NBravo18

After reading some of the comments ... this might hurt, so hold your horses ....
I personally found the ‘polish/beautification’ too blinding. I enjoyed the supporting cast; they were funny and gave some life to the series. The actors did a good job but were let down by the story which lacked passion and intensity. It was OK. It dragged a little. If you want an epic love story or heartbreaking sorrow filled with betrayal and redemption, this is not the show for you.

Actors/Characters ... Mostly good
OST ... Audible
Story line ... Predictable, repetitive, a little bland
Re-watchable ... No

I completed this series BUT ....

I don't know if I enjoyed this series or not!

It is all about revenge ... but done in the messiest, illogical, dark and most unexpected way. Did I feel satisfied watching this ... no? Did I enjoy it ... Yes? But why?

Acting ... I think it was good?
Actors ... I think they were good?
Soundtrack ... it was good when it showed up.
Storyline ... I think my brain either got smarter or more stupid watching this ... I am not sure?
Fight scenes ... Good.
Character Backstory/Development ... None that I saw, maybe?

This show kept me guessing and was shocking in parts. It was a show that I had to finish ... out of sheer curiosity? Will it be better the second time around? ... I don’t think so as I now know what to expect ... so without the intrigue ... will it still be as interesting? To sum it up ... I am confused but not by the storyline/plot more because I HAD to finish this. But why?

The characters were beautiful, each and every one of them. The story is about soulmates.
Wei Wuxian who fights for everything, for those who cannot fight for themselves.
Lan Zhan fights for righteousness and the people he loves.
Even though their stories intersect and part at times, they come back together to fight for each other.
The story is about cultivators who yearn for power and discard those who have more than they do, out of fear, jealousy, selfishness and hatred, about sacrificing anyone just to be the strongest and rule all others.

OST, unforgettable
Acting, fabulous
Cast, perfection

Wei Wuxian ... was such a beautiful soul who endured so much hardship. It was impossible not to fall in love with his kindness, and how carefree and selfless he was. Watching him go through such an arduous past and his eventual journey was heartbreaking. He loved causing trouble and having fun. When he met Lan Zhan, he knew instantly that he wanted to be close to him. He felt the connection and wanted to hold on to it, at all costs. Things unfortunately took a turn, his selflessness causing him to lose his core and his drive causing him to turn to dark arts. He endured the torture that came with learning such cultivation to help and save all others. Sadly, he was spurned because of his power, his personality, his generosity, and his beautiful heart. Wei Ying wanted to help those who were suffering and chose to separate himself from those who did not and would not see reason, not just for himself and those he wanted to protect but also his remaining family. When he saw people, he loved fall and those who were supposed to uphold the law and fight for the weak eventually turned against reason. He could no longer see himself in that world, so he chose to part from it.
Coming back weaker, he still wanted to fight, still wanted to be the one to save those in need. He came across a group of people who could actually see the light and treat him with love and respect. Going through all that he had, he finally had people that would fight for him and protect him. Being back with Lan Zan and seeing how much he cared, trusted and stood alongside him, gave him hope. Even though he left at the end, to make sense of the years he had lived, he came back, to the people who cared for him, to Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan was very strong-willed. He saw things in black and white and always lived up to his elders and clan members' ideas of righteousness ... until he met Wei Wuxian who was so carefree and unrestrained. He wanted to help, care, trust Wei Wuxian and lead him to the right path only to eventually see that things were not so rigid, that the world was grey, and Wei Wuxian was just as righteous, even more so than those he looked up to. It was hard for Lan Zhan to break from the path he had known his whole life, but he wanted to protect Wei Wuxian, breaking from convention. The first time he thought he had lost his soulmate (fell into the Burial Mounds), he was in pain, angry and lost. The second time he thought he had lost Wei Wuxian (to dark cultivation), he was scared and felt hopeless but determined to fight and bring him back into the light. The third time (sacrificed himself and fell from the cliff) he was heartbroken and his soul ached, but he still did not give up on Wei Wuxian and once he found him again, he needed to hold tight and protect and care for him. The last time (when they parted at the end of the story), he was regretful and longed for Wei Wuxian to stay but accepted what needed to be done and the parting that needed to take place. Lan Zhan had to turn the cultivation world back into those who fought for the right path. Hoping that Wei Wuxian would return one day ... and eventually he did. True soulmates.

