mimi0108

I’m glad you’re giving it a try! Feel free to come back here to discuss it or ask questions if you need to. Or just drop by to tell how much you admire Zhou Yiran’s talent. 😊

I understand your frustration. FL is intelligent and more perceptive than many others, which allows her to see through ML’s lies quite quickly. However, there are two important points to consider:

1) She has only just met ML, and from the very beginning she finds him suspicious. Because of that, she is naturally more cautious around him, which makes it easier for her to see through him early on. Moreover, since their first meeting, he constantly lies to her and manipulates her, which only reinforces her mistrust and keeps her on guard.

2) She was partially raised by Lord Qi. He watched over her like an uncle, spent an entire month with her every year, personally trained her before officially taking her as his disciple, and played a major role in her upbringing. It’s much harder to suspect someone who raised you and whom you have always respected than someone who has only recently entered your life. In fact, there are several moments where she seems to realize that something suspicious is going on within her sect & her master, but she refuses to acknowledge it and pretends nothing is wrong. Accepting the possibility of a traitor among the people closest to her would completely shatter her worldview.

So yes, this does prolong the situation until the end, but it remains understandable. We often lack objectivity when it comes to people close to us, especially elders whom we were taught to respect.

I think that even if you're not a fan of the genre, it's still worth giving it a try, if only for Zhou Yi Ran and the great chemistry between the leads.

There isn’t that much fantasy either; it’s more about the martial arts world. The most complicated parts, I’d say, are the editing of the first six episodes (they had to cut a lot to shorten them, which can make things a bit confusing) and the fact that there are a lot of character names and backstories thrown at us. I often had to pause just to properly take everything in. In the end, though, everything is important. Things mentioned early on later become pieces of the puzzle.

We follow the two leads, but also the unresolved legacy of the previous generation.

But overall, it’s a great ride, and I think you should give it a try, especially knowing that the story gets better with each episode.

1st almost kiss: Episode 8
2st almost kiss: Episode 15
3rd almost kiss: Episode 17
1st forced kiss: Episode 21
2nd forced kiss: Episode 26
1st kiss initiated by the FL: Episode 29

The goal of the drama, for her, is to free herself from the prison of her inheritance.

Since childhood, her aunt has mapped out her future according to the tragic fate of the women in their family. She even arranged her engagement to the son of her former fiancé, believing she might have suffered less if she had married Zhou instead of meeting that demon and trusting him.

Because of this legacy, Zhao longs for a quiet and ordinary life, one where she can avoid both the corruption that, presumably, led some of her ancestors astray and the tragic heroism that defined her aunt’s life.

However, once she becomes a disciple and meets the male lead, she is forced to confront the secrets of the past. This sets her on a journey to uncover the truth about what really happened to her aunt and her ancestors. By understanding their stories, she hopes to make her own choices with full awareness, rather than letting the weight of previous generations shape her future.

Her path is “simpler” in the sense that, unlike the male lead, she does not need to reclaim a fallen position or pursue revenge. Yet her journey remains just as meaningful: it is about gaining the freedom to define her own future.

In episode 18, they have a big argument and the female lead came back to her own. They meet again in episode 20, but they’re not really supposed to be together anymore since she’s trying to keep her distance from him. However, they start getting close again. Then in episodes 28–29, they separate once more and don’t see each other again until episode 31, without officially getting back together yet.

Their separations usually last no more than about two episodes each time, but whenever they reunite, especially after an argument, they don’t just pick up their relationship easily, specially since they're not supposed to be together despite loving each other.

Officially, the leads only get together around the end.
Unofficially, they’re basically together from episode 14, even though their romantic feelings started developing from the very first episode.
There are a couple “forced” kisses from the ML and one kiss initiated by the FL. Then their first mutual kiss happens around the end, when they officially become a couple.
If you like the actor, you’ll love this drama. It’s the role that really marks a turning point in his career.

The story between Yu Qianqian and Qimin honestly makes me sick. That man is a monster, a psychopath, a murderer, a rapist, and an abuser. That poor woman spent seven years having nightmares about him. She was forced to carry the child of her rapist (even though Bo’er is adorable and she loves him despite everything).
And now he’s kidnapped her, threatens her child’s life, humiliates her, traumatizes her, and psychologically tortures their son. She’s forced to submit and sleep with him while waiting for any chance to escape.
If they dare try to turn this into some kind of romance, it will be outrageous. He deserves to die, and she deserves to get as far away from him as possible.

I don’t think it’s fair to say that. She genuinely loved him, sincerely, and she did from the very beginning. From the moment she first saw him, she felt a connection. She was intrigued, but also cautious. Unlike many others, she was able to see through the ML early on and had her doubts about him.

Yet despite those suspicions, she chose to protect him. She grew closer to him, became his friend, and even promised to protect him and help him seek revenge. When she later discovered that he was the young master of the enemy sect, she still risked everything to bring him a cure. She saved his life during the war and even decided to involve herself in the conflict so she could keep her promise to help him take revenge.

