First of all, Welcome back? Hahaha! I can't believe it took me 2 months to finish this drama. It was dragged so much I almost forgot to continue watch it. I seriously got plenty to say, so shall we start?

Why is this Wuxia full of unnecessary dramas!? Can we just focus more on Fighting, shall we?

My disappointment and distaste over this show started when they first revealed Nan Lan. Her character introduction was a big turn off and maybe it's my intuition but at that very moment I just knew something eerie is bound to happen and I prove myself right because as the drama goes on the more horrible the story progresses. My expectations gradually getting tarnished and eventually crashed by how they terribly transition the story from all the great Wuxia action into a melodramatic mess they got themselves into. I was dumbfounded on how they took a huge leap from having the best raw and realistic martial arts executions into a brow-raising and overly tiring dramatic display. Like, how am I supposed to digest that?

It felt like the show was suddenly terrorized by some unknown disease that made it heavily focused on Love and Family affair. Even at this point, I still have that lingering irritation from the amount of tolerance I invested to finish all those episodes because I hate fast-forwarding and leaping through scenes and episodes. It's like I paid so much money to watch my favorite show only to be served by some crappy and bland illustrations. Just imagine how disappointing that was! It doesn't even help that Miao Renfang as a Husband is a total red flag. I mean, come on! I understand that it's his greatest mission to find the killer of his sworn brother but man! You got a wife and daughter to take care of. I was so pissed cause he's so irresponsible and selfish that I even find Tian Guinong a better father and husband. Well, he techinically is. He just lacks better opportunity to fully demostrate it as he was consumed by his ambition to be hailed the best.

Moving with our 3 main Leads, I feel like every single build up they did to make their characters romantically connected all went to drain. Hu Fei and Zi Yi's parts were actually great and I enjoyed it a lot but I would lie if I say I hope for them to be together. I feel like Zi Yi's personal dramas exhausted me almost the same as Miao Renfang and Nan Lan's. Her reasons were logical and understandable but she's just too complicated to my liking. Cheng Lingsu on the otherhand is my best pick. Her vibrant and amiable aura automatically made me drawn to her. Not to mention her prominent expertise in both medicine and poison. It's just too bad the script writer hated her so much. They went all out with the 'Love and Family Affair' theme only to destroy it all at the end. How tragically fucked up is that? Unbelievable!!

There are only 2 things I would commend this drama for. First, is their mind blowing martial arts execution for almost all of the fight scenes. It is more Human-like—authentic, raw and realistic. It is very different to all the Wuxia's I have watched all these years who had indescribeable and ridiculous Kung Fu skills. Second, is how satisfying they carried out the deaths of all the major antagonists on the story. I love how Feng Yiming got his death right infront of his father while Feng Tiannan getting slaughtered felt extremely satisfying. But above all, no one can beat Tian Guinong's unuttered defeat. Man was clobbered down, HARD! Incapable of fighting while pierce through by a sword and eventually got pierced again by a spear. Real definition of Vanquish!

P.S. I won't mention those pathetic Disciples of Medicine Valley and the Poison King himself cause I find them irrelevant. I don't even know why they persists till the end when they could've been eliminated much earlier. Honestly, those pathetic fools doesn't deserve recognition. They're like the guinea pig of this story... bunch of sacrificial lambs.

Story - 8.5, I'm being kind and considerate when I decided for this score. Thank god they still got prominent Martial Arts executions to vouch their lack of better decision when it comes to their absurd story progression. + The satisfying deaths of the Antagonists made it bearable and fulfilling.

Acting/Cast - 9.0, I don't really have any specific preferences when it comes to the artists but I must say that I'm quite pleased by the set of actors/actresses of this show. Specially, Xing Fei & Lin Yushen.

Music - 8.0, Among all the music from this drama, I only appreciate the Ballad song they usually use on the sad/tragic scenes. Aside from that everything is non-existent. Well, I can also remember the opening theme. I kinda like the suspense build-up tone to it.

Rewatch Value - 6.0, Sorry not sorry! But I won't watch this again. God knows how this show made me stray away from watching dramas for 2 months simply because I can't just leave a drama hanging and watch another one cause that's not my thing and I take my reviews/commentaries seriously. I guess, I'll just avoid Qing Dynasty dramas since it feels like they're more on the overly dramatic theme I'm not that fond of.

Overall - 8.5, I contemplated quite a bit with this rating but I just realized this is the highest I can go with this drama. The story's sudden transition to the Love and Family affair ruined it for me. It felt like they got no better plot in mind so they've decided to just go all out with it...which is really disappointing for me. I'm not even lying but it feels like this dramas is consist of 15% Wuxia and 85% Love affair. Doesn't that sound crazy and tiring???

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