In the City Lord's Office...
The group was seated in a luxurious tablescape. Of course the one seated at the head of the table was Alistair while Victoria and Dylan were seated parallel with each other and Scarlet was beside Dylan.
"Thank you very much for obliging to my request, princess. I have troubled you." The City Lord spoke first.
"That was of no trouble to me, City Lord." Victoria replied
"How are you fairing, my friend?" Alistair then looked at Dylan with peculiar eyes. He still could not forget about the series of events that happened a few days ago. He felt like he had seen the pinnacle of cultivation that fateful night.
"I am unworthy to be called a fried of yours, City Lord. But I am well. Thank you for the concern." Dylan replied courteously.
"Hahaha, how tact of you."
"I believe that I'm performing what is due when in front of a legend such as yourself."
"Also, quite the sycophant! Hahaha." Alistair could not help but laugh.
"But, if I may be allowed to direct this conversation, may I ask why the City Lord invited me to your manor?" Dylan directly asked. He did not wish to waste time with pleasantries.
The City Lord and Victoria were taken aback slightly but they soon understood that it was best to simply just get to the crux of the matter.
"Rather forthright of you. A man should be direct, after all. Thus, I commend you for that. I assume that you were already informed of what happened by the princess as you travelled?" The City Lord spoke in turn.
"You are correct, City Lord. The princess has also told me regarding your assumptions of my alleged reincarnation." Dylan affirmed.
"Excellent. Then, to address the matter directly, I believe that you can also reach the same heights of your previous life. I would like to offer you resources that will help you progress further along your cultivation. From weapons, pills, elixirs and martial techniques, I would provide them for you. In exchange, I simply wish that you help the City if it is ever put into dire straits. What say you?" The City Lord offered.
If anyone was offered the same conditions, they would immediately jump the gun and excitedly accept this once in a lifetime offer. To get the support of a City Lord was something most cultivators would do anything to have.
'Oh, I can also offer him the same support! I also need to establish a connection with him. This would be beneficial to the clan as well.' Victoria thought of adapting this proposition since this was an excellent idea for the future of her clan as well.
Yet, contrary to that expectation, Dylan was calm.
'I see. So he is investing for an insurance for the City's welfare and future. Someone truly befitting the title of a City Lord. If that were me, I would probably do the same if I witnessed such power in action.'
"..." Dylan was silent. He was contemplating with his hands crossed in front of his chest. He was already treating this as if it were a negotiation.
This surprised both the City Lord and Victoria. Based on how he looks, he seemed to be just a youth but they can't sense any hot bloodedness in him right now. His expression did not change and he seemed to be in deep thought.
His aura right now seemed to be completely different than the cordial and respectful person that he was a moment ago. It was as though they were at the presence of a distinguished mogul.
After a while, Dylan finally opened his mouth to respond to Alistair's suggestion.
"I am very much flattered for this offer, City Lord, But I would unfortunately have to decline." Dylan unexpectedly answered like so.
"What? Why?!" The City Lord could not help but raise his voice an octave by what he had just heard.
Dylan elaborated, "Because I believe that this would be unfair to you, City Lord. A deal is supposed to be fair and should benefit both parties with value relative to their needs. The offer operates on the possibility that I reach the heights of my supposed past self."
"Since I cannot in good conscience trick you, allow me to elaborate why. City Lord ,as you might have already noticed, I have no cultivation whatsoever. Due to some unidentifiable reason, my Spirit Core has yet to be unlocked despite being aged eighteen."
"This is terribly late for any cultivator. I have lost over a decade of valuable cultivation time. I will also be blunt and say I have not encountered any benefits from being an alleged reincarnator such as my past cultivation techniques. These are the main reason why I declined the offer."
"If you are able to provide me with a possible solution for my inability to cultivate, then I shall work my hardest to cultivate and live up to your expectations. But anyone can say these lip-service. Even if we do find a way to unlock my talent, it doesn't guarantee that I would immediately progress in my cultivation in blinding speed that I catch up and surpass my peers!"
"What if my current talent in this life is not up to par to my previous life? That is a valid concern if you were a stakeholder for my future. I believe that we need a serious metric if I am worth this investment. A way to measure my talent."
"If I do have incredible talent that would allow me to make up for lost time, then I would be worth risk. Otherwise, the proposal would wrought with risks and liabilities."