All this happened even though he had been lying to her and using her from the very start. In contrast, she never stopped keeping her promises to him and supporting him far more than she ever needed to. If that isn’t love, then what is?

The real difference between them is that she has a loving family and a life she deeply value, one she doesn’t want to sacrifice. The ML, on the other hand, has nothing to lose. He is alone in the world, which is why he clings to her so strongly. But following him would mean risking everything she has. And yet, despite that, she continues to stand by him.

So blaming her for trying to resist, especially when she has the example of their ancestor in mind and that ML keeps lying to her and using her (which scares her about their future), feels rather unfair.

There’s no point expecting logic from them. Just like ML tells SML’s brother: you always intended to seize power, you simply used the man in black's words about your mother as an excuse to justify it.

FL’s aunt was a hero, but those bitter men simply used her as a convenient excuse to justify their own choices. They were already in positions of power, leading the Six Sects, and yet they did nothing to actually change the system. Instead, they plotted in the shadows to destroy everything she had spent her life protecting.

They were weak, resentful, and consumed by bitterness. They didn’t have the courage to confront the problems openly and try to change things. So instead, they chose to burn everything down. And I'm so pissed no characters screamed at them those facts.

Because a lot of the elements needed for gaining zines method were hiding by her ancestors

In the novel, they had a kid, but drama has stopped at their wedding.

In what way?

When he realized how treacherous his father-in-law was and how narcissistic his wife truly was, instead of facing the situation honestly, he started plotting in secret.

From that moment on, he neglected his own daughter and let her be spoiled and twisted by her mother because it conveniently gave him a justification to kill her later, while he carefully raised his nephew with proper values.

In the end, he’s just a weak and obsessive hypocrite who cannot move past his grief and refuses to confront things openly. He always yielded to his wife instead of trying to challenge her views or change the situation. He allowed his daughter to become corrupted.

And the worst part is that he spent fifteen years as the leader of all the sects. He was already in the most powerful position to reform the system if he truly wanted to. Yet instead of trying to improve the world, he secretly plotted to burn everything down.

He’s not some tragic mastermind, just a weak man consumed by bitterness.

He said it himself: he desired his wife and saw her as some kind of fairy. Only after marrying her did he realize how treacherous his father-in-law was and how narcissistic his wife truly was. But instead of facing the situation honestly, he started plotting in secret.

Is that why ML’s father disappeared for five years after an “attack”? Because his twin tried to murder his infant son, leaving him badly injured and presumed dead somewhere?

He didn't married into her family. That was just a joke between them and her way to keep at bay SML when he tried to ask her.
He only stepped down of his responsabilities when he thought he was dying. In the end it’s clearly stated he returns as the Sect Li's young master. It’s implied he and FL will divide their time between his sect and her valley. The wedding is organized by his people (so she marry under his name) but held in her valley, which makes sense since he no longer has family and it allows members of the Six Sects to attend.

I'm sad that this never happened in the drama. Both him and Uncle Li needed to hear how hypocritical they were. They set the world on fire while already holding the most powerful positions and having the ability to create real change. Instead, their narrow-minded bitterness led them to choose destruction and suffering for everyone else just to fill the emptiness inside them.

I finally finished the drama, and honestly the last two episodes were very disappointing. I really don’t understand how they managed to fumble the ending like that.

Episode 36:
Throughout the drama, the fights and emotional moments usually have real intensity. But the final duel felt strangely fake and underwhelming.

What bothered me most is that no one calls out the villains for the obvious: they were already in power. If they truly wanted to change the world and honor those who died unjustly, they could have done it openly instead of plotting in the shadows and creating chaos. Instead, the characters just beg them to stop while they deliver their usual “misunderstood villain” monologues.

And the amount of blood splatter was excessive. In such a confined space it looked more grotesque than dramatic, and it made the whole scene feel anticlimactic.

Final episode:
They had a full epilogue episode to show the aftermath, how the world rebuilds, the new balance between the sects, the characters’ future roles, and the leads’ marriage symbolically uniting the Six Sects and the Li Sect.
But we barely see any of that.

The editing even tries to make us believe FL buried ML under the tree, and it’s so clumsy that at first it feels like the timeline is continuous. They pushed the “ML might die” tension so much that it ends up hurting the emotional payoff of their future together.

Then the final wedding feels oddly flat. After such a long journey, the cinematography and writing make the moment feel small instead of epic.

Also, I don’t understand why some viewers say ML gives up leading his sect. He only stepped down when he thought he was dying. In the end it’s clearly stated that he returns as their young master. It’s strongly implied that he and FL will divide their time between his sect and her valley. The wedding is organized by his people but held in her valley, which makes sense since he no longer has family and it allows members of the Six Sects to attend.

Overall, I really enjoyed the drama, but such an anticlimactic ending leaves a slightly bitter taste after all the intensity of the earlier episodes.

It was very poorly done, edited, and explained. But basically, she went to isolate herself in the ML's pavilion within the LI sect to watch over him until his death. Her brother therefore didn't know when he would see her again, since the ML could take years to die. But ultimately, he recovered in less than a year.