Perfection! So, so much to say ... I have seen this dozens of times. Why? .....

Well said.

The middle of the show sadly gave way to the normal Cdrama trope and had a ridiculous number of misunderstandings. None that made any sense for the characters and how they had lived and had matured up to this point.

The forced angst:
All the ML had to do was talk, trust and let the FL in on his plans. They had already worked together and survived death repeatedly. But he treated her so badly and said and did so many horrible hurtful things. He did this, knowing how young and impressionable she was. He did this, knowing how she only had him to rely on and took all her life cues from. She was a target of many. He then imprisoned her? He purposely hurt her? He broke her heart all just to save her? WHY?

He hurt her so deeply. The FL was in as much pain as he was, possibly even more so. The ONLY family she had was wiped out, and the one she LOVED had forcefully and nastily turned his back on her. He TOLD her he didn't love her. He TOLD her; he wished she had never been born. He TOLD her she was at fault for their entire sect and family to be killed. 1 of her only friends was imprisoned and was about to be put to death because the ML would not listen or protect them. She thought he had taken away any possibility of her ONLY surviving family (sister) to live so she thought he had KILLED her. What was she supposed to do? She was targeted, tortured, manipulated and confused yet what was she supposed to do? . He refused to stand by her and protect her. He was ignoring her, allowing her to misunderstand and be confused.

The FL, even though she was hurt and lied to put everything aside to protect and save 1 of her only surviving friends and this led to the saddest scenes I have seen in a while.
The ML was an actual GOD and had the ability to save the FL and protect her, after all the pain he had caused her, yet kept her in the dark and made choices for her that eventually led to her death. The lack of respect and trust that was shown to the FL was ridiculous.

Unfortunately, the last part and the story I found very annoying. The entire first part of the show was built to such a point where the audience deserved some reward, yet I truly felt we were stripped of any.
The FL had gone through 1000 years of rebirth and agonizing deaths. Some of which lasted longer than her first life, possibly even gaining more familial bonds and love, she had grown so much, showed maturity and strength when she finally returned to her original soul/body.
Sadly, the ML showed absolutely no growth, no maturity, and just wallowed in self-pity. For 1000 years did nothing. He resolved nothing; he did not mature or live up to the potential that was his birthright and respect the FLs' sacrifice.
Yet the audience and FL were supposed to now feel sorry for and root for the ML. We were supposed to see him struggle and hurt. Everything the FL was put through was ignored and her sacrifice was made out to be worthless. The show then made up some ridiculous plot point to say the ML had been sacrificing himself to fix 1 object that would show the truth. As a GOD that was his only option or was it to force us into feeling pity for the ML and have a cute and loving reunion at the end!?

The OST was beautiful
Rewatch value, fine as long as you skipped over the stupidity.
The actors, great
The characters, at the start, are fantastic.
The story line and progression ... ridiculous.

Oh and ... Xiu Yan / Ao Ge played by He Kai Lang .... Fabulous.

I enjoyed this show and have watched it multiple times but ...

There are a few things that I was disappointed with. The start of this show was fun. The ML and FLs were lovely; I enjoyed their naivety and how their characters were slowly evolving. I liked the way the story was progressing and seeing the partnership and trust evolve between the FL and ML. The emotion and acting superb. The FL is young, impressionable, gullible, and emotionally naive. The ML has power but is irresponsible even though he is supposed to be a leader/elder with familial power/connections.

Rant incoming ........

