Notable Actors/Actresses
Lin Geng Xin: Xing Zhi / Xing Yun
Zhao Li Ying: Shen Li
Director
Deng KeScriptwriter:
Jiu Lu Fei Xiang (Author)
Chinese Title
Along the Tailwind of the Phoenix
Recap Grade: C
First Impression: 2.9/5
First Impression: 2.9/5
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Xing Zhi / Xing Yun |
Zhao Li Ying: Shen Li |
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Mo Fang (Shen Li's soldier) |
Zeng Li: Shen Mu Yue (Shen Li's shifu) |
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Fu Rong Jun (Royal brother) |
Li Jia Qi: You Lan (Royal sister) |
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| Liu Guan Lin: Heavenly Lord |
Qiu Xin Zhi: Liu Ming |
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| Feng Lai (Shen Li's father) |
Xuan Lu: Liu Yu (Shen Li's mother) |
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Wei Zi Xin: Fu Sheng |
Wang Yi Yao: Jin Yin Zi |
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Qing Ye Gu Cheng Jin Jing Yan |
Huang Yi: Xiao He Jing Xi |
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| Hu Dan Dan: Ye Shi Shi Luo |
Mini Recaps
[Ep1] Our titular FL, Shen Li (Zhao Li Ying), General of the Immortal Realms, refuses to marr. She'd rather be a chicken (phoenix, but since the mortals in this drama are misunderstanding, and I'm also a mere mortal so..) She's a very cocky chicken:
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| There's a cameo by Wang Zi Wei who was Xiao Tao in Story of Ming Lan. |
Xing Yun (Lin Geng Xin) can communicate with Shen Li, the chicken. He calls her GeGeDa 咯咯噠 (phonetics appropriate for a chicken and actually somehow sounds like a proper title for a lord). Overnight, as she's sleeping, she transforms into a human again, but he conceals her form. No reaction to her naked body. Not sure if everything okay down there, but he's definitely not okay up in his lungs: Discreetly, he's coughing up blood ....
Side Story. A devoted husband died in war. He's supposed to ascend to immortality, but refuses to leave his heartbroken widow even if she can't see him. Shen Li and Xing Yun accidentally enrage the warrior. Xing Yun arranges a matrix for Shen Li to transform. As she's about to become human again...
Shen Li: Sick man! Strip!*Sick man strips"
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| He kind of scared me when he started chasing our chicken. He's the actor Song Ning , who I quite liked in Islands as the divorced husband who still loves his wife. He has a calm voice. |
[Ep3] The reunion between the widow and her warrior is short, and bittersweet. He ascends to immortality for her sake because his transcending companionship is depleting her life force.
Warrior rises, Sick Man drowns. Xing Yun trips into the water, and drowns himself. Shen Li is afraid of water, but jumps down to rescue him. In between, she lectures him, "If you can't swim, why on earth do you live by the water?" Hahaha. This whole scene is a shoutout to Princess Agents (comment [1], [2]), including the terrible CGI.
She wears them.
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| Why LOL |
[Ep4] Shen Li is back in her original form, but still hasn't left Xing Yun. Her heart can't leave him already. Or is it her stomach? Or are they different?
[Ep5] Fu Sheng! My nosy and adorable butler from New Life Begins! Not a trace of him here. He casted the spell and kills his own pawns to target Shen Li (to no avail). Her eyes are bleeding though, meanwhile Xing Yun is absolutely fine. He wipes the blood (this very persistent red dye) and gently blows her burning eyes...
Shen Li: Stop blowing or my eyes will be blind. Haha.
Shen Li: Listen well. I’m notifying you that I may have taken a fancy on you.Xing Yun: I understand.
No girl will be pleased with that answer. And by the way, this place is contaminated with jello sprites precisely because a girl ain't pleased. Xiao He, a water lily sprite, succumbed to evil. She's betrayed by the man she loves. Gu Cheng Jin pampered her as medication to save his only love (Ye Shi). So Xiao He is jelly and turned everything to jello.
Xing Yun plays with Shen Li’s spear – and almost beheads her. However, only the strongest can wield her spear. But it's like Shen Li forgot about this after he coughs. She also notices that he's been delaying her departure by withholding all that he knows and he knows a lot like Xiao He's whereabouts.
After murdering Shen Li's hairpin, Xing Yun gives her a new one from the ground: a poisonous arrow tip. They're both so romantic. She's like the arrow: strong and sharp, and she’s calm at the sight of blood as she seals the opening (think arrow piercing the body). But isn't he the one who's calm? He doesn't disagree.
Shen Li punishes Xiao He – with spanks. LOL. At her core, she's just an innocent child, betrayed and hurt. She’s so cute! She apologizes for hurting the innocent. (Plus, it was this evil spirit who degenerated her.)
[Ep6] Xing Yun motivates Xiao He to move on. “Even a chicken raised to be poultry knows to fight to live, why not you, a smart and clever sprite” The original line is not chicken, but crickets & ants (i.e. the powerless), lol. And that's how you earn the stare from our beautiful chicken.
Shen Li tells/threatens Xing Yun that if it’s the man she fancies, she wants all of him, and not one bit less. If he schemes against her, then she will kill him. *Coughs* No, not that hint-hint-cough-cough-Cough. It’s a real cough with blood. He's critically injured.
