Couple affiliated to enemy races fighting all odds to be together forever

The most striking aspect of this drama is the male character. Just like prince Su Yu in Hua Xu Yin: city of devastating love, this male lead is the best among male leads in traditional Chinese drama world. The male lead is highly loyal, persistent and ready to bend his principles, strong convictions when it comes to anything that involves the female lead.

The alpha male lead may come across as a simp to short sighted people who can't appreciate the beauty of a simple relationship in a simple story. But the alpha male lead is in fact a simple man at heart who falls deeper & deeper in his love for the female lead(FL). As the story progresses, his deep love for the FL makes him more accommodative, considerate, caring, highly thoughtful towards not only the FL but also towards her race. He is even willing to face death if he is forced to enter into intimacy with the second female lead (SFL). So luckily for the ML, she gives in to his "fake marriage only" request .


This drama is worth a re-watch! For hardore fans, this drama can be seen over and over ( at least ten times!).
There are many events, details which can't be completely explained based on pure logic. So, it would be good to classify this drama under intrusion /low fantasy.
Once again, this is a simple, beautiful intrusion fantasy story. Viewers will enjoy this if they are willing to kindly put aside their cold logic & not try to relate each & every detail with what happens in real life or with physics/chemistry/biological principles that underlie life processes in reality.

This is one of the dramas where both FL and ML get almost equal importance and screen space. What happens to both characters are really, really intertwined & affects plot development.
The FL is absolutely adorable. She may appear baby-like to many, but the truth is, she is someone who slowly evolves into the best version of her self. She is a bit slow to adapt to worst scenarios and a bit slow to discover, understand all her best traits ( which explains her impulsive, cruel reactions towards the ML at first, that she deeply regrets later).
But once the FL learns to adapt well( it's not like she was well trained & well educated like the ML from childhood!) , the FL completely understands the ML & his intents.

The FL is a cute, sweet damsel in distress type , but she is one who is not to be underestimated. She is kind, sensitive, caring in all kinds of scenarios, and never runs away from responsibilities to help others in day to day situations even when her mind, heart is badly muddled, devastated, sad.

Both FL & ML aren't power hungry or obsessed with solving the problems, issues posed by worldly politics. They just want to live a quiet, peaceful life for themselves because if they get involved in politics, they will be separated forever. Still, the main leads do their best to set things right while pursuing their personal agenda for reunion.

The only slightly annoying aspects are the fates meted out to the villian and his vamp sister, and also the ending scripted for the main leads which could have been slightly tweaked , for the better, here & there.


The ultimate sad endings thrust on the villian who is actually a real affectionate, considerate brother, and
his spoilt, pampered sister seems too cruel. Maybe bitter -sweet endings would 've been better for the duo.

As for the main leads, they really, really deserved a perfect, rosy happy ending instead of a light-hearted bitter-sweet but cute, happy ending.

But overall, because the main leads end up together in a highly romantic, intense manner oozing oodles of tenderness, this drama is worth watching a thousand times. A possibility where the FL helps the ML to get back his life force is also hinted at.

Ultimately, no matter how imperfect it was at some turns & twists of the plot; the tender, sweet, unfathomably-deep, happy ending of the main leads was worth watching.
This story is so sweet, unique & special that it is impossible to compare it with Korean drama love stories. Both are too different to be compared. Otherwise, it will be akin to comparing spices ---- cinnamon & pepper. Both has its value, utility. This story is beyond meaningless comparisons.

Don't forget to listen to the ending ost that is absolutely soulful with beautiful lyrics.

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Unconditional love

The epilogue is perfect, beautiful, romantic, & highly comforting.
All the loose ends get tied up here. Everything comes full circle. Everything feels complete, whole.

The epilogue is the only one where one gets to see the dragon king beam a warm smile.


There are no sad scenes in the epilogue. The epilogue shows the heroine's fifth lifetime.


In addition, the viewers will be in for a treat as all the most romantic scenes and dialogues from past & present gets collated here.


The unattractive aspects of the story, for eg, the female lead ending up living with other males , and both the main leads merely offering a weak resistance to ways of fate come to an end by the initial half of this drama. After that, the pattern starts to change....

This aside, the love story of the second supporting leads is sweeter, more beautiful than that of the leads. The way their love story unfolds is perfect --- full of tenderness & no unnecessary, convoluted complications.


