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Chapter Text

Wei Wuxian is dangling off a cliff, Lan Wangji the only thing still holding him back from falling.

"Wei Ying!" he shows more emotion than ever before.

"Lan Zhan, let me go." he sighs and tries to smile at the boy he loves.

"Please don't leave. I will protect Wei Ying, just please-"

"Lan Zhan, there's nothing you can do anymore. This is something I have to do."

He had long given up blaming himself for certain things such as the Lotus Pier massacre and after countless talks with the Wen siblings, he realized that the Jiangs weren't as good to him as he always perceived it. Of course, Jiang Fengmian had taken him in but the Jiang family's generosity didn't go far beyond that. Yu Ziyuan had condemned him for the fact that her husband didn't love her and made him the reason for her failed marriage and her own son's failures, Jiang Fengmian ignored the situation and didn't do anything about it and Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng both made the same mistake but in different measures.

His sister, someone he had once seen as an angel or even a deity above all humans, was not as innocent as he thought her to be. While she always treated him like a real brother and was the closest thing to a caring family member he had, she had still decided to marry into the sect that actively wanted him dead and after she did she could've at least put in a word for him with her husband, yet she just enjoyed her life instead, ignoring that Wei Wuxian was struggling to survive in the burial mounds. And then she came to see him and acted as if nothing was going on and everything was normal. It had still been nice to see her though and he was still touched that he was allowed to choose his nephew's courtesy name. And he was extremely guilty that she had died saving him, even though he couldn't understand why. Why did she come to the battlefield? Unarmed? Why did she not just let Wei Wuxian get killed? She must've known that she would leave him behind having to deal with Jiang Cheng's and the other sect's wrath even more than before. Why did she think saving him would be a good idea?

His brother was a whole different matter. Jiang Cheng was his first friend and Wei Wuxian recently realized that it blinded him towards the things his brother did - or rather, what he didn't do. Jiang Cheng promised to protect him from dogs yet at any given chance he still threatened him with them and made fun of his fear, he blamed Wei Wuxian for his parents' unhappy marriage and the downfall of Lotus Pier and he never showed that he actually cared about Wei Wuxian, not through words, nor actions. He supported Wei Wuxian's demonic cultivation when it benefitted him but the moment the people's opinion of his brother started to shift, he abandoned him. His excuse was that he couldn't risk his new disciples' lives for anyone yet he had willingly let all of them come today against Wei Wuxian and the demonic cultivator thought it was kind of funny that he can't spare a few disciples to help protect the Wens - people he owed his life to - but he can risk all of their lives by having them fight against Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian still loved him, but he was no longer blind. He had to thank Wen Qing for a lot of it. He knew that Jiang Cheng had once liked her and tried to talk her into asking for Jiang Cheng's help but she had just stated that she held no respect for him in any way since their morals, motivations and views were clearly so different.

"Wei Ying, don't. I- I need you."

"Lan Zhan, I-"

"You can't leave me. I- I love you." he cries out desperately.

"Lan Zhan, I love you too but-"

Right then, his brother comes closer to them with a furious look and his sword in his hand. He raises it, screams at him to go to hell and plunges his sword into the stone. When Wei Wuxian realizes that Lan Wangji would fall with him, he immediately struggles until Lan Wangji finally lets go. He hears him scream his name in desperation but tries to ignore his love's agony. The last thing he does before dying is closing his eyes and sighing. Finally, it was over.

Until he realizes that something is holding him in mid-air. He opens his eyes in confusion and immediately sees a peculiar message.

"GAME OVER! Do you want to reset everything and try again?"

[YES] [NO]

He re-read the words multiple times, yet they still didn't make any more sense than before.

Did this mean... that this was a game? That he was merely a character in a game? So all of his pain, all of his agony, was just a game? He couldn't tell if he should be angry or happy about this revelation. Still, death was probably boring so he made his decision pretty fast.

[YES]

He thought he would directly reboot so when he appeared in a completely white room, he was very confused. Until another message showed up in front of him.

"The Untamed is currently being updated, click here to see the update notes!"

He did as he was told and yet another message appeared. He read through everything carefully, even though he was still confused.

THE UNTAMED VERSION 8.41 UPDATE NOTES

New Gameplay Features

• More ways to start and progress the story have been added:
  • Jiang Sect path (original story)
  • Wen Sect path (MC gets taken in as a slave by the Wens)
  • Lan Sect path (MC gets taken in by the Lans when first meeting Lan Wangji as a child)
  • Bai Sect path (MC can discover their parents' back story and become a young master of the newly-added Chang'an Bai Sect)
• New Chang'an Bai Sect has been added with detailed backstory
• MC has more choices to determine their fate
• MC has more love interest choices and multiple polyamory options have been added as well

Other New Features

• Player has more control over attributes, store and inventory
• Spells that permanently or temporarily alter the MC have been added and can be purchased through the store
• MC's cultivation method has been altered to be based on seven elements (Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro, Hydro, Pyro, Cryo) instead of traditional cultivation to make things easier and the developing of a golden core faster
• MC's assets don't all get set back to zero when rebooting:
  • Their level is automatically Level 5 after reboot
  • They automatically have 100 Gold Coins, 200 Silver Coins and 500 Copper Coins
  • All stats start with 5 points
  • Any skill that was between 90%-100% starts with 10%, all other skills start with 1%
  • If the MC had a weapon with them when dying, they start the new game with that weapon

Huh... So, he didn't have to go back to the Jiangs then? That would already solve a lot of his problems... But wait, discovering his parents' backstory? Would they not die or would he just find something out about them after they already died? At what point did the game even start? When his parents were still alive? When he was already on the streets? He wasn't sure.

He was also quite curious about this new sect and while going with Lan Wangji sounded tempting, he knew that the Lans often actually adopted orphans into the clan and if he was adopted, he couldn't be with Lan Wangji later on... He wasn't even sure if Lan Wangji would fall for him again, but he couldn't risk it so he would rather go a different path. So not the Jiang path and not the Lan path... Well, he also didn't want to be a slave so he would probably look for this Bai sect instead.

He didn't really care about the new possible love interests since he was rather content with Lan Wangji, but he would see what happened.

The other things didn't make much sense to him but at least he wouldn't start without any money or skills, so that was probably good.

"Update finished! Do you want to start a new game?"

[YES] [NO]

Well, he was already too curious about actually exploring what was apparently a game, so he really didn't have any other choice but to answer [YES].

When he opened his eyes again he looked around the room and felt weirdly small so he looked himself down in confusion until he realized that rebooting to the time before the Jiangs took him in meant that he was physically a child again.

He just sighed and decided that getting a chance to fix things was still worth it. At least he had his Chenqing with him!

