The advent of the internet age.
Bullet comments have become an indispensable part of many drama-following audiences. Perhaps it's because everyone likes to watch TV with their phones, and bullet comments can provide a sense of companionship.
Also, due to the importance of mobile phones in this era, televisions don't seem as crucial.
As the times evolve, television stations also have their own live streaming platforms.
After all, young people guarantee viewership.
In addition to airing on traditional television, programs are also simultaneously broadcast in the station's own live stream rooms.
All of these are counted towards ratings.
At this moment, the popularity of "Asking the Sword to Seek Immortals" has reached eighty million.
Eighty million viewers in just a few minutes of airing.
It can be described as terrifying.
The theme song, coupled with grand visuals and the actors' fair and clean ancient costumes, was stunning, driving the traffic fans to frantically post bullet comments.
"Ahhh! Truly a big production!"
"My brother is so handsome!"
"Qingyun brother is the most handsome, no arguments accepted!"
"I heard Qingyun brother suffered a lot to film this drama, still filming in the scorching heat."
"I heard that the second male lead, Liu Shuiyuan, filmed a rain scene and then had a fever of over forty degrees Celsius. He is truly dedicated."
"What's this? Qingyun brother's hand was scraped raw while filming a fight scene, but he didn't stop working and just put on a band-aid to continue filming. I'm heartbroken for him!"
"Damn, I came for the 'Asking the Sword to Seek Immortals' IP. What kind of ghosts and monsters are these bullet comments? Traffic fans are truly terrifying. Turning off the bullet comments!"
"Haha, brother, get used to it, this is the fan circle."
"Original novel fans, get out!"
Before the TV series even began, original novel fans and traffic fans started arguing.
Many who read online novels don't understand the fan circle, but seeing the comments praising their brother's dedication almost made them laugh themselves to death.
No wonder many veteran artists say that this is the era of feminization, where young idols are more effeminate than women, and they spread values like "My brother is so handsome" and "My brother is as beautiful as a painting" to their fans.
Speaking of which, it's worth mentioning Wu Xingyang, the lead actor of "Huo Yuanjia."
He has publicly mocked current young idols more than once.
And then he was chased and cursed at by those idols' fans for years.
However, he still refused to compromise and continued to criticize, even if he had no more acting opportunities, even if every role he played was blacklisted by traffic fans, he still insisted on speaking out.
"It takes hours to do makeup, more feminine than women."
"You're asked to act in a martial arts film, and you wield a sword like you're holding a burning stick. Is this a man?"
"Since when did punctuality become a virtue for an actor?"
These golden lines are still active online, becoming a stain for Zhang Qingyun and those young idols.
If it weren't for Jiang Nan asking him to play the protagonist in "Huo Yuanjia," he would probably have retired from the industry by now.
However, because of him, although "Huo Yuanjia" became a huge hit, it was still nitpicked by traffic fans, who claimed it only became popular because of Ting Yu.
But overall, Wu Xingyang's comeback gained him the support of many neutral viewers and those who disliked the effeminate young idols.
The saying "You'll become famous by criticizing Zhang Qingyun" also started with him.
At this moment.
The television had already begun.
The first scene was a majestic and grand world of ice and snow.
"The Immortal Emperor is the sun of this continent. A thousand years ago..."
The voiceover was that of a young man, identifiable as the renowned voice actor Chen Jie.
This was likely the protagonist explaining the world's background.
Although they mentioned the Immortal Emperor, the visuals stunned everyone.
A group of black-robed cultivators on horseback were chasing an old man with a white beard and hair in the ice and snow.
Then, because the old man's horse wasn't as fast as theirs, they were immediately caught up. Finally, under the围攻 of everyone, the old man perished on the spot. However, his sword transformed into a beam of light and flew away.
"Don't tell me that's Emperor Chiyan?"
"Brother, you guessed correctly. That's the Immortal Emperor. I've seen the cast..."
"Damn it, this is unbelievable! The Immortal Emperor riding a horse!?"
"I can't hold it in. Immortal Emperor, dare you dismount and fight?"
"Haha, this is Xianxia, spirit energy manifesting as a horse?"
"Old Thief Liufeng, come out and see what your novel has been turned into! Can you bear to see your hard work being ruined like this?"
"666, I, Zhang, am not worthy to watch this drama. Goodbye!"
"It's hard to imagine an Emperor-level expert fighting on horseback, only to be caught up because his horse wasn't fast enough..."
"Screenwriter, come out, I have something to discuss with you."
"Discuss what? The zombie moved the screenwriter's head, shook it with disappointment, and the passing dung beetle's eyes lit up."
"I'm out, I'm out, going to watch Xianjian next door..."
At this moment, the bullet comments were all curses.
Xianxia drama.
Experts.
Immortal Emperor.
Riding a horse?
It was utterly absurd.
However, the traffic fans didn't care about these things.
"If you like it, watch it. If not, get lost!"
"Some original novel fans just like to make their presence known."
"That's right, I think it's great. The special effects are good, and the fight scenes are good too."
"They are deliberately slandering this drama, definitely fans of the neighboring Xianjian."
As everyone enthusiastically posted bullet comments,
The popularity of the live stream surged again.
Many original novel fans couldn't stand it and directly left the live stream room.
Some went to "Asking the Sword to Seek Immortals" author Liufeng's Weibo to scold, while others went to Tencent Video to watch Xianjian.
There is much commonality among book fans, as the online novel circle is not that large, and there are only a few master authors. Those who watch Xianxia have generally read popular books. Liufeng's book fans might also be Jiang Nan's book fans.
The remaining viewers were those with high tolerance for "toxicity" and affection for the book, so they persisted in watching the drama.
However, they discovered they were gravely mistaken.
In this drama, whether it was the Qi Refining stage or the Nascent Soul stage, the mode of transportation was horses.
Occasionally, there was a scene of flying with a sword, but it was crudely made, with no sword techniques or actions. They simply stepped on the flying sword and ascended like an elevator.
Moreover, to highlight the Xianxia aspect, the entire drama's color palette was excessively white, with actors in white clothes. The skin smoothing made the already uncoordinated faces completely merge into one mass.
The male lead, Zhang Qingyun, maintained a cold expression throughout, showcasing his AI-like acting skills.
The female lead's expressions were all over the place, with many instances of lip-syncing issues.
Even so, some fans were still exclaiming their delight in the bullet comments.
"Ahhh! Qingyun brother is so handsome!" Da Feng Novel Network
"Goddess Zheng Shuang is too beautiful!"
"Qingyun brother in white is like snow, like a celestial being!"
"Damn it, ignorance is terrifying. That's called a banished immortal! Zhí é zhí!"
"I'm out, I'm out, I need to go to the hospital to measure my blood pressure..."
"The film and television industry is dead, Xianxia dramas are extinct!"
"Sigh... the script has been changed by a stupid screenwriter to the point of being unrecognizable."
After the first episode of "Asking the Sword to Seek Immortals" aired, its popularity decreased somewhat.
This was because the original novel fans truly couldn't endure it anymore. No matter how much affection they had, they couldn't let the crew force-feed them excrement.
However, the drama's largest audience consisted of traffic fans, so even with the departure of original novel fans, the popularity remained very strong.