There is gradual progression in the storyline of the main heroine throughout her lifetimes. In each succeeding lifetime, there is remarkable improvement in her her status, will power, self development, and her quality of life.
Also, her memories with the dragon king keeps getting better & clearer, more realistic in each succeeding mortal life.

The last four episodes are pretty fast paced compared to preceding ones. The action scenes though not perfect, are engaging, nice.

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Protective love is a shield

One striking aspect about this drama: beautiful, epic, soulful background music aptly composed for all key moments in the story! Major portion of the background music and two of the osts have not only an Indian musical rhythm, aesthetics but also a pan-Asian cultural appeal. Another remarkable feature are the beautiful, regal costumes of all main and supporting leads. Also, there is no tedious love triangle. In addition, the love story between the main leads is tender, beautiful, epic, intense despite the 'over a century ' age difference.
The first 12 episodes are the best --- there is variety, entertainment, charm, romance, cuteness, humour adventure, seriousness, and exotic appeal. The rest of the episodes are okay, watchable.
Overall, the main characters and the story are refreshing, novel --- compared to other clichéd plots. However, the plot development becomes bland, unnecessarily convoluted and inconsistent from episode 26 to episode 32. The side love story is hopeless, and the reactions of the side characters are immature, impulsive. The side love story starts on an interesting note, though.
On top of that, the main vamp's past history evokes so much empathy that one wishes she wasn't alloted such a tragic ending.

Yet, the good facets of this drama such as: the style and manner of interaction between the main leads, the dialogues ( including that of the supporting leads), the background music --- are so excellent --- that it keeps one engaged.

Also, the likeable female lead is strong, feisty, optimistic, resourceful, charming, but a cute damsel in distress at the same time --- a rare combination of traits. She is very direct in her appoach towards her opponents as well as enemies. Her dialogues are always power-packed when she confronts the male lead ( her master, Xue jingkong) to discuss about their love. When it comes to love, the invincible male lead flounders ( which gets really trying sometimes) ; the female lead, on the other hand, takes the bull by its horns.

The ending of this intense love story, though happy is a bit disappointing; it's bittersweet. A decade later, the male lead is resurrected, but with all his memories gone. However, since the male lead allows Ah Che to hug him, the possibility of him falling for Ah Che does not seem small.

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Love is the Panacea.

Love between Fairy and Devil is a really beautiful package full of charms. This drama is highly entertaining. Every episode is fast-paced. Overall, this drama has its own charisma, and a strong, undeniable charm. This drama definitely deserves international recognition.
Yet, the title is a bit misleading. The main male lead is devilish and truly evil only in the first 2 or 3 episodes. After that he transitions to a mild borderline anti- hero for just another twelve episodes, and from episode 16 onwards, the moon supreme ( main male lead) starts to soften up into a gentler version of his former self with occasional spells of bad temper & deception. This is so different from the portrayal of the devilish, anti-hero demon king in the original story, Cang Lan Jue.
The demon king in the novel is completely invincible, and almost invulnerable, and acts, thinks like a proper anti-hero at appropriate moments, most of the time uptill the middle & final sections of the novel. In the novel, the existence of the demon king's powers isn't dependent on some other factors such as removal of emotions. Those powers are always there whether or not he gets emotions. But, when the demon king gets back his heart, his appearance & powers improve for the better( which kind of gives a good feel while reading this part in the novel).
So, as a fan of the novel, watching the main lead portrayed this way with his set of emotional problems & weaknesses, and introduction of a second male lead in the drama version of the story was a bit disappointing. In addition, some adventurous episodes narrated in the novel got omitted. All these modifications kind of took away the beauty of the original story. This aside, little Orchid is more astute & less naive, at times, than she is in the novel. Her love for the male lead is less unconditional than in the novel. So, because of this, I felt the "opposites attract" theme kind of got toned down or diluted a lot in the drama version of the story. Overall, the plotline in the beginning had more potential which could've been fully realized in episodes, 35 & 36.

Despite all this, the drama version of the story is really addictive & gives the viewer feel-good thrills.

Later, as the plot progresses, just felt bad for the tragic character Ronghao and his love story with Chi Di Nu Zi, former goddess of war, but the love story of this master and disciple is ten times better than their love story in the original story, Can Lan Jue. I'm really glad this drama production team gave Ronghao character room for redemption. I just wish the script writers gave Ronghao & Chi Di a happy ending of their own somehow. But still glad to see the small villian making the right choice in the end after being tempted by the big villian. Now that's called character!
I also don't understand why the hypocrite, too strict & rigid heavenly emperor , Lord Yunzhong character was designed & written in a way as to be spared punishment in the story of this drama.

