This director is vindictive.

Chapter 290 Millennium Sentiments, Timeless Fantasy, Our Youth Has Come to an End!

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it's November 2021.

Filming for "Flying Swordsman" has wrapped.

Of course, wrapping up filming doesn't mean the film is finished. Unlike the previous "Phoenix Blossoms", this fantasy-themed wedding promotional video can be said to have special effects taking up most of its content.

It includes not only the entire wedding ceremony process, but also famous scenes from multiple online novel IPs that serve as wedding gifts.

Therefore, although the special effects are being produced simultaneously during filming, they are still not finished and will take at least another month.

Of course, at this point, the publicity campaign can begin, and the release date for the wedding documentary "Flying Swordsman" has also been set.

The release date is set for December 12th.

Originally, it was just a mockumentary, so it wasn't really competitive.

However, with the success of "The Phoenix Brings Auspiciousness" as a precedent, and the grand occasion of this year's Valentine's Day still fresh in everyone's mind, all the movies scheduled to be released in December are facing a formidable challenge.

They all avoided this time, either postponing it or bringing it forward.

There's nothing we can do about it. Chen Mo, even if it's not his movie, he always manages to cause a huge stir.

At the beginning of this year, a documentary about a traditional wedding called "The Phoenix Brings Auspiciousness" was released, and after its release, it broke all the records that documentaries could break.

Then they held two more live streams, and wow, they created another "814 Welfare Festival".

Therefore, no one dares to underestimate this documentary.

In fact, this trailer is even more exaggerated than the previous one, "The Phoenix Brings Auspiciousness".

Because, compared to "The Phoenix Brings Auspiciousness," which showcases the traditional classical wedding ceremony and emphasizes meticulousness, "Flying Sword Immortal" focuses on a grand collection of fantasy and martial arts universes.

Chen Mo invited hundreds of actors from classic fantasy films and television series to make cameo appearances.

This includes Li Xiaoyao, Zhao Ling'er, and Lin Yueru from the Legend of Sword and Fairy.

After the release date was set, the first promotional trailer for "Swordsman Online" was released on November 11.

Flying Sword to Immortality: The Legend of Sword and Fairy!
This first trailer is all about nostalgia.

Cao Yu is now a die-hard fan of Chen Mo. There's no way around it; Chen Mo's "The Phoenix Brings Auspiciousness" can be considered his matchmaker.

This documentary helped him find love and get together with Lin Ying.

Therefore, they both regarded Chen Mo's Huayun Wedding Attire series promotional video as a commemorative video of their love.

Therefore, I have been paying close attention to related news.

Sure enough, he and his girlfriend Lin Ying watched the trailer together as soon as it was released.

The trailer opens with an overhead shot.

On the huge jade-colored plaza shaped like the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), Chen Mo and Zhao Liying, the newlyweds, stood hand in hand.

The ceremony attracted a large crowd.

Suddenly, a golden sword mark appeared in the sky, and Hu Ge, who played Li Xiaoyao, was dressed in an outfit that would be immediately familiar to anyone who had seen "Chinese Paladin".

He swooped down from the clouds, riding on the "Seven Star Sword," the sword trailing a blue streak of light.

With a light tap of one foot on the sword, he flipped and landed, the Seven Star Sword slamming into the ground in front of him, creating a shockwave.

Hu Ge, who plays Li Xiaoyao, flicked his sleeves, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and grinned, saying, "On Brother Chen's joyous occasion, how could I, Li Xiaoyao, not come to ask for a drink?"

With that, he raised his hand, and the gourd flew into his palm. He tilted his head back and took a big gulp!
Cao Yu and Lin Ying were both somewhat surprised to see Li Xiaoyao appear.

Although the trailer was titled "The Legend of Sword and Fairy: Celebration Chapter," they never expected it to be about the Legend of Sword and Fairy!

They both happened to be die-hard fans of the Legend of Sword and Fairy series. When they saw Li Xiaoyao appear, Cao Yu and Lin Ying widened their eyes at the same time and gasped in unison.

