Terenia-Shaiana

I’m hoping for that too. It’s just a bit worrying that “big brother” still isn’t on set. After FCY, we’re only getting *The Abyss*, and then what?

Even though Ren Jialun is super active right now—like a spinning top, three music festivals in 10 days—I still want to see him back on set already. But he’s still so thin, it’s honestly upsetting(( No, actually… it’s better if he gets some rest.

I honestly don’t even know what to reply to you. At the moment, the drama’s popularity index on iQIYI peaked at around 7,200 (10,000 = a hit), and on Tencent Video it reached 24,000 today (30,000 = a hit). On Weibo the maximum was 8.5, and on other platforms it’s consistently ranking around 2nd–3rd place in popularity.

The project also received S+ status (a high-budget production), but the number of advertisers involved was surprisingly low for that level (brands only bought ads for the first 7–8 episodes).

Unlike *Love and Crown*, this drama is actively being promoted by Ren Jialun and the rest of the cast, but the platforms themselves have basically stepped back. If you compare the level of promotion (and the kind of tactics platforms were willing to use) for FCY versus the March drama, it’s clear that FCY’s promotion is being carried mostly by the main cast and their fanbases (with the largest being Ren Jialun’s). But unfortunately, that’s not enough.

I’m also kind of dreading the rating on Douban.

Last year, when TDHR stopped at around 9,650 on iQIYI’s popularity index (if I remember correctly), some producers started saying that Ren Jialun was no longer a top actor and that it was time for him to step aside. But TDHR ended up having the highest internal rating on iQIYI for the entire year — 9.0 — and also got a 7.6 on Douban, so that shut everyone up.

But with FCY, it’s more complicated — the story isn’t just centered around romance, it has a lot of deeper themes and philosophy, and on top of that, it’s xianxia, which is one of the most cliché-heavy genres.

In short, yes. But whether it’s permanent is unclear. Where I read about it, they only explained the reason and a bit of the process, but not what will happen next.

The script is really good—of course not without plot holes—but we haven’t even seen the whole series yet.
That’s why the ratings here and in China are disappointing to me.

And it’s not just about nice numbers—an actor’s demand really depends on ratings. That’s why I want the work of all the actors and the production team to be properly appreciated, not judged only through the lens of romance/chemistry/kisses.

Yes, but the poster was there from the very beginning, while in the series the protagonist keeps saying he doesn’t want to be a demon warrior and wants to be human. That’s why I was interested in the reason he will change his mind and how exactly his metamorphosis will happen.

I found a spoiler online about how and why Lu Qianqiao will eventually become a demon warrior. Now let’s see if it’s true.

Maybe it’s worth stopping and not wasting your time on the remaining 16 episodes?

How did positive comments turn into a wave of hatred toward the heroines? A’Sheng is her father’s daughter, and on top of that she was forced to survive in conditions where any of us would have simply died or lost our sanity. Do you seriously think that a person who has gone through something like that would be gentle, sweet, and caring toward everyone she meets?

A’Sheng made it clear to Jin Lun from the very beginning that he meant nothing to her and that she would use him at the first opportunity. Did anyone really expect such a character to shed tears? For someone she repeatedly drove away and warned about her attitude toward him?

As for Lu Qianqiao and A’Sheng — it’s just simple jealousy. Plenty of younger siblings get jealous of their older ones and their partners. It would have been strange if that hadn’t happened, if A’Sheng had told her sister: “Oh, I’m so happy you’ll leave us and our master and go off with some strange guy who deceived you and erased your memory, into the beyond.” That kind of reaction would not match what we were shown in earlier episodes. There’s also the possibility that her father somehow possessed A’Sheng / is influencing her or has taken on her appearance.

It’s unpleasant to read the attacks against Wang Herun. She did an excellent job portraying her character — you believe her when she’s angry or furious, and also when she’s soft and gentle. The actress is also very beautiful and stands out among the others with her sincerity or something like that.

The latest episodes feel like an island of calm, where the characters were finally able to talk and figure out their plans for the future. I like how Lu Qianqiao tries to explain to the heroine that he will become an ordinary person, while she doesn’t think about that because she’s worried about how he will survive the blood and heart replacement. She has already decided everything for herself — with whom and how she will spend her life. And it’s nice to watch their hugs and hear her say, “don’t drink too much wine.”

