Joker007

Mix of martial arts & investigation, but don't expect spectacular investigation like in detective dramas, etc. Four main cases in the show are related to the leads & Ding Yue Hua.

No triangles; it's martial arts fighting & investigation with a little hint of romance, more like flirting in some scenes. The leads are mostly together. The ML's wife in The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants is Ding Yue Hua, but in this drama, which is an interpretation of "The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants", they are not in a relationship. Rather than a traditional romance, the series balances Zhan Zhao's duty, his deep connection with both women, and his iconic, legendary bond/bromance with fellow martial artist Bai Yutang.

From an article about the drama
The Three Heroes and Five Gallants is called the first true Wuxia (武侠) novel in China. It set the rules for generations of martial arts stories. Zhan Zhao Adventures takes that foundation and makes big changes. It mixes power struggles, detective work, and romance into one messy, ambitious weave. Some viewers love it. They say Yang Yang’s Zhan Zhao fits the role perfectly—polished as jade but with a sharp edge inside. The costumes and props are detailed. The fight scenes feel real, with heavy punches and classic Wuxia style.

It's better than most wuxia dramas, less frustrating elements more action, viewers won't get hit with ethics & moral lessons which is abundant in the classics.
This has a mix of action & investigation plus the lead character he holds his ground while facing hurdles.

She is a rich girl who is hanging out with the lead because she finds him intriguing plus she also doesn't like evil done by others causing hurt to others, she was helping lead at first then started to follow him.

The Immortal Ascension is cultivation drama based on A Record of Mortal's Journey to Immortality novel/donghua, where protag starts cultivation as human and becomes a powerful cultivator.
Anything based on classic wuxia etc. it won't be easy for protags even if they are strong fighters. Check for new wuxia titles like Joy of life etc. that have less frustrating angles plus protags are treated better and not humiliated like in classics. In The Journey of Legend drama ML makes a comment about his novel being a fan fiction of popular wuxia genre and that life has so much suffering so why need that in a story as well, so his version has less frustrating parts, he talks about state of wuxia stories during the early chapters when he enters the novel world.

I think he is good in costume dramas, liked both leads in Who Rules the World.
Two wuxia C dramas that I liked from start to end was The Moon Brightens for You & Who Rules the World. Both of them have interesting story line more action, less frustrating scenarios, characters don't act foolish or suffer like in classic wuxia.
As for this drama, The series reimagines the stories from the classic novel The Three Heroes and Five Gallants (also known as The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants), He serves as the head bodyguard to the incorruptible judge Bao Zheng and was famously dubbed the "Imperial Cat" by the Emperor, so investigation also part of story not just fighting.

Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils protag might be the strongest character, yet he suffers a lot, female characters are always in danger as well in wuxia genre.
No use blaming the actor's character for being weak, wuxia genre like to torture and cause suffering to leads, journey to greatness filled with suffering for such leads.

Interesting KR show, never thought would enjoy watching this, watched till the latest episodes and enjoyed it, thought would drop it after first death of ZEZTZ but still picked it up and continued and decided to watch till end.

In C dramas becoming human, suffering, enduring humiliation, sacrifice, having no power or losing power as story progress, lead emperor can't have concubines when real life emperors except one, everyone had more than one wife, even the Tang empress had harem. Another popular scenario Lead emperor give up his throne so he can be loyal to FL and enjoy life while having no issue giving up empire to characters who are weaker and not good at ruling etc. found in almost every c dramas.
There are many superior cultivation novel/donghuas, but c dramas prefer novels where frustrating elements are its peak. Some of superiror cultivation donghuas
Mushen Ji – Tales of Herding Gods (There is Chinese mini drama version), Dadao Duxing: Die Long Bian, Xuan Jie Zhi Men, 100,000 Years of Refining Qi (Drama Short version exist), Bai Lian Cheng Shen – Apotheosis, Wan Jie Du Zun – Ten Thousand Worlds, Zhe Tian – Shrouding the Heavens, Wu shen zhu zai – Martial Master, Xian Ni – Renegade Immortal, Yong Sheng: Shi Nian Zhi Yue – Immortality, Guangyin Zhi Wai – Beyond Time’s Gaze, Legend of Xianwu – Xianwu Emperor, Cang Yuan Tu – The Demon Hunter, Shen Mu – Tomb of Fallen Gods, Jian Lai – Sword of Coming, Shixiong A Shixiong – Big Brother(C drama version upcoming), Yu Ling Shi – Spirit Master, A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality, Shi Fang Wu Sheng – The Invincible, Yi Nian Yong Heng – A Will Eternal, The Emperor of Myriad Realms, Xian Mu – Tomb of Fallen Immortal(B movie version available on IQIYI), Wan Jie Shen Zhu – Lord of The Universe. All of them are interesting cultivation stories with no or less frustrating parts.
Also even this drama story is different from novel, heard in novel he is trying to become stronger. Maybe what the drama want to say is being human is the greatest thing ever.

