After that successful attempt to smile at his brother, Devy seeks out Orchid to thank her for all those family affection lessons. He says he would like to do something to repay the debt, something on the scale of… annihilating the Heaven Realm and giving Orchid back her home. As far as Thank-you presents go, that’s very memorable.
Orchid is terrified inside and also devastated. But she admits that she’d expected this. She never fully believed that a powerful lord like Devy would change his way just because of her.
Shangque has a confession to make that day: He has been purposely not doing his job. He was supposed to rebuild a sword (named Chengying) which they would use to kill Orchid and break the connection between her and Devy. Shangque says honestly that he has a hard time contributing to Orchid’s death. Honest and adorable.
Devy doesn’t seem to care a lot, though. He’s beginning to moon over Orchid (and an orchid plant literally). Maybe the connection isn’t a bad thing, after all.
The fact that Devy is still a kid with fist but no strategy is starting to show.
But Xunfeng thinks differently. When he sees the fragments of the sword they already found, he requests that they be saved, even though he doesn’t yet know what they are for.
Changheng is still locked up in a tower, his health is suffering for it. Well, I hope the Heaven Lord has a backup plan if he intends to neglect the War God like that.
When Dayin comes to visit, she is heartbroken to see Changheng so down. So she takes the liberty of telling him the vision she saw once in the tree at the Archive: He and Orchid will find each other and get married somehow.
Changheng is energized by the news, he tells Dayin there is another way he can get out of the tower and regain his strength: a mortal trial. With strength, he can break out of the tower in the end. Dayin warns that failing the trial might kill him, but Changheng is determined, so she helps him escape. Hmm, how come Dayin has access to a high-security tower so easily? Anyway, it doesn’t matter as long as we get logical decisions.
Changheng jumps down a magical waterfall to begin his mortal trial. Dayin jumps after him. And for once, the drama uses the right kind of background music, giving the scene a tragic undertone. Two people who are both in love with the wrong people do their best to help them.
At the Moon Realm, Orchid keeps having nightmares about the Voice telling her that she isn’t a normal immortal. She retreats to an ice cave, hoping that the freezing cold will help. Devy finds her there and tries to console her. But their conversation soon turns into a sad fight. Orchid asks Devy whether he still wants to attack the Heaven Realm, he says he can’t ignore his duty as the Moon Lord.
Next, Xunfeng finds Lady Chidi (the Heaven’s Goddess of War everyone is looking for) who is still a baby taking a mortal test. You’ve got to admit this guy can get a job done fast.
He brings the baby home and suggests they suck out her superpower and use it to their advantage. This, of course, would kill the baby, so Devy says no. Remember, he loves babies, plants, and possibly bunnies too now.
It turns out that something is preventing them from harvesting that power anyway. Per Jieli’s info that she got from Orchid, letting the baby finish her mortal trial would be a better option. She will die when she’s supposed to die and Devy can collect her power at that time.
Devy and Shangque take off to the mortal realm. Orchid, having her suspicions, follows them. Jieli comes along too, of course. They shortly get caught by Devy.
Per Jieli’s instruction, the gang agrees to pretend to be mortals during their time here, each side still trying to figure out what the other is doing in the mortal realm.
COMMENTS
Devy and Orchid’s confrontation in the ice cave is an especially well-done scene, where they admit that they care about each other but are both unwilling to let go of their individual loyalty to their clans. That scene alone could have served as a milestone in their relationship: both a confession and development. There’s no need for the running around and jealousy that’s about to happen in the next arc, to be honest.
Secondly, Xunfeng. How I wish they could have used Xunfeng’s background for Devy instead. Devy can switch from a ruthless lord to an adorable puppy in minutes because the only thing that prevents him from being a puppy is his father’s spell. Xunfeng? He was raised in the Moon Realm, brainwashed to hate the Heaven People. Every choice he makes is of his own volition, not because some magic spell blocks his brain. He is efficient, has his priority clear, and basically a tough nut to crack.
Such a character can bring internal struggles to the next level if he is the male lead.
But then this would be a tragedy, I guess.