Nothing could have prepared me for this book. This volume starts off in the present time in the labyrinth caves under Mount Tonglu,

and Hua Cheng’s identity and how he’s intertwined with Xie Lians past was FINALLY revealed.  We also got a sort of love confession!?! AND A KISS! We also learned that Hua Cheng has sculpted ten thousand statues of Xie Lian *melts*.

I was so ecstatic! And then things went downhill very fast. I was hit in the face with arc 4 as we dove right into Xie Lians past when he has just been banished from heaven and struggles to make a living as a “mortal” with his parents, Mu Qing and Feng Xin, while being stalked by White No-Face. What Xie Lian had to go through was so brutal. He was abandoned not only by his devotees, but also his friends and even his parents in the end. Only Hua Cheng stayed utterly devoted to him even through his worst times. Xie Lian really was pushed to the breaking point again and again, and he did break. He did some horrible things guided by White-No Face but also the grief and fury festering inside him, but he managed to come back from that dark place and stay true to his own beliefs, and I think that’s so powerful.