I really don't want to be the top streamer anymore

"The host is so sensible!"

"That's exactly what I want to ask! Is the Legend of Sword and Fairy 2 really real?"

"I take back what I said before. The production team wasn't completely heartless; they did do a little good."

When the host asked questions about Chinese Paladin 2, many viewers in the live stream immediately became excited.

Yes, the new song I heard just now was indeed quite good.

But actually, what everyone is most concerned about is still the introduction next to the song that was just released: Will this song really be the insert song for the second part of Chinese Paladin?
"Yeah, it's true."

Since Xu Kong has already used this song to participate in the program.

Of course, we also plan to generate some buzz for the show in advance.

While it's certainly too early for this news to break now, it's not necessarily a bad thing.

It's been about four or five years since the first Legend of Sword and Fairy series ended.

Although Xu Kong was confident in the popularity of the IP, promoting it in advance was just a matter of course.

……

"Is there any other information you can reveal about Chinese Paladin 2?"

"I think everyone is very concerned, especially about things like the cast and whether Director Xu will still be the director..."

After receiving a definite answer from Xu Kong, the host quickly followed up with more questions.

The host doesn't look very old.

Xu Kong even seemed to sense that, besides the program's arrangements, she herself was quite interested in these things.

"I cannot disclose that at the moment."

"Please look forward to further news. If all goes well, the second installment of the Legend of Sword and Fairy series might be officially released this year."

Xu Kong kept everyone in suspense.

This is a fairly common promotional tactic.

Xu Kong didn't actually have high expectations for the success of Sword and Fairy 2.

It should be on par with the Legend of Sword and Fairy 1.

Although saying this might get me criticized by my peers as a Versailles.

But that was indeed Xu Kong's thought.

……

"Holy crap, it'll be broadcast this year?"

"I want to watch it now, I really can't wait a moment longer."

"I'm so excited! But I'm also curious, the Legend of Sword and Fairy storyline is quite complete, so will this sequel be a new story or will it feature different characters?"

"Xu Kong probably won't act in it himself, or even film it. After all, he's already started to enter the film industry, and it would be a bit beneath him to act in a TV series."

"I wish it were the same cast from the first generation. As long as it's the same people, I'd love to watch it no matter how it's made!"

The discussion in the bullet comments was quite enthusiastic.

However, Xu Kong does indeed plan to broadcast it this year.

The filming period can be controlled within one month.

The most time-consuming part is the special effects work.

However, apart from that, Xu Kong is confident that he can maintain his usual high efficiency in areas such as filming and post-production editing.

It was completed much faster than the first Legend of Sword and Fairy game.

Four or five years have passed, and if Xu Kongcai's experience in this area hasn't improved, then all his efforts have been in vain.

……

"Alright, now let's move on to the final results announcement stage."

The host steered the program back on track.

However, for many viewers watching the live stream, the most important thing was what Xu Kong mentioned about the second installment of the Legend of Sword and Fairy series.

The main point is that, at present, the outcome of this episode is almost a foregone conclusion.

Aside from Zeng Fanxuan's almost undisputed advancement, the third singer to perform was also a standout.

The advancement of the remaining contestants will likely cause quite a stir.

Since the show first aired, almost no one has questioned the so-called voting results.

Tomato TV is also very concerned about ensuring fairness.

With Xu Kong's participation this time, the show has garnered so much attention that it's impossible for them to focus on something as important as the voting results.

As expected, when the voting results came out, Zeng Fanxuan became the number one in this episode and advanced without any controversy.

As for the remaining spot, it belongs to the person who everyone thinks performed well.

There was absolutely no surprise; it was entirely expected.

……

However, the voting segment, which should have been the most suspenseful part, turned out to be somewhat uneventful.

However, Kang Zhishan was quite satisfied with the live broadcast of this episode.

The highest number of online viewers has completely broken their Tomato TV record, and even increased it several times over.

In addition, if you look at the current trending topics on Weibo, five out of the top ten are related to "The Voice of China".

It's safe to say they won big.

At least, similar treatment was almost exclusively reserved for variety shows on Hunan TV before.

It seems that Hunan TV has finally stood up.

Although Kang Zhishan knew that most of the credit was due to Xu Kong's participation, which brought in a tremendous amount of traffic and attention.

But isn't being able to invite Xu Kong to participate another kind of skill?

