He's not sure what he said to deserve that look, but alcohol has him just a little fuzzy, but it's hardly enough to keep him from smiling. As much as he likes asking Shepard about her world, he likes running his mouth just as much.

"The concept is simple, but not everyone is born with the capacity to do it," he starts, getting a better understanding of how Shepard feels, explaining something so basic in her own world to someone who has no concept of it.

"The act of cultivation in and of itself is just self-improvement. Improving your martial arts, mystical arts, and manipulating your qi, more or less" he explains, "but not everyone has the innate ability to do all of those things. At least, all of them well enough to form a golden core."

He downs the rest of his drink, before setting it down, still toying with it as he continues, "before you ask, a golden core mmm... it's like, using the body as a crucible and your qi as raw material, you form a core? Anyway, once you've formed it, you want to build upon it, strengthen it, all that. There's different ways to do so, different schools, different thoughts on what makes them strongest. How's that?"