Cao Yu suddenly grabbed Lin Ying's arm, his voice trembling: "Holy crap! It's Li Xiaoyao! It really is Li Xiaoyao from Legend of Sword and Fairy 1!"

Lin Ying stared intently at the screen, her lips trembling slightly: "The Seven Star Sword, the wine gourd... even the sword-riding posture is exactly the same as in the game!"

Before the two could react, suddenly, a clear bird song came from afar in the scene. The Azure Phoenix spread its wings, each feather glowing with azure light, and descended from the sky.

Liu Yifei, who plays Zhao Ling'er, sits sideways on the back of a bird, gently lifting her skirt with both hands. With a light touch of her toes, she lands gracefully, her skirt billowing in slow motion. As she turns around, a translucent Nuwa serpent appears behind her, its eyes golden, coiling around her once before disappearing.

Zhao Ling'er raised her palm and conjured a pink lotus flower: "Ling'er prays for the newlyweds with the 'Guanyin Mantra'." Suddenly, a huge lotus flower exploded into points of light in the air, sprinkling light on the guests in the audience.

In fact, when Zhao Ling'er appeared riding the Azure Phoenix, Cao Yu jumped up on the spot: "A descendant of Nuwa, a phantom of a spirit snake! The level of detail is amazing!"

Lin Ying covered her mouth, saying with a mix of excitement and inexplicable reminiscence, "It's Ling'er... The way she raised her hand was exactly the starting stance of the 'Guanyin Mantra' in the game!"

"You play 'The Legend of Sword and Fairy' too?" Cao Yu looked at his girlfriend with some surprise.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Lin Ying put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes at her boyfriend.

"Nothing much, me too, haha!" Cao Yu said with some surprise.

Just then, in the distance, Lin Yueru, played by An Yuxuan, stepped on a golden ball of light called "Golden Pearl," leaped through the air, and landed with a flick of her whip, sending out a string of red firework characters with a "snap."

As the long whip wraps around the waist, sparks remain at the tip as a special effect!

Lin Yueru crossed her arms, raised her eyebrows, and pretended to lash out with a whip, acting like a spoiled young lady to scare Chen Mo: "Groom, if you dare to bully the bride, this whip of mine has no eyes!"

Then, Li Xiaoyao, Zhao Ling'er, and Lin Yueru appeared in the same frame.

At this moment, the video's bullet comments on Bilibili were already densely packed with "tears" and "my youth is back".

Nearly twenty years later, seeing Brother Xiaoyao, Ling'er and Yue Ru in the same frame again, it can be said that countless fans of Xianxia, ​​whether they are Yue Ru fans or Ling'er fans, feel as if they have been transported back to the world of Xianxia!

Hu Ge's portrayal of Li Xiaoyao is no longer young, sporting a stubble beard, but it only makes the character more tear-jerking.

He shouted, "I, Li Xiaoyao, will become the greatest hero in the world! ...But today, I'll be the greatest witness to a wedding!"

Fans of fantasy games immediately recognized the line, especially those who had fought in the game. They were very familiar with it; it was Li Xiaoyao's line when he first appeared in the game!
Liu Yifei's portrayal of Zhao Ling'er is no longer the youthful girl she once was; she has gained a more mature charm, but she is still the same Zhao Ling'er forever.

Zhao Ling'er's voice rang out: "Since there's no turning back, why not forget? Having said it today, I have no regrets in this life."

An Yuxuan, who plays Lin Yueru, says playfully, "Let's eat and play until we're old—I'll drink this cup of wedding wine first!"

Subsequently, the three people crossed their three weapons—the Seven Star Sword, the Heavenly Serpent Staff, and the Long Whip—to trigger the combined attack effects of "Sword God," "Wind and Snow Ice Sky," and "Dragon Slaying Technique," which transformed into the seal script character "缘" (fate/destiny).

In fact, when Lin Yueru said, "Eat until you're old, play until you're old," the screen was already filled with comments saying "tears welling up."

