The Immortal Ascension | Review

A whole show where ML is minding his own business, living in a cave, running away from chicks, and running away from a certain man cultivating.

Notable Actors/Actresses

Yang Yang: Han Li

Jin Chen: Nangong Wan

Director

Yang Yang

Screenwriter

Wang Yu Ren, Jia Dong Yan

Chinese Title

凡人修仙傳

A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality

Genres: Xianxia, Slight Romance

Network: Youku

Year: 2025
Episodes: 30

Jump to Remarks | Recs | Comments

Cast

Yang Yang: Han Li	Jin Chen: Nangong Wan
Wang Duo: Wang Chan	Zhang Xiao Tang: Chen Qiao Qian
Zhao Qing: Mo Cai Huan	Liu Yan: Hong Fu
Li Nai Wen: Li Hua Yuan	Jin Shi Jie: Mo Ju Ren
Xu Hai Qiao: Yun Lu

Romcom/Romance Checklist

How much of the plot is angst/romance?

0.5 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

The ML:

Cold–Lukewarm–Warm / Timid / Tsundere / Falls in Love First / Noble Idiot / CEO / General

The FL:

Bold / Cute / Cool & Independent / Falls in Love First / Better than ML / Noble Idiot / Business-woman

Describe the Relationship (the tropes):

Annoying Love (F/M) Rivals +++ / Bickering Start / Childhood Connection / Cohabitation / Contract Marriage or Fake Couple / Enemies to Lovers / Hidden Identity / Harem / Love Triangle / Married Couple (Real) / Rebirth / Secretly in Love (F/ML) / School to Adulthood / Star-Crossed Lovers

Relationship Progress (officially together; first (official) kiss; breakup*):

Ep 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11X / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30
X: 🛏🍆🍩 

30: Does biting neck count?

# of CPs (including main CP):
0 / 1 / 2 / 3

Ending: 

Happy / Sad / Open Happy / Open Sad / Bad / Rushed+++

Remarks

[Drama Info]

Featuring double Yang Yang's! We have actor Yang Yang and director Yang Yang of A Dream of Splendour and Have a Crush on You. 

The scriptwriter Wang Yu Ren is also the director of the live adaptation (Chinese anime) so if it's not faithful we have a guy to blame. Jia Dong Yan is part of the writing team as well with Under the Skin, The Message, and Justifiable Defence under his belt. 

Wrapped on December 14, 2023. 

[Ending] Happy 

Screenshots

Deliberately out of order so it's not spoiler-y

Nangong Wan holding a wan.

Reviews

Submit Your Review | Rating Guide

Five (5/5)

Four (4/5)

Three (3/5)

Two (2/5)

Reviewer: cynlynn

Date: July 2025

Hearts: ♥♥

This show is slow in a way that will either lull you or slowly hook you. For me, that switch flipped somewhere after Ep11, when the lethargy stopped feeling like a flaw and started feeling like a vibe. Is it still slow? Oh yeah. But show is also different and that kept me going. 

It doesn’t follow the usual xianxia blueprint of the past decade. There's no revenge. There's no stake. And there's no blood-spitting in this xianxia. Mind: blown. So what am I watching? A whole show where Yang Yang is minding his own business, living in a cave, running away from chicks, and running away from a certain man cultivating.

Han Li is not your standard xianxia hero. In fact, he’s barely a hero. He's more a survivor than saviour. He makes me smirk because hes just not that good. Cautious, self-interested, and calculating, he sidesteps responsibility until he’s certain he can win. Man never lets his walls down, but you won't even know he had walls up around you. He never truly opens up or gives his heart. His only real goal is becoming more powerful.

Nangong Wan is not your standard FL either. Firstly, is she even a FL? Girl interacts with the ML maybe 3 times for the whole show. It's crazy. And I'm convinced she has less screen time than Zhao Qing as 2FL 🤯. Good – or bad? – thing I was somehow amused. The teasing kept me curious, and their interactions made me laugh every single time. Other women in the story...not so much, though I did find the oblivion-pill hijinks with 3FL funny for all the wrong reasons.

Do not come for romance – or do, if you want an experience that’s both the saddest and the most unintentionally hilarious part of the series. I actually had fun, but it was equally sad, lol. 

Overall: 2/5. Because this is slow. But if there’s a S2, I’ll still be there; partly out of curiosity, partly because I do enjoy watching Han Li in cruise mode. 

P.S. Isn't it ironic that Han Li is one of the fastest ML alive...but trapped in a slow story.

There’s a running joke about the ML being "very fast." In Chinese, you cannot praise a guy for being fast without their other brain taking it way too personally xD. The characters here will take "fast" at face value, but Show knows exactly what it's doing with the innuendo. See this convo between ML and FL in Ep11:

Her: “This wicked beast has astonishing strength. I can’t hold on much longer. Fast!”

Him: “I’m already very fast.”

Her: “Faster!!”

<Intense noises>

He finishes — with a bang.

One (1/5)

Recommendations

Genre List:

Xianxia

"Xianxia"	ML	ML
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