Lan Wangji didn't look at Wei Wuxian as he bowed slightly and spoke in a cool tone, "First, we attempt to guide the spirit to peace. If that fails, we suppress it. Only as a last resort do we eliminate it entirely. We begin by appealing to the spirit's memories of loved ones - parents, wife, children - and try to fulfill its final wishes to dispel its lingering attachments. If this proves ineffective, we move to suppression. For those who committed grave sins in life and whose resentful energy refuses to dissipate, we must cut off the problem at its root and eliminate them completely. Those who practice the mystical arts must strictly adhere to this order, without exception."

The crowd let out a collective sigh of relief, silently thanking the heavens that the old man had called on Lan Wangji. If it had been their turn, they might have missed one or two items or gotten the order wrong. Lan Qiren nodded with satisfaction, saying, "Not a single mistake." After a brief pause, he continued, "Whether in cultivation or in life, one must be this thorough and solid. If one becomes complacent and arrogant due to defeating a few insignificant mountain spirits or ghosts, or because of some undeserved fame, they will inevitably bring shame upon themselves."

Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow, glancing at Lan Wangji's profile. He thought to himself, "So this old man is coming for me. He's making his star pupil listen to this lecture to put me in my place."

Aloud, he said, "I have a question."

Lan Qiren replied, "Speak."

Wei Wuxian, his eyes gleaming with mischief, asked, "Although we say 'pacification' is the primary goal, it's often impossible. 'Fulfilling their last wishes and dispelling their obsessions' sounds easy, but what if the obsession is to slaughter an entire family for revenge? What should be done then?"

Lan Wangji, his voice cool and controlled, answered, "Thus, pacification is the main approach, suppression is secondary, and elimination is the last resort if necessary."

Wei Wuxian smiled slightly, a hint of challenge in his expression. "What a waste," he said, pausing for effect before continuing, "I actually knew this answer already. I was just considering a fourth option."

Lan Qiren, his brows furrowing, responded, "I've never heard of any fourth option."

Wei Wuxian, his eyes sparkling with a dangerous idea, elaborated, "If this executioner dies violently and becomes a fierce corpse, it's inevitable. Since he beheaded over a hundred people in life, why not dig up the graves of those hundred people, stir up their resentful energy, gather a hundred severed heads, and have them fight against the fierce corpse..."

Lan Wangji finally turned to look at him, his expression cold and disapproving. Lan Qiren's beard quivered with anger as he shouted, "You don't know your limits!"

The people in the Orchid Room were shocked. Lan Qiren stood up abruptly, his voice trembling with rage, "We subdue demons, exorcise evil spirits, and eliminate ghosts for the purpose of pacification! Not only do you not consider methods of pacification, but you even suggest stirring up resentful energy? This is completely backwards and disregards human morality!"

Wei Wuxian, unfazed by the outburst, continued his argument, "Some things can't be pacified anyway, so why not make use of them? Even the Great Yu knew that blocking was an inferior strategy to diverting when it came to flood control. Isn't suppression just another form of blocking, and therefore an inferior strategy?"

Lan Qiren hurled a book at him, which Wei Wuxian deftly dodged, his face unchanged as he continued his outrageous speech, "Spiritual energy is energy, and resentful energy is energy too. Spiritual energy is stored in the dantian and can be used to split mountains and fill seas. Why can't resentful energy be used by people as well?"

Lan Qiren threw another book, his voice sharp with anger, "Then let me ask you this! How can you guarantee that this resentful energy will be under your control and not harm others?"

Wei Wuxian, still dodging, replied cheerfully, "I haven't figured that out yet!"

Lan Qiren, his face red with fury, roared, "If you had figured it out, none of the hundred sects would let you live! Get out!"

Wei Wuxian, all too happy to comply, quickly made his exit.

He spent half the day wandering around the Cloud Recesses, enjoying the flowers and grass. The others, having finished their lessons, finally found him sitting on a high wall, perched on the blue tiles. He had a piece of orchid grass between his teeth, his right hand propping up his chin, one leg bent, the other dangling and swinging gently. Someone below pointed at him and called out, "Brother Wei! I'm impressed. He told you to get out, and you really did! Hahaha..."

"For a while after you left, he couldn't even comprehend what had happened. His face was as dark as iron!"

