We Got A Happy Ending! | Heaven Official’s Blessing

My journey with Heaven Official’s Blessing has officially come to an end with the completion of book 8! This was such a happy and sad moment for me. Having spent so much time reading this story and getting attached to the characters, seeing the canon story end made me so sad. I was so happy that I decided to read this, and the good news is that now I can look up fan content without fear of spoilers.

Returning to see what the verdict of Mu Qing’s odd behavior was all about, things get a bit tense. My worst fear in book 7 was that someone was going to die. This is always something that lingers in the back of my mind when reading a book that involves a lot of fighting, not knowing where loyalties lie, I just fear that the next page turn is going to end up with a character bleeding out on the ground. Mu Qing dangling over a waterfall of burning lava was not something I ever wanted to read, add to that, Xie Lian JUMPING ON HIS SWORD TO FLING HIMSELF OVER. Only to barely catch Mu Qing with Ruoye had me as worried as Hua Cheng.

The Heavenly Crossing Bridge allowed the original trio to clear up a lot of lingering issues, but I pretty much glossed over that because, just like Xie Lian, I was NEEDING to see where Hua Cheng ended up after nosediving after Xie Lian into a face full of lava.

Seeing the face book between two ghost kings was something that I didn’t know I desperately wanted to read about. Imagining the fight: the quick movements, the clash of the weapons scrapping against each other, the tension in the room marked the point in the book that I DID NOT want to put it down till I was finished.

The entire fight was a wild ride of feelings. Seeing White No-Face toss off the mask, grab his sword and power up like a Shonen antagonist, only for Xie Lian TO JUMP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIGHT WITHOUT A WEAPON was not a delight to visualize. The only good thing was the knowledge that Xie Lian’s body cannot be killed… he can be wounded greatly - but he can never die. The others in the room, not so much. There was a good three pages there where I thought that Mu Qing and Feng Xin were going to die for sure. That damn cursed shackle sucking out blood just like it did to Yin Yu, and eight arrows stab into your chest are not events that usually leads to a happy outcome.

Xie Lian trying to defend with just his hands does not seem like the best strategy, and leads to one of the saddest (non-deadly) moments in this fight is when he tries to use Ruoye, only for the magical ribbon to be torn apart! As a super sentimental person, seeing this moment upset me a lot.

I know that Hua Cheng would do literally anything for Xie Lian, but I do not know how this man was able to stand back and watch Jun Wu beat this poor boy half to death by smashing his head into a solid rock wall while belittling him with every hulk smash. Being forced to watch the love of his life, the main that gave him a reason to live, being harmed must have been one of the hardest things to watch. Back in the shrine, with the 100 sword stabs, Hua Cheng was still a little flame, he couldn’t do much aside from gather all his energy and finally end the pain. Having him be at (almost) his stronger form and having to observe without being able to step in and save him had to have destroyed him inside. He is stronger than me because the first hand rustling Xie Lian’s hair and I’m tossing his ass in the lava with everything I got, even if I went in with him.

The fight that ignites inside Xie Lian as he’s screaming that he will never change was the start of the big build up, the moment where he would get the power to beat Jun Wu. This brings us the moment of breaking Xie Lian’s cursed shackles. Being able to see Xie Lian fight at full power was something that I was hoping to see since the beginning. He is such a powerful opponent even when restricted so much, so I knew this was going to be that “through the power of love and friendship” that was going to win them the fight.

The ending of the fight created a lot of emotions. Jun Wu laying on the ground, defeated, and finally having his mentor remain by his side made me feel for the inner child that was Jun Wu in the past. And then of course we have the moment that made me so sad because I finally thought that Hualian would have their happy ending, Hua Cheng disappearing in Xie Lian’s arms. Xie Lian trying to give back spiritual energy, him crying out because he only recently came to term with his feelings for Hua Cheng, the uncertainty of how long the two would be separated.

The depression mini-arc was really the wind-down after the final boss fight. Everyone comes together to try and rebuild the Heavens and the return (against her will) of Ling Wen to take care of the mountain of paperwork was sweet to see. But, we also had to watch Xie Lian isolate himself from everyone else, staying in his little shack and cleaning it up because he knew that his Hua Cheng would return to him soon.

