The series seemed to have many episodes but it didn’t take too long to watch them.

I’ve really enjoyed the series, especially the first part of the story where the setting is only being introduced to the viewer and the characters are presented. I love how the ML and FL develop their relationship later as well, but, again, in the beginning it’s the best. Even though the actors are not teenagers they’ve managed to show us exactly this teenage type of the first falling in love, naïve and breathtaking at seemingly simple matters like hugging each other or sharing one’s treat or punishment with someone.

As for the continuation of the story, it becomes darker as the plot unravels but it is a good thing, too. Even though it is definitely a fairy-tale, it presents the world as if from a realistic perspective; the ‘good’ characters who claim to be saving the peace turn out to be as good as villains opposing the main character. The work actually shows the very familiar classes of the immortals, mortals and demons and the later are not unambivalent villains (as usual). But no one is black or white. The ‘good’ side-characters always err saying they mean well; the villains have their right to bear malice but their means cannot be forgiven. Only ML is somehow always right, poor Si Feng, the world simply doesn’t deserve you yet.

The elderly people are mostly shown as old fools talking big but actually giving the villains all morals rights and opportunities to succeed. They are really irritating at times but the concept is somehow refreshing; it’s not that the script is poor and that is why the deeds of the characters seem ridiculous but it’s the kind of a take-off. The five schools of Dao and martial arts meet their well-earned ending; those who have been corrupted just die out, those who have been blind and stubborn to accept somebody else’s but their own reasoning - in the end begin to see clearly and find strength to face up to the reality.

On the other hand, the negative characters are generally smarter and more developed in terms of personalities. Their motives are clear, too, and even can make audience sympathize with them sometimes as their situation is historically sticky. (The demons are being oppressed by the ‘good’ peoples and want to survive or to become the rulers of the world to stop hiding.) But the means they choose as well as their blinding greed make sure they meet their wages of sin in the end.

The challenges the characters meet are also realistic; learning to love and trust in spite of the hearsay and other people’s judgment, choosing from the unspoken (in terms of sacrificing the lives of the close ones or preaching peace), dealing with treason, abuse and neglection.

Sometimes the plot seems too predictable, though, recollecting all the typical plot turns and clichés. At times there are also too many characters for one arch of the story although they don’t do much. The pace of the narration is uneven, too, with its ups and downs. The ending of the next-to-last part of the story (where the true identity of Si Feng and his fellow students was discovered) was the strongest and the last part was more predictable and sometimes even ridiculous. Probably it is because the whole story is rather long and it was hard to make it function as one solid work.

The series are full of characters and some of them are irritating, funny and adorable or influencing the plot only accidently. Anyway, I like the portrayal of the Snake who is being huffy, loyal, boyish, sneaky, hungry and reasonable at the same time. He is a very lively teenage immortal and has a well-rounded personality although he appears only in the middle of the story and is not a main character.

The role of the Heavenly Lord is the most controversial. Indeed, he is needed to move the plot and to make Si Feng suffer but the motivations of the Lord Hao Chen are jumbled as he has two identities. Probably it would be better and more dramatic to show that the ideas of Hao Chen as a deity and as a mortal were opposite to one another. He could as well had lived as a mortal without knowing much about the purposes of the glass vessel they were protecting and only catch glimpses of the past-life memory. He could also have competed for Xuan Ji’s love and manipulated her not to keep her from learning her identity but to make her his obedient puppet (a younger fellow student and a future wife) forever. Obtaining the senses would give Xuan Ji critical thinking as well and Hao Chen wouldn’t want it. Anyway, we are shown a corrupted and later reclaimed Lord which is an interesting decision, too. Liu Sue Yi portrays such a complex personality brilliantly. It is just that the plot motivation is shaky; the character is either mad or corrupted by very strange evil 'darkness' in his soul.

As for the main characters, they are the most enjoyable part of the story. Not only Yuan Bin Yan and Chen Yi look very cute together and act really great. Their characters undergo the most serious character development.

