's body and the process of the refining the Divine Wood and getting rid of the Seven Stars Soul Burning Seal. But luckily in the second time, Fan Yue refined it before Bai Shuo came to Pheonix mountain. So her plan didn't work. 

Fan Yue did pretend to be Mumu again at first, to trick her into coming with him to the Demon Realm where the Purple Moon lake is because it is the only way she will go with him, because Novel Bai Shuo was still afraid of Fan Yue at that time. In the Novel, it was evident at first that Bai Shuo prefers Mumu better. To her, Fan Yue is Fan Yue, Mumu is Mumu(in the novel). When she is like this, it really made me question why can't she accept that Mumu is a side to Fan Yue that is more open to his own feelings(that's why I didn't like it because I love how the Drama handled this part better than the Novel). 

When Fan Yue arrived at the scene to save Novel Bai Shuo, when she got her arms broken and in that bloody mess to save and protect Chong Zhao, when she was in Fan Yue's embrace, she asked for him to not be angry at her. When Fan Yue arrived at the scene he was mad (and hurt) to see how she can disregard her life like this. But when Bai Shuo said to him to not be mad at her anymore just these words alone, he is not angry at her all that much anymore but in my mind I was like "Well I am angry at her!"

Despite Fan Yue was mad at Bai Shuo on how she would disregard her life to save Chong Zhao, and how she broke the promise she made to him(as Mumu) he was also worried about her injuries so when he took her to the Purple Moon Lake it was to help her rebuild her spiritual core and her spiritual powers became stronger. Novel Fan Yue is more cold and is less likely to express his true feelings but you can see through his actions how he does all this in a roundabout way(indirectly) to protect and help Bai Shuo. He cares for Bai Shuo, but she didn't know about it until much later. See, this is the lack of communication that can be so frustrating but at the same time, through this comparison, it made me appreciate just how right the Drama have it for two people to actually communicate with each other!

In the Drama, there was Luan Zhu(the annoying b*tch which we are so annoyed with), where she pretended to be Xing Yue, the Goddess Jing Yuan's love 60,000 years ago in the God Realm. Well, in the Novel, something similar played out, because both Bai Shuo and Fan Yue met "Ah-Yue" in Abyssal Swamp(which if I recall correctly, was aso the same place Yuemi died? If not, my bad...). Drama Fan Yue sense the familiarity through the bracelet, which was a gift from Jing Yuan to Xing Yue back then. In the Novel, Fan Yue sense a familiarity through her eyes, because Ah-Yue have Yuemi's eyes. She did have some of Yuemi's memories as well. But unlike how the Drama has it, where Fan Yue and Bai Shuo is in this 'together', and Fan Yue is on Bai Shuo's side, in the Novel, during this time, because Fan Yue and Bai Shuo still aren't clear about where they stand, Bai Shuo was jealous of Ah-Yue during this time, and this was also the time she finally realized her feelings for Fan Yue, and how she came to terms that Mumu and Fan Yue has always been the same person. So she accepted they are the same (around this time), but she didn't confess to Fan Yue because it was a missed opportunity on her side. Fan Yue was also being considerably nice to this "Ah-Yue" in the Novel, during this time, because he sense this familiarity from her linking back to Yuemi. 

So yes, Bai Shuo was jealous, but at this point, I felt that she kinda deserve that... Because she was dragging on this unclear feelings of her before all this(which I was so annoyed about with dragging it out) where her decisions in showing ChongZhao having an important place in her heart and how she would run to Chong Zhao and have hurted Fan Yue in the process, made me kinda just want to give her this little punishment here. The funny thing was, while I hated Luan Zhu in the Drama, I didn't so much hate Ah-Yue's character in the Novel, despite their roles was similar, because the difference here is I love and care for Drama Bai Shuo, and I don't, well, not so much for Novel Bai Shuo, I felt it was about time she endured a bit of this to test her love for Fan Yue you know. This really goes to show how I feel about the Drama vs Novel version of Bai Shuo's character portrayal here.

