Nightless City (不夜天城, Búyètiān chéng) was the residence of the Qishan Wen Clan. It was also known as Nightless Immortal Capital (不夜仙都, Búyèxiān dū).
Overview[]
Nightless City gained its name from the saying that there was no nightfall in their residence, which was comparable in size to a city.[1]
The Scorching Sun Palace is the tallest building in Nightless City, with a wide plaza beneath it. Its roof has a total of twelve ridges, and at the end of each ridge are eight heavenly beasts.[2]
The Inferno Palace was Wen Ruohan's torture chamber.[3]
History[]
Discussion Conference[]
About a year prior to the Sunshot Campaign,[4] a grand Discussion Conference is held in Nightless City. Each day contains lavish entertainment, including an archery competition for the junior disciples.[5]
During the competition, the Qishan Wen Clan members fight for spots, and Wei Wuxian advocates for the archery skills of Wen Ning. Wen Chao expresses doubts, insisting that Wen Ning demonstrate his skills. Unfortunately, Wen Ning had never shot an arrow before a crowd, and fails to hit the target due to his nerves. Nevertheless, Wei Wuxian encourages him after this humiliation, earning Wen Ning's gratitude.[6]
Once the competition was underway, Wen Chao is quickly disqualified for striking a false target, though he throws a fit at having to leave.[4] Additionally, Wei Wuxian accidentally pulls off the forehead ribbon of Lan Wangji, distressing Lan Wangji to the point that he too leaves the competition.[5]
In the end, however, Lan Wangji still places fourth, and Wei Wuxian, Lan Xichen, and Jin Zixuan round out the four winners.[4]
Sunshot Campaign[]
After the death of Wen Ruohan, the alliance of cultivation clans apparently pillage Nightless City. The residence itself is left as a meeting place, with the flag of the Qishan Wen Clan broken.[2]
Bloodbath of Nightless City[]
Following the death of Jin Zixuan, Wen Qing and the conscious Fierce Corpse of Wen Ning surrendered themselves to Golden Carp Tower. However, once Wen Ning apparently loses control and kills several cultivators from a variety of clans, Jin Guangshan declares a Pledge Conference to be held at Nightless City.[2]
The Pledge Conference is attended by many clans and their leaders, including Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen, and Jiang Cheng. Lan Wangji, Jiang Yanli, Jin Guangyao, and Clan Leader Yao are also present.[2]
The conference commences with each clan leader symbolically pouring cups of wine into the dirt to honor those who had died during the Sunshot Campaign. Jin Guangshan then scatters the ashes of Wen Qing, though he claims they were of both her and her brother. He then proclaims that, tomorrow, they will destroy the Yiling Patriarch and the remnants of the Qishan Wen Clan living on the Burial Mounds.[2]
Suddenly, Wei Wuxian makes his appearance, having watched the entire proceeding disguised as a ninth heavenly beast on the roof of the Palace of Sun and Flames. He mocks Jin Guangshan for breaking his word to leave the innocent, elderly cultivators on the Burial Mounds alone. However, no matter what he says, he is chastised by the mob of cultivators.[2]
After being shot with an arrow by a youth, Wei Wuxian sends the arrow back into the youth's chest. He uses Chenqing to summon fierce corpses, and the battle begins.[2]
Lan Wangji approaches him, but Wei Wuxian mistakenly believes he wants to fight him. He insists that Lan Wangji has always found him disagreeable and that he had always known they would fight sooner or later.[2]
Wei Wuxian is suddenly distracted when Jiang Yanli runs into the battle, shouting his name. Upon seeing a fierce corpse about to attack her, Wei Wuxian panics and finds himself unable to control it. The corpse used its sword to slash her back, before Lan Wangji defeats it.[2]
As Jiang Cheng holds her, Jiang Yanli begs Wei Wuxian to stop the corpses. With difficulty, he steadies his mind enough to agree. However, as the corpses begin to slow, the brother of the youth he had killed seizes his chance to kill Wei Wuxian.[2]
Jiang Yanli pushes Wei Wuxian out of the way, taking the sword in her own throat. Jiang Cheng is so stunned he does not realize what happened, while Wei Wuxian snaps the brother's neck.[2]
He is then chastised for his cruelty, and in a fit of despair, clasps the two halves of the Yin Tiger Tally together to commence the Bloodbath of Nightless City (血洗不夜天, Xuèxǐ Búyètiān), also called the Nightless Day.[2]
In the aftermath, Lan Xichen is hardly able to stand, and although Lan Wangji is in no better shape, he grabs Wei Wuxian and spirits him away to safety on Bichen.[7]
Numbers of the slaughtered range from three-thousand to five-thousand,[8] though it is worth noting that the levelheaded Lan Xichen later mentioned that Wei Wuxian only battled three-thousand. If so, though there were many casualties, it was certainly less than three thousand.[7]
Cenotaph for Wen Qing[]
In the aftermath of the Guanyin Temple incident, Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui declare their intention to bury the remains of the fifty Qishan Wen Clan remnants who had died on the Burial Mounds in Nightless City, and build a cenotaph to honor Wen Qing.[9]
Gallery[]
.png "Nightless City (evening).png (1.18 MB)")
Trivia[]
- The first volume of the English version translates Nightless City as "Nightless Sky," because the original introduction of the name in Chapter 17 does not end with the character "城" for city.[1]
References[]
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