Chapter Text

Wei Ying had just arrived back at the start of the game and looked around in confusion, trying to understand where - or when - he was. The inn seemed vaguely familiar but he couldn't quite pinpoint where he had seen it before. He looked around the small room until his eyes landed on the toy butterflies next to him on the bed he was sitting on and he suddenly understood exactly when he was. His parents had gone on a night hunt that was supposed to be over a while ago and he was worried, so he followed the road he had seen them walk a few days before. At one point, he came upon lots of blood and was filled with dread, yet he continued walking. Until he abruptly stopped at the gruesome sight before him. There were his parents but- Wei Wuxian would never forget what he had seen that day. His loving and affectionate parents - dead. They were so bloody that Wei Ying didn't recognize them at first. He only recognized them because they still held their swords in their hands. He impulsively ran away from the scene - leaving their swords and other belongings there and he never got the chance to give his parents a proper burial. When he got back to the inn he came to the horrid realization that the innkeeper had sold all of his belongings and he was left with nothing but the clothes he wore on his body.

This time, things would be different. He just didn't know what to start with.

TIP: You can send anything to your inventory by touching it and imagining to do so.

How practical, he thought. That would clearly solve the problem of how to take all of the things with him and prevent them from being taken by the innkeeper again. He did as he was told and marveled at how easy it was. He didn't bother checking if he even needed these things, anything could be useful. Now, how to go about getting his parents a proper burial...

"New Side Quest Available!"

"Do you wish to view this Quest?"

[YES] [NO]

He had no idea what that meant but he chose yes anyway.

"Quest: A Proper Burial!"

«Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze deserve better than to be left to rot in a forest .»

"View Quest Objectives?"

[YES] [NO]

Oh! Apparently the game knew exactly what he needed! He chose yes without hesitation.

"A Proper Burial Quest Objectives:"

! Leave the inn (Incomplete)
! Find your parents, take their swords and use your powers to close off the area temporarily (Incomplete)
! Talk to NPCs and find out where you are (Incomplete)
! Visit the sect in charge of the area (Incomplete)
! Ask them to help with the burial (Incomplete)

"Bonus Objective:"

! Initiate friendship with the young masters of the sect (Incomplete)

"Accept this Quest?"

[YES] [NO]

Huh... It didn't seem too bad! Leaving the inn was easy since he had already put everything in the room into his inventory (including the furniture, decoration, and anything else that was in the room). In his last life, the innkeeper had stolen all of his things, this was karma.

New Skill Acquired!

What? Oh! Right! He could develop new skills as well! He was curious, the update notes said he started off with 10% in any skill he was particularly good at in his last life. Which skills? How would he be able to view all of them?

"View Skills!"

Nothing happened.

"Um... View Info?"

No reaction.

"View Player Info?"

And then finally a pop-up opened and showed him an overview of - himself.

Name: Wei Ying | Age: 4
Title: None |  Level: 5

Stats: 0 Points Available;
Strength: 5 | Stamina: 5
Speed: 5 | Agility: 5
Charisma: 5 | Intelligence: 5
Imagination: 5 | Luck: 5

Skills:
Academic
Alchemy: 10% | Investigation: 10%
Research: 10% | Teaching: 10%
Arts
Crafting: 10% | Flute: 10%
Painting: 10% | Talismans: 10%
Physical
Climbing: 10% | Combat: 10%
Fighting: 10% | Hunting: 10%
Riding: 10% | Swimming: 10%
Weaponry: 10%
Social
Empathy: 10% | Flirting: 10%
Intimidation: 10%
Miscellaneous
Herbalism: 10% | Hiding: 10%
Inventing: 10% | Stealing: 5%

Those were quite a lot and a lot of them would probably help him in various ways! He promised himself to try out as many skills and upping their percentage as high as possible.

Well, the first step of the quest was to leave the inn, which he did easily by slipping away quietly.

+5 Points, +10 EXP, + 10 Copper Coins

Points? What was he supposed to do with them? That was something he would explore later.

The next step was the most dreaded one - revisiting the scene of his dead parents. Now thinking about it, maybe the fact that the game started after his parents' death explained why he didn't have many memories with them. He probably only remembered what the game wanted him to remember...

He decided not to dwell on that thought and instead started on the same path he took all those years ago, but this time he knew exactly what to expect - yet it didn't make things easier. After a while, he recognized the same blood stains from all those years ago and swallowed heavily. And then he saw them. He had to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall at any moment. He went closer and kneeled beside them for a while, looking ahead of him emptily. Then he remembered that he was told to close off the area with his powers, how was he supposed to use his new powers that came with his new cultivation technique?

TIP: You can use your elemental skill "Layered Frost" to freeze the area, anyone who's not you that tries to touch it will get frozen themselves

Thanks, game! He did as he was told and tried to use "Layered Frost" but was unsure how exactly to do it.

TIP: Simply strike the ground with a sword while imagining that you are using your ice powers to activate "Layered Frost"

He tried again and succeeded so he then sent his parents' swords - Chengying and Yingyue - to his inventory and left the area. Two steps done.

+10 Points, + 20 EXP, + 5 Silver Coins

Now he had to go back to town and talk to some people to find out where he was and what sect was in charge here.

He looked for a person he could talk to but most of them either ignored him or looked like they didn't want to be talked to. The observing of people helped him acquire the Body Langauge skill. After a while, he finally found an older lady that seemed friendly and decided to go talk to her.

"Hello!" he greeted her with a bright smile and bowed respectfully.

The lady looked up, startled, but eventually smiled back and cooed at him.

"Hello, little one. What can I help you with?"

"I was wondering where I currently am, I'm a little lost! I was hoping that this pretty lady could help me out and tell me my current location!"

The nice woman chuckled a little, "A charmer, aren't we? Well, you are currently in Qinghe!"

He blinked once. Then twice. Then his eyes widened. Qinghe?! He didn't even know he had once been there with his parents.

"Ah! This one thanks the pretty lady!" he smiled, bowed respectfully, and ran off, hearing the old woman laugh a little behind him.

"Etiquette Skill Acquired!"

"Flirting Skill Leveled Up!"

If he was in Qinghe, that meant he had to travel to the Unclean Realm and meet the Sect Leader of Qinghe Nie... So now he also knew that the bonus quest was to befriend Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang. Nie Huaisang wouldn't be too hard since they always got along quite well but he didn't know how he would do with Nie Mingjue. They never interacted in his previous life except during the Sunshot Campaign. But if things went badly again (which he intended to prevent) Nie Mingjue was surely a good ally to have.

He bought a map of the area and realized that he wasn't too far away from the Unclean Realm and would probably make it by today, but it would probably be dark already when he arrived. He hoped the Nies were willing to let him sleep at the Unclean Realm for a night and then help him with his parents' burial...

As expected, it was already dark when he arrived. Any other kid would've been scared, especially since there were multiple guards and they all looked pretty intimidating. But Wei Ying was not mentally a child, so he went right up to them. Yet they were engrossed in a conversation and didn't notice him. He pouted a little and pulled on one of their robes. They were immediately on alert and looked around, only to look down and see a child pouting at them cutely.

"What- What are you doing here, kid?" the guard whose robe he had pulled asked in confusion.

"I need someone's help. Can I talk to your Sect Leader?"

The guards exchanged some looks and then kneeled down before him.

"Look, kid-"

"Please." he was still pouting and made puppy eyes at them.

Not even the evilest criminal could resist that look, so the guards sighed and went to get the sect leader. They came back after a while.

