Return of The Yiling Laozu

Attempt the Impossible

He turned back to the Elders, his voice quiet but sharp enough to cut.

"And you let him do it."

No one spoke.

Wei Wuxian’s lips curled.

He took a step forward, the room dimming as resentment curled around his ankles.

"Then you’ll fix him." His voice was deadly. "Or I’ll burn this mountain to the ground."

Wei Wuxian stood at the center of the chamber, the weight of Lan Xichen’s words pressing down on his chest like a slab of ice.

"There is no way to fix him. It's a matter of time now."

The world didn’t shatter with those words—it simply went silent. Cold.

Wei Wuxian stared at Lan Xichen, at the sorrow settling in his eyes, at the unspoken apology he would not accept. His hands clenched at his sides, nails biting into his palms as he swallowed the rage rising in his throat.

"How long?"

Lan Xichen exhaled, his expression unreadable. "Six months… maybe a year. His Golden Core is shattered. Yin is leaching into his jing and qi, corruption his shen. If he keeps from accumulating more yin then he has perhaps a year."

Wei Wuxian closed his eyes. It wasn’t enough.

Not enough time to right the wrongs, to make up for the years Lan Wangji spent waiting, suffering. Not enough time to hear him laugh again, to argue over the last piece of sweet lotus seed soup, to wake up beside him without fear of losing him all over again.

"Not enough, but I’ll make it enough."

The Jiang motto echoed in his mind.

"Attempt the impossible."

His golden core had been given away long ago to an undeserving brother who had repaid his sacrifice with hatred. Meanwhile, the one person who should have had it, the one who had loved him unconditionally, was withering away from the lack of a donor.

But Wei Wuxian was not one to surrender.

A slow, reckless grin curled his lips as an idea took root in his mind. He turned, gaze sweeping over the Elders, and settled on the one person in the room who had the knowledge he needed.

"Lan Qiren."

The old man stiffened under the intensity of his stare.

"You love your nephew, right?" Wei Wuxian’s voice was calm, deliberate. "Then help me help him."

A flicker of hesitation.

"I want to speak with only Lan Qiren," he continued, voice sharpening. "Everyone else—leave."

There was a pause. Then, Lan Qiren nodded. The Elders filed out, one by one, some casting wary glances back.

The door shut with a quiet thud.

Wei Wuxian exhaled slowly before speaking.

"I know a way to save him."

Lan Qiren’s lips thinned. "The last time my nephew associated with ypu, he was branded a criminal and beaten for three days in the cold."

Wei Wuxian flinched—but only for a second. He didn’t have the luxury of guilt.

"This is different," he said firmly. "I’m not asking him to stand by me. I’m asking you to stand by him."

Lan Qiren remained silent, his gaze sharp, assessing.

Wei Wuxian pressed on. "A golden core can be transferred. I’ve done it before." His fingers twitched as he forced himself to continue. "I gave mine away. To Jiang Cheng. Paid off the Jiang debt with my body, my future." His voice was quiet, but the weight of those words pressed into the space between them.

Lan Qiren inhaled sharply. His hands, folded neatly behind him, trembled.

Wei Wuxian gave him no time to process. "My body was weak after that. I was thrown into the Burial Mounds, and the resentment ate me alive. This—" he gestured to himself, "—isn’t a body born from jing. It’s pure yin."

Lan Qiren frowned. "That is impossible."

Wei Wuxian let out a dry laugh. "You’d think so, wouldn’t you?" He stepped forward, letting the dim lantern light cast shadows across his face. "But you and I both know that the path of cultivation is full of impossibilities."

He paused. "Which is why I believe I can cultivate another golden core."

Lan Qiren’s brows furrowed. "You—?"

"My body isn’t the same as the one that held my first core. I don’t have the limitations of a body that once held yang energy. If I can force this body to cultivate both yin and yang—achieve balance—it might be possible."

"That would take years."

"We don’t have years." Wei Wuxian’s voice was steel. "We have six months."

Lan Qiren looked away, lips pressed into a thin line. "It’s reckless."

"Everything I do is reckless," Wei Wuxian admitted, eyes burning. "But when has Lan Wangji ever hesitated to be reckless for me?"

That struck deep. Lan Qiren’s hands curled into fists.

Silence stretched between them.

Then, finally—

"What do you need from me?"

Wei Wuxian exhaled, the first breath of something close to relief.

"I want you to study the golden core transfer procedure," he said. "I experienced it firsthand and I have all of Wen Qing's notes memorized but I don't have Wen Qing or Wen Ning."

Lan Qiren’s gaze flickered, the unspoken burden of regret and injustice surfacing.

"I will guide you through it," Wei Wuxian continued. "But you have to cut into my dantian to extract the core and plant it into that of Lan Wangji."

Lan Qiren’s eyes narrowed. "And if you fail?"

Wei Wuxian hesitated. The truth lay heavy on his tongue.

A fifty percent chance of death.

He forced a smirk, tilting his head. "Then I fail spectacularly."

Lan Qiren didn’t smile. But after a long, drawn-out pause, he nodded.

"I will help you."

Wei Wuxian released the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

"Lan Zhan… just hold on."

A/N Last of the migrated chapters. The story officially begins. Do vote and comment.