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A review by anl2633
Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 1 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
5.0
“At the end of the day, there is no banquet in the world that doesn’t come to an end.”
Wow, I forgot how happy Hualian makes me feel. I love both characters so much and their relationship together. They invented love. Seriously.
First off with Xie Lian. My favorite character. Absolute cinnamon roll with an internal snarky personality that makes him so funny for no reason. He’s kind of an airhead, kind of an out-of-touch boomer grandpa, kind of a peerlessly wise monk, and also kind of cutting when he’s judging you. He’s so wonderfully authentic and generous and optimistic.
I can’t help but be inspired by someone who can be so genuinely good-natured without being a doormat for people to walk over when he knows those people are wrong. I kinda wish I could be like him. Selfless and kind but with a bit of a mean streak toward people who deserve it. I love the hell out of the Donghua adaptation, but this novel enhances his character so much. Like Xie Lian is actually so friggin hilarious for no reason when he’s being sarcastic. And he's unbelievably powerful and strong. I mean, he ascended as a martial god.
And underneath it all is the self-deprecation, the zero self-preservation skills, and the mental health issues that make him actually terrifyingly easy to empathize with. Here is someone who ascended to godhood at 17, here is someone who was unbelievably powerful, and now he’s reduced to being the laughingstock of the heavenly realm, constantly judged, constantly spit on-- here is someone who isn’t perfect. All he does is try. And then his bad luck makes him fail time and time again.
I was actually shocked speechless by the random pieces into his trauma that MXTX just throws in there like landmines for us to blow ourselves up on:
“Xie Lian was someone who possessed the worst of luck, so when he ventured deep into the mountains, eight times out of ten he would step on vipers or run into venomous insects and get bitten, stung, jabbed, or poisoned in thousands of ways. However, he’d always been very stubborn at not dying, and at most he’d run a fever. After three days and three nights of fever, he’d wake up right as rain and continue on as if nothing had happened. He simply wasn’t sensitive to pain. So much as it hurt, he could live with it.”
“As long as it wasn’t lava or fire, or some pool of corpse-dissolving water, it shouldn’t be too terrible when he jumped down.”
“In the midst of battle, everyone saw red, so when he rushed out and both sides saw it was him, for some reason all the blades and swords went after him and cut him down. . . Even if nothing could kill him, he still couldn’t endure that kind of butchering, so with the thought “this can’t go on!” Xie Lian resolutely dropped to the ground to fake his death. But even in “death” he was trampled to the point of passing out.”
It made me so sad to read that line where he tells everyone that he purposely forgets when really painful and traumatizing things happen to him because he’d rather remember eating a delicious meat bun from yesterday than the agony of being trampled to death or being poisoned or getting dissolved in acid or falling from a high cliff and breaking every bone in his body. How mentally scarred from PTSD Xie Lian must be. . .and this is only volume 1!!! I’m honestly terrified of what’s in store for future me. I am curious to see, though, how Xie Lian makes the jump from spoiled prince to a god that’s been banished twice and is now reviled as a plague god, bringer of bad luck, and a trash god collecting scraps for a living. It’s gonna break me. But it’s too late. I already love him (and project onto him) too much to quit now.
That’s why I’m really glad he’s got San Lang with him.
Ah, San Lang, Hua Cheng, Crimson Rain Sought Flower, ghost king, exploder of Scorpion-snakes, mysterious bridegroom, wielder of red umbrellas and silver butterflies, unbelievably powerful and extremely cunning, witty, clever, cutting, sarcastic, manipulative, and treacherous.
If you’re a cinnamon bun like Xie Lian who is constantly ridiculed by others, you need a Hua Cheng with you to treat you like the god you literally are and worship the ground you walk on. I love how vindictive he is. He remembers every slight and rude comment to Xie Lian and then proceeds to ruin and torture that person in retribution. I love the energy that this brings to the story. It sort of aligns with the grumpy x sunshine trope, but honestly, both Xie Lian and San Lang are constantly orbiting with eyes only on each other, and everyone else who gets in the way is immediately on the tail-end of both their ire and exasperation. I love it I love it I love it.
