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Book Review - Heaven Official’s Blessing (Tian Guan Ci Fu) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

(All credits to the art used below belong to STARember on Weibo and are from the official manhua)

**This review may contain spoilers for the series

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A Quick Summary

“A God Fallen… A Ghost Risen

Born the crown princes of a prosperous kingdom, Xie Lian was renowned for his beauty, strength, and purity. His years of dedicated study and noble deeds allowed him to ascend to godhood. But those who rise may also fall, and fall he does—cast from the heavens and banished to the world below.

Eight hundred years after his mortal life, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for the third time, angering most of the gods in the process. To repay his debts, he is sent to the Mortal Realm to hunt down violent ghosts and troublemaking spirits who prey on the living. Along his travels, he meets the fascinating and brilliant San Lang, a young man with whom he feels an instant connection.

Yet San Lang is clearly more than he appears…

What mysteries lie behind that carefree smile?”

Heaven Official’s Blessing Blurb - Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

The novels, consisting of 241 chapters, 2050 pages, and a word count of 1.2 million, follow the adventures of Xie Lian, the former crown prince of a now-fallen kingdom, Xianle. Xie Lian ascended to godhood at the age of seventeen, but was banished, and when he ascended for the second time, he was banished again after half an hour. Now, he’s ascended for the third time, holding a record for most ascensions of any god in history. His ascension is so tremendous that the ground of the heavens quakes and lightning strikes, causing severe damage to golden palaces and buildings. He is sent to the Mortal Realm to aid humans in eradicating and investigating ghosts causing trouble, and all the thank you offerings would be counted under his name and go towards helping repay his debt.

The series switches from present time 800 years into the past, where Xie Lian’s backstory is revealed to be much more tragic than his bright personality may reveal. 

San Lang, the man he meets while riding a hay cart to his makeshift shrine in Puqi village, tags along on his adventures, and towards the end of the book, it’s revealed that he is actually Hua Cheng, also known as Crimson Rain Sought Flower, a ghost ranking “Devastation”, which is the highest, most dangerous ranking of ghost. On top of that, he ranks first out of the four Calamities, making him the most powerful ghost there is, and the ruler of ghost city.

Hua Cheng dedicates his existence to helping Xie Lian, though Xie Lian can’t begin to understand why. It was revealed later on that when Xie Lian was still a crown prince, eight centuries before, he had saved Hua Cheng, known as Hong-er at the time, from falling to his death from a building during a festival. Hong-er became enamoured with Xie Lian, and spent the rest of his life — and his afterlife — trying to prove his worth to the former price.

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When it comes to Heaven Official’s Blessing, I really don’t think I have any critiques. It’s probably the most well-written series I’ve ever read before in my life. With fully developed characters and rich backstories, I really can’t find any faults in it. The attention to detail is immaculate. It’s filled with foreshadowing, and everything fits together perfectly in the end. You really can’t enjoy the series fully without reading it twice. 

Honestly, I feel like the first book kind of tricked me. I jumped headfirst into the series, thinking it would be a lighthearted queer romance, but everything after the first volume was really too depressing. I found myself genuinely crying at times, and I had never cried over a book before, it really was an experience. I think everyone should read this series at some point in their lives.

I think it’s only fair to start off with the protagonist, Xie Lian. At first glance, Xie Lian seems like a happy-go-lucky character, endlessly selfless and positive. However, there are subtle hints of his dark past, which become more and more apparent as the series progresses. 

Something I like about this series is even though it supposedly has a happy ending, it’s not absolutely perfect for everyone. There are a lot of characters that got the short end of the stick, which makes it so much more realistic. Friendships end, betrayals ensue, and some characters are left with permanently crippling wounds — both emotional and physical — that maybe could have been avoided if things had been thought through just a little bit more.

As someone who doesn’t usually like angsty books, I actually enjoyed the ending. It gave everything a neat closure and tied up all the loose ends. Everything fell into place perfectly, even arcs from the first book that didn’t really feel like they had much use at the time. 

Overall, I would rate this book a full five stars, and I highly recommend it.