KiKo Tsukino

Love of the Divine Tree (LOTDT) is a drama that have been on my watch list for a while now.

But back then I wanted to wait until I have the right mindset to watch this because after watching Moonlight Mystqiue (which is another one of my top favourites), I was in that phase for a while and I couldn't really get into anything new for quite some time after MM ended. So this Drama have been on my watch list and I was kinda just putting it on hold until I was ready.

So now after I have finally watched it, I am glad to say this drama didnt disappoint me. Although there are indeed some plot points I find draggy like the amnesia arc as I was waiting for that to be over.... but overall, I do really like how Su Yi Shui(ML) played by Deng Wei was written.

If I have to say anything, that would be I love how Su Yi Shui character is written where he's not your typical "good/righteous" cultivator at the beginning, but he's someone who have started on the "devil/demonic" path due to his harsh upbringing and how he was mold into a character, where he is seen as cold, "selfish" killer seen as a "chess" piece of his "father" at the beginning, so in this regard, how he wanted to take revenge on those who treated him badly, and his unfair treatment, did kinda remind me to Tantai Jin in Till the End of the Moon.

However, all this change where Mu Qing Ge gave him that warmth, care and love his heart longs for ever since he was a child. So Mu Qing Ge was the person who changed Su Yi Shui path from walking down that devil/demonic path to who he is in the end, because she was able to awaken something in him which he thought he once lost, so how Mu Qing Ge was able to guide Su Yi Shui and how he wants to become a better person for Mu Qing Ge made his character more portrayed like a Grey character(to me), where he is neither purely good nor purely evil, as one example is seen how he would go through such extremes (which challenges morally white portrayal of heroes), as he was seen to activate the side to him to absorb Wei Jiu source of demonic powers into himself, to protect Xue Ran Ran/and the Mount Wester Sect. I find these characters appealing in that sense because they challenge the traditional black-and-white portrayal of heroes and villains, so bringing back to how his character did remind me somewhat to Tantai Jin, but unlike Li Susu who failed to show me she deserves Tantai Jin's love despite she was his light that changed his character from that Devil Path(into who he is in the end), but what Till the end of the Moon failed, this drama(Love of the Divine tree) succeeded imo. I won't express why Till the end of the Moon failed and disappointed me, if you want to find out you can check my review page for that drama in here. But simply put this drama did exceed my expectations in the end in terms of how they handled the plot, pairing, characters, developments and not to mention, the ending.

I love how Su Yi Shui will do whatever it takes to protect the 1 person he holds dear which is Mu Qing Ge/Xue Ran Ran (played by Julia Xiang). I love how he doesn't show mercy to anyone who dares hurts her, and he will secretly get back at that person tenth fold. I love how his character development was handled in terms of the portrayal of his character from his childhood (which formed him to be the SYS at the very beginning), to how he came to care for Mu Qing Ge when he opened his heart to her. It really symbolizes that Mu Qing Ge is that light that lights up his path because of his sad upbringing. Deng Wei did a good job in portraying his character which holds several layers with different character persona, and even when he is under the demonic influence, I still do like him on my end and I found that is interesting to watch him in portraying the different characters like this.

I love Su Yi Shui has his own "Dao/Path" that is not defined/restrained by good or bad but he just walks his own path. Those type of characters appeal to me more than the typical xianxia characters in the righteous cultivation sect where they put the protection of the other people(other realms) over the person they love(romantically) or there's conflict in their choice in choosing to protect that one person over the world etc

I do love the pairing chemistry between the main pairing Su Yi Shui and Mu Qing Ge/Xue Ran Ran, although for me I find Mu Qing Ge character appeal to me more than Xue Ran Ran but overall how the writers handled MQG and XRR they are the same character to me. I do love watching their developments onscreen. While there wasn't really a moment that made me fangirl for the main pairing but I did enjoy and love their scenes when I see them interact.

This is my first time seeing Julia Xiang, but this is not my first time seeing Deng Wei. I first got to know him through Miss the Dragon and he was my fav character in that one even when he wasn't the main male lead but his acting and story appealed to me more than the male lead (Dylan) in Miss the Dragon

I love how they handled the fight scenes in this drama, that was nicely done. There was quite a few familiar faces as well, like I recognized Cao Yu Chen who played his role as Zeng Yi, since he was in the Untamed as Jing Zixuan lol. And I also find the actor Bai Shu familiar too, he played his character Liang Wu Meng in LOTDT but he also played as Teng She(Lord Flying Snake) in Love and Redemption and another actor I found familiar is He Zhong Hua since he was in LAR and LOTDT.

There is also several other pairings and characters in this drama that is nice too although I am not a die hard shipper but it is nice to know they got their happy ending too.

And this ending gives a really wholesome happy feeling that is fully satisfying for the viewers which is very nice. That fully satisfying feeling that gives a wholesome feeling reminds me to Love and Redemption which I really love and I missed from the good old days where Xianxia still gives us these type of endings so I am glad LOTDT have this same ending and honestly more script writer and director should learn from this because no matter how painful the journey is, we viewers just want a fully satisfying ending for our favourite characters!! What I found interesting is I did search it up and realized that both LOTDT and LAR have the same scriptwriter and director so that was very nice to know!!

Overall in 2025, this was a nice drama that even though there are some draggy parts I felt like skipping but ignoring those I did enjoy the drama as the overall and this drama did bump itself up to my top favourites! In 2025, aside from Moonlight Mystique which that one is my absolute favourite drama, LOTDT is definitely sitting next to Moonlight Mystique for me!

Thank you for this lovely journey! It is currently on my rewatch list.