• Read the top part for a review with NO spoilers
• Read the bottom part for an in-depth analysis of the plot, comparison with the original novel and interpretation of the ending WITH spoilers

< Review >
1. Storyline
In my opinion, the story was a decent adaptation of the original novel. I enjoyed the novel and the drama, not to the extent that I love it but it was likeable. The story has a lot of sad parts with sweet parts hidden inside. There were some sudden transitions here and there, but overall it was understandable. To me, it was worth my 1 year wait for it, watch it if you think you enjoy a more sad storyline throughout with sweet parts interspersed and don't mind some inconsistencies!

2. Acting & casting
I liked the casting (mostly). I felt that the two main leads, Ju Jingyi and Guo Juncheng did well. Their characters are individuals who speak through their eyes more than their words/actions and I thought they did pretty well in that. I also enjoyed the casting of Song Xinran as Lan Su and Zhang Zhihao as Ou Ya. The duo was very funny and added flavour to the story. On the other hand, I felt Lu Tingyu as Yi er was a bit out of place (?) I think her style suits modern dramas more.

I personally feel that Ju Jingyi improved in her acting from when I saw her in Yun Xi Zhuan. I think Song Xinran is also more natural now. Not sure about the actors as I have never really seen their dramas.

3. Music
I love two of the OSTs - 仍寻 sung by Ju Jingyi and Guo Juncheng, as well as 剪不断 by Jin Wenqi, have been playing them repeatedly since I heard them in the drama. The other three OSTs are average to me.

4. Special effects
Special mention to the special effects team. The special effects are pretty good for a drama!

5. Rewatch value
Frankly, I feel like rewatching it already to further analyse the story and because I was confused at some points of time, so I may rewatch the parts I like to think deeper about it.

---------------------------------------------------
< Analysis >
1. Characters
The characters in the novel and drama are rather different. In the novel, Wei Zhi is someone who is very 痴傻 (silly and persistent; apologise for the lack of a better word, but I'm not very sure how to translate it to the same meaning), in the drama, she is not silly but still persistent, and also quirky and kind. In the novel, Yan Yue is a very cold person, with little emotions who is only gentle (at times) to Wei Zhi, because he is the reincarnation of a land or something. Conversely, in the drama, Yan Yue is more cool than cold and very gentle. All in all, I feel that the drama Wei Zhi and Yan Yue are more realistic to me.

As for the other characters, I think the ones who are the most different from the novel are Ou Ya and Lan su. In the novel, Ou Ya was the one who gave the Qian Ji Luo to Yan Yue and Wei Zhi saw him as a very annoying character who was trying to get close to her. Novel Lan Su also had her marriage with novel Yan Yue cancelled and hated Wei Zhi (this story was not seen in the drama). However, in the drama, Ou Ya and Lan Su were really supportive and nice to Wei Zhi and Yan Yue till the very end, which I found as a sweet adaptation.

Do note that many of the characters are quite different from the novel though, but I won't go into detail.

2. Storyline
I've seen reviews saying that the drama storyline was dragged out, overly tragic and confusing. Frankly, the novel one was even more tragic and sometimes more confusing, requiring a lot of interpretation on my part. Below is a summary of the novel storyline, do note that it is not 100% accurate as I cannot remember the entire storyline.

Novel: Yan Yue sent to the academy to undergo his Qing Jie -> almost killed by Wei Ling Yue -> went to Yao Cheng -> Wei Zhi activated her bloodline for the first time when saving Yan Yue -> at one point, they had to escape because the Mo Zu Da Zun (Mu Nan) was trying to find the phoenix -> spent some happy days as a normal couple, this was also where Wei Zhi transferred the Qian Ji Luo to her body -> thrown into a dangerous desert world by Mu Nan, Yan Yue was severely injured and saved by Qing Huan, and brought into another world where time flows faster to help his injuries heal (around 1000 years passed in this special world for Yan Yue) -> Wei Zhi on the other hand, was taken by Mu Nan (or someone else) and lived 8 years on a boat -> Wei Zhi managed to escape and went to the city Yan Yue was controlling -> Yan Yue told Wei Zhi to leave when he saw her (Imo, he was trying to keep her safe because there is a high risk she may be revealed as the phoenix) -> Wei Zhi refused and stayed on, taking on some position due to her powers -> Things happened here and there and then Yan Yue and Wei Zhi drank a magical wine that made them follow their wishes and they had some alone time together -> Long story short, afterwards, Wei Zhi transformed and Yan Yue became the Mo Zu Da Zun -> She spent a total of around 20 to 30 years in the Mo Jie as a hostage -> Eventually, Yan Yue tried to die together with his father to save the world from his father who wanted to become a God but Wei Zhi came and saved both of them by using his Phoenix magic -> Afterwards, they were reincarnated every lifetime to be together, but with no knowledge that they used to be a Shen Xian or Phoenix

Overall, I enjoyed the drama storyline in a different way I enjoyed the novel storyline. The drama storyline was tragically sweet but the novel storyline was tragically heartrending except for very little sweet parts. I found the romance more realistic in the drama though!

3. Interpretation of the ending
Okay, so yesterday I watched the ending and in my mind I was like "???", so I spent the night and this morning pondering about it and this is my interpretation...

In the ending, Wei Zhi gives her Hua Rong to Yan Yue, which means that she'll die (somewhat like how Mu Nan died after he destroyed his Yuan Shen). 6 months later, we see Yi er becoming Tian Di, Ou Ya lamenting the loss of Lan Su and Wei Zhi's child being born. The story then cuts back to after Yan Yue returned to his own body 6 months ago, it showed Yan Yue sending Hua Rong to the sky and into the Time Palace, and time moves back.

From my interpretation, Hua Rong is the symbolism of peace, innocence and renewal, so by sending it to the sky, it purified the destruction caused and that is why the soldiers' weapons were removed. Afterwards, it was sent into the Time Palace. Remember that before this, Yan Yue said "Life is meaningless without you even if I can live forever, Wei Zhi, wait for me". By sending Hua Rong to the sky to purify the land, I believe that this is building good karma for Wei Zhi, often emphasised in Buddhism/Chinese culture.

By sending it into the Time Palace, I have two interpretations, (1) one is that both of them travel back in time and live in a separate timeline from the existing one the rest are in where Yan Yue never killed Wei Zhi and they live happily, (2) the second is that by turning back time, present Wei Zhi returned to the past Wei Zhi and took over her body as Tian Hou showed us that it is possible. This is because past Wei Zhi has the Hua Rong while present Wei Zhi does not have the Hua Rong. This would mean that past Wei Zhi would be replaced by present Wei Zhi who would go back into the present. And then Wei Zhi would still die in the past as she was meant to in order for everything to happen as it has already happened.

Regardless, it is clear that they are still alive as their child, also a Phoenix was born. We know that Wei Zhi's life is closely linked to her child, so if her child is born then Wei Zhi must still be alive. Additionally, Phoenix is the symbolism of rebirth, so we can take this as a symbolism that Yan Yue and Wei Zhi have found a new life. However, where they are is a big mystery, but if I were them, I would probably just live my own life in peace, to avoid any more tragic events from happening.

Thanks for reading my super long review and hoped you gained something from it!