"He said you can come in instead, it's already late."

Wei Ying smarted smiling brightly, "Thank you, gege!"

The guards stuttered that it was fine and then showed him the way to the sect leader. Said man was currently having his evening meal with his sons - the boys he was supposed to befriend.

Wei Ying bowed politely at the three of them and they returned the bows, all of them looked confused yet mostly interested at him.

"We were told you needed help with something. What can the Qinghe Nie assist you with?" the sect leader asked kindly.

Wei Ying rubbed his nose a little, making the youngest Nie giggle, the older Nie brother raise an eyebrow in amusement and their father chuckle. The boy was adorable.

"My- um-" then he scratched his head, he was unsure how to start, but they were staring at him in expectation, so he sighed and decided to just go for it.

"My parents died on a night hunt. I wish to give them a proper burial," he stated bluntly.

The two older ones' eyes widened and Nie Huaisang gasped in shock.

"My condolences." the sect leader offered in pity.

Wei Ying nodded in acknowledgment and continued waiting for their answer impatiently.

"May I know who you are, little one?" the sect leader asked gently.

Wei Ying bowed again and introduced himself, "This one is Wei Ying, son of Cangse Sanren - daughter of Baoshan Sanren - and Wei Changze."

Sect Leader Nie's eyes widened immediately. Of course, everyone knew the two rogue cultivators. To think that they were now gone was unbelievable. And left was only their now-orphaned son.

"I see... Then, of course, the Nie sect will help you. Where are your parents?"

"I left them in the forest where I found them and secluded the area so nobody could get there," he explained.

"We'll go there tomorrow then. For now, you can stay the night, but I'm afraid we don't have any prepared guest rooms. A-sang, would you be willing to share your room with Wei Ying for the night?"

Said boy nodded shyly and smiled at Wei Ying timidly which he returned with one of his bright smiles, making the others in the room stare at him in wonder. They hoped he would never lose that smile for it could move worlds with how powerful it was.

The Nies invited him to also eat something and after they were finished, the youngest Nie showed him his room with Nie Mingjue following them around. He was curious about the little boy and couldn't quite explain why.

"Wei Ying- May I call you that?" he asked hesitantly and was surprised at himself.

"Sure!"

"Wei Ying, where will you go after we bury your parents?"

"Well... I was planning on looking for my father's birth family! I can hardly look for my mother's family since it consists of Baoshan Sanren and a few younger brothers that left the mountain as well... But I didn't get a chance to check my father's belongings yet to find out if I still have any living relatives on his side of the family!"

"Do you have them with you? Maybe we can help you check his belongings..." Huaisang offered hopefully.

"That would be very nice of you!" he bowed gratefully, only to be stopped by both brothers at once, making them glare at each other for a moment before smiling at him again.

Wei Ying was confused at this but decided to ignore it for now. But wait... how would they react to him randomly holding objects he didn't have before?

TIP: This is a game so characters won't find it weird if you use any special techniques or get things from your inventory

The game always knew exactly what he needed! So he got all of the things he took from the inn from his inventory. They then went through everything, Wei Ying having to pause at some things he remembered having loved dearly. And then they found a white and light pink tassel with a crystal that had the character "Bai" engraved. Nie Mingjue recognized it immediately since he had learned about it before. It was a tassel that every member of the Chang'an Bai sect was given after their sect's traditional fertility ritual. And if this belonged to Wei Ying's father, he was probably the boy he had heard about who was a young master of the former Wei sect before they sold him to Yunmeng Jiang as a slave and were killed by the Bais for revenge (except people who weren't involved, those were adopted as Bai Sect disciples). The Bais had their reputation ruined afterward by the Wen sect since the Wens had worked together with the Weis. But Qinghe Nie had always stood with the Bais since they knew better than anyone else how bad the Wens were since Qishan was right next to Qinghe.

They went to sleep soon afterward, Nie Mingjue insisting to sleep with them in Huaisang's room to make sure he was okay. Wei Ying didn't pay it any mind and appreciated the elder's effort in looking after him - even if he technically didn't need it.

The next morning, the brothers insisted on making him wear some traditional Nie sect robes and found that he looked even more adorable with proper clothes. After getting ready they went to look for Sect Leader Nie only to be alerted that the sect leader was on the training field, suffering a Qi Deviation. The Nie brothers gasped and immediately ran in that direction, Wei Ying following after them hurriedly. He quickly got out Chenqing from his inventory. He may not be a Lan, but he had come up with some healing songs of his own to help with the effects of resentful energy on his body.

When they arrived, the brothers were pleading to be let through to their father but were held back by the guards who were telling them that it was already too late to save him. Nobody paid Wei Ying any mind when he went up to the ferocious sect leader and they only looked at him in shock when they heard him starting to play the dizi. They were yelling at him to get away, yet he just continued playing and infused some spiritual energy into it - he had realized quickly that for some reason, he already had the beginnings of a golden core even though he actually developed it late in his last life. Maybe it had to do with the new cultivation system that was unique to the main character.

The guards and the Nie brothers were still trying to get him away from Sect Leader Nie, when said man suddenly started calming down and fell to the floor with a thud. His sons immediately came running to him, "Father!"

"How did you-"

"It's a song that calms the mind, similar to cleansing of the Gusu Lan Sect." he explained to them.

After a while, the sect leader was responsive again and looked around him in confusion.

"What happened?"

"Father! You had a qi deviation!" Huaisang cried out and fell into his father's arms who immediately returned the hug.

"Already? I expected to still have a few years until then..."

"Sect Leader Nie, may I see your saber for a moment?"

When he gave it to him, he examined it closely only to smile when he came to a conclusion.

"Aha! Here, look, someone messed with it! That's why it was already damaged and you had a qi deviation ahead of your schedule!"

"But- who would-" Huaisang sobbed.

Wei Ying just pointed up at the sun and they immediately understood.

"Don't worry! I can try to fix the saber for you if you want!"

They blinked at him in disbelief.

"What? I promise I can do it! My parents said I was a child prodigy at cultivation and invention!"

"C-Cultivation? You're like, what, 5 years old?" Nie Mingjue was baffled.

It hadn't been that long since he got his golden core yet he had always been considered to be quite strong for his age. And this child had apparently already started cultivating?

"I'm 4! And yes, cultivation! I don't have a golden core but I'm able to channel lots of spiritual energy from the outside and use it as my own which also makes the process of developing a golden core way faster! I'm almost there!"

"H-how?" Huaisang stuttered.

"Well, it was a combination of the teachings of my mother - or rather, Baoshan Sanren - and the teachings of my father's birth family - which I now know is the Bai clan!"

"Guanyin have mercy, I'm going to qi deviate again." Sect Leader Nie couldn't believe it. He had to get the kid to help Huaisang form a backbone!

He should definitely convince the boy to form an alliance between Chang'an Bai and Qinghe Nie, either through a sword brotherhood - or even an arranged marriage. A plan was forming in his head.

Wei Ying just continued smiling at them brightly, until he got some new notifications.

