Same! The first time I read through the novel, the side characters names confused me so much (especially since they all have two to three names) that I genuinely had no clue what was going on so I felt kinda "meh" about the novel. After the anime came out I was able to put faces to the names which helped me sort it out in my head and so then went back and read everything again and realized I missed SOOOO much! I didn't even remember who Jin GuangYao or Nie MingJue were which is like REALLY important. But now that I've read through again and actually comprehended what happened I'm OBSESSED and cant wait for the weekly novel chapters and season 2 of the anime!
At this point, I am waiting for updates on the manga, novel, and anime I guess I'm a bit obssessive.