Chapter 314 Depth Charge

Lu Xuan got off the plane and suddenly noticed his phone was flooded with missed calls and over 99 unread messages.

It was as if some major event had occurred during his dozen or so hours in the air.

Su Yao's phone was the same. The moment she turned off airplane mode, a barrage of notifications popped up.

Lu Xuan prioritized the messages based on the importance of the sender, starting with Aunt Liu.

As he read, his expression changed dramatically.

During his time in the air, his fans, like war gods, had swept through the internet, one by one slaughtering those "little fresh meat" idols.

Lu Xuan immediately pictured Death knocking on doors one by one.

The trigger for all this was an unfounded piece of information posted by someone on an overseas website, which Lu Xuan found both ridiculous and exasperating.

Lu Xuan surmised that some people using VPNs had discovered the message and brought it back as a joke.

However, some people in China were genuinely lacking a few brain cells and took it as fact, starting to denounce Lu Xuan and Xuan Yao Company.

Initially, it wasn't a big deal, but as "little fresh meat" jumped in, there were signs of entertainment companies pushing things along from behind the scenes.

Perhaps these companies were seeing if they could use this as a way to disgust him.

If it worked, great. If not, they wouldn't lose anything.

But as things progressed, the situation gradually spiraled out of the entertainment companies' control. Even their vast armies of internet trolls were ineffective.

The usually-silent majority banded together and dragged a top-tier流量 (liúliàng) star (high traffic celebrity) from their pedestal.

Furthermore, some "little fresh meat" saw their fan base shrink by three-quarters during this wave of online attacks.

So by the time Lu Xuan got off the plane, everything had calmed down.

The fans had vented their anger, the entertainment companies were scared into silence, and Lu Xuan was completely oblivious.

Only the "little fresh meat" suffered in this world.

Su Yao, having finished reading her messages, looked at Lu Xuan and said with a smile, "My friends are all shocked by your influence. They said the internet is full of your fans today."

"They had just issued a statement, and hadn't even given any interviews before the online trolls disappeared without a trace."

Lu Xuan shook his head.

"Their claims were baseless, and couldn't pose any real threat to me. Plus, *Hero* is a high-quality film."

"So my influence is secondary. The netizens are using this as an opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with traffic stars."

Su Yao said thoughtfully, "Indeed, I also feel the entertainment industry's environment isn't good right now. I used to enjoy listening to the top songs on music apps."

"But after those traffic stars came along, I couldn't listen to the music charts anymore. It was all just fans刷 (shuā, artificially boosting) the numbers!"

Su Yao pouted unhappily.

"It's so annoying!"

Lu Xuan patted her head and pulled her into his arms.

"That's where I come in! Let's work together to purify the entertainment industry!"

Su Yao enjoyed the warmth of Lu Xuan's embrace. They got into the car back to the company.

As soon as they returned, Aunt Liu rushed towards him in a flurry.

"I'm planning to arrange a press conference to explain the situation to the fans and put an end to it. What do you think?"

Lu Xuan raised his phone.

"Have you seen the comments under my Weibo post? The fans are all clamoring for recognition, so we need to give them something."

"They told me to release a new work as soon as possible. Let's announce the news about *Xianjian Qi Xia Zhuan* (Chinese Paladin) now."

Aunt Liu nodded when she saw that Lu Xuan had a plan. "Alright, I'll arrange it now. You rest for a bit and then head straight to the press conference."

Lu Xuan took Su Yao to the休息室 (xiū xī shì, lounge) inside and changed into more formal attire.

Then he went to the company's large conference room. Reporters familiar with Xuan Yao Company had already arrived.

Seeing Lu Xuan, they immediately picked up their cameras and started taking pictures.

Lu Xuan and Su Yao calmly walked to the stage. He pressed his hands down towards the reporters.

Once the room quieted down, he said, "Thank you, members of the press, for coming. The purpose of today's gathering is to address the online controversy."

"Ah, I'm in the sky, but the blame is chasing me on the ground. It's tough!"

The reporters laughed good-naturedly.

Lu Xuan became serious.

"First of all, this is a baseless rumor. Our company will post the entire course of events on our official website later."

"Those who still believe our company has problems can review the events. If you insist, our company will provide a platform for a face-to-face confrontation."

The incident had passed. Lu Xuan was simply reiterating Xuan Yao Company's position.

His real focus was on what came next.

"The reason I called everyone here today is to fulfill the requests of our many fans and announce our company's next plans."

"Our company is currently working on a film and television adaptation of *Xianjian Qi Xia Zhuan*."

"Su Yao and I will both be participating, so everyone can look forward to it."

The reporters below the stage were stunned, then eagerly raised their hands, hoping to get a chance to ask questions.

Everyone knew that *Xianjian Qi Xia Zhuan*, this phenomenal novel, was going to be adapted into a film or television series.

But there was no accurate estimate for the specific date.

Who would have thought that Lu Xuan, having just returned from the Cannes Film Festival laden with honors, would choose to plunge headfirst into the television industry!

Big news, definitely big news!

Lu Xuan chose a reporter sitting in the back to answer their question.

"Mr. Lu Xuan, hello, I'm a reporter from Hua Xin News Agency. I would like to ask, has the casting for *Xianjian Qi Xia Zhuan* been finalized?"

Lu Xuan shook his head.

"Only three roles have been finalized so far. We are still looking for the remaining roles. This time, in order to recreate the original work as much as possible, we want to choose people who fit the characters."

"There are still many open roles, so if anyone is interested, they can submit their resume to Xuan Yao Company."

"We will select the best candidates."

Another bombshell!

The reporters felt they had come to the right place this time. They began drafting articles on the spot, eager to publish them first.

"*Xianjian Qi Xia Zhuan* Film and Television Adaptation Launched, Lu Xuan and Su Yao Confirmed as Male and Female Leads!"

"Breaking News! *Xianjian Qi Xia Zhuan* Film and Television Adaptation Will Hold Open Casting Calls."

The two news items exploded in the entertainment industry like depth charges.