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Does anyone have any LGX news? Seems like he doesn’t have any confirmed upcoming projects (other than a guest role in A Tale of Rose). Last I saw on Weibo was that he went somewhere to film a variety show, but I’m not sure which one. Would love to see him in another interesting role but he seems pretty selective and isn’t pumping out projects on a regular basis.

Did you read the detailed reviews at the top of this page that people took the time to write? Those reviews will answer your question.

Depends on what you’re looking for. The leads have great chemistry in PA as well but both the story and characters are very different from The Legend of ShenLi. I watched a bit but it’s not romanced focused and there’s a sad ending.

I ultimately dropped it because there wasn’t much romance (ML was the typical “love you from afar and will be cold to you all the time” type). She also ends up spending a lot of time with SML. Normally, I don’t mind Shawn Dou but not when he’s taking time away from the main couple.

I think the most likely answer was mentioned by the person below - her more mellow and simple hair is a reflection of her more simple lifestyle (after peace between the realms, she's no longer actively involved in war and official affairs) - similar to how her hair was super simple when she was just living in the moral realm with XZ/XY (granted he was also a poor mortal at the time and they probably all $$ when to meat and not hair accessories). but in the end, after he came back, her hair was also kept down and relatively simple, a reflection of the life they have. i think hair up is more business-like.

in chinese culture, mourning is less about hair style (up vs down) and more about hair accessories and/or outfits. white is usually the color of mourning (hence when the general went to report ShenLi's death to the Divine Realm, he was wearing white). so if ShenLi was mourning, i would've expected some white in her outfit (be it a white outfit and/or a white flower accessory in her hair).

i don't remember a specific video but i've read that the two biggest easter eggs from PA were 1) saving XZ/YWY from the water and 2) the rabbit lantern. for the water-saving, it was mentioned in one of their interviews they did it as a fan service. ZLY (and LGX i think?) asked the director to randomly find a scene where they can fit in XZ falling into the water so she can save him.

Pretty much!

ShenLi is half chimei (from her father's side) and half Immortal (from her mother's side). When ShenLi was born, she was born with the phoenix core but her mother feared that ShenLi would be discriminated against as a half-chimei (as at that time, they were warring against the chimeis). so the mother instead gave her Immortal Core (which hastened the mother's death) to ShenLi and removed the phoenix core (the red pearl).

when ShenLi's master felt it was time, she gave the phoenix core back to ShenLi but because ShenLi has been living on the Immortal core for so long, when her master first merged the Phoenix core with ShenLi, ShenLi's body wasn't used to it. hence she got a fever and when she got hurt in the mortal realm and both FuRong and XZ were trying to heal her, they mentioned there seemed to be two competing powers or essence running through her body. thats both her immortal and phoenix cores.

when the battle over the east sea happened, finally the phoenix core merged fully with shenli and she was burnt to ashes and (partially) reborn as a full phoenix. there were complications with her rebirth (hence her senses were unstable) but once she was treated by lady jin and XZ, she was able to fully tap into her phoenix powers.

Lololo love this. Now I imagine the mental gymnastics someone had to go through to make these connections.

that red pearl is her core phoenix power. when it finally merged with her (after the battle over the east sea), she truly became a phoenix. so yes, it did give her special powers and made her stronger.

thanks! i love watching these but i def take them with a grain of salt. i didn't read the novel so i'm not sure how much of these are "true" and how much it's just common sense.

https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:5023724894617632
I'm only translating the ones I relatively understand:

1/ when XZ cleansed the Immoral Realm of miasma and the moon was revealed, casting a shadow on MoFong, you can already see that his shadow isn't the same as him; it's already foreshadowing that he's sharing a body with FuSheng

2/ when SL went to the Mortal Realm to find FuRong and she came across an old couple selling wine, she bought two pints because at that time, she already knew XZ was already following her (so one pint for her, another for him)

3/ the scenes of SL (in Mortal Realm) seeing the wedding, seeing the old couple and thinking of her time with the sickly XY represents the major phases of mortal life (marriage, living together and old age) that SL hopes for

4/ the lantern festival is a metaphor for their relationship. first they are separated (by that river which represents their different paths and responsibilities of their position) but they can't help but look at each other (aka they love each other despite knowing better), then an imposter comes (representing regrets and misunderstandings) but ultimately they find each other

