The Immortal Ascension

Yang yang and Zhao Qing nailed it it!

First of all, this is the very first C-drama I have ever watched. At the beginning, I was hesitant to watch it because I didn’t know if I would enjoy it. But after I started watching, I quickly became obsessed. I couldn’t stop myself from checking if there were new episodes.

The story, acting, and production were all excellent for me. The characters felt real, and the action and emotions kept me watching every episode without skipping. I especially enjoyed the performances of Yang Yang and Zhao Qing. You both acted so well that I became a big fan.

Now, since they haven’t given any hint about when Season 2 will be released, I keep checking what book it is based on so I can really imagine what will happen next. I really hope Season 2 will come soon. I also wish that in Season 2, you will continue to be one of the top-ranked C-dramas.

Kudos to the staff, cast, and director for creating such a beautiful and unforgettable show.

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A true gem in Xianxia, faithful and stunning journey

This drama is a true gem in the xianxia genre, focusing entirely on cultivation without the distractions of unnecessary romance. It follows Han Li’s journey from the mortal realm toward immortality, telling the story faithfully and smoothly, with no filler or dragging moments.

The cinematography is stunning, beautifully blending CGI with real environments, almost like stepping into a living painting. Yang Yang perfectly portrays Han Li, showing his transformation from an innocent but clever young man into a skilled, intelligent, and formidable cultivator. His growth feels natural and believable, and he captures Han Li’s quiet strength, sharp mind, and determination with subtle yet effective acting.
His performance is balanced, never overdone or underplayed which makes him a pleasure to watch.

I especially enjoyed the fighting scenes, the fight isn’t just about raw power, it highlights Han Li’s quick thinking, resourcefulness, and precise control of his abilities. Unlike many xianxia dramas where battles are mostly flashy hand movements and CGI effects with little emotion, this drama brings real tension and meaning to its action scenes.
If you’re expecting a historical romance, this drama isn’t for you. And if you rate it low just because there’s no romance you like, then you’re missing the point. The story is clearly about Han Li’s journey to immortality, focusing on his strength and perseverance without distractions. But if you’re looking for a quality xianxia drama, this one is definitely worth watching.

The Immortal Ascension stands out as one of the best xianxia dramas in recent years, and I truly hope it will have a season 2.

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The Hollow Journey of The Immortal Ascension

The first three episodes were lovely, well-paced, visually stunning, and full of promise. The landscapes and scenery were breathtaking, and the early mortal-world storyline had heart. I also enjoyed the “Mo Girl” character; her tenderness and sweet expressions brought warmth, and the actress delivered a genuinely touching performance. Unfortunately, the show never lived up to that strong start.

From episode 14 onward, I found myself fast-forwarding through large sections, and by episode 15, I dropped this drama entirely. The pacing felt both rushed and empty, with scenes that lacked meaning or emotional weight. After Han Li left the mortal world, his journey became a repetitive loop of collecting treasures, herbs, and artifacts—like a layered video game where advancement depends on gathering loot and killing to survive. The narrative lost any sense of inspiration or deeper purpose.

Relationships, which should be the lifeblood of any story, were shallow. Han Li meets countless characters, yet the script makes no effort to form meaningful bonds. There was no genuine grief over his best friend being turned into a puppet, no heartfelt goodbye to his parents, and no lasting connection with the girl who saved him in the mortal world. The sects and cultivators in this world were cold and selfish—often killing innocent cultivators to protect themselves. Sadly, even the main lead often felt detached and morally ambiguous, and I found nothing inspiring about the idea of becoming an immortal under such values.

Thematically, the message the show conveys felt hollow. Yes, it suggests that perseverance and hard work pay off, but it also seems to endorse cheating, lying, stealing, and killing as acceptable strategies. For me, cultivation stories should carry an element of moral integrity, honor, and inspiration. This drama instead portrayed a world where the path to ascension is more about opportunism and survival than virtue or good karma.

While the fight scenes are decent and the main lead is visually appealing, his character lacks emotional depth. The beautiful, colorful scenery in the early episodes eventually gave way to more artificial visuals, and the script was padded with filler scenes like meaningless gift exchanges between sect members.

Ultimately, the show felt like watching a series of disconnected scenarios from a moving train—colorful but without substance. It lacked emotional engagement, meaningful character arcs, and the moral weight I value in cultivation stories. I stayed entertained for a while, but in the end, The Immortal Ascension was more style than soul, and it left me feeling detached and disappointed.

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a dry record of a mortal's dreary journey to immortality

likes
 - cute actors
 - the sweeping landscape
 - some ost were nice
- there were aspects of han li I liked: he was thorough, deadly, shrewd, careful, sharp, calculated, merciful (every single time someone plead on behalf of a life he relented), he never hesitated to kill to protect himself (need more mls like that), reclusive but watchful, mentally strong, an independent and creative thinker, kinda immoral too hehe
-none of the fls were weird, or thoughtlessly written. As ml centered drama heroines usually are. They were all just quite normal thankfully. I did not have a preference bc they collectively did not take up that much screen time, or space in the story. I also did not mind that there was no romance, the writing wasn't good enough for me to care.
-  I like that he starts off weak with little potential and was continually underestimated and written off. And i liked watching him level up in his cultivation at the start.