Shen Li decides it's time to leave her very sick man. She may want all of him, but she can't be with him not in sickness nor in health. She doesn't leave him to die though, no, that would be too heartless. A sprite is terrified into saving Xing Yun. That's more like her. However, Xing Yun is kept hostage by the immortal soldiers assigned to escort their lord home.
Shen Li, our warrior, descends to save her ML. She asks him if he’s okay.
Xing Yun: I’m still alive. But dying soon.
Shen Li takes Xing Yun into her trusty arms, but he pushes her away (to free her). She whisks him back, lecturing him to stop messing around. But they both know it, she can’t take him with her. Still, she refuses to back down to her shifu (Shen Mu Yue). She did no wrong. Her lines are powerful, but Zhao Li Ying isn’t powerful enough :( But this isn't a matter of being right or wrong. She is forced to return to marry. Before she leaves, her eyes are glossy as she looks down at the man she fancies.
Xing Yun: Why do you look like you want to harass (tease) me.
[Ep7] For fleeing (+/- eloping), Shen Li loses 500 years of EXP, and is caved by her shifu for 30 days. That's 30 years in the mortal realm. Xing Yun, a mortal, has passed away. I wonder what he did for 30 years. I hope he was sad...>:). Shen Li's heart is breaking, which I can only assume given her beautiful stone-faced expression. She won't search for his reincarnation. She only loves this Xing Yun, not his past nor his future.
Xing Yun isn't reincarnated. Xing Yun is actually Xing Zhi, the only living primordial god (oh...so old), who was bored out of his mind and mortalized himself for entertainment. He retained all his memories.
Fu Rong (He Yu) is Shen Li's fiancé. He begs his royal grandfather, the Heavenly Lord, to annul the marriage. Talk about respect: he starts kneeling his "huang yeye"from a football field away. #1 rule in xianxia is to suspect the Lord. But here, fret not. The actor is Diddy Kong Liu Guan Lin.
[Ep8] There's danger at the Im/mortal border: a demonic beast engulfs everything like a blackhole. Quizzically, Shen Mu Yue keeps their best warrior, Shen Li, grounded. (Also there's this noxious, black, gaseous entity entering the dead soldier's nostrils....)
Shen Li refuses to stand by and watch her soldiers die. She duels the demon, who really takes a fancy on her. Mo Fang almost dies to protect Shen Li! Now the demon has done it. Shen Li is livid. She slashes the beast, but he swallows her first! Mo Fang, who's critically injured, scrambles onto his feet. He must save her!
In the intestine of the beast, Shen Li's fine (and very whole). She explodes from his gut, and still looks this beautiful with 5 dabs of red dye:
After fulminating the demon, Shen Li falls into the arms of Xing Zhi. Glaring is Mo Fang. Aw! I get 2ML's pov! He almost died for her and this random man just strolls in, did absolutely nothing, and is now holding the woman he loves.
Mo Fang confesses his love! He says Shen Li has lived in his heart for a while now. Shen Li asks if there's poison in his brain.
Mo Fang: No, I just like you.
Shen Li rejects him and orders him not to even let a hair of love grow in his brain. Awwww!.... I really shouldn't be rooting for him. Right? And this confession had too many organs especially after she just exploded from an intestine.
[Ep9] Xing Zhi cures Shen Li in three days. He also cures the barren land by unsealing the five elements. The first is Wood, which recovers the greenery, as well as the moonlight (ah, the greenery absorbs the pollution/CO2 from the sky and thus we can see the moon.). This is why only Shen Li can be his tour guide. Only she has enough cultivation to withstand Xing Zhi's primordial powers.
Before they part ways, he gives her a leaf to practice. For a high god, his presents.....are so eco-friendly: a leaf from a tree, and a used arrow from the ground.
Shen Mu Yue (shifu) is making us all paranoid. She really wants Shen Li to leave (the place? Xing Zhi? Both).
[Ep10] The one and only true god left, Xing Zhi, fails at holding a girl's hand. Just when you think he's dumb, he really is smart. All these places he's "touring" are part of his treatment for Shen Li's poison. (However, there seems to be a darker force resonating with her body than just the poison....) Now that she is completely healed, he doesn't need her as his tour guide anymore.
[Ep11] Xing Zhi is a high god with a higher ego. He's injured by forcefully escaping the zone, and stumbles, but as long as he doesn't see anyone seeing his stumble, it didn't happen. Shen Li laughs at the dork.
Xing Zhi – with his extraordinarily slow pace – meanders tirelessly back to the campground. He thought he could sit, but no, his unwilling legs have to trudge again. He needs to walk to wherever Shifu Shen is to testify that Shen Li did not flee from marriage again. (By the way, they spent 5 days together there. That's 5 years! Longer than Shen Li ever spent with Xing Yun).
There's another guest: Fu Rong. He falls in love as fast as he's scared out of love.
Shifu Shen gives Shen Li a book. Inside the book, there is a box. Inside the box, there is a pearl. Just give the pearl? It's Shen Li's Blue Sea Pearl...that is red. It was attached to Shen Li when she was born. The umbilical cord pearl can replenish Shen Li's depleted energy (ahh so it's cord blood with stem cells). Shen Li never saw her parents (who will be Xuan Lu and Xu Hai Qiao!). She was a war baby, and soon Shen Li will be 1000 years old.
