When Youku unveiled its live-action adaptation of The Immortal Ascension (凡人修仙传), anticipation exploded. Over 5.13 million viewers pre-registered, making it the platform's most-anticipated drama of the year. This frenzy stems from the source material's legendary status. Wang Yu's web novel, begun in 2008, wasn't just popular—it revolutionized the genre. Defying early struggles, it became the first "Hundred Alliance" book on Qidian, propelling the author to "Platinum Writer" status with only half the story published. Its tale of an ordinary villager navigating a treacherous cultivation world through sheer caution and calculation birthed the "Mortal Flow" subgenre. Now, Youku bets this powerhouse IP can conquer television.
Foundational Legend
The novel's genius lay in its ruthless subversion. Forget chosen ones or destined heroes. Protagonist Han Li (韩立) starts as Qingniu Village's unremarkable cowherd—skin darkened, expression dull. His path to Qi Refining begins not with grandeur, but desperation. Failing seventh place in the Seven Mysteries Sect's entrance exam, he and fellow reject Zhang Tie (张铁) are "saved" by the seemingly benevolent Elder Mo. This salvation, however, is a trap. Elder Mo, secretly poisoned and dying, needs a cultivator's body for Body Snatching. He nurtures Han Li's Evergreen Life Technique only to harvest him later.
The drama captures this brutal mentorship. Director Yang Yang (not the actor) shot across Zhejiang, Xinjiang, and Guizhou, using real mist-shrouded peaks and deserts to ground the fantasy. Yet, crucial nuance is lost. Han Li’s acquisition of the reality-defying Small Green Bottle—his ultimate edge—is reduced to a fleeting visual hint, stripping his ascent of its pivotal catalyst. The subsequent life-or-death duel with Mo is condensed into three stark scenes: feigned weakness, hidden preparation, and lethal reversal.
Han Li's escape from Mo’s clutches marks his true entry into cultivation’s perilous hierarchy. The narrative accelerates, stumbling through a rushed subplot in Mo Family Fortress before stabilizing as Han Li joins Yellow Maple Valley. Here, his defining survival instinct emerges: flight over fight. When pursued by a Foundation Establishment cultivator in recent episodes, his calculated use of exploding talismans to create chaos and escape finally earns him the fan moniker "Han Runs Away"—a core tenet of the Mortal Flow philosophy.
Anime Revolution
Understanding the live-action gamble requires acknowledging the Anime's seismic impact. Released on Bilibili in 2020, it was instantly hailed as "National Comic's Pinnacle." Its meticulous production, cinematic framing, and profound exploration of cultivation lore earned an 8.1 Douban rating. Single episodes drew over 150,000 concurrent viewers, with countless more on pirate sites.
This success wasn't just popularity; it redefined visual expectations for the IP. The anime established a distinct aesthetic language for the cultivation world—gritty yet majestic, perilous yet wondrous. Its character designs became iconic, and its action choreography set a high bar. It proved the story’s core appeal—the tension of an underdog surviving through wits in a world stacked against him—could translate powerfully to screen, laying immense pressure on the live-action version to match or surpass this standard.
Youku responded with an all-out marketing blitz: homepage takeovers, subway ads, star promotions. The payoff was immediate—record-breaking platform heat upon launch. This reflects a broader industry truth: top-tier IPs are goldmines. Yuewen Group's 34% surge in copyright revenue to 3.99 billion yuan last year underscores this value.
Screen Transition Troubles
The live-action adaptation grapples with inherent contradictions. Casting popular actor Yang Yang (杨洋) as Han Li creates dissonance. Despite darkened skin, his inherent charisma clashes with the character's essential ordinariness. In pivotal scenes, like the life-or-death struggle with the masterfully menacing Elder Mo (played by veteran Jin Shijie), Yang Yang's performance can feel superficial, fueling online critiques of a "Greasy Heavenly Lord."
The core challenge lies in adaptation itself. Condensing a sprawling 3-million-word novel into 30 episodes forces painful compromises. Beyond the lost Small Green Bottle, the drama struggles to consistently embrace the novel’s defining "Mortal Flow" ethos—the unglamorous, often lonely grind focused solely on survival. It wavers between gritty realism and traditional Xianxia spectacle, sometimes sacrificing the former's unique tension for the latter's familiar tropes.
A fleeting moment in recent episodes offers hope: Han Li’s chilling declaration "The Great Dao is Ruthless," accompanied by a cold glint in his eye, hints at a potential return to the source's darker, more pragmatic core. True "Mortal" success demands embracing the thorns, not smoothing the path. As the cultivation world's power plays intensify, the drama's ultimate triumph hinges on whether it dares to let its hero truly walk alone on that bloody, untrodden path—just as the novel intended. The fate of this gamble, much like Han Li's journey, remains perilously uncertain.
