Discussion Has Er Gen's writing style changed in quality for the worse?

I agree with you there. There is a reason why I claim that PoT is my favorite cultivation novel.
Just before making this post I checked my reading lists and see that I have read about 350 novels on NU. 100 of them completed. Most of novels I read were cultivation novels.
Though I like the genre, but I do admit there are tons of problems with them. I would list these 3 as main ones: lack of actual plot, cliche power systems and trash characters.

1. Lack of plot - lets admit it. The vast majority of CNs plot can be summarized as "a - You dare! I am [flashy name], b - MC random travels, c - get girl arcs, d - tournaments". However, most of the time there is practically nothing what could be called a main plot. I would personally list only PoT, Reverend Insanity, maybe Grasping Evil and Mao Ni's novels, though, Mao Ni didn't really focus on cultivation. That is why PoT felt so fresh. That is the reason why I think that novels like Lord of Mysteries are so popular.
2. Cliche powers - when you pick up cultivation novel, chances are that you will get sword or spear wielding MC who trains in fire and/or lightning with body training secondary. In addition, it will be full of random OPed sounding or unknown name techniques that MC picks up as cabbages and completely forgets 1 arc later. Only exceptions more or less are "Dao Comprehension" novels, but that's again pretty much only 2 authors, one of whom is Er Gen (though that nonsense he did in AWE makes him more and more unqualified).
3. Trash characters - in vast majority of cultivation novels side characters have 0 IQ, MC has 1. In most cases, it is not even worth remembering them. If I tried to name novels which have broken this rule, I once again would have to mention same novels I did before. That is another reason what made PoT great. It had enough side characters which WERE IMPORTANT to the plot, not dumb or forgotten.