It's worth noting that Xu Kong has hardly participated in any of Mango TV's variety shows lately.

Not to mention other platforms and variety shows.

This is what their Tomato TV station deserves.

After all, he had come up with other ideas from the very beginning when Xu Kong refused to invite a mentor.

The subsequent choice of Su Zhi was also due to this reason.

This so-called guest singing competition was arranged beforehand.

The goal is to get Xu Kong to participate in the program.

Of course, if it fails, there isn't actually much of a loss.

It's just that the show couldn't have such a large-scale and popular opportunity to break out of its niche.

……

With the airing of this episode of "The New Generation," the news that Xu Kong was going to film "Chinese Paladin 2" unsurprisingly exploded across the internet.

The theme song "This Life, No Regrets," released before the drama even aired, immediately topped various music charts.

Because Xu Kong didn't reveal any related information at all on the show.

As a result, many people started using songs to deduce the plot of Chinese Paladin 2 in an absurd way.

"As soon as the song came out, I felt it was right. This is the kind of soundtrack that the Legend of Sword and Fairy should have."

"Holy crap, I only realized it was an insert song from Legend of Sword and Fairy 2 after listening to the song. What am I going to do? I feel like Xu Kong is going to start killing people again in the plot this time."

"My brother and I share the same thought. I see everyone is very excited, but I can't help but remind you: have you forgotten how you felt when you first watched Chinese Paladin?"

"Should I give you a little hint? How many of the main characters in the Legend of Sword and Fairy series were left in the end?"

……

Some people love the TV series "Chinese Paladin" so much that they get incredibly excited when they hear that a sequel is in the works.

But later, many netizens gradually realized what was going on. When it comes to stabbing others, it might only happen once or twice, but when it comes to Xu Kong, it's a completely different kind of stab.

Leaving aside the first Legend of Sword and Fairy film, there are also sequels like "Comrades: Almost a Love Story," "The Long Season," and "Operation Red Sea."

There are almost no storylines or characters that don't involve knives.

Including "Infernal Affairs," which is still showing in theaters recently.
The ending of Chen Yongren's story is very heartbreaking.

Chen Yongren spent ten years as an undercover agent, enduring such hardship, and even his only confidant, his superior, died.

In the end, just as he was about to regain his identity, he died.

In other words, the various plot points and character designs in "Infernal Affairs" are all exceptionally well done.

Otherwise, after thinking about it for a while, I still feel uneasy.

Now that news has suddenly come out that a sequel to Chinese Paladin is in the works, is Xu Kong going to act like a jerk again?
This is indeed very suspicious.

Some viewers even said they would wait and see when the show airs, since Xu Kong had once again surprised them with his unexpected stab in the back.

In the end, you'll be the one who suffers.

However, many people do not believe such statements.

Given the current situation, the fact that Xu Kong has filmed a new drama is enough to make many people watch it immediately.

If I told you that this was a hugely popular sequel to the classic Chinese Paladin series, probably no one would be able to resist the temptation to wait and see instead of watching it immediately.

……

"I think everyone doesn't need to worry so much. Xu Kong has managed to keep things somewhat under control over the years."

"Take 'The Long Season' for example. Although it is also very poignant, Xu Kong actually tried his best to control the expression of such emotions. Even the overall style is not entirely aimed at making you cry."

"So perhaps the ending of Chinese Paladin left people feeling disappointed, which is why he chose to make a sequel this time, to make up for it?"

Some film and television bloggers have offered their own interpretations.

However, his viewpoint was quickly refuted by most other bloggers.

Moreover, the remarks were quite heated.

"fart!"

"The blogger really didn't understand most of Xu Kong's works."

"Do you really think Xu Kongfa's methods are as low-level as those of some third-rate directors?"

“Take the show ‘The Long Season’ for example. It deliberately intersperses various funny scenes of the elderly trio. Sometimes, the style is even more comedic.”

"But if you think about it carefully, think about Wang Xiang's life experiences, think about Gong Biao, the former top student, and think about Ma Desheng, the spirited police captain."

"You can't help but curse, 'Damn it, why do all the characters in this story have such a miserable life!'"

"This feeling, this lingering effect, can really keep you coming back for a long time."

……

The online release of information about the Legend of Sword and Fairy 2 is just a brief announcement.

