Synopsis and Information
Love of the Divine Tree (Chinese title: 仙台有树) is an adaptation of the novel Xian Tai You Shu (仙台有树) by popular Jinjiang author Kuang Shang Jia Kuang (狂上加狂), who also wrote the original story for the 2024 Chinese drama Are You the One. The drama is directed by Yin Tao, known for hit series such as Under the Power (2019), Love and Redemption (2020), The Blood of Youth (2022), and Who Rules the World (2022).
Synopsis: Su Yishui, a talented young cultivator, had his destiny changed by his master Mu Qingge eighteen years ago. Mu Qingge, known as the “female demon,” was also branded with a bad reputation and presumed dead. Eighteen years later, Mu Qingge transforms into Xue Ranran, and Su Yishui, now the head of the West Mountain Sect, takes the critically ill Ranran as his disciple, vowing to protect her for life. Thus, the roles of master and disciple are swapped, and various amusing and unusual stories unfold between them. (Source: iQiyi)
Character Breakdown
 |  |
| Deng Wei 邓为 as Su Yi Shui | Xiang Han Zhi 向涵之 as Mu Qing Ge / Mu Ran Ran |
| The son of Prince Ping, Su Yi Shui, was raised as a tool to seize the kingdom, having been born as the so-called “demon child.” Despite following orders from Prince Ping and the Masked Man since childhood, he has secretly been trying to rid himself of the Spirit Spring within his heart, which amplifies his emotions. Because of this, he vows to join Immortal Kai Yuan’s sect after being captured—only to discover that “Immortal Kai Yuan” is actually Mu Qing Ge. Instead, he becomes her disciple at Mount Wester Sect. | Mu Qing Ge, infamous for taking in only good-looking disciples, becomes determined to help Su Yi Shui cultivate his rare five spirit roots and tricks him into becoming her disciple. Over time, her care and attention cause Su Yi Shui to fall in love with her. When she unlocks the Heavenly Book and glimpses a future where he succumbs to the demon inside him, she desperately tries to change his fate. To protect him, Mu Qing Ge declares herself the true “demon child,” drawing the sects’ wrath upon herself in an effort to seal Su Yi Shui’s Spirit Spring—ultimately forcing them apart. |
| Actor | Character Role | Relationship |
| Chen Xin Hai 陈鑫海 | Su Yu | Crown Prince and is in love with Mu Qing Ge. Initially starts out as a good person but through the years of political struggle, turns to dark means to achieve immortality. |
| Zhang Wei Na 张维娜 | Mu Ran Wu | Mu Qing Ge’s sister who loves the Crown Prince. Always feeling inferior to Mu Qing Ge, she tricks Su Yi Shui to harm his master and puts the soul lock on Mu Qing Ge to steal her powers. |
| Deng Kai 邓凯 | Wei Jiu | Master of the Scarlet Sect and because he was turned down by Mu Qing Ge to join Mount Wester Sect as a disciple has held a grudge on her since. |
| Cheng Zi 程梓 | Tu Jiu Yuan | Elder of the Scarlet Sect and secretly in love with Wei Jiu. |
| Cao Yu Chen 曹煜辰 | Zeng Yi | Mu Qing Ge’s discple |
| Ai Mi 艾米 | Qiu Xi Er | Su Yi Shui’s discple |
| Min Xing Han 闵星翰 | Gao Cang | Su Yi Shui’s disciple and in love with Qiu Xi Er |
| Hu Wei 扈帷 | Bo Shan | Su Yi Shui’s disciple |
| Zhao Huan Ran 赵奂然 | Wang Sui Zhi | Mu Qing Ge’s disciple and in love with Mu Ran Wu |
| Wang Rui Zi 王瑞子 | Zhou Fei Hua | Mu Qing Ge’s friend |
Drama Review
★☆☆☆ Rating: 1.5/5
Plot Overview
Love of the Divine Tree adapts a web novel and follows a master-disciple relationship that shifts when Mu Qing Ge tries to alter Su Yi Shui’s fate by taking his identity as the demon child. As multiple forces work against her, she falls, scattering her soul. To save her, Su Yi Shui sacrifices half of his golden core, allowing her to reincarnate.