In the Novel, Bai Shuo never found out the one who saved her back then was Tianqi. But I guess in the end, her returning back to being Yuemi and put the puzzles together she would have figured but I wish the Novel have her found out the truth as Bai Shuo you know. I always loved how she found out the one who saved her back then was Jing Yuan (in the Drama), so that was another change where the Drama was done better, at least there wasn't this plot hole in the Drama, the way the Novel did by not touching on this revelation in the end.  

***Confession - Final Chapter ***
Can you believe that in the entirety of the Novel, they only finally confessed in the Final Chapter? This is when they officially made things clear and finally confess and became an official couple(post confession)! After that confession, not long later, the battle between Fan Yue and Chong Zhao happened (Chong Zhao fell to the Devils, because of the Death of Zhen Yu). In the Novel, Chong Zhao saw Zhen Yu as his Master too! Just when Fan Yue was about to win, he died in Bai Shuo's hands(because she was being controlled...) to save Chong Zhao... In Fan Yue's dying moments, he was really hurt how Bai Shuo actions once again showed him she chose Chong Zhao over Fan Yue(so he died with that thought), I didn't like what Bai Shuo did too, but I can't blame her here since she was being controlled when she did it... When she found out what she did, she couldn't bring herself to live on, so she killed herself. Oh yes, she died in Chong Zhao's embrace -_- That ended their tribulation and they return to being True God Tianqi and High Goddess Yuemi. 

Yuemi and Shang Gu met again and they had that talk where Shang Gu asked her if she is really not wanting to see Tian Qi again. She replied Shang Gu saying in her tribulation, he died by her hands, which had settled all debts between them so they're now even and there's no need to hang onto them anymore. Shang Gu misunderstood what she meant here. She then said that this fate of tribulation was written for her so she needed to go through that fated tribulation as Bai Shuo for her to be able to return to her former identity.

Before Yuemi left to go to the lower realm, she turned back and said to Shang Gu that if Bai Shuo is her tribulation, then perhaps it is not so bad afterall. Then she disappeared to the lower realm. Tian Qi arrived shortly afterwards because he wanted to see her again. When he found out she was gone and left to go to the lower realm, he was sad(and disappointed at the same time) where he said that not even when she came back that she want to see him again. Shang Gu revealed Yuemi's last words to him before she left for the lower realm telling him what Yuemi said that she didn't mind being Bai Shuo hinting that she didn't dislike those times as Bai Shuo when they're together. This gave Tian Qi hope and he left for the lower realm to find her. In the end, he found her in the lower realm, and it was implied they will be together but to me it didn't feel satisfying with this ending leaving me wanting more. It was an open ending in the novel. Although I know it is implied they'll be together but this is all offscreen. I didn't get much of their couple time for the most part in the novel as an official Couple, so with this ending, it left an unsatisfying taste in my heart.

So for me, I love the drama better in this area. Sure Jing Yuan and Xing Yue is no more, but I already stated my feelings how I feel about this ending in the drama in those thread topics:

Jing Yuan and Xing Yue Ending(my feelings): https://mydramalist.com/discussions/zhu-yue/134640-jing-yuan-and-xing-yue-ending-contain-spoilers 

Reincarnation Explained (MM): https://mydramalist.com/discussions/738079-zhu-yue/135118-reincarnation-explained-moonlight-mystique-jing-yuan-fan-yue-xing-yue-bai-shuo

*** What made the Drama better in my perspective ***

In the drama I appreciate the changes how it showed that Fan Yue and Bai Shuo can work through things together like a healthy couple and they have that mutual trust and mutual communication once they're a couple. I love that in the drama. In the novel, Fan Yue did a lot for Bai Shuo but in a roundabout way that she didn't know about it until those time comes. And Bai Shuo is seen risking her life to go to Chong Zhao helping him and protecting him. Instead of having Chong Zhao move on and focusing on that romance between him and Fu Ling, it felt it was always Fu Ling unrequited love for Chong Zhao ....so that was a minus appeal in the novel for me...I love that in the Drama, they made Bai Shuo have a clean cut with Chong Zhao, so he can wake up earlier and move on, this was done better in the drama when compared to the Novel.