I was looking for a film/series that's new and exciting.
Great actors, great acting, great premise ... that is why I rated it this as high as I did, but wow was it filmed in such a long-winded unnecessarily dull way.
I was frustrated watching this, surely people don’t act/react this way in situations like this?
There were no back stories, we didn't know the characters so were not able to feel the pain, frustration and vulnerability.
We did not know why or how the plot was happening.
I prefer to watch shows where people show intelligence, so it is more fulfilling to watch. I fast forwarded through most of it. So much potential ... sadly, did not deliver.

The actors were great and the characters were ok ... chemistry between FL and ML was nice ... but why ... why do they have to regurgitate the same old, same old story?

The first few episodes were funny but then I realized that I have seen this series, over and over again. Nothing new, nothing different, just the same. I managed to finish this (only because I didn't want another unfinished show) at 2x speed and 10 seconds fast forward. Rated as high as I did because of the actors.

OST ... OK

Rewatchable ... definitely not.

Actors ... great

Characters ... OK

Nothing else to say really.

I believe the show should have been 30 episodes or even less.

The FLs story was fascinating and the focus at the beginning was great to watch, I was excited to see where she would go as her initial revenge/skills were slowly achieved and presented to us as an audience ... but it went away ... disappeared.

Even though I did not like the MLs response to finding out the ‘big secret’, I like the FL and MLs reaction and eventual resolution. The scenes on the mountain and finding out about the horrors Ye Li had to endure could have been pushed a little further and deeper, but I liked it.

The MLs role as a whole was a little lacking though; I think all those extra episodes would have been a great opportunity to show us more of his struggles and feelings I wanted to see more emotion, he went from a great warrior to being wheelchair bound, he was made to marry and was looked down upon ...... such a shame we were robbed of that story.

All the side characters were fine, but their stories were lacking depth and seemed more like episode fillers. Their end game was also flat and seemed bittersweet ... yet it wasn't?

Ye Li family seemed to get away with murder ... hmmm. Where did they go ... Did I miss something?

I guess Mo Jing Li / Prince Li was a 2nd ML? the closest thing to it anyway ... but where was his story? His reason for doing what he was doing ... was that it? His drive, his past, his mental state, ... to escape and lead so many men ... to become capable of doing those things yet fail so miserably ... It would have been nice to as an audience to go through that with him. The actor did such a great job, but I feel like he was not given the opportunity to show his acting ability.

For some reason the FL and ML seemed absent, in the literal sense; so much screen time was given to side characters.

The OST was hidden in the background of the show, in some scenes it did eventually show up, and that was nice. All in all, it was OK, was it re-watchable ... not so sure.

EDIT: I am about to watch this for the 3rd time ....................................

This was Good. It was light and went against the typical political dramas. It was not swallowed up by unnecessary plot twists ... however .......

Don't get me wrong, Xiang Lius character is the one character that I will never forget and is the best I have ever seen. His traits were that of a blood thirsty animal that was abused and tortured, and that can lead to narcissistic traits.

There are many types of narcissists, some in fact do feel a type of empathy but have an ‘unwillingness’ to empathize. They can in fact show a large excessive amount of empathy in certain circumstances for certain reasons. In my original post I said he showed emotional growth .... After a shocking event, (being rescued by his foster father) (Xiao Yao) it can impact a narcissistic person to change over time. It was a beautiful thing to watch ... Xiang Liu character growth, to see him change from a blood thirsty animal into someone who almost ... almost gave up everything for the one he loved.

Let's not forget that he is a fictional character. It is also my personal opinion, and I respect that you did not see him the same way I did. That is the joy of these shows; people take what they want out of each role, character, and storyline. To me, Xiang Liu is beautifully flawed.

I stand by my opinion. There are many narcissists who live beautiful lives and are well loved, but the traits are all there. Some very famous and successful people.

The actors were very good.

But it lacked depth. I believe, with the premise/story line, it could have and should have gone deeper, darker, more mysterious, and showed more of the human psyche. I think it would have been better if the audience was pulled into the intrigue, instead of wallowing in frustration.

