Jade Diep

To be honest, I dropped this drama and started picking it back up from the beginning to focus on the details (styling, set design, interaction between ZLS and the cast).

I've read on Chinese social media, and weibo - thanks to the original director who's been incessantly slandering the drama. Even if people don't like the drama, and certain YouTubers are just hell-bent on dragging ZLS, I have newfound respect for ZLS and it compels me to watch this drama and support it even if it's not my typical preferred genre.

Some context: the original director dropped this drama and cut the budget of the the drama hence why the release was so delayed. ZLS held up the production on her own by styling herself and ML, using her own personal wardrobe and items from her sponsorship/CF deals. She also sung songs in the cdrama to save on costs (I've always found the past disjointed and wasn't a fan of the OST but now it makes sense). She brought in her friends to take up acting roles as the budget didn't allow for big names or diverse casting - Victor Ma the guy who plays her big brother is actually her IRL friend and was attacked vehemently by novel fans for not being handsome enough so he suffered from anxiety, Zhang JM is also someone she brought into the drama. I'm not sure about the current director and how she stepped in, but the current director is doing a fantastic shot with the romance scenes; she really knows what women audiences wants, and I suppose it helps that she was the director for Gogo squid franchise.

I've never seen an actor/actress love their job to this extent because girlllll, if a director ran off and production halted with no funds, I would be out.

She has fair & valid points, but my whole reason to watch a drama is purely for entertainment - that's just me personally, if I wanted to analyse a drama I'd be a critic by now because boy are there things I can nitpick about this drama and it's not anyone's place to discourage others to enjoy a certain trope or have guilty pleasures. I find her opinions as of 2022/2023 incredibly biased (there are a few dramas she reviewed which are awful plot and acting wise yet she praised it to the high heavens simply because she's a superfan of said idol, I won't share because I don't want to be stressed with her fans coming after my neck D: ) so nowadays every time I see her face popup on recommend it aggravates me lmao

SCREAMINGGGG at herbal snake soup lmfaoooooo

Maybe in the drama it wasn't portrayed well, but in the novel it was power she was after, rather than love she was obsessed with a male being in power and she never really knew what love is, even her other lives seeked security rather than love, I wish they could have portrayed it this way in the drama, I actually had sympathy for her in the novels somewhat

I saw someone post on douyin from VIP raw releases that Susu is actually the daughter of the woman who's friends with MY and the first demon lord, so SJ is not her past life, rather the events in the past will bring her enlightenment on how to save TTJ. It's more like she takes on MingYe's role and I sure hope she doesn't stay pragmatic and save the world over love kinda trope. Also with YBC, she actually retains her memory of being TH so those two are the same lives unlike the ML and FL - although not sure how the drama will depict this

This drama is definitely a slow-burn and requires you to be somewhat familiar to the world of Wuxia and the sects in Jianghu as all of the side characters thus far have been appearing in novels/adaptations dating back since 1968.
I'm also really disappointed in the direction the actors have to take and the overall screenwriting as I've mentioned in a reply to Sony_t above, the characters are all a bit too reserved, for example female lead's cousin, his character made you feel like you were going to vomit blood with how ostentatious he constantly was (in the novel). But then again, viewing censorship, actors' image, cnetz views on certain things take precedent over good directing.
I'm personally looking forward to the episode depicted in the trailer where FL is in red. There's a big difference between her character shown there compared to her character in the first 20 episodes; wider range of expressions, vulnerability, and staying true to her conservation with that fisherman in the beginning few episodes. I already know how the character develops in the novel post-scene.. so I'm just waiting to see if it can be delivered, and if it does, then that's when the drama will truly take off as Wuxia has a soft spot for 'weak (and dumb) to strong (and righteous)' type of characters.