After waiting eighteen years, Mu Qing Ge awakens with no memory of her past and a new identity as Mu Ran Ran. To help strengthen her frail body, Su Yi Shui tricks her into becoming his disciple, keeping her close. Their journey begins again—this time, facing new dangers and dark forces.
Underwhelming Characters & Storytelling
I’ve watched Xiang Han Zhi in Forever Love (2020), Our Times (2021), and Love in Time (2022). She does well in youthful roles, particularly when portraying bright and lively characters. As an innocent and optimistic eighteen-year-old still learning how to cultivate and form relationships, Mu Ran Ran felt more believable than her other role in this drama.
As Mu Qing Ge, I struggled to see Xiang Han Zhi as an intelligent, wise, yet carefree teacher. Her presence never fully conveyed the aura of a powerful master, making it difficult to connect with this character.
I first saw Deng Wei in his supporting roles in Miss the Dragon (2021) and I Am the Years and You Are the Stars (2022), but I haven’t watched any of his other works since. Since this marks his first major lead role and I haven’t seen enough of his performances to form a strong opinion, I would have liked to see more depth in Su Yi Shui.
Throughout the story, he maintains a mostly stoic expression. While he shows glimpses of jealousy and flustered moments, his character lacks emotional growth compared to Mu Qing Ge. Because of this, Deng Wei’s performance feels just okay—it isn’t particularly moving or impressive. Additionally, I didn’t sense much chemistry between the two leads.
Story-wise, I can overlook that this isn’t groundbreaking material in the xianxia world. The real issue lies in how the story is told. Since the story placed little focus on cultivation and adventure arcs, I wish it had emphasized Mu Ran Ran and Su Yi Shui’s personal growth instead. This could have made their characters more engaging and their journey more immersive. Instead, everything felt surface-level—like a rushed summary of events rather than a compelling story.
For example, many of Mu Ran Ran’s emotional moments felt too convenient. Whenever she expresses her feelings, it just happens to be in Su Yi Shui’s subconscious, where he could hear them. I would have enjoyed more natural interactions, like the scene where they searched for green onions on the farm—small moments that allowed them to explore their feelings together.
Forgettable Villains with Weak Motivations
One of the biggest problems in the drama is the villains. Much of the plot relies on convenient developments rather than meaningful, character-driven conflicts. The backstories of Dun Tian, Su Yu, and Mu Ran Wu don’t provide enough motivation for their descent into villainy, making their roles feel underdeveloped and their actions unconvincing.
I just couldn’t see why Mu Ran Wu would harm her sister for a man, continue to do so out of jealousy, and never repent—especially when they were the only family left and Mu Qing Ge never treated her unjustly. Could I have believed that the just and honorable Su Yu sought immortality after all these years? Probably, if the writer had shown his internal struggle and his desire to protect his kingdom. If we had seen the political struggles, family rivalries, and betrayals that shaped his ambitions, his character arc would have been more compelling. Instead, we were simply told this information and expected to accept Su Yu as someone willing to harm innocent people for his own goals.
Then we have Dun Tian, who hid his identity for so long yet played no significant role until the very end. The so-called “hidden” villain remained in the shadows for so long that his reveal lacked impact—there was no suspense leading up to it. He felt like an afterthought, a character whose presence barely mattered until the story needed a final obstacle for the heroes to overcome. Even after he was revealed, the threat he posed never felt significant.
Self-Sacrificing Love Done Wrong
Personally, I’m not a fan of self-sacrificing love where one person hides the truth, and the other finds out later and simply forgives them. I don’t see relationships built on self-sacrifice as inherently beautiful. I could have accepted it, and maybe even shed some tears over it, if it had been executed well. However, this drama didn’t handle it convincingly.
Like many self-sacrificing love stories, neither character made an effort to communicate or discuss their choices. They never explored what they could have done together, which made the sacrifice feel unnecessary. The story rushed Mu Qing Ge into doing everything she could to prevent Su Yi Shui from falling into darkness. But as someone intelligent and strong, it would have made more sense for her to be calm and strategic rather than impulsive. When it came to Su Yi Shui, Mu Ran Ran was able to prevent him from sacrificing more for her by standing by his side to make sure he didn’t fight alone. I’m particularly glad this happened, or I would have given up on the drama altogether.
