The best follow-up to Mo Dao Zu Shi depends on what you miss most: the devoted slow-burn bond, the cultivation-style world, the mystery, or the martial politics. If you want the safest first pick, start with Heaven Official's Blessing; if you want the strongest wuxia feeling, choose Thousand Autumns; if you want another MXTX story with a lighter mood, try Scumbag System.
Best BL anime and donghua like Mo Dao Zu Shi
Most viewers searching after Mo Dao Zu Shi are not simply looking for "any BL anime." They usually want a historical or fantasy story where the relationship matters deeply, even when the plot is busy with ghosts, sects, revenge, secrets, or political danger.
Heaven Official's Blessing
Heaven Official's Blessing is the easiest recommendation for most MDZS fans because it comes from the same author, MXTX, and carries a similar emotional signature: devotion over time, painful history, beautiful fantasy settings, and a bond that feels bigger than ordinary romance.
The story follows Xie Lian, a fallen crown prince who ascends again after years of suffering, and Hua Cheng, a mysterious figure whose loyalty is impossible to ignore. The donghua is gentle with explicit romance, but the emotional direction is clear enough that viewers usually understand why this pairing is so beloved.
Thousand Autumns
Thousand Autumns is the best choice if your favorite parts of MDZS were the martial world, sect tension, and arguments about morality. The relationship is more restrained on screen, but the chemistry between Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi is built through pressure, challenge, and changing respect.
This is not the title to choose if you need visible romance quickly. It works better for viewers who enjoy a colder, sharper wuxia atmosphere: duels, philosophy, power games, and two leads who test each other instead of softening immediately.
Scumbag System
Scumbag System, also known as The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, is the right MXTX follow-up when you want to stay in danmei territory but take a break from heavy tragedy. It uses transmigration comedy, genre parody, and awkward misunderstandings instead of the mystery-and-grief structure of MDZS.
Shen Yuan wakes up inside a web novel as a doomed villainous teacher and has to survive around Luo Binghe, the future overpowered protagonist. The fun comes from the gap between what he thinks is happening and how his actions are read by everyone else.
Legend of Exorcism
Legend of Exorcism fits MDZS fans who want supernatural danger, hidden truths, and an active fantasy plot. It follows Kong Hongjun as he enters the human world and becomes involved with an exorcism department dealing with spiritual threats and political complications.
The appeal is less "cultivation sect mystery" and more "dark fantasy cases with a strong ensemble." Choose it if you liked MDZS for the monsters, investigation, and dangerous atmosphere, not only for the central romance.
Dinghai Fusheng Records
Dinghai Fusheng Records is a good middle-ground pick: fantasy adventure, historical setting, supernatural conflict, and a central duo whose trust develops through travel and shared danger. Chen Xing and Xiang Shu do not feel like a decorative pairing; their partnership is the emotional line that keeps the story moving.
This works well for viewers who want a journey-based story rather than another sect-centered mystery. If you prefer relationships that grow through practical loyalty—fighting together, surviving together, gradually relying on each other—this is one of the more satisfying options.
Spiritpact
Spiritpact is older and simpler than the other recommendations, but it still deserves a place if your main priority is the central bond. You Keika dies, becomes a spirit, and forms a pact with the exorcist Tanmoku Ki, creating a relationship that drives most of the story.
Which series is the closest match?
Heaven Official's Blessing is the closest overall match, but "closest" changes depending on what you personally mean by it. Someone who wants another devoted danmei love story should not choose the same next watch as someone who mostly wants sword fights, sect politics, and moral conflict.
Closest overall: Heaven Official's Blessing
Heaven Official's Blessing gives the broadest overlap with MDZS: same author, strong fantasy atmosphere, painful backstory, loyal central pairing, and reveals that slowly change how you see the characters. It is the safest recommendation if you only want to pick one title first.
Best wuxia match: Thousand Autumns
For wuxia specifically, Thousand Autumns is the better match. It puts more weight on martial philosophy, power struggles, sect-like conflict, and the tension between different ideas of morality.
A viewer who loved Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian mainly for the romance may find it too restrained. A viewer who loved the wider martial world around them will probably appreciate it much more.
Best MXTX follow-up: Scumbag System
Scumbag System is the best next step if your priority is "more MXTX," not "another MDZS." It keeps the danmei foundation but changes the flavor completely with transmigration, comedy, and self-aware genre jokes.
It is a smart choice when you want a lighter reset before returning to heavier stories. Just do not go in expecting the same tragic mystery structure.
How much romance do they show?
Most donghua adaptations show less direct romance than their source novels, even when the original work is danmei. That matters if you are searching for BL anime like MDZS and expecting clear confession scenes, obvious couple treatment, or unambiguous romantic payoff on screen.
Canon romance in the source novels
The source novels usually make the romantic intent clearer than the animated versions. They can include internal thoughts, stronger emotional explanation, and relationship development that the donghua may only suggest through framing or dialogue.
If you are an anime-only viewer and feel unsure whether a pairing is truly romantic, the novel is often where the answer becomes clearer. This is not a failure of your reading of the show; the adaptations often have to be more careful.
Subtle romance in the donghua
In the donghua, romance is often carried through protection, waiting, sacrifice, jealousy, repeated trust, or the way one character becomes the emotional center of another character's life. It may not say everything out loud, but the bond still shapes the story.
Romance-first and plot-first options
If you want the relationship to be easy to feel while watching, Heaven Official's Blessing and Spiritpact are the better starting points. If you are happy with romance as a slower current under a larger fantasy plot, Thousand Autumns, Legend of Exorcism, and Dinghai Fusheng Records are safer choices.
This is where your viewing mood matters. For a weekend watch where you want immediate emotional attachment, choose a relationship-forward title. For a longer, plot-first watch where you enjoy piecing together subtext, a restrained wuxia or exorcism series can be more rewarding.
Fuller relationships in the novels
The novels are usually the better route for fuller relationships. They give more space to motives, private feelings, and romantic progression, while the donghua often has to compress or soften that material.
Conclusion
Start with Heaven Official's Blessing if you want the closest emotional successor to Mo Dao Zu Shi, choose Thousand Autumns if the martial world mattered more than visible romance, and save Scumbag System for when you want MXTX with a much funnier edge. The best pick is not the one with the same label; it is the one that matches the exact thing you miss, whether that is devotion, sword politics, supernatural mystery, or a slow bond that becomes impossible to ignore.