Like I said there are changes in the drama but those changes to me showed a sense of togetherness between Fan Yue and Bai Shuo working together as a team and they trust each other. Whereas in the novel, while Bai Shuo still cared for Mumu, she didn't make it clear for Fan Yue how she felt for Chong Zhao, clearing this whole drag of an LT until that time when they finally confessed (such a drag...).

The unappealing thing for me is Novel Bai Shuo had shown Fan Yue she is willing to disregard her own life to save and protect Chong Zhao. She made a promise to Mumu saying she will never abandon him but during the outlander arc she had shown him with her actions (and she know she broke that promise) that she is willing to die to go and save Chong Zhao. Fan Yue was hurt with this action of hers for a long time. I don't blame him. Whereas in the Drama remember the scene when Fu Ling made Drama Bai Shuo choose between the two, back then we thought she will choose Chong Zhao, but in the drama she surprised us in a pleasant way when she chose Fan Yue. That was a plus appeal for us in the Drama. A changed done right in the drama!

I am not so fond of Bai Shuo's character in the novel for all said. I preferred her character being changed like in the drama for me personally.

So in the end while there are changes in the drama but they still kept these references in the novel but changed it a little to fit the drama plot. Bai Shuo in the drama can protect herself but in the novel she needed Mumu or Fan Yue's protection during those situations. She still does refine medicine and is smart in her own way but how she was written like that in the novel is not that appealing to me.

I felt like I am reading the Novel (BSSS) for Fan Yue and Tianqi because I am not that fond of Novel Bai Shuo (for all said), I don't like Novel Bai Shuo for these reasons(which I have mentioned above). I definitely prefer the changes to her character in the Drama(MM) over her Novel portrayal.


So for those who didn't like these changes in the Drama, I strongly disagree because for me if they kept her character like in the novel in the drama, I wouldn't have love the Drama and her character this much. The change was done in a positive light in the drama (MM), at least how I saw it in comparison. And for this I am thankful in Moonlight Mystique for these changes.

In light of the whole situation (since I didn't want to sound like a Novel hater), like I said there are scenes I do love/enjoy in the Novel(BSSS): 

• I love Tianqi's devotion when he was searching for Yuemi's "Soul" fragments in the Novel, because he is going above and beyond to revive her, even when he is endangering his own Divine being in doing so. Finally get to see him directing his love/devotion to the right person. I love when Tian Qi got a piece of YueMi's "Soul", and he said implying that even if it is at the cost of his own life, for Yuemi, no matter what it takes, she is worth it. That really touched me in the Novel.
• I love the references to the other characters from Ancient Love Poetry and The Last Immortal. If I haven't read the Novel (BSSS), I wouldn't have known that Ao Ge/Xiu Yan and Yue Mi are very close friends, so they both hated and feels that resentment(bitterness) towards Tian Qi when he pays them a visit in the Nether-Realm when Tian Qi wanted to find the whereabouts of Yuemi's "Soul" so he can have a hint or something. Like LOL, Tian Qi is a True God, yet, they don't give a damn, because to them it was Tian Qi's fault that Yuemi is "dead".
• I love the scene between Tian Qi and Yuan Qi in the Novel when they played chess together. Even when Yuan Qi is a Spirit at this point of time in the Novel and Feng Yin couldn't see him. Although I find it hilarious that Yuan Qi calls Tian Qi "Purple Hair Uncle" ahaha LOL that was funny but in an endearing way. 
• That scene when Xuan Yi stole the wine which Tian Qi have them hid away in his place (in the God Realm), because they were gifts from Yue Mi which he cherish and he haven't touched it on his end, but Xuan Yi just took them and drink them without asking for Tian Qi's permission LOL. I know Tian Qi will not be happy if he found out but well, he didn't find out in the end due to this whole tribulation, and by the end, when he return, Yuemi is back, so I guess that is all that matters to him, because Yuemi is back, and that is more important to him then anything else
• I did enjoy the part when Fan Yue took her to the Unruly City (Demon Realm) where he gave her that little punishment in the Unrestrained Tower, because at that time, I felt she kinda deserve that, and I also found that Fan Yue was really cool in that scene (since he is the Master/Owner of that Tower), and when he was sitting on his crown chair and watch the scene unfolds from above like a True King, I found him cool on my end, but I guess what I love the most is how Fan Yue made the rule that "The First one to take the Jade Flute from her can have her", and while I agree that Fan Yue is seen to be petty lol, but this scene gave me a moment I like because I like how Bai Shuo handled the situation when the other demons was trying to catch her(she was turned into a little fox here), as she was evading them all, she ran up and evaded all those Demons who was trying to catch her, and she handed the Jade Flute to Fan Yue(when he was sitting on his chair watching her from above). That scene was actually really endearing to me (despite I was also a bit annoyed at Bai Shuo before all this, this is why I was with Fan Yue in wanting to punish her on my end). Her decisions on when she chose to hand the flute to him and not any of those Demons, actually made Fan Yue happy, where it was said that the heavy feelings in his chest, which had lingered since his awakening(Mumu back to Fan Yue), had dissipated quite simply, by Bai Shuo's actions in handing the Jade Flute to him personally, since Fan Yue said earlier that "The First one to take the Jade Flute from her can have her" was his words, and it was Bai Shuo's decision to hand herself to Fan Yue in that moment. 
• I love and enjoyed those flashbacks during their tribulation, because it revealed that Bai Shuo have a sense of connection through this flashback how she can feel how sad this "woman" is, and this was herself as Yuemi.  
• I also love the scene where Yuemi and Shang Gu had that talk when she return back to being Yuemi and I l love how Tian Qi came (running to where Yuemi is, even when he just missed her), because it really shows me he just wanted to see her again. I love how Shang Gu told Tian Qi and revealed to him, which gave him hope that Yuemi didn't dislike the time she spends with him as Bai Shuo in the lower realm, so that was a nice scene.  