The fact that Hua Cheng returned on the night of the Ghost Festival was perfect. Imagining the scene of them running into each other’s arms almost brought tears to my eyes. Them going back to Puqi shrine after the villagers rebuilt it was so meaningful. It was a great way to show that the actions that Xie Lian and Hua Cheng did to her those in that town really did have an impact. Seeing Qingxuan bring all the people who helped with the human array to the shrine to make good on the promise to feed everyone was so sweet. And the sweetness promptly ends after Heaven’s Eye opens his mouth. This seems to be the brick that falls to release the flood gates that is thirsty Hua Cheng. The insinuations that happen after Heaven’s Eye announces that he can sense evil qi from inside Xie Lian’s body sent me into a laughing fit. The call out that he is just walking around after a session without cleaning up, and the smugness of Hua Cheng when he comes up to hold Xie Lian - this scene took me out.

The bonus chapter really felt like fanfictions, it was like the author knew what fans wanted. And that was domestic scene with the couple after they have officially gotten together.

Seeing Xie Lian thinking back on the time where he longed for someone to share that one special food that he could no longer remember the taste of was so sad. I’m so glad that he no longer has to think about moments like that because he now has Hua Cheng… and the residents of Ghost City to keep him company. The ghosts setting up Xie Lian with all those word puzzles was so funny. It shows that even the ghosts really love that their king has found someone that he loves and that they all adore Xie Lian. Wrapping up that chapter with Hua Cheng bringing Xie Lian back to the shrine and surprising him with a surprise meal together.

The three chapters of the amnesia section were hands down my favorite. This felt like it was the most outlandish and most fanfiction-y of the bonus chapters - which might be why it’s my favorite. Seeing Xie Lian revert back to that (somewhat) dumb 17 year old prince, seeing how different he is was a testament to how much he has changed over the centuries. The entire time, seeing Hua Cheng screwing with Xie Lian, making him call him gege, gaslighting him all day, this was the most fun I’ve had reading Hua Cheng. He comes off as such a fox character, so being a tease to his love fits him perfectly.

Who would have thought that the simple request of a bedtime story would result in one of the most unholy retellings of a relationship. I cannot imagine how red Xie Lian got while reading about himself coming to a mountain and needing to seduce Hua Cheng in order to find a bunch of dead brides. The amount of substance that Xie Lian gathers in this one is unhinged. I just have this feeling in the back of my mind that the tale got spun because of Hua Cheng and the ghosts of Ghost City.

Seeing Hua Cheng’s statues in such detail showed off that they were not a bunch of random Xie Lian sculptures, they were moments of major events during his life. One of which being his time against the land of the tender. Why he would want to remember the time where the subject of his infatuation withering in pain and struggling against desires so much that he stabs himself into the ground to keep himself from straying from his path. The fact that Hua Cheng’s first solution to the statue coming alive is to craft a statue of himself to help relieve the pain proves where his mind is constantly at with Xie Lian.

And finally we had the Birthday chapter. Seeing Xie Lian so set on making Hua Cheng’s Birthday a celebration and get him a gift Hua Cheng would love that also was meaningful was such a show of how much he loves him. The ghosts working with Xie Lian to decorate the city and helping Xie Lian with gift ideas was so sweet - I love seeing Xie Lian interacting with the ghosts. The whole journey of him making a hand crafted gift only to be struck down with intense heart pain was such a sad moment to watch. Him trying to hide his pain from Hua Cheng so it didn’t pull attention away from Hua Cheng’s birthday only for Hua Cheng to carry him away after his collapse just feels like the embodiment of his bad luck. All that work, all that pain, just for Hua Cheng to have to crush the gift to alleviate Xie Lian’s pain. This gave us the sweet moment of Hua Cheng loving that Xie Lian still wants to be by his side, even if it causes him pain.

This book was the easiest 5 star read of the whole series. Seeing everyone’s happy ending and getting the adorable bonus chapter was a satisfying way to wrap up this series.