How to Make an AI Xianxia or Wuxia Drama

Quick answer: Xianxia (immortal fantasy) and wuxia (martial-arts adventure) are the most recognisable Chinese drama genres abroad: a disciple wronged by the sect, a long climb in power, and a return to settle the debt. SceneMixer has presets built for them — the 3D CG Xianxia Fantasy visual style, Celestial Colossus, Ink Jianghu and Dark Wuxia sets, Immortal Sect Robes and Jianghu Travelwear — so the look comes from step 1. Make the sword’s drawn form a state of the prop, write spells as light sources, and stage duels as single exchanges rather than long choreography.

Still from “浪人の誓い”, an AI short drama generated end-to-end by SceneMixer (7 characters, 1 episode) — Sample: “浪人の誓い” — Filmic Live-Action, 1 episode, produced end-to-end by SceneMixer from the script · watch the episodes

Brief for AI Create: A cultivation revenge story: a sect's kitchen boy is framed for stealing the master's jade token and cast out; he returns ten years later as a grandmaster to expose the elder who framed him; every episode ends on a reveal; ruthless.

What the genre runs on

The sect. Masters, elders, inner and outer disciples. The hierarchy is the world, and the lead starts at the bottom of it.
The injustice. A framing, a crippled talent, a stolen inheritance. Episode 1 delivers it in public.
Cultivation. Power gained in stages: a breakthrough, a hidden technique, a treasure that chooses its owner. Each stage is a payoff.
The token. A jade seal, a sword, a scroll — an object that proves who is right. It recurs until the final reveal.
The duel. Not a brawl but a test, watched by the whole sect. Who wins matters less than who is exposed.
Scale. Cloud seas, endless jade stairs, halls built for gods. The lead looks small against them on purpose.

Settings to pick in step 1

Visual Style: 3D CG Xianxia Fantasy for the polished immortal-fantasy CG look; Realistic HD for a live-action costume drama; Ink Wash Animation or 2D Chinese Style for a painted one.
Scene Style: Celestial Colossus for floating palaces, giant stairs and cloud seas; Ink Jianghu for misty mountains and inns; Dark Wuxia for a grimmer martial world; Dark Asura for demonic realms.
Costume Style: Immortal Sect Robes for flowing sect dress, Jianghu Travelwear for wandering swordsmen, Dark Path Robes for demonic cultivators, Divine Regalia for gods and emperors of heaven.
Target Region and dialogue: East Asia gives East Asian names, faces and architecture; to keep them specifically Chinese, use Chinese names in the script or pick Follow script. The dialogue language can be English, Chinese or any of the others.
Type: Short Drama for a fast reversal series; TV Series for a slower epic.

Visual style presets, one by one.

The 3D CG Xianxia Fantasy card under Visual Style in SceneMixer's project setup — The cards as they appear in step 1, *Set Up Your Project*. Pick one in each row before the script is read; the visual style is fixed once you continue.

The Ink Wash Animation card under Visual Style in SceneMixer's project setup — The cards as they appear in step 1, *Set Up Your Project*. Pick one in each row before the script is read; the visual style is fixed once you continue.

Swords, tokens and treasures

The sword is a prop with a state. A sheathed sword and a drawn, glowing one are different shapes. Give the sword its own prop image, then choose Add a state on it, name it Drawn, and describe only the difference: blade out of the scabbard, a thin line of pale blue light along the edge. Pick it in the shots where it is drawn. States.
The token recurs. If your plot hangs on a jade seal or a scroll, check it has a card and an image in step 2, and name it with @ every time it is in frame. Same prop in every hand.
A broken treasure — a snapped staff, a cracked mirror — is another state, because its shape has changed.

The episode asset library showing generated character sheets, location images and prop images — The episode’s asset library: each character, location and prop with its own reference image.

Spells and qi: write them as light

A video model draws light well and draws vague “power” badly. Describe a technique by what it does to the light and the air around it:

Instead of	Write
He uses his ultimate technique	A ring of gold light opens on the ground around him; the wind lifts his sleeves; the stones at his feet rise an inch.
She breaks through to the next realm	Pale light gathers in her palms and climbs her arms; her hair lifts as if underwater; the candle flames in the hall lean toward her.
A powerful aura	The disciples nearest him step back without meaning to; the banners behind him snap in a wind no one else feels.

A lasting physical change from a breakthrough — white hair, a mark on the brow — changes the reference image and belongs in a state of the character. Describe the cause, not the result.

