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Sword and Beloved hits 8,500 on heat index – Cheng Yi and Li Yi Tong killing it so far

Michelle Topham October 26, 2025

Chinese wuxia drama Sword and Beloved kicked off with its first episodes on October 25th, and has already grabbed the attention of millions of Cdrama fans.

So much so, and to no surprise to me or any other Chinese drama fan who enjoys Cheng Yi and Li Yi Tong‘s performances, Sword and Beloved has already exceeded 8,500 on iQIYI’s heat index, and it’s just getting started.

According to iQIYI, the Cdrama hit 8,500 soon after Episodes 6 and 7 premiered.

In response, the Chinese streaming platform released two new visual — one for the 8,500 milestone Sword and Beloved crossed (above), and a previous one for the 8,000 it first hit while on its way (below).

They also commented about the plot as it stands right now:

The shadow of the sword blazes across the land, and passionate blood surges to new heights!
Thank you, dear fans, for your unwavering support all along!

Sword and Beloved not only stars Chang Yi and Li Yi Tong (in a superb pairing, I might add), but also features Guo Jun Chen, He Rui Xian, Tan Kai, Ken Chang, Chang Hua Sen (who is currently also killing it in Blood River), and Fan Ming.

The Chinese drama released 15 very cool character visuals right before it dropped and, just in case you missed it, Cheng Yi’s portrayal of Wangquan Fu Gui had already grabbed 600 million character popularity points just hours after the first episodes of Sword and Beloved dropped.

Head over to iQIYI to give it a view. I have a feeling you won’t be disappointed.

About the Author

Michelle Topham

Editor

British-American journalist obsessed 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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Previous: Cheng Yi’s ‘Sword and Beloved’ Wangquan Fu Gui grabs 600 million character popularity points hours after premiere
Next: 6 ‘A Prophet’ stills drop – Li Xian and Li Yi Tong’s Cdrama looks like an unusual choice for both Chinese actors

What is Michelle Topham?

Mmm

A blog dedicated to Chinese dramas founded by Michelle Topham -- a British-American journalist who spent almost two decades living in Asia, and wrote about Chinese series for most of that time. That's me!

Come on, if I'm this obsessed with C-dramas, you need to be as well.

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