Wei Wuxian, still chewing on the grass, shouted down, "I always answer when asked, and I leave when told to leave. What more does he want from me?"

Nie Huaisang, his voice tinged with curiosity, asked, "Why does the old Lan seem to be particularly harsh on you, singling you out for scolding?"

Jiang Cheng snorted, "He deserves it. What kind of answer was that? It's one thing to spout such nonsense at home, but to dare say it in front of Lan Qiren? He's asking for death!"

Wei Wuxian, his voice light and carefree, replied, "He doesn't like me no matter how I answer, so I might as well speak my mind. Besides, I didn't insult him. I just answered honestly."

Nie Huaisang, after a moment of thought, showed a mix of envy and longing as he said, "Actually, what Brother Wei said is quite interesting. Spiritual energy requires self-cultivation, painstakingly forming a golden core. For someone like me, whose talent seems to have been chewed up in the womb, who knows how many years it would take. But resentful energy comes from fierce ghosts and evil spirits. If we could just use it directly, wouldn't that be wonderful?"

The so-called golden core was a pill-like essence formed within cultivators after reaching a certain level, used for storing and circulating spiritual energy. After forming a golden core, one's cultivation would progress rapidly, allowing for further refinement and reaching new heights. Otherwise, one would only be considered a low-level cultivator. If a young master from a prominent family formed their golden core too late, it would be a source of great shame, but Nie Huaisang didn't seem embarrassed at all. Wei Wuxian laughed and agreed, "Right? Might as well use it if it's there."

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Jiang Cheng warned, "Enough. You can talk about it, but don't actually go down that evil path."

Wei Wuxian smiled, "Why would I choose to walk a treacherous path when there's a perfectly good main road? If it were that easy, someone would have done it already. Don't worry, he just asked, and I just answered. Hey, do you want to come with me? Let's go hunt some pheasants while there's no curfew."

Jiang Cheng scolded, "What pheasants? Where would you find pheasants here? Go copy the 'Collection of Righteousness' first. Lan Qiren asked me to tell you to copy the 'Chapter on Superior Righteousness' three times, so you can learn about the ways of heaven and human morality."

The 'Collection of Righteousness' was the Lan clan's family rules. Their family rules were so long that Lan Qiren had compiled them into a thick book, with the 'Chapter on Superior Righteousness' and the 'Chapter on Etiquette' taking up four-fifths of the entire book. Wei Wuxian spat out the grass he was chewing, brushed the dust off his boots, and said, "Copy it three times? I'd ascend to immortality after just one time. I'm not a member of the Lan clan, nor do I plan to marry into it. Why should I copy their family rules? I won't do it."

Nie Huaisang quickly offered, "I'll copy it for you! I'll do it!"

Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow, "Unsolicited favors are either treacherous or thieving. What do you want from me?"

Nie Huaisang began, "It's like this. Brother Wei, the old Lan has a bad habit, he..."

He suddenly stopped mid-sentence, coughed dryly, and retreated behind his folding fan. Wei Wuxian sensed something was amiss and turned to look. Sure enough, Lan Wangji stood beneath a lush ancient tree in the distance, his Bichen sword on his back, gazing in their direction. He was like a jade tree, dappled with leaf shadows and sunlight, but his gaze was far from friendly. Being stared at by him felt like being plunged into an icy cavern. The others, realizing they had been speaking too loudly and had likely attracted his attention, fell silent. Wei Wuxian, however, jumped down and called out cheerfully, "Brother Wangji!"

Lan Wangji turned and walked away. Wei Wuxian, still in high spirits, chased after him, calling, "Brother Wangji, wait for me!"

The white-robed figure with its fluttering sash disappeared behind the trees in an instant, making it clear that Lan Wangji had no desire to converse with Wei Wuxian. Left staring at Lan Wangji's retreating back, Wei Wuxian returned to the group, complaining, "He ignored me."

"Indeed," Nie Huaisang said, "It seems he really dislikes you, Brother Wei. Lan Wangji usually... no, he's never this impolite."

Wei Wuxian shrugged, "Is this what dislike looks like? I was planning to apologize to him."

Jiang Cheng mocked him, "It's too late to apologize now! He probably thinks the same as his uncle, that you're beyond redemption, rotten to the core, and not worth acknowledging."