This drama presents a happy ending. The only problem is that the happy moments lasts only for a few fleeting seconds or a minute or two.
It left me wanting more of those happy ending -moments between the main leads. Perhaps a scene could've have also been included towards the end in the drama where goddess Xi Yun shows her little orchid side of her personality towards Dongfang & her friends, and Dongfang returning as Moon supreme with goddess Xi Yun as his moon queen & wife to take over the reigns from his brother, Xunfeng to rule his realm, Canglang Sea.
So I need a short second season. The two epilogue-like episodes are really cute and really sweet, but most of the scenes were already shown in the previous episodes. There was nothing really new, nothing really additional shown in the epilogues. So, the epilogues gave a feel-good vibe, but those were a bit disappointing at the same time.

Watching this drama is truly a charming, magical experience. The way the plot unfolded in the first 32 episodes is absolutely smooth, perfect! Episode 26 is worth a thousand times of remembrance & reminiscence. There is almost an epiphany moment for both the main leads in episode 26 which will shape the nature and tone of story ending --- whether it's to be happy or sad or bittersweet --- from then on.

The only problem is there are a number of events in the last four episodes, especially in episodes 33, 34 & 35 that can put a dampener on a viewer's heightened high expectations & emotions.
Yet, there were lot of epic moments --- of both sweet and serious tone in episode 35 & 36. The visual effects in episode 36 for the battle scene were amazing! And so were the visual effects for the tense atmosphere build-up for the battle preparation scenes in episode 31. The death scene( in episode 31) & resurrection or revival scene of the female lead ( in episode 33) is epic & the visual & special effects used to portray these scenes & the mood of those scenes are epic!

The voice actor who dubbed the voice of main male lead did an extremely amazing job! His voice fits the persona of moon supreme completely!
As for the cast, and regarding choice of the actor who plays the main male lead, personally, I would have preferred some other actor who looks more like a demon king or moon supreme lord to portray the role of the moon supreme lord --- someone who can bring out the cold, demonic , devilish aura & fierce vibe with not just breathtaking lethally handsome looks but also the right body build. Dylan wang has good looks, and all those fierce expressions, fierce eyes apt for the role of moon supreme, but the actor's body build didn't match that of the description of the body build of the demon king in the novel.
However, as I watched episode after episode of this drama, it made me realize how good the acting skills are of the actor who portrays the main male lead in this drama. Dylan Wang's acting skills are excellent in this drama. The main lead actor successfully displayed all subtle emotions on his face especially in episode 18 & in episode 36( when he confronts evil god, Taisui). Also started to notice how naturally fierce his eyes & expressions are --- so apt for the moon supreme role. And I also noticed how handsome Dylan Wang looked in certain costumes in certain episodes. The actor looked really convincing as the sexy, powerful, cold, devilish moon supreme in episode 19! I was taken aback by my own admiration.
There was just one particular black costume worn by moon supreme in the initial episodes & finale episode, the cloak part of which looked a bit funny & made the main male lead actor look thinner and more like a woman.
Had that particular costume & suitable matching hairstyle for that been carefully designed, Dylan Wang would've have looked more convincing as moon supreme and especially more devilishly handsome in every episode!

Yet, I felt the main male lead actor, Dylan Wang really looked quite hot when he made his appearance as evil Tai Sui with silvery white floating hair, emanating a cold, killing, devilish aura, wearing a plain, loose, black costume. I really loved that costume & that cold, devilish aura/vibe very much. I would've preferred to see the main lead actor sport that look throughout the drama.



Another thing that I love about this xianxia drama is its conscious, persistent focus on the theme of love. I really, really liked that kind of focus on the love theme --- how love makes everyone subconsciously change into the best or a better version of themselves. This is an important moral in the drama repeatedly reinforced through the final actions & choices made by both anti-heroes, and heroes, and heroines in this drama. This reminded me of the classic Beauty and Beast western fairy tale. But this drama is an oriental fantasy version of the Beauty & the Beast classic fairytale, and viewers will find it equally good or thousand times better in terms of overall plot.

