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The Mystic Nine: Against the Coming Storm begins filming with William Chan, Joseph Zeng and Sebrina Chen leads

Michelle Topham June 2, 2025

Main cast of The treasured Bajia Book

Here’s what to know about The Mystic Nine: Against the Coming Storm production details

If you don’t want to read through the entire article about Chinese drama The Mystic Nine: Against the Coming Storm‘s cast, here are the key points:

  • William Chan, Joseph Zeng and Sebrina Chen have been confirmed as starring.
  • Filming began on May 31st, 2025 at Hengdian World Studios
  • C-drama consists of 36 episodes
  • Character posters and booting ceremony posters released

The treasured baija book booting ceremony

The Mystic Nine: Against the Coming Storm‘s booting ceremony photos, character posters released

Way back in 2016, we were treated to the excellent supernatural, historical mystery drama The Mystic Nine.

Airing from July 4th, 2016 on iQIYI, it came out when longer C-dramas were the norm, with 48 episodes finally being released before the series ended on October 17th, 2016.

Zeng Shunxi at the treasured bajia book booting ceremony

Yep, I will admit it was too long. Yep, I do know a fair number of people who dropped it as it did become repetitive in parts.

But, if you stuck with it, despite its length, overall the Chinese drama still turned out to be a pretty satisfying experience.

Especially if you enjoy a good adventure drama with a Tomb Raider-esque plot, and that features beautiful sets and costumes, and a stellar soundtrack.

Or, if having a leading couple with superb chemistry is important to you. (It is to me).

Chen yao

And now, almost a decade later, we are finally getting its follow up second season.

A second season that, has apparently already grabbed over 1 million pre-orders in China, and it hasn’t even ended filming yet.

Called The Mystic Nine: Against the Coming Storm (aka The Treasured Bajia Book or 九门 — Nine Gates in Mandarin Chinese), the drama began filming on May 31st at Hengdian World Studios, with booting ceremony photos being released this weekend, and with its main cast now official.

Cast and Crew of The Treasured Bajia Book booting ceremony
Cast and crew of The Mystic Nine at the booting ceremony

That main cast is William Chan (See Her Again), Joseph Zeng (Snowy Night Timeless Love), and Sebrina Chen (Best Enemy).

William Chan, of course, starred in the first season of the adventure drama, while Joseph Zeng and Sebrina Chen are new to the second season’s main cast.

Character posters for the three were also released via the drama’s official Weibo. (below)

And, while I am glad to see William Chan back as Zhang Qi Shan, I am particularly happy to see Joseph Zeng join the main cast as he has been one of my favorites since he did such a spectacular job in his lead role in Mysterious Lotus Casebook.

William Chan in The Treasured Bajia Book

Zeng Shun Xi in The Treasured Bajia Book

The Treasured Bajia Book Chen Yao

The Mystic Nine: Against the Coming Storm is being directed by Bai Shan (柏杉) (Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty), while writer of the three The Mystic Nine Side Stories, Nan Pai San Shu, (aka Xu Lei or Kennedy Xu) is writing the scripts.

The Chinese drama is being produced by YOUKU, Quantum Pan Entertainment, and Southern Pan Entertainment and consists of 36 episodes.

One The Mystic Nine: Against the Coming Storm concept poster has been released so far. (see below)

And, remember, if the 48 episodes of Season 1 drove you nuts, there are now new Chinese rules in place.

That means C-dramas are no longer allowed to be that long after production companies dragged out stories just to be able to make more money, and viewers complained.

At 36 episodes then, this one should be much more manageable.

The Treasured Bajia Book concept poster

I still have no idea when The Mystic Nine: Against the Coming Storm will premiere (likely 2026, as it is currently on YOUKU’s 2026 film list), so now is a good time to watch/rewatch its first season so, when it does drop, you aren’t struggling to figure out what’s going on.

You can watch all 48 episodes for free via Viki, or if you are a VIP subscriber over on iQIYI, the Chinese drama is streaming there.

I will be back as soon as more information about this fun-looking C-drama drops.

About the Author

Michelle Topham

Michelle Topham

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British-American journalist currently residing in Vienna, Austria and obsessed beyond measure with C-dramas, a subject I have been writing about for more than two decades. How many C-dramas have I watched? Many many hundreds. How many are still in my backlog? Hundreds more.

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Tags: Chinese Historical Drama Chinese Thriller Hanson Ying Joseph Zeng Sebrina Chen The Mystic Nine: Against the Coming Storm William Chan YOUKU

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