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Why the golden core reveal scene was problematic - a thread that bring me great pain to write.
This scene is all about loyalty, as hinted in the title of the chapter. And while this is direct link to wn's unwavering loyalty for wwx, I think it also serves as a warning of the ignorance that could come from it.
Loyal was also a word associated with Wen Zhuliu, as wwx called him 'a loyal dog'. Wzl was loyal to the wen sect only bc he owed wrh a "debt of generosity". In the novel, Wzl is shown to be a stoic, mild mannered person who rarely initiated combat.
He disliked arrogant and cruel personalities and showed respect towards powerful cultivators, even if they were his opponents, as shown in his respect for yzy.
He was blindly following the wen sect bc of this loyalty and it had proved to be the reason for his eventual demise.
He was blindly following the wen sect bc of this loyalty and it had proved to be the reason for his eventual demise.
While I am not saying that wn was anywhere near as bad as Wzl is, as he is shown to have a strong sense of honour and kindness. It is without a doubt, his words did cut rather deeply into one of jc's psychological wounds without even knowing it,
as seen in jc's madness that follows after this, running around to everyone to ask them to unsheathe the sword.
The golden core transfer was not wn's secret to tell, and it was a manipulative move to make. Especially, when wn did not know of jc's circumstances and that fact that jc had lost his own core from saving wwx. Wwx had specifically told him to not tell jc about the core transfer.
Both wn and jc are characters who had gone through a lot.
Wn having been killed despite his innocence, and seeing so many of his own innocent family members killed must've been difficult. His loyalty towards wwx consequently comes from wwx defecting and staying by their side to protect them.
Jc on the other hand, had his entire sect massacred within one night, sacrificed himself for his brother, was tortured by the wens, even whipped by the discipline whip and ultimately had his core removed. Then his brother left the sect, his sister was married off and he was alone
While I understand that wn possibly disliked jc as jc was probably seen as ungrateful for not acknowledging his help for them after the lotus pier massacre or for not supporting the wen remnants when he was in a sect leader position.
It is important to also understand that jc was not in the position to help them as an emerging sect. I am not weighing these characters by what they've been through, however, wn had no right to say what he did to jc.
Wn tells jc in that scene, "Sect leader Jiang - You, so driven of a person, have been comparing yourself to others your whole life, but you have to know that you never should've been able to equal him!"
These words are ultimately the core of jc's insecurities. Of course he has always compared himself to wwx, as that's what has happened to him his entire life.
He was constantly being told that he didn't understand the sect motto by his father and was constantly being compared to his wwx pitted against wwx by his mother, it comes to no surprise that it still sticks to jc even after so many years.
Even after his parent's death, jc was known as wwx's brother. Ppl were wary of the jiang sect during the sunshot campaign bc wwx was cultivating the demonic path, not bc of jc's infamous temper.
It was not until after wwx died, that sandu shengshou's personality and temper truly became famous.
From my belief, wwx was also aware of jc's inferiority complex, especially during their teenage years. Despite wwx's playfulness and immaturity at the time, I do think that he was pretty good at comforting jc, even if the comfort came in the form of brushing it off with excuses.
Sometimes i look back on that scene and wonder: if wwx had been conscious during the scene when wn revealed the golden core secret would he be angry at wn? Wwx also proves to be quite the protective older brother so I would imagine that he would've be quite upset with this.
Overall, this scene, though loyal, is also quite cruel.
Thank you for reading and feel free to add any of your own interpretations below!
Thank you for reading and feel free to add any of your own interpretations below!
