This review may contain spoilers
Absolute Banger
I am just gonna skip to the chase. Absolutely entertaining (IN MY OPINION) and everything about the drama was just amazing although many would complain about the CGI, I'm just gonna say... I've seen worst, and what was provided in the drama was not by any stretch "Bad" at all. Soundtrack was absolutely bad ass, which makes fight scenes much more high stake and cool. At first I thought it would just be another cultivation drama with emotionless and cold Male lead, but boy was I wrong, everything in the drama has reasonings and story behind to it. Nothing about the story is the "Oh this is cool, I'll write it in" type, but has intentions behind them. Another thing that surprised me was that characters (even the irrelevant ones) has their own moments and weight behind it, not just some extras to fill the scene. I've yapped enough haha so just watch it bro like wtf?Was this review helpful to you?
Yang Yang Ascending!
Episodes 14 - 24 there is no rest with this story it is powering ahead! I’m just so thankful the subtitles are much better now too so thank you to the production team for small mercies hehe.Episodes 5 - 13 it’s been a mix between The Matrix and Neverending Story, I’m hooked. The se? scene in ep 12 was the weirdest love making I’ve ever seen, you need to watch it to believe it, but all things being equal it kinda bizarely fits, one word ‘surrealism’ lol.
Episodes 1 - 4 are delivering story! The opening credits gave me The Untamed vibes so very ready for action.
The opening sequence does not dissappoint, so fast, and I’m hooked from the sad story opening.
CGI is excellent. Unfortunately, the subtitles aren’t quite right so hopefully they get fixed up a little bit more. The opening OST was average.
Great start and looking forward more of Yang Yang.
Was this review helpful to you?
Meaningful Story
TIS is not just as a fantasy series, but as a meaningful and culturally rooted story about life, growth, and resilience. Yang Yang's great acting and visual are a plus in this series. Han Li is seen not as a perfect hero, but a realistic, resilient mortal who grows through experience. Rather than showing just power growth, it highlights loss, regret, and personal growth making it emotionally rich and mature. They highlight the art design, use of ancient painting inspiration, and thoughtful special effects, showing effort and depth in production.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Exellent
It's been a couple of days since I completed watching Goblin and might I just say am so not over it. I've been reading a lot of its reviews, stalking the fuck out of Lee Dong Wook and basically just obsessing over this one a little too late. I usually try to stray clear of fantasy genre but I hate that I didn't give this one a chance sooner. It's like one of those overly popular dramas that have got the mainstream vibe to it because almost everyone has watched itWas this review helpful to you?
If you’re into Ruthless Ml then do not miss
He literally started from the scratch no other ml has done that , He’s cunning and calculating this is the real MERCY FOR NONE …wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwqwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwqqqwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww www www wewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Was this review helpful to you?
Superb picture
I really like this drama. The character Han Li is too good. He is very intelligent and he knows were too take precautions and use smartness. He is very lucky ( it's also a quality) but he know one thing i.e., to survive. I love this character so much. Yang Yang just added his charm to the series. Love it.Waiting for season 2.
Was this review helpful to you?
The Immortal Ascension
Overall, As The Immortal Ascension continues to unfold, Yangyang's performance remains a highlight, drawing me and everyone watching or gonna watch deeper into the mystical world of cultivation and sacrifice. With his compelling portrayal and undeniable charisma, he’s not just winning battles on screen—he’s winning hearts off screen too. I can’t wait to see where his journey takes him next. I LOVE YOU YANGYANGWas this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Good if you're okay with plot line and character inconsistencies
The world-building is fantastic, with breath-taking camera pans of stunning natural landscapes and some of the best action sequences I’ve seen in Wuxia.Unfortunately, the show suffers from weak character development, plot holes, and a reliance on coincidences to push the story forward. The pacing is slow, and many key moments feel unearned. For example, one of the main villains is walking across a vast plain when, out of nowhere, one of the female leads just happens to be running across it too, without any clear reason.
The sects also feel strangely inactive. While a hierarchy exists, grandmasters and masters seem to do little beyond handing books to disciples. In one baffling decision, the Seven Sects, who have historically fought against the demon sects—suddenly refuse to defend innocent lives and instead take a defensive stance when the big war arrives. They even prohibit anyone above a certain cultivation level from fighting, choosing instead to lounge around, gamble, and make “comedic” small talk while their disciples die defending themselves and the sect.
Many events don’t make sense. The main character is introduced as having fake spirit roots and being unable to ascend to the Foundational level, yet when he does, nobody reacts to it. He also repeatedly defeats opponents with much higher cultivation levels with little explanation.
If you’re fine with some mindless fun and a main character who powers up despite glaring inconsistencies, it can still be an entertaining watch. But the plot holes and lack of internal logic make it hard to take seriously. I’ll see it through to the end, but it’s definitely fallen short of its potential and the promise of its wonderful world-building.
Was this review helpful to you?
?
This drama purely about immortality and cultivation .after years of waiting i can finally see YY .Okay about story... What the writer tring to say?
Han li will purchase some treasure he will use in the upcoming fights again he buy some treasure again use in fights this drama fully about low cgi fights, immortality, cultivation i don't see any emotions connections between leads or senior junior.
Where is chemistry/romance?
Forget about chemistry/romance lead couple don't share screentime at all!!! FL have screen time about 10mins throughout the 30 episode damn .only 2 SFL one from mortal world one from same sect will follow him have a crush on him.FL and ML have intimate scene in their first meet later they do their own business don't care about each other ..Like What???? If he have SFL why can't writer add FL to the Plot??? Like WTH??
