As my eyes open with the curing of the last condition, I can see that this girl definitely appears older and healthier now. With long, silvery gray hair (the gray aspect apparently wasn’t correctable as a condition), she is now breathing steadily and appears to be resting peacefully. A quick look at her sheet reveals:

Ai

Female, 22

1 Orchid Heaven Spiritual Root

Proficient Languages: Common Speech (English)

Literate Languages: Common Speech

Conditions:

Myriad Slime Body Constitution

•         Cultivation is increased for amorphous body cultivation techniques (x100). Cultivation is increased for void (x100), water (x20), and earth cultivation methods/techniques (x10).

•         1^st Stage: Bones can liquefy and solidify at will, with the body moving to accommodate the change safely. Partial immunity to blunt force trauma.

•         2^nd Stage: Entire body has slime properties and can be controlled independently. Interior of body hollows. Can absorb other creatures directly for sustenance. Breathing is no longer needed. Complete pressure immunity.

•         3^rd Stage: Complete slime body, with individual interior parts optionally functional. Standard form is humanoid, but can be changed to any shape. Body can grow and be split, as part of the whole. Bodies can be controlled with varying levels of independence. Completely replicated strength, but shared Qi.

Okay, this is just OP. I want this power. But I’ve seen this ‘spirit root’ note several times. I should check into it. With a few scans, I pull together the below spreadsheet. I already have some examples based on what I’ve already seen.

My head definitely hurts after compiling this. It especially hurt after coming up with the cultivation speed section. However, it got me what I needed. What I find curious is how the quality of our spirit roots increased when I healed them.

This might be the optimization portion of the ability… I still get the feeling I can take it even farther, if I continue to increase the ability. I felt like there was a gap of potential, just waiting to open. Even within myself, I can feel that there is something there, that I just can’t reach. The only question is at what level will it actually allow me to take this to the next step.

Though, I should probably just be grateful with the fact that I now have at least a normal spirit root.

With a sigh, I move on from this train of thought and barely hear Lin calling my name.

“James? Is my sister alright?” With a start, I realize I’ve just been (seemingly) staring down at Ai for a period, with my hands now hovering over her body.

“Oh! Yes, I was just reviewing some additional info… conditions on her, to make sure she’s completely healed. There are a few things I’ve discovered when healing her.”

She tenses up slightly.

“You can relax, they are all great things. The only thing is, per usual, I need you to keep what I tell you a secret… since this is likely not something most people can easily know about themselves.”

Her body leaning forward, intently listening, it’s easy to tell how much she cares about her sister.

“I’ve completely healed of your sister’s condition, but it has gone even further than just healing her. The myriad slime condition has now turned into a special constitution that she can control at will. If she ever cultivates and train her body further, she will have access to greater and greater abilities with this. Amorphous body and void cultivation types would be the best for her. Once everything calms down more, we can discuss that further.”

Her eyes wide in surprise, but grows to a massive grin near the end of my words. She leaps up and down in joy that her sister is doing so well. I can’t help but feel good about what I’ve done. If she likes that, she’ll be ecstatic about what I’m about to tell her next.

“But wait, there’s more. She actually has a 1 Orchid Heaven spirit root, as well! She should be able to cultivate (if she decides), 2000 times faster than most people. And that isn’t including if she uses both void and amorphous body techn…”

At the words “spirit root,” she freezes. Alternating between concern and happiness, she stops me from continuing on and looks around carefully.

Obviously, I’ve said something extremely concerning. With a quiet voice, she whispers, “James… While this is really amazing to hear, you must never, ever, tell anyone that you can determine exact spirit roots.”

With some hesitation, she adds, “I’m not even my sister should know this. This is the information that could get you to wish for death. Though she would probably know best how to handle this…” She stares straight at me, trying to impart the seriousness of her statements.

“I know little, but even I know that the bare minimum for that ability is a late-stage Core Formation cultivator. However, they typically use Nascent Soul tools for testing people, so they can use it repeatedly.”

With a breath, she continues even more quietly, “Just with that ability, people would look to use you as a tool on that level. Which, for the record, gets everyone around you killed. I for one, like living. So please… please keep this to yourself.”

Well. Message received.

I probably should just give no hints about this scanning ability if I want to live a sane life. Though how I do that, in a world where people can read my mind, is the question…

Now that it seems I understand the seriousness of her words, she sighs in relief. Her eyes then light up excitedly, “With that said, what was mine”?

…

What happened to not telling anyone?!

Keeping it as hushed as possible, I say, “You have 6 Peony Earth.”

Her eyes comically widen and then happily squint. She does a tiny circular dance.

However, with a pause, she realizes she should ask me about mine, “What about you?”

I can’t help but sigh.

“5 Rose Man.”

Her eyes look down in disappointment, but gives me a supportive pat on the shoulder. “That’s normal for cultivators, you shouldn’t feel bad about that.” I nod knowingly.

It’s good to reaffirm that the system is right on this. I definitely need to keep everything about the system under wraps. From now on, everything will be “I discerned… or could it be that…” I’ll come up with ways to obscure my ability and maybe will even need to use the scanning ability to find ways to obscure the information it gives me. And it has to always be done secretly. If I think back to that old man, I believe he went over my surface thoughts, which was on scanning him.

Sigh.

So much to think about.

Lin interrupts my thoughts with additional information “Keeping this a secret from Jiejie… is probably… for the best. Jiejie, is a bit strange. With all of this, that might cause some issues to pop up. She will already will be interested in you, because of all…” waves at everything “this.”

Jiejie? Doesn’t that mean older sister?

And really? And Lin is actually older than Ai.

…

You know what? I’m not even going to dive into that can of worms.

I think I’ve done enough digging today.

Without me even realizing it, Lin was actually still speaking about her sister. Bragging about how smart her sister is and all the things she’s able to do, like writing or knowing about the clans and sects. She’s able to do complex math and even made a plan for them to move out together.

Lin’s tone makes it seem as if Ai is the older sister, rather than the younger sister. As she goes on about this, I can see the lady in question wake up. My eyes widening, Lin looks over and yelps in happiness.

“Jiejie!”

Rushing over to her, she rests her hand on her sister’s back. Slowly sitting up, Ai looks down at her arms and body strangely.

“Lin…? Is that… you? You look so different?” She touches her arms and body, seeing the changes.

“What… is going on? I feel… better.”

Lin looks proud “You’ve been healed, Jiejie! Both of us have. How do your legs feel? What about your chest?” Lin goes from question to question excitedly.

“Calm down Lin, one thing at a time.”

Her eyes turn and squint at me, an air of cold dignity beginning to form around her.

“So, who is this?”

Lin seems to get a little fidgety at that question.

With a quiet voice, “He’s my new friend. The one who healed you.”

Ai’s head snaps to Lin, her mouth agape and her cold image shattering. “Friend?” After a moment, her eyes shift back to me in anger.

“You! What have you done to my sister?!” She raises from her sitting position and begins shaking me.

“Jiejie, Stop! Look at what you’re doing!”

Facing back at her sister, “You’re just confused Lin, there’s no… way…” Her face twists as she seems to recognize that she’s standing.

“Jiejie… you’re walking again.”

Lin’s eyes bubbling with tears. Ai’s eyes slowly water.

Ai’s voice almost struggles to come out, “Lin… Lin… Lin!”

They run at each other, hugging and jumping in place. Using this opportunity, I leave the building to allow them some alone time.