The Founder of Diabolism

For many years, cultivation clans had failed to summon the Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian, whom was believed to be killed by his brother Jiang Cheng. However, he is finally incarnated into the body of Mo Xuanyu through a sacrificial ritual, who was a young man full of hatred for his abusive family members. While Wei Wuxian carries on to exact revenge on the Mo Family as per request, he meets the new generation of the Lan sect and finds himself in a zombie mystery. When the situation is deemed too difficult to be defeated alone, Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi call for help from any nearby seniors, ultimately attracting the attention of Wei Wuxian's long-time acquaintance.

After Lan Wangji successfully stops the mysterious arm, Wei Wuxian escapes to prevent being spotted by him. He arrives at the nearby Mt. Dafan and meets another young disciple, Jin Ling from the Jin sect. The two have a heated argument which causes Jiang Cheng to come by. Wei Wuxian then learns that Jin Ling is the nephew of Jiang Cheng, whom was left orphaned because of Wei Wuxian's past mistakes. Due to being in Mo Xuanyu's body, Jiang Cheng was unable to recognise Wei Wuxian until the latter starts using his demonic abilities to save everyone from the escaped arm, which summons the Ghost General Wen Ning. While he suspects Wei Wuxian, the latter plays dumb and acts as the notorious cut-sleeve Mo Xuanyu to prevent his cover from being blown. As Lan Wangji also has the same suspicion, he protects Wei Wuxian and even offers to take him back to Gusu when Wei Wuxian speaks of his liking for him, catching Wei Wuxian by surprise. At the end of the episode, the timeline changes to twenty years ago, starting the flashbacks of Wei Wuxian's teenage years.

Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and their friend Nie Huaisang, start their education in the prestigious Cloud Recesses to become better cultivators. They meet the top disciple Lan Wangji, whom Wei Wuxian confessed he had angered upon his arrival in Gusu. Due to Wei Wuxian's playfulness, he broke three rules during his first encounter with Lan WangJi, and thus is resented by both the latter and the teacher Lan Qiren. However, despite his mischief, he is shown to be a knowledgeable student, although his solutions involve the use of the forbidden demonic path. He is then punished to copy passages in the Library Pavilion and to be supervised by Lan Wangji, much to Wei Wuxian's dismay as he does not chat with him. One month later, Wei Wuxian finishes the punishment and draws a portrait of Lan Wangji as a farewell gift. But this is just another of his pranks as Lan Wangji was drawn femininely. Wei Wuxian also replaces Lan Wangji's poetry book with an erotic art book, causing a fight to break out in the library as Wei Wuxian teases him continuously.

Years ago, the four prestigious sects join hands to try and defeat Wen Ruohan. When Nie Mingjue goes up to attack Wen Ruohan one-to-one, he gets overpowered and Lan Xichen begins to help out. But even with the combined effort, Wen Ruohan's powers are impenetrable. Finally, Jin Guangyao ambushes him from behind, stabbing him to death and ending the Sunshot Campaign. In the present, Lan Xichen goes to the Carp Tower to visit Jin Guangyao. In the Cloud Recesses, Wei Wuxian tries to run away but Little Apple refuses. He remembers the need for the passage token to leave the Cloud Recesses's barrier and decides to sneak into the Cold Spring and steal one. He finds someone bathing in the spring and sees their back covered in scars from a discipline whip (which can never be removed). He uses a spell to take the token from the clothing but the bather, Lan Wangji, catches him red-handed.

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian continues their search and arrives in a forest. At the same time, Jin Ling is also here to night-hunt but meets Sect Leader Yao. The latter starts attacking him and this catches the attention of Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. The two then rush to stop Sect Leader Yao. Wei Wuxian explains the large amount of resentful energy here is causing hallucinations and Jin Ling is unaffected because of the Yunmeng bell. Later, the three of them discover the guards of the observation tower killed by a mysterious beast. As the air grows ominous, a snake-like beast attacks them. With the efforts of the three, they successfully kill the monster. However, as Sect Leader Yao talks about Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian, Jin Ling runs away. He ends up in a place full of corpses and Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian hurry over. A head attacks them and Wei Wuxian represses it. With Lan Wangji's guqin, they find out the head belongs to the deceased Jin Zixun, an uncle of Jin Ling. The memory of his death at Wei WuXian's hands after he tried to force him to remove a curse he supposedly placed on him unveils. The effects of the curse on Jin Zixu's body should remain even after death, unless the caster had died. His body disappeared after Wei WuXian's death, so no one could confirm the marks had dissipated, which they would have if Wei WuXian cursed him - possibly to conceal the fact the marks remained even after the death of the Yiling Patriarch.

Jiang Cheng arrives and fights Wen Ning but the latter manages to escape. Jiang Cheng then confronts Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian as he still doubts this "Mo Xuanyu". He ultimately leaves with Jin Ling. Before they leave, Wei WuXian destroys the zombie array at the mountain so it will stop collecting resentful energy and trapping people, something Lan Wangji, despite his cultivation level, is unable to do. Nothing further is found on the mountain so they leave to continue investigating. They meet the crazy woman again and find a pile of dead bodies with sword marks from Shuanghua. Lan Wangji explains the sword belongs to a talented cultivator named Xiao Xingchen. The arm goes out of control again and escapes from the Cloud Recesses. After this news reaches Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian, they uses the Compass of Evil — linked with the head from earlier — to find the arm; and the two go to Qinghe. Jiang Cheng also sets off to the same place. In Qinghe, Wei Wuxian bumps into a merchant selling portraits of the Yiling Patriarch. While Wei Wuxian argues with him about how ugly he is drawn, Jin Ling comes and kicks the merchant, stating that he hates anyone who mentions Wei Wuxian's name. Wei Wuxian and Jin Ling quarrels a little and Jin Ling calls his dog Fairy over. Scared, Wei Wuxian runs back to Lan Wangji. Jin Ling walks away with Fairy and the two goes to Xinglu Ridge. On the way, Wei Wuxian hears the dog barking again and Lan Wangji asks why he is scared of dog, leading Wei Wuxian to remember the time he gets taken in by Jiang Fengmian.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji was led to Yi City, which is empty and in ruins.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji meet a taoist and learn more about Yi City's story.

The duo uses Empathy and learn about Xiao Xingchen, Xue Yang and Yi City's past.