"Congratulations! Nie Mingjue now likes you! He might develop a romantic interest for you in the future!"

"Congratulations! Nie Huaisang now likes you! He might develop a romantic interest for you in the future!"

Oh fuck.

Chapter Text

The Nies and Wei Ying had traveled back to where his parents died after Sect Leader Nie had recovered from his almost Qi deviation. Since it took him a few days to recover, Wei Ying spent those days with some of the Nie sect's best daughters and smiths. First, he fixed the Sect Leader's saber with the smiths and added some talismans and enchantments as protection so the saber couldn't be tinkered with again. Then he tried to figure out a way to prevent the Nies from Qi deviating in the first place and then came up with the idea of using the Yunmeng Jiang bells as inspiration and came up with a special tassel. He designed a green tassel with clear quartz as the centerpiece and multiple green fluorites. The clear quartz was supposed to make their minds more clear and also to enhance their spiritual awareness and wisdom. Similarly, the green fluorites were supposed to enhance mental clarity and reduce instability and disorder. After he finished the prototype, the Nie Sect Leader tested it out while training for hours, and when he would usually already get agitated and had to take a break to avoid a minor deviation, he now could fight for hours without any signs of instability.

The Nie sect immediately started mass-producing it, after having it patented under Wei Wuxian's name. They then held a banquet for him and honored him as an honorary member of the Nie sect.

"Reputation Increased! You now have a level 1 positive reputation!"

That's how he found out that the more he helped and impressed people, the more positive reputation he would gain and this would influence the public's opinion in the future.

Afterward, the Nie Sect helped him bury his parents - in Yiling since that was the only place he actually remembered visiting with his parents when he was a child. He then parted ways with them - even though both young masters were very reluctant and would only let him go when he promised to write them letters as often as possible.

"A Proper Burial Quest Rewards:"
+ 50 points, + 100 EXP, + 100 Copper Coins, + 20 Silver Coins, +5 Gold Coins

"New Equipment:"
Nie Sect Stability Tassel

"New Spells:"
3x Skill Booster (Levels up a random ability by 10%)

All that for such an easy quest!? This should be easy then! Now that he was alone, he finally had the time to figure out how to use points etc. He opened up his player info again and first checked everything, noticing that many of his skills had leveled up while doing minor tasks. He then used points to finally level up his stats and then used the Skill boosters to further level up his skills.

Name: Wei Ying, Wei Wuxian | Age: 4
Title: None |  Level: 7
Reputation: +1

Stats: 0 Points Available;
Strength: 11 | Stamina: 11
Speed: 11 | Agility: 11
Charisma: 11 | Intelligence: 11
Imagination: 12 | Luck: 12

Skills:
Academic
Alchemy: 14% | Astrology: 3%
Healing: 10% | History: 8%
Investigation: 10% | Research: 18%
Teaching: 25% | Writing: 2%
Arts
Calligraphy: 2% | Crafting: 21%
Dancing: 1% | Flute: 16%
Painting: 20% | Sewing: 1%
Singing: 11% | Storytelling: 4%
Talismans: 19%
Physical
Acrobatics: 6% | Blacksmith: 19%
Climbing: 10% | Combat: 10%
Fighting: 10% | Fishing: 1%
Hunting: 10% | Jumping: 10%
Riding: 10% | Swimming: 10%
Weaponry: 15%
Social
Blackmail: 1% | Body Language: 6%
Bribe: 1% | Diplomacy: 6%
Empathy: 13% | Flirting: 17%
Haggling: 3% | Intimidation: 10%
Miscellaneous
Cooking: 4% | Falconry: 2%
Herbalism: 10% | Hiding: 10%
Inventing: 22% | Language: 21%
Stealing: 5%

Then, another notification popped up.

"Collected 2 new harem members!"

... This could not be happening. He thought this was a joke, but apparently, he had just unknowingly wooed both young masters of the Qinghe Nie... He decided not to dwell on it and instead traveled around for a while, further fulfilling minor tasks, gaining EXP and skills, leveling up, enhancing his skills, etc. After about a year of just doing that, he had gained lots of experience and considered himself a master of the game that was centered around his own life.

He now felt strong enough to set out to Chang'an and find his family. The travel to Chang'an went by quite smoothly and he arrived within a month. He then started asking around if anyone knew where he could find the Chang'an Bai sect and was led to a place they called the Eternal Light City. Within the Eternal Light City, there were many disciples running around, wearing robes that were mostly pink and white. Some of them carried swords with them, but after only one look he realized that the preferred weapons were clearly instruments. Huh, so the Lan clan weren't the only ones cultivating with instruments. Many of the disciples were also carrying fans, whips or ribbons with them. He approached a group of six people that were talking animatedly about something. They wore swords as well as secondary weapons and looked friendly enough. He stood next to them and waited until one of them noticed him and notified the others.

The one that ended up noticing him was one of the two girls and she seemed to be the youngest of the bunch. She immediately squealed when she saw him, kneeled down in front of him and pinched his cheeks.

"Look at this little baby! He's so cute! I want to keep him!"

The others chuckled and the tallest one of the four boys lightly slapped her hands off his face, "Leave the poor boy alone Mingkang!"

"New NPSc available! Do you want short introductions of them?"

How odd, that wasn't an option with the Nies... maybe because he already knew at least a little bit about the Nies before but these disciples were completely new. Nevertheless, he agreed to get short introductions of them.

"NPC 1: Mèng Bāoróng, 18"

Chang'an Bai sect's oldest and head disciple
Son of the prostitute Meng Shi and an unknown man
Was sold by Meng Shi when Jin Guangshan took a liking to her
Later taken in as a disciple by the Bai sect
Meng Yao's older brother
Doesn't know anything about his mother or brother

Meng Baorong was the boy who told the girl to leave him alone earlier. How curious, he had never known that Meng Yao had a brother but he supposed it wasn't too far off that a prostitute would have more than one child. He probably came after his father since he was very tall and had a boy-ish charm, which contradicted Meng Yao that clearly took after his mother and was rather small and slender. One trait they obviously shared were their deep dimples and charming smile.

"NPC 2: Xū Áolǐ, 17"

Chang'an Bai sect's oldest female disciple
Serves as the head disciple when Baorong is unavailable
Most trusted disciple of the sect leader's mother, Bai Jiayue

Xu Aoli, from what he had seen, seemed to be a no-nonsense type of person. She trusted her brain and her abilities over anything else, except her closest friends. She seemed to be protective since he had noticed she had instinctively reached for her dagger when the younger girl started squealing earlier. She was also quite a beauty. While she looked serious, she had sparkling eyes that looked like they were staring into his soul and overall, there was just something intriguing about her that Wei Wuxian couldn't pinpoint. What he did know, however, was that his heart ached when looking at her due to her similarities to Wen Qing.

"NPC 3: Ài Yùshēn, 16"

Chang'an Bai sect's golden boy and heartthrob
Popular with both girls and boys thanks to his androgynous beauty
Never flirts with anyone, since he dreams to find his one true love

Wei Ying understood why he was seen as the sect's golden boy. He was slender yet muscular, as well as curvy in all the right places. He had big, innocent eyes, long lashes, a cute button nose, and soft lips that many girls would envy. What a shame that he was so much older than himself.