Dylan presented his argument as he would in a business meeting. A rational risk-benefit analysis comparing the possible negative outcomes of a decision against its expected positive results.
"..." Alistair was now the one in deep thought. What Dylan said was all of his main concerns regarding his investment with Dylan.
Presented with this analysis made him reconsider his decision and also reevaluate this child before him.
"..." Similarly, Victoria was impressed with the level of analysis that Dylan presented. This calm and analytical side of him made him even more intriguing in her eyes.
'Whoa, I don't know what they were talking about but Big bro sounded really smart just now.' Scarlet thought while being thoroughly amazed of how articulate his brother was.
"But why would you even present this to me in the first place? You could have simply just accepted the deal and I would have had to live with those risks anyway." The City Lord gauged.
Dylan responded calmly, "Because I wish to build a genuine connection with you, City Lord. To do that, honesty and trust must be the foundation of our relationship. Once you have established enough confidence in my potential and character, we can revisit this arrangement on terms that are truly mutually beneficial, rather than based on a gamble you might later regret. I prefer to be a partner who earns his keep through proven results rather than a liability sustained by blind faith."
In business partnerships, the most important thing that your stakeholders must have is assurance and confidence in the results they wanted. Rather than relying on fleeting promises or unverified potential, one must prioritize transparency, risk mitigation, and a genuine alignment of interests.
Doing so would build a relationship in which the stakeholders would continue to work with a business that ensures profits and values integrity!
He further added with a joke, "Plus, I would be probably be met with an untimely death while implicating those I'm close with should I ever have the nerves to swindle the city lord of the Soaring Cloud City."
"Hahaha, I see. What a serendipitous moment. To think I would encounter such an upright and eloquent young man. Have you really not been educated?" Alistair had looked into his background.
He had learned that he was balancing his job as a city guard and a hunter. There was no evidence that he had ever been received into an educational institution and yet, his intellect was this noteworthy.
"No, City Lord. May we attribute it to something like street-smarts instead?" Dylan said cheekily.
"Hahaha, is that so? Then, street-smarts, it is!" Alistair laughed.
He then went back to the main topic, "Going back to the matter at hand. Unfortunately, this is the first of time I have heard of this case. I am not knowledgeable enough to say that I know all there is to cultivation but I do have a bountiful experience in this aspect. This is why I am more inclined to say that you might have been born without an active Spirit Core or a Spirit Vein."
Alistair's eye was shining as he used his Spiritual Sense to analyze Dylan's body, "It's not just your Spirit Core that has yet to be unlocked, even your entire Spirit Vein System is blocked for some reason. This is really fascinating. It is my first time seeing this case."
"..." This led Dylan to be silent. He knew that this body had not unlocked his Spirit Core yet, now he discovers that he has blocked Spirit Veins?
'My luck is really shitty, I guess.' Dylan could only laugh derisively in his mind.
"I will try to consult Spiritual Doctors within the city to have you checked. But I doubt they will have a different diagnosis than what I have." Alistair suggested. He gestured someone and gave them instructions to get some available Spiritual Doctors to come to his manor.
"Thank you very much for the consideration, City Lord." Dylan was touched by that gesture of consideration as he slightly bowed.
Alistair raised his arm as a crystalline and translucent ball appeared in his hands. It was as big as a bowling ball.
The City Lord explained. "This is a Spiritual Testing Orb. It measures your raw aptitude by the how many lights and how powerful the light your Spiritual Root gets the orb to respond. It is said that this orb has ten stars in it."
"If you have one to three stars, you are a mediocre talent. The most you will probably reach in your lifetime would be the peak of the Origin Palace Realm. From four to six stars, you are a great talent with the potential to reach the peak of Mortal Severing or even the Half-Saint Realm."
"By the seventh and ninth star, you are a heavenly genius that can reach the Immortal Saint Realm. The highest recorded in the country was nine stars. As for the tenth star, there has not been any known recording of its appearance aside from ancient text saying that it exists within the orb."
He added, "This doesn't test any affinity towards elements and weapons like Heavenly Stele or provide a detailed assessment of all your attributes like a Genius-Assessing Array."
He put his hand onto it to demonstrate. The ball showed five bright lights and one slightly bright light. "As you can see, I have six stars which perfectly reflects my cultivations right now as a Half-Saint."
Then, he proceeded to place it on the table, nearer to where Dylan was.
"Now, its your turn, Dylan."