When they were in the sinner pit and hundreds of scorpion snakes started raining down on everyone and they bowed to San Lang and his might. . . yeah that was hot. It’s too bad that wasn’t animated in the Donghua! I’ve gotta say, I’m really excited to see Hua Cheng in his true form and in his element in the ghost city. It’s about time we get away from the brutal underhand dealings of the Heavenly Realm. I’m so sick of the good-for-nothing trash in the Upper Court (San Lang’s words, not mine, but absolutely true). I want to see the chaotic and rowdy underbelly of TGCF’s underworld equivalent!
And lastly, I’ve already been spoiled as to who Nan Feng and Fu Yao are. So I’ll say now with 85% certainty that my opinion of Fu Yao won’t change despite what’s gonna come in the next 7 novels. I friggin despise Fu Yao, aka Mu Qing. Seriously that guy, every single time he’s in a scene, he’s just so smug and petty and judgemental. It makes me want to scream. I get that he’s got a pride complex a mile wide because he grew up poor and as a servant to Xie Lian when he was the Crown Prince. But good lord that dude needs to take a whole bottle of chill pills and shut the f up. I hate that he treats Xie Lian like dirt. I hate that he gets all smug when he sees that Xie Lian is struggling or hurt. The only thing going for him now in my book is that he has the most hilarious banter with Nan Feng, aka Feng Xin. And that he’s always in the prime spot to get dragged by San Lang. But that’s about it. I just hate him.
All in all, I loved the hell out of this book and I’m sad I never read it sooner, especially when I watched the Donghua and fell in love with the characters there. I am very glad to be getting out of the Banyue arc. Seriously, for the longest time, we kept getting that arc over and over and over again with the fan translation, the Donghua, the manhua, and then the official translation. So excited to see what’s in store with vol 2!
Wow, I forgot how happy Hualian makes me feel. I love both characters so much and their relationship together. They invented love. Seriously.
First off with Xie Lian. My favorite character. Absolute cinnamon roll with an internal snarky personality that makes him so funny for no reason. He’s kind of an airhead, kind of an out-of-touch boomer grandpa, kind of a peerlessly wise monk, and also kind of cutting when he’s judging you. He’s so wonderfully authentic and generous and optimistic.
I can’t help but be inspired by someone who can be so genuinely good-natured without being a doormat for people to walk over when he knows those people are wrong. I kinda wish I could be like him. Selfless and kind but with a bit of a mean streak toward people who deserve it. I love the hell out of the Donghua adaptation, but this novel enhances his character so much. Like Xie Lian is actually so friggin hilarious for no reason when he’s being sarcastic. And he's unbelievably powerful and strong. I mean, he ascended as a martial god.
And underneath it all is the self-deprecation, the zero self-preservation skills, and the mental health issues that make him actually terrifyingly easy to empathize with. Here is someone who ascended to godhood at 17, here is someone who was unbelievably powerful, and now he’s reduced to being the laughingstock of the heavenly realm, constantly judged, constantly spit on-- here is someone who isn’t perfect. All he does is try. And then his bad luck makes him fail time and time again.
I was actually shocked speechless by the random pieces into his trauma that MXTX just throws in there like landmines for us to blow ourselves up on:
“Xie Lian was someone who possessed the worst of luck, so when he ventured deep into the mountains, eight times out of ten he would step on vipers or run into venomous insects and get bitten, stung, jabbed, or poisoned in thousands of ways. However, he’d always been very stubborn at not dying, and at most he’d run a fever. After three days and three nights of fever, he’d wake up right as rain and continue on as if nothing had happened. He simply wasn’t sensitive to pain. So much as it hurt, he could live with it.”
