First I wanted to commend the new characters. I really thought they all very fitting in their roles. I liked them better than the characters in Season 1. This includes Dylan Wang. I thought Dylan was a better Ning Que than Arthur Chen was. He had better chemistry with Ireine Song. Whereas Arthur Chen had better chemistry with Crystal Yuan.
The music was superb. Most of the time I was here for the music. The beginning soundtrack was excellent. It really shows that the composer is classically trained. The chants and choruses are great too. There are some contemporary vocals as well to satisfy people of different musical taste. But the classical style is different, not found in most Chinese dramas which tells me that much thought was placed in the music.
The most unfortunate part about this drama is that it's looks low budget. It could be very beautifully done with proper budget, the story line is great, but much of the episodes are a drag.
Acting is excellent. Every single character filled their roles to the T. As someone mentioned, there are some characters played by the same person from season 1, but felt like the personality has changed. The Emperor, the Sage and Mr. 2 showed the most change in my opinion.
Overall I enjoyed it, but I wanted it to end. I was a bit disappointed that it did not and I have to watch season 3.