[He closes his eyes and doesn't respond immediately. He can still sense the resentful energy wandering the station so he knows it hasn't dispersed. That's good because his chest is starting to ache. He reaches over and tugs at Rand's arm.]
Come on. Lie down and control your breathing. Lighten it as much as possible. Don't expend any energy.
[And then as if he hadn't even broken his stride, he continues] The dead also have their energy. Sometimes it is the anger that has stayed with them even in death. Sometimes it is the righteous fury of someone who died a sudden violent death. The weapons and armor of warriors are bathed in it, and it is sewn into the soil of every battlefield. That's resentful energy.
It's a cultivator's job to cleanse it because resentful energy can cause a lot of problems for people. Hauntings, curses, that sort of thing. But it's still an energy, just as manipulatable as any other. That is what demonic cultivation is. Manipulating resentful energy instead of spiritual energy.
[It's where he would stop the explanation normally, but the lack of oxygen doesn't have him thinking clearly. It's easy enough to let his memories get the best of him on the topic and continue, barely remembering he's speaking to someone he doesn't know well at all.]
Most of my family was dead at an enemy's hands in a war, and those who survived were at risk of succumbing to the same fate. Our enemy used demonic cultivation. He raised the dead as his soldiers. He raised our dead as his soldiers. We were going to lose.
So I taught myself demonic cultivation and I was better at it than him, and then we won the war.
[he stops again and blinks, seeming to realize all he's said.]
no subject
Come on. Lie down and control your breathing. Lighten it as much as possible. Don't expend any energy.
[And then as if he hadn't even broken his stride, he continues] The dead also have their energy. Sometimes it is the anger that has stayed with them even in death. Sometimes it is the righteous fury of someone who died a sudden violent death. The weapons and armor of warriors are bathed in it, and it is sewn into the soil of every battlefield. That's resentful energy.
It's a cultivator's job to cleanse it because resentful energy can cause a lot of problems for people. Hauntings, curses, that sort of thing. But it's still an energy, just as manipulatable as any other. That is what demonic cultivation is. Manipulating resentful energy instead of spiritual energy.
[It's where he would stop the explanation normally, but the lack of oxygen doesn't have him thinking clearly. It's easy enough to let his memories get the best of him on the topic and continue, barely remembering he's speaking to someone he doesn't know well at all.]
Most of my family was dead at an enemy's hands in a war, and those who survived were at risk of succumbing to the same fate. Our enemy used demonic cultivation. He raised the dead as his soldiers. He raised our dead as his soldiers. We were going to lose.
So I taught myself demonic cultivation and I was better at it than him, and then we won the war.
[he stops again and blinks, seeming to realize all he's said.]
Ah, just in case you were wondering why I do it.