I didn't feel the characters, I was only shown their reactions and actions, so there was no way for me to feel compassion or anger or any emotion that would draw me into the story.

A good drama has multiple layers; audience members can peel away those layers. Sadly, this show was obvious from the very first episode. To put it plainly, it had no depth. Could have been so much better.

This was a wild ride. There was a lot happening and a lot of information, so it was never boring. The characters were superb and the cinematography was lovely to watch.

The music was great and placed well within the scenes.

The only downside was that it was so short. I would have loved to see the story in more depth and the relationships develop at a slower pace. This is the second time that I have watched this and found it just as good,

They had their differences, they disagreed but there was not a forced, prolonged separation thrown into this show, instead the characters were intelligent, patient and understanding and that is satisfying to watch. The fight scenes were beautiful, well-choreographed, and the music was well suited to the scenes. The costumes and coloring were also great. I enjoyed the flirtation throughout and found it refreshing to see.

It gets a little tiring to watch CDramas where the FL and the ML hate, flirt, fight, love and live happily ever after ... Sometimes it comes off a little too forced, but this show was refreshingly funny and cute.

You can have the biggest budget, the best storyline, BUT. If your leads are not well written and loved, then the show will fail. The 2 leads in Word of Honor ... made the show.

I think this show, ended the way it needed to, even if it hurt to watch. Beautiful OST

I found this hard to review because there was so much involved. So many characters with so much depth.

Xiao Yao was such a strong and independent character. She had spirit and intelligence but was less so in the second half of the show, I truly believe it was because she was safe and finally had people who would love and protect her. The hardships she had to endure in her youth, skewed her take on healthy relationships and her fight and flight response squashed any ability to really love and let herself go. As an audience, that was hard to watch.

Xiyan Cang Xuans' character was so intense and had so many layers, he was very strong willed. He built up such an obsession mixed with guilt, duty, and love. You could see how his character slowly slipped into misery and pain, yet he held tight to Xiao Yao. He hated himself because he knew he could never be with her, and he blamed his choices for that loss. It was heartbreaking for him.

Tushan Jing was an interesting character. He was scared, yet constrained, but vulnerable because of the betrayal and hate that was shown to him by those that were supposed to love him. He almost lost Xiao Yao because of his uncertainty and fear, but he was the one who finally gave up everything to be with her.

Now for the hard part .... Xiang Liu ... a complex character, just haunting and unforgettable. He was living a life of sacrifice but was blindsided by love. As a nine-headed snake his instinct is to be the one who is feared, who fights for what he wants. He begrudgingly starts to have feelings and develops a conscience, so his character sees a lot of growth. He is intelligent, resourceful, but stubborn, and narcissistic. He slowly realized his love for Xiao Yao and that terrified him because he was vulnerable. There was a moment when he thought they could be together and realize their true feelings but was told they could never and should never be together. Instead of running away, he made sure Xiao Yao would be loved and protected for the rest of her life. Even though it seemed he picked his own death, instead of Xiao Yao, he picked her happiness above his own.

Xiao Yao knew Xiang Liu was in love with her; he knew she deeply loved him but they both knew they would and could never be together.

Truly Lost Forever.

The action scenes are amazing; Bai Jing Ting is perfect for this role and looks stunning through the fight scenes. I did not like the FL though. I am sure it is just the way the character is written but I found she had very little emotion and she seemed slow, actions and speech, like she was under water the whole time. I also did not feel any chemistry between the two. The comedy was an unexpected bonus though. With all the negatives, the plot and ML made me score this quite high.

Too frustratingly unrealistic. If it went .... 'All the way ridiculous' .... then it would be funny, but it went .... 'People are stupid and incompetent to the point where it could cost peoples lives'.... route. I doubt I will continue to watch it. I watched it halfway through EP 6 ... but I couldn't take it anymore.

Loved it. A bit frustrating in parts but also has some satisfactory moments that offset the other.