The Daily Life of the Immortal King – Season 1 Episode 8 Recap & Review

Blade and Soul

Episode 8 of The Daily Life of the Immortal King (Netflix) drops us back to the chat where everyone’s asking about Wang Ling’s spiritual sword. He lets out a groan thinking about the panic it would cause if his true power were revealed at the Games.

Conversely, he feels the pressure of how seriously everyone else is taking the match so figures there wouldn’t be much harm in just showing it. He checks in with his parents on where the sword might be stored.

They’re watching a news report on an explosion with notes of caution around putting artefacts with a high concentration of spiritual force near a spiritual seal. It looks like the rabbit heads may have been involved as the Immortals swoop in to right the wrongs.

On screen, Zhou Yi gives an interview assuring that he can defeat Shadow Stream Faction just as he has previously. Their leader doesn’t take his claim well.

Wang Ling goes digging in the attic for his sword while his mother worries he’ll crash into something and hurt himself. As he opens the box, Administrator Wang texts to confirm a competition site visit for the following day.

Meanwhile, his boy-shaped Sword Spirit, rises from its box and notes that it’s been 10 years. Immediately, Wang Ling re-closes the box and his talisman flickers.

The next day Wang Ling shows the team his measly spiritual sword. They chuckle saying even a child’s sword wouldn’t be that tiny. Sun Rong declares it cute, sending Chen Chao to tears as he loses another round. Only Froggy 2 spots the sword’s power level.

Their instructors arrive to collect everyone. Administrator Wang notices that Wang Ling hasn’t brought a bag like the rest. As he scratches his back with his teeny sword, the narrator explains that he has no intention of actually competing.

As Wang Ling pictures the stomach-ache he plans to fake, Chen Chao offers a spare pair of y-fronts. Sun Rong can barely keep it together. The team boards the bus, just an Immortal arrives to update Zhou Yi. But he finishes in time to wave off his ‘master,’ who immediately closes the curtain.

The team informs Zhou Yi about the capture of the Shadow Stream Faction Leader. It’s not the real leader but a bomb set to explode in front of Zhou Yi. At least that’s what she imagines as she watches his students set off. As her driver follows the bus, she shares her plan to get rid of Zhou Yi. She notes her primary target, Sun Rong, will be helpless without him.

On the bus, Wang Ling’s sword awakens but he continues to suppress it. He reminds it that they’d agreed the previous evening that it would be too much for the other kids to see. Had he bribed it with racoon ramen?

School 60 rolls out a rather subdued welcome for their arrival. Their Instructor Xie and Ms. Pan have a history and are now sworn enemies. Ms Pan is quick to rub Sun Rong in her face, as 60 had tried to talent recruit her. Then Pan talks of another 60 student’s misdeeds, for the final nail.

While all this is happening, Wang Ling is trying to find the right moment to fake an illness.  Conveniently, Instructor Xie pinpoints him with her power to check his level but he turns it into the opportunity he’d been seeking.

As everyone fusses over Wang Ling, the Faction Leader spots her open. While he’s lying on the ground, Wang Ling’s Sword Spirit appears to tell him his talisman is about to break. Uh-oh.

It explodes with force and Froggy suddenly recognizes that background music again. Faction Leader realizes there’s some power about. And at home, Wang Ling’s mother notes her eyelids have been twitching. However, they put it down to resonance.

Our narrator confirms that sword spirit resonance did set off Wang Ling’s spiritual force suppression talisman, helped along by Instructor Xie’s zap. Spiritual Sword notes that he had been trying to update Wang Ling on the bus.

Wang Ling is in need of a spirit suppressing golden elixir stat, as he’s entered a state of imbalance. Sun Rong cradles him in her arms while Pan accuses Xie. And Xie turns on Tang Jingze who thinks perhaps it’s ‘that guy.’

Faction Leader receives the news that her exploding dummy plan failed. Yet, she still manages a chuckle about how worried Sun Rong is over Wang Ling, giving her a new idea.

We close on the observation that, even with hiccups, Wang Ling’s plan to avoid competing has actually been a success.

The Episode Review

This episode rounds out the spiritual sword piece, showing Wang Ling’s huge power compressed in a pretty unimpressive – what looked like wooden – sword package. You gotta love a hero who doesn’t need to front.

However apathetic Wang Ling may seem, he does have some sentiment. Does it seem funny to you that he shows up sword-in-hand over peer pressure? Or, one could call it ‘caring about his friends.’ So that would mean he in some way believes they are friends, no matter how much he clings to that indifference.

When Wang Ling’s Dad put twitching down to resonance, he was probably referring to his wife’s cell phone addiction or their permanent station in front of the TV. Was her sensation a premonition about Wang Ling’s predicament?

A Chinese superstition, eye twitching can be a sign of either fortune and good luck or misfortune and unluckiness, depending on the eye. Since she didn’t say whether it was right or left, it could go either way – Wang Ling’s talisman breaking or his tried-and-true strategy to avoid competing. Possibly, she just needs to step away from the online shopping.

Meanwhile, Shadow Stream Faction Leader has shared quite a bit in this episode but not yet the reason she’s after Sun Rong. In earlier instalments it seemed like she and her team were hired guns rather than having their own axe to grind.

She seems pretty determined – think it’s just a pay check? As having a high schooler as an enemy seems unlikely, there’s gotta be something or someone else connected to drive her obsession. Or maybe she just doesn’t like to lose.

What’s your favourite detail of this episode? Lots from which to choose, but mine is captured in the photo. Add your vote in the comments section below!