Finally, someone else who appreciates Wuxia! Script wise, it definitely is bland compared to the novel - even translated from Chinese to English.. it's pretty bland and then to adapt it, rarely have I seen a drama live up to its novel counterpart as there's certain puns/phrases which only makes sense in Chinese like 'More saliva than tea' lol; (in reference to Xie Yun).
A lot of the plot devices wouldn't make sense to the new/average viewers, all these side characters who were introduced thus far (20 episodes in), from various different cross-overs in novels, original novels since 1968 - the sects mentioned and the martial arts have been handed down/inherited, so hats off to the writer who referenced rather than making up a fancy martial skill, a very happy nostalgic touch. Zhou Fei's inherited Snow Breaking Sword has a very complex history explored in an 1981 novel about her grandfather and her mysterious grandmother - but this is what I mean, knowing all of this; understanding the Jianghu realm is what makes the drama enjoyable - If I was a first timer, I probably wouldn't enjoy it to be very honest.
I definitely agree with not being too fond of extreme creative liberties, they've already irritated me when they toned down Zhou Fei's character and dialogues as well as Xie Yun's.. behaviour, which I can understand why because in a country like China and with all its viewing censorship, portraying certain dialogues will be an issue as it will harm both these actors' images given ML's popularity amongst BL fans, as for FL's image, I can write a whole essay about women in Chinese entertainment industry to which even she is not exempt from.

It's all down to your viewing preferences. Most of the comments here are just stans who don't value storylines as they're here solely for the actors/actresses & confuse different genres with one another. If you like dramas like The Untamed, The Legends, Legend of Awakening - then no, those are not wuxia, it's martial arts but definitely not wuxia. If you lean more towards the actual definition of Wuxia which are dramas such as Legend of the Condor Heroes, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, Chinese Paladin - then yes, this is for you.

Disclaimer: Long review. The lack of appreciation for Wuxia genre itself really comes through with majority of reviews. I'm personally no huge fan of the main leads (Journey of Flower with FL has put her in a bad light in my eyes, and ML is pretty stiff in his previous work which worked for his character in Untamed but I'm still not sold). So far, I have to say, from 12 episodes, this drama brings some of the core essences of a wuxia genre. Sure, it's not as dramatised and romanticised as most dramas that have been released for the past 5 or so years but they borderline on xianxia/xuanhuan - that's where the issue lies, wuxia has a specific quality to it whereas most 'wuxia' dramas that are out, are actually xianxia genres.

Characters:
Female lead - she's supposed to be cocky, rebellious, and a little dense to the outside world. So far she could do with more cockiness given that she is the granddaughter of Li Huai. From the trailers I see she's a little more humanised and I'm expecting more character growth, after all, it wouldn't make sense to me, someone who grew up without any outside interaction to be a know-all about the world.
Main lead - I love the portrayal here. I am pleasantly surprised with his acting because he's nailed the 'trash-talking until you vomit blood' characteristic down to a tee. I hope he stays true to the novel as there's more to his character than a flowery mouth.
Special mentions to portrayal of various martial artists who really brings out the heroism and Jianghu feel - crazy lady, Juniang in particular! I love that side characters get some love and how they tie in with the main leads rather than glossing over them as a simple side character/filler.

Would I reccomend this? If you are a wuxia fan, absolutely, there's some clever details which references Gu Long's Xiaoli Feidao series. It's a slow burn but wuxia is more martial arts and brotherhood than romance. Romances are for the most part always slow in these genres as character development comes first but that's the enjoyable part (in my opinion anyway) - I personally felt the romance part was rushed, the chemistry is somewhat there, the glances, the silent pauses - but the leads could have brought more tension to it if they held off on the romance a little with a little more character growth. Action wise? It's wonderful - minus some blatant CGI issues, FL sword art brings some nostalgic homages to Flying Daggers (2003) certain protagonist, even the footwork is the same. There's only been 12 episodes, the last wuxia drama I watched plot didn't thicken until episode 40ish, so I'm expecting a lot of character growth, misfortune for the leads, and a whole lot of sworn Brother/sister tropes.