It's not like TBOY or Dashing youth not about friendship purely about damn immortal cultivation damn...
I'm sorry but I hate this plot
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Good vs. Bad; Fantastic Fight Scenes, Awesome CGI, Storyline? Eh Not So Much. An OE in Need of S2!
Wow, what can I say? Wanted to watch this for YY and know WD to be a good villain and even a funny one. Sad that 10 episodes were cut from this as that's where I think most of the storyline would have been.Pros: I loved that we got to see HL's cultivation journey from a poor family in some village without a name to a master cultivator figuring the art of teleportation and getting the heck out of dodge. Many people said the CGI and fighting/flying was poor but I disagree because I'm not a fan of the Xianxia genre to begin with especially when they deploy colors bright enough to scorch your corneas. So having subtle CGI colors in formation array and weaponry was perfect for me. I really liked their flying and way of fighting. The entire series; apparently season 1 was centered around ML or HL and his cultivation plus every friend he made and lesson he learned. He was incredibly lucky in a lot of things including evading death. Loved the little mouse that lived with him and was sad that he had to leave it behind but I think it survived. His road wasn't an easy one and he lost friends and his Master at the end. But he was always not one to be a follower but one that walked his own path to cultivation and helped whom he sensed was a good person after learning the hard way who wasn't. Those who met him and liked him, ended up not ever wanting him to leave or wanted to follow him.
WD played who I called sarcastic evil or the bad guy and had more like one or two lines when facing HL (who used his old friend's name when he ran into trouble), but he himself was trying to get a foothold in his own kingdom as even the good sects betrayed their friends to join team evil for the strength and power. Greed was always a factor. But WD though bad, he was comic relief as he and his two monkey assistants were always cracking me up. He acted like a jilted lover as HL had become his inner demon when HL at the end used some ancient teleportation artifact to bail off the continent and who promised one day to return and reduce the evil sects to dust.
The costumes, rock and other OSTs, and certain outdoor locations were quite nice.
Cons: Other than for the ML, no real storyline or plot. No character really had a backstory other than Ms. Mo and the puppet dude. But everyone appeared and disappeared without rhyme or reason. This series had more holes than a planet dusted with craters be they characters or the plot itself. Once ML joined Yellow Maple Valley, many of the Masters spoke of "that person" like who? Uncle Bob? You couldn't say Demon Grandmaster Yunle as we wouldn't know who that was as we don't meet him until the second to last episode anyways? And that he and Master Hongfu used to be together and had a daughter but he hid his identity from him and she was already in love and pregnant by the time she found out. So he decided to start this war to get her back? Yeah great idea for an all powerful creep with a superiority complex; still lost even when he killed ML's master and her real love.
The ML didn't know what love was nor understood it but every woman he met fell for him automatically and you literally had to beat them off with a stick. He wasn't interested; though he treated them all with respect, only Miss Mo he treated like a sister giving her things to protect herself and whatnot but she would find every opportunity to be close to him even when she knew they couldn't be together and he made it obvious he wasn't interested. It was eye roll worthy as this was repeated about 3 or 4 times. The time could have been spent on something important. It was like when they cut those 10 episodes, things were just thrown into chaos and not properly edited so things would make sense. Even the FL felt like a supporting character. This show needs a season 2 and maybe even 3 with the same actors and I hope we don't have to wait for 10 years for it.
Would I recommend it? I would for the pure entertainment of it and HL's cultivation journey. Everyday was fun because there was a fight scene and cool things. Plot wise, obviously not one to look forward to unless you know the donghua. Just relax and enjoy the show.
Was this review helpful to you?
A classic cultivation story, full of heart and also payoff for progression fantasy fans
Don’t come into this drama expecting your typical xianxia. This is a progression story. It’s a cultivation story. It’s about how Han Li, an ordinary mortal, overcomes all odds and climbs his way step by step towards immortality, grinding and killing and escaping and learning and doing whatever he has to do in order to reach his goal. This is his story of survival in a man eating world that chews cultivators and mortals alike and then spits them out to die.No real romance or distractions to be found here bc Han Li’s true love is the chase to immortality, but the best connection he had hands down was with Miss Mo. She gave the story a bittersweet edge, and I consider the FL more than the actual one.
Anyway there are definitely flaws but I rate it a 10 for being faithful to the novel and being an overall very enjoyable ride.
Was this review helpful to you?
YANG YANG PROVES HIS VERSATILITY AS AN ACTOR YET AGAIN!!!
YangYang has always been a great actor and he gave a wonderful performance in this drama too.😻❤️In my opinion this is one of the best dramas of 2025 and THE BEST CULTIVATION DRAMA EVER!!!Everything in this drama is so perfect whether it is acting or music or story.This drama kept me hooked from start to finish. I am very thankful that YangYang was chosen to play the character of Han Li because according to me no one could have played this role better than him. There are many scenes in this drama in which YangYang has expressed emotions with just his eyes which touched my heart. From the first episode to the last episode, there was not a single scene that was uninteresting. The fight scenes are amazing because YangYang and everyone else put in a lot of hard work and efforts for it. Apart from the main roles, the people who played supporting roles have also performed very well. I also really like listening to the OSTs of this drama.
I enjoyed this drama a lot. Now that it is over I am very sad. I am planning to watch it again. No, I will watch it again today!!!
Was this review helpful to you?