“As long as it wasn’t lava or fire, or some pool of corpse-dissolving water, it shouldn’t be too terrible when he jumped down.”
“In the midst of battle, everyone saw red, so when he rushed out and both sides saw it was him, for some reason all the blades and swords went after him and cut him down. . . Even if nothing could kill him, he still couldn’t endure that kind of butchering, so with the thought “this can’t go on!” Xie Lian resolutely dropped to the ground to fake his death. But even in “death” he was trampled to the point of passing out.”
It made me so sad to read that line where he tells everyone that he purposely forgets when really painful and traumatizing things happen to him because he’d rather remember eating a delicious meat bun from yesterday than the agony of being trampled to death or being poisoned or getting dissolved in acid or falling from a high cliff and breaking every bone in his body. How mentally scarred from PTSD Xie Lian must be. . .and this is only volume 1!!! I’m honestly terrified of what’s in store for future me. I am curious to see, though, how Xie Lian makes the jump from spoiled prince to a god that’s been banished twice and is now reviled as a plague god, bringer of bad luck, and a trash god collecting scraps for a living. It’s gonna break me. But it’s too late. I already love him (and project onto him) too much to quit now.
That’s why I’m really glad he’s got San Lang with him.
Ah, San Lang, Hua Cheng, Crimson Rain Sought Flower, ghost king, exploder of Scorpion-snakes, mysterious bridegroom, wielder of red umbrellas and silver butterflies, unbelievably powerful and extremely cunning, witty, clever, cutting, sarcastic, manipulative, and treacherous.
If you’re a cinnamon bun like Xie Lian who is constantly ridiculed by others, you need a Hua Cheng with you to treat you like the god you literally are and worship the ground you walk on. I love how vindictive he is. He remembers every slight and rude comment to Xie Lian and then proceeds to ruin and torture that person in retribution. I love the energy that this brings to the story. It sort of aligns with the grumpy x sunshine trope, but honestly, both Xie Lian and San Lang are constantly orbiting with eyes only on each other, and everyone else who gets in the way is immediately on the tail-end of both their ire and exasperation. I love it I love it I love it.
When they were in the sinner pit and hundreds of scorpion snakes started raining down on everyone and they bowed to San Lang and his might. . . yeah that was hot. It’s too bad that wasn’t animated in the Donghua! I’ve gotta say, I’m really excited to see Hua Cheng in his true form and in his element in the ghost city. It’s about time we get away from the brutal underhand dealings of the Heavenly Realm. I’m so sick of the good-for-nothing trash in the Upper Court (San Lang’s words, not mine, but absolutely true). I want to see the chaotic and rowdy underbelly of TGCF’s underworld equivalent!
And lastly, I’ve already been spoiled as to who Nan Feng and Fu Yao are. So I’ll say now with 85% certainty that my opinion of Fu Yao won’t change despite what’s gonna come in the next 7 novels. I friggin despise Fu Yao, aka Mu Qing. Seriously that guy, every single time he’s in a scene, he’s just so smug and petty and judgemental. It makes me want to scream. I get that he’s got a pride complex a mile wide because he grew up poor and as a servant to Xie Lian when he was the Crown Prince. But good lord that dude needs to take a whole bottle of chill pills and shut the f up. I hate that he treats Xie Lian like dirt. I hate that he gets all smug when he sees that Xie Lian is struggling or hurt. The only thing going for him now in my book is that he has the most hilarious banter with Nan Feng, aka Feng Xin. And that he’s always in the prime spot to get dragged by San Lang. But that’s about it. I just hate him.
All in all, I loved the hell out of this book and I’m sad I never read it sooner, especially when I watched the Donghua and fell in love with the characters there. I am very glad to be getting out of the Banyue arc. Seriously, for the longest time, we kept getting that arc over and over and over again with the fan translation, the Donghua, the manhua, and then the official translation. So excited to see what’s in store with vol 2!