Chapter 14

Refinement—Part Four

Lan WangJi didn’t look at Wei WuXian. He nodded respectfully and said in a flat tone, “First, release; second, suppress; third, exterminate. The initial approach is to capitalize on the gratitude of his relatives and grant his final wish, freeing him from what he can’t let go of. If that fails, suppress him. If his crimes are extremely wrong, and his resentment energy persists, exterminate him completely. The cultivation world must strictly adhere to this rule. There can be no mistakes.”

Everyone let out a long sigh, thanking the heavens that Lan WangJi was the one the old man had chosen. Otherwise, when it was their turn, it would have been difficult not to miss a few steps or mess up the order. Lan QiRen nodded in satisfaction, “Not a single mistake was made.” After a pause, he spoke again, “Both in terms of cultivation and as a person, one must be this strong. If one becomes complacent and arrogant just because one defeated a few ordinary mountain creatures in their home and harbors a hollow reputation, one will surely embarrass themselves sooner or later.”

Wei WuXian raised his eyebrows and glanced at the side of Lan WangJi’s face. He thought, So this old man really meant that to me. He called his best disciple to listen with us so I could watch.

He spoke, “I have a question.”

Lan QiRen replied, “Speak.”

Wei WuXian, “Even if ‘liberation’ comes first, it’s often impossible. ‘Granting her last wish’ sounds simple—it would be easy if her wish was new clothes, but what if her wish was to kill countless people for revenge?”

Lan WangJi, “So, suppression helps liberation. If necessary, elimination will also follow.”

Wei WuXian smiled, “What a waste.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “It’s not that I don’t know the answer, I just thought of a fourth way.”

Lan QiRen said, “I have never heard of the fourth path.”

Wei WuXian said, “Since the executioner died that way, it’s only natural that he turned into a vicious corpse. Since he executed over a hundred people before he died, why not dig up these people’s graves, awaken their resentment, collect the heads of those hundred, and use them to fight against the vicious corpse…”

Lan WangJi finally turned to look at him. His brows were furrowed, still expressionless. Lan QiRen was so angry that his beard trembled. He shouted, “How dare you!”

Everyone in the room was stunned. Lan QiRen jumped to his feet, “The essence of exorcising demons and exterminating ghosts is liberation! You haven’t studied the method of liberation, and you’re even thinking of increasing their resentment energy! You’re reversing the natural order of things, and ignoring ethics and morality!”

Wei WuXian replied, “Some things are useless after liberation, so why not find a way to utilize them? When Yu the Great tamed the flood, obstruction was an inferior method, and diversion was superior. Suppression is the same as obstruction, so isn’t it inferior…” Lan QiRen threw a book at him, but he jerked aside and dodged it. His expression remained unchanged, and he continued to spout nonsense, “Spiritual energy is energy; resentment energy is also energy. Spiritual energy is stored in the dantian. It can split mountains and fill oceans, available for human use. If so, why can’t resentment energy be used by humans as well?”

Another book flew out of Lan QiRen’s hand. He said harshly, “Then I ask again! How do I make that hateful energy listen only to you and not harm anyone else?”

Wei WuXian lowered his head as he spoke, “I haven’t thought about it yet!”

Lan QiRen raged, “If you think about it, the cultivation world won’t let you live! Get out!”

Wei WuXian couldn’t be happier, and immediately went out.

He wandered around the Cloud Recesses all morning, picking flowers and playing in the grass. After everyone finished studying, they finally found him on the roof of the high wall. Wei WuXian was sitting on the gray tiles at the edge, nibbling on a piece of grass. His right hand was under his cheek, with one leg propped up and the other dangling, swaying slightly. The students below pointed at him, “Wei-xiong! You’re amazing! He told you to come out, and you actually came out! Hahahaha…”

“After you left, it took a long time before he finally understood what was happening. His face was so red!”

Wei WuXian chewed the grass and shouted down at him, “He asked, and I answered. If he told me to go out, I would go out. What else does he want from me?”

Nie HuaiSang said, “Why does Old Man Lan seem so strict with you? He’s always scolding you.”

Jiang Cheng snorted, “That’s fitting for him. What kind of answer is that? It’s fine if he talks nonsense at home, but he dares to say it in front of Lan QiRen. He’s courting his own death!”

Wei WuXian said, “No matter how I answer, she won’t like me, so I might as well just say what I want to say. Besides, I didn’t mean to offend her. I just answered truthfully.”

