Brennnndda

Agreed. I'm really looking forward to her protecting him for a change.

If you're searching for episodes you don't need to watch it on the Youku app. There's other platforms that have uploaded all the episodes. Dubok has eps 1-44 uploaded

I agree. She's trying her best. She gives SF the benefit of the doubt and always sides with him. She's only turning the other way right now because SF keeps pushing her away and everyone else is trying to persuade her to kill him. She's lied to and constantly kept in the dark about all the important matters so she can only trust what her eyes and ears are showing/telling her. SF is luckier than her in that way since he still has his friends by his side who he can confide to but she can't confide in MY or LL anymore since they've already made up their minds about the matter.

WT's decision was his own. It had nothing to do with LL. He just couldn't handle being a loser.

Then in ep 43-44 when HC was trying to rub it in SF's face that he and XJ share ling li now and will kill SF together **insert eye roll

Have you seen the trailer for Cheng Yi's "The Promise of Chang An?" The leading lady is the one who played Qing Rong. It looks like one of the directors and a bunch of other cast members of L&R will be in it too.

What exactly are the qualifications to passing a trial?? Does anyone even know? Isn't the whole point of a trial to endure suffering and hardship then come out of it a stronger person? If she did fail then of course she would because in the other 9 lifetimes she was unfeeling. How can someone go through hardship when they feel no loss, love, empathy, or pain.
It's such a contradiction to put someone through a trial then try to ensure they don't suffer through it. Stupid HC.

He didn't interfere with her other 9 lifetimes though. He only decided to do so this time since it's the last one and probably because he saw that she's forging connections with those around her. She never had emotions in her past lives so he never worried about them.

I think it's that house/courtyard that XJ and SF used to have their secret meeting under the tree, not Shao Yang.

She never does it on purpose though. When he revealed he was a demon she was aiming for his dad and he took the hit and during the fight with HC, SF was blocking XJ so HC was able to stab him. If XJ didn't absorb the power from HC's sword then SF probably would've died. For those reasons, I really can't dislike her.

One of the many reasons I love SF is that his relationship with XJ is not all-consuming. He has and will do everything in his power to protect her but he has other tasks that take priority over his love life.
The first time this was evident was after the reveal and XJ is crying and drinking while SF was mourning his father's death and fighting to protect Lizi Palace. The second time was when XJ told SF under the tree that she wanted him to not do anything and go back to Shao Yang with her and he said no. He knows he can't leave YL in charge of Lizi Palace and SF won't sacrifice his fellow disciples' lives for his own happiness.
I think the scenes show the difference in their mentality due to their upbringing. Because XJ was so coddled growing up, she can afford to get drunk and cry in the safety of her room. SF on the other hand, is very goal-oriented so he can't allow himself to break down because there's still so much he has to do. If the final 2 episodes was just SF in a coma while XJ took care of him then I'd be okay with that because both his mind and body could use the rest.

I have no dislike towards XJ. A lot of the problems stem from her not knowing anything so that's not her fault. She does try to give SF the benefit of the doubt. After the reveal she went after him and he pushed her away. She met him under the tree and told him that she'd think about giving him time to finish what he needed to do. She tried to shield him from her father's sword in the cave but SF was quicker than she was. It's just that there's too many factors at play and she's ignorant to it because she doesn't think to scrutinize the people on her side.

I read that AoL had drama behind the cameras so I think AoL suffered from production issues while they were filming which probably affected the pacing of the drama. I enjoyed it while it aired just not to the scale that I love TMOPB and L&R.

My other gripe with AoL was that I didn't see how they fell in love. A lot of their romance was based on their trial when they were human and it didn't seem fair to say they were madly in love. Human trials are suppose to hold no meaning once you become a deity again. Plus, their love was an obsession. They were most productive when they weren't together. Xu Feng accomplished so much as the demon king because he wasn't pining over Jin Mi. Jin Mi was useless as the flower immortal because all she did was cry over XF.

With L&R, I appreciate that their "youth" was stretched out for ~20 episodes since it built up their friendship which then turned to love. 36-44, while heart attack-inducing, was very fast paced so that was a pleasant surprise. It didn't leave time for either leads to mope around for too long before the story had to keep moving because there's still a lot of ground to cover with only 15 episodes left.

I think SF's dad wins at both. He goes all-out when it comes to protecting SF. All XJ's dad does is blackmail and threaten her when she doesn't listen. The same goes for when it comes to protecting their respective sects. It feels like XJ's dad cares more about their reputation than the actual members of the sect.

I think it'd be fine if she didn't love him when she was the god of war and the same goes for SF not loving her originally. Romantic love is not a prerequisite for self-sacrifice.
It could've simply been that he knew he had to step in because he saw the injustice she endured. He also knew that if she reincarnated and her fury/hostility wasn't appeased, she would eventually be the one to suffer the most if she returned after her 10th life as a demon and wreaked havoc among the three realms. In the end she would've been the one punished even though she was the victim (seems punishing victims is always the theme).

LL is probably one of the most realistic portrayals of victims with PTSD that I've seen in Chinese dramas lately. What she went through isn't something she can just "get over" and I appreciate that it's taking time for her to recover.

XYH loves SF but I don't think it's a romantic love. To me, it feels like the love a pet has to her master and vice versa.

Not MY for me. All because of his little thought at the very end of ep 44 when he was thinking about what SF said about them breaking their word and watching as HC killed Lizi Palace disciples. MY was justifying HC's actions. You can see he's conflicted but not enough to see that what they did was wrong.

Has the drama been pretty faithful to the novel?

There's 15 episodes left but I'm scared it might be rushed...
**fingers crossed the pacing doesn't suffer from the episode cutback

Hopefully this drama is big enough in China that it would warrant the re-release of the full 73 episodes.