This drama is only for those who come here for the actors - Zhao Liying or Wang Yibo. The story is a snooze fest, the martial arts are non-existent, and characters get upgrades or downgrades instead of character development.

Characters: Zhou Fei and Xie Yun work great as the main leads. Zhou Fei is strong-willed and determined, while Xie Yun is smart and crafty. Their interactions are fun and they make a cute couple. However, the only other characters of note are Yang Jin, Li Yan, and Ying Hecong. Their comedic trio helps through the worst parts of the story. All the other characters either start and end as extremely boring and stupid ones, start good and then fall into the abyss of craziness, or become slaves to the plot (their abilities and intelligence rise and fall depending on what the story needs).

Story: Contrived and dull. It feels like a ten volume epic, but without interesting characters, engaging plot, or any mystery. There were a lot of flashbacks that led to nowhere, people that added nothing to the whole story, schemes that would work only on children, and characters that were or turned dumb just so certain situations would happen.

Martial Arts: The fighting was extremely slow and over the top in a non-fun way. The drama took itself very seriously, but the martial arts looked unrealistic and were not exciting. The fact that the camerawork was atrocious did not help, either. In almost every fight, the camera zoomed in on a blade, a foot, or someone’s face instead of showing the duel in full view. This made for an awful viewing experience.

The drama became a chore after the middle, and the only reason I managed to finish it is because of the main leads and the few fun side characters. However, I would not rewatch it even under duress.