Zhu Xuan Ji is deprived of her six senses since birth that is why she is so childish and doesn’t understand people’s feelings and intentions. But unlike many other FLs from other stories she is not as stupid as a coot; she is even quite insightful. Without even knowing what the world is like she develops several family-, friends- and even love-relationships. She acts theoretically and even though seldom seriously mistakes while the ‘wise’ characters with all their feelings and room for moral growth keep making wrong decisions and doing cruel things to their close ones. Zhu Xuan Ji reminds of a child; an optimistic, open to everything new, brave and innocent little girl. Indeed, sometimes this childish behavior gets in the way with logic and we might want a more mature character. But again, here it is not a Chinese cliché of the FL but a solid personality. How could she have matured by her twentieth birthday if she was learning the world since the middle of the story? How can she not be confused when she learns that the truth of one close person contradicts the truth of the other? In the beginning, of course she seems more likable as she supports the ML and then is a bit irritating when she doubts Si Feng, too. But her approach is understandable and can be justified by her being really confused between the new sensations and her Shaoyang sect members. I wish her confusion was more emphasized as many watchers don’t understand and blame her for her behavior. In the end, she repents and thus breaks the ‘spell’ of the glass heart. This is what seems very fairy-talish in this story but at least the message from it is positive and clear. Genuine care and devotion are able to warm even a cold heart.

I was really impressed at two things. First of all, how Si Feng never held a grudge against her no matter how hard it was to firstly explain her what the feelings are and then faced all those pieces of injustice he had to suffer through the fault of Xuan Ji’s sect family and Xuan Ji herself. And secondly, how different Xuan Ji was from her previous reincarnations. Actually, I don’t really see why exactly it happened. Maybe, it is all a game of fate (or the plot). Maybe, Si Feng was so much more capable of winning her love than in the previous lives. And maybe she didn’t drink enough water of forgetfulness in the beginning of the story and some of the memories were still there. The nine previous lives were adorably painful and I was really fond of how Si Feng’s unconditional love and Xuan Ji’s cruel indifference were shown. She was not wicked or black-hearted! She was just hollow, never able to understand the true intentions of the people beside her. I did not understand how that little trope of a bloody stamp on the ML’s cheek in those nine lives could be logically explained (why was she doing it again and again if she did not have the memories?) but I totally loved the aesthetics of it.

As for Si Feng, he is the only ever upright person in the story, the character who is ready to suffer physical and moral pain over and over again but will not betray his feelings. In the very beginning he was mocked for his ‘friendship and love’ motivations when they seemed as a try of a schoolchild to socialize; but he actually proved how deep and noble his devotion was. Indeed, many times the other people did not deserve the sacrifice. Si Feng is very stubborn in receiving all kinds of punishment for others but he never becomes malignant. He is quite realistic in what he should wait from others and in the beginning, he even does not expect much from Xuan Ji, knowing she cannot yet love anyone. That is why his image is so emotional; he becomes overjoyed when he gets more than he expects, and shortly after he suffers greatly when the hopes against all odds are smashed by all kinds of accidental misfortune. I particularly liked the moments where Si Feng is the only one to state the ugly truth right up front. His poignant words to his tortures express an intelligent person who has grown up and sees the bigger picture while others prefer being deceived. He is also capable of some schemes to overplay the evil characters and it also demonstrates his intellect. It is a good thing he is a promising apprentice not only because of power given him from his birth but due to his diligence and being quick on the draw. On the other hand, I like his identity of an extra powerful golden-winged bird as an explanation of how a person can be that strong to survive so much physical torture – otherwise the plot would seem totally unrealistic.

I’ve enjoyed the aesthetics of the series, too. As for the clothes, natural sights and magical signs Si Feng creates – they are great and pleasant to watch. Some things seem too simple, though, as I was watching a series some years after it was aired. It is also very funny to see the Heavenly realm with so much boredom and so little people to live there and to defend it. The devil-may-care (well, at least the devils do care here!) and lazy Emperor as a motivation of all ruckus happening is one more doubtful decision for me. Can it be a satire on the bad administrative?

All in all, the series has been good. Sometimes it seems predictable but the characters make it very alive. The things I enjoyed most were the path and personality of Si Feng and the ambiguity of Good and Evil in the story.