Wei Wuxian remained unperturbed, chuckling, "If he won't acknowledge me, so be it. Is he that beautiful?" Then, reconsidering, he admitted to himself that Lan Wangji was indeed beautiful, and promptly dismissed any lingering desire to pout.

Three days later, Wei Wuxian finally learned about Lan Qiren's bad habit.

Lan Qiren's lectures were excruciatingly long, and worse still, he required everything to be memorized for tests. The history of several generations of cultivation clans, the division of spheres of influence, famous sayings, family genealogies... It was like listening to heavenly scriptures and selling one's soul to memorize them.

Nie Huaisang, having copied the 'Chapter on Superior Righteousness' twice for Wei Wuxian, pleaded before the test, "Please, Brother Wei, this is my third year coming to Gusu. If I don't pass the assessment with at least a B grade this time, my brother will really break my legs! All this stuff about distinguishing between direct and collateral lineages, main and branch families... We young masters from prominent families can barely keep our own family relationships straight, calling anyone beyond second cousins 'aunt' or 'uncle' indiscriminately. Who has the extra brain capacity to remember other families' relationships?"

The consequence of the rampant use of cheat sheets was Lan Wangji's sudden appearance during the test, catching several of the main culprits. Lan Qiren was furious and sent flying messages to various major clans to complain. He was seething with anger: previously, although these young masters from prominent families couldn't sit still, at least no one had taken the lead, and they had managed to keep their bottoms somewhat attached to their calves. But since Wei Ying's arrival, those with mischievous hearts but lacking the courage had been instigated and provoked by him. Some were sneaking out at night, others were drinking, and bad influences were growing. This Wei Ying was indeed, as he had suspected, the number one menace in the human realm!

Jiang Fengmian responded, "A-Ying has always been like this. Thank you for your efforts in teaching him, Master Lan."

As a result, Wei Wuxian was punished again.

Initially, he didn't take it seriously. It was just copying books, and he never lacked people willing to help him. However, this time, Nie Huaisang said, "Brother Wei, I can't help you this time. You'll have to endure it on your own."

Wei Wuxian asked, "Why?"

Nie Huaisang explained, "Old... Master Lan said that this time you have to copy both the 'Chapter on Superior Righteousness' and the 'Chapter on Etiquette'."

The 'Chapter on Etiquette' was the most tedious of the twelve chapters of the Lan clan's family rules, full of classical references, long-winded, and filled with obscure characters. Copying it once was soul-crushing; copying it ten times would be enough to achieve instant enlightenment. Nie Huaisang continued, "He also said that during your punishment, no one is allowed to mingle with you or help you copy."

Wei Wuxian asked curiously, "How would he know if someone helps me copy or not? It's not like he can have someone watch me the whole time."

Jiang Cheng replied, "That's exactly what's happening."

"..." Wei Wuxian said, "What did you say?"

Jiang Cheng explained, "He's ordered you to stay in the Lan clan's library pavilion every day to copy and reflect for a month. Of course, someone will be watching you. As for who, I don't need to spell it out, do I?"

In the library pavilion.

A blue mat, a wooden desk. Two candle stands, two people. One sat upright with perfect posture, while at the other end, Wei Wuxian had already copied more than ten pages of the 'Chapter on Etiquette'. His head was spinning, and his heart was bored. He put down his brush to catch his breath and glanced at the person opposite him.

Back in Yunmeng, many girls had envied him for being able to study with Lan Wangji, saying that the Lan clan of Gusu produced handsome men generation after generation, and that the current generation's Lan brothers were especially extraordinary. Wei Wuxian hadn't had the chance to examine Lan Wangji's face closely before, but now that he did, he thought to himself, "He is indeed quite handsome. His appearance and demeanor are flawless. But I wish those girls could see him in person. If someone always looks like they're carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, frowning and cold, even the most beautiful face can't save them."

Lan Wangji was re-transcribing ancient texts from the Lan family's library pavilion, texts that were too old or not suitable for outsiders to view. His brush moved slowly and steadily, producing neat and elegant characters. Wei Wuxian couldn't help but exclaim sincerely, "Beautiful handwriting! Top-notch!"

Lan Wangji remained unmoved.

Wei Wuxian, unused to being silent for so long, felt stifled. He thought to himself, "This person is so dull. Making me sit across from him for hours every day for a month... isn't this asking for my life?"

With this thought, he couldn't help but lean forward a bit.