Impressive combat scenes, excellent acting
This drama is such an incredible watch that it changes my status from an ordinary passerby right to a fan of the original work. This is also the first drama in years where I could finish the entire series in one go without fast forwarding or skipping through any scenes.The fighting scenes were beautifully choreographed, and you could tell the actors put in a lot of effort into it, unlike other dramas where actors were just floating in space or twirling around aimlessly. This drama works together with the animation team to bring forth excellent CGI and combat scenes.
This is not the first Yang Yang drama I’ve watched, but he clearly embodies the soul and essence of an immortal here. His acting in this drama is fantastic, every gesture is so graceful yet exudes formidable strength when needed, like a fairy descended from the skies. His face is so expressive - emotions are conveyed through his eyes very vividly, be it caution, innocence, affection, or even confusion. Yang Yang’s acting in this drama is my favourite- he is so foxlike in his cunning and wits, yet looking so breathtakingly beautiful that his beauty transcends gender. To be honest, I wasn’t even interested in xianxia dramas at all, but I happened to see Yang Yang’s face on my friend’s TV and ended up standing rooted on the spot to finish watching an entire episode with her. Yang Yang’s face caught my attention, but it was certainly his acting skills and character that drew me right into the heart of the story,
I am not a fan of romance plots so I really appreciate how Yang Yang has bravely delved into many dramas without romantic subplots over the years. There’s hardy a hint of romance in this drama, and even if there were, it was shown subtly, yet draws you in with complexities of emotions.
What’s truly unique about The Immortal Ascension is that it shows a steady progression of an ordinary village boy to become an immortal. Han Li isn’t particularly gifted nor privileged - he lacks resources, relying on caution, luck, and hard lessons learned. Even though the theme is xianxia, every step of the journey feels real, we are there with him through every struggle and escape - and you’ll find himself rooting for him to succeed and achieve his goals.
I find myself admiring the director of this drama, it was so beautifully captured, drawing you in and leaving you wanting more. The landscape felt like paintings and every frame feels as though they could have been used as a wallpaper. While I’ve heard countless accounts of how good-looking actor Yang Yang is, the director seemed to use female gaze to show viewers how enchanting he is. Even after completing this drama, I find myself itching to rewatch it and slow down some combat scenes just to see how the moves were executed. Now I find myself nitpicking the choreography and fight scenes of other xianxia and wuxia dramas - none of them come close to what’s achieved in The Immortal Ascension. This drama has shown us what an excellent IP and animation adaptation could look like and I am really glad to have stumbled into this gem.
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This review may contain spoilers
I Dont Even Know Where to Start!
The first few episodes were awesome — they really pulled me in and made me curious about where the story would go. But after the first arc, when Han Li left Qu Hun with the Mo family, things started to feel… chaotic. I can’t even pinpoint when exactly it went downhill, but the focus seemed to drift. The story was supposed to be about his journey to immortality, yet it somehow became stagnant and kind of bland in the middle. Something was definitely missing.The whole thing is very main-character-centric — and honestly, Yang Yang shined as Han Li. The drama follows him from beginning to end, showing how he grows stronger in cultivation and basically gets served a silver platter of talent. Because Han Li is portrayed as this wise gentleman, of course he’s surrounded by beautiful women (I mean, its Yang Yang). But since the story revolves around him so much, there’s little depth given to other characters. There’s no “second main character” — just Han Li and the supporting cast. I actually enjoyed his interactions with others, but I wish he showed more range of emotions. Half the time I couldn’t tell if he was mad, sad, or just… thinking.
Plot-wise, there’s a lot of parting and dying, which is kind of sad and a bit disappointing, but I get it — walking the path to immortality naturally means leaving people behind. Personality-wise, Han Li comes across as a bit unempathetic. He tries to save others but never really fights alongside them. And honestly, how many people ended up hurt or dead because of him? In the end, he ascends alone.
As for the ending… not satisfied. Enemies are still out there, the war is ongoing, chaos everywhere — and he just leaves. Still, it’s not a terrible show. If you like seeing Yang Yang in a role without romance, go for it. It’s basically all Yang Yang, all the time.
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Scenery, songs and director’s work were exceptional!
*Storyline*The story of Immortal Ascension is mainly about Han Li’s journey and his growth.
I especially love the first half of Immortal Ascension where he was with his best friend Zhang Tie. He also met his first master Physician Mo Ju Ren and Miss Mo (Mo Cai Huan), he was admitted to the Yellow Maple Valley and met his first mentor, Wu Mian. I found the relationship of Han Li and those characters very well developed and touching. To me, the first half of the series had a great balance of happy and sad moments. It was filled with great memories but also, loss and separations. We also got to discover Han Li’s personality, his qualities and flaws.
*Acting*
Of course, Yang Yang did a wonderful job as Han Li. In the series, maybe 90% of the scenes were with Yang Yang. However, I didn’t get tired of seeing him. He was funny at times, he also could express his emotions very well. In many scenes, he didn’t talk much, but he could express gratitude, respect, love, happiness and sadness to perfection.
The other actors also gave a great performance. I especially like the veterans’ acting, such as Li Nai Wen (as grandmaster Li Hua Yuan), Ada Liu (as Hong Fu) and Wang Tong Hui (as sect leader Zhong). This trio from the Yellow Maple Valley was a pleasure to watch. Also, Chin Shih Chieh who portrayed Physician Mo Jun Ren was excellent as always.
*Favorite moments*
I love all the scenes with Han Li and his best friend Zhang Tie (portrayed by Hu Yu Xuan). I also love the scenes with Han Li and his first mentor at Yellow Maple Valley, Wu Mian (portrayed by Wang Guan). To me, these relationships were pure and sincere. His best friend Zhang Tie liked him unconditionally and only wished his best. The actor Hu Yu Xuan, who portrayed his best friend, was excellent and adorable! It was dramatic when he was killed and made as a robot without any emotion because the character was initially lively and was always talking and smiling.
