Chapter Text
II. Valor’s Dawn
Battles rage, heroes rise, in the dance of war's grim art,
Heroines' courage, a beacon through the dark,
Together they stand, a bulwark against the night,
Evil quelled, in their valorous light.
A decade past, the Sunshot Campaign’s fires blazed across the lands, a crucible of war that forged legends and a shattered tyrant. Wei Wuxian, then a mere student studying at the Cloud Recesses, emerged as an architect of victory, his spiritual melodies and talismanic genius breaking the diabolical cultivation that Wen Rouhan wielded like a dark miasma over the realm. When Wen Xu came bearing fire-arrows, his talismans saved the Cloud recesses wards from collapsing completely, marking him the pinnacle of the first victory against the tyrannical demands of the then-chief cultivator Wen Rouhan. He, alongwith Zewu-Jun, Jin Zixuan and a handful of other cultivators and heirs from minor sects, then left for the Unclean Realm where Chifeng-Zun and his Chief advisor, Lianfang-Zun Meng Yao, gravely listened to the audacious actions of his sworn enemy, and thus declared war between the allied Lan-Jiang-Nie sects against the Qishan Wens.
In the heart of the conflict, Lady Wen Qing and Lianfang-Zun stood as pillars of strength, liberating the oppressed with a network of shadows and whispers. They set up surreptiously fail safes at various intervals within the enemy sects and liberated the common people all the while providing precious information to the allies. Their efforts, alongside Wei Wuxian’s, turned the tide for the allied forces of Jiang, Lan, and Nie—bonding them all in a fraternity of war.
The Lotus Pier, emerged as a bastion of hope for other sects, stood unyielding under Madam Yu’s stewardship. She and her son, the third heir, Jiang Wanyin, with Wei Wuxian’s ingenious contrivances, fortified its defences, even as the floundering Lanling Jin Sect faltered after their heir went into frontlines. Jin Guangshan’s ambitions and two-faced demands angered all, leaving his sect vulnerable. He was challenged and ousted from power by Madame Jin with the help of her sworn sister, the Violet Spider. The Yunmeng Jiang’s aid, spurred by Wei Wuxian’s brilliance, indebted them to his mercy along with most of the minor sects they helped liberate.
While the elders protected the sanctity of Cloud Recesses, led by Madame Lan and acting sect leader Lan Qiren, young Lan Wangji, betrothed to the Yunmeng’s second heir, remained oblivious to the machinations of war that would one day shape his destiny.
The coup at Yiling, led by Wen Qing and the Dafan Wens, marked the turning point of the war. With the Venerated Triad’s support—comprising Yiling Laozu Wei Wuxian, Zewu-jun Lan Xichen, and Chifeng-zun Nie Mingjue—the rebellion quelled the tyranny of Wen Rouhan. Meng Yao, the chief architect of espionage, sowed the seeds of victory within the heart of Nightless City.
Wei Wuxian, a prodigy at seventeen, became a beacon of righteousness, his titles were many, but it was ‘Yiling Laozu’ that resonated most deeply. His talismans and melodies cleansed the resentment that plagued Yiling, limiting it to the edges of the Burial Mounds, and fighting the monsters that populated the isolated town, honouring the memory of his parents who had perished for the same cause. The strategies conceived in Yiling’s inns, alongside Wen Qing and the Dafan Wens, became the blueprint for liberation.
Wen Rouhan, corrupted by the Yin Iron’s malevolent whispers, had become a recluse within his Nightless City, his mind a fortress besieged by resentment. But when the flute of Yiling Laozu sang, the resentment fled like shadows before the dawn. With unparalleled spiritual power and astonishing talismanry, Wei Wuxian guided the Lan Sect’s and Flower Maiden’s Yin Iron pieces, turning Wen Rouhan’s own pieces against him and each other, destroying them all.
The final blow, delivered by Meng Yao’s knife and Wen Qing’s spiritual needles, shattered the tyrant’s reign, freeing the cultivation world from his vile grasp. In the aftermath, the Venerated Triad swore in amidst grand ceremony, heralding a new era of peace. Wen Qing, now leading the re-established Dafan Wen Sect, dedicated herself to healing, with her baby-brother, Wen Qionglin, by her side.
Thus, the echoes of the Sunshot Campaign resounded through history, a testament to the courage and cunning of a daring cultivator who dared to defy darkness with light.