dislikes
-after he left the mortal world his progression became boring and lacklustre, dissatisfying even . watching him gather treasure and herbs and artifacts and other loot? yawn. his level ups after that inspired mehs, no yays. 
- I actually think they were going for nostalgia with the aged visuals and stale graphics, but the story progression and characters felt outdated so the whole drama unironically looked like it really was made in 2010. 
- all or most of the cultivators were cold, self absorbed, slow and selfish, including the ml for most of the time. and there was nothing entertaining or inspiring about that, or a journey to become one such as that. And Idc what anyone says, cultivation stories should have an element of inspiration and excitement and satisfaction and fun. this drama had none of that.
-  paper thin relationships - relationships are the lifeblood of any story, doesn't matter what the story is. But this drama didn't get the memo. han li meets many many people on his journey,  but no effort was put into building anything genuine or deepening his connection with any of them. There were flashes here and there, but nothing significant or thoughtful. even if you're a god you still need people. 
- hamfisted adaptation - the writing could have been more nuanced. there were things that shouldn't have been in the drama simply bc 'they are in the source material'. not all themes and subjects keep the same shape and form when translated across different forms of media. e.g hanli repeatedly drugging 2fl bcs she knows too much, a bevy of nonsensical 1D characters that you would typically only ever find in a donghua. 
- the villain: wang chan 2003 just called, they desperately want you back. 
- the drama leaned too heavily on the success of the ip instead of trying to be something that could be considered equally successful in its own right. coming from the team that brought us evernight,  I expected much much better than this.

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Suitable for Yang Yang fans

I enjoyed this series because I'm a huge Yang Yang fan. It's all about Han Li's journey, his smartness and strategies on his way to achieving his goal of becoming an immortal. I loved his character, although he seemed like a robot at times. He doesn't have much in the way of emotions at all. It was all about his determination to reach his goal. Thus, this series doesn't draw out any emotions for viewers as well. The songs and graphics were great. The other cast members were all lackluster except for Ms. Mo. Clearly, they put Gina in the poster just for the sake of putting her there. She wasn't a main character at all. Also, she looked a lot like BB Gandanghari hahaha! The sect elders were so annoying. They didn't seem like they deserved to be called elders at all. They all acted silly and stupid. Even when there was "war" going on, there was no sense of urgency from them. There was more talking instead of actual fighting. This made the show somewhat boring as a lot of other viewers complained. The ending was a bit of a disappointment. The first half of the ending was so unexpected and too much talking again. The second half made up for it somewhat. It ends with the caption "end of season 1" so I guess there will be another season coming up. I hope they improve on it based on the reviews.

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A solid product but not quite yet perfect.

Story: I will not spoil the story here given that the drama stops at a certain arc in the novel and there's still quite a lot of mileage to cover. Perhaps there will be a second and third season? Who knows? But even if this is the only live-action we get from this franchise, that's okay with me. I had read so many wuxia-xianxia-donghua-type novels and am a fan of minimal to no romance shounen type stories. Admittedly, "A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality" is not in my top 5 of favourites. Story-wise, my favourite from this sort of genre is "The Desolate Era" but the live-action was very disappointing and a far-cry from the novel. In a nutshell, the story is pretty formulaic and although there's very little romance in it (keep in mind that this type of genre is aimed mostly for male readers), there will be many female interests towards the ML (shadowing of the typical harem concept). If this drama's aim is to gauge interests from drama lovers to go and read the novel or watch the animation, it has done enough to achieve this aim. A word of warning though - that the novel does get very lengthy and repetitive after a while. You'll need good endurance and stamina to get through it. My personal beef with this novel though is centered a lot on how I personally don't quite appreciate the ML's character and how the author wrote him to be. Tells a lot about the writer's worldview and philosophy on life - which I disagree. But that's just my personal preference.

Acting/Cast: By casting Yang Yang, this drama already achieved the visual credit it needed. You can't go wrong with Yang Yang as the actor - he is a mature actor. But maturity in acting does not necessarily translate to excellent acting because a mature actor can be quite set in his/her acting style and lack flexibility and new interpretation of his/her acting. I had seen Yang Yang in so many dramas of this similar genre - costume, special effects, wuxia/xianxia etc - and he has been pretty consistent in his acting. He has definitely carved out a reputation as an idol actor but not necessarily as a serious actor. Basically, he's a " safe choice". As for Gina, she has also played it safe in this drama. Generally, everyone delivered. There are no major flaws in acting. Acting was acceptable; just lacking that special or additional umph to push it to the exceptional realm. The biggest flaw of this drama is not the acting, but the editing. Understandably that this is a long story and they wanted to cover a certain number of story arcs in just 30 eps, it's a challenge to edit the drama without missing key scenes or plots. However, there are instances in the drama where the editing was pretty glaring - like it's done by a student who's still learning how to edit dramas. One wonders if they had budgeted on the editing team in order to pay for a big shot actor Yang Yang to star in this drama.

Music: The OSTs are suitable and definitely reflect the fact that this story is male-centric.

Rewatch value: Because I am not a fan of the story, I am not that enamored to the drama, hence the slightly lower rewatch value I gave it.

Overall: I gave it 8/10. It is a solid product worth your time watching but I won't be gushing about it because it's still lacking from being an excellent product.

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