A Lifetime of Obsession and Yearning
He Simu is a 400yo sovereign of the Spirit Realm, holding the ultimate power against all the other spirits for the past 300years, and is on vacation in the mortal realm when she chanced upon Duan Xu, an eccentric scholar of the court who was punished to lead the army at the border which was thought by other ministers to be a death sentence for him. But to everyone’s surprise, he managed to excel in this military endeavour and went on to reclaim cities after cities that were previously conquered by the neighbouring kingdom, North Chong. He Simu, seeing the young general wielding the Breaking Delusion Sword forged by her aunt 300 years ago, immediately set her eyes on him, curious on why the sword had acknowledged a mortal as its master, especially when it also means that he could be her spell bearer whom could lend his five senses that she was deprived of as somebody who was born as a spirit right from the getgo, not just somebody who turned into a spirit upon death like the rest of the spirits in her realm. As she posed as the mortal He Xiaoxiao with an adopted brother Chen Ying whom she picked up along the way, she managed to get closer to the general and learnt that there was so much more to the general than what meets the eye.
These two main characters are really unique, one a born spirit that had never been indulged by senses that we humans usually never notice - the sense of touch, taste, smell, sight (as in seeing colours) and hearing music. While the other was a human who had been left to survive on his own in sweat, blood and grit from a very young age despite coming from an aristocrat family revered in court, due to being kidnapped by the enemy state and turned into an assassin. One grew up filled with love and contentment only to meet with disaster upon her parents’ demise, turning her into a stone-cold, disconnected and ruthless Spirit Lord, while the other grew up in pain and misery, only to find love and contentment when he met the arrogant and mindless Spirit Lord. They both felt alive when they met each other, although they could not hide from the fact that that it was indeed a forbidden relationship that could ruin the both of them.
What I liked about the characters here is both FL and ML never expected to be rescued by each other in their respective fights, but somehow when they were in the verge of perishing for real, the other half would always come through, though FL didnt need any saving even when she was at her lowest. But most of the time, they held on their own and fought their own battles, which took a considerable amount of years of being apart from each other. I am also glad they did not water down the FL’s OG powers just so the mortal ML with no supernatural neili could shine by coming to her rescue, like in most typical love stories.
I commend the CGI team that managed to make all the special effects look seamless without looking out of place or cartoonish. The fights are excellent, they had good choreograph in that part too. The makeup department was great, they actually managed to make the ML look messy during and after battles, like real messy with blood and grit splashed over the face instead of full on flawless foundation. 🫣
For those who complains that the last 10 episodes to be draggy, well, i guess the screenwriter cant help it if they were to follow the novel, cuz it was written that way by the original author. They did spend years apart from each other during Yan Ke’s rebellion and the war with North Chong, although FL did share a more frequent sense-exchange with ML which contributed to his worsened health that the FL realized only too late.
I’m grateful that the adaptation managed to adhere to the novel’s plot pretty much to the T, without much deviation. And I especially liked how they improvised the novel’s ending into two parts, which was pretty neat.
I have to say this show is packed with excellent music scores, especially those for the spirit realm, they sounded eerie and mysterious which is most fitting for the occasion. There are quite a number of tracks that I would add to my running playlist. The Lantern Guide song had similar ring to What Defines Humanity from Whispers of Fate, although I wondered if the composer was the same person, it turned out the former was by Yang Bingyin while the latter was by Zeng Zilin. Both songs were a feast to my ears with its unique lyrics and music.
All in all, for somebody who has read the novel before watching the adaptation, this is definitely one of the better ones out there that managed to satisfy the novel’s reader by being faithful to it.
These two main characters are really unique, one a born spirit that had never been indulged by senses that we humans usually never notice - the sense of touch, taste, smell, sight (as in seeing colours) and hearing music. While the other was a human who had been left to survive on his own in sweat, blood and grit from a very young age despite coming from an aristocrat family revered in court, due to being kidnapped by the enemy state and turned into an assassin. One grew up filled with love and contentment only to meet with disaster upon her parents’ demise, turning her into a stone-cold, disconnected and ruthless Spirit Lord, while the other grew up in pain and misery, only to find love and contentment when he met the arrogant and mindless Spirit Lord. They both felt alive when they met each other, although they could not hide from the fact that that it was indeed a forbidden relationship that could ruin the both of them.
What I liked about the characters here is both FL and ML never expected to be rescued by each other in their respective fights, but somehow when they were in the verge of perishing for real, the other half would always come through, though FL didnt need any saving even when she was at her lowest. But most of the time, they held on their own and fought their own battles, which took a considerable amount of years of being apart from each other. I am also glad they did not water down the FL’s OG powers just so the mortal ML with no supernatural neili could shine by coming to her rescue, like in most typical love stories.
I commend the CGI team that managed to make all the special effects look seamless without looking out of place or cartoonish. The fights are excellent, they had good choreograph in that part too. The makeup department was great, they actually managed to make the ML look messy during and after battles, like real messy with blood and grit splashed over the face instead of full on flawless foundation. 🫣
For those who complains that the last 10 episodes to be draggy, well, i guess the screenwriter cant help it if they were to follow the novel, cuz it was written that way by the original author. They did spend years apart from each other during Yan Ke’s rebellion and the war with North Chong, although FL did share a more frequent sense-exchange with ML which contributed to his worsened health that the FL realized only too late.
I’m grateful that the adaptation managed to adhere to the novel’s plot pretty much to the T, without much deviation. And I especially liked how they improvised the novel’s ending into two parts, which was pretty neat.
I have to say this show is packed with excellent music scores, especially those for the spirit realm, they sounded eerie and mysterious which is most fitting for the occasion. There are quite a number of tracks that I would add to my running playlist. The Lantern Guide song had similar ring to What Defines Humanity from Whispers of Fate, although I wondered if the composer was the same person, it turned out the former was by Yang Bingyin while the latter was by Zeng Zilin. Both songs were a feast to my ears with its unique lyrics and music.
All in all, for somebody who has read the novel before watching the adaptation, this is definitely one of the better ones out there that managed to satisfy the novel’s reader by being faithful to it.
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