5/ when XZ first carried SL (after her battle with the chimei), he wasn't too careful because she's the first person he ever princess carried; this resulted in her getting neck pain because her didn't support her neck. subsequently in the next scene, you see a silk "neck brace" on her. but XZ learned from his mistake and going forward, whenever he carries her, he supports her neck and head.

there are a few i missed because they're hard for me to translate.

https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:5023882344595461

after fighting to free all the Earth Diviners, XZ immediately went to take the credit from SL - not just because it's funny. there's apparently a reason. it's because when the ancient gods die, their essence/spirit is returned to the universe to help guard it. as such, the Earth Diviners (being that they live in the earth??) are blessed by (and carry these) remnants of ancient godly power blessings. if SL accepts their bows, it can potentially shorten her life so XZ immediately goes in front of her to take the bows (and credit) instead.

in most xianxia mythology, if a lesser being or god accepts a bow from a higher god or power, the lesser god will be punished with a shortened lifespan. i think this has seomthing to do with maintaining hierarchy and respect. SL is less than an ancient god in the pecking order so while she can accept thanks from the Earth Diviners, she can't take their bows. but XZ can because he's an ancient god.

Some videos explaining scenes / easter eggs.
Every scene has a purpose. My Chinese isn't great so I won't be able to translate everything:

https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:5023724894617632

https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:5023882344595461

Episode 29. XZ tells her that the engagement is broken.

Gigi Lai is the ultimate Zhao Min for me :) She was gorgeous and sassy in that role. She was also the first of her kind (at least for me); before her, I don't remember the wuxia world having a strong female lead that was smart, logical and went after what she wanted (without being stereotypically evil, needy or weak).

Lolol why did her feet make him uncomfortable?

A bit older but Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre. The ML is a bit of a himbo but the FL is really smart. My favorite is the Hong Kong version from the early 2000s.

Handsome Siblings. Not as romance focused but there is romance and both ML and FL are very cunning. It’s a fun watch.

It’s Okay to Not be Okay (kdrama) - the FL is a fun psycho. Very unique watch as I haven’t come across a character like her before.

ZLY's real life ex-husband. They got together around the time of The Story of Minglan (he was the ML in that drama) and divorced two years later. They have a kid together.

100000% LGX was the right choice for XZ; I absolutely can't think of anyone else that would carry his role and/or have that insane chemistry with ZLY.

For casting, I read on some Weibo posts that ZLY had a hand in a lot of the decisions. For XZ, I think LGX was always her first choice. And for LGX, he said in an interview that he accepted without reading the script because as long as ZLY was involved, he knew it would be good (lolol which is the same for what he did in Princess Agents). There were rumors that the Director initially wanted Xiao Zhan (for his "ethereal look" and also for his liulang traffic ability) but ZLY shot that down and insisted LGX for the role.

There were other casting decisions that ZLY apparently influenced. She brought on a lot of people that she worked with prior because she wanted to build camaraderie among the cast and create a fun working environment (that would translate on screen).

Thousands of years ago, even before he met ShenLi, he knew that she had “bad” miasma within her. He arranged her marriage to FuRong because FuRong has purification powers only second to him. XZs goal was that if they got married and spent time together, over the years, her miasma will be purified just by being with FuRong.

Of course, he didnt account for the fact that he would fall in love with ShenLi himself.

I forgot which episode this was explained in, but it was around the cave scene time.

He didn’t randomly decide it. It might seem that way at first but everything he does has a reason. Since you’re on episode 10, you’re around the timeframe of when he goes to the Immortal Realm to re-enforce the abyss seals with ShenLi. And he forces her to be his guide - from this instance, you (and ShenLi) finally learn that even tho what he does might seem random, it’s all an act - there’s not a single thing he hasn’t accounted for or thought about or planned out.

One of the things that makes this story so nice is that there are no loose threads and everything is eventually explained. You might have to wait a bit, but that’s part of the charm.

Do you mean when she was being treated by Lady Jin? If so, he did; he even demanded to be inside the room but Lady Jin said no because ShenLi will have to derobe and he shouldn’t see her in that state.