In addition, the dialogues are all deep, poetic, lofty. A few examples:

i) "Everything in this world is fated except love"
---- goddess of fate, Siming's advice to Little Orchid.

ii) " She has left traces all over my heart"
---- Dongfang Qingcang's revelation to evil god, Tai Sui.

iii) "Let alone these illusions, even if he put you in thousands of identical orchids, I will find you in an instant."
----- Dongfang Qingcang's retort to Little Orchid.

iv) " Even if you run to the end of the Memory Loss river and the edge of the world, I can still find you. "
----- Dongfang Qingcang's veiled threat to Little Orchid, but which sounds more like an epic, intense, classy love line. ☺

I also enjoyed watching the following scenes very much:

1) the appointment on the bridge scene ( I absolutely loved the way the shot was taken to show how steadfast Dongfang manages to keep his promise. The style of that particular shot of him slowly climbing up the stairs really made the surprise event more delightful to watch! On top of that, Faye's ost played in the background as bgm gave an epic vibe to the whole scene. )

2) Dongfang exhausting his primordial spirit to sustain his beautiful dream in episode 32 (The visual effects & the whole sequence of shots had me mesmerized , spellbound)

3) the beautiful, fabricated dream of moon supreme Dongfang in episode 32 (The Other side/Across the Shore ost sung by Jing Long & Jing Di in the backdrop as bgm had me hypnotised).

4) a number of intense, steamy, domineering kiss scenes (episode 13), and a number of epic, soulful, glamorous kiss scenes in episodes 35 & episode 36.

So I shall be rewatching the whole drama especially episodes 1-32, ( and one particular glamorous kiss scene in episode 35 & and all kinds of epic emotional as well as epic battle scenes in episodes, 31, episode 36) when it releases on Netflix .


However, because I'm a fan of the original story, the novel, Cang Lan Jue, I would like to see someone make a beautiful xianxia drama which closely follows the original plot in the novel, Cang Lan Jue without any alterations to the story (and with a different cast this time). If that happens, I would find that drama more satisfactory to watch.
Come to think of it, it would have been more satisfactory to me if this drama had a mix of all the best parts of the original story, Cang Lan Jue, and all the best parts of this drama version of the story too.


Finally, this drama has an influence of diverse cultures --- everything from its West Asian & western style props, costumes, styling, music, special & visual effects right down to bgms.

The different kinds of background music (bgm) are truly worth listening to especially the ones played in the backdrop of epic scenes seem to have a combination of South Asian, West Asian, Western influence & worth listening to.
There should be a separate compilation of bgms of this drama on YouTube for bgm lovers because the bgms are so good!

And four of the osts:
1) The Other Side/Across the Shore by Jing Long, Jing Di
2) Faye's Farewell Love
3) Esther Yu's Amnesia
4) Looking for You by Liu Yu Ning.
are worth listening to. It gives an absolute pleasure!

In addition, I absolutely enjoyed reading & understanding the meaning of the lyrics of the ost, "Looking for You" by Liu Yu Ning.

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Tormentous but intense, romantic tale of posssessive love

The ending was good...better than I expected.
My only complaint is that the female lead was not upto par with the male lead when it comes to sensitivity. And the male lead wasn't that bad at all. After all, the humans made him that way 1000 yrs ago. The female lead should've understood that & forgiven the male lead 1000 yrs back itself. From what I see, she was one of the main source of all complications & messed up fate of the main male lead. The male lead had too much faith in her for his own good. Such a pity. But the ending made up for what was lacking in the their initial backstory & the plot as a whole --- somewhat.

The backstory of the main leads 1000 yrs ago ( minus the sidekicks) had huge potential. Such a pity all of that got erased by a poorly designed plot.
The story could've been made thousand times better and rosier--- not moodier!

Hope there will be a season 2 with a more epic but simpler, rosier story revolving around the male lead and the same, but wiser, more sensible female lead with no unnecessary side stories and convoluted complications. Only then, will I as a viewer be completely satisfied.

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Mysteries, puzzles, slow-burn romance, exhilarating action

It's a beautiful drama . The actors all have eye candy faces. Watching this drama feels more like watching a high budget hollywood fantasy movie (even though there aren't that many fantastical elements in this one).
This is one of the few Chinese dramas that I watched where some of the characters make impressive entry scenes at crucial moments to protect the ones they love.
This is also one of the few dramas where I see the way the main female lead shields the main male lead (from hair-breadth-danger )being presented in a glamorous, epic manner. All the shots are excellent because the director has got the timing right while taking shots of all crucial moments.
All the actors and actresses, especially the main male lead looks breathtakingly, ethereally elegant, mesmerising. In the very first shot of the main male lead itself, he looks so handsome that I was at a loss for words. The makeup artists and visual effects editing teams etc must have put in a lot of efforts to make everyone even the most ordinary -looking supporting character look remarkably special. 😍 In this drama, all main characters look like walking gods and goddesses. I had to check again to ensure that this is a wuxia, not a xianxia. 😅
Now, coming back to the main topic, plot revolves around one big prominent sect , 'the Gongs' who calls the shots in everything concerning the martial world, and an equally powerful rival sect, 'the Wufeng' who mainly specialize in factory-production of spies. The spies are all trained and sent with missions to harm the powerful Gongs in one way or the other. The story begins that way...


