dieva | History;

I can't make an actual summary because it would turn out obnoxiously long. Making an outline of events is much, much simpler overall, especially for edits if I have to make them. And I will have to make edits sometimes, there's a lot going on in this novel that I will only see with thorough rereads, the official EN translations gradually rolling out, and a bit of help from the fanwiki.

Naturally, spoilers abound for the entire novel.

CW: Child abuse, corporal punishment, social class bullshit, bad treatment of POW, dubious medical practices & lack of informed consent about them, a general lack of regard for human life.

CHILDHOOD

Born to two rogue cultivators, Cangse Sanren (disciple of an immortal cultivator) and Wei Changze (former disciple of the Jiang sect of Yunmeng), and spent most of his childhood on the road.
His parents died on a night-hunt when he was young.
Spent some years living on the streets of a town called Yiling, and developed a fear of dogs because strays would fight him for food.
Discovered at 9 by Jiang Fengmian, his father's friend and sect leader, and was brought home to Lotus Pier, home of the Jiang sect. He became Jiang Fengmian's student, and the martial brother to the other disciples of the sect.
Jiang Fengmian's wife, Yu Ziyuan, hated him for complicated reasons related to his parents, and the sect heir Jiang Cheng didn't like him because his dogs were sent away, and Wei Ying ended up being better than him in a lot of things. Didn't help that Jiang Fengmian blatantly favored Wei Ying over his own family, and Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying needed Jiang Cheng's older sister, Jiang Yanli, to smooth things over between them.
Yu Ziyuan really did not like him and punished him, like making him kneel in front of the ancestors for hours and hitting him regularly with her electric qi whip.

TEENAGE YEARS (the good ones)

Became head disciple of the sect, and on his 15th birthday got his courtesy name of Wei Wuxian and his sword, Suibian. Jiang Cheng probably got his sword and courtesy name of Jiang Wanyin around the same time too, if not on his actual birthday a few days later.
Months later (presumably, because the event happened when they were 15-16), both went to the Cloud Recesses, home of the Lan sect of Gusu, to attend cultivation classes as guests. Met a new friend named Nie Huaisang, and Lan Wangji, the second son of the Lan sect leader.
Wei Wuxian immediately ~~imprinted on~~ started pulling on Lan Wangji's metaphorical pigtails for fun. Called him by his birth name (rude in polite society), tried to get his attention, gave him bunnies (no pets allowed in the Cloud Recesses), that sort of thing. Joke's on him, Lan Wangji was into that, but wouldn't do a thing about it, and Wei Wuxian was oblivious.
Fought Jiang Yanli's fiance, Jin Zixuan, for insulting her 3 months into his stay and got kicked out. The engagement was called off-- it's fine, it was just an arranged marriage. Jiang Cheng was left behind and allowed to finish his studies.
About a year later, Wei Wuxian (about 16yo) attended a cultivator conference held by the Wen sect of Qishan and placed high in the archery competition. Also met Wen Ning, courtesy Qionglin, and was the only one who recognized his skill in archery.
Tensions were rising because Qishan Wen were beginning to exert control over their neighbors, banning other sects from night hunts. Nobody liked the Wens much already, and this made them like them even less.
Pigtail pulling continued during the conference: Wei Wuxian broke a Gusu Lan rule and touched Lan Wangji's headband (without knowing its significance, but he was warned not to touch beforehand anyway). Lan Wangji bailed before the archery competition was even over.

TEENAGE YEARS (the bad ones)

