[ She doesn't join him in recline, but she does linger in her seat beside him, briefly examining the state of her nails on one hand; it doesn't make the silence that briefly falls an awkward one, especially when she doesn't instantly move to fill it.
Perhaps she doesn't know the significance of what he's admitting to her now — or perhaps she can sense the import of it, and how it veers uncomfortably close to what she'd faced in recent months with the temporary loss of her own abilities. How helpless she'd felt, how impotent, even while those around her had been able to continue and live their lives in possession of all they originated with. ]
Could you have, once?
[ That's a more telling question for her, when all is said and done, and now she does slowly lower herself to lay out alongside him, positioning herself on her side with one hand propping her head up. ] Or was it never so?
[For a long moment, Wei Wuxian goes so still and silent it seems he might be holding his breath. Then the moment passes and he exhales. Instead of an answer, he offers her a question in turn.]
Has Lan Xichen ever told you about how spiritual energy works? [He assumes not if only because most people wouldn't be interested in the details, so he continues on.]
Everyone has qi—living energy—but cultivators are the ones who train from a young age to refine that qi into spiritual energy. And anyone can form spiritual energy if they start young enough. I'm teaching Ziggy, actually. [But that's not the point and he shakes his head before moving on.]
After months or years of spiritual training, a person forms the first spark of spiritual energy here. [He rolls onto his side to face her, mirroring her position, and places a hand on the space just beneath his stomach and above his groin.] Over the years as a cultivator trains, the energy continues to gather there. Think of it as an organ that regulates spiritual power. Like a heart. It's a bright golden sphere of energy. The more powerful, the bigger and brighter. We call them Golden Cores. [His eyes go far away for a moment and he quiets before shaking himself out of it.]
Cultivators use spiritual energy for most things. It makes them stronger, faster, hones their reflexes and senses beyond what a regular human can do. Even extends their lifetime. Some cultivators live hundreds of years. A few reach immortality. And they use it in sword fighting. Always. Someone without those abilities—a regular human without a golden core—could never hope to match them. [He smiles a little wryly, sure that she's beginning to see where this is going.]
I had a strong core once. I was very promising. [His lips twitch with humor at the brag.] I was considered one of the best in my generation.
But there was a war. And there was a man in that war named Wen Zhuliu with a very special ability. He was called the Core Melting Hand. With a single touch, he could destroy any cultivator's Golden Core, leaving them a regular human for the rest of their lives.
So in very long answer to your question, yes I could have matched them once. But not now. And so I gave up the sword. [Because all it would have taken was a single fight. A single challenge, and he would have crumbled even against the weakest of cultivators, unable to match that superhuman strength and durability. And then everyone would have known.]
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Perhaps she doesn't know the significance of what he's admitting to her now — or perhaps she can sense the import of it, and how it veers uncomfortably close to what she'd faced in recent months with the temporary loss of her own abilities. How helpless she'd felt, how impotent, even while those around her had been able to continue and live their lives in possession of all they originated with. ]
Could you have, once?
[ That's a more telling question for her, when all is said and done, and now she does slowly lower herself to lay out alongside him, positioning herself on her side with one hand propping her head up. ] Or was it never so?
no subject
Has Lan Xichen ever told you about how spiritual energy works? [He assumes not if only because most people wouldn't be interested in the details, so he continues on.]
Everyone has qi—living energy—but cultivators are the ones who train from a young age to refine that qi into spiritual energy. And anyone can form spiritual energy if they start young enough. I'm teaching Ziggy, actually. [But that's not the point and he shakes his head before moving on.]
After months or years of spiritual training, a person forms the first spark of spiritual energy here. [He rolls onto his side to face her, mirroring her position, and places a hand on the space just beneath his stomach and above his groin.] Over the years as a cultivator trains, the energy continues to gather there. Think of it as an organ that regulates spiritual power. Like a heart. It's a bright golden sphere of energy. The more powerful, the bigger and brighter. We call them Golden Cores. [His eyes go far away for a moment and he quiets before shaking himself out of it.]
Cultivators use spiritual energy for most things. It makes them stronger, faster, hones their reflexes and senses beyond what a regular human can do. Even extends their lifetime. Some cultivators live hundreds of years. A few reach immortality. And they use it in sword fighting. Always. Someone without those abilities—a regular human without a golden core—could never hope to match them. [He smiles a little wryly, sure that she's beginning to see where this is going.]
I had a strong core once. I was very promising. [His lips twitch with humor at the brag.] I was considered one of the best in my generation.
But there was a war. And there was a man in that war named Wen Zhuliu with a very special ability. He was called the Core Melting Hand. With a single touch, he could destroy any cultivator's Golden Core, leaving them a regular human for the rest of their lives.
So in very long answer to your question, yes I could have matched them once. But not now. And so I gave up the sword. [Because all it would have taken was a single fight. A single challenge, and he would have crumbled even against the weakest of cultivators, unable to match that superhuman strength and durability. And then everyone would have known.]