After thinking for a moment, a look of envy and longing appeared on Nie HuaiSang’s face. “To be honest, Wei-xiong’s words are quite interesting. Spiritual energy can only be obtained through cultivation and hard work to form a golden core. It takes who knows how many years to do so, especially for someone like me, whose talent was eaten away by dogs while I was still in my mother’s womb. However, resentment energy comes from fierce ghosts. If they could be easily captured and used, that would be truly wonderful.”

A golden core is a core formed by cultivators after they reach a certain point. This core can store and control spiritual energy. Once a core is formed, a cultivator’s cultivation level will increase rapidly, and they will become increasingly better. Otherwise, they will only be a low-level cultivator. If a disciple of a prominent clan formed a core at a later age, it would be embarrassing to tell others about it, but Nie HuaiSang wasn’t embarrassed at all. Wei WuXian also laughed, “I know, right? There’s no harm in using it.”

Jiang Cheng warned, “Enough. It’s fine if you talk about it, but don’t actually walk down a crooked path.”

Wei WuXian smiled, “Why would I leave that wide, comfortable road and walk across a single-plank bridge across a dark, narrow river? If it were that easy, people would have already passed by. Don’t worry, he only asked, and I only answered. Hey, are you coming? Since it’s not curfew yet, come with me to hunt pheasants.”

Jiang Cheng scolded, “What do you mean ‘hunting pheasants’? Why are there pheasants here?! First, copy the Truth. Lan QiRen asked me to tell you to copy the Virtue section of the Truth three times, so you can learn what natural law and morality are.”

The truth is the Lan Sect’s collection of sect rules. The sect rules here were too long, so Lan QiRen revised them into a thick collection. The section on Virtue and Conduct took up a quarter of the entire book. Wei WuXian spat out the grass he was holding and dusted off his shoes, “Three times? I’ll fly to Heaven if I copy it just once. I’m not from the Lan Sect, and I have no intention of marrying into the Lan Clan, so why should I copy the sect rules? I won’t copy them.”

Nie HuaiSang hurriedly said, “I’ll copy it for you! I’ll copy it for you!”

Wei WuXian, “No good person does good to others just like that. Tell me, what do you want from me?”

Nie Huai Sang replied, “It’s like this. Wei-xiong, Old Man Lan has a bad habit. He…”

Mid-sentence, he suddenly stopped and coughed, opening his fan, then moved to the side. Wei WuXian knew something was wrong. He turned around and, sure enough, Lan WangJi was standing under a shady old tree and staring at them, Bichen sword slung over his back. He looked like a jade tree, reflecting the shadows of the leaves and the dappled sunlight. However, his gaze was anything but friendly, as if it could trap them in an ice cave. Everyone knew that their shouting was a bit too loud, and the noise might have carried him there, so they all shut their mouths. However, Wei WuXian jumped down and approached him, “Brother WangJi!”

Lan WangJi turned around and left immediately. Wei WuXian cheerfully chased after him and shouted, “WangJi-xiong, wait for me!”

The white-clad figure flashed behind a tree, then suddenly disappeared without a trace, clearly indicating that Lan WangJi didn’t want to talk to him. After only a glance back, Wei WuXian turned around and complained to the others, “He’s ignoring me.”

“Yes,” Nie HuaiSang said, “It seems like he really hates you, Wei-xiong. Lan WangJi usually… No, he never does anything so rude.”

Wei WuXian, “He hates me already? I want to apologize to him.”

Jiang Cheng sneered, “Apologizing now? Too late! Like his uncle, he must think you’re evil and uncontrollable, and doesn’t care about you.”

Wei WuXian thought otherwise. He chuckled, “Who cares if she ignores me? Does she look pretty?” After a moment of thought, he realized that Lan WangJi was indeed pretty. So, he happily gave up the urge to move his lips.

It was only after three days that Wei WuXian finally learned of Lan QiRen’s bad habits.

Lan QiRen’s lessons were not only long and tedious, but they also included tests. The succession of generations of important clans in the cultivation world, the division of their territories, famous quotes from renowned cultivators, family tree…

Despite not understanding a single bit of what he was listening to in class, Nie HuaiSang worked like a slave as the exam day approached. He copied Virtue twice for Wei WuXian, and pleaded before the exam, “Wei-xiong, please, if my grades are lower than yi, my brother will definitely break my legs! Things like differentiating direct lineage, collateral lineage, main clan, branch clan… For us disciples of large clans, we can’t even differentiate between our own relatives, randomly calling everyone more than two grades higher than us aunt and uncle. Does anyone have enough brain capacity to remember the other clans?!”

