The best xianxia of 2024!!!!!!!!

This is the fifth drama I'm watching that has been adapted from a novel written by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang (after The Blue Whisper, love between fairy and Devil, Back from the Brink, Love You Seven Times). Since I've mostly liked all of them, especially back from the brink, I decided to give this a try. And as expected, it didn't disappoint.

For future viewers, I am just writing what I liked and what you might enjoy the most if you decide to give this a shot:
1. Followed 90% of the novel, so novel fans won't be disappointed. The leads had a lot of screentime together.
2. An independent and formidable female lead- Takes no nonsense from others, the perfect example of a tough exterior but soft interior, is extremely skilled at fighting and loves to protect her people, doesn't need a knight in shining armor to save her every time.
3. An all-powerful ancient god male lead- has an indifferent exterior most of the time(but is lonely and longs for companionship), loves to joke and prank others, is extremely caring towards our female lead, lets her fight her own battles most of the time even though he is more powerful than her (because he knows she prefers that even though at times he wants her to rely on him) .
4. Zhao Li Ying and Lin Geng Xin are old buddies who have starred in Princess Agents before. Being good friends they had a good level of cooperation and were able to deliver every scene perfectly. Kudos to their phenomenal acting. Also since I saw a lot of comments on how LGX looks too bulky or old for this role, let me tell you my opinion. He is playing the role of an ancient god who has lived for eons and is the highest of all beings in terms of power and position. So obviously, he is supposed to look manly and seasoned for that. I cannot picture someone who looks boyish and is skinny as an ancient deity who is all powerful and has lived for that long.
5.Perfect blend of romance, comedy, action, adventure. For me: Comedy : 10/10, Romance: 9/10, Action: 100/10, Angst: 3/10.
6. This is more of a light-hearted xianxia where the angst is followed by a comedy scene as a medicine to the pain.
7. The CGI is top-notch and one of the best you can get in costume dramas. So grateful for the fact that it was an S+ drama meaning the highest level in terms of budget. The CGI will make all those epic fighting scenes look 100% better. I really appreciate all the time, effort and money that they spent on making those scenes so beautiful. Plus the BGM's and OST's were perfect. The BGM accompanied with the CGI made the scenes so majestic.
8. No unnecessary misunderstanding between the male leads. No important sml or sfl.
9. No plot holes. People might have questions in the beginning but hold on, everything will be answered in the end.
10. A very happy ending. Not rushed and we get a full 1 episode of their happily ever after, quite rare in xianxia these days.

So undoubtedly a 10 out of 10 for me.

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One of the best dramas this year

This is my first time writing a review for a drama in MDL. I am not really much into xianxia but this drama became one of my favorites. So let me tell give a review and my opinions. I have already read the novel so I can say that there are a lot of changes made to the novel in the drama adaptation. A lot of characters were added and even the main villain is different, but I still feel like they all add up smoothly to give a conclusion.

Also this drama is for those people who like a light-hearted plot (there was angst and some sad parts too but it's still light-hearted considering that it's xianxia), a healthy relationship between the leads with fewer misunderstandings, a warm and naive male lead who turned cold after getting betrayed, a strong and sassy female lead, character development of the leads. Some may say that it was a bit fast-paced but for me it was perfect.
It will let you experience everything- comedy, romance, friendship, costume, fantasy, cute moments, grief and suspense. Give it a shot, trust me you won't be disappointed.

SPOILER AHEAD:
So the our male lead (Tian Yao ) is an all powerful dragon demon. He was initially innocent, naive and a warm person but turns cold and is full of hatred after he gets betrayed, used and badly wounded by his first love and that too on his wedding day. His ex dismembered him and sealed his body parts into different places. So his soul escapes one day and finds a mortal body. 10 years later he meets our female lead (Yan Hui). YH is a weak disciple (by weak I don't mean physically or emotionally, it's just that she had a seal placed in her body by her master which prevented her from using her magical powers to the fullest) at chenxing mountain who got kicked out because she defended spirits (taoists and spirits are generally at feud in there). She is a free-spirited, lazy, straightforward person who loves eating and wants to lead a lavish lifestyle. She was initially reluctant but after listening to TY's story started to sympathise with him and decided to help him find his body. In the beginning, TY was wary of her because she was also a Taoist just like his ex who betrayed him and only wanted to use her for finding his body. But after she saves his life, he begins to slowly warm up to her and trust her. They started to help and protect each other and facing all the difficulties together, thus forming a stong bond of mutual love, trust and understanding.
Now let me tell you in the novel, TY is the one who fell for YH first but in the drama, it was YH who fell first and confessed first. This makes sense because YH is a free spirted person who won't back down while TY is someone who has been hurt badly before and find it difficult to love again.
Our second male lead Bai Xiao Sheng was added in the drama. Now for future viewers this is a piece of advice:
In the beginning he is really funny and supports our main couple but then he falls in love with our female lead. At first he really doesn't plan on doing anything but then comes the only misunderstanding arc between our main couple. Both BXS and our female lead misunderstands the male lead and that's when he tries to create a rift between the two of them because he thinks that the male lead doesn't deserve her. So I saw a lot of people complaining about this arc and dropping the show there. For them, please have some patience. Many of you may find it annoying but once the misunderstanding gets cleared he backs off and gives his blessings to them. He even saves them twice. So yea, the misunderstanding arc will last from episode 17-24 but it will get better. Also, this arc, even though was not there in the novel but still important because this is where our male lead realizes how much our FL's trust and love meant to him. It was a moment of character development for him because he learns the need to explain himself and communicate well with FL.

