Reverse scales. Spiritual seas merging. Lotuses and brocade carps across two palms. Sunshine after rainstorms.
4.9/5. I very, very thoroughly enjoyed the plot, mythology, character/relationship development, and main cast of characters. Only docked .1 point off because the ending was a little bit gums-itching, overripe-fruit mushy for me— but that’s me being annoying, because I would’ve complained if it was anything less or otherwise. I want these two sappy and happy, I just somehow squirm when things turn out as idyllic as my heart secretly desires.
One of the overarching themes is all about upending preconceived notions of "untouchable" goodness vs "irredeemable" evil through delving into the internal corruption of what appears on the surface to be heavenly (including watching it crumble through the eyes of the main character himself). It centers around uncovering how the Ninth Heaven Realm family/society's foundation is built on deceit and self-serving manipulation, thus shattering everything he was brought up to uphold, but running right alongside that and proving to be his salvation is the contrasting compassion? Basic humanity? of demons and creatures of the underworld (from Cang Ji to Dong Jun to Shuran), the lowest rungs believed to be reprehensible and immoral and deserving of punishment and death. There's also the supplementary motif of questioning moral policing and religious authority to judge and meddle in mortal/personal matters in general, not restricted to the case of this particular realm's corruption.
“Power corrupts” is such a simple, age-old theme in storytelling but I really liked Tang Jiuqing's variation of it + how Dong Jun, suspected and ostracized throughout by those who considered their origins purer than his, ended up being the only one competent and capable enough to take over the vacant throne. A redeemed devil originally spawned from filth, blood, and evil turns out to be more trustworthy and empathetic and selfless than everyone else, and ultimately the most trustworthy and unsullied/incorruptible of all.
The amnesia elements and flashback were woven into the story so well imo; just when I craved them most, just when my interest was mounting and peaking, I was given the arc that explained everything. From a technical storywriting perspective and as a reader consuming it, it was built up so well and I have nothing but praise regarding its progression.
The main pair's relationship = romance. Enough tragedy or struggle to make the reader actually yearn to see them together, just enough spice to set them apart and give their dynamic a dangerous edge, but all sitting on the surface of the deepest sea of affection and love spanning a thousand years and different lifetimes and reincarnations and memories and versions of themselves. Fated to continuously flow into one another, Jing Lin’s cold currents and trenches with Cang Ji’s bubbling volcanic heat. The dams built to keep them apart will always break from the force of their individual strength and their pull towards each other.
There's Jing Lin overcoming the lifelong gilded cage and blinders he was isolated and kept within, the shame and restraint he was raised into thinking he had to exercise regarding his own body and desires, the mistreatment and dehumanization he didn't even know to recognize... thawing and becoming human through, ironically and beautifully, falling in love with a demon and being guided and taught by him. The delicious flavour of hidden, forbidden relationships. The stone figure!!!
Another very fascinating thing to me was the back-and-forth switching of power imbalance through swapping out which one is vulnerable and at the mercy of the other’s care and guidance depending on the point in the book. Sort of results in equilibrium, sort of gives the reader a sense of how both of them choose to treat the other even when they have an upper hand? Cang Ji is a carp wet behind the ears in the first half, whereas in the flashback Jing Lin is a sword who was honed to be a sharp weapon controlled by the hand wielding it, but was deliberately kept in the dark when it came to everything else about life and living. Through the two separate cycles in which they meet and fall in love, each of them has a chance to nurture and guide and influence the other as he develops into a full-fledged being.
Jing Lin was once sheltered, innocent, full of conviction and faith, immature. All the same, he was critical, razor-sharp, stubborn and arrogant to a fault by insisting on his own perceptions and moral standing above all, even to the point of contradicting the principles he simultaneously adhered to. He started out with blinders on, but it isn’t actually Cang Ji who took them off his eyes and exposed him to the world— he came to all these world-shattering conclusions and realizations by himself. He was nudged in that direction by Cang Ji. It’s his own strength and decisions that carry him, he wasn't really an accessory to or extension of Cang Ji's beliefs. It's too easy to have a character be another's sole gateway and therefore be the shape their beliefs take, and I love how he found strength and salvation and life within himself as much as he did within Cang Ji, even at his lowest points. His eyes were already half-open, and Cang Ji just helped confirm what he'd been waking to see autonomously.
Cang Ji was wild, cunning, rough, possessive, but then he was also tender and compassionate and restrained himself in the moments when he knew it mattered most. He was a demon who ended up being more human (and understanding humanity more) than any of the mortals or deities in the novel. He questioned and rejected any external control over his actions, refused to adhere to any system of principles/laws, denounced gods and their entitlement and ideas of morality/fate. He was so endearing from the beginning, and I mean both his typically likable traits and his obnoxious, overbearing, greedy demon self, biting and hurting and taking what's his; I loved it all. I love that he's dangerous, and at times "questionable", at times too rough or too much. I like that a demon was written to actually behave like a demon, in dubious unclear ways without it necessarily branding him a bad person or lover; goes with the whole theme of good and bad being coexistent and difficult to ascertain, and unfair for anyone to judge.
In his confusion about his own developing desires and feelings + the nature of emotions and suffering, he experienced what he once helped Jing Lin work through, with Jing Lin now playing his past role and helping him through it this time. His personality and intelligence grew throughout the novel until they eventually burgeoned into a true dragon’s majesty and loftiness and benevolence. This occurred in tandem with his physical cultivation/evolution, leaving me craning my neck in awe to take the sight of him in.
The plot came together in an overall satisfying and at times unexpected way, tying things from the beginning (the copper bell, the eight sufferings, the blood sea, and even more minor details like the stone figure/Lord Jiutian parallel, Zui Shan Seng, the nine-tailed foxes, etc) and bringing back multiple earlier-introduced characters to play greater and more integral roles than you may have thought (Shengyue!!, Dong Jun!!, A-Yi, etc).
I often have trouble getting into side characters if their stories/personalities aren’t likable or compelling enough and/or they cut away from the main characters whose storylines I’ve actually grown invested in, but I found Dong Jun (!!!), Fei Luo, Li Rong, Qianyu and Zuo Qingzhou, A-Yi, and Fu Li to be compelling and integral to the point that I would read more about them in spin-off or short story form.
Lastly, I loved the atmospheric descriptions and all the metaphors and turns of phrase. The prose and the pacing were excellent; action-packed and choppy-urgent when necessary, then slowing down to heartbreaking and/or breathtaking at just the right times. Huge thanks to the translator(s) for capturing the essence of this book and carrying it across vastly different languages so the words danced on the page and painted vivid pictures before my eyes and dialogue in my ears. I couldn't have been introduced to such a beautiful story without them making it available to English readers in this way, and I’m absolutely positive they did it justice despite being unable to compare it to the original words. The effort put into footnotes and explanations is also immensely appreciated and savoured, I learned so many concepts and cultural + historical details I treasure being introduced to through this.
I'm so glad I picked it up, and I will most definitely be rereading it at some point in the future. :D