So in the end, I am not saying the Novel doesn't have other good points, because it did, like some of those examples I listed above that I love/enjoyed, but I just felt like the majority part in novel, the bad and unappealing points overshadowed the good points for me. 

Also, having experienced both Drama and Novel, it is these moments when I am reading the novel is what makes me appreciate the changes in the drama so much because the Novel Bai Shuo to me is annoying when she puts Chong Zhao to a very important place in her heart and how she hurt Novel Fan Yue that I didn't like. I can see she cares for Fan Yue too, but it is always that unclear answer where she would do this for Chong Zhao and placed him to an important place in her heart, and can hurt Novel Fan Yue in the process that I didn't like/enjoy. 

So overall, I felt like the drama uses these references from the novel and made these changes that fixed what I didn't like in the novel. This is why I said after reading the novel, it actually made me appreciate the drama more because I love how the drama fixed the things I didn't like now that I've read the novel. 

Like I said at the very beginning of this post, I am not saying this to sound like a novel hater, I just prefer the Drama over the Novel and while the Novel did have some enjoyable moments I like but the bad(unappealing points) overshadowed the good things in the novel for me, so I am not a Novel fan despite I love Tian Qi/Fan Yue and the pairing Tian Qi and Yuemi on my side here. 

Also, I wouldn't say that MM wasn't faithful to the novel, because it was faithful to its novel (BSSS) by still keeping these elements and references in the novels despite there are some changes made, but to me, for the most part these changes are done in a way that fixed what I didn't like in the Novel. The Drama Jing Yuan appearance with the purple hair and purple eye is faithful to Novel Tian Qi's appearance when compared to Ancient Love Poetry Tian Qi(not having the purple hair and purple eyes). To be honest before I read the Novel to BSSS, I always thought that the purple eyes and purple hair was an addition in the Drama only since ALP Tianqi was different but it is only after reading the Novel to BSSS that I realized that is Tian Qi's real appearance. In all drama adaptations there are changes one way or another, just like how ALP have changes to the drama when compared to the Novel etc. So in the end it really just depends on how you see it tbh.