Next, I would like to say that if you have seen or read somewhere about our female lead being a damsel in distress and always needing a male lead to save her, then that's not true. I saw these comments somewhere but I never understood. Yes, she was a bit weak in the beginning but there are times also when she saved our male lead and fought bravely. Her character development happens mainly in the second half of the drama where desperate situations force her to become a stronger version of herself. From someone who just wanted to lead a carefree life and eat baozi to being a strong, responsible, and protective person who is ready to burn down the world to protect her loved ones and eventually saving the day in the end. I feel like this is the best part of the drama adaptation. TY also got his own character growth, from being naive and innocent who got betrayed and became full of hatred but never changed his true nature, from initially planning to use the FL to selflessly loving her.
I know a lot of changes were made in the drama but I feel it was for the best outcome.

Ok, there are a lot of cute moments but the kiss scenes are not great. (I heard that the director instructed them to kiss like kissing a wall, so not the actor's fault).
Plus the OST's are perfect.
Also all the characters got their own time to shine, no one was extra and unnecessary. Everyone had their own role to play.
CGI was not that good but its not that bad either given the fact that it's not a high-budget drama.
But still kudos to the director, scriptwriter and actors for all the effort they put into making this a better version of the novel.

Overall this was undoubtedly one of the best xianxia dramas this year.

Regarding the ending, let me spoil it, it's a HE so watch it without worry. And the ending is quite satisfactory(at least for me)

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No matter where you are, or what you have become I will always find you in every lifetime.

I started watching this series because the drama is adapted from a novel written by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang . She is the same author of the novels of Love between fairy and devil, Back from the brink and The blue whisper. I absolutely loved all the three dramas and when I heard that another novel of hers got adapted into a drama I immediately decided to watch it. So, I have already read the novel and I can say that it's quite different. I guess I am not surprised since this has been the case for back from the brink and the blue whisper too. But regardless of what others say, I personally liked the drama a lot more than the novel.
Reasons to watch:
1. Their unwavering love trust understanding and devotion towards each other. Both the male and the female lead unconditionally love each other and is willing to sacrifice their own life to save the other.
2. Lots of cute and romantic moments between the leads. For me this was a good blend of romance, comedy, action, adventure and angst.
3. The female lead is absolutely no damsel in distress. It may seem that the fl is weak as compared to the ml but that's not the case. She has wits and doesn't cower away when it comes to the safety of her loved ones. Also, they added a backstory to the main leads which was not there in the novel. It was to add the element of mystery to the drama.
4. Main cp were a lot more affectionate than the novel where they quarrelled a lot.
5. They added quite a few side characters to add depth to the story but except for the sml no one is annoying. And even the second male lead redeems himself in the last few episode that you might actually like him in the end.
6. Anyone who watches it carefully can figure out some the parallels between their lifetimes. So it was fun predicting what is about to happen in the future.
7. No matter what the haters say, this drama had quite a lot of screen time for our main cp as compared to some other popular xianxia dramas. It was only in the last 2-3 episodes that they got less screen time.
8. Lemme spoil it, every one got their own happy ending.
9. The cast did their best especially the male lead and the villain absolutely slayed their role
Cons:
1. A lot of people were saying that the fl cannot act. For me, she did pretty well. Her crying scenes were the only part where I felt a bit of improvement was needed. But she's young and I believe she will definitely improve in the future.
2. The first few episodes felt a bit draggy, because their first lifetime involved a lot of politics and the sml's scheming. But it quickly caught up around episode 12-13. In the end, I felt the main villain took quite a lot of screen time with his schemings but ig that was to show how evil he already was and how he was willing to commit even greater atrocities because he was greedy and had inferiority complex.
3. A last minute happy ending. Even though I am satisfied with the ending but it would have been even better if they managed to show us a few more glimpses after they reunited or at least focused on the male lead more. BUT THE ENDING PROVIDED PROPER CLOSURE TO EVERYONE and that is what is satisfying to me.
4. They chopped out a lot of scenes but you can actually find all of them

Also the cgi and the ost's were pretty good. Whenever the bgm called emotional vocalization was played, it made the scene so much more powerful.
SO NO MATTER WHAT THE HATERS SAY, IT'S STILL A 10 OUT OF 10 FOR ME

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