Episode 8

In the novel, after she was forbidden by the Demon Emperor to go to the battlefield, Shenli sneaked away by forcing her parrot to take on her appearance while she dressed herself as an ordinary soldier to leave the capital with the marching army.

Shenli took off the heavy head helmet and looked up at him: “General Shang Bei, Shenli is coming forward to ask to join the fight.”

“My…Lord?”

Seeing that it was her, there was a commotion among the soldiers. There were those among them who had gone on battles with Lord Bicang, some who had only heard of her fame, but no matter who they were, they all knew that as long as Lord Bicang was here, then there would be no defeat. There was a sudden energy among the soldiers as their morale soared.

Although General Shang Bei was happy inside but he also knew that Shenli was supposed to stay behind to wait for her marriage and that the Demon Emperor must have had his reasons for not allowing her to fight. With some hesitation, he said, “My lord, the Demon Emperor had not agreed to have you go on the battlefield, this subordinate does not dare…”

Before he finished speaking, Shenli interrupted and said, “General, since Shenli is here, I will not go back empty-handed. Within three days, I will have this monster’s head under my feet!”

There was silence all around. General Sheng Bei was silent for a moment, then suddenly tightened his hand on the reins, turned his mount around, and waved his sword, “Ready to march!”

Shenli walked side by side with Shang Bei, “Thank you general, for agreeing to Shenli to participate in the battle.”

“My lord, if this subordinate had not agreed, what would you have done?”

“Knock you unconscious, steal your soldiers, and kill the monster.”

Shang Bei let out a wry smile, “Well, I guess that’s it then.”

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   Comment on our heroine’s reaction to Mo Fang’s confession. I was a bit surprised that the drama dressed Shenli’s character in fairly feminine clothes since you really get a sense that everyone in Shenli’s life treated her like a man and she herself usually forgets her gender. Thus when Mo Fang confessed, she was utterly shocked because she genuinely never considered the possibility that someone in her life would see her as a girl or what they would like about her. Some would argue that since our heroine likes our hero then she is obviously not clueless to love. While I would agree somewhat with that observation, my personal opinion is that Xing Zhi is a different case because Shenli thought Xing Zhi was human AND that she would be forced into a marriage alliance, she didn’t give too much thought to what Xing Zhi’s feelings toward her would be. It didn’t matter whether he reciprocated her feelings or not since he was going to die in a few days (in the immortal timeline) and she was going get dragged back to the demon realm anyway.

Episode 10

Shenli got dragged by some force into the deep abyss. Her meeting with our hero is a little different in the novel.

In the darkness, there were small sounds that kept buzzing in her ears. No matter whether she covered her ears or closed her five senses, the sound was like an unavoidable monster, slowly tearing at her sanity.

“Shut up.” Shenli finally couldn’t take it anymore and yelled, “Shut up!”

“Kill…” Just this word, sometimes high and sharp, sometimes low and sinister, slowly turning everything in front of her into a scarlet red haze, forming images of her fighting enemies on the battlefield. There are seemingly hot flames being ignited in her chest, burning everything in her vision. Suddenly, a coolness surged through her veins all over her body, like the warm hand in the sun gently stroking her head, “Ge ge da, why are you so irritable?”

Irritable? She had already restrained herself way too much while she was in that small courtyard…

“Shenli.”

A call suddenly jerked Shenli awake. She opened her eyes, in the dark background, Xing Zhi’s white clothes were that much more pronounced. She stared at him for a moment, then came back to her senses immediately. Looking around, she frowned, “This is the Xutian Abyss?”

Episode 12

In the hilarious conversation between the parrot and Xing Zhi, there is one sentence missing in the drama.

Shushu yelled loudly, “You are the divine immortal who caused this to happen to me! You are the one who caused me to be like this!” It wouldn’t stop yelling. Xing Zhi was going to ignore it but then he suddenly heard Shenli’s footsteps coming their way. He said to Shushu, “Hush, if you keep going, the gig will be up.”

