Morwen

Absolutely not mandatory. A few things just feel more meaningful if you have. That's especially true for the first seven minutes of the first episode which are a very strong nod to The Lost Tomb.
(Some of the items and, uh, creatures depicted there play a bigger role in the parent story.)
Personally, I'm enjoying all those tiny bits that hint at the source material, but this drama can be easily understood without any further knowledge of those other dramas.

Ohhh, you're right!
I almost forgot about that.
Not I'm wondering if that part of the story is still going to make it into this drama after all.
I had similar suspicions when I first saw the opening with the ocean waves, because it reminded me of the Underwater Tomb. Now I'm wondering if it is actually foreshadowing.

Okay, so I only vaguely remember this part, but I think they discussed this in TLT2 and if I recall it correctly, he built the entire tomb on top of a ship which was then sunk to the bottom of the sea.

Yes, Wang Zang Hai from The Lost Tomb built the Underwater Tomb for himself, which is also why his corpse can be found there centuries later.
It is unclear if the same thing will happen in THIS drama, though, or if they changed that part completely.

I have. ✋

The last thing we see before the screen fades to black is that he's reaching for the cube-shaped (?) object that he found down in the mines, so my guess is that it can control the dead soldiers to a degree.
I also guess that he was the one who made the Fengshan Altar collapse after he escaped, so no one can go down there again and release the undead.

Ohh, I knew I'd seen it before. And then the whole lighting-the-lamp thing made me go "wait, don't do it, that is a BAD idea". At least he got out of it and didn't have to pay, unlike Wu Xie and friends.

We have bromance and beautifully tattooed immortal twinks who can kill you in under three seconds. 😌

Finding the right entry point to the franchise that works for you personally can be difficult, but:
Though it takes place later in the series, you can start with Adventure Behind the Bronze Door, no problem. It's pretty self-explanatory and has a higher production value than a lot of the earlier seasons. :)
Also, it can be genuinely creepy at times with all the tombs, traps and monsters, so if you're into that, you'll surely be entertained. It also has an actual ending, something that at least half of the other seasons lack.

THANK YOU! I thought I was watching the wrong drama for a second because I noticed these, too.
I'm not even 7 minutes into the first episode but this is already the most DMBJ-style sequence of events that I've seen since Zang Hai Hua.
Can't wait to see how they're going to explain all that.
(I had a feeling they'd keep some of the original's lore elements in, I just didn't think it would be so much.)

On MereBear's blog you can find the translations for all the DMBJ novels & spin-offs. The one for Southern Archives is here:
https://merebear474765851.wordpress.com/the-southern-archives/

Sure, you're welcome. :)

I don't know about her, but the two male leads were adopted into the Zhang family, so there is no relationship by blood. They also belong to a completely different family branch than Zhang Qishan, so they never had any contact with each other and only met him much, much later.

Zhang Haiyan and Zhang Haixia are incredibly protective of each other in the novel, so I assume there may be some bromance between them in the drama.

Not to my knowledge, but there still seem to be plans for the drama. But we all know how long it can take to realize them. 🥲

Right?! I was soooo happy to see his name and face again!
Would have been great to see William Chan and Zhang Ming'en back in their respective roles as well, but I guess we'll have to wait for another season of The Mystic Nine for that. (Though Zhang Ming'en could still make an appearance, if we're very lucky. 😊)

That was pretty much the exception I had in mind. 😂

I finished reading the novel this is based on last night and also took the opportunity to update the cast list. :)
Judging from the characters that are going to appear, they should be sticking more or less to the novel. (Though I'm pretty sure there'll be some exceptions, as in: certain characters' roles will be a bit more extended in the drama.)

Because Li Xian was involved in other projects at the time, as far as I know.

I agree.
I beg everyone to watch and judge this drama for themselves because it's so much better than the rating suggests. (Both seasons are.)