The series Lang Ya Bang Zhi Feng Qi Chang Lin (2017) has only two common characters with the Nirvana In Fire Season 1.
The script is based on the famous internet-novel by Hai Yan. The original version of the novel was the story of homosexual lovers but in the printed version their romance was transformed into a bromance because of censorship.
The drama was also one of the recipients of the Outstanding Television Drama Award at the Flying Apsaras Awards, the highest government honor given for outstanding achievement in the television industry. Kong Sheng also won the Outstanding Director Award for his work in Nirvana in Fire. In 2016, SARFT recognized the series as one of the top 20 most outstanding dramas of the year. It was also nominated for the Magnolia Award for Best Television Series at the 22nd Shanghai Television Festival.
Its sequel, Nirvana in Fire II: The Wind Blows in Chang Lin, aired from December 2017 to February 2018. In the end of 2020, Daylight Productions announced that a third season was in the works.
The drama was a commercial and critical success, surpassing 100 million streaming views by its second day, and receiving a total number of views on iQiyi of over 3.3 billion by the end of the series. Nirvana in Fire was considered a social media phenomenon, generating 3.55 billion posts on Sina Weibo that praised its characters and story-line. As of December 2016, it has a total view of 13 billion views as reported by VLinkage.