Salome87

yes, he is

That probably would be WKX, since in the novel when they talk about WKX's martial arts, even the great shaman of Nanjiang says that if it was up to him, he wouldn't fight WKX. I think the only one who is stronger than WKX is probably YBY

In the novel (and mainly it's prequel) Wu Xi is the great shaman of Nanjiang, where people know a lot about poison and the like. When he was a kid, Nanjiang had a war with Great Qing (where ZZS is from) so he entered the capital as a hostage, and stayed for some years, during which he made aquitances with the crown prince, ZZS and Jing Beiyuan (although he is way more than aquitances with Beiyuan hahaha)

yeah, I get what you are saying, I guess it all comes down to how everyone imagined the characters, actually at first I coulnd't see Tan Jian Ci as Gu Yun either from his looks alone, but I personally like his acting so I was happy with him being cast (it was a "He isn't who I would personally cast nor who I expected to be cast, but I'm not mad about it" kind of thing).
And, yeah, couldn't agree more with the CGI stuff, I have always thought that this isn't the easiest work to adapt to a drama, so when I heard the novel would be adapted, I was quite worried (still am!) since I think it has a high possibility of not being that well done.

I think that the fact of the script writer being a Priest fan shows, I've been thinking that even the changes they made to the original story line, follow what I think a Priest novel would follow, and I have also noticed some scenes that confirmed to me that the sript writer has read Priest's works, for example the fact that in the first episode they mentioned both, Yunxing, and Beiyuan (And I LOVED the way the prince said that Beiyuan was gone).
Anyways, what I want to say is that the script writer made a really good job at writing something that's enjoyable for novel fans, and for non novel fans since the drama can stand on its own without it being necessary to read the source material. (will mark as a spoiler because I don't know how much information about Lord seventh and his friendship with ZZS they will be giving in the next episodes)

Yes! I actually was very happy with the cast sice they were announced. I think, part of why is because they have around the same age gap that the characters in the novel are suppoused to have (around 6-8 years) also, I quite like both of the main actors acting, or at least what I've watched of it, also, I've seen Tan Jian Ci in some interviews and I get the feeling he liked his character as Gu Yun, which gives me hope for good characterization. Even so I kind of can see what people mean when they say their faces are simmilar, but from the photos I've seen, the styling will take care of that. From what I've seen my main worries for this adaptation come mainly form technical aspects of the story, like the whole steam punk stuff, and how they are going to adapt some story arcs, my only worry about the cast is that I don't know how much chemestry both actors have on camera, since I have never seen them in anything together, but I guess we will have to wait for that (fingers crossed tho).

Cut sleeve is a way to refer to gay men, that comes from a story about an emperor who would rather cut his sleeve than make his partner who was sleeping on his sleeve wake up

Zhou Zi Shu and Wen Ke Xing
Gu Xiang and Cao Wei Ning
Jing Beiyuan and Wu Xi (they probably will appear at some point briefly)
Also technically Liu Qian Qiao and Yu Qiu Feng

That is one of the extra arcs I was thinking of, since in the novel that's not a thing, (also I kind of like this new Yu Qiu Feng, since the original one was kind of shitty, and I always liked Qian Qiao haha) I also agree that there are some episodes thus far that have story from strictly the drama, although I don't personally mind them, I guess we will see how the sory comes along in future episodes.

If it follows the novel, from what I remember he isn't "good" at martial arts, in the sense that his movements are not graceful, and that he has to recite and practice everything ZZS teaches him over and over to get it, that and WKX also teaches him some stuff and his and ZZS styles of martial arts are not compatible (since in the novel he isn't part of any sect) which makes his learning process more difficult I guess, also he started learning late. But because of his meridians he can advance at a reasonable speed, and after some time he becomes I would say at least competent (he can stay alive during fights and such), although I don't think he is at Gu Xiang's or Cao Wei Ning's level. Don't know if it will stay that way though.

There are some differences between the novel and this adaptation, for example, like other people mentioned, they are not Shixiong and Shidi in the novel, some character deaths, happen differently, and there are extra arcs, but I think it's not really that important since they kept the escence of the characters and their relationships, also considering that they had to add story arcs since the novel by itself is pretty short, I think they did it quite well, since I think everything makes sense, and I don't feel there are any important plot holes or the like, and I guess a lot of the changes also come from the budget issue, since I can see why some things would be cheaper than what's supposed to happen in the novel (like the puppets in puppet manor) , theres also the issue with the censorship, but I think they worked around that pretty well, since they kept a lot of the original lines. I think that for a drama adaptation, this is quite good, and so far I think is the best Priest adaptation we have, which I'm very happy about.

I don't understand it either, like isn't shixiong-shimei relationships quite common in dramas?
Even as a novel reader, I don't think it really matters, that much, it's not like they had the same level of relationship as ZZS and Jiuxiao had as shixiong-shidi, so they are basically strangers by the time they met in the first episodes, so I don't see how this changes anything in their relationship?

Probably Cheng Ling's dad/family and Gao Xiaolian's dad

I think they are more relevant in Qi Ye ( another novel by Priest, that is set in the same universe as this one) and I don't know how relevant they will be in the adaptation, so, without potentially spoiling anything important (I think):
Jing Bei Yuan is also known as Qi Ye/Lord Seventh, is a guy who has reincarnated seven times, studying buddy of Helian Yi ( Prince Jin) , had "romantic" ties with the prince during his first life (but no more, due to a certain Shaman), also a good friend of ZZS.
Yun Xing is the son of a Marquis and is very good with martial arts, also formed part of Helian Yi's and Beiyuan's group.

Chapter 65