“You are the one who caused me to be like this! It’s you!” Of course Shushu paid him no heed and kept on hoping around in its cage as it yelled.

Hearing Shenli’s footsteps getting closer, Xing Zhi smiled mysteriously at Shushu and said softly, “Shut up.”

All the noises abruptly stopped. As if its beak had been glued together, no matter how hard it tried to open its beak, it would not open. Just then, Shenli stepped into the side courtyard and spotted Xing Zhi with Shushu, “I heard Shushu’s voice from a long distance away. Now that I am here, it actually got quiet.”

Xing Zhi smiled and said, “Perhaps it got tired.”

Episode 13

The confrontation between Mo Fang and Fu Rong Jun actually ended with Fu Rong Jun planting a kiss on Mo Fang…right on the mouth.

After being stunned for a good bit, Mo Fang ended up hitting the back of Fu Rong Jun’s neck to render him unconscious. Calmly wiping his mouth, Mo Fang looked around and said, “This thing, if anyone speaks of it, I will cut the person’s tongue off and feed it to the animals.” Before he finished, Mo Fang spotted Shenli and Xing Zhi standing not too far away. His body stiffened slightly. Shenli had wanted to just leave, pretending she had not seen anything, but now that their eyes met, Shenli could only say solemnly as if she had not seen anything, “Sorry to trouble you. I will take him back now.

Because of this little incident, Shenli felt the need to protect her subordinate’s innocence from Fu Rong Jun so that was why her reaction was so big every time Fu Rong Jun went looking for Mo Fang.

The novel never came out and say that Fu Rong Jun is romantically interested in Mo Fang. My personal take is that Fu Rong Jun is one who kinda do whatever strikes his fancy so he was not shy when Mo Fang caught his interest. It is hard to say if that interest was of a romantic nature because it really seemed more like an interest in a new toy…and I am not sure Fu Rong Jun is mature enough to have real romantic feelings toward someone else anyway.

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The part where Xing Zhi took care of Shenli when she had a fever.

Xing Zhi pressed his palm on Shenli’s forehead, white light flashed from his palm. Seemingly feeling a bit more comfortable, Shenli unconsciously rubbed her head against Xingyun’s palm, causing his gaze to soften. His palm didn’t move but his little pinky secretly pushed a few wayward hair back from her face.

Rouya goes on complaining about the pitiful state her master will end up in the future if she marries Fu Rong Jun.

Xing Zhi didn’t say anything but secretly moved his palm on Shenli’s forehead to her cheek, his fingertips gently rubbed her still slightly hot cheek without saying a word.

Rouya kept on complaining, and finally tearfully asked whose heart would ache for her master.

“Yes.” Xing Zhi unconsciously muttered, “Whose heart would ache for her.”

But this word was like a wayward rock that had accidentally gazed past his skin, hurting his cheek. Causing him to lower his eyes, staring at Shenli’s sleeping face. He ran his fingertips across Shenli’s cheeks, eyebrows, and the bridge of her nose, touching them one by one before finally retracting his hand.

Xing Zhi stood outside of Shenli’s room and heard Rouya’s grumbling complaint that divine immortals are all callous emotionless bunch.

Callous and emotionless…?

Xing Zhi stood in the courtyard staring at his fingertips. He could almost see the lingering warmth that Shenli’s skin had left behind. That scorching feeling burns all the way to his heart. The white light appears on his fingertips again, but this time, Xing Zhi does not know where the heat he is trying to disperse. That scorching burning feeling…where did it come from…

He doesn’t know.

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The conversation at the end of the episode between Fu Rong Jun and Xing Zhi.

“I wasn’t trying to help you.” Xing Zhi glanced over at Fu Rong Jun, “Just…wanted to tease and play.” But…despite the ending of the teasing being the same as he predicted why didn’t it make him happy?

What he wanted to see, was not a Shenli who treated him with indifference.

