This may be a bit obvious but it just struck me how incredibly romantic Hualian's story is. Xie Lian spent 800 years not being really understood or loved as a person, going through incredible hardships and only then finally being found by Hua Cheng.. Hua Cheng who was inspired by Xie Lian as a child and has made it his life's mission to be worthy of Xie Lian and live his life to honor him and his principles in a way no one else did. Of course he was planning to actually meet Xie Lian once he was powerful enough to be useful to him but he modeled most of his life without the expectation that Xie Lian would ever learn of it, let alone appreciate it.
And then they meet and it's through Hua Cheng's steadfast support and unequivocal appreciation of who Xie Lian is that Xie Lian starts to see the positive impact he made in his life and trust in people again. Xie Lian never exactly acknowledges it but I do think learning that Banyue survived and did her best to protect others, that Lang Qianqiu will go out of his way to set the record straight, learning how corrupt the heavenly court really is even before Jun Wu's reveal, all goes a long way to help Xie Lian make a peace with his life in a way I don't think he really managed to approach before. In a way with Hua Cheng he is finding the strength to go back to life.
And Hua Cheng finally gets the fruits of his labors. His god ADORES him! He never ceases to comment how amazing he is, how intelligent, how beautiful, thoughtful, interesting, and funny. He spent centuries trying to be worthy and it paid off. The three-times-ascended martial god, His Highness the Crown Prince does rely on him AND truly enjoys his company and efforts. And I think we get to see Hua Cheng relaxing in his success and the company of his beloved. I can't pictures the man who learnt 2 separate extinct languages, the in-and-outs of the Three Realms while erecting a temple, scultping thousands of statutes, teaching himself art, literature, history, rhethoric and martial arts well enough to defeat gods in their respective domains AND running a whole fucking city being idle a day before the plot. But with Xie Lian he just hangs out. Does a bit of domestic work maybe but otherwise is wholly happy to just sit around and enjoy Xie Lian's company.
For both of them finding love is not exactly the reward for their suffering but finding each other heals something in them and really just makes them happier, more balanced people. And that is exactly what love should do. Hualian once again invented love.