All-rounder Artist

Chapter 990: Chapter 918: The Condor Trilogy Chapter 990: Chapter 918: The Condor Trilogy “`

April 25.

The Dragon Awards officially announced the nominations for various films.

As expected, Xian Yu’s two films from last year garnered multiple nominations.

Among them, “The Truman Show” was nominated for Best Actor, Best Screenwriter, Best Director, and Best Film – four major awards!

Meanwhile, “Life of Pi” received nominations for Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, Best Newcomer, Best Director, Best Screenwriter, and Best Film – six major awards!

Suddenly,

the whole internet erupted in hot discussion!

“Now, who dares say that Fish Papa only goes all-in with music but treads lightly in film? These ten Dragon Award nominations are quite a feat!”

“Awesome!”

“It’s a pity that there are quite a few overlapping nominations.”

“Having both films nominated for Best Director, Best Screenwriter, and Best Film, these heavyweight awards, means that Fish Papa not only has to face other competitors but also compete with himself.”

“That’s also a good thing, though.”

“It’s definitely beneficial because having one more nominated work than others significantly increases the chances of winning.”

“Let’s see who ultimately takes home the awards.”

Being nominated and winning awards are two different concepts, so while the public heatedly discusses, they are even more curious about the actual award ceremony at the end of the month.

Because the award ceremony is on April 30.

However, Lin Yuan lost interest in following the Dragon Awards after learning about his nominations, knowing that a nomination isn’t the same as winning.

He was pondering a question at the moment:

Should he finish writing the Condor Trilogy in one go?

Soon, Lin Yuan found his answer; he decided to write “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.”

Since that book would have to be written sooner or later, why not do it while the previous two parts were still hot, letting the Dragon Saber and the Heaven-reliant Sword emerge in this world.

“OCD.”

Lin Yuan teased himself.

Having written the first two parts of the Condor Trilogy, he felt something would be missing if he didn’t finish the trilogy in one shot.

Of course.

The OCD claim was just a joke. The real reason Lin Yuan wanted to write “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber” was that the System hadn’t yet acknowledged the revival of martial arts fiction.

This meant that Lin Yuan’s task was not yet complete.

Meanwhile, in the studio, when Jin Mu learned about the concept of the Condor Trilogy from Lin Yuan, his first reaction was sheer panic:

“This new book won’t be more torturous than ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes,’ will it?”

“This time it’s a satisfying story.”

“Has Chu Kuang recovered?”

Jin Mu was skeptical and even used some online jests to tease Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan didn’t bother to explain; Jin Mu would understand once he saw the new book. Among all of Jin Yong’s martial arts novels, “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber” definitely has a typical satisfying story structure, and its male protagonist, Zhang Wuji, has the highest degree of wish-fulfillment among all the male leads created by him.

“Alright then.”

Seeing Lin Yuan’s nonchalant demeanor, Jin Mu decided to trust him once more.

A hint of anticipation suddenly flashed in his eyes: “Since you’re building the concept of the Condor Trilogy, will the new book feature Guo Xiang?”

Like many readers who had finished ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes.’

Jin Mu also had a deep “Guo Xiang” complex and held a special affection for this character.

“Barely.”

Lin Yuan said, “The next book will start with Guo Xiang, but she’s not the protagonist because this story takes place a hundred years after ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes.'”

“A hundred years later?”

Jin Mu couldn’t help but laugh: “This third part spans quite a bit of time. By that point, the characters from ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes’ would have passed away. Will their endings be addressed?”

“Of course.”

Lin Yuan gave a minor spoiler: “The third part’s purpose is to resolve the endings of the characters from the first two parts, and it also fills in the gap left by the last chapter of ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes.'”

“The gap in the ending?”

Jin Mu paused, then suddenly realized: “Are you talking about that inexplicable little monk, Zhang Jun Bao, at the end of ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes’?”

At the end of ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes,’

Zhang Jun Bao made his debut, showing off his terrifying martial arts talent in a fight under Yang Guo’s guidance against Yin Ke Xi.

This plot point caught the attention of some readers, but it didn’t provoke much discussion overall. Jin Mu didn’t expect that this briefly featured character in the last chapter would be involved in Chu Kuang’s next novel, the last part of the Condor Trilogy.

Little monk Zhang Jun Bao?

That name was really quite jarring.

Lin Yuan said, “In the future, everyone will call him Mr. Zhang, and he will become the Sect Leader of Wudang, a legend of his time.”

Jin Mu was stunned: “Is Wudang similar to Taoism? A legend of his time? Mr. Zhang? That’s not a simple title. You’re not making Zhang Jun Bao the protagonist of the next book, are you? But the timeline doesn’t seem to match up. Did this Mr. Zhang live for over a hundred years?”

Lin Yuan nodded: “Exactly, but he’s not the protagonist either, the protagonist is his disciple’s disciple.”

“Alright then.”

Jin Mu could accept this setting: “But you said it was part of the Condor Trilogy, right? Is this all the connection there is?”

“Of course not, there’s also the white ape that followed Yin Ke Xi.”

“The white ape?”

“I won’t go into details now. Including the descendants of Yang Guo, they will also make a brief appearance in the new book, hinting at ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes.’ All these details you’ll understand once you read the book. Also, do you remember Yang Guo’s Heavy Iron Sword?”

“Of course!”

That was one of the most thrilling plot points in ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes.’

Yang Guo met the giant condor and obtained the Heavy Iron Sword passed down by Dugu Qiubai!