I was just dissatisfied with three things:
1) the death of female lead's raven: this wasn't necessary. They should've made him live --- not killed that character.
I especially loved the dialogue, "You are the Yun Weishan in my heart! "
Omg that monologue is it's so deep!

2) the death of lady Wuji: really not necessary. They could at least written a more merciful death scene for her(if the director wants a death scene for her that much!)

3) the ending: everything in episode 24 was being perfectly wrapped up. They even showed how the villianous elder brother ended up.
They could've just wrapped up the ending nicely instead of producing a fresh mystery to solve.
Thankfully, Yun Weishan told Gong Ziyu that she has a twin before leaving... So that's some relief. Even if as some viewers say, if it's her twin who takes her place, he'll find out if something is amiss( considering the point that he's observant & smart).
Still, in my opinion, the whole story could've been wrapped up, sealed and ended in this season 1 itself.
Why kill viewers like me with anticipation?

But if I overlook the three points I specified above, everything about this drama is good & unique.
This drama really stands out as a good drama but with an extremely unsatisfactory ending.

There are also too many rules and clan obsession in the story which won't even allow the main lead to venture out --- travel in the outside world.
Too many rigid rules restrain the lead as well main supporting characters.

Would like to watch a season 2 or watch special episodes were the main leads as well as main supporting characters figure out solutions to bend the rigid rules, especially to evade the main problem that prevents the main male lead from travelling to the outside world.
Because it's really impractical if the main lead shuts himself in like that just because the other half of the blueprint in tattoed onto his back.
The progression of the plot including the ending is written out in such a way that it'll be hard for the main male lead as sword weilder to sustain the tradition of never venturing into the outside world forever.

Watched the trailers before watching this drama. From the trailer, understood that this is a wuxia story, so didn't expect much romance.
Still, it'd would have been nice if they could've given more depth for the love felt by both main female leads in the story... The second female lead (shangguan Qian) was really a disappointment in that aspect.
The biggest surprise could be as an audience member, you might feel resentful towards one of the second main male leads, Gong Shang Jue.
But that very character will turn out to be someone you admire the most in the end because he turns out to be almost as gentle and kind as the main male lead, Ziyu. Gong Shang Jue just happens to be a severe, strict character, but who in the end, is like a lighthouse for the some of the important characters in the story, especially the main male lead. He also turns out to unexpectedly have a gentle, kind side which he doesn't like revealing to the world.

And of course, when it comes to the main male lead, Gong Ziyu is the best among all characters in this drama(and this is biased opinion from my side).
He just knows how to handle everything well. He is so well balanced in personality, character.
I was just disappointed with the way he handled the execution news of his foster mom. His inaction there really knocked my breath away, but that aside, the male lead is perfect in every other aspect.

This drama could've have ended with a satisfactory happy ending. Bur at the last moment, the director had to throw the spanner in the works.
Hope there will be special episodes or a season 2 to wrap up the mysterious ending nicely.
By the time you finish watching this drama, you'll be left in suspense... "So, what happened in the end? "
Why does the male lead have that flabbergasted expression? 😅

The osts of this drama are real good, especially one of the theme songs, "Bestow dreams". The duet version of that song is even more beautiful.
This is one of the few Chinese dramas where I like some of the osts sung by male singers because all of them sound good.
All in all, each episode of the drama is engaging, filled with mysteries to solve, and the last episode ending with a big suspense (Which is the only flaw of this drama in my pov) .

Regarding the romance and love aspects, the main male lead seem to be the only one fighting for love as a one man army, but by second last episode, the female lead seems to be warming up to the male lead with almost the same intensity...
This makes the ending even more dissatisfactory to watch because you could get concerned about the ending oc the main couple's love story...