While Mu Ran Ran does regain her memories as Mu Qing Ge, the story never clearly addresses whether Mu Qing Ge actually had romantic feelings for Su Yi Shui, or if the affection Mu Ran Ran shows him is simply a result of her new identity and experiences. Despite Mu Qing Ge saying that Su Yi Shui is important to her, her behavior toward him never truly felt like love to me. There was teasing and clear favoritism, but nothing that definitively suggested romantic affection for me.
Conclusion
Is this just another teacher-disciple xianxia romance drama? Yes, this is just another teacher-disciple romance drama but it does have it’s merits. First, it has the female lead as the teacher and the male lead as the disciple, and then it switches the roles for the two after her rebirth. In most xianxia dramas, it’s typically the male lead who is the teacher and the female lead that is the disciple. Second, the drama allows for both of the characters to have a balance in their powers, combat abilities, and screen time. Lastly, it’s one of the few xianxia dramas that does have a happy ending, without a lot of casualty and heartbreak.
Despite all of that, I still found that it lacked depth in its story, romance, and even its side characters – that I would personally like to see in my dramas – making it hard to stay invested. I did see a little hope in Wei Jiu and Tu Jiu Yuan’s story, but I didn’t like how he treated her with his indecisive feelings and how it didn’t get properly explored. If I hadn’t skimmed through the latter half of the plot, I probably would have dropped it altogether.
Despite the weak character layout and storytelling, there were some cute moments that made their love story worth watching. I’m glad those romantic scenes in the latter half kept me holding on, but overall, finishing the drama felt more like a chore than something I eagerly looked forward to.
If you’ve seen Love of the Divine Tree and want to share your thoughts or opinions, please leave a comment! Alternatively, let me know if you enjoyed the article or the drama by using the widgets below. Thank you for visiting!
“I also think that Mu Ran Ran never fully remembering herself as Mu Qing Ge left too many loose ends… Without her memories, he never received the closure he needed. The story didn’t address whether Mu Qing Ge truly saw him as more than a disciple. This was never explored, making their romance feel incomplete.”
Did you even watch the drama? She got all her memories back when Mu Ran Wu destroyed the Soul-Devouring Lock during the fight to save herself(around Ep 34). Even before that, when Xue Ran Ran touched the all the lanterns that Mu Ging Ge had made for Su Yi Shui when she was alive, she got a glimpse of Mu Ging Ge’s memories and realized Mu Ging Ge did like him romantically.
Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I must not have edited this well as I included notes about how I felt while watching and didn’t properly revise for this post. I’ve corrected it now, but I still stand by my point: despite Mu Qing Ge regaining her memories, the affection she showed Su Yi Shui never truly felt romantic to me. It seemed more like an interest in someone that never developed into something deeper because there were power dynamics of also being his master. Also, considering that Mu Qing Ge and Mu Ran Ran have similar but distinct personalities, it felt as though Su Yi Shui fell in love with two different people. That aspect alone could have been explored more, even though the story attempted to tie it up with Mu Qing Ge’s eventual revelation of her feelings and us knowing that they are the same person.
I agree with you that the show did not show very well that Mu Ging Ge liked Su Yi Shui romantically, we were just told she did through flashbacks. But I actually think that the amnesia arc showed us nicely that Su Yi Shui did like Xue Ran Ran for who she is and not just because she is Mu Ging Ge’s reincarnation. We know that because the only way to break the spell and restore his memories was if he truly fell in love with Xue Ran Ran, and he did get his full memories back. So they both fell each other twice, when each of them lost their memories respectively. The point was that no matter what stage they are in their life, whether they are each other’s master or disciple, they are always drawn to each other. And I actually really liked that.
Totally. I think one of my favorite parts was when Mu Ran Ran realized that Su Yi Shui had done all the things she liked for her, even though he didn’t like it. It shows that he does care for her as Mu Ran Ran, and it allows Mu Ran Ran to distinguish that she’s more to Su Yi Shui than just Mu Qing Ge’s shadow. I do feel like they did the “multiple reincarnation” and falling in love again well in this drama, something I was worried wouldn’t play out well. I didn’t dislike their love story, but I think other aspects like the storytelling, villains, side characters, and all could have been better told as a whole.