Due to the cheating notes flying around, Lan WangJi suddenly attacked during the exam, and arrested several of the troublemakers. Lan QiRen was furious, writing letters to the prominent clans to report them. He hated Wei WuXian—in the beginning, although these disciples could barely keep quiet, at least no one started anything, and their bottoms were stuck to their feet. But now that Wei Ying had arrived, the previously gutless brats were swayed by his encouragement, wandering around at night and drinking alcohol to their heart’s content. The bad habits were getting worse. As he had suspected, Wei Ying was one of the greatest threats to humanity!

Jiang FengMian replied, “Ying is always like this. Please discipline him, Mr. Lan.”

And Wei WuXian was punished again.

At first, he didn’t mind it much. It was just copying text, and he always had someone to copy it for him. However, this time, Nie HuaiSang said, “Wei-xiong, even though I want to help you, I can’t anymore. You’ll have to bear this on your own.”

Wei WuXian asked, “What happened?”

Nie HuaiSang, “Master Lan… said that you must emulate Virtue and Conduct.”

Etiquette is the most complex of the twelve sections of the Lan Sect’s sect rules. It cites many classics, is extremely lengthy, and contains many rarely used characters. Copy it once, and one will lose interest in life. Copy it ten times, and one will instantly ascend to Heaven. Nie HuaiSang added, “He also said that, during the punishment period, no one is allowed to play tricks on you or copy it for you.”

Wei WuXian wondered, “How could he know if someone copied it for me or not? Of course, that doesn’t mean he had someone watching me.”

Jiang Cheng said, “That’s the problem.”

“…” Wei WuXian spoke, “What did you say?”

Jiang Cheng, “He said you’re not allowed to go out and must go to the Library Pavilion to copy, and also face the wall and reflect on your mistakes. Of course, there will be someone watching you. I don’t need to tell you who it is, right?”

Inside the Library Pavilion—

There was a bamboo chair, a wooden table, two candlesticks, and two people. One person was sitting in the correct posture, but on the other side, Wei WuXian had already copied over ten pages of “Behavior.” His head felt dizzy and his heart was pounding, so he dropped his pen to catch his breath and looked across.

Back in Yunmeng, many girls envied him for being able to come and study with Lan Wangji. They said every generation was filled with handsome men, especially the current generation of the Two Jade Brothers. Wei Wuxian had never had the chance to look closely at his face before. After observing him, he began to think, “He’s indeed handsome.” However, if only those girls could come and see it for themselves. His bitter face, as if everyone had offended him or his parents had died, would be no problem no matter how handsome he was.

Lan WangJi was copying ancient books, not only old but also unavailable to most others, in the Lan Sect Library Pavilion. His brushstrokes were slow and steady, and his handwriting was neat yet sharp and powerful. Wei WuXian couldn’t help but praise him sincerely, “Those characters are great! They’re top-notch.”

Lan WangJi remained indifferent.

Wei WuXian rarely stayed still for that long. Feeling suffocated, he thought, I have to sit in front of such a stuffy person for hours every day, for a month. Can I still stand it?

Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but lean forward slightly.
Translator’s Note:
Yu the Great: He was a famous figure in Chinese history. He was known for introducing methods to control and stop floods that were destroying villages.

Dantian: This refers to the area in the body where a person’s Qi, or energy, is concentrated. It’s located three finger-widths below and two finger-widths behind the navel, where menstrual cramps occur in women (not really, but you get the idea).

Flying to Heaven: This is what happens when a cultivator reaches such a high level that they eventually become an Immortal and fly to Heaven. This usually happens in high fantasy, but GDC is low fantasy, so no one actually flies to Heaven. If you’re interested in a setting involving gods and Immortals, check out the author’s latest work—Heavenly Blessings. No group has translated it yet, but the fanart is pretty good.

Yi: There are four grades—jia, yi, bing, and ding. Yi is the second grade, so it’s considered a B in the American grading system.

Two levels: This means that there are two levels of relationship between them, such as cousins ​​of cousins ​​and so on.

Chairs: Chairs in Ancient China were made of bamboo woven into a flat mat on the ground to sit on.