x_AJ_x

haha, each to their own. I just completely disagree. For me it’s one of the best enemies to lovers stories I’ve seen because it is ACTUALLY enemies. It is also enemies WHILE lovers which I also love. The hate and the conflict doesn’t just vanish for no reason because the narrative says so. It is not a one-sided love, especially not by the end. She does fall in love with him but this love doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. Pity and compassion turns to attraction and then to love. But it is always conflicted throughout. She has to keep him alive to keep him from devilizing, so her actions are based on fulfilling her mission. But that doesn’t mean the other stuff isn’t real. Despite her hate, these feelings actually do start early - for example, when she starts the snowball fight with him, there is no ulterior motive there other than simply wanting him to experience a simple joy.

When she wakes to find that he has taken the world-alluring jade she swaps it and takes the curse from him. Yes, in part because she needs to keep him alive – but she vehemently denies Sang Jius claim that he is evil and is deserving of that fate before she does it.

When they return from the dream she plans to manipulate him to get him to fall in love with her as she has been told this is the only way she can complete her mission and she is on a 300 day time limit. This is understandable, as the fate of three entire realms rest on this. The future version of him doesn’t just kill her family, he destroys the entire world! I’m glad she didn’t just throw this mission away. It is an inevitability that the evil bone would corrupt him had the plan not gone the way it did (as set up by Ming Ye and Ji Ze) She also doesn’t have the information we as an audience have. To throw away the mission and for the hate and prejudice she carries to vanish, would have been incredibly unrealistic and would have turned me off. And him developing love threads through this is actually the reason the world is saved in the end.

But even so, the act becomes real. I felt it was clear her feelings became real. Despite being in denial over it. This was also confirmed by the actors so it isn’t just my interpretation. When they are at the water festival, she thinks about telling him the truth, so she can “protect him and be with him forever” That's not an act. It is her own thoughts, in her own head. I don’t think it gets more genuine than that. There are other instances that also confirm this. And definitely by the last arc it has reached a point of being an open love.

Tantai Jin is my favourite character and my heart breaks for him in this drama – but he isn’t always perfect either. There were unhinged actions on his part too (why I love him) While he is undeniably a victim, Li Susu’s fate is also unfair. It’s a burden. She isn’t perfect, and maybe she doesn’t go about things the “right" way but I actually appreciated this and felt her actions were understandable. Toxic relationship for most of it - absolutely. But I loved it.

it's fair enough if this dynamic isn't for you. It's not going to appeal to everyone.

She does love him (this isn't just an interpretation but confirmed by the actors) And she pretty much confirms these feelings herself at certain points. But it's complicated, because of the circumstances. There is some denial there at times too. It's a very love/hate and messy dynamic. But there is also sweetness there as well. & what is conflicted ends up the opposite by the end.

I'd say its an OE. One that has hints towards the novel's HE. An OE that is both sad and optimistic imo. If you get to episode 35 and decide you want to finish it. 🤣

if not thats cool. Enjoy the ride up to 35 anyway and happy watching 😅

(But if you decide to stop at 35 there is a love scene towards the end that you may want to look up.... just because 😜)

Glad you're enjoying so far its by far one of the most addictive dramas ive watched.

Yeah, it would have been really good to see certain concepts explored more. Some things were left very vague in the drama.

I think acknowledging and acceptance of feelings is a main part of achieving balance. I don't think you can control it without acknowledging it first. In the drama at least, I don't think it was ever about ignoring it or pretending that it doesn't exist, which is what she tried to do when trying to forget about TTJ. From what I recall in the novel it was the same, to achieve godhood and forget about TTJ and the sadness of the past. It instead, helped her deal with her experiences.

When she ascends and " abandons her love" She has accepted her love for him, but it is also an acceptance of the situation and letting go. I completely agree that it wasn't explored or explained in depth. Which is a shame!

Congratulations Evie! How exciting!! 🎉

I feel the ending is implying a reunion for them one day (especially given what I know of the novel ending, the original script and certain clips Youku released after the drama aired) I understand this isn't going to be enough for everyone though. So that's fair enough!

I would at least go and look up their love scene in episode 39 though. You can't miss out on that! 🤭

The Ancient Devil God cast the all-in-distress way. He was formed from the sins and suffering of man. He feeds on this and that’s where he gets his power. Dimian was a demonic lord himself but he was a greedy SOB and wanted the power of The Devil God. So he absorbed the Evil Bone, only he didn't just absorb TDG's power, he absorbed the devil god himself. The evil bone has part of The ancient devil god's essence inside it and this is what allows him to resurrect. So Dimian essentially got possessed and controlled by the TDG, and that’s why/how he opened the all-in-distress way, to continue his plan to return the world into primordial chaos.

I think Li Susu was always destined to be the one to go back in time to kill him, because he was married to a version of her in the past. (That’s why in the first episode Devil God 2.0 in the future recognised Li Susu when he saw her) The original Ye Xiwu was a part of Li Susu's immortal soul and was cast off into the mortal world. So there was always a connection between them. And then when you factor in her parentage as the daughter of Chu Huang, she is destined to be the first True God in 10,000 years and the only one strong enough to stop him.