About a year after the Wen conference, Qishan Wen's heir, Wen Xu, invaded and burned down the Cloud Recesses. Lan Wangji got injured, his older brother Lan Xichen went missing, and their father died from injuries.
One month after the burning of the Cloud Recesses, the Wen sect demanded all other sects send them their heirs and disciples for indoctrination (read: hold them hostage). Everyone complied because Qishan Wen was too powerful to fight against.
The Wen confiscated their hostages' swords. Wei Wuxian (about 17yo) made problems on purpose to piss off their supervisor, Wen Xu's younger brother Wen Chao.
Wen Chao forced the hostages to be bait for a hunt, a corrupted monster turtle inside a mountain cave. The hostages struggled, and Wei Wuxian took a branding iron to the chest to protect a female disciple of the Jin sect.
The monster turtle was too strong and Wen Chao abandoned his hostages in the cave. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji managed to evacuate the others, but were sealed in due to the monster turtle moving over the escape route.
Weird gay hurt/comfort scene: Wei Wuxian tried to take care of Lan Wangji's injuries, Lan Wangji bit him because of teenaged frustration and emotional constipation.
Three days later, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji decided to stop waiting for help. They killed the monster turtle but the escape route got blocked from debris, cue another hurt/comfort scene: Wei Wuxian was heavily injured and feverish, and Lan Wangji used a song he composed to comfort his crush.
What Lan Wangji doesn't know: Wei Wuxian found a sword full of resentful energy inside the monster turtle's shell, and kept it in his pocket dimension.
Jiang Cheng returned to the mountain with reinforcements a week later to dig them out. Lan Wangji returned to the Cloud Recesses, and Wei Wuxian to Lotus Pier. Wen Chao found the monster turtle's corpse and took credit.
Weeks after the rescue, Lotus Pier was attacked and repurposed into a Wen office by Wen Chao and his bodyguard, Wen Zhuliu. Jiang Fengmian, Yu Ziyuan, and most Jiang disciples were killed. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng became fugitives. Jiang Yanli had been visiting her mother's birth sect, and remained there for safety-- the boys decided it was best to head that way.
Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng got separated during a supply run. When Wei Wuxian found him again, Jiang Cheng had been dragged back to Lotus Pier by the Wens to be tortured, and Wen Zhuliu destroyed his golden core.
What Wei Wuxian didn't know (and still doesn't post-canon): While he was buying things, Jiang Cheng had led the Wens away from him on purpose to protect him, and couldn't outrun them.
Wen Ning found them and brought them to the Wen office in Yiling, which his sister Wen Qing maintained. She was not happy but agreed to shelter them.
Jiang Cheng fell into depression because not having a golden core made him a regular human, and Wei Wuxian told to him that his mother's immortal master could probably remake it or give him a new one. He roped Wen Qing and Wen Ning into this lie.
They pretended to send him to the immortal master's home, but in reality, it was just a random mountain. Wen Qing performed surgery out there, physically removing Wei Wuxian's golden core and transferring it into Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxian was completely awake for everything, otherwise the surgery wouldn't have worked. Jiang Cheng was anesthetized though.
Wei Wuxian waited for Jiang Cheng at the base of the mountain, but was captured by Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu. After being beaten, he was left for dead in the Burial Mounds, a large area in the mountains near Yiling that was full of resentful qi so strong, the entire place was teeming with undead and ghosts and resisted all attempts to purify it. Nothing could grow there, so surely he'd die, right?

SUNSHOT CAMPAIGN

Following the attack on Lotus Pier, the other cultivators had enough. They rallied against the Wen, led by Nie Huaisang's older brother, Nie Mingjue, the leader of the Nie sect of Qinghe. They called this the Sunshot Campaign-- the sun being the Qishan Wen symbol. Both Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen had been discovered alive and well, and they stepped up as leaders of their respective sects to lead their surviving disciples to war. The Jin sect of Lanling however assisted only halfheartedly.
A month into the war, the Lan brothers and Jiang Cheng led a raid into Qishan to retrieve the swords of the former hostages.
Nie Mingjue killed Wen Xu early into the war. Sect leader Wen Ruohan was not pleased.
Three months into the war, Wei Wuxian left the Burial Mounds and discovered Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu's location. He killed other Wen disciples and stalked and tortured Wen Chao through the countryside for days, controlling vengeful ghosts by playing on his new flute until Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng arrived, looking for Wen Chao too.
Lan Wangji immediately pegged his powers as Something Bad, and demanded Wei Wuxian return to Gusu with him. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng interpreted his words as him wanting to lock Wei Wuxian up for using evil powers. Lan Wangji's fatal flaw was that he was allergic to explaining things and expressing himself in a clear manner, and Wei Wuxian always misinterpreted him.
Lan Wangji left after a heated argument but continued to hang around the building stealthily. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng stayed behind to get revenge on Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu.
Wei Wuxian (still 17yo or freshly 18) joined the war and summoned fierce corpses to fight for him-- this power was dubbed "demonic cultivation". It scared the allied forces, but they needed his power.
In a difficult battle, Wei Wuxian revealed his secret weapon, the Yin Tiger Tally, which he created in secret from the sword he got from the monster turtle. It could control any fierce corpse within a large radius if both halves were put together, even overriding the power of others who could control corpses. Its power defeated the enemies, but it also did a number on his allies.
Jiang Yanli had been taken in by her ex-fiance's mother, the wife of the Jin sect leader, and she stayed at the Jin war camp to help. Wei Wuxian visited her and ended up fighting Jin Zixuan again after he yelled at her over a misunderstanding.
Almost three years from the start of the war, Nie Mingjue was captured and brought directly to Wen Ruohan in the Wens' home, Nightless City. Lan Xichen's spy in Nightless City, Meng Yao, assassinated Wen Ruohan. Nie Mingjue really did not like this because he had kicked Meng Yao out of his sect years ago for killing a Nie official, and because Meng Yao had killed the Wens' Nie prisoners to ingratiate himself to Wen Ruohan. Lan Xichen convinced him to spare Meng Yao.
Meng Yao got recognized by his father, Jin Zixuan's father aka the Jin sect leader, and received a position in the sect and a courtesy name. Others gave him a title for his service in the war. He, Nie Mingjue, and Lan Xichen performed the sworn brotherhood ceremony to create the Venerated Triad.
Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Yanli returned to Yunmeng to rebuild Lotus Pier and the Jiang sect.
The surviving Wens were made prisoners of war and placed in prison camps.