Even the specific cast and filming start date haven't been determined yet.

This sparked an alarming amount of discussion.

Many of their peers only then realized how absurd things were.

For Xu Kong and the entire Fengge, just thinking that Xu Kong is only in his twenties, or even less than thirty, means he is at the peak of his creative career.

The despair of having to live entirely in the other's shadow for decades to come is enough.

On the other hand, even if Xu Kongzhen has completely run out of ideas and can no longer produce new works.

Relying solely on an IP with so many past hit works is already a bit too exaggerated and outrageous.

Because not to mention those directed by Xu Kong himself, even those that were only responsible for screenwriting and production almost all became huge hits!
Last year's "The Beginning" and the Spring Festival release "Operation Red Sea" are good examples.

When Xu Kong suddenly announced his plan to film a second installment of the Legend of Sword and Fairy series, his peers realized that even if Xu Kong and Feng Ge were to rely on their past achievements now, they still possessed a formidable foundation.

They can just grab any old hit IP and give it a title like "Second or Sequel".

They can all generate huge traffic on their own.

How are other companies in the same industry supposed to compete?
Besides, no one really believes that Xu Kong, who just directed a work like "Infernal Affairs," has run out of ideas and decided to rely on his past achievements to make a sequel to "Chinese Paladin."

……

"Director Wu, what do we do now?"

For Wu Youxue, the huge success of "New Generation" was not exactly good news at this time.

It's worth noting that the reason why "The Masked Singer" had already reached the semi-finals but the finals were suddenly postponed was because several episodes were later added to include a performance revival round.

They were all added on short notice.

The reason is that once "The Masked Singer" finishes airing, Mango TV won't be able to find a new variety show to take its place.

So, taking advantage of the popularity of the singers whose identities have not yet been revealed, as well as Mango TV's quality control over singing competition shows and the design of variety show segments.

The added exhibition matches and revival matches in recent episodes have garnered decent popularity and positive reviews.

But no matter how long it's delayed, the final competition will definitely be recorded.

We can't keep dragging this on like this.

……

In addition, the popularity of this new program on Tomato TV is soaring.

After the finale of "The Masked Singer" airs, it will probably be broadcast on a rival channel.

Even in their strongest area, variety shows, Mango TV seems to be showing signs of decline.

Unfortunately, while "The Voice of China" was quite popular before, it was far from reaching the level of chart manipulation it has now.

However, due to Xu Kong's addition, the show's popularity, viewership, and the number of netizens who had not previously paid attention to it all suddenly increased significantly.

There's not much we can do.

Wu Youxue's helpless reply.

His tone wasn't particularly anxious.

Now he needs to manage almost every aspect of Mango's business.

It's become much harder for him to personally step in and put out fires like when he first took over as deputy director. Although he wasn't officially named, he was still the one who planned the variety shows.

For shows like "Singer" and "King of Mask Singer," Wu Youxue specifically communicated with the directors to adjust and finalize various plans in a timely manner.

But now, he certainly won't have as much energy and time to devote to it anymore.

……

It could even be said that compared to the issues with variety shows, what he needs to be more concerned about now is the exclusive broadcasting rights of the new drama Xu Kong announced, namely, the Legend of Sword and Fairy 2.

That's right, even though this drama hasn't even officially started filming yet.

However, it is estimated that all domestic platforms, including TV stations such as Mango TV, have long been eyeing the exclusive broadcasting rights.

No one will doubt the show's subsequent popularity and data.

Mango does indeed have a deep cooperative relationship with Feng Ge.

However, Xu Kong had previously stated firmly that Mango TV only had priority under the same copyright fee.

In other words, if other TV stations are willing to invest heavily, Feng Ge can still cooperate with them.

At the time, Wu Youxue thought that even though Feng Ge had reached that level, Xu Kong still had his own arrogance.

Unexpectedly, it seems that Xu Kong had foreseen that Feng Ge would be able to make every new drama of her company a hot commodity with copyrights that all platforms would be scrambling to acquire in less than a year.

Conversely, Wu Youxue, who initially thought it unnecessary to persist, has now found himself in the most passive position at Mango.

They should have gone all in back then, betting heavily on Feng Ge's new drama, forcing the other party to have an exclusive collaboration with Mango TV.

Wu Youxue felt a rare pang of regret.

...(End of chapter)