I can't quite articulate why I took such a long time to watch this series; in fact, I almost forgot about it after watching till Episode 25-26 and only resumed watching months later. This is odd because the series does have quite a solid story. However, somehow, some aspects of the overall delivery didn't work very well for me although most aspects of the production are impressive. Perhaps it was the rather exaggerated behavior of Bai Ying, a sort of villainous splinter of the female protagonist, Si Teng. Perhaps it's the somewhat confusing portrayal of Bai Ying, which required some patience to continue watching to understand. Perhaps it is how some parts end up being a little too draggy (particularly Episode 26 onwards) and it felt almost as though the series was stretched a few episodes beyond what was necessary without really succeeding in enhancing the emotional impact.

Still, there are merits to the story, I find the first two-thirds of it much better that the rest, especially with the range of characters contributing to both heights of tension as well as lighthearted moments of comic relief. The story of mutants and the supposed battle between the humans and mutants (hybrids of life forms on earth and aliens) is interesting enough even if it ultimately resembles more conventional Chinese folklore about animals/plants cultivating themselves into demons (think: Journey to the East sort of demons) except that the setting is China in the 20th to 21st centuries. The last one-third or so of the story has a somewhat different personality, and this is where it may lose some fans.

The historical setting spans from China in the early 20th-century to contemporary China as Si Teng reawakens in the 21st-century after being "killed" by her splintered self decades ago. The unraveling of the circumstances that have led to her conflict with her splintered self and with the anti-mutant humans is the best part of the story. What I didn't quite like, however, were the borderline propagandistic messages about how utopian contemporary China is compared to the past.

We have a 30-episode series, but there is an Episode 31 that features an alternative ending. The ending in Episode 30 is more coherent, and the crowd-pleasing alternative ending in Episode 31 would have been good if it had not left too many things unexplained: how does Si Teng splinter another self when her powers are practically exhausted (there's something about a seed, but ...), how does Qin Fang find her after her disappearances, how does Si Teng manage to survive and why doesn't Qin Fang age? Perhaps the two main characters don't exist in a physical form anymore? (But then why would they talk about meeting up with their old friends, who have literally become older?)

The series does deserve a lot of praise except that I find it hard to praise it effusively. The concept is good, the story is interesting, and the overall production values are good. But it lacks a little something that would make it an unforgettable classic.