YILING PATRIARCH ERA

In the autumn after the end of the war, the Lanling Jin organized a hunting competition. Wei Wuxian (freshly 20yo or almost 21) showed off by participating blindfolded. Someone took advantage of this and stole his first kiss. (Spoilers: It's Lan Wangji.)
The Jiang sect won the competition because Wei Wuxian used his demonic cultivation to send the ghosts and corpses to them. This sparked gossip about how Yunmeng Jiang was only good in the Sunshot Campaign because of Wei Wuxian, which hit Jiang Cheng right in the pride.
Gossipers also began discussing Wei Wuxian's odd behaviors, like his lack of sword when he's an excellent swordsman, and his casual use of demonic cultivation. People slowly started treating him like a ticking time bomb.
Months after the competition, Wen Qing found Wei Wuxian during a banquet thrown by the Jin sect and begged him to help her find Wen Ning. Wei Wuxian crashed the banquet to demand where the last Wen members were, as a Jin cousin, Jin Zixun, had been the last one to see Wen Ning alive. The Jin sect leader, Jin Guangshan, attempted to change the subject and demanded to have the Yin Tiger Tally surrendered (preferably to him), and Wei Wuxian accused the Jin sect of trying to become the next Qishan Wen.
Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing raided the prison camp that Jin Zixun pointed them towards, meeting resistance from the guards. Wei Wuxian summoned the corpses on the camp grounds, and found Wen Ning among them. It's presumed from the injuries on his chest and the actions of his fierce corpse that Wen Ning had been beaten to death by said guards.
Wei Wuxian took all the remaining Wens-- about 50 non-cultivators, mostly elders and one 2yo orphan-- and escaped to the Burial Mounds. He set up wards and patrolling fierce corpses as defense.
Wen Ning was placed in a cave and plastered with talismans to keep him still until Wei Wuxian found a way to return his consciousness.
The sects decided Wei Wuxian was a problem that needed to be dealt with, and Jiang Cheng was forced to agree with them to protect his sect. Luo Qingyang, the woman Wei Wuxian saved from the branding iron years ago, walked out of her own sect in protest.
Jiang Cheng visited the Burial Mounds alone to try and convince Wei Wuxian to return, but was rebuffed. He and Wei Wuxian fought (Wei Wuxian cheated, he puppeteered Wen Ning), and the fight ended with Jiang Cheng declaring that Wei Wuxian was expelled from the sect.
Months after the fight, Lan Wangji visited Yiling and met the tiny Wen boy, Yuan, on a shopping trip with Wei Wuxian (still 21 or almost 22). Wei Wuxian's weird kinks started showing and he claimed that he birthed Yuan himself. This was after people mistook Lan Wangji as Yuan's father, mind you.
Wen Ning broke free from his restraints during Lan Wangji's visit, but Wei Wuxian managed to wake his consciousness. He became good ol' cinnamon roll Wen Ning again.
Wei Wuxian offered Lan Wangji a tour of his home in the Burial Mounds. Here's a cave where he slept and worked, it was called the Demon-Quelling Cave because Wei Wuxian was a "demon" who practiced demonic cultivation, there was that pool of water that became blood with the amount of corpses in the ground, corpses that he tried to raise for various uses. As one did in a new house when visited by an old friend.
Wei Wuxian's exploits began reaching more people, and cultivators and civilians alike began calling him the "Yiling Laozu" or Yiling Patriarch, the supreme evil overlord who created a new cultivation path. Many regular people attempted to send tributes. Some even asked to become his disciple. He hated it.
Around the same time, Wen Ning gained a title too, the Ghost General. He had no comment.
A week after that, Jiang Yanli visited Yiling in secret just before her wedding, escorted by Jiang Cheng, her engagement with Jin Zixuan having been renewed while Wei Wuxian was away. She just wanted a moment with her boys before she had to stay in Golden Carp Tower with the rest of the Jin sect. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were peaceful enough to each other.
He was allowed to name Jiang Yanli's firstborn son, whenever that baby would come. He settled on "Rulan" and Jiang Cheng got on his case for naming the hypothetical baby after the Lan sect, but Wei Wuxian meant "lan" as in "orchid" rather than the Lan sect's "blue". (But he likes the Lan sect though.)
When not trying to find ways of improving the quality of life at the Burial Mounds, Wei Wuxian developed tools using demonic cultivation as a base, like lure talismans and compasses that point towards resentful qi.

