WangXian Untamed

Chapter 34 - Dual Cultivation

Once back in the Jingshi, Lan WangJi settled to play his guqin. He began with Clarity again, and as the clear, clean notes fell into the silence both men began to relax. Tonight, Wei WuXian did not harmonize with ChenQing. Rather, he turned his thoughts toward his other discovery of the day, lost in his own thoughts as he waited for Lan WangJi to play the music they had both come to rely on for restoring peace of mind at the end of these stressful days.

Dual Cultivation was a phrase known to Wei WuXian since childhood. The concept, however, had never been explained to him or discussed. Any questions were quickly dismissed as being inappropriate for discussion with a child. As a teenager, rumours and whispers and wild speculations regularly made their way through his peer group, but no one claimed to have real information. A war tended to distract from all but essential concerns. No one had time for less concrete intimate issues. Dual Cultivation seemed a mysterious and wondrous, almost mythical possibility that one magically claimed once married. It had been too precious to be featured in the erotic art he'd read so avidly, too profound to fit in the limited plots used as an excuse for the stories found in Spring Books.

Naturally, the miraculous acquisition of the mysteries of Dual Cultivation once married sparked regular speculation that it must have something to do with sex. Sex was widely understood and often discussed by giggling teenagers, but Dual Cultivation was somehow understood to be far too sacred to taint with prurient speculation. In the warm, humid environs of Lotus Pier, sex was simply one aspect of nature and something which was respected, but hardly held in awe, as was Dual Cultivation. The connection between the two was sometimes postulated, only to be shushed and hushed quickly, before any sullying thoughts could adhere. Since no one knew for sure and no adults talked about it, it remained mere conjecture. Now, however, a Healer had literally told Wei WuXian that he owed his improved Core directly to Lan Zhan. To their sex life, specifically. And that even greater benefits could be had with a deliberate choice to share spiritual energy during intercourse.

Until Healer Shui's surprise revelation after his physical examination, Wei WuXian had despaired of achieving a truly fully functional golden Core. Mo XuanYu had not worked diligently when he was in possession of his own body, originally building the Core now under new management. Wei WuXian had been gifted a sorry excuse of a nascent golden Core. He had applied himself and worked hard to improve, but the prime period for development was long past before he ever acquired his current body, and his efforts had been all uphill. Now, however... now there was the possibility that he could once again not only participate in the Sword Path but possibly acquire real strength.

As a teenager Wei WuXian had taken his Core for granted. He had worked at it, but the unusual strength and ease with which it developed had been accepted as his normal. He had never really understood how rare it was to achieve great ability at such a tender age. Nor had he ever appreciated just how powerful his Core was, let alone how powerful it could become. Although sacrificed willingly, life without a Core had been staggeringly different. Even so, he had underestimated the extent of the loss until he had been forced to create an alternative path of Cultivation to simply survive in the Burial Mounds.

Demonic Cultivation had not only saved Wei WuXian's life, but it had also been the deciding factor in overthrowing the Wen Clan's plan for domination of the Cultivation world. It had returned a form of consciousness back to Wen Ning, despite his murder. Without Demonic Cultivation and Wei WuXian, every Cultivator still alive would wear Wen red and kowtow to Wen RuoHan and his madness. Demonic Cultivation had been necessary. But if Wei WuXian could achieve a fully functional golden Core once more...

Lan WangJi's hand on his shoulder broke Wei WuXian's reverie, and he looked up to his husband's face.

"Wei Ying is preoccupied this evening," said Lan WangJi. Gold eyes looked into silver, probing. "Share?"