There's no way around it, it's just too heartbreaking!
For fans of the Legend of Sword and Fairy series, it is a pain that will forever remain in their hearts, a source of endless regret!
And after many years, when we dream of it again, those scenes and those words can be said to be the youthful memories of fans of the Legend of Sword and Fairy!

On the barrage:
"Tears welling up! Yue Ru's 'Dragon Slaying Technique' is still so cool!"

"Has the spirit maiden Nuwa's bloodline awakened? I'd like to request a 'Dream Snake' transformation effect!"

"Is Brother Xiaoyao's wine gourd filled with 'Forget-Me-Not Powder'? Hahaha!"

"The Sword God of Shili Slope has arrived to report for duty!"

"My youth is back!"

"Eat until we're old, play until we're old, Yue Ru, Yue Ru! Never forget me! Waaah!"

However, this is not the end, after all, there is more than one Legend of Sword and Fairy series.

The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3 is also a classic.

The trailer continues, the camera shifts, and a cascading Milky Way transforms into a dazzling galaxy corridor. At the end of the corridor, Xu Changqing, played by Huo Jianhua, dressed in white and wielding a demon-suppressing sword, slowly approaches, bathed in starlight. Behind him, Zi Xuan, played by Tang Yan, wears a flowing red dress, a wisp of purple spiritual energy swirling around her fingertips. Xu Changqing lightly touches the ground with his sword, and the Milky Way instantly freezes into ice crystal steps. He smiles slightly, his voice gentle and warm: "Xu Changqing of Shushan, with my wife Zi Xuan, congratulates the newlyweds on their hundred-year union."

Zi Xuan raised her hand and waved it lightly, her spiritual power transforming into countless purple butterflies. After the swarm of butterflies dispersed, the four seal characters "永结同心" (Eternal Union) appeared in the air.

The barrage exploded again.

"Ahhh, it's Bai Doufu and Zi Xuan! The Three Lives Three Worlds fans are ecstatic!"

"The special effects budget is burning! The Shushan magic is incredibly accurate!"

"Is Zixuan's butterfly dance a Easter egg in the ending of 'Chinese Paladin 3'? The screenwriter is killing me!"

Before the audience could calm down, the background music suddenly became rousing, a crimson sword light cleaved through the clouds, and another Jing Tian, ​​played by Hu Ge, swooped down on a demonic sword, followed by Long Kui, played by Liu Shishi, who flew on a sword. The blue-clad Long Kui held a jade bow, while the red-clad Long Kui flicked her long sleeves. The twin sisters landed in unison and said in unison, "Brother said he would give the most festive gift!"

Jing Tian grinned, plunged the Demon Sword into the ground, and instantly countless fireworks exploded. From the fireworks jumped out Q-version versions of classic characters such as Xiao Xue (a character from "Xuan-Yuan Sword") and Fei Peng (a god general from "Chinese Paladin 3"), hopping and skipping while carrying a plaque that read "Xianxia Universe Team Building in Progress".

At this point, Bilibili's bullet comments were completely paralyzed.

"The dimensional barrier has been shattered! Even 'Xuan-Yuan Sword' is doing a collaboration?!"

"General Fei Peng, your helmet is crooked, haha!"

"Has Chen Mo dug up the ancestral graveyard of fantasy dramas?!"

At the end of the trailer, all the guest stars gather at Bagua Square. Chen Mo and Zhao Liying exchange a smile and simultaneously make hand gestures and chant incantations.

In an instant, a thousand flying swords flew down from the sky, forming a giant "囍" character, while the background music played a variation of "Butterfly Love". The scene froze on the moment when everyone raised their glasses to drink together. When the glasses clinked, the water droplets splashed by the wine turned into a line of small words: "December 12th, immortal heroes never grow old, see you again in the martial world".

After the screen went black, Cao Yu noticed that Lin Ying was already in tears, and his own voice was hoarse and he couldn't speak. The two held each other's hands in silence.

Such scenes are happening all over the country.

Without exaggeration or bias, among fantasy works, the "Chinese Paladin" series is undoubtedly the most popular Chinese-language film and television drama!

This wave of promotional trailers directly triggered a tearjerker among countless fans of the Legend of Sword and Fairy series.

