Er Gen

Er Gen is the pen name of Liu Yong , a Chinese web novelist best known for his xianxia and cultivation fiction. He began publishing online fiction in 2009 and rose to prominence with Renegade Immortal, followed by Pursuit of the Truth, I Shall Seal the Heavens, A Will Eternal, A World Worth Protecting, and Beyond the Timescape. His novels are linked by recurring fictional concepts and settings and have been adapted into animated productions and other media.

In 2015, Er Gen received the top award on the Chinese Original Literature Billboard. He was elected to the National Committee of the China Writers Association in 2016, one of five web writers elected to the committee for the first time that year.

He began writing online fiction in 2009 while working as a teacher. A contemporary profile stated that he subsequently left teaching and became a full-time web novelist.

China Writers Network later described Beyond the Timescape as a xianxia or mythic cultivation novel. It began serialization on 12 June 2022 and concluded on 4 July 2025 after nearly three years of serialization, with approximately 4.72 million Chinese characters.

Writing style and interconnected fiction

Er Gen's major novels have been described as part of an interconnected fictional project. In a 2016 interview with The Paper, he said that several of his earlier novels shared a broader fictional universe and that A Will Eternal continued this approach. He also emphasized that he did not want the prospect of intellectual-property adaptations to dictate the way he wrote his novels.

Reception and commercial success

Er Gen's success placed him among the most commercially successful Chinese web novelists of his generation. China Writers Network reported that after five years of online writing he ranked fourth on the ninth China Online Writers Rich List, with reported royalties of 25 million yuan. His readership included more than 100 Qidian "Alliance Masters", a group of high-level paying supporters; contemporary reporting stated that their number eventually exceeded 500.

His institutional recognition followed his commercial success. He was elected to the National Committee of the China Writers Association in 2016, among the first group of web writers to join the committee.

Adaptations

A Will Eternal

A Will Eternal has been adapted into a Chinese animated series produced for Tencent Video. The first season premiered on 12 August 2020. It was presented as Tencent Video's first long-form 2D "annual" animation project and was subsequently followed by a second season beginning in 2022.

The adaptation was notable for retaining the novel's comic tone while using a 2D animation format that differed from the increasingly common 3D web-animation model in China. Contemporary commentary in China described the series as an example of the increasing maturity of domestically produced web-novel adaptations.

Renegade Immortal

Renegade Immortal was adapted into a 3D animated series produced by Sparkly Key Animation for Tencent Video. It premiered on 25 September 2023.

Beyond the Timescape

An animated adaptation of Beyond the Timescape was produced by Youku in collaboration with the production companies Feiyu Films and Ian Animation, with Youku and The Unreal World credited as producers. The first season premiered on 28 December 2025 and concluded in June 2026. A second season, marketed as a continuous year-long broadcast ("年番"), began on 20 June 2026 on Youku.