[Ep12] Xing Zhi takes a liking to the demanding Xu Xu, the parrot (= Hush Hush). The love is limited when he hushes Xu Xu in mere seconds. I think we're supposed to be reminded of this idiom: 愛屋及烏. It literally means "Love the house and its crow" The equivalent English is "Love me, love my dog". He loves Shen Li, and her yappy bird.
There's a new "couple": Fu Rong and Mo Fang! One will do anything to cancel the wedding and one will protect his master at all cost.
Also in the mortal realm is Xing Zhi. He wants to apologize to Shen Li. She tells him about Xing Yun, the mortal she fell in love with. She may have fallen for him the first time he called her name.
Fu Rong is found by accident. He's a beggar now. He actually saved a city from being swallowed by demons. But nothing can save him from his womanizer nature. He flirts with Jing Xi. Shen Li fractures the naughty wrist that bidong-ed the innocent girl.
Xing Zhi buys Shen Li a bunny lantern, which seems to be a nod to Princess Agents.
Jing Yan's (Qing Ye's) fate is to be star crossed lovers with the woman he loves. Again and again. I had wanted to say you two have your fate, don't pull in the cute fairy Jing Xi! But there is an interpretation (comment link) that explains her presence which I subscribe to. (If you want to discover it through the show, then don't read the spoiler!) At first I resonated with Shen Li's comment that only 30% was fate's doing, and the rest was all on Qing Ye's decision. Now I think fate is really cruel, haha. But this lifetime, Qing Ye improved! He's less of a jerk because he made a decision between the two, and all three of them have closure.
Shen Li drinks with Mo Fang and lectures him for yielding to You Lan when he did nothing wrong. He's got an attitude too, but he's submissive all for Shen Li's sake. Aw. When she's sober, she realizes she's stargazing with Mo Fang. That rigid posture, lol. She can't see stars, though. He stares right at her. Mo Fang sees a star: her. Kyaaaa!
This heavenly grandson's idea of a marriage:
The mangling service is great too. Out of spite, Shen Li says Xing Zhi should serve her instead. Muahahaha. Xing Zhi wanted that. At your service, wangye!
Fu Rong fools the gullible Ruo Ya (maid) to steal Shen Li's precious babies: her weapons. Poor Ruo Ya, lol. I like her name too. "Meat Ya!". There's one particular weapon Shen Li kept with care: the poisonous arrow from Xing Yun, which Xing Zhi finds.
[Ep13] Shen Li gives Ruo Ya a baobao because sweet little maid got her a birthday present. 
Shen Li isn't feeling well. Xing Zhi feeds her water. He asks if she wants more. Dazed, she answers yes. She really is thirsty (and violently shoos Hush Hush). Overnight, she develops a fever. She thinks it's the Blue Sea Pearl. No sweetie, it's the heat of love. Xing Zhi treats her, but doesn't stay long. Is it harder to stay with someone you love when they're sick or harder to resist staying and instead wait outside?
Xing Zhi is pettily jealous that Shen Li calls Mo Fang hers. And yet he's petty with his love.
[Ep14] Our drunk yet lucid Shen Li demands if Xing Zhi is into her. Xing Zhi assures her she's drunk. As a (true) god, love is only trivial to him is what he wants to convince of himself, and her. Futile.
Shen Li's new mission: fetch her fiancé, Fu Rong. He tried scaring Mo Fang, but ended up scaring himself all the way to the moral realm.
It's the same mortal county again, but a century later. Shen Li learns the rest of Xing Yun's history. With the help of divinity, Xing Yun assisted Gu Cheng Jin to the throne. His wife may have revived, but she entered Buddhism. They both died lonely. As for Xing Yun, he retired immediately. He didn't live in luxury, but returned to his cottage and never married,
Shen Li (to Xing Zhi): Xing Yun, Shen Li isn't dumb.
After Xing Zhi is exposed, he no longer hides his Xing-Yun-ness to her. Shen Li grumbles to herself. She totally wants to beat him up for rejecting her and seducing her.
Danger looms in the city. Finding Fu Rong
can wait, lol. Xing Zhi mutters, "It's been a thousand years and still so unrelenting." It's no coincidence that Shen Li is 1000 years old.
[Ep15] You know what Shen Li finds the most irresistible about Xing Zhi/Yun? When he cooks! She lets him hold her hand all the way because he promised her food, but he brought her to a black shop, the kind that robs you of one thing or another. You know when she really wants to beat him up? Every moment. The owner is a snake sprite. And the daughter is Xiao He! I mean, she's now reincarnated into Jing Xi.
Gu Cheng Jin and Ye Qing are reincarnated as well. He's Jing Yan and she's Shi Luo. Jing Xi is (still) in love with her shige, Qing Yao. Meanwhile he's (still) in love with Shi Luo, an unconscious patient.
[Ep16] Xing Zhi is proud of himself for casting magic with Shen Li's hair. Shen Li isn't. "Next time, pluck your own hair." Lol. He did pluck with a lot of force, ahaha. When he's really powerful though, he doesn't show off:
Fu Sheng is still living. How? Isn't he mortal? Clearly not. He also zombified the dead soldier, which is a fatal blow to Shen Li, both physically and emotionally. She would have died if Fu Sheng didn't stop his zombie minion from harming Shen Li. 