Episode 14

In the drama Gu Cheng Jin was a City Lord (the human form of the ancient god Qing Ye, the one the lotus demon loved) after he got rid of his older brother. In the novel though, Gu Cheng Jin was a prince so he actually ended up becoming the emperor. Since he was the emperor, he ended up marrying many women for the sake of the empire, so quite a different ending than the one in the drama.

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Shenli smiled, “Xing Zhi, do you or do you not know what kind of actions would stop someone from liking you?” She sighed, “Your actions, are basically the sort that seduces people…” Or…does he not even know what he is doing sometimes?

Xing Zhi’s gaze focused, “You were seduced?”

He obviously wanted to cut the connection between them but he still dared to ask such a question… he really is the sort that does whatever he wants.

Holding the wine bottle, Shenli laughed out loud, “Would that be possible?” She stopped laughing and said, “Divine Lord thinks too much. How would Lord Bicang Shenli be so thoughtless? In the mortal realm, Shenli was facing a mortal Xing Yun, so she could like him. But now you are an ancient god, how would I extend that emotion to you?”

Xing Zhi’s fingertips tightened but the corner of his lips curved up in a slight smile.

Shenli continues to explain that different status makes people do different things. She uses Gu Cheng Jin as an example of how despite his deep love for his wife he still bowed to the needs of the empire and married many women. Shenli ended by saying that if one day she were to meet Xing Zhi on the battlefield, then she would face him as Lord Bicang Shenli.

Xing Zhi kept his eyes firmly on Shenli, a slight consternation in his eyes. Shenli continues with a smile, “Of course, the Demon Realm and the Heavenly Realm are about to have an alliance through marriage so such a day (the battle) would most likely not happen. What I wanted to say today was simply that you don’t want to be Xing Yun, then you are not Xing Yun. No need to hide or pretend. To me, Xing Yun had already died. The one I am facing now, is a god, Xing Zhi.”

Xing Zhi interrupted, “Shenli, from the beginning to the end, Xing Yun and Xing Zhi, are just one person, me.” Xing Yun is Xing Zhi living in the mortal realm. Be it memory or personality, they are no different, just a change in the body. Unconsciously he does not want Shenli to see the two as separate.

But Shenli shook her head and said, “To me, they are different. So…” Shenli clanked her wine bottle against his, “Divine God Xing Zhi, I will keep on being my Lord Bicang, and follow the edict to marry Fu Rong Jun. I will no longer have anything to do with you. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

“Ding” The sound of the two wine bottles clanking together seemed to strike right into his heart, causing his heart to tremble, a slight pain in his blood silently spread out, making the light in his eyes to dim. However, after being silent for a long while, he finally said with a slight upward curve of his lips, “Alright. If Lord Bicang could think of it like that, then that would be for the best.”

Right after this conversation, Shenli suddenly grabbed Xing Zhi’s hand after sensing some unfriendly strangers.

“Even so, you didn’t have to pull me into hiding with you.” Xing Zhi looked at Shenli’s hand that was pressing him against the grass on the ground.

Shenli coughed to clear her throat and pulled back her hand. Her words were pretty just now but she still unconsciously took Xing Zhi as that mortal man who needed her protection when danger surfaced. She had forgotten that Divine God Xing Zhi, even if he wanted to walk through the three realms sideways (we used that in Chinese to mean someone had what it takes to act brazenly without regard for other people) then other people could only make way for him.

Episode 15

When the rescued Earth Immortals confronted Shenli and blamed the Demon Realms for what had happened, Shenli’s temper got the better of her. In the drama, Shenli eventually left in a huff, but in the novel, she was actually forcefully stopped by Xing Zhi who put a hand over her mouth (she was about to utter a spell) and pulled her against him.

Xing Zhi reminded the crowd to not fall for the trap to cause contention between the Demon and the Heavenly Realms.

The vibration from Xing Zhi’s chest as he talked caused Shenli to feel a bit dazed. But when she saw the Earth Immortals in front of her, she felt angry again and pushed him off with some annoyance. Struggling out of his embrace, Shenli turned to glare at him and started walking to the other side. As she walked, she kicked away the rocks and weeds under her feet, surprisingly venting anger like a kid.