After the release of the trailer for "Flying Swordsman: The Legend of Sword and Fairy: Celebration Chapter"!
#Li Xiaoyao, Zhao Ling'er, and Lin Yue in the same frame#
#Chinese Paladin Nostalgia#
Topics such as these quickly topped the trending search lists on Weibo, Douyin, and Bilibili.

The trailer features the original cast, including Hu Ge, Liu Yifei, and An Yuxuan, reprising their classic roles. Combined with highly faithful game effects and dialogue, it directly ignites collective memories for fans of the Legend of Sword and Fairy series across generations.

The topic garnered over 1 million views on Weibo within an hour, and related fan-made videos received over 5 million views on Bilibili, with the comment section flooded with phrases like "tears welling up" and "a tribute to youth."

"Seeing Brother Xiaoyao, Ling'er, and the moon reflected in the frame completely broke my defenses! The line 'Eat until we're old and play until we're old' made me cry like a baby in the office... Chen Mo knows how to be a fan of the Chinese Paladin series!"

"If you're not going to look back, why not forget?" Ling'er's words sent a jolt through my DNA! Did the screenwriter secretly go through my game save file from 20 years ago?!

"When Brother Xiaoyao said 'I want to be the greatest hero in the world,' I almost shouted 'I want to be the richest woman in the world!' It's like going back to the Demon Locking Tower!"

"The trailer is full of Easter eggs! Li Xiaoyao's Seven Star Sword trail is the 'Heavenly Sword' effect from the game, and the spirit snake phantom of the fairy maiden Nuwa corresponds to the famous awakening scene in 'Chinese Paladin 1' - Chen Mo's team definitely has hardcore gamers!"

"The starry sky effects for Xu Changqing and Zi Xuan are amazing! The Three Lives Three Worlds fans have had their dream come true. I burst into tears at the purple butterfly scene that pays homage to the ending of Chinese Paladin 3!"

"Jing Tian and Long Kui in their dual forms appear together! A chibi version of Fei Peng is also hidden in the magic sword fireworks! This collaboration between the Xianxia universe is so clever!"

While Wanda Cinemas and other ticketing apps have not opened pre-sale channels, they have already released the release date and a page for "The Flying Swordsman".

The number of people who "want to see" quickly surpassed one million!

The comments below were numerous.

"December 12th, right? I'm going to kidnap my boyfriend right now to buy tickets! I missed the premiere of 'The Phoenix' last year, I'm not missing it this time!"

"Other movies are laughing all the way to the bank by dodging release dates, but Chen Mo's mockumentary is even more brutal than blockbusters. I'm waiting for it to break records!"

"Hu Ge's portrayal of Li Xiaoyao and Jing Tian is completely natural! From a young swordsman to a middle-aged wedding officiant, my youth was entirely spent in his wine gourd... Just for that reason alone, it's a must-watch!"

"Liu Yifei's Zhao Ling'er is still stunningly beautiful! The 'Guanyin Mantra' hand gesture is a 1:1 recreation of the game, a descendant of Nuwa is just dreaming! What's there to hesitate about? Why hasn't the pre-sale started yet?"

Although Chen Mo did intend to leverage these classic IPs, he never expected it would cause such a sensation.

Or perhaps he underestimated the appeal of the "Chinese Paladin" IP and its associated sentiments.

After the trailer quickly went viral, the characters' classic lines became social coded messages.

"Eat until you're old, play until you're old"

"Since there's no turning back, why not forget?"

These lines have been spontaneously adapted by netizens into captions for WeChat Moments, background music for short videos, and have even spawned "Chinese Paladin style" literature.

Under the popular Zhihu post "How to evaluate the reunion of characters from the Legend of Sword and Fairy series after 20 years?", highly-rated answers compared details from the game's plot with Easter eggs in the trailer, such as "Lin Yueru's whip sparks correspond to the game's 'Dragon Slayer' special effects" and "Zhao Ling'er's Nuwa spirit snake phantom is a recreation of the 95 pixel animation," and the level of research resonated with tens of thousands of people.