When it comes to cinematography, this is one of the best dramas. This drama has beautiful, elegant, powerful action scenes. Watch out for all intense action scenes in episode 22! It's one of the best episodes of this drama with all the important characters coming together in one episode itself to participate in fierce battles.


What you'll love most about this drama is the huge amount of suspense, mysteries. Every episode leaves you wondering about something (and that includes the ending too). 😄
By the time you reach the second last episode, you'll end up admiring the smartness of the main male lead and the big, brotherly heart of the second main male lead.

This is also one of the few Chinese dramas where you will enjoy watching the romance of a 'guard' character which is absolutely unique, comical at the same time romantic and full of tenderness.


To sum up, this drama can be summed up in four words: action, mystery, suspense, romance.
Even when the drama ends, viewers will be left with some half answered questions in their heads regarding the female lead's identity, how she acquired her skills etc.

Must give this drama a try if you don't mind watching an unfinished ending.
This drama definitely makes you think as you watch each episode...

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Difficult Choices made in the name of Love & Protection

What is worth memorable for me after watching this drama is the love story of the second main couple, A Fu Jun & Luo Ning. However, I do badly wish the story of A Fu & Luo Ning was written out differently with slight modifications, and given a happy ending. In addition, the way the main male lead (immortal Luo Ge) falls for the main female lead ( mortal Liu Shao) all over again after he ascends to an immortal is also worth memorable.
One thing about this drama is true for sure: This drama lacks a proper well fleshed-out plot. This drama lacks a proper story. The storyline is hazy, confusing --- not coherent or organic.
The only good thing is: the story gets quite fast-paced towards the middle ( the in-between eps,18-35) .
However, the problem is the story writers of this drama really know how to confuse the audience by churning the plot into an entertaining, spicy masala story with dissatisfactory endings. The director really knows how to confuse the audience and get themselves tangled in myriad emotions such that, in the end, one is left wondering with questions like "what the hell is happening? " & " this is not how I expected it'd turn out"...

However, this drama really deviates from the usual stereotypes shown in the xianxia dramas so far. That's the unique factor of this drama.

The feel-good aspects of this drama:
1) the beautiful osts, especially two of the osts sung by Zhang Bin Bin ("If there's a prophet " & "Half-hearted"), and " Month by Month" Intro ost
2) beautiful, handsome actors with excellent acting skills: Zhang Bin Bin's acting and looks in costume as both Luo Ge, moon god & evil spirit is really sexy. His acting skills is the best out of all other actors in this drama. Only the actor who portrayed character He Na, Wang You Shou matched Zhang Bin Bin's skill levels in terms of both looks & acting.
3) in-between thrilling, enjoyable, entertaining developments in the love stories of all main couples, and engaging action scenes (especially in episode 40).
4) the thrill of watching the main leads duel each other
5) good duel scenes such as duels & fights in which all major characters get involved in the desert-like great wilderness battle scene clip, the fight scenes in ep 40.

Leaving all the above factors aside, both the endings (Liu Shao's chapter & Luo Ge's chapter), left my hurt crushed with disappointment. Yes, there were likeable aspects in both episodes such as the female lead sacrificing for the male lead in ep 39 & the coming together of all main couples in episode 40. So, personally, episode 40 was more satisfactory to watch. But there was no killing of the male lead in episode 39, so from that viewpoint, ep 39 satisfied me. In the end, it is confusing for me to decide which ending to choose because both endings felt highly incomplete. In episode 40, Liu Shao seems to be someone who survived, and roaming the mortal world as an immortal, and she happens to meet Luo Ge, A Fu and Luo Ning. Yet, it seems all of them except Liu Shao, have turned into mortals and living ordinary lives ( which is not what I expect in a xianxia drama). Both endings were disappointing. The only good event in episode 40 seems to be the reunion of immortal Liu Shao and Luo Ge( who could be mortal/immortal? Not sure) which isn't explicitly conveyed.
There are several flaws in the story of this drama which left me grievously disappointed. Firstly, the story was unique, different, refreshing till ep 36, but towards the end, the plot progression became so convoluted that viewers will be left puzzled. In episode 40 especially, the viewer will be wondering whether Liu Shao time traveled and came back with her sun spirit unsealed, to fight the evil spirit ( because in there, the plot progressed uptill that point in such a way as to leave viewers wonder whether the story has suddenly merged with Liu Shao's chapter in episode 39 ) or whether it portrays another alternate ending altogether.