The Killing of Three Thousand Crows (Shared Universe) is also from the same author of A moment but Forever, same for this drama as well. All three are novels from Shi Si Lang.
https://www.novelupdates.com/nauthor/shi-si-lang/

Information regarding war demons was given in the first episode intro, like they were cursed, bridge is broken etc., listening to that again might help, else the story has to progress more.

Show is good, presentation of story is done well and not boring despite thinking this would be a slow burn.

50–100 episodes K dramas really test once patience, some rare occasions there are good ones as well.

It's Gavan Sentai, they are going with teamwork thing from sentai

This show lead character has few similarities with Ore Monogatari lead character, strong character who is kind but misunderstood by others and gets in trouble, both fall in love, one is good-looking another is a tall, gorilla-esque man that looks intimidating despite his kind heart.

Can you blame them for this kind of behavior?
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has profoundly altered the character of the Chinese people by systematically dismantling traditional values, enforcing ideological conformity, and fostering a culture of fear and distrust through campaigns like the
Cultural Revolution and re-education programs. By destroying the "Four Olds" (old customs, culture, habits, and ideas), the CCP replaced Confucian, Buddhist, and familial loyalty with absolute allegiance to the party, often forcing individuals to denounce, betray, or attack family, friends, and teachers.
One actor got cancelled for taking a photo during a vacation & the scandal even pushed his mother almost near suicide. Also, even if innocent one can't explain things well it would become hard for them.
In her case she gets hate for her acting, so any incident will be like they were waiting for something to happen.
The below part has nothing to do with the article above, just mentioning CCP are no saints.
Searching internet one can find many interesting things like this
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influences its citizens to act as the primary engines of "cancel culture" against celebrities, transforming what might elsewhere be fan-driven gossip into a top-down, nationalist political campaign.
By cultivating a nationalistic, and morally conservative public, the CCP ensures that netizens police celebrities for perceived political or moral transgressions, strengthening the Party’s control over public discourse.
Cultural Revolution part can be found in the drama 3 Body Problem (Netflix) it's not US propaganda since it's made by Netflix, it's in the novel as well.
The Cultural Revolution in The Three-Body Problem (1966–1976) acts as the brutal catalyst for the entire series, depicting the violent persecution of intellectuals by Red Guards. It drives astrophysicist Ye Wenjie to lose faith in humanity after witnessing her father’s murder, leading her to invite the Trisolaran alien civilization to intervene on Earth.
Another interesting part
Xi Jinping and his family were direct victims of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) internal purges and chaotic political movements, specifically during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). While this history of suffering might have suggested a more moderate leader, analysts say these experiences shaped his resolve to consolidate power and ensure the Party's survival at all costs.
Only mentioned CCP has strong control over its citizens, never said China is bad, people can be good or bad but in the case of China there is a CCP factor that might have messed up some people's personality & character.

Sadly yes, but maybe in this case with her personality she won't be happy after finding out, there is another issue of what her parents did, most likely it will be shown as parents meant well. How will defending her in court and solving that issue help her forget what her parents did, if they meant well they should have discussed with her & explained things before asking her to drop it, there is also the case of MLs nephew, will she also get forgiven just like that. Hope the drama deals with all this in a better way than what they usually do.

But when she learns about the reason for him coming, she won't be that happy even if she acknowledges his good intention.

She is annoying, but there can be people with that kind of personality or even worse.