Er Gen
耳根
Born	Liu Yong 1982 (age 43–44) Heilongjiang, China
Education	Heilongjiang University
Occupation	Writer
Writing career
Language	Chinese
Years active	2009–present
Genres	Xianxia, fantasy
Notable work	Renegade Immortal Pursuit of the Truth I Shall Seal the Heavens A Will Eternal Beyond the Timescape
Notable awards	2015 Chinese Original Literature Billboard Member of the National Committee of the China Writers Association

Er Gen (Chinese: 耳根; pinyin: Ěrgēn) is the pen name of Liu Yong (Chinese: 刘勇), 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 (Chinese: 仙逆), 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.^[1][2]

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.^[2]

Er Gen was born Liu Yong in Heilongjiang, China, in 1982. He graduated from the English Department of Heilongjiang University and later worked as an English teacher in Mudanjiang.^[1][3]

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.^[1]

Er Gen's first novel was Tian Ni (Chinese: 天逆), an urban supernatural novel of more than 700,000 Chinese characters. It attracted little attention. After an editor encouraged him to try xianxia and fantasy fiction, he began writing Renegade Immortal, which became his breakthrough work.^[1][2]

Renegade Immortal began serialization in 2009. The novel initially received a limited response, and some readers criticized similarities between its early chapters and Wang Yu's A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality. Er Gen later acknowledged the similarities and said that he subsequently read Wang Yu's novel.^[2]

He nevertheless continued the novel. It passed one million Chinese characters after three months of serialization and eventually exceeded 6.5 million Chinese characters. According to Er Gen, the novel's reception changed significantly during the Hua Fan (Chinese: 化凡) section. He said that he had written this part in a more literary style and incorporated reflections on life into the story. Although readers initially criticized the change, it eventually received a more positive response and contributed to the novel's growing popularity.^[2]

A 2015 China Writers Network profile reported that Renegade Immortal had accumulated more than 40 million clicks, more than 300,000 collections, and more than 700 million legitimate views on Qidian. The profile also described Er Gen as a "platinum writer" and one of the leading figures in online xianxia fiction.^[1]

Er Gen subsequently published Pursuit of the Truth (Chinese: 求魔), I Shall Seal the Heavens (Chinese: 我欲封天), A Will Eternal (Chinese: 一念永恒), A World Worth Protecting (Chinese: 三寸人间), and Beyond the Timescape (Chinese: 光阴之外). A 2018 assessment published through China Writers Network identified the first five novels through A Will Eternal as his major works and described A Will Eternal as a deliberate departure from the darker conventions of his earlier xianxia fiction.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[3]

He has described different thematic emphases across his major works. According to China Writers Network, he deliberately emphasized emotion in Renegade Immortal, the pursuit of truth in Pursuit of the Truth, playful elements in I Shall Seal the Heavens, and humor in A Will Eternal.^[2]

A later literary analysis published by China Writers Network argued that the works share recurring characters, themes, motifs, and narrative structures, and treated the novels as an interconnected textual system rather than wholly independent works. The same analysis characterized A Will Eternal as a significant variation on the tone established by Er Gen's earlier novels, combining the cultivation framework with a stronger comic dimension.^[6]

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.^[2]

His international readership also expanded through translations of his novels. A 2016 China Writers Network profile noted that I Shall Seal the Heavens was being translated by Wuxiaworld and had attracted readers in numerous countries, presenting the novel as an example of Chinese web fiction reaching audiences outside China.^[2]

In 2022, China Writers Network reported that Beyond the Timescape exceeded 100,000 average subscriptions three months after its launch on Qidian, making it one of a small number of works on the platform to reach that level.^[7]

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.^[2]

Er Gen was born in Heilongjiang, China, and has maintained ties to the province throughout his career. In a 2015 interview, he described himself as an ordinary person whose occupations had changed from English teacher to web novelist and asked that attention not be focused excessively on his personal life.^[1]

Before becoming a full-time novelist, Er Gen worked as an English teacher. He has described his transition from teaching to web writing as an important turning point in his career.^[3]

Er Gen has also spoken about his relationship with readers. He has used social media to communicate with fans and has participated in reader meetings and university events. He has described readers' opinions as important to his writing and has associated interaction with readers with the broader recognition of Chinese web literature.^[8]

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.^[9][10]

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.^[11]

Renegade Immortal was adapted into a 3D animated series produced by Sparkly Key Animation (Chinese: 铸梦动画) for Tencent Video. It premiered on 25 September 2023.^[12]

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.^[13][14]

Work	Chinese title	Serialization
Tian Ni	天逆	2009–2010
Renegade Immortal	仙逆	2009–2012
Pursuit of the Truth	求魔	2012–2013
I Shall Seal the Heavens	我欲封天	2014–2016
A Will Eternal	一念永恒	2016–2022
A World Worth Protecting	三寸人间	2018–2021
Beyond the Timescape	光阴之外	2022–2025

The publication sequence and dates of the first five major novels are documented in a 2018 China Writers Network literary review, while the completion date of Beyond the Timescape was reported by China Writers Network in July 2025.^[4][5]

• Winner of the 2015 Chinese Original Literature Billboard.^[2]
• Fourth place on the ninth China Online Writers Rich List, with reported royalties of 25 million yuan.^[2]
• Elected to the National Committee of the China Writers Association in 2016, as one of five web writers entering the committee for the first time that year.^[2]
• His works have been recognized within major Chinese online-literature rankings and have been translated for overseas readers.^[2]

• Weibo
• Qidian author page