Lin Yuan then mentioned the sequel to this Heavy Iron Sword: “In the end, Yang Guo gifted the Heavy Iron Sword to Guo Xiang, and in order to continue the legacy of resisting the Mongol invasion, Huang Rong and Guo Jing melted down the sword and split it into two, forming a saber and a sword.”

“A saber and a sword?”

“More precisely, the Dragon Saber and the Heaven-reliant Sword.”

“Such domineering names!”

“Indeed they are, and they also caused a storm of blood and violence in the martial world. The new book’s protagonist’s parents died because of that.”

Martial arts fiction indeed cannot escape the trope of orphaned protagonists.

“`

“Hatred has always been the biggest and most fail-proof driving force in novel creation.”

“Is this considered a spoiler?”

“This level doesn’t really count as a spoiler.”

The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber started with a lot of plots, so indeed it’s not considered a spoiler.

At least Lin Yuan didn’t tell Jin Mu that hidden within the Dragon Saber and the Heaven Sword were Martial Skills Secret Manuals such as Wumu Yi Shu, the Nine Yin Manual, and even the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, which were so incredible they defied the heavens. This was also to preserve the pleasure of Jin Mu’s reading experience.

“Uh-huh.”

Jin Mu asked another question that he was extremely concerned about, ultimately he still couldn’t let go of Guo Xiang:

“Was Guo Xiang very powerful later on?”

“She founded the Emei Sect.”

Lin Yuan thought for a moment and said, “The Wudang founded by Guo Xiang, as well as Wudang which was created by Zhang Sanfeng, also known as the little monk Zhang Jun Bao, are part of the Six Great Sects in the new book.”

“Does that mean she was very impressive?”

“Yes, otherwise why would Mr. Zhang have been unable to forget her for so many years.”

“Is there a love story too?”

“Unrequited love.”

Guo Xiang couldn’t escape the curse of “a single glimpse of Yang Guo leads to a lifetime of misjudgment.”

One hundred and three years later.

On his deathbed, Zhang Sanfeng felt for a pair of cast iron Arhats beside him and told the people around him:

“These iron Arhats were given to me by Guo Xiang a hundred years ago…”

Joy and fun, parting sorrows, among them are even more foolish children and girls.

Grandmaster Zhang Sanfeng’s cultivation was so profound that he should leave worldly concerns behind on his deathbed, but in the end, he still couldn’t let go of that girl’s smile.

Just as the girl had never forgotten the fireworks when she was sixteen.

…

Five days after Lin Yuan and Jin Mu finished discussing Heaven-Reliant Dragon Slayer.

The Dragon Awards Ceremony finally began!

Unlike the previous times:

This time, Xian Yu wasn’t just a runner-up.

The movie “The Truman Show” won both Best Actor and Best Picture, two heavyweight awards!

The movie “Life of Pi” won Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, and Best New Actor, three awards with not insignificant prestige.

A great harvest!

For both Xian Yu and Starlight, this was indeed a great harvest.

Although they still missed out on some major awards despite being nominated, considering the multitude of movies from Qin, Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, and Liu continents, and a lineup filled with strong competitors, this result was actually quite good.

At the same time.

Lin Yuan received a system notification: “Congratulations, Host, on completing the task of [Gaining Recognition at the Dragon Awards]. Reward: a random treasure chest!”

Lin Yuan checked it immediately.

However, Lin Yuan was disappointed:

It turned out to be a Silver Treasure Chest.

After seeing the allure of a Gold Treasure Chest, a Silver Treasure Chest hardly piqued Lin Yuan’s interest anymore. It seemed his luck was not enough.

“Open it.”

Lin Yuan directly opened the Silver Treasure Chest.

As soon as the Silver Treasure Chest was opened, a new notification from the System followed:

“Congratulations, Host, on acquiring the movie script for ‘Kung Fu Hustle’!”

Eh?

It’s Star Grandpa’s “Kung Fu Hustle”?

Lin Yuan was stunned for a moment, but soon a smile appeared on his face.

To get such a movie from the Silver Treasure Chest was indeed a pretty good result.

“This could be considered a rather unconventional Wuxia movie, right?”

It seemed the System was also silently assisting in fulfilling the mission of reviving Wuxia, wasn’t it?

You see.

This “Kung Fu Hustle” could be regarded as the pinnacle of Chinese action movies and also a work that encapsulated the later style of Star Grandpa!

In the movie.

The Wuxia elements were extremely strong.

The characters Landlord and Landlady had two names that would make anyone who has watched The Return of the Condor Heroes smile knowingly:

Yang Guo!

Little Dragon Maiden!

This was a tribute from Star Grandpa to Jin Yong, for which he even paid the Master royalties, only to be donated by the Master to a charity organization.

When Jin Yong mentioned this during an interview, he expressed surprise:

Zhou Xingchi was the first director to pay him royalties for merely referencing elements from his Wuxia novels in a film.

After all, the movie barely used the names Yang Guo, Little Dragon Maiden, and some basic martial skills names.

People say Star Grandpa is stingy, but it certainly wasn’t evident in this instance.

Later, when “Kung Fu Hustle” was released, Jin Yong highly praised the film.

And for Lin Yuan, who was writing the Legend of the Condor Heroes trilogy, getting such a movie from the treasure chest was quite interesting.

In fact, it wasn’t only Jin Yong.

The movie also paid tribute to “Spiderman,” such as when a character dies, it borrowed the classic dialogue from that film:

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Lin Yuan had already filmed “Spiderman,” and audiences could easily get the reference—

Without hesitation.

Lin Yuan decided to include this movie in his future film production plans.