Brennnndda

What a beautifully made drama. The cast was excellent (special nod to Cheng Yi), the styling was beautiful, the soundtrack was addicting, and the storyline was a gripper; heck, even the fight scenes and CGI was very well done! I think this drama made it to my top 3 after TMOPB and The Untamed.
Was it perfect? Certainly not but it was one hell of a ride. Heartwrenching, infuriating, and so thoroughly enjoyable!! Obviously cutting it down to 59 episodes from it's original 73 was not an easy feat and this was more obvious in the final batches of episodes with it's blunt scene changes but it certainly didn't spoil the entertainment value of the drama.

So basically...after all that buildup, Bai Di just needed a scolding from heavenly father and he realizes his mistakes? How anticlimactic...

The hell was the heavenly emperor doing all this time that he didn't put a stop to all that nonsense?! So many people suffered all because he didn't put his foot down the minute Bai Di chose to betray LHJD. LHJD deserved his revenge and I was looking forward to a good battle.

I think part of it is in the adaptation too. For the most part, the novels are from the FL's perspective but the dramas are more-or-less from on the ML's perspective. Because of that the ML tends to attract more of the attention.
For example, TMOPB is told from Bai Qian's perspective so you go through her experiences with her. The drama has a larger focus on Ye Hua's side so it elicits a bigger pang of empathy from viewers for Ye Hua; especially since Mark Chao did such a good job.

My mistake, Dijun sealed LHJD's soul in the crystal lamp.

I believe SF was a minor deity in heaven originally. From her memories they crossed paths in heaven but it's still unclear whether he had feelings for her back then. It does seem like her little moments of happiness in heaven were because of SF though.

Agreed. Someone else said that when SF was pretending to be MXS there was just an air of great devastation about him even when he wasn't speaking or crying. All that credit goes to Cheng Yi who's portraying SF so perfectly.
I think the fight scenes between SF and XJ are when Crystal Yuan's sadness is portrayed the best because you can tell her XJ is tormented over having to fight SF. It's when she should be crying her eyes out that you can see the limitations in her acting.

I feel like the "Rule of Thumb" for Chinese xianxia/wuxia dramas is: the more suffering the couple goes through during their time together, the higher the chance of having a happy ending lol
There's many dramas where the lead couple have a good/trusting relationship throughout the entire drama only for them to have a sad ending so I'd rather take all the suffering if it means there's a greater chance of having a happy ending.

I loved her at first but when it was revealed that she loved SF in a romantic way all my affection for her disappeared. I really wished it could've just been a platonic relationship.

I really liked XYH when I thought her feelings were that of a pet to their master then it was revealed that her feelings were romantic so I don't think I like her anymore. I think making it romantic ruined her character for me.

XJ, MSX, and GoW were originally 1 person: the Demon Maleficent Star (Luo Huo Ji Du). LHJD was betrayed by Dijun (Hao Chen's god form) and Dijun cut him up and extracted the GoW from him and sealed his "evil" part inside the crystal lamp that Shao Yang guards at the bottom of the lake. He made GoW kill off all the Asura demons and win the war for heaven but after killing the Asura king, she discovered that Dijun used her to kill off her own kind so she demanded answers and rebelled against heaven. As a result, Dijun and his minions captured and punished her by putting her through her 10 lifetime trials. If she passes, she returns as the GoW and if she doesn't then she becomes a demon.
Her vengeance was so great that Si Feng (in his original phoenix form) decided to accompany her through her trials to appease her anger and redeem her soul and that's why their fates were always tied.
XJ is the 10th reincarnation of the God of War. Technically she is her own person and that could become the only reason why she won't destroy the 3 realms once she recovers her full memories.
I don't think it's shown to the audience that she loved SF in her other 9 lives, but I think she felt it when she remembered their lifetimes.

These "righteous" sects are too arrogant and only see the world in terms of black and white. If it's not like them then it's against them and blah blah blah like that. We saw the sects were like that and now we see it in the 4 beasts under HC. They always say "well, heaven has its reasons" ... maybe it's time to question what those reasons are. Blindly following orders is worse than being the one to make those orders.

I honestly think part of the problem behind the hypocrisy is filial piety towards parents, seniors, etc which is embedded in many cultures. With Xianxia/Wuxia dramas it's especially important and I think it's what creates a lot of the troubles.
It's disadvantageous to be both younger and a female and we see it a lot in XJ trying to fight for her own truth whilst still remaining obedient to both her father and HC.

She and her fellow disciples are taught that demons are bad and humans are good and because of that they have a bias against anything that's not human. As soon as the younger generation questions anything against the teachings of their elders they get a tongue lashing from their seniors for not blindly following orders. It's very frustrating.

1. The lover's curse was lifted. I think all he really needed was to know that XJ loved him wholeheartedly for who and what he is and she does so the curse was lifted.

2. I'm pretty sure he wanted her to die along with it since he knows he can't control her anymore. If she destroys the crystal lamp then she dies with it and that's why SF tried so hard to severe her connection to it. I think HC wants to capture her to "punish" her since she's not what he wants her to be.

3. Yes, SF does know she's MSX and that's why he made her promise not to open it even if it means he'll die.

She was shocked but tried to trust in him. Unfortunately at the pressure of her father/senior she ended up attacking SF when aiming for his master. He was so shocked she would attack him that it activated the second part of his lover's curse.

I'm really excited for Bai Di and his minions to try and hurt them now. They are united now so I'm squealing every time I see her become super protective and kicking their asses.

I was surprised it was cut from the actual episode but was included in the trailer. The kiss to his tear mole is just as poignant as the kiss to his curse mark since they both came about because of her. It made me sad they cut it.

I just love SF and XJ's group of demon friends.

You have brother Liu as SF's crazy protective older brother who's not afraid to yell at XJ for hurting his little phoenix. You have Ting Nu, who's the healer and mediator of the group who just tries to keep the peace. Then there's Zi Hu who became the fixer-upper when they got into their misunderstanding about SF's true identity. Next, there's Teng She who isn't afraid to get-all-up-in Hao Chen's face and defend XJ. Last but certainly not least, the newest addition: Wu Zhi Qi who's basically the crazy uncle who's always drunk about also crazy powerful and would drop everything to help them out.
With such a good group of friends, SF and XJ could never be led astray. (The problems came from their families, ironically)

Yes, it was such a beautiful moment. It's the first in which there are no more misunderstandings between them and they are both completely sincere. It brought tears to my eyes.

The end of ep 48. Brother Liu gives XJ a good scolding and tells her about it.

Agreed!! Cheng Yi was the gem in this drama. His dramatic/crying scenes are on point. He's probably the main reason why I'm so invested in this drama.

I don't think Mark Chao is very active in dramas though. Before TMOPB he only did Black and White and stuck mainly to movies.

His master attacked XJ during the tournament, then when the sects stormed Lizi Palace, they revealed their true forms.