July 23 Short Drama Top 10: AI Takes Seven of Ten on Hongguo's Latest Board (2026)

Snapshot and data cutoff

The latest complete public Hongguo heat board I could verify is the July 22 afternoon refresh, published at 9:20 p.m. China time. 《万妖图录传第 9 季》 still leads, but at 83.31 million heat it is well below its 118.56 million July 20 opening reading. The bigger change is lower down: AI/manhua titles take seven of the ten rows, while live-action is left with ranks 4, 5, and 7. 1

This is a dated snapshot, not a claim about a live official feed. The public repost gives a complete row-by-row list, so it is usable as the current benchmark; missing metadata and unavailable Kuaishou comparisons are marked rather than filled by guesswork.

The latest complete Hongguo top 10

Rank	Title	Genre	Format	Platform	Episodes	Hongguo heat
1	万妖图录传第 9 季 / Wanyao Tulu Zhuan S9 1	Cultivation fantasy	AI/manhua	Hongguo	Not verified in a readable metadata page	83.31m
2	咱家剑宗团宠小师妹第 2 季 / Zanjia Jianzong Tuanchong Xiaoshimei S2 1	Cultivation fantasy	AI/manhua	Hongguo	486 2	77.14m
3	都重生了，谁还装富二代 / Dou Chongsheng Le, Shui Hai Zhuang Fu Erdai 1	Rebirth and urban youth	AI/manhua	Hongguo	71 3	75.78m
4	虎妈驾到，全家反骨仔乖乖立正 / Huma Jiadao, Quanjia Fankouzi Guaiguai Lizheng 1	Family high-conflict comedy	Live action	Hongguo	72 2	69.80m
5	昼以继夜 2 / Zhou Yi Ji Ye 2 1	Urban relationship drama	Live action	Hongguo	89 4	69.22m
6	凡人百世书第四季 / Fanren Baishi Shu S4 1	Rebirth cultivation fantasy	AI/manhua	Hongguo	108 5	68.09m
7	渐染 / Jianran 1	Contemporary romance and second chance	Live action	Hongguo	71 6	67.28m
8	予你情深，侵入余生第 4 季 / Yu Ni Qingshen, Qinru Yusheng S4 1	Romance serial; genre label not separately verified	AI/manhua	Hongguo	Not verified in a readable metadata page	65.08m
9	咱家剑宗团宠小师妹 / Zanjia Jianzong Tuanchong Xiaoshimei 1	Cultivation fantasy	AI/manhua	Hongguo	Not verified in a readable metadata page	64.15m
10	傻女重生记，睁眼后盖楼发家 / Sha Nü Chongsheng Ji 1	Period rebirth and family entrepreneurship	AI/manhua	Hongguo	102 2	62.03m

The board article identifies ranks 4, 5, and 7 as the three live-action entries. The remaining seven are labeled AI short dramas or manhua in that same account. Title variants remain in circulation: the board prints 「予你情深，侵入余生」 and 「盖楼发家」, while metadata pages use near-variants such as 「予你深情侵入余生」 and 「盖房发家」. They are treated as the same entries here, not double-counted.

Entry notes

1. Wanyao Tulu Zhuan Season 9 — 83.31m

The ninth season opened on Hongguo on July 19, after its reservation count passed 3.8 million on July 16. Its premise pushes the established fantasy engine into a new escalation: a dragon-transformation trial and a five-immortal war. 7

The launch was unusually event-shaped. An official Douyin post from the studio announced the midnight release, and the retrieved snapshot shows 25,399 likes, 12,356 shares, 5,807 comments, and 2,323 collections. Those are attention signals, not a substitute for Hongguo heat, but they help explain why the franchise still sits first after its opening reading corrected from 118.56 million to 83.31 million. 8

2. Zanjia Jianzong Tuanchong Xiaoshimei Season 2 — 77.14m

Season 2 is only 6.17 million heat behind the leader and has a useful advantage over a one-off hit: the original series is also on the board at No. 9. The metadata roundup lists the sequel at 486 episodes and describes its cultivation, half-demon heroine, and sect-found-family hook. 2

That two-slot result is the clearest franchise signal in this snapshot. Viewers can enter through the new season, then move back to the original, giving one property two chances to occupy recommendation space.

3. Dou Chongsheng Le, Shui Hai Zhuang Fu Erdai — 75.78m

This AI/manhua title turns the familiar rebirth setup toward low-key wish fulfillment. Baidu Baike describes a man who returns to his youth after losing everything while pretending to be rich; this time, his restraint and decisions make others mistake him for a top-tier heir. 3

At 71 episodes, it is shorter than the 486-episode Jianzong sequel and easier to sample in one sitting. The No. 3 position suggests that male-oriented rebirth is not being crowded out by the board's cultivation franchises, although the chart alone cannot separate title demand from the platform's recommendation weight.