Episode 16

Some minor differences in the fight that caused our heroine to be severely injured.

Like in the drama, Xing Zhi showed up at the critical moment.

“What…is this?”

A most chilling voice came unhurriedly from the entrance.

The man turned his head to see a white figure standing at the entrance. He yelled and threw Shenli like a weapon towards the person.

At this point, Shenli had no control at all over her body but instead of the expected impact, a hand caught her back and turned with her in the air to dispel the force of the throw. When Shenli could finally see Xing Zhi’s face, she was already lying in his arms.

Blood stained Xing Zhi’s white clothes. Shenli actually had a strange thought at the moment. She wonders why she is always dirtying his clothes… Fortunately, she doesn’t have to wash them for him, otherwise it would be more troublesome than killing monsters.

Unlike in the drama where our heroine was mostly unconscious at this point, in the novel Shenli was alert enough to see the power of Xing Zhi as he wiped out all the bad guys with one single command. Finally seeing first hand the power of “Water Stopping Technique” Xing Zhi had mentioned so causally before, Shenli felt her heart speeding up. Shenli promptly ignored her heart and comforted herself that Xing Zhi would not notice the speeding up of her heart…or if he did, he would just assume it was because of her injury.

Before Shenli finally passed out, her injury had muddled her mind, and caused her to mutter the words in her heart out loud, “Before…no one was Xing Zhi…”

The hands on Shenli’s shoulders tightened. Staring at the unconscious person in his arms, the emotions in Xing Zhi’s eyes were unreadable.

He should go give chase. Xing Zhi knows clearly the importance of finding the true culprit. He also knows that Shenli must wish for him to go capture that person and prove the Demon Realm’s innocence. But…

He can’t make himself leave.

Staring at the pale face of the person in his arms, Xing Zhi’s hand on Shenli’s wrist couldn’t help but tighten. This woman, probably has never lived like a woman. She doesn’t put on makeup, she doesn’t know how to be fragile. Because she is too powerful, she would never stand behind someone else. Like that long spear in her hand, with a fierce killing aura. Like she said, no one was Xing Zhi before, no one could protect her so she has always been used to charging forward by herself, to battle, to protect, to suffer pain, to carry the burden that should’ve been carried by men.

But it is this powerful and strong Shenli, once she became fragile, that caused one’s heart to ache like a kitten had lazily reached out its claws to swipe at the heart, easily unnoticed at the time but later on, once noticed, becomes painful and itchy, an indescribable feeling.

“What a…trouble.” This was the only word that floated around the empty room. Yet that figure kept on holding the person in his arms, not moving at all.

Episode 17

In the novel, we don’t get to see what happens after our hero gives a tiny bit of power back to his old friend (Ancient god Qing Ye) and hopefully helps him finally figure out who he really loves. By the way, in the show, the translation I saw in Viki translated Shi Luo’s parting words to Jing Yan as “We’ll see where fate leads us.” This particular translation makes it seem like she is hinting there is still a future waiting for them but in Chinese, what she said was actually a farewell that is usually said when you don’t really expect to meet the other person again. We weren’t told a lot about Shi Luo in the novel but the scriptwriter took what was unsaid in the novel and created a pretty cool character in the drama. I love the last little part where we see her throwing the grasshopper present into the water with a smile. For Shi Luo, it really doesn’t matter who Qing Ye’s true love is, because as long as the him in this life has given a part of his heart to another girl, then she doesn’t want him anymore. I also thought it was interesting the drama decided to give Shi Luo a lotus mark on her wrist (this of course was not in the novel) because one can argue that after the “Xiao He, the lotus demon” entered Shi Luo then the two girls have become one… so who does Qing Ye really love? I personally like Shenli’s interpretation that while “fate” plays a hand in predetermining Qing Ye’s trial as a mortal would be in love but “fate” is not going to interfere with his every little decision so what happens to him in life is his own making and who he loves will also change according to his life experiences and decisions.

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