Another big blunder in the plot progression is the marriage of one of the main leads to his brother's wife. Honestly, couldn't understand why the writers would complicate things between the next main couple (A Fu-Luo Ning couple) that way. Of course, the bride abduction by A Fu Jun & the forced marriage scenes compensated for that blunder in the storyline, because all the clips & scenes related to those two events were really entertaining to watch --- something that I've never come across in other Xianxia dramas so far. Yet the director, and storywriters again played spoilt sport by coming up with a sad ending for the second main lead couple (A Fu Jun-Luo Ning). If it were a happy ending, I'd have tolerated the introduction of 'the brother's fake marriage to one's bride' idea. The only thing consoling for me is that this couple at least died together without killing each other ( this is one aspect of episode 40 that I love) unlike the main couple.

Yet another big blunder is designing an attractive darker version of moon god character only to kill him off in the end. In the drama, the evil spirit doesn't behave truly like a typical evil being. It has an obsession for Liu Shao, prefers straightforward fights with its enemies and even gives its enemies time to prepare to scheme against him! Now, this was really funny. This evil thing seemed to be designed more like a sophisticated, borderline person with psychosis or split personality disorder. For such a character, I'd have prefered an alternate ending where the dark part of moon god's heart integrates with the light, good part of moon god's heart(who's Luo Ge) in a wholesome, positive way where both parts of the heart of moon god decide to arrive at a compromise, and get a happy ending with Liu Shao. Afterall, both are affected by Liu Shao. Even the so-called evil spirit ( dark version of moon god's heart) didn't chose to eliminate Liu Shao though she kept attacking & hurting him with her bunch of immortal friends. Even when the evil spirit was in its angriest moments, it only hurt her hand, and didn't kill her off while she went into sleeping mode to recover. So, why not unify both the light & dark parts of the heart of moon god and give this new being favourable traits of the evil spirit & favourable traits of Luo Ge just like "venom" Character in Hollywood's marvel franchise movies?
And a happy ending could've been given to this newly integrated version of moon god & Liu Shao. It'd have been better for the drama as a whole. Afterall, the chemistry between Liu Shao & the evil spirit was quite spicy, entertaining to watch. And the evil spirit even utters a monologue in episode 40 when it gets puzzled by Liu Shao's rejection. This was another flaw. The dark version of moon god/evil spirit isn't portrayed as completely evil. It still spares Liu Shao, and likes the feisty side of her whereas if it were really cold & evil, it should be focusing on how to eliminate this weakness of its host, Luo Ge. So, I felt this was another major flaw in the drama where the evil spirit was designed more like an anti-hero & given a bad ending. It's hard to stay detached from a character who doesn't completely behave like a true psycho-evil, but more like an anti-hero with borderline psychosis. Such a character will only appear more unique, appealing ( especially the way the dark version of moon god was portrayed in the drama) .

In all, I would've loved to see a completely satisfactory, fulfilling happy endings for:
1) A Fu Jun-Luo Ning couple ( where they don't lose their immortal powers & live like ordinary people or die & disappear)
2)the immortal Luo Ge and Liu Shao couple ( where both the bad & good parts of the moon god's personalities reach a compromise within Luo Ge's mind or heart), and thus the evil spirit turns into an anti-hero immortal Luo Ge & he & Liu Shao gets a happy ending.

But both of these never happened. What's worse, no other satisfactory alternate endings were written for these two couples which felt COMPLETE, SATISFACTORY.

The only satisfactory ending was the one designed for character, He Na in episode 40. I didn't like the ending for He Na in ep 39 which I found disastrous because it seemed to take all attention away from the main couple, and instead seemed to put the limelight on the chemistry between the main female lead & He Na. For a moment there, you might wonder whether Liu Shao-He Na is the main couple /main leads because He Na's poignant dialogues in his dying moments in ep 39 are so heartbreaking to watch, and one gets to sense the potential chemistry between him and Liu Shao.