Xing Zhi's face is dangerously red from the lightning anger. He looks like he can destroy the world for the girl he loves. Fu Sheng manages to escape though,
The city is at peace again. There's celebratory fireworks. Xing Zhi leads Shen Li in the front.
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| Hiiii to you too, Lin Geng Xin! (But I gotta say the music is more powerful than my actors, loooool) |
Fu Rong is kind of sweet! He helps Jing Xi make Jing Yan jealous. This Jing Yan though, who does he really love? He's originally a True God (Qing Ye) like Xing Zhi, but passed away.
[Ep17] Qing Ye is prosecuted with mortality because he fell in love with someone he shouldn't. So True Gods can love, it's just not with someone they shouldn't? Also, why is Fu Sheng always involved in Qing Ye's mortal life?
Shen Li: Don't walk in front of me anymore.Shen Li (to herself): Because seeing you, I won't be able to perceive colours anymore.
They're separated by the crowd, but that doesn't stop Shen Li from hearing Xing Zhi's reply.
Xing Zhi: Only being in front, can I protect you.
Jing Yan lets go of Shi Luo. A tear falls. He doesn't know why he's crying. But he has made his choice: Jing Xi.
Xing Zhi and Shen Li return to the sprite realm. We learn that Fu Rong lives like a parasite to Mo Fang. The parasite has a sister: You Lan (Li Jia Qi / La Mu Yang Zi). And she's here to. Guess who she's attached to.
[Ep18] You Lan may be infatuated with Xing Zhi, but she's here for her brother. She wants Mo Fang to back off from Fu Rong. Excuse me, lol.
Shen Li: Why (do you love me)?Mo Fang: Why not?
In Mo Fang's eyes, Shen Li's scarlet spear is an embroidery needle sewing the most beautiful mountains and rivers. Awwwww!
An eavesdropping Xing Zhi is jealous. Again. This time though, he really leaves the Sprite Realm back to his Sky of the Sky. He left with her a sky full of stars though! However, Shen Li refuses to look up. If she doesn't see how beautiful they are, it won't hurt as much. Too late. His absence hurts.
P.S. Poor Xu Xu.
[Ep19] In the Heavenly Realm, a sister chatting with her naked brother in the bath is perfectly normal.
Fu Rong: You be my ge, I be your di.Shen Li: How about you call me dad instead.
Fu Rong is serious! He even has a contract for their marriage of brotherhood. When she doesn't sign it, he's seriously foolish enough to think she likes him.
Shen Li can play leaf-music! How many leaves died! This alarms Xing Zhi's fan club because it's the same lovelorn tune as Xing Zhi's. Fu Rong helps us analyze this fan club. Unlike for him whose fans want to have him, for Xing Zhi, they worship him like, well, a god. No one is worthy of possessing Xing Zhi. He is untouchable.
[Ep20] Thanks to the rabid fans, Shen Li moves into Xing Zhi's residence. It's the style behind his riverside mortal home, except the kois transform into boys who are substantially bald and nude. Xing Zhi (air-)whips the koi/boys' butt for drenching Shen Li. It doesn't seem she can ever be dry on the first day at his home.
A jealous You Lan instigates a lion to attack Shen Li, but it backfires. The lion plunders after You Lan. Shen Li saves her, but You Lan refuses her help. Girl, you sure? The lion is roaring two inches from her face.
Shen Li: If you want to keep your face, beg me.
She begs. Shen Li saves. Is this love on You Lan's face?
It turns out the lion is Xing Zhi's pet. Xing Zhi also knows who's behind this: You Lan.
[Ep21] Shen Li wanders into Xing Zhi's memorial room. In there she realizes how profound his position is as the God of Gods. He is the only surviving True God. Her Sprite Realm depend on him. All three realms depend on him. They both arrive at the same conclusion.
Xing Zhi: Shen Li, I can't love you. The confessions he owes her, and the confession he can't give her.
Shen Li: [...] Shenjun, please refrain from teasing Shen Li from time to time.Xing Zhi: But I can't control myself. I can't stop myself from wanting to tease you
Shen Li mutters, You jerk. You very sick jerk. LOL. He doesn't deny that he's sick. Shen Li assures that she can treat him. Xing Zhi shall put himself in her care, "Don't just treat the symptoms and not the root cause." He hopes that if he dies first (lol, right after she said she'd treat him, he talks about his death), Shen Li would visit his memorial often, and remember him longer. If she forgets him, how lonely would he be? But isn't that cruel to Shen Li. You selfish god, lol.
Fireballs launch from nowhere at the primordial gods' memorial, Xing Zhi's happy place. Shen Li guards it with her life while muttering (should be cursing) under her breath at Xing Zhi for the poor, I mean, lack of defences around such an important place. But he's so powerful. He arrives, and whoosh, everything she did before seemed moot. Xing Zhi yells at Shen Li for putting her life on the line for the damn houses. She says he can't not have a belonging in this world.
Xing Zhi: Are you really helping me control myself? Nobody wants you to control yourself, Xing Zhi. Nobody.
[Ep22] Sprite Realm is under attack too. First it was Xing Zhi's residence, now it's Shen Li's. This was old news though, like 5 days ago. Someone please update the Heavenly Realm's internet. Shifu Shen has also fainted. Who's dooming the realms (other than the internet speed)?
It's happening now: Show's climax. Witness the galore of expressions!
