General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Sword and Beloved (狐妖小红娘王权篇)

Sword and Beloved (天地剑心), originally announced as Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Wangquan Chapter (狐妖小红娘王权篇), is a 2025 Chinese xianxia (Chinese fantasy genre of immortal cultivators, gods, and demons) television series directed by Du Lin (杜林) and starring Cheng Yi as Wangquan Fugui and Li Yitong as Qing Tong. It premiered on iQIYI on October 25, 2025, ran 36 episodes, and is the final installment of the live-action trilogy adapted from Tuo Xiao Xin's (庹小新) manhua Hu Yao Xiao Hong Niang (狐妖小红娘), following Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Red-Moon Pact (月红篇) and Love in Pavilion (淮水竹亭).¹^•²^•³

Key fact	Detail
Premiere	October 25, 2025, on iQIYI; 36 episodes¹
Original and current titles	狐妖小红娘王权篇, renamed 天地剑心 before broadcast; English title Sword and Beloved¹^•⁴
Lead cast	Cheng Yi as Wangquan Fugui, Li Yitong as Qing Tong; Zhang Zhiyao as Wangquan Hongye, Guo Junchen as Quan Rumu²
Source material	Manhua Hu Yao Xiao Hong Niang by Tuo Xiao Xin³
Episode count change	Reduced from a planned 40 episodes to 36 in regulatory filings⁴
Early performance	First-day iQIYI heat above 8000, next-day peak near 9000; Yunhe daily heat TOP1 for four days with 12.3% market share and an S+ rating⁵^•⁶
Japanese broadcast	Satellite Theater, from October 28, 2026⁷

Spoilers

Premise

The series follows Wangquan Fugui (王权富贵), son of Wangquan Hongye and Dongfang Huaizhu and the strongest member of the Wangquan clan, who was raised from childhood as the ultimate demon-slaying weapon of the Yiqi Alliance (一气盟) with no freedom of his own. Qing Tong (清瞳), a spider spirit, infiltrates the Wangquan estate as a spy sent to gather intelligence; after the two meet, Fugui helps her regain her freedom, and his own longing for liberty and a world of equality is gradually awakened. After enduring the "ten thousand swords piercing the heart" (万剑穿心) ordeal, he leaves Wangquan Manor with Qing Tong on the path he has come to believe in.²^•⁸

In the opening episodes, Fugui is introduced as a top-tier "weapon" who has never been allowed outside; his birthday is his mother's memorial day, and his father treats affection as an obstacle to wielding the "Sword of Heaven and Earth" (天地一剑). Qing Tong, initially a nameless small spider spirit designated 12580, is saved by Fugui, who sacrifices ten years of his lifespan to help her take human form and names her; her woven silk pictures of landscapes become his first window onto the world he is forbidden to see.¹^•⁵

Title change and production

Before broadcast, the Chinese title was changed from 狐妖小红娘王权篇 to 天地剑心, and the English title was correspondingly revised to Sword and Beloved.¹^•⁴ A Weibo analyst cited in coverage interpreted the rename as an attempt to shed the "series IP" label and market the show as a standalone wuxia drama.⁹ Regulatory filings later showed the episode count had been cut from a planned 40 to 36.⁴

Director Du Lin described the "sword heart" of the title as grounded in the Daoist idea that heaven, earth, and self arise together, treating the sword as a carrier of the Dao and the heart as the root of cultivation. He stated that the production used intangible cultural heritage crafts such as Ou embroidery and Miao metal engraving, with details required to serve character traits or growth rather than decoration.⁶ Screenwriting was credited to Miao Wenjing and Ding Ya.¹⁰

Reception

Early performance. The premiere drew strong numbers: first-day heat on iQIYI exceeded 8000 with a next-day peak near 9000, and reviewers praised the clear storytelling and action choreography.⁵ During its run the show topped Yunhe's daily heat chart for four days with a 12.3 percent market share and an S+ rating, held the top spot on Maoyan's overall heat chart for three consecutive days, and pushed iQIYI's internal heat index past 9000.⁶ The Japanese database site later recorded a peak popularity score of 9014 on iQIYI as of November 2025.⁷ It aired in the same late-October window as two other male-lead costume dramas, An He Zhuan and Shui Long Yin, with the three competing at roughly 10 percent effective playback market share each on Yunhe's daily chart.¹¹

Controversy over the adaptation. Sentiment shifted after episode 18. Critics and original-fans complained that the plot pivoted away from the manhua, that side stories such as the spider siblings' storyline consumed screen time, and that Cheng Yi's screen time in some later episodes fell to under a minute, prompting sarcastic suggestions that the show be retitled "Qing Tong's Biography."¹²^•¹³ The famous "ten thousand swords piercing the heart" scene drew particular criticism: in the original animation Wangquan Fugui endures it to protect Qing Tong, while the drama reframed his motive as awakening his bloodline to save himself and emphasized the theme that all beings are equal, which critics called a hollowing-out of the story's core.¹² A user-feedback roundup of over 1000 comments recorded 55 percent of respondents saying the adaptation had betrayed the IP's core settings, including the removal of the "bitter love tree and human-demon continued bond" premise, against 45 percent who credited the drama's faithful first half and its invitation to the original author to participate in the script.⁹

Commentary in the trade press grouped the trilogy's three installments as underperforming market expectations, attributing the outcome to adaptations that displaced the manhua's human-demon tragic-romance core in favor of grand "protect the peace" narratives.¹⁴ A Sina Technology piece argued the franchise's fundamental problem lay in the mismatch between juvenile plot adaptation and the actors' ages, rather than in casting alone.¹⁵

Distribution

Beyond iQIYI and its international platform iQ.com, the series was scheduled for Japanese television broadcast on Satellite Theater (衛星劇場) beginning October 28, 2026, as the final part of the trilogy's Japanese release.⁷^•¹⁶ The database site TMDB lists the series with a user rating of 7.4/10.¹⁷

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Chinese wuxia and martial-arts serials

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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