Yang Zi and Li Xian worked very well in this story, even with the additional characters. You can see the growth progression of Han Shang Yan's character from a surly, single minded coach to a more calmer teacher and adviser to his students with the help of Tong Nian. Her happy spirit is infectious and slowly broke through Han Shang Yan's high brick of a wall. She couldn't punch through so she found a way to get around it.
I do feel for Wu Bai's unrequited love as he is much to young to give it to someone who can't return it. I feel that another character should have been introduced towards the end to give a hint of a possible romance for him as he deserved it.
The animosity between Han Shang Yan and Wang Hao is a little much, but maybe because both character have too much pride to admit their own mistakes. It should have been solved much earlier in the series.
I've watched this series twice already but have to admit that I skipped through some of the filler scenes as I felt they were just there to make this series longer. One of my favorite series to rewatch.