Lessa

Not really. As far as I remember, the novel was about war and politics in your typical Ancient China setting which was rapidly mutating into not so typical steampunk setting because of the sudden technological progress.
There were some wuxia elements like, you know, magical poisons. But expect their jianghu to be as non-wuxia as possible.

So, as someone who sees the special as an open type of HE I will share some of my thoughts about it.
They definitely didn't arrive at the empty shore as they have found someone there judjing by their reaction (thats why I don't think that last scene is happening at two different times). Also, when the camera zoom out, there is no one at the shore at all, not even the dog. That looks like a metaphor about character disappearing from the world and not the whole scene being an illusion.
I think that idea about the beggar and the dead body is that if someone else recognized that pouch, that would confirm rumors about LLH death (and the only way for him to live the rest of his days in peace is if everyone believes he is dead). So I assumed he just paid the beggar to deliver a message to FDB. Still, that would look more convincing if the beggar had LLH's hairpin or that fur cloak as it is pretty suspicious to steal only the cheapest thing you can find...

Well, they definitely didn't arrive at the empty shore as they have found someone there judjing by their reaction (thats why I don't think that last scene is happening at two different times). Also, when the camera zoomout, there is no one at the shore at all, not even the dog. That is about character disappearing from the world and not the whole scene being an illusion.
I think that idea about the beggar and the dead body is that if someone else recognized that pouch, that would confirm rumors about LLH death (and the only way for him to live the rest of his days in peace is if everyone believes he is dead). Still, that would look more convincing if the beggar had LLH's hairpin or that fur cloak as it is pretty suspicious to steal only the cheapest thing you can find...

Where can I find it? I saw a special episode where FDB was given a pouch that was supposedly taken from a dead body but when he got there, he found LLH who was still alive at that moment. So I assumed that LLH had paid that beggar to send a message to FDB.
So, is there an alternative ending already? All other specials I found were something about the cast.

He is certainly alive at the time of the special episode. He had to convince everyone he was dead so he gave the flower to the emperor and waited for three months before contacting FDB and DFS (not sure how DFS has found him but the way he let FDB know about his whereabouts couldn't possibly be intercepted by anyone else). That empty beach in the end most likely symbolizes that they have disappeared from Jianghu (or at least LLH did).
There are hints that he was somehow recovered from his poison. It was said that he would die in a month but three months have passed and he didn't look dying or even sick. Also, if he was really planning to die soon, he either wouldn't hide from his friends or wouldn't let them find him at all.
But we don't know exact details. Maybe it was his plan all along and he didn't give the emperor the real flower (probably he could cure the emperor with something else). Maybe he was really ready to die but everything from before somehow combined and neutralized the poison (however weird that sounds, it often happens in wuxia - just like one poison makes him immune to all others, wuxia magic, you know) or he didn't run from master's wife fast enough.

Mostly adventure. They are solving cases on the way but main plot is more important (like in the Untamed).
The only true wuxia detective story I've watched was Ancient Detective but they finished the first season before main story actually started.

Different genre. League of Noblemen was mostly political and MLC is pure wuxia (you know, like WoH or Blood of Youth). Great plot and no romance (but if you really want romance you can just ship three main characters, they look great together). Also, I liked the characters there much more than the ones in LoN.
But be warned about an open ending. To me it is a HE which should be kept in a secret from other characters for plot reasons but I saw someone in comments really depressed about it.

In fact, I enjoyed this ending.
What happened to LLH is the last mystery of the plot and no one really knows the answer (I mean the characters of the show). People tried to search for him but didn't find any clues so they assume he died (and that is what he wanted them to believe because no one, especially the Emperor, would allow him to live in peace otherwise).
Episode 40.5 shows that FDB and DFS have solved the case and found LLH but it should remain a secret from the rest of the world... including us. So if and how he survived is kinda none of our business.

I wanted to but have read that they are going to do 2 seasons and we will have to wait 3+ months for the second one.
So I will not watch it until the second season starts. Three months are enough to forget most of important little details...
By the way, if you are searching for something to watch Mysterious Lotus Casebook just ended and it is very good. But they are releasing TV version now and people say there are differences so it may be better to wait for it to end and then watch a full compiled version.

Wasn't it in Love and Redemption?
I mean, he did get some illness during the story but it was resolved pretty fast.
Also, he tried to sacrifice and die in the end but FL just revived him. And it was not "suddenly" because FL there was powerful enough to revive whoever she wants (it even felt like the Emperor of Heaven gifted his son to FL as an apology for Heavenly Realm wrongdoings to stop the conflict from going further).

