That sounds like a good rec.

I can't explain why other people like it or dislike it, but for me the appeal is the world-building. The magic system is cohesively built into the structure of the society it exists (if monasteries really could give you the ability to fly and summon guardian spirits we would probably have a lot more of them and maybe even have entire cities built around them). I also am a massive weeb and really enjoy most things that are at least China-adjacent. The strong emphasis on becoming stronger by improving your internal self also resonates with me. I agree, there is a lot of "trash-tier" content, but the good ones are worth sifting for in my opinion.

Cultivation in manga tends to be lackluster usually due to them being rushed novel adaptations. It's still not original high art or anything, but it probably exacerbates the issue. The genre obviously has the appeal of power growth in a way that makes sense compared to the popular video gamey level systems that are (were?) getting popular in anime and manga. Getting to level 10 by getting enough experience and gaining a new ability is boring, reaching the Golden core stage after condensing your internal qi from gas, to liquid, to solid state then surviving a heavenly tribulation is way more interesting, combined with different quality levels of cultivators due to how solid their "foundation" of their power is. There's also a few fun tropes like deathtrap dungeons a (very) loose coalition of factions enter only for horrible casualties to happen either from the dungeons or from other people, to stuck up rich kids being minor villians, to silly ability names and titles for the characters. (Universe Lord Nine Blades struck using his strongest technique, "Fading Light Chases the Nine Swallows.")