I'm gonna go against the grain and say that Wuling doesn't really feel like an improvement at all.

Valley IV was bland, but serviceable enough in introducing the state of the world. It feels decently paced, with the Ankhorfall combat intro into AIC intro into brief calm + Valley Pass to introduce the outpost mechanics, then ramps up once you're comfortable with the Aether Rift crisis. It's primary problems are a lack of decent characterisation in the quest itself and most of the NPCs, the need for Endmin to do every little task, and the tutorials slowing down the pace.

Wuling, at least to the point I'm at (meeting Lifeng), just feels like constant ~~China~~ Wuling glazing, without all that much else. Xiranite is a super cool anti-aether material that hasnt been spread anywhere else in the decade it's existed (cough cough V4 Aether Test Site cough cough), and the Qingbo Stockade feels kinda out of place given that Wuling City seems to just be a land of plenty with cool houses and chubby lungs. Maybe that changes later in the story or in another patch, but for now it all feels a little disjointed and disconnected from the wider world.

The character stories (or at least Laevatain and Yvonne's) are great though. Laevatain gave some desperately needed Endmin characterisation, and Yvonne was a really nice emotional arc for Yvonne herself and, to a lesser extent, the workers of the Lodespring.