I hate those xianxia endings when main couple (or one of main characters) die, bad ending but then suddenly they are alive again without any explanation and everyone are happy. I have a weird feeling this one is going to the same direction, by the way.
Sad but logical ending is much better but people start complaining and lower ratings for that.
I mean, the ending is the most important part of the story, how can they go full "Well, lets not think too much about that, happy ending, all villains died of shame, all good guys are magically revived, the end"?
You gave me really high hopes about The Starry Love. I think the only other xianxia without such cliche was Love and Redemption but their ending was pretty weird too.

It is always improving. Three Lives Three Worlds were totally cringe, but Love and Redemption had really good dragons and Ancient Love Poetry was also great. I haven't watched The Starry Love yet but have heard a lot of praises for CGI there.

In Immortal Samsara there was a moment when ML was poisoned and FL could give half of her heart to heal him (that was not dangerous for her clan, she and her sister did it all the time and it only hurt them a bit).
But ML refused and proceeded with his "I am going to die" behavior...

In IS the reasons for their suffering were so-o-o stupid...
I just thought they were masochists with suicidal tendencies and just needed some excuse to suffer (even if there is no logic at all).
ML was like "I am going to die soon. There is a cure but I won't use it because it will hurt my FL a bit so I will die.... Oh, my FL, leave me to my fate..."
I still didn't understand why ML SUDDENLY turned insane because of his demon blood in the last episode as no one from his clan had that problem and he was taught their magic by his best friend who later sacrificed his life (also for no reason and without achieving anything by the way. But still that means he was not a traitor).
Also, I couldn't understand why an army of zombies SUDDENLY attacked in the end, why ML had to commit suicide to get rid of them and why FL killed herself after that instead of reviving him (there was a character who revived his lover in the middle of the series and it was not that hard)...

Our main couple needs to watch someone else's cliche love story to know which kind of behavior is the worst. You know, example to avoid. Our ML needs both good and bad examples...
Maybe it will teach main couple to talk to each other.

They are trying to force some kind of quality control - have you ever watched those old 80-90 episode series? 40 episodes of 50 minutes each are a good point to stop.
But yes, those CDramas which were filmed earlier have to re-edit its episodes.
They did have a transition period though - when we got two seasons in a row. But considering this one aired right after the new regulation, they were prepared to this exact length and have already edited everything - it is one of their main projects so they wouldn't air it unfinished.
Most likely they just didn't want to extend this filler ark too much.

That depends on the novel.
While dual cultivation actually means some Taoism sexual practices, in some novels they start with just energy exchange (but still it is implied that in later stages they will get further).
I remember that in the second Condor Heroes FL and ML (her disciple) were seen during dual cultivation - and while they didn't do anything inappropriate, they were still naked and the girl was really afraid that people will know about that (because master-disciple relationships were a taboo in China).
Also, there were a lot of jokes about Word of Honor ending - because they didn't just use some dual cultivation technique but also used an explanation involving, you see, cauldrons - and that were those exact words xuanhuan novel writers are using when they are describing, well, sexual aspects of dual ciltivation.

Female rape also happens in wuxia c-dramas. I remember it being a huge part of the second Condor Heroes (FL was raped by a disciple of the nearby martial arts school) and in the Heroes (SFL by the villain. Also, after that she had marry SML against her will). And no dubcon there, pure rape...
So, it is not a taboo but it disgusts the viewers so such plots are often removed.

It would work with the novel plot where ML was an absolute monster (though FL there wasn't concerned with moral aspects at all) but they changed both characters into much better versions of themselves (because that kind of love story would never attract such amount of people and they wanted to make these series really huge).
But here you can see a lot of people in comments actually sympathize with ML and disliking FL - that is because the crew changed ML actions which made him better than people surrounding him (who are still total monsters while he is taking revenge on those who deserve it). And while they gave FL the ability to think about morals, her actions were not changed - she still treats ML like he is the worst out there.
And it is even worse with a lot of inner dialogue - because we kinda expect more reflections there, thoughts how all these mortals are actually worse that the Devil God and how this world creates such evil without any devil bones - but still somehow ML is evil because he didn't just lie there and die.

The whole point is that with time she has to understand that ML in the past is not the one who destroyed her clan - and if she changes the past, ML will never become the one from that future. And usually in time travel stories that becomes obvious for characters much sooner.
But time passes, we get more episodes, it feels like FL sometimes starts to understand ML better... and returns to the starting point again.
Like, I could totally understand her in the first episodes (she was shocked and also she was someone from righteous sect - with all the advantages and disadvantages) but... well... it is time to move somewhere.