Duels as exchanges, not choreography

Fights that need long, continuous choreography are among the hardest things to generate. A xianxia duel does not need them; it needs three or four clear exchanges and the crowd’s reaction between them.

Beat	Shot to adapt
The challenge	[Shot 1] 4s: Opening: wide shot, low angle. @Lin Feng stands alone at the foot of the jade stairs; @Elder Qin looks down from the top. @Elder Qin (cold, carrying): A thief returns to be judged. Ambient: wind across the cloud sea.
One exchange	[Shot 2] 3s: Medium shot. @Elder Qin’s palm strike meets @Lin Feng’s raised forearm; a ring of light bursts outward from the contact. No dialogue. Ambient: a deep boom.
The witnesses	[Shot 3] 3s: Wide shot. The watching disciples step back as one. No dialogue. Ambient: murmurs.
The turn	[Shot 4] 4s: Close-up. In frame only: @Lin Feng. He opens his hand: the @Jade token, glowing. @Lin Feng (quiet): Tell them who gave this to me.

The watching disciples are the segment’s background line. No blood is needed: the reveal is the blow. Fights, crowds and group scenes.

A storyboard segment: location, time and weather fields, then numbered shots with durations, asset chips and spoken lines — A storyboard segment: the header fields, then numbered shots with their seconds, @ chips for who is in frame, the lines and the sound.

Names, titles and voices

Sects run on titles — Senior Brother, Elder, Sect Master — and characters are called by several of them. Keep one name on each card and add the titles and nicknames under Also called so the system recognises the person whichever one the script uses. Also called. For voices, an elder is slow, resonant, every sentence a verdict; a young master is light, arrogant, quick to laugh at others. How character voices work.

Character sheet from 浪人の誓い, an AI short drama made with SceneMixer — Character sheets from the sample 浪人の誓い: one reference image per character, used in every shot they appear in.

Make it in SceneMixer, start to finish

Script: paste a web novel chapter or your own script, or a brief in AI Create. Turn a web novel into a series.
Step 1: the xianxia settings above; read the script.
Step 2: generate the cast, the sect halls and the stairs; give the sword and the token their images and the drawn sword its state.
Storyboard: episode 1 first (free on your first project). Break any long fight into exchanges.
Video: generate on the default tier at 10 credits a second, regenerate what misses, composite and post.

See the look in 問劍青雲, a xianxia sample with a cloud-sea sect, giant jade stairs and a blood-stained token, and the martial counterpart in 浪人の誓い, a ronin story with native Japanese dialogue.

Episode	What happens	The hook
1	The kitchen boy is accused of stealing the master’s jade token and cast out in front of the sect.	At the foot of the mountain, the token is in his sleeve. He never took it.
2	A hermit in the ruins sees what the sect missed: a sealed talent.	The seal breaks; the ruins light up.
3	Ten years pass. A grandmaster arrives at the sect’s tournament under another name.	The elder recognises the way he holds his sword.
4	The tournament duel.	He opens his hand: the token, glowing.
5	The elder’s defence collapses; the master’s death is reopened.	“He did not die of illness.”

FAQ

Is there a xianxia visual style?

Yes. 3D CG Xianxia Fantasy is a visual style preset in step 1, and Celestial Colossus, Ink Jianghu and Dark Wuxia are scene styles built for the genre.

Can the characters speak English in a xianxia drama?

Yes. Choose English, or any other dialogue language, in step 1. For Chinese names, faces and architecture, use Chinese names in the script and pick East Asia or Follow script as the region.

How do I show a sword being drawn?

Give the sword its own prop image and a Drawn state, then pick the state in the shots where the blade is out.

How do I show spells and qi?

As light and motion: a ring of light on the ground, sleeves lifted by a wind, stones rising. Vague words like power or aura give the model nothing to draw.

Can AI make a good sword fight?

As a few clear exchanges with reactions between them, yes. Long continuous choreography is unreliable; cut the fight into single moves.

Can I adapt a web novel?

Yes, if you have the rights. Paste chapters in; long texts are read in two passes and split into episodes.

How do I handle characters called by many titles?

Keep one name on the card and add the titles and nicknames under Also called, so the system recognises the person either way.

Does a xianxia drama cost more because of the effects?

No. Every genre is priced the same way: the read, setup images, the storyboard and video by the second.

Framed on episode 1. Grandmaster by episode 5.

Start your cultivation story with one sentence.

Start a xianxia drama

Updated October 13, 2026