CHAPTER 214: A RELATIONSHIP OF EQUALS

My scan informs me that the most convincing way to approach this is with the real hesitation I feel. To be both honest with myself and him.

Im not doing this completely out of the goodness of my heart.

This answer is common sense to him, but is different from what I usually tell myself.

I need people I can really, truly rely on.

Currently, I have quite a few people who I can trust, but arent that strong right now. And likely will take a while before they will become strong.

On the other hand, there are people I know that are strong and have good connections, but I cant fully trust.

He nods in understanding, as this is pretty typical. The people you can trust and hang around are usually around your same strength level. Typically, this doesnt change (except in rare situations).

I have many people I want to help, but I cant do it all myself. I need your help to cover the areas I cant.

His eyes narrow at this, seeing the true ask.

I can see the air has been changing around him as we speak. Shedding the discouragement and uncertainty that had come from his circumstances, revealing a deeper side of him I hadnt seen or expected.

There are some things that a normal scan wont reveal about a person. I guess this is one of them.

A question rings out from him.

And what would that entail?

Supporting me and having my back, if I get bullied by someone that you or your family can handle. Anyone that would put your family at risk, I wouldnt expect you to go up against.

And?

He clearly expects more. As this is the baseline for such relationships.

Look. I honestly just want an ally. Someone that I can actually trust and look out for me. While I do the same for them. A true relationship. Not one just based out of benefits, but actually caring about one another.

I take a breath to continue, as he looks skeptical and disappointed at my clearly nave words.

So, I clarify.

Im not expecting this to happen immediately. Youll just have to see through my actions that I want whats best for you and your family. I hope with time, you can feel the same towards me. But I want to at least say it, so you can know where my mind is.

Its at this point, that I expected him to say something somewhat sarcastic or disbelieving. Because thats definitely the type of face he has on right now.

But he just stares at me. Not a hostile one, but a judging and weighing one.

Hes truly considering what Im saying.

And then he surprises me with a question, that is more of a statement.

Youll be helping me with figuring out the three generations from the creator.

He says it in a direct, curt manner.

More akin to stating terms in an ultimatum.

This is a test.

If I was a young master, this would be a slap in the face to my status. Most would snap at this form of address.

Every relationship here has a hierarchy. But the way I described what I wanted was not in that form.

It was as equals.

Hes doing this to see how I truly view this relationship.

And just as I strain my scan to perceive as much as I can in a situation, I bet he is doing the same with his senses as a Merchant. Weighing this relationship.

Luckily for me, I come from a world and a culture where this is basically expected. That people should be treated as equals.

Theres no faking necessary for this.

I give a genuine smile, acknowledging that hes taking me seriously. That I might actually be able to find an equal of sorts here.

Of course. Thats what allies do.

He blinks in surprise, not expecting such a natural response. He goes a little further, cautiously.

And my daughter. She is going to die if I cant figure out a better treatment for her. Youll help with that as well?

Ill go even further. When you introduce me, Ill heal her so shes cured.

How do you know you can heal her? You already know what she has?

I shake my head. Though I am lying on this one.

No. Let me show you what I mean. Could you hold out your hand?

Warily, he does so. To which I quickly heal his hand.

Going further than even that by healing him of every injury and then upgrading his spirit root.

I try something on him I discovered while I was desperately trying to heal myself during and after my fight in the jungle.

Optimization.

Combining my healing aura and my healing cultivation abilities lets me cover every base within a persons spirit root. While there are still some areas can be improved, it should bring a person to the highest spirit root level I can (using that method).

In terms of myself, I have much farther to go than just what I can do for others, as my body is constantly improving on a deeper level. Mostly because of being influenced by my healing constitution, as well as everything else.

Theres a question that I could ask myself for all this, though.

Why do this much for him?

If Im truly going to rely on him, then I need to buff them as much as is possible. Also, the scan is practically confirming at every step how important this relationship is.

Im really relying on the idea that I can trust the scan. Though Im a little too deep at this point to not be trus

Woah.

Thats a high spirit root.

After healing him, I can see that he has a 3 Orchid Heaven spirit root.

That means he can cultivate 4000x faster than the average cultivator.

and he hasnt even used the Heavenly Spirit Roots yet. Which would increase his spirit roots even further.

or cultivated with the Orb of Unfathomable Depths, allowing him to cultivate thousands of times faster. And will give him strength of one tier higher.

Im actually a little scared now. Hell definitely soar past me in a second.

If this doesnt work in the future, Im screwed.

table width="558"; td width="150"

Spiritual Roots:

td width="78" td width="60" td width="198" td width="72"

Cultivation Speed:

td width="150"

Ranking

td width="78"

Type

td width="60"

Grade

td width="198"

People

td width="72" td width="150"

No Talent/Cursed/Crippled Cultivation

td width="78" td width="60" td width="198"

Demi-Humans, Gong (Pre-Healing)

td width="72" td width="150"

Low Talent

td width="78"

Rose Man

td width="60"

1

td width="198"

James Delinion (Pre-Healing)

td width="72"

1/10,000x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

2

td width="198"

Majority of People

td width="72"

1/1,000

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

3

td width="198" td width="72"

1/100

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

4

td width="198" td width="72"

1/10x

td width="150"

Ordinary

td width="78" td width="60"

5

td width="198"

James Delinion (Post-First Self Healing), Majority of Cultivators

td width="72"

1x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

6

td width="198"

James Delinion (Pre-Exam), Lin (Pre-Healing))

td width="72"

2x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

7

td width="198" td width="72"

5x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

8

td width="198"

Gong (Current)

td width="72"

10x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

9

td width="198" td width="72"

15x

td width="150"

Above Average

td width="78"

Peony Earth

td width="60"

1

td width="198"

Majority of Demi Human Cultivators (Fully Healed)

td width="72"

25x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

2

td width="198"

AI (Pre-Healing)

td width="72"

50x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

3

td width="198" td width="72"

75x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

4

td width="198"

James Delinion (Exam)

td width="72"

100x

td width="150"

Rare Genius

td width="78" td width="60"

5

td width="198" td width="72"

250x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

6

td width="198"

Lin (Current)

td width="72"

500x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

7

td width="198"

Mei Lin ((Merchant Kid/New Sister) - Current)

td width="72"

750x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

8

td width="198" td width="72"

1000x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

9

td width="198" td width="72"

1250x

td width="150"

Extremely Rare Genius

td width="78"

Orchid Heaven

td width="60"

1

td width="198"

Ai (Current)

td width="72"

2000x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

2

td width="198"

James Delinion (Current)

td width="72"

3000x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

3

td width="198"

Xing Hu (merchant father- Post-Optimization)

td width="72"

4000x

td width="150"

Powerful and Rare Genius

td width="78" td width="60"

4

td width="198" td width="72"

7500x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

5

td width="198"

Da Xia (Young demi human necromancer girl Current)

td width="72"

10,000x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

6

td width="198" td width="72"

20,000x

td width="150"

Heaven Defying Genius

td width="78" td width="60"

7

td width="198" td width="72"

50,000x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

8

td width="198" td width="72"

100,000x

td width="150" td width="78" td width="60"

9

td width="198" td width="72"

200,000x

td width="150"

Transcendent Genius (stories)

td width="78"

Jade Flower Void

td width="60" td width="198" td width="72"

1,000,000x

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