4. Huma Jiadao, Quanjia Fankouzi Guaiguai Lizheng — 69.80m

This is the board's highest live-action entry. The weekly metadata roundup lists a 72-episode family high-conflict story in which the heroine enters a household and takes on three difficult children, a simple setup built for quick emotional reversals. 2

Its No. 4 placement matters more than a generic live-action rebound claim. The title is not competing on star power in the same way as the next entry; it is using a direct family problem and a strong heroine to hold the best non-sequel live-action lane on this board.

5. Zhou Yi Ji Ye 2 — 69.22m

The sequel has the most visible launch machinery among the live-action titles. A July 17 report lists 89 episodes, six leading actors, and a first-day Hongguo heat of 95.82 million before the series settled at No. 5 on the July 22 board. 4

That path is a useful warning against reading a launch spike as retention. The sequel remains high enough to anchor live action, but its current 69.22 million is a post-launch reading, not the opening number that drove the initial conversation.

6. Fanren Baishi Shu Season 4 — 68.09m

The fourth season entered the board at No. 6 just after its July 21 release on Hongguo. Baidu Baike lists 108 episodes and a reincarnation system in which the protagonist carries accumulated awareness and ability from one life into the next. 5

Its immediate appearance gives the AI/manhua side another serial-release advantage: a long-running property can arrive with a ready-made premise and a large episode inventory. The board confirms the launch converted into heat, but it does not yet show whether the season will hold after its first full day.

7. Jianran — 67.28m

Jianran is the strongest live-action title built around a contemporary relationship rather than a returning season. It launched on July 18 with 71 episodes, more than 2.6 million reservations, and an opening heat of 77.82 million; the July 22 board still keeps it at No. 7. 6

The buzz comes from a clean emotional engine: a divorced financial director meets the younger former lover who has become her chairman. The drop from the opening figure is visible, but remaining inside the top seven gives live action a second durable position beyond the star-led sequel.

8. Yu Ni Qingshen, Qinru Yusheng Season 4 — 65.08m

The fourth-season label points to a returning romance audience, while the board places it in the AI/manhua seven. The accessible public pages did not provide a readable, independently confirmed episode count for this exact board entry, so the number is left open rather than borrowed from a near-variant title.

Its No. 8 position is still useful: a romance serial can survive inside a chart dominated by cultivation, rebirth, and mecha hooks. The evidence supports placement and format, not a stronger claim about cross-platform popularity.

9. Zanjia Jianzong Tuanchong Xiaoshimei — 64.15m

The original season is the second half of the board's franchise pair. Together with Season 2 at No. 2, it gives the Jianzong property two of the ten rows and shows how sequel traffic can feed an older entry rather than simply replace it. 1

The original's episode count was not independently confirmed in a readable metadata page during this pass. Its chart position is clear; the safer interpretation is that the property is working as a package, not that the two seasons have identical audience behavior.

10. Sha Nü Chongsheng Ji — 62.03m

The cutoff title uses a different AI/manhua hook: a woman wakes in a 1970s setting and builds a home and livelihood after pushing back against an exploitative family. The metadata roundup lists 102 episodes, a July 10 launch, and a fast, conflict-heavy heroine-led structure. 2

At No. 10, it is close enough to keep the lower edge competitive while showing that the current AI wave is broader than cultivation alone. Rebirth, family repair, and wealth-building are sharing the same heat pool with xianxia serials.

Cross-platform check

The only directly comparable secondary signal verified in this pass is the official Douyin launch post for Wanyao Season 9. It returned 25,399 likes, 12,356 shares, 5,807 comments, and 2,323 collections; the play-count field was not usable, so no Douyin play number is presented. 8

No title-level Kuaishou figure that could be compared with this Hongguo snapshot was verified. That leaves the current ranking Hongguo-led, with Douyin used only as a launch-attention check rather than a second ranking system.

What the July 22 board says

1. AI/manhua is winning through serial depth. Seven of ten rows belong to the format, and the list contains both seasons of Jianzong, a fourth season of Fanren, a fourth season of Yu Ni, and a ninth season of Wanyao. The chart is being filled by repeatable worlds, not only by isolated releases.

2. Live action is concentrated in the upper middle. Huma is fourth, Zhou Yi Ji Ye 2 is fifth, and Jianran is seventh. That is enough to keep live action visible, but not enough to shape the lower half of the board, where AI/manhua occupies every remaining row.

3. Launch heat and retention are separating. Wanyao falls from 118.56 million on July 20 to 83.31 million on July 22, while Zhou Yi Ji Ye 2 moves from a reported 95.82 million first-day reading to 69.22 million in the latest board. The current question is no longer who can open high; it is which titles can keep a place after the first burst of attention.

The next clean comparison should focus on the same ten titles after another dated full-board refresh. For now, the signal is specific: Hongguo's summer chart has seven AI/manhua slots, two of them held by one cultivation IP, while live action's best counter-position comes from direct family conflict, contemporary romance, and a heavily promoted sequel.

Data note: heat values are converted from the board's ten-thousand-unit display into millions. The July 22 public board is the primary ranking source; metadata sources are used for episode counts and title descriptions. No Kuaishou score is inferred where no comparable title-level record was available.

July 23 Short Drama Top 10: AI Takes Seven of Ten on Hongguo's Latest Board