Torn Between Duty and Love
I first saw Liu Xueyi on Kill Me Love Me and i liked him there, though not so much when he turned into a lovesick puppy (unlike the novel), so I am expecting he would do well here. I was right. He convinced me as Yuan Zhong, the immortal youth who conquered the Divine Hand forged by Goddess Wu Shuang, later used by his clan to kill the enemy - the expelled divine clan, War Demon - and subsequently suppressed by these elders he held in high regard afterwards cuz they were afraid of his power. Wielding a divine power at a young age, the teenager was eager to please his elders’ and obey all their commands, ending up being imprisoned for 40 years in the name of secluded cultivation. He was released later but not not before the divine hand’s power sealed by a necklace the elders made him wear. He lived as the High Priest of Youhu immortal clan for 20 years, patiently scheming his way out of his elders’ clasp. And having been subjected to 60 years of suppression that left his body frail and sickly, resentment began to form and tainted his pure heart, but one being believed he was a good person - Diety of Craftsmen, Wu Shuang.
I think Tiffany Tang did a terrific job as Diety Wu Shuang. After the great war, primordial Diety Taihe was injured and went into slumber, his divine hand severed and thrown into mortal world, and the ascension ladder was broken, restricting any dieties from descending into the mortal world in their physical form. The only way out of the divine realm was through the sea of oblivion that would rot away divine powers. Of all of them, only Wu Shuang was willing to go through this sea to retrieve the divine hand she created, as she could rely on her creations instead of her divine power to get through it. Initially tasked to kill Yuan Zhong and retrieve the hand so Diety Taihe’s primordial spirit can be restored, she later changed her mind as she deemed Yuan Zhong a good person and cannot be killed. She promised the elder dieties that she would accompany Yuan Zhong til he dies naturally before retrieving the hand. And one of the promises include her not to have any emotional attachment with him and reveal her identity as a diety.
Although i did not have high hope when i started watching this drama, i found that the story really engaging, especially when the ML’s continuous suspicion of FL didnt annoy me, even after her mortal body died for him twice. I usually hated prolonged misunderstanding, but this show managed to get me hooked. I especially love FL’s resilience and strength, she would not waver under any circumstances at all. They both did not turn into hopelessly lovesick puppies, which intrigued me even more.
It is also one of the rare shows where the ML needs constant saving by the FL (well she’s supposed to be the superior being anyway) and i enjoy them very much.
It is the first time i saw Tiffany Tang and in some scenes i couldnt help myself from seeing Liu Shishi in her. Dont you think they have an uncanny resemblance?
The sparseness of the divine realm weirded me out though, was it due to budget constraint? Or was it something that could only be understood with the novel? There were less than 10 individuals in the divine realm so it is definitely weird compared to other xianxia i’ve watched. And i wonder why their ‘supposedly’ dieties are all with unimaginable flaws like humans? Whats the point of being god then? If a god can succumb to human flaws then theyre not god at all. It’s weird that some people would worship these flawed beings, on screen or off screen.
The songs are good too and gave quite an impression on me.
Edited: I decided to read the novel, and found that the storyline in the novel is quite different than the adaptation. But i like the changes the adaptation made to FL’s character though, especially the ‘saving ML’ every time. 😆 in the novel, ML wasnt quite a don-in-distress, he actually saved FL quite a number of times cuz he couldnt accept a mere mortal woman would protect him. And the reason she proposed to the diety elders to wait for ML to exhaust his natural life before reclaiming the hand was also different than the novel’s. In the novel, the waiting was due to the consequence of taking the hand forcefully (by killing ML prematurely) cuz that would mean messing with the hand’s fate (it’s with ML now so it’s fate is tied to him instead of Taihe) of which doing so would cause Taihe’s remnant primodial spirit to completely disappear. It was not because she believed ML was a good person that shouldnt be killed. They kinda romanticized the connection between ML and FL a bit here by having her standing her ground because she believed he was good, when in the novel, her sole motivation to venture into the mortal world to retrieve the hand was due to her thousands years old love for Taihe and she insisted to wait because she didnt want Taihe to disappear.
All in all, the novel was fun, and although the changes of the adaptation was acceptable, i honestly prefer the novel’s ending than the adaptation’s.
I think Tiffany Tang did a terrific job as Diety Wu Shuang. After the great war, primordial Diety Taihe was injured and went into slumber, his divine hand severed and thrown into mortal world, and the ascension ladder was broken, restricting any dieties from descending into the mortal world in their physical form. The only way out of the divine realm was through the sea of oblivion that would rot away divine powers. Of all of them, only Wu Shuang was willing to go through this sea to retrieve the divine hand she created, as she could rely on her creations instead of her divine power to get through it. Initially tasked to kill Yuan Zhong and retrieve the hand so Diety Taihe’s primordial spirit can be restored, she later changed her mind as she deemed Yuan Zhong a good person and cannot be killed. She promised the elder dieties that she would accompany Yuan Zhong til he dies naturally before retrieving the hand. And one of the promises include her not to have any emotional attachment with him and reveal her identity as a diety.
Although i did not have high hope when i started watching this drama, i found that the story really engaging, especially when the ML’s continuous suspicion of FL didnt annoy me, even after her mortal body died for him twice. I usually hated prolonged misunderstanding, but this show managed to get me hooked. I especially love FL’s resilience and strength, she would not waver under any circumstances at all. They both did not turn into hopelessly lovesick puppies, which intrigued me even more.
It is also one of the rare shows where the ML needs constant saving by the FL (well she’s supposed to be the superior being anyway) and i enjoy them very much.
It is the first time i saw Tiffany Tang and in some scenes i couldnt help myself from seeing Liu Shishi in her. Dont you think they have an uncanny resemblance?
The sparseness of the divine realm weirded me out though, was it due to budget constraint? Or was it something that could only be understood with the novel? There were less than 10 individuals in the divine realm so it is definitely weird compared to other xianxia i’ve watched. And i wonder why their ‘supposedly’ dieties are all with unimaginable flaws like humans? Whats the point of being god then? If a god can succumb to human flaws then theyre not god at all. It’s weird that some people would worship these flawed beings, on screen or off screen.
The songs are good too and gave quite an impression on me.
Edited: I decided to read the novel, and found that the storyline in the novel is quite different than the adaptation. But i like the changes the adaptation made to FL’s character though, especially the ‘saving ML’ every time. 😆 in the novel, ML wasnt quite a don-in-distress, he actually saved FL quite a number of times cuz he couldnt accept a mere mortal woman would protect him. And the reason she proposed to the diety elders to wait for ML to exhaust his natural life before reclaiming the hand was also different than the novel’s. In the novel, the waiting was due to the consequence of taking the hand forcefully (by killing ML prematurely) cuz that would mean messing with the hand’s fate (it’s with ML now so it’s fate is tied to him instead of Taihe) of which doing so would cause Taihe’s remnant primodial spirit to completely disappear. It was not because she believed ML was a good person that shouldnt be killed. They kinda romanticized the connection between ML and FL a bit here by having her standing her ground because she believed he was good, when in the novel, her sole motivation to venture into the mortal world to retrieve the hand was due to her thousands years old love for Taihe and she insisted to wait because she didnt want Taihe to disappear.
All in all, the novel was fun, and although the changes of the adaptation was acceptable, i honestly prefer the novel’s ending than the adaptation’s.
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