"NPC 4: Guō Mùwěn, 16"

One of the surviving children of the former Wei sect
Changed his name to Guo after transferring to the Bai sect
Holds up the Wei sect's traditions by being a talisman and array master

Huh? Wei Sect? There had been a Wei Sect once? What was that all about? He hoped to find out more about that later on through the boy. Said boy looked quite messy with his loose hairstyle and ink all over his robes and face, he seemed to have been working on some talismans earlier that day. Yet despite his messy appearance, he held himself with grace and elegance, his head held high and he didn't seem to add much to their earlier conversations unless directly asked.

"NPC 5: Wū Tiānkǎi, 17"

Another one of the surviving children of the former Wei sect
Like an older brother to Muwen, they are very close
Is usually the one disciples go to when they have questions relating to their studies

This person reminded him of Lan Xichen... Like the older twin jade, he was wearing a content smile on his face the whole time, was affectionate with all of them yet knew all of them enough to see when his affection was too much and when they needed more. He was very patient and tender and in general, he seemed like everyone's big brother, even though he wasn't actually the oldest.

"NPC 6: Ān Míngkāng, 16"

An orphan that was taken in by the Bai sect
Can seem childish and pampered but she's actually the one pampering younger disciples
Often seen as happy-go-lucky, but can be serious when she has to

Mingkang was the polar opposite of Xu Aoli. She was cheerful, talking the whole time, shared every thought that came to mind with others and just seemed very open and welcoming in general.

After taking in all of the NPCs, he concentrated on the matter of hand again.

"Is there anything we can help you with, little one?" Wu Tiankai asked calmly.

"Yes, actually. My name is Wei Ying, courtesy Wuxian."

As soon as his introduction left his mouth, Guo Muwen and Wu Tiankai gasped and looked at each other.

"Wei? How is that possible? I thought we all either died or changed our names when transferring to the Bai sect?"

"As you can see, I was born after the fall of the Wei sect. My father was Wei Changze and when I looked through his things, I found a connection between him and the Bai sect, so I came here."

They looked at each other, seemingly having a conversation with their eyes. But Xu Aoli picked up on an important detail.

"Your father was Wei Changze?"

"Yes... Both of my parents died recently, in a night hunt."

They all looked at him in pity, which caused him to look away awkwardly.

"Were they buried?" Meng Baorong spoke up.

"They did! I went to the Qinghe Nie sect for help with the burial!"

They blinked at that, "The Qinghe Nie?"

"Yeah! In return, I helped them with an internal sect problem!"

"You-"

"Let's forget about that for now. Do you know how exactly your father was related to the Bais?" Yushen smiled at him brightly.

"No... That's why I'm here, I want to find out about who he was..."

"I think, the best solution would be to go to Madame Bai..."

"Yeah, if anyone knows how he is related to the Bais, it's Bai Jiayue."

Chapter Text

Wei Ying followed the disciples, they were leading him to someone called Bai Jiayue. He had no idea who that was but they were sure that if anyone knew about his relation to the Bais, it would be her!

They led him to a clearing where lots of cherry blossom trees were growing. Right in the middle was a white pavilion and he could faintly recognize a woman sitting in it, wearing elegant pale pink robes with floral patterns.

"Madam Bai." they all greeted her and bowed to her.

The woman turned to them with a smile and was about to greet them back until she saw the little boy standing behind them. She gasped in shock and promptly stood up to come closer.

"You... Changze?"

Wei Ying titled his head in confusion. He hadn't thought that she would immediately recognize him as Wei Changze's son.

"Are you Wei Changze's son?" she asked hopefully and came even closer.

He grinned brightly and answered proudly, "I am!"

"Oh my." she whispered under her breath and before he knew it, she stood right before him, putting her hands on his shoulders and inspecting him as closely as possible.

"What a beautiful boy you are. You look exactly like my Changze except that you have silver eyes." she cried out.

The disciples looked just as confused as he felt. When Bai Jiayue noticed the confusion, she immediately wiped away some of her tears.

"I'm sorry about that. I just didn't expect... Come in, let's talk for a bit." she invited him into the pavilion, the disciples bowed to them and went back to where they came from, even though it was obvious that they really wanted to know what was going on.

"What's your name, child?" she asked him after she had calmed down.

"Wei Ying!"

She laughed a little, "What a nice name. Your mother must be a very literal person."

"She was! She always told me that neither of them could think of a good name for me so one day my father said they should just name me 'infant' and it stuck!"

She laughed again, until she noticed a minor detail of his sentence.

"Was? She was a literal person?"

"...Both of my parents died very recently on a night hunt." he shared with her.

She gasped again and almost broke down in tears for the second time that day.

"Is that why... why you're here?" she asked.

"Yeah. Before I went here I went to the Nie sect and they helped me bury my parents. The two young masters also looked through my parents' things with me which is where we found my father's Bai sect bracelet and I found out that I'm in some way related to the Bai sect."

"What an independent child you are." she smiled sadly.

"I don't mean to be rude but... How exactly am I related to the Bai sect?"

"Ah, of course! I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Bai Jiayue, I used to be the second young mistress of the Bai sect and since my sister was to be the sect leader, I was married off to the Wei sect. Wei Changze is- was my youngest child. That makes me... your grandmother." she smiled at him again.

"Wei sect? There is a Wei sect?"

"There was... but it didn't exist for long. This story is for another day. For now, tell me everything."

So he told her everything he remembered experiencing in the first four years of his life, with his parents. In return, she told him childhood stories of the few years Wei Changze spent with her. What that was about, he didn't know, but he trusted that she would tell him when she thought it appropriate.

"Now, A-Ying... I know I am not your parents but I am your grandmother and I would be honored to raise you here with my Bai sect in honor of my son."

"Of course!"

He was promptly given temporary quarters until his actual ones in the area for the main family would be prepared. His grandmother then took him on a tour, showing him around. She didn't introduce him to anyone they met and when he asked why she said that she would plan an official event to introduce him to everyone.

"Wei Ying, did your parents tell you about your courtesy name?"

"They said they wanted to name me Wei Wuxian."

"Wei Wuxian... A good name but if you are to be a young master of the Bai sect, you need to have another courtesy name with the generational name as well. Are you opposed to having two courtesy names instead of one?"

"Not at all, if you think that would be best, Madam Bai!"

"Didn't I tell you to call me granny, little one?" she grinned at him and he grinned back shyly.

"You did, granny."

"Besides officially introducing you and giving you a courtesy name, you will also do the Bai sect fertility ritual. Are you familiar with what it is?"

"The Nies mentioned it briefly but not really."

