Fans of the superb Chinese drama Guardians of the Dafeng will be excited to hear Dylan Wang’s new drama, Live Long and Prosper, has officially begun filming.
The filming is projected to last 150 days. Yep, it’s a long schedule, but the drama is 40 episodes, and it is a wuxia fantasy, and we all know how complicated they can be in sets, costumes, props and then CGI in post-production.
The new C-drama, titled 咸鱼飞升 (ie: Salted Fish Rising) in Chinese, (which we will get to in a minute), is based on the popular web novel Xian Yu Fei Sheng (咸鱼飞升) by Zhong Guan An Du (重关暗度), and stars Dylan Wang (aka Wang Hedi) alongside the equally wonderful Li Qin (Joy of Life).
The cast of Live Long and Prosper also stars Wang Duo (A League of Nobleman), Rongzi Shan (Lost in the Shadows), Zhang Ya Qin (The Blossoming Love), Xia Meng (Riverside Code at Qingming Festival), Wu Xize (aka Caesar Wu) (Blossoms in Adversity), and Ye Sheng Jia (Sword and Fairy).
Check the photograph from the C-drama’s ‘booting ceremony’ down below to see if your favorite Chinese actor is also involved.
Similar to Guardians of the Dafeng, the drama is also “male-centric”, so you can probably expect a cast of equally cute dudes to eventually flood your screen. Yay!
The plot of Dylan Wang’s Live Long and Prosper
And we are now onto the whole Salted Fish thing.
The Chinese title 咸鱼飞升 (ie: Salted Fish Rising) is a Chinese internet slang term that combines two contrasting ideas:
-
咸鱼 (xián yú) – Literally means “salted fish,” but metaphorically refers to someone who is lazy, unmotivated, or just “coasting through life” without ambition (similar to the English expression “couch potato”).
-
飞升 (fēi shēng) – Means “to ascend to heaven” or “to achieve immortality,” often used in fantasy/xianxia contexts to describe a mortal becoming a god or reaching a higher state of existence.
Now, don’t write this in stone, but my favorite (and usually incredibly reliable AI engine) tells me this is the plot of Live Long and Prosper, and then gave me an excellent explanation of as to why when I asked:
Live Long and Prosper (咸鱼飞升) is a humorous xianxia (cultivation) parody that plays with tropes of the genre — think The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by MXTX or Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, without the Boys’ Love’.
The protagonist is a classic “salted fish” (a lazy, unambitious person) who, after cultivating his rear end off in his former life and still dying miserably, through absurd luck and misunderstandings in his new life, ends up on a path to “ascension” (becoming an immortal).
Key elements of the drama’s plot include:
Unwilling Hero: The male lead has no desire to cultivate or fight for power but keeps getting dragged into conflicts—often surviving through sheer coincidence or others misinterpreting his laziness as “profound wisdom.”
Misunderstandings: His passive actions (e.g., napping, avoiding training) are mistaken for secret techniques or divine insight, leading to a reputation as a genius.
Comedic Cultivation: The novel subverts xianxia clichés (e.g., face-slapping, hidden potential) by having the MC “succeed” without effort, mocking the genre’s typical grind.
Supporting Cast: Characters include overzealous disciples, scheming elders, and rivals who can’t comprehend why the “salted fish” keeps winning.
It ends by comparing Live Long and Prosper to this:
Think of it as One Punch Man meets xianxia, but where the MC’s indifference becomes his greatest power.
Now, not having read the first chapter of the Chinese novel, your guess is as good as mine as to whether all of this is true (but my other quite extensive research on Chinese forums and search engines leads me to believe it is).
If it is then, sign me waaaaaay up, as Dylan Wang will be brilliant in this kind of zero to hero role, right?
Meanwhile, if you speak/read Chinese and are interested in the original novel, you can find its Chinese raws via Qidian to find out for yourself.
RELATED: There is also a short Live Long and Prosper concept trailer out
As for the premiere date for Live Long and Prosper, with the way Chinese dramas go, and if all goes well with SARFT approval (China’s state-run regulation board), my prediction is we will probably get the first episodes some time in or after June, 2026.
Now, enjoy the cast photo!
About the Author