The clamshell was Ming Ye’s heart-guarding scale. When Li Susu fatally wounded him he would have died, but there would have been a chance for the TDG to resurrect again. So he crushes the evil bone completely with the belief that he and TDG can never return. But the heart-guarding scaled preserved a part of his essence. Meaning TTJ may come back, as usually happens in Xianxia. In the novel his soul is saved by the tiger demon, where he heals and cultivates for 1,000 years and is reincarnated. The tiger demon doesn’t really play a part in the drama so they swapped that for the heart guarding scale. I guess it makes more sense given Tantai Jin’s connection to Ming Ye and the HGS. So an open ending that can be taken however you want I guess. (but definitely not satisfying for everyone 😅)

The heartless path is a cultivation/meditation technique to reach godhood but it’s not the only way. LSS's clan has a propensity for this particular technique so it was likely to be her best bet. Taoist practices are about achieving balance, and that is how the heartless way was described. It’s about finding perfect balance in all things and only then can the body, mind and heart be unified. It’s not about removing love, but eliminating earthly desires (like romantic desire) which are the kinds of emotions that tend to leave you unbalanced. It’s actually more about love for the world as a whole. Tantai Jin knew that the only way for her to reach it was for her to abandon her love for him. Once you achieve your balance and ascend I don’t think you are then unable to have love or desire. I think it’s simply a technique to achieve it. Chu Huang was married and it is clear that Li Susu is grief-stricken, hurt and still very much in love with TTJ at the end. So I’m taking it to mean it’s a path to enlightenment, but not something that removes the emotion once there.

I do think that the editing in the last arc was poor, due to cuts and so some things are vague or only implied and this is one of the reasons I can’t give it a 10 either, despite it being one of my favourite dramas. Glad to hear you enjoyed it despite the issues you had. It’s a great drama, though definitely not a perfect one! 😅

There is still a second part coming out. So it's literally still unfinished between them 😅

There are two other pairings between secondary characters

but there isn't a love triangle or other pairings with the main leads.

She does go back and forth with her emotions because this is very much a love/hate relationship all throughout. (though less on the hate in the last arc) It may seem irrational but its caused by her own trauma and fear of him.

Any action he takes that seems remotely questionable to her she sees as proof. And I think there is a part of her that uses it as an excuse to pull away from him emotionally. She falls in love with him for real, but she is in denial of it. (There are scenes that basically confirm this to me during the Jing arc) She also knows she has to kill him. The fate of the entire world rests on that decision. She can’t give that up for love, not for anyone. So she is constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. And maybe there is a part of her that WANTS the other shoe to drop. Much easier to kill him and be resolute about it if she keeps telling herself that there is definitely no hope for him.

He doesn’t always communicate with her either. She jumps to conclusions based on fear and prejudice, he picks up on it and then plays into that very perception of him. She says things to hurt him, he responds by saying things to hurt her. Like her telling him that her serving him and being with him means as much to him as if it was anybody else.

She hates him, but she also pities him. There is a part of her that wants better for him despite it. The snowball fight was not born from any ulterior motive but just a desire for him to experience a simple joy. Then he kidnaps her back to Jing, holds her captive and threatens to kill her. 😂 (obviously, we completely understand his motives for this and empathize, but it’s difficult for her not to see it differently) Even after all of that, she still vehemently denies Sang Jiu's words about him being evil and deserving of his fate and the curse of the world-alluring jade. She is always conflicted over it and this never really goes away.

Enemies to lovers is fun. Lovers while enemies is also very interesting. But it's completely fair enough if, for whatever reason, this dynamic doesn't appeal to you.

I respect your opinion and understand not everyone will see it this way. Hopefully you continue to enjoy the drama anyway. If not - well... that's okay too. 😅

The leaked script has 40 episodes. But they're pretty dense scripts and so there was obviously a lot of material for it to end up longer. The two distribution licenses they received in early
2023 was for 34 episodes in part 1 and 16 episodes in part 2. 50 episodes in total.

There was a production permit in early 2021 that was for 60 episodes but that was under a placeholder name. This was long before they started filming, probably before the script was even finalized. They likely didn't know how long it would end up being at the time.

So I'd still say 50 episodes is the most likely amount before the regulations came in.

true! Scary how quickly time has passed. It's been nearly a year since it aired! I'm sure we'll make it up to 130k when the 1 year anniversary rewatch takes place though.

Feels like yesterday we were celebrating reaching 80,000 😄

That's true. 🤣

Yu Zheng (lulu's boss) did call bs on the idea that any breakup was forced between them. Saying none of those rumours even made sense. Not that I usually put much weight into what comes out of that mans mouth. 🤣 it's not like he would admit it if he did. (Or maybe he would... this is Yu Zheng afterall)
But if they did break up its just as likely it was for the same reasons lots of people break up. Timing, busy schedules, personal issues and stuff.

That's if they were ever even together to begin with.

*bombastic side eye* indeed. 😂

LOL this list is kind of bananas. hmmmm, questionable.

Bai Lu is definitely a douyin queen!

She and ARP do seem really funny together in the reuters too. They definitely got the bickering energy going on. He ran out on the bill for their cast hotpot dinner the other day apparently. She came out waving the bill at him.

I love that they referenced Wuthering Heights because I got a Wuthering Heights vibe too. That scene where Tantai Jin goes to Ye Xiwu's ice tomb and holds her body, and begs her to speak to him and keep trying to kill him, while also calling her hateful. That level of anger and grief felt like the scene where Heathcliff goes to Cathy's body after her death. I always called it his Heathcliff moment.

“You said I killed you-haunt me, then! [...] Be with me always-take any form-drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you!”

and there is the classic "And I pray one prayer—I repeat it till my tongue stiffens—Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living"

Feels very JinSu to me. haha

Thanks for sharing this review!

It's very emotional, so yes I would prepare yourself. 😅

However, like Micha said, it's not necessarily completely miserable either. It does hint at the novel's epilogue, (the original script was also a HE) I think they changed it and made it OE to set it apart from the similar (or identical) endings of other Xianxia's Personally, I think the implications are the same. But people tend to look at the ending in different ways.