"It's a ritual that our sect has been doing since our very first sect leader invented it. Let me tell you a story about our humble beginnings. Many, many years ago our founders Bai Anmeng and Bai Anmin, who were siblings, were born. Their parents were very well-known and rich, their family had been in charge of funerals and funerary rituals for generations and because they always wore white they at some point took on the surname Bai. They lived in Yi City that used to be a prosperous and well-off place. To this day, Yi City is still in Bai sect territory and many of us go there annually to remember our humble origins. When their parents died, Anmeng continued to be in charge of funerals while Anmin did the opposite and instead became a midwife in charge of birthing children. But due to a plague that haunted Yi City around that time, the population of Yi City kept on decreasing. For some reason, it especially haunted younger people and our founders were lucky not to die as well. Because of that, the people living there were mostly old people. After the plague, Yi City wasn't doing much better because it already had a reputation because of the plague. Because of that, the only new residents were people who were cast out and disowned by their family, mostly because they were cut-sleeves or similar things. And neither the cut-sleeves nor the old people could have children, so Bai Anmeng and Bai Anmin began cultivating and also encouraged the others to do so because then they would be able to find a way for old people or even men to have children. They didn't achieve much cultivating just yang energy, so they also did something that was and is still shunned today, experimenting with yin energy. Their efforts paid off, for a few years after that they developed a way to channel yin and yang energy in a certain way that allowed anyone to both produce fertile semen and have children. This ritual is still done to this day, to every Bai child that develops a golden core and to every spouse that marries into the Bai sect leader. One of the top rules when choosing a spouse is that they agree to undergo the fertility ritual, or the marriage proposal will be rejected. To help the body stay fertile after the ritual, we all wear the Bai sect bracelets, since they all consist of crystals that are both helpful with fertility and have the right alignment of yin and yang energy."

"That's so interesting! I'd be honored to officially become a Bai sect member by doing the fertility ritual." he smiled as wide as he could.

And he was. He was definitely excited to finally be part of a family again.

Chapter Text

Wei Ying had been staying with the Bai Sect for about a month now and was already dearly loved by everyone, though the people still didn't know who he actually was. Well, everyone except his family! His grandmother had recently introduced him to more of his family members such as Bai Zhining, his paternal uncle and current sect leader of the Bai sect as well as his wife Yan Liulang and their children Bai Xiarong and Bai Xialin. Like his cousins, his courtesy name would include the Xia character.

He became quite close with Bai Xiarong and Bai Xialin and the three of them could be seen spending time together often, even though his cousins were already 18 and he was just 6. Oh, another thing he had noticed is that he had aged quite quickly yet he had not yet found an explanation for him aging two years in just a month. Nobody else seemed to find it weird so he guessed it was another thing that happened because of the game.

While getting to know the traditions and customs of the sect, he also made a list of things he planned to change for the better. He also realized that he would prefer doing some of those things before the whole world knew about him, so he sought out his grandmother and asked for her permission to travel for a while before he was officially introduced to the sect. His fertility ritual had already been done, with only him, his grandmother, uncle, aunt and cousins present.

"You want to travel?" she sounded surprised.

"Yes granny! There's some things I want to do and some places I want to see before being introduced as Bai Xiafeng!"

His grandmother seemed hesitant to let him go all on his own and Wei Ying understood why, to her he was just a small child after all and she had just found out that her son had died so she must be scared to lose the last thing left of him. Yet his grandmother also noticed the longing in his voice and didn't want to make him sad.

"How about you take your cousins with you? I'm sure A-Rong and A-Lin would be more than willing to join you!" she suggested a compromise.

He thought about it for a moment and then agreed. He could probably do whatever he needed to do without them noticing or could find excuses.

"But A-Ying, before you leave, I want to tell you what I know you've been curious about for a while now. The Yiling Wei sect and what happened to it, as well as more information about the Chang'an Bai sect."

So both of them found a pavilion and called for tea and pastries.

"As I mentioned before, the Chang'an Bai sect has been around for a while. In fact, we were one of the first-ever cultivation sects. You already know about our founders Bai Anmeng and Bai Anmin, how they became cultivators to come up with the fertility ritual and allow their small village that consisted of old people and homosexuals to have children. The people of Yi City were always peaceful and never warriors but since they were now a cultivation sect, they looked for an alternative, and our second sect leader, Bai Yuegui, came up with our traditional weaponry, such as the fans, whips, and also instruments, especially the dizi and the pipa. In fact, these were all inspired by his husband, though his name was lost over time. At first we just used regular whips, but then the great immortal Baoshan Sanren blessed us for our creativity and gave us actual spiritual whips along with a manual on how to make them. And the whips were later on stolen by the Meishan Yu sect who still take pride in their creative new cultivation technique, as if we didn't come up with the concept and technique ourselves. Our founders were from a wealthy family and growing up they were both taught in the six arts, etiquette and they were also taught their family's traditional meditation practices. Those meditation practices are what allowed them to cultivate a golden core faster than any other technique. They had also been taught in dance with fans, whips, and ribbons which is why they started using them as cultivation tools. Due to their knowledge in all of these fields, our technique is to this day known for its elegance and many people note that it reminds them of dancing rather than fighting. Similarly, our official color, which is pink was inspired by our third sect leader's wife Zhu Yueli. Her surname means vermilion red and our surname means white, so our third sect leader showed his devotion to his wife by making our official color light red or pink. Our official motif used to be a fan, but only recently when I married into the Yiling Wei sect, we changed it into a cherry blossom since we wanted it to symbolize new beginnings. Now I wish we had never changed the motif or that we could change it again."

"Maybe we can!" Wei Ying smiled brightly.

"What would you change it to?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Mh... I don't know but I bet we could come up with something!"

His grandmother smiled at him, "How about something related to my A-Ying? Since you coming back to us symbolizes a new start for the Chang'an Bais. How about... a Spider Lily? Since it was almost like you came back from the dead to come back to your family."

Wei Ying's eyes widened at the comparison and he nodded repeatedly, "I would be honored!"

"A Spider Lily huh... That should be a title of yours, the Lan sect may have their Twin Jades but the Bai Sect has their Spider Lily."

Wei Ying blushed, though he wasn't sure if it was because he was apparently given a title already or if it was because he was being compared to the Twin Jades.

"Moving on, we have always been a very prestigious sect and could be considered the greatest sect there is, the only reason we were never officially part of the five big sects was because we never cared about wars or politics. In truth, people usually consider us above worldly concerns and even above the five great sects. When I was still a maiden, my father Bai Fengchu welcomed suitors for me and I fell for the young master of the Yiling Wei sect, Wei Sizheng. We got married and had three children, my eldest Wei Aowen, my only daughter Wei Nuhong and my youngest, your father Wei Changze. We were very happy at first, but Wei Sizheng was a greedy man and even when he was married to a member of the most prestigious sect, he wanted more. In a moment of desperation, he sold my Wei Changze to the Yunmeng Jiang sect as a servant, to this day I don't know what they gave him in return. When I found out that he had sold my precious youngest son, I immediately altered my clan. I suspect that the Yiling Wei clan never expected us to start a full-on war with them, since we were known to be peaceful. But we did, we started a war with them and killed down every single member of the Yiling Wei sect that was involved. Only the innocent survived and we allowed them to either leave and live a normal life or become part of the Bai sect instead, such as the parents of Guo Muwen and Wu Tiankai. We tried to get back my Wei Changze from the Yumeng Jiang, but those self-righteous fools refused to give him back. The only reason we didn't start another war, was that the civilians under us were tired. So we waited until I knew my Changze would be an adult to get him back, only to find out that he had fallen in love with a rogue cultivator and had left with her after she had bought him free. As much as it hurt me to do so, I left him be, always hoping that he would at least come to visit us. I see now I should have looked foir him when I still had the chance to." she sighed in sorrow.