Shen Li's panic that she's concealing:
Xing Zhi's concern for the woman he loves:
Increasingly concerned....
....yes, yes, yes
Now this guy has an expression I can relate to = 🤨. What is up with my main leads' faces?
Shen Li's heart is apparently breaking here:
Xing Zhi restraining his uncontrollable heart here:
Disappointment:
Hopelessness:
Frustration of letting go:
Y'all should see my face. That's real disappointment and frustration.
It gets better.
Shen Li witnessing her soldiers covered in blood, sweat, and tears:
Shen Li learning Mo Fang died:
Mo Fang died tho?! Say what! Have me act, yo.
Shen Li watching the old mourn for the young ones dying in war:
(Actually, this made me tear up a bit. The exchange between the grandma and Shen Li was pretty good)
Then she's immediately back to this face (= her war-face):
Shen Li finally facing the cruel monster who slaughtered her people:
It's one expression fits all.
✋ Do not tell me this is because they're gods (of the gods). No. This is the halfway point where they're supposed to break a little. Lin Geng Xin does not have the nuance to express repressed emotions, which is essentially Xing Zhi's essence. Zhao Li Ying is relying so much on her micro-expressions that if I didn't like her, she looks utterly blank in some many spots. More than LGX, I want her to unleash her anger.
I just needed to vent. I still like the story and all, but gosh, I wish they weren't so emo-friendly.
Oh yes, the enemy = Fu Sheng. He wants Shen Li's pearl. He says his lord has been too generous to Shen Li. Mo Fang??
Freaking Fu Sheng and Shen Li never die and keep on going at each other. Fu Sheng has a detachable airy hand to rip her flesh, but Shen Li has her airy-fiery-phoenix She burns down the ocean, Fu Sheng....and herself.
When you were playing Go with yourself, dude. Xing Zhi almost kills the messenger for delivering the news. Xing Zhi, at least he was there. Fighting. Xing Zhi "beseeches" the Heavenly Lord for permission to descend to the Sprite Realm. Scrambling on the floor is our Heavenly King, "You decide! You decide!"
[Ep23] Mo Fang is indeed Fu Sheng's little lord (little because there's a big lord).
Mo Fang demands Fu Sheng to free Shen Li, who's fatally submerged underwater. Oh right. She's scared of water. Fu Sheng agrees – over his dead body! Well, sir, you asked for it. Shen Li bursts from the ocean and plunges her spear in Fu Sheng. Then she swings down Mo Fang, punching him like a beating bag.
Mo Fang begs Shen Li to kill him later because it's dangerous here. I don't know what to do with my heart about you, Mo Fang!
And so they finally "die".
At Shen Li's last moment, a single tear drops at the thought of Xing Zhi.
At this very moment, Xing Zhi's playing checkers y'all.
The wind blows. It never blows in the Sky of Sky. That's it? It's hell down there, and a breeze up here?Then his cup breaks. Was it because he was anxious when he held it or just a sign from the gods of the gods of the gods?
An oddity: during the battle someone used "Zhi Shui Shu", a power of the true gods (Xing Zhi's level).
The Heavenly Realm is consistent: mail has to come in person. From a soldier, they finally learn of Shen Li's sacrifice. Xing Zhi's like this:
[Ep24] Here is Xing Zhi being tragic at acting:.
Finally, Xing Zhi loses control and defies the gods (of the gods of the gods). In search of Shen Li, he freezes the ocean that Shen Li burned herself to death in, but not a remnant of her life is in sight. He's hot and cold to her even in her death. His search remains even when hope is lost. In his slow, slow, slow amble, he remembers her every moment.
Shen Li in her nearly crucified state, yearns for Xing Zhi, and wishes he wouldn't be too sad or lose control. Please no. Do lose control. The two of you. Every day in this hell, her five senses rotate in functionality. Today she can hear Fu Sheng, but she can't see that he overtook Mo Fang's body.
When Sprite Realm and Xing Zhi are grieving, here's the rest of the heavenly members:
- Fu Rong is stupefied. Only now he realizes Shen Li and Xing Zhi were in love with each other.
- Heavenly Emperor is blowing a fuse. You Lan speaks up for Shen Li and Xing Zhi's romance and that it shouldn't be punished. One is dead, the other is the god of the gods, and the rest of the world is recovering from war and natural disasters, and we haven't figured out the grand villain, and Heavenly Emperor here is blowing a fuse for a forbidden love. Oi. Priorities.
- You Lan repeatedly abuses her brother with seizures just to watch romantic flashbacks. This was kind of annoying...
It turns out Fu Sheng really doesn't die. His power is to regenerate (fusheng). However, he's without a physical body. Well, well, well, look who has a body: Mo Fang. Resistance is futile.
[Ep25] It turns out Shen Li didn't die either. She's captured and tortured by Fu Sheng. The (bodiless) man's goal is to take her pearl, avenge his people and save his lord, Mo Fang's father, Liu Ming (Six Dark). The Dark Lord was seized by Xing Zhi. Ever since then, Fu Sheng raised Mo Fang like a mother and a father. For 300 years, Fu Sheng fed him his heart blood.
Mo Fang wasn't supposed to help Shen Li escape her alliance marriage. Her absence would have loosened the security at the Sprite Realm. Mo Fang did commit a sin to Shen Li's people though. He killed that soldier, the one whose family he sent condolences to! However, we can say that Mo Fang was killing under influence from Fu Sheng's black magic (except when you drive under the influence, you still have to take responsibility).