I adore Lin Muhan and Meishan Jun — they’re funny and adorable.

I think LQQ understood her feelings perfectly, but the past cannot be changed, their experiences cannot be undone, and the dead cannot be brought back to life. From his side, he had no way to help the heroine ease her pain, because for her he embodied the most terrible thing in her life. The only thing he could do was become the person she would kill in order to take her revenge.

But even in her grief, she couldn’t do it, because he had never (during the time they knew each other) been like those demon warriors that Lin Hei once fought against. Even though she was overwhelmed by pain and sorrow, she could see that LQQ was not someone she should take revenge on.

Both actors portrayed this scene wonderfully — she was expressive, letting her emotions run free, while he was restrained and profound.

Take a look at how many people have rated the episodes — only 13–40 viewers. On the other hand, I personally don’t rate a series until I’ve finished watching it completely, so I can fully evaluate the plot and the actors’ performances.

As for me, I can say that I rate each episode after watching it.

I absolutely loved today’s episodes. The amnesia arc has ended, we got a glimpse of the male lead’s mother (even if only in his delusion), and we learned that Xin Mei is not a delicate flower, but someone who fought against the War Demons, losing loved ones along the way. They also showed that Jin Lin has lost his mind so much because of A’Shen that it’s noticeable to others as well. It’s clear now that, no matter what she says, the heroine is already jealous of her “husband,” even though not long ago she was pointing a sword at him. There’s so much happening that you really have to keep up to not lose the thread of the story.

I honestly can’t wait for the next episodes, where (judging by the trailers) the main characters will finally start working together. And that moment with Qianqiao, when he touched her lips to draw the sun—it was so unexpected and… sensual.

Ah, how am I supposed to wait until tomorrow?

Before I voice my opinion, I ask myself: why do I need this? To have a discussion? To find like-minded people? Do I feel the need to speak out and can’t/won’t hold back? So I’m curious: why did you decide to write your post?

If you don’t like it — drop it. If you like it — watch it. If you’re undecided — keep watching. None of our words will change what has already been filmed. That’s how the director and the screenwriter chose to tell this story. That’s their vision. I personally really like their vision, and I don’t care who ships whom with whom. I follow the story and enjoy what I see.

I’m tired of the same old love stories driven by forced jealousy, contrived misunderstandings, or unnecessary love triangles. Here, I see a gradual development of feelings between characters who didn’t fall in love at first sight, weren’t enemies, didn’t mistreat each other, and didn’t plan to be in a relationship. Fate just keeps bringing them together again and again, so they’re forced to communicate and interact. I can guess where it’s heading, and I like the path the characters are taking.

I watched it on the official iQIYI platform, and the subtitles in episode 16 are fine.

Well, trying to guess the plot is always a thankless task :) Let’s just watch and hope the story stays logical and engaging.

He was in the process of dying. You know, that process can sometimes last for hours, even days. So while he’s on the brink between life and death, she feels his pain.

I don’t consider her righteous. To me, a righteous person is someone who hasn’t committed even the slightest sin. She’s quite impulsive and doesn’t always think ahead. Just a kind person, that’s all. And everyone makes mistakes and does foolish things.

In this series, there aren’t really any righteous people at all, in my opinion.

Why? Because he has already passed the first trial to become human. Lu Qianqiao became much more emotionally expressive after the flesh replacement, didn’t he? He started to feel jealousy, irritation, anger. In the first episodes this was practically absent (though he did give that guard a thorough dunking in the water barrel). And after the bone replacement, his emotions grow even stronger and more pronounced.

Righteous? A disciple who stole a token from her master and ran away against his will—is that a righteous young lady? Not really. I see her as a kind person with a heightened sense of justice, not a Terminator and Sherlock Holmes at the same time. Besides, Xin Mei didn’t know what Doctor Su had planned. She thought they were about to distribute those pills and everyone would just return to their sects. Did she even have time to gather testimony and look for evidence? And afterward, where would she even find those cultivators?