Wei Ying took her hand gently, "My father loved you. He once told me that at some point we would go and visit you so that I could meet you. But- he probably didn't expect to die before we could."

She used her hand to wipe away a few tears that were running down her face and waited until she continued talking.

"Anyway, after that I returned to my natal sect and married another man, Xian Liangren, and produced an heir for the Bai sect, my Zhining who you've already met."

"Why have I not met Xian Liangren before?" he asked in curiosity.

"I am not very lucky when it comes to love, it seems. My Liangren died only a year after Zhining was born."

"What happened to your other children with Wei Sizheng, Wei Aowen and Wei Nuhong?"

"A-Wen married a woman named Lao Wanghui and had a son, Wei Tianfan. A-hong never married. They live together in a small village and are enjoying their civilian lives."

"Thank you for telling me all this." he smiled at her in gratitude.

"Of course A-Ying, it's directly related to you after all."

They spent some more time together afterward and then informed his cousins about his plans. The three of them got ready and then left Chang'an.

"Where to first?" A-Lin asked him excitedly, she hadn't gotten the chance to leave Chang'an in forever and especially not for going on an adventure with her older brother and her baby cousin.

"The Meishan Yu sect."

When they arrived in Meishan, he immediately started asking around for the servants. After he was told where to go, he immediately went in that direction and then came upon an altercation between someone he recognized as Madame Yu's mother and a servant boy that he also recognized - Wen Zhuliu, though he was still Zhou Zhuliu at the moment.

The boy was a little older than himself, probably around twelve or thirteen and when Wei Ying arrived at the scene, he was getting whipped by a weapon similar to Zidian. Wei Ying was glad that while going through the Bai sect's huge library he found some information about the traditional weapons of the Meishan Yu that he could now use against them.

"Aren't you embarrassed to use a weapon created by Baoshan Sanren, for the purpose of vanquishing evil, to punish a young, innocent child?"

The woman turned around in surprise and then her eyes narrowed when she spotted him.

"What are you talking about, boy?"

"Your whip. Don't you know its story?"

"Of course I know that the whips are a family heirloom of my clan, what would a stupid boy like you know?"

"Well, I know that they actually aren't made by the Meishan Yu but were created by Baoshan Sanren centuries ago and she gifted them to the Chang'an Bai sect to help them defeat evil - until the Meishan Yu decided that the privilege of owning them should only belong to them and claimed all of the whips for themselves. Baoshan Sanren did not know about this since she never left her mountain."

"You- How dare you talk about my ancestors like that!" she shouted enraged and tried to whip him, yet he grabbed the whip with his bare hand, twisted it and dominated the whip's spirit until it turned against its master and started electrocuting her.

While she was busy trying to get the whip off of her, he grabbed Zhou Zhuliu's hand, took out Chengying from the inventory, jumped on the sword together with Zhou Zhuliu and flew away, his cousins following him.

He could see their surprise at his actions and maturity, yet he had other things to take care of, such as the future Core-Melting-Hand.

"Who are you?" the boy asked in suspicion.

"My name is Wei Ying! And you are Zhou Zhuliu. The boy who can melt cores." he replied knowingly, making the other's eyes widen.

"How do you know?" he looked around in panic, knowing that if others knew about this they would call him a monster and either lock him up somewhere, use him to their own benefit or just out-right kill him.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. As long as you swear your loyalty to me and promise to never use your ability on the innocent."

"Why would I do that?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because I am a young master of the Chang'an Bai sect and if you agree to my conditions, I will make you my sworn brother which will protect you from other people."

The other's eyes widened yet again, Wei Ying was surprised at how big his eyes could get, "S-Sworn brother?"

"Of course! Though you wouldn't be my only one, there are still some more sworn brothers I have to pick up along the way." he grinned in delight.

After thinking about it for a while, Zhou Zhuliu nodded with a determined look in his eyes, "I accept your conditions and I want to be your sworn brother."

"Great! You can call me A-Ying then, A-Liu!"

"Congratulations! Zhou Zhuliu swore his loyalty to you, you collected 1/? sworn siblings and prevented many tragedies from happening!"

Chapter Text

Wei Ying, along with his cousins and Zhou Zhuliu decided to stay at an inn for the night, in Yunping City. Yunping was on the way from Meishan to Yunmeng which was perfect for him since he planned to go to both Yunping and Yunmeng. In his last life, he could never have imagined it, but after many sleepless nights and realizations, he came to the conclusion that what he had to live through with the Jiangs was abuse. He felt resentful to the people he used to be so grateful for, for "saving him", but now he realized that they merely took him out of one hell to welcome him to another.

Now that he had people that actually considered him family, like his cousins, he never wanted to go back to his toxic relationship with the Jiangs. His cousins were unconditionally supportive of everything he did, having seen how independent and surprisingly competent he was for his age. They hadn't even questioned him when he decided to take Zhou Zhuliu with him and make him his sworn brother.

He thought about all of these things while lying in bed in the inn, until he was suddenly blinded by a bright light, making him squint to see what was going on.

"TUTORIAL: Elemental Cultivation"

Oh? Was he finally going to find out about his unique cultivation style?

"Since the player showed bravery, compassion and forgiveness by saving Zhou Zhuliu, you have reached Level 20 and are now ready to start cultivating with the elements."

Level 20?? Just a while ago he had been Level 7, it seems like saving people from a bad future gave him quite a lot of EXP. It was good that he planned to save some more people soon.

"Elemental Cultivation is based on the seven elements: Pyro, Hydro, Anemo, Electro, Dendro, Cryo and Geo."

What even did that mean?

"The seven elements were created by seven notable cultivators of history who once cultivated these elements, though each only one, but the elements were lost over time because no one besides them was able to cultivate them. All of them left behind a weapon infused with their element that makes it easier for one to use the element. The player can use the elements without these weapons but owning the weapons makes you even more powerful and admirable to others. It also helps with your positive reputation, your EXP and your skills."

Interesting, but this still didn't explain what the elements actually were and where he could find these weapons.

"Dear Player, please stop being so impatient, we're getting to it."

Oops-

"Pyro is the element of Fire. It was created by the Wen sect's founder, Wen Mao, who was known to be ambitious and passionate. In your last life, you memorized the Quintessence of the Wen so you know a few quotes of Wen Mao and you have probably already thought that he was quite the hypocrite. But actually, Wen Mao was indeed a very righteous person who cared very much about his family and about the people under his care. The Wen Sect only went down-hill under Wen Ruohan when he tried to become a demonic cultivator similar to Xue Chonghai and was manipulated by resentful energy just like his predecessor. Today the Jiang sect is known for archery, but back in the day it was actually Wen Mao who was known to be exceptional at it, which is why he created Hell's Whistle/Diyuxiao, a bow infused with Pyro that shoots arrows of fire."

