"As the incarnation of the everlasting Wood art, the practitioner will become a reservoir for vitality, which can be used to heal injuries and speed up the growth of plants."
"The everlasting wood art will also prolong lifespan by two times and increase the recovery of energy from the world by at least two times."
"If combined with wood spells, the everlasting wood art will grant unprecedented wood affinity and make it easy to control plants. But it is best to use the everlasting wood art to fuel the divine lightning armament, as there are few things more destructive than lightning."
"Besides, the weakness of wood is fire and lightning. The divine lightning armament can fix those weaknesses. I wish you well on this path, whoever you are."
"If you can cultivate the everlasting wood art and the divine lightning armament to the fifth mortal coil, then you qualify to be my successor. Good luck."
Arthur scratched his chin and wondered to himself, "Could it be that the reason this author gave the founders of the sect the two techniques was so that they could help him find a successor?"
"It is possible, but why would anyone need or want a successor? Also, what kind of person needs people to become nascent soul cultivators before they can become his successor?"
"What is even after the fifth mortal coil? I bet the elders of the sects know. But I can't ask them for it yet. Heck, I can't meet any elder yet."
He shook his head and said, "Forget about the matter of the successor. It is not even certain if I will be able to comprehend this and use it to reach the second mortal coil."
"Even if I do succeed, it will be the second mortal coil. I will still have three more coils to go. So the matter at hand is if I want to continue using this technique and if I can use it."
The answer to the question of if he wants to continue using the everlasting wood art despite the side effects is a resounding yes. He made up his mind about it when he read that he would be able to heal any injury and will have two times the normal life span.
While the side effects of turning into a tree are bad, he kind of likes that the technique can grow on its own without him actively cultivating it.
Of course, he is not sure if that is a blessing or a curse yet. He won't know if the passive growth is a good thing or a bad thing until he cultivates the technique.
He said to himself, "How bad can getting vitality and life force be? Even if getting vitality is hard, the side effects should be lesser because of my strong physique."
With that said, he turned the diagram and focused on the force diagram.
At first glance, he saw a green tree. But when he focused on it, the tree disappeared, and all he saw were concentric rings.
This sight confused him. He muttered, "What is this?"
As if to answer his question, the diagram enlarged in front of him and swallowed him. His whole world turned green and dark and green and dark again. He became woozy and dizzy.
Actually, the diagram didn't change in size, and he was still in the cultivation room. It is just that the force diagram had swallowed his mind.
He became unconscious, and his body slumped to the ground. Meanwhile, his mind fused with the force diagram. He became a tree within the diagram and was forced to experience what it felt like to be the everlasting wood art.
In his perception, years went by with no consequence to him. He was ancient and immovable. The changes of a millennium were only the blink of an eye for him or the period of a nap.
This was an illusion, of course, but the effect of his situation was also causing changes in reality. In reality, his body was glowing a faint green color as the force intent within him was slowly being dissolved and converted into the everlasting wood intent.
Arthur lay on the ground, unconscious, as his body changed. Above him, three mighty spirits were watching him.
The three spirits were invisible and intangible. They stood above his house like three sentries, watching him.
No one saw them or even noticed them in the air above his house. Their powerful minds bypassed all the restrictions in his house silently and we're able to see everything going on within the house.
In fact, they were able to inspect every part of his body including his blood, muscles, bones, and internal organs without Arthur being aware of it. They were that good.
They had been watching him ever since he got the force diagram from Storm Hawk. They had been waiting patiently to see how he would fare with the everlasting wood art.
One of them said, "Interesting."
Another one said, "It seems he is fated with this technique. Not bad."
The third one was silent.
The three of them spoke or listened to each other. They were busy people, but they didn't leave until Arthur woke up. They wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong, especially with Arthur's mind.
It wasn't after Arthur woke up and they were sure that he was fine in body and mind that they left.
The third silent one asked the other two as they left, "Is that normal?"
Of the other two, one shrugged while the other one said uncertainly, "He'll be fine."
They felt him despite the odd thing they saw. They have never seen it happen before. But they have heard records of it in the rare cases of people who cultivated the Everlasting Wood Art.
Arthur woke up from what felt like a very long dream. When he woke up and sensed his body. What he saw made him scream in fright.
"Ahhhhhh. I've been injured."