[Ep26] Mo Fang breaks Fu Sheng's control and staggers out before he hurts Shen Li more.
Mo Fang flies Shen Li to safety, but he can't stay for long. Her blood trickles into the ocean, alerting Xing Zhi immediately. You know how he was born without a destiny/purpose? I found it: It seems it's his destiny to find her injured. She can't see him though and misunderstands that first he was Mo Fang, and then a fisherman. She demands that he let her down. Nope. He will never let her go now. As for her, she'll always be cocky regardless of her state.
Shen Li's playful prank on Xing Zhi makes us (or just me) forget she's still recovering. She can't even stand. She's so fed up with herself, she throws away her cane. She thought it hit Xing Zhi and asks where he's hurt. Now she actually pokes his eye. She apologizes and promises to control herself. He's utterly sweet though as he caresses her hand on his face.
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| I'm reminded of Dongfang Qing Cang! |
Also imprisoned is Bei Xiao Yan (Li Yi Nan), North Ocean's 3rd Prince. He couldn't withstand the torture, and betrayed his people. He was never respected anyway because his mother was a criminal. He urges Shen Li to give in to Fu Sheng like him. That's not in Shen Li's DNA.
Shen Li partially recovers. She sees Xing Zhi! They know each other well. If he had revealed his identity, she would have left him. But Xing Zhi doesn't know Shen Li can be naughty too. She pretends she can't recognize a sun-tanned Xing Zhi. He wanted to introduce himself as Yu Fu (= Fisherman), but since she beat him to it, he comes up with a more original name: Yu Yi (=Yu One)
[Ep27] Our god of god can't catch fish for his life. The Sea King solves that. He gives Xing Zhi a mermaid. But can we cook that?
Xing Zhi realizes Shen Li knows who he is! Or not? In denial? My fisherman act is too good, there's no way she knows? Throughout the episode, she's "seeing" him without his fisherman getup. I'm confused if they see what I see or I'm supposed to pretend with them and not see what they see.
Xing Zhi: With me, you don't need to control yourself, you can behave unscrupulously.
Her bladder calls right on time. Is that unscrupulous enough? No
[Ep28] Here is Shen Li shamelessly pretending to be blind:
Overnight Shen Li gets a proofing dream. Her body is levitating and fermenting. It's scaring her, but with Xing Zhi at her side, she never felt so secure. She clutches tighter onto his arm.
[Ep29] No more shamelessly pretending to be blind after Xing Zhi protected Shen Li from Fu Sheng's guards.
Xing Zhi: Did you already know who I was?Shen Li: Didn't you already know that I knew who you were?Xing Zhi: You've learned to be naughty now.Shen Li: Not as good as you, shenjun.
The healer is Lady Jin's (Jin Yin Zi), a snake demon. Her place is beautifully vandalized with hate speech targeted at Xing Zhi, lol. She loves teasing him and is thrilled to be their cupid too. She's already doing so much good to their relationship like revealing how scorching hot Shen Li's body is. All this time Xing Zhi (who is hurt too) has never shown that she's burning him with every touch. Aw. Xing Zhi will also give anything to treat Shen Li. If Lady Jin wants stars from the skies, so be it. I love Lady Jin's comment about him: he's the kinda guy you whip three times, and not even a fart escapes.
[Ep30] Xing Zhi excuses himself from Shen Li's therapy. Imagine though, Xing Zhi watching these two ladies intimately lounge in lingerie:
To Lady Jin, Shen Li's pearl sounds like a demon's pearl. Lady Jin has one, but since she's so advanced in her cultivation, she's independent from her life pearl. It seems Xing Zhi always knew about Shen Li. 
Fu Sheng ambushes Lady Jin. I love her scream of destruction. She beats them until they retreat, but that's because Fu Sheng got what he wanted: Lady Jin's Pearl. Now he only needs Shen Li's.
Shen Li and Xing Zhi fall into Lady Jin's Tunnel of Forbidden Desire. "Therapy" must go on, though. His hands are on Shen Li, and wow, it's like his hands are touching her bare ovaries, titillating her desires. Lady Jin's voice tantalizes her heart. She's stimulating Xing Zhi as well, who's been celibate all this old life. Whew. Then Lady Jin shows Shen Li the scene of Xing Zhi defying the gods.
Shen Li apologizes to Xing Zhi that meeting her brought him punishment. He corrects her.
Xing Zhi: I'm punished not because of meeting you but because of losing you.
Lady Jin's lustful spirits continue to arouse them: I am what you want to do but scared of doing. They both wake up and let out a little gasp or that could be my imagination.
Shen Li: I'm very calm. You cannot block me. If this is the wrong choice, then it's my wrong choice.
[Ep31] After a night of satiating lust and desire, Shen Li feels more powerful than ever. Deluging with a gajillion year old ginseng right there. No regrets! Shen Li bolts up when she realizes it was consensual. Hun, if it wasn't, that would be rape. She says she can go crazy, but Xing Zhi cannot. Hun, he's been crazy since losing you in the ocean. Then he's upset when she talks about work after sex.
Lady Jin finds our couple. She realizes they did it from the very funky air that escaped, LOL. It's sure big and potent!