As for the activation of the blood bond, it’s clearly stated in the first three minutes of episode one: “these five trials are perilous. War Demons must form blood pacts with their closest kin so that when near death, they might grasp a silver lining of survival.” In other words, the bond only activates when they are on the brink of death.

1. Nowhere in the series is it stated that the male lead didn’t know about this tax. We are shown him at the end of his “official career,” and the direct reason for his execution is given—disobeying the emperor’s order. What he did before that—whether he was righteous or not—we don’t know. Although, if Lu Qianqiao took part in palace intrigues and wars for the throne, he clearly wasn’t a saint. Also, the series mentions that in Wei County, where Lu Qianqiao served as governor, life was better than in other regions, so that tax wasn’t as noticeable. It’s quite likely that Lu Qianqiao simply didn’t pay much attention to what was happening beyond his sphere of influence. After all, he’s not a hero trying to save everyone. He doesn’t take care of every beggar or worry about everyone’s troubles, but when he sees someone in need, he helps. Still, I’ll repeat—he is not a saint at all.

2. We are shown an example of the problem of the immortality tax when Ashen encounters a family who, under the pretense of treating their child (whom they are actually poisoning), beg everywhere to buy that “healing herb” and use it to pay the tax. I agree that perhaps the suffering of ordinary people could have been shown more broadly. But for me, the explanations and what was shown were enough.

3. The female lead didn’t stay in the valley to investigate the boatman’s death. She realized that anyone who came for the pills could have killed him. So she went to the hall, hoping to reach her fellow practitioners and explain that pills obtained through murder, robbery, and the suffering of common people cannot be considered good.

For me, the female lead’s behavior is completely logical—she is inherently kind, but when she sees injustice, she cannot stand aside. Sometimes she resolves things through conversation and persuasion, if the other side is willing to listen; other times, she takes up her sword and kills when she believes she is facing pure evil. She doesn’t have standard, NPC-like reactions to events. Each situation is different, and she acts accordingly.

Here’s what the actor himself, Ren Jialun, said about it in his interview:

The director and I also mapped out the stages of Lu Qianqiao’s development. He’s a character whose power progression goes “in reverse” — from strong to weak. I told the director that, in terms of combat, I needed to give the character a certain grounding; for example, even after the body transformation, my combat power starts to decline, and I wanted to show that directly through the fight choreography.

So at the beginning, when I first appear, everyone feels like I can handle any situation with ease. Gradually, it becomes clear that I’m already putting in much more effort — I start actively using my fists and legs, performing combat techniques. When my strength drops even further, the audience notices that I begin to rely on weapons.

The lower my power level gets, the more help I need and the more I depend on weapons. Up until the moment when I have almost no abilities left and return to the state of a “war demon” — and we defined this very clearly as well: it only takes a single move or a single line, and the enemies are already at my feet.

I have no idea what will happen next. In the interview released yesterday, Jialun said that Qianqiao will lose his powers, but then regain them — how, why, and for what purpose, I don’t know.

You can see that the plot is non-linear, all the characters are revealed gradually, and Lu Qianqiao is like an onion with many layers. So all we can do is trust the creators of the drama and go through this journey together until the end.

I rewatched the subtitles in both English and Chinese (the first 3 minutes where they introduce the background), and there’s not a single word about Lu Qianqiao wanting to save his race. Here’s what they say there about transformation:

"The Great Dao holds 50 paths, while heaven manifests 49, leaving one for humans. If War Demons wish to be reborn as humans, ascending to heaven to seek the gods is not necessarily their only choice.
With their skin peeled off, their flesh carved off, their bones scraped clean, their blood renewed, and their hearts gouged out, they could be reborn as humans. Yet these five trials are perilous. War Demons must form blood pacts with their closest kin so that when near death, they might grasp a silver lining of survival."

Both the director and Ren Jialun have said that Lu Qianqiao doesn’t want to become human for some noble purpose, but fate will decide otherwise. What do you think — why does everyone keep talking about children born on September 9 and that one of them will become the savior of humanity, yet we were never told the main character’s birth date? Could it be because his destiny is to become human and then save the world?