DOWNFALL OF THE YILING PATRIARCH

Almost 2 years later, the birth of Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan's son was announced. Wei Wuxian's name for the baby stuck. Wei Wuxian (about 22yo) was invited to the month-old celebration, but many people were not happy about that.
He also overheard some cultivators began discussing a new position that the sects wanted to impose, "Chief Cultivator", who would be elected to oversee all of the cultivators and have some measure of control over them, and Jin Guangshan wanted the position (and was the one to suggest it). Nie Mingjue and a few smaller sects opposed this.
Wei Wuxian headed toward the celebration in Lanling with a gift and Wen Ning in tow. However, Jin disciples ambushed them and accused him of cursing Jin Zixun. Jin Zixuan tried to mediate, Wei Wuxian tried to defend himself, and lost control of Wen Ning, who killed the cousins and many other disciples.
The Wen siblings paralyzed Wei Wuxian and surrendered in front of the Jin sect to protect him and their remaining relatives.
Days later, once he woke, Wei Wuxian went to Golden Carp Tower to retrieve Wen Qing and Wen Ning's ashes, and ended up meeting Jiang Yanli. Then he got spotted by other cultivators, even from other sects, and had to fight and kill some to escape. He also found news that the sects called an emergency conference at Nightless City, to discuss Wei Wuxian and the Wens, and scatter the Wen siblings' ashes.
Wei Wuxian fought the sects with fierce corpses. Jiang Yanli took a sword meant for him, and he summoned even more in his grief using the Yin Tiger Tally, and ended up killing almost three thousand people.
Lan Wangji took Wei Wuxian to Yiling, but Wei Wuxian was too injured and traumatized to be fully lucid. Lan Xichen and the Lan elders caught up with them, and Lan Wangji fought them to take Wei Wuxian back to the Burial Mounds. The Lans took Lan Wangji back to Cloud Recesses and punished him heavily, keeping him out of action for a long time.
In the months after the fight at Nightless City, Wei Wuxian tried to destroy the Yin Tiger Tally, but only succeeded in destroying one half of it.
The sects attacked the Burial Mounds, led by Jiang Cheng. They killed the Wens and threw the bodies into Wei Wuxian's blood pool.
Because of Lan Wangji's punishments, he couldn't be present. Wei Wuxian (about 23yo) died without seeing him, and believed that Lan Wangji was a no-show because he hated him.
The novel author did not write the details of Wei Wuxian's death on purpose, but most people in-universe (and readers) speculated that he suffered a backlash of the power and either the qi ripped him to pieces, or lost control of the corpses, which tore him apart/ate him alive. Because Jiang Cheng witnessed it himself, he was given credit for killing Wei Wuxian, even if he didn't want it.

History;

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