Fu Sheng (inside Mo Fang) fails to ambush our couple because Shen Li is newly invigorated. However, she has mercy on him and he escapes. When Xing Zhi finds Mo Fang again, he lets him escape too. We also learn how Shen Li charmed the rebellious Mo Fang in the past. I can't believe how mean he was to her! He's a good kid, though. Currently, can we talk about that glowing injury on Xing Zhi's back already?
[Ep32] Xing Zhi and Shen Li haven't even stepped into the Heavenly Realm, and all of them are like angry parents forbidding them from dating. Even the Sky of the Sky is harsh and dropping meteoroids. Xing Zhi is the god of the gods, their idol. He cannot have mortal feelings like love. It will affect him, you know, before it affects him. Even Shen Li is telling him that work/world is more important. These gods need work hours and weekends. Xing Zhi refuses. He takes responsibility for both his love and his duty. He also imprisons Shen Li in his Sky of the Sky.
Poor Rou Ya! She's still mourning (for her alive master) and wants to retrieve Shen Li's spear, but the Heavenly Guards keep swatting her away. Then when she finally learns Shen Li's alive, the guards still eject her.
Lady Jin falls in love with a mortal, Mu Zi Chun (Zhou Jun Wei).
An update at the Heavenly Realm:
Tell me why the Demon Lord wouldn't overturn you.
[Ep34] Xing Zhi isn't selfishly imprisoning Shen Li out of love. He's protecting Shen Li('s pearl) from Fu Sheng. Guarding Shen Li is for world peace (and out of selfish love).
A thousand years ago, Xing Zhi defeated Liu Ming and sealed all his chimei. The last of the seal was fortified by Feng Lai, the king of chimeis. It was Liu Yu who convinced Feng Lai to sacrifice himself – for world peace. History repeats itself. Liu Yu and Feng Lai chose to save everyone. Can Xing Zhi choose everyone and the one he loves?
[Ep35] Sweet Fu Rong's instincts are to heal Mo Fang even when it's too dangerous. Thankfully, he manages to escape, and learns from Mo Fang of Fu Sheng's evil plans (to reopen Xing Zhi's seal). When Fu Rong returns home, he enlists in the army. It's like he finally grew up. Heavenly Emperor is worried for his grandson, but You Lan gives her brother a supportive push. For world peace!
Shen Li discovers Liu Yu and Feng Lai are her parents. Her mother died giving birth to her. Liu Yu's pearl concealed Shen Li's chimei identity until the end of puberty (which is 1000 years old). Now Shen Li escapes the Sky of the Sky. Xing Zhi isn't the least bit surprised. It's as expected of the woman he loves.
[Ep36] Shen Li battles Fu Sheng (in Mo Fang's body). It's so thrilling:
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| Heuk! Experience my cross! |
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| Heuk! Now experience my cross! |
More exciting is Xing Zhi painting in his room. It's the brush of life, protecting all of mankind, but it seems the Sky of the Sky is firing him. He can't virtually work from his office anymore. He's got to commute down there to physically fight.
Fu Sheng (a chimei, btw) awakens Liu Ming. Task accomplished, and now Fu Sheng shuts down. Mo Fang's poor body is going to host his Father now. Mo Fang begs Shen Li to kill him first. She hesitates, not understanding what he lives for. You, maybe.
Mo Fang protects Shen Li from an evil spirit, and then he ends his own pitiful life. This way Shen Li won't have to feel torn about killing him. Oof. Also, the one time he had control of his life is when he ends it.
Mo Fang: Wang ye, can you understand and forgive me?Shen Li: I won't forgive. Girl.
Mo Fang drops to his knees. Shen Li wants him to stand. He can't. He's dying. The last image he sees is her back. He tells her what he loves the most: seeing her hair dance with the wind. It's really sad that even in death, her back is facing him, and that this is the most beautiful he'll see of her...... There's so much more beauty out there that he'll never experience.
Shen Li('s presence?) awakens Feng Lai as Liu Ming wanted. Liu Ming deceives Feng Lai into thinking Xing Zhi is his enemy. Wrath unleashed. It's father-in-law's Fire vs Son-in-law's Ice.
[Ep37] Son-in-law (who's injured from before) is down. Baby Phoenix, Shen Li, takes on Daddy Phoenix. Heuk, take this cross! Feng Lai's senses awaken, and immediately he leaves to search for Liu Yu, missing his daughter who's right in front of him.
Feng Lai, please come back though. Otherwise your daughter will take your spot in the seal and perish because apparently that's the only way to save the world. Shen Li doesn't hesitate to give up her life. She is the product of her parents. Yep. She apologizes to Xing Zhi. He sacrificed so much to save her only to have her turn in her life. Xing Zhi promises to accompany her after he reseals the other zones. A world without her is too painful to even imagine anymore. He playfully wipes her tears. The only thing he's afraid now is that he won't make it in time to die with her. Shen Li smiles. She assures they can.
Even without this war however, it seems Xing Zhi's godly life is terminating. He's losing his immortality. And is that Qing Ye proudly nodding in approval that Xing Zhi is dying? Actually, every true god is proud of Xing Zhi right now. They're happy Xing Zhi is finally dying and succumbing to mortal desires? Screw this true god life? Welcome to the better world?! Yeah? Xing Zhi is back with Shen Li. To have met her, he has no regrets in this life he always dreaded.