Some Parallels between Moonlight Mystique vs Ancient Love Poetry vs The Last Immortal

While at it, I just wanted to highlight some nice parallel I love when I was watching Moonlight Mystique, when compared to Ancient Love Poetry(Parent Story) and The Last Immortal, so here it is:

• When Fan Yue was teaching Bai Shuo swordsmanship(that was one of my favourite scene in MM), that reminded me back to the scene how Bai Jue taught Shang Gu Swordsmanship in Ancient Love Poetry. 
• In MM, Jing Yuan split his "Divine Mantle" in half where one part of it was reincarnated in Baize clan as Fan Yue and the other half continue to wander the world to find Xing Yue again. It was said in MM that splitting your Divine Mantle will go through great pain in doing so but Jing Yuan did it anyways because he wanted to find Xing Yue again. That actually reminded me to how in Ancient Love Poetry, Bai Jue was the same how he split his "Original Being", where he split it in two where one part of him(Bai Jue that carry the God/Immortal powers) was sealed in the Ice cave whereas the other half(Qing Mu) wander the world to gather demonic energy since he wanted to master the Power of Chaos where he mix his God Powers and Demonic powers together when they combined(merge) into one when that time comes. So in this area I think Divine Mantle(MM) = Original Being(ALP).
• At the end of MM, it was Heaven(Tian Dao) who revived/brought Fan Yue back to life because that was Heaven's way of apologising to Bai Shuo from back then and at the same time rewarding her for finally eliminating the Devil Heart. In Ancient Love Poetry, a similar scene played out how it was the Ancestral Gods who revived Bai Jue at the end. This whole resurrection played out to be very similar and can be seen like a parallel between the two stories. In MM it was Heaven,  in ALP it was the Ancestral Gods, because it was both the female lead: Bai Shuo in MM and Shang Gu in ALP wish for wanting their lover in their respective story to return to her
• I find the ending how the Male Lead comes back in MM, ALP and TLI is similar, almost like a parallel in their respective story. Fan Yue in MM when he returned in MM, he and Bai Shuo was standing at a distance, this is a parallel to TLI Yuanqi and Feng Yin ending (God I am so glad that it didn't end like this in MM), then when Fan Yue ran up to Bai Shuo and hugged her and they are in each other's embrace, this reminded me to ALP Shang Gu and Bai Jue's ending. Honestly I thought that will be like their ending but thankfully in MM we got some interactions and dialogue between Fan Yue and Bai Shuo that I love, not only that, they were given one last passionate kiss before the Drama ending so despite that MM have parallels that reminds me to ALP and TLI respectively for their ending, I am glad that MM was done better in this ending.

So that is something interesting to note there since I felt these parallel when I was watching MM on my side here. 

Oh and before I end this post, I just want to add a memorable note that while in the Drama Moonlight Mystique, Tian Qi's name cannot be referenced, but I love how the scriptwriter used the Names: Jing Yuan, Fan Yue and Mumu because they are all Canon Names to Tian Qi in the Novel, so I am grateful they stayed true to his name in the Drama (from the Novel), despite Tian Qi cannot be referenced in the Drama. This was better done than how the drama The Last Immortal change the other character names in TLI drama when compared to their names in the Novel. 

In my humble opinion, I prefer the novel version. I want to highlight that Bai Shou in the novel was under a dark spell by Fu Ling when she killed Fan Yue. She didn't choose Chong Zhao because she like Chong Zhao better than Fan Yue. She was under the dark spell of Ah Zhao's master that was entrusted to Fu Ling to protect Ah Zhao.

 Prior to the last part of the novel, Bai Shou cleared the issue with Fan Yue when she told him that Ah Zhao is a family to her. That the only person she love romantically is Fan Yue. 

It was unfortunate that she only got conscious when Fan Yue was vanishing to ashes. If she didn't choose Fan Yue, she will not lost all her will to live. Remember, that she can't die unless she repaid the immortal who saved her. But she no longer wanted to live after Fan Yue died. Without hesitation, she turned the sword in her hands and thrust it into her own chest. 

Following the story of Ancient God and Hidden God, Tian Qi and Yue Mi wont be able to return to their divine position without their tribulation as Fan Yue and Bai Shou. What happened to them is bound to happen and that's how their fated destiny. 

No offense to the drama, it was good. Really good. I like it so much but the novel is so much closer to the trilogy that led me to watch the drama.