To sum up, Overall, the episodes that focused on the mortal world were downright boring. And there is very little logic in this drama. It beats the logic of even xianxia dramas. Every event is made convoluted, dialogues made contradictory --- especially from ep 38. If the endings of all the main couples were happy in a satisfactory manner, I will definitely be willing to accept, enjoy even the illogical aspects of the story, but, unfortunately, that was not the case. In the end, there were interesting twists and turns in the story which made most episodes from 17-40 entertaining to watch, but the dissatisfactory endings didn't make watching the last five episodes that fulfilling.
The only episodes worth watching are the episodes that focus on the deepening of love between all main couples after they start living in the immortal world --- maybe from episodes 17-35. Uptill ep 35, the plot of this drama had lot of potential --- it was going strong (even without logic it is interesting & worth a re-watch). Each episode from ep 17 till episode 35 brought pleasant surprises --- not nasty ones.
I especially enjoyed watching the progress of the love story between the main leads after Luo Ge left his mortal life as Lu Li forever. The love story of the main leads gets more poetic and more intense after that. However, I didn't like the look of the wedding costumes of the main leads. They both looked like modified versions of santa clause, all dressed up for Christmas.
Lastly, I enjoyed the progression of the love story of the second main couple, A Fu Jun & Luo Ning ( Luo Ge's sister) till episode 35. Things go downhill from ep 36. At least, their ending, though not completely satisfactory to me ( because I love this couple the most), at least, it made sense and was beautiful, poetic.
Also, I found A Fu Jun character truly designed to be behaving like a main lead at many crucial points in the story, and Luo Ning behaving like a main female lead befitting the xianxia genre at many crucial points in the plot progression of this story. Their love story is sweet, simple, classy to watch. A Fu Jun reminded me of Dong Fang Qing Cang of Cang Lan Jue Xianxia novel. The only thing missing was a happy ending for them. Their story itself could've been made into another drama worth a happy ending.
As for the main leads, I really love their 'lantern floating scenes & dialogues' in episode 27 & ep 39, especially in ep 27. Immortal Luo Ge & mortal Liu shao's interactions felt magical to me as a viewer, while watching the 'flying the wish lantern scene' in ep 27.

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Desperate, helpless Male Lead & foolish, toxic female lead

This is one drama where the male lead character should have deserved a happy ending, and the female lead character should've deserved Comeuppance for her toxic actions. But quite the opposite happens in the story.
Only the main male lead alone keeps getting comeuppance for his actions. The female lead is always spared as if she is always righteous when the truth is --- she "isn't. " The main male lead is crazy, but the main female lead is even more crazier than him when it comes to handling complex scenarios, crisis etc. This is the torturous story of two crazy people.
The female lead never understands the main male lead's helplessness, desperation, his motives, his intents, his background etc. She lacks clarity of thought whereas the anti-hero main male lead has clarity of thought.
Anyone who plans to watch this drama should take the meaning behind the drama title, "Love & Bid Farewell" quite literally 😅😂because this is precisely the 'stupid theme' around which the whole drama plot pivots. The female lead is only capable of revenge & vengeful actions, thoughts, deeds, but quite incapable of critical reasoning & selfless love.
The biggest mistake of the main male lead in here is he fell for the wrong woman, but he is too deeply in love with her to realize that even in his death.
The only desserts to feast with your eyes in this drama is the package of intense, borderline erotic kiss scenes between the leads that you get to see & the epic background music & intense intro & ending OSTs.
This drama had so much potential for a good plot with a happy ending. Things could've have taken a different lead with a happy ending had the female lead not been so unreasonably obsessed over revenge to the point where she pushed the male lead & herself from where there's no coming back...

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Balmy, intense love

This is one korean drama where the hero really beats the heroine in terms of beauty. This is one kdrama replete with both witty and soulful dialogues, moments, events, scenes. The mood/ tone of the drama dramatically swings to and fro from hilarious to epic.This is one of the very few kdramas in which the hero is presented as a perfectly balanced all-rounder, romantic, mature, decent, daring, adventurous person who is cute and naive as a little boy at the same time! This is one korean drama where the main leads though placed in an ancient era have quite modern minds, attitudes & approach to handling things.

The story puts the audience in a light-hearted mood because it has the right combination of gravity and humour. There are two twists in this fast-paced tale.
The only annoying thing is the way the female lead keeps pushing back the male lead( initially) without telling him the full truth. Yet, her attitude takes an about turn in the latter half of the series. She even ingeniously saves his life and the way she does it makes one moved to tears. The last two episodes are epic. In fact, all episodes equally engage the viewer because something gripping or humerous is presented in each one. The ending is perfectly happy with no unnecessary glitches.
One of the osts, "scar" is really worth listening to, as it captures the essence (main theme) of this drama.
There are no unnecessary tragedies, complications that usually drags the plot development of a drama mid-way. Even side characters are given room for possibilities. Actually, "tale of Nokdu" can be viewed more as a tale of positive possibilities. Humour is one of the top wow factors of this drama.

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