Feng Lai: Even if you're god of god, I think you're still unworthy (of my daughter)... but you're still pretty good.
This family reunion took a thousand years and only lasted a minute, not even. It's their first and last moment together. Feng Lai dies in the seal for his daughter and for this world that f***ed him over. Shen Li is saved, but Xing Zhi! He really is dying.
There is no doubt I prefer Shen Li surviving over Feng Lai 100%. But it really sucks that Feng Lai is paying for the consequences for some rando crazy evil guy (Liu Ming). Then there's Mo Fang too. This is not a feel-good battle. The victims aren't vindicated.
[Ep38] Xing Zhi's existence as the true god is moot now that the world is safe. His life as god will cease. He dies in Shen Li's arms. At least he didn't "die" last. Him watching everyone die first has been slowly killing him all his life. The Heavenly Emperor wants Xing Zhi's corpse from Shen Li so that they can burn under the Three True Flames for the peace of the three realms!
No.
Shen Li will burn you guys if you take Xing Zhi from her. When he was alive, they imprisoned him for the sake of the three realms. Now that he's dead, they won't even free his corpse. The Emperor retreats indignantly (Plz.). Later, Shifu Shen hugs Shen Li, who's struggling to even prop herself up but still insisting because she wants to look at Xing Zhi.
Shifu Shen: It's time to go home.Shen Li: Shifu. I lost the two people I shouldn't have lost.Shifu Shen: There's still me.
Time passes.
At the Sprite Realm, Shen Li keeps Xing Zhi's corpse frosted. Meanwhile Shifu Shen visits the Heavenly Realm where she's a bickering couple with the Heavenly Emperor....? The alliance marriage we should have had since the beginning?
Fu Rong wrote a biography for Shen Li in case she ever wants to remember Xing Zhi. But Shen Li would never forget Xing Zhi.. She promised him at the ancestral hall. Fu Rong asks Shen Li a hypothetical question that if she hadn't fled their marriage, would she be happier now? Absolutely not. Fu Rong smiles, and agrees with her. Being bros is better than being married. The way he looked back tells me he fell in love with Shen Li.
Xing Zhi has unthawed! And omg, we have a full 1.5 episodes of a happy ending?!
Qing Ye is back too, but in a new life. He passes by Ye Shi and Xiao He (or whatever their name is in this life). They're both happier not in love with him. They're free of their curse because he made a choice in their last life, and stopped wavering between the girls. However, I wish we got to know exactly what they were punished for. Why was their particular love forbidden? Unless all love is forbidden, then why is Xing Zhi an exception? That sucks for all his predecessors.
Xing Zhi revived because the deceased true gods used their vestigial (ofc!) power. Xing Zhi also understands why true gods have the form of mortals. It's so they commit mortal sins. To cease to exist was always the true gods' destiny. Now Xing Zhi is a regular god. He wonders if Shen Li minds. No. The man she fell in love with was Xing Yun, a sick mortal.
Xing Zhi wants his two wishes from Shen Li fulfilled. 1) Every summer, he wants her to pick grapes for him. 2) This second wish will take her a long, long time to complete, like forever. He kisses her.
[Ep39] Lady Jin is marrying Mu Zi Chun! In an unconsented marriage! Xing Zhi and Shen Li hike up the snowy mountain to attend the wedding make the wedding happen. This snowy mountain is the bane of Xing Zhi's existence, lol. Last time she called him old, and now she says his body "can't handle the cold".
The end. (I hear this last episode is an extra in the novel)
Remarks
[First Impression (Ep1-4)] A standard start. I am surprised though there isn't that 1 minute of infoxication (xianxia-big-bang-theory) that if you missed it, you basically fail the show.
I am a little disappointed that they have no chemistry. It's fine. Chemistry is a privilege in my big IP dramas anyway. I learn. My first impression score is >2.5 because it contains my optimism for the synergy of this cast (sans romance).
[Cast&Crew] I don't think new grounds will be covered in this xianxia-verse. Knowing the scriptwriter should tell you so. It's another Jiu Lu Fei Xiang adaptation. She's the brain behind all this: The Blue Whisper, Love Between Fairy and Devil, Back From the Brink, and Love You Seven Times. It's very confusing they're from the same brain, but also not. My general experience with her formulas is that she'll have multiple subplots, often with tragic couples, a big battle that involves the hidden identity of our main leads, and tada a last minute second happy ending.
General FYIs
- Zhao Li Ying is with yet another drama that has her character name as the title.
- Zhao Li Ying debuts as a producer for this drama.
- Princess Agent CP reunites (with an Easter egg in Ep3)
- Story of Ming Lan cameo(s): Wang Zi Wei (Ep1, Xiao Tao)
[Glossary]
[Ep9] 今晚月色真美 Jīn wǎn yuè sè zhēn měi – The moon is beautiful, isn’t it? This is a phrase from Japanese writer, Natsuke Soseki. Tsuki ga kirei desu ne? The implied meaning is: “I love you”.
[Ep11] 愛屋及烏 ài wū jí wū – Love the house and its crow / Love me, love my dog.
[Ep21] 治標不治本 zhì biāo bù zhì běn – Treat the symptoms but not the root cause
[Ending] Happy.
[A Highlight] I think I like Shen Li taming the lion (and You Lan) the most in Ep20 🤔 Too bad the lion never came back.
[Review & Rating]
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