Han Li’s first mentor at Yellow Maple Valley was the first adult character that truly cared for him and accepted him for who he was and welcomed him warmly. It was touching when Han Li had flashbacks of their best moments after his first mentor’s death.
Also, Han Li and his master Li Hua Yuan, portrayed by Li Nai Wen, had many great scenes together. His master was an important character in Han Li’s growth. He gave Han Li all the elements (all the techniques books), the advice and the support he needed. Before his master died, he even came to save Han Li’s life and, to say farewell to him.
There were also good scenes between Han Li and other female characters. However, to me, Han Li’s romance wasn’t the focus of “Immortal Ascension”.
*Bonus: scenery, songs and the director’s work*
Personally, the scenery, the songs and the director’s work made this “Immortal Ascension” exceptional!
The scenery was truly breathtaking! The scenes in the Yellow Maple Valley were beautiful.
The songs were all excellent. They were well chosen. The song by Tang Wei Wei was my favorite. This singer has very strong and beautiful voice!
The director’s work was outstanding! The director (Mrs. Yang Yang) was perfect! I discovered her and loved her in the series “Ever Night”! She again impressed me here in “Immortal Ascension” with her choice of actors, songs and scenery! The story was interestingly told and fast paced. I had the same feeling as when I watched “Ever Night” (Part 1). She could make the scenes very solemn. She is particularly excellent at the farewell scenes. These scenes leave me a lot of sadness and are hard to forget. I still remember the farewell scene in “Ever Night” with Ning Que (portrayed by Arthur Chen) and Mo Shan Shan (portrayed by Yuan Bing Yan). Mrs Yang Yang did bring me the same sadness here in all Han Li’s farewell scenes. “Immortal Ascension” reflected her style in which everything was made to the perfection!
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Patience Pays: The Story That Gets Better with Every Step
The show starts off slow, and I completely understand why many people felt that way—I almost dropped it myself. But as the episodes progress, it gets better and better. The story gradually becomes so engaging, and the CGI improves tremendously, especially during the mid-series fight scenes—they were just wow!This review is for anyone thinking of giving up early: don’t. You’ll miss out on an amazing story and top-notch production. After finishing it, I truly feel it deserves far more hype than it currently has because the storytelling is outstanding.
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This review may contain spoilers
A Refreshing Watch For Me: Do not Watch If You Want Romance tho
By far, the best performance of Yang Yang.I get this Godly ascending feeling from this drama also I really liked that there are no major romance part since the leads barely have any chemistry so.. it would had been really bad if they had shown any romance.
I liked Han Li's relationship with everyone and how cautious he is, how he does what's needed and not more than that.
This is just HIS story so please don't expect the other characters to get much importance, Miss Mo annoyed me cause I don't want any romance in this drama as I have read the novel before.
The Fighting scenes are done very well so it's one of the dramas with great VFX cause I didn't find myself cringing at those parts.
I would also like to say that Nangong Wang isn't really the FL cause she barely appears in some episodes and then disappears. She's considered the FL because Han Li has only shown interest to her out of all the girls that he met in his journey.
It was a refreshing watch for me because I had been disappointed by Cdramas too frequently that month and also because YY has brought me to Cdramas so seeing him after 2 years made me really happy.
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This review may contain spoilers
Following is my opinion of this drama.So don't be offended✌️✌️✌️
As a manhua reader, I was fully frustrated because of how slow paced it was.
If you're a fellow reader, you know what i mean.
Damn 30 whole chapters for him to just attain the 2nd stage of his cultivation only to end up losing everything.
For future viewers, my humble opinion is that you wait for next season and then watch altogether.
And the most frustrating and irritating were the 4 female characters having romantic feelings for him.
These directors, I don't know what they thought when filming. You either follow the cultivation harem route or keep one fl if you want realistic or whatever it is you think.
But here it's like they doesn't know what to do with these fl characters. It's like they were programmed to must have feelings for ml without any foundation and reciprocity from ml.
And in this setting of aloof and selfish ml ( which is absolutely needed for survival) this romance plot is a total waste of actresses and time. Man, it was hard to watch, these pitiful fl have a heartbreak.
And finally, this entire season in 3 lines
1) weak ml, no slowly growing ml.
2) wasted fl characters which were annoying because of the forced feeling
3) pointless battles and death. Literally pointless. None died in a well deserved battle.
I hope that next season will give me the cultivation thrill i seek in the manhuas.
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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.
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This drama was very engaging from the beginning until the final episode. The setting is quite good, and the acting of all the cast is truly outstanding. Since this is Yang Yang's first drama comeback, I think it's quite satisfying to see him return to acting, especially in the immortal genre. Although I was a little disappointed by the ending. First season? Will there be a second? And will Yang Yang play him again? These questions immediately arose after I finished watching this drama.
The OSTs for this drama are all excellent, and each song carries a deep meaning about the lives of ordinary people and cultivators.
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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!!!
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you will see the fighting scene that is closest to China's XIANXIA novel ever.
People who like WUXIA and XIANXIA must see it. There is no romance, it's all fighting.If you like fighting or cultivating immortals, this is a 10/10 work. The biggest advantage of this drama is that it presents the fighting scene in the world of cultivating immortals in China, which is not available in other dramas. You will see the closest battle ever to the world of cultivating immortals in China.
The important thing is to say it three times:
you will see the fighting scene that is closest to China's XIANXIA novel ever.
you will see the fighting scene that is closest to China's XIANXIA novel ever.
you will see the fighting scene that is closest to China's XIANXIA novel ever.
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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.
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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?