Huh, seems the Yu sect was not the only sect prone to steal other sects' signatures.

"Hydro is the element of Water. It was created by the Jiang sect's founder, Jiang Jinjing, who used to be treated as inferior because she was a woman, but she never let barriers stop her and did whatever she wanted to, like water that can overpower anything it wants to. She was a symbol for female empowerment and made her daughter the second sect leader but all of their progress with female rights was destroyed when her grandson became sect leader and proceeded to view women as objects and useless. The Jiang sect's long-standing relationship with the Jin sect started at this time since the third sect leader got along well with the Jin sect's sect leader at that time who also treated women like objects. Jiang Jinjing created the Sacrificial Moon/Xishengyue, a moonstone orb infused with Hydro that channels the moon and can thus help with controlling water."

He found it kind of sad that the Jiang sect's founder had been such a promising person only for everything to be destroyed with their first male sect leader.

"Anemo is the element of Wind. It was created by the Lan sect's founder, Lan An, who was a daoist that liked structure and was very righteous, but became impulse for his love and to protect the innocent, similar to the wind who is usually seen as calm yet can become a full storm very quickly. Lan An believed in justice and peace over anything else, yet his teachings were disgraced by his descendants who kept creating more rules and lost their original purpose, they even started using the rules to punish the innocent and do other unjust things. Lan An created Stormsong/Fengbaoge, a guqin infused with Anemo that deals heavy wind blows."

So he was right after all, the Lan sect unfairly used the rules to their advantage and hid behind false righteousness! Perhaps he should go there soon to try and prevent the fate of the twin jades' parents. And maybe he could save Lan Qiren before he could become a bitter old man.

"Electro is the element of Electricity. It was created by Baoshan Sanren and was to be used by the Chang'an Bai sect until the Meishan Yu sect tried steal it from them. They quickly realized that they weren't able to cultivate the element and stole the electricity infused whips instead and recreated them, though they were never as strong as the ones created by Baoshan Sanren. The first and most powerful spiritual whip created by Baoshan Sanren was Thundersoul/Leilinghun, a whip infused with Electro that is usually in the form of a bracelet and changes color based on its master's feelings."

Why did that seem familiar? A bracelet that changed colors? Then he remembered that while leaving with Zhou Zhuliu, he had snatched the Meishan Yu sect leader's whip and taken it with him, only for it to turn into a bracelet that now comfortably rested on his arm.

"System, is the bracelet I am wearing,,, Thundersoul?"

"Yes."

So he had already gotten one of the weapons! That explained why he had risen to Level 20 so quickly!

"Moving on, Dendro is the element of Nature. It was created by Nie Qingge, the little brother of the Nie sect founder. His brother was a butcher and known to be very strong and powerful, but Nie Qingge was gentler than him and preferred spending time outside, watching animals, learn about flowers and plants and he was also quite good at medicine. Another hobby of his was poetry and music, which is why he got along quite well with Lan Yi in their youth. They also bonded over being cut-sleeves, though not many knew about it. Despite being so different than his brother, the two of them loved each other dearly and when his older brother died from Qi deviation, he developed Dendro to help balance the saber spirits, which helped to some extent, but his descendants found it unsuitable for a sect known to be strong and harsh so all his progress was lost. Still, he had created an indestructible Dendro weapon, a fan called Serenity's Breeze/Ningweifeng that if used by someone wielding the saber counteracted the effects of the saber spirit and could prolong someone's life for quite a few years. The Nie sect doesn't use it anymore, but since it couldn't be destroyed it's still intact."

He wondered if he could use the Nie sect's gratitude to him for curing their Qi deviation to get the fan. Well, if the Nie brothers were actually going to be in love with him as the system promised, he guessed he could somehow get the fan if he really desired it.

"Cryo is the element of Ice. It was created by Xue Chonghai before he went crazy. He was an ordinary cultivator yet suddenly he became one of the few people who created their own element and the rest of the cultivation world was jealous and greedy to get ahold of this new element, which made Xue Chonghai paranoid and it was ultimately the reason he created demonic cultivation, to protect himself from the cultivation world. Yet it backfired and he was affected by the demonic cultivation and started a cold war with the whole cultivation world, resulting in his death. In the last days before his death, he focused on making his Cryo-infused weapon since he knew it was a necessity for all the elements to have their own artifact. He created Morningstar's Frost/Chenxingshuang, a Cryo-infused dagger that at first doesn't seem to do much damage, but anyone pierced by it will slowly freeze, starting with one's organs until the whole body is completely frozen."

Why hadn't he thought about it before, that he probably wasn't the first demonic cultivator with his fate? Of course, he wasn't the first one who only wanted to live in peace until the cultivation world got too greedy.

"And the last one is Geo, the element of Earth, though rather than nature this once is more focused on minerals and stone. It was created by the Jin sect's founder, Jin Hui, who was known for his manufacturing of various resources, at first mostly stone but later on also more precious things such as gold, silver, or several types of gemstones. He used to be quite poor until he worked his way up and he never forgot to give back to the poor, sharing his fortune with them whenever he could. It was only later on that his descendants forgot their humble beginnings and started being selfish and stopped giving back to the poor. Jin Qiqiang created Divine Light/Shenshengguang, a Geo-infused staff forged of gold and with decorations of jade, emerald, amethyst, citrine, opal, ruby, pearls and many other types of gems."

Sad that the Jin sect turned into what it is today, though he had high hopes that Jin Zixuan would bring the Jin sect back to its original glory. But besides that, he was very interested in what he had just learned. He would have to try and collect all of the weapons, to get a better reputation and higher levels. He felt bad about it, but he hoped he could woo some other people from those sects so he could collect the weapons without any problems. He would then return to othe Chang'an Bai sect as a glorious victor and could take on the position as their young master.

Since he was already on the way to Yunmeng, he would try and get Sacrificial Moon next, though first, he had to look for a certain boy here in Yunping.

"We're not done yet, Player."

Oh, sorry.

"There are two other important artifacts that help with your reputation and EXP. Destroyer of all Evil/Suiqiang is a sword created by Bai Anmeng while Weaver of Peace/Zhengbian is a ribbon created by Bai Anmin. They are not infused with an element, but with raw life force which is why they are the only known weapons to have human forms except the elemental weapons themselves. They choose their master themselves and since Bai Anmeng and Bai Anmin, nobody has wielded these two weapons. While on your journey, you must do your best to earn a good reputation and gain EXP, the higher and the better those are the more likely it is for the weapons to choose you as their new master. Similarly, you may be able to get ahold of the elemental weapons but only they choose if you will be their master. If they decide that you are worthy, they will show themselves to you in their human form."

That would be a little more difficult then, but since Leilinghun was already around his wrist and had no mind of leaving anytime soon, he guessed that it had already accepted him, at least partly. Hopefully it would reveal itself in its human form to him soon then! Maybe he could convince it by saving Meng Yao and his mother...