This serial is absolutely worth watching, if only to appreciate its general aesthetics and the sheer amount of money the production house has poured into its various sets.
Then, there is the direction work...wow...I imagine that it must be very difficult to direct/control all the persons involved in such large settings with so many people and to have such interesting shots and follow the movement of leads...
Then there is the work of editing...brilliant that they did not compromise with the visuals to fit into small tv screen compared to movie screens...
And finally, there are the various stories that intermingle with the main plot that humanise the characters rather than simply show a dichotomous relationship between protagonists versus antagonists. I know that many people think that it should be more focussed on the main plot, that these side stories distracted and stretched the serial, etc... but we need to understand that shorter serials mean less funds for high quality productions and also, they do not allow us to empathise with the characters. As viewers, we cannot simply be merely consuming such works of art and then, moving on...such types of serials deserve that we appreciate the high art that it portrays.

The only thing I am a bit dissatisfied with is that the serial makes us have high expectations of the Jing'Si and of Li Bi but it fell flat, of the great deflagration and it fell flat, of the Ant but same, it fell flat and finally of the instigator and his motivation...it fell flat. I also think that Li Bi is the most useless character in the serial...seriously.