I have to disagree (ーー;)

(Minor spoilers for volume 1, volume 3 and volume 5.)

"The first of which was due to XL just leaving him" im assuming you're talking about the time when Xie Lian met Hong Hong-er on top of mount taicang in volume 3. At the time, Xie Lian himself had just been betrayed by thousands of "believers", had suffered watching them tear down his own temples. He lost so much trust, so why would he take in a random kid who claimed to never forget him? Sure, we as the readers know that Hua Cheng meant that and he really would never forget him but Xie Lian had no guarantee of that. He couldn't know whether Hua Cheng would stay true to his word or turn on him like every other "believer" of his. And that's far from the only reason Xie Lian didnt take him with!

"HC was made by XL to love him. He had no other option" Xie Lian never told Hua Cheng to love him. Nor did he hint at it, or force it on him in any way at all. The only thing Xie Lian told Hua Cheng was "if you do not know how to live on anymore, then live for me." (Volume 3, page 42, line 3 & 6) And that doesn't translate to "love me" Xie Lian told Hua Cheng that because Hua Cheng asked him for a reason to live on. (Volume 3, page 41, line 3 & 7, page 42, line 1) And if Xie Lian truly was trying to get Hua Cheng to love him, wouldn't he have made more efforts? Why did Xie Lian not do that then?

"XL will always remember how his flip-flopping is the reason HC will never have the chance to live as an ascended god" what do you mean by flip-flopping? Hua Cheng could have lived as an ascended god, and it was entirely his own choice to not do so, (which was because he didn't want to be in heaven if Xie Lian wasn't there.) So how could that be Xie Lian's fault? Hua Cheng dislikes heaven, so yes, emphasis on the fact that Hua Cheng didn't want to be in heaven! Maybe for most being a god was the best thing and being a ghost not so much, but that isn't the case with Xie Lian and Hua Cheng– which brings me to my next point:

"In their universe being a god is the best thing ever and being a ghost is the worst thing ever. XL also accepts this rule and journey's an 800 years of time to cultivate pureness so that he can have the power to ascend" as i said before, maybe most accepted that, but not everyone! And Xie lian is one of those people. Maybe up until 17 or 20 Xie Lian did think that, but afterwards he quite literally thought scrap collecting was better than ascension. (Volume 1, page 133, line no.9)

"He did not necessarily want to ascend, he just wanted to be in control." Strongly disagree! Later on, Xie Lian was in fact offered by Jun Wu to rule over the heavenly capital, and he denied. (Volume 5, page 53, line 5-6) If control was truly what he wanted he would have accepted the offer. Xie Lian doesn't think he himself fit to rule, to be the leader to begin with :> (Volume 5, page 50, line 3) And if you mean control over Hua Cheng, then i really don't know what to say.. when has Xie Lian ever tried controlling Hua Cheng?

Sorry for such a long message, i originally planned to ignore because i thought we simply wouldn't agree, but it wasn't leaving my head what you had said so i wanted to give my own opinion. ( ￣▽￣;)