The popularity of "Chinese Paladin" has returned and is booming, even causing a stir in the industry.

The film and television industry has even seen a surge in interest in archaeological research on existing intellectual property (IP).

Chen Mo probably didn't expect that he would ignite the future IP archaeology craze ahead of time.

The stock price of Softstar Entertainment, the publisher of the "Chinese Paladin" series of games, rose by 12% in a single day, and several film and television companies announced the restart of remakes of classic fantasy IPs.

Youku urgently launched a 4K restored version of "Chinese Paladin", and the number of bullet comments set a new record for old dramas;

Tencent Video launched a special page for "Fantasy Universe" and launched a popularity poll for characters in collaboration with IPs such as "Xuan-Yuan Sword" and "Gu Jian Qi Tan". The couple Xu Changqing and Zi Xuan received a landslide victory in the polls.

The phenomenon isn't just popular online; it has also spread offline.

A trend of "flying swords to take photos" has emerged at comic conventions in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities, with cosplayers taking creative photos imitating the "flying swords spelling out the character for 'double happiness'" scene from the trailer.

A bar in Tianfu launched a special cocktail called "Forget-Me-Not Powder" (gourd container + blue fluorescent color), labeled "Li Xiaoyao's Choice" on the menu, and it sold out on the same day.

Some couples even posted comparison photos of the 2005 "Chinese Paladin" DVD and the trailer for "Flying Swordsman," with the caption, "From game to wedding, our youth has come full circle."

Chen Mo was actually a little numb.

Keep in mind that this trailer is only a small part; there are also various collaborations with online novel IPs to celebrate later.

Unexpectedly, this first trailer went viral.

Of course, since it has sparked such a craze, we certainly can't let it go.

Faced with the overwhelming response, Chen Mo quickly released behind-the-scenes footage:
While practicing sword-flying movements, Hu Ge joked that it was "much easier than being suspended by wires back in the day."

Liu Yifei recreated the "Ling'er spinning" scene in one take, and the behind-the-scenes interaction further enhanced the authenticity of the sentiment.

A netizen started the hashtag #MyFantasyMartialArtsMemories!

Unexpectedly, over 10 story submissions were received within 72 hours. The most upvoted story came from a player who shared a yellowed strategy guide for "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 98: Tender Love," with the words "I want to take my loved one to see a Legend of Sword and Fairy wedding in the future" written on an inner page—which perfectly echoed the theme of "Flying Swordsman."

That's not all; this wave of nostalgia for the Legend of Sword and Fairy series has even begun to sweep across the entire internet.

This prompted many mainstream media outlets to report on it.

Even the official newspaper, The Official Daily, unusually published an article titled "The Legend of Sword and Fairy Culture: A New Inheritance of the Martial Arts Spirit in Generation Z," affirming that it "activates traditional cultural IPs in an innovative way."

This phenomenal spread even prompted Gen Z viewers to catch up on older dramas, with the Douban rating for "Chinese Paladin" rising from 9.1 to 9.3, and the short review section adding "Thank you 'Swordsman' for letting me experience the romance of my parents' generation."

The trailer for "The Legend of Sword and Fairy: Celebration" not only brought tears to the eyes of longtime fans of the series, but also became the first opportunity for many born in the 00s to experience "The Legend of Sword and Fairy".

After watching the trailer, many young viewers went to watch the 2005 TV series "Chinese Paladin" and even dug out their parents' treasured game discs and strategy guides, only to be surprised to find: "The fantasy dramas my parents watched when they were young were even more thrilling than the ones in today's shows!"

Some netizens even posted old photos of their homes—screenshots of their fathers playing "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 98: Soft Love" all night in an internet cafe when they were young, with the caption "Souvenir of clearing the Demon Locking Tower!"
The accompanying text reads: Yesterday, when the whole family watched the trailer for "Swordsman Online," my father pointed to Li Xiaoyao's Seven Star Sword and exclaimed excitedly, "The trailing effect of this sword is exactly the same as in the game!"

This is the first time I've ever seen this side of my dad!
(End of this chapter)