After a short pause, she said, "In your case, I suppose that it shouldn't be later than a year even though your mana affinity is attributeless. It is because you have a powerful body and mind."
"The effect of these two things is already evident in the fact that no one was able to last more than 8 hours when comprehending the force diagram. You were able to last a day, so you should not be worse than the worst of them."
He nodded in understanding. He wanted to end the conversation there, but he remembered something. So he decided to ask her.
"I'm thinking of joining the Apex Alliance. Have you heard of them, and should I join them?"
She replied, "You can join any alliance you want as long as it doesn't hinder you. By hindering you, I mean it doesn't take away your time and delay your progress."
He nodded and said, "Thank you."
She said, "Don't thank me. I'm just doing my job."
He rolled his eyes as he cut off the call.
He mumbled, "I was just being polite."
Now that he knows about the side effect of the Divine Lightning Armament, he can understand why she would be quirky. Not that he wasn't willing to let her have her way of doing things in the first place.
Ever since he glimpsed the large pool of lightning lying just beneath her skin, he had made up his mind not to argue with her. She was too powerful, so he didn't need to understand why she was quirky for him to tolerate her.
Besides, she didn't ask much of him. She only asked that he not thank her. He can do that much for anyone.
He thought back to the sight of the lake of lightning about to engulf him, and he shivered.
He said, "So that's the Divine Lightning Armament. How is she even alive with such a thing in her body?"
It is mind-boggling to think about and hair-raising to see the power of lightning not only subdued but also imbibed into the body. In his past life, he had seen people and trees burnt to a crisp because of lightning, so it was alarming to see lightning lurking within someone.
He shook his head and said, "I guess that's what it means to shed mortal coils."
That's the best explanation he can come up with for the sight. He doesn't think that that is all there is to it, though. It is because Elder Calcetti doesn't feel inhuman to him.
"Maybe it is because they practice different elements and practice in different ways. After all, how many humans do I know light up the room like a lamp?"
That thought made him chuckle.
After feeling amused for a while, he concluded that Elder Calcetti was always inhuman. He just wasn't as strong as Elder Storm Hawk."
After chuckling, he opened the vault door and left the cultivation room. Roar ran up to him as soon as he came out.
Roar jumped up to him and complained. Arthur patted him and said, "Yes, yes, you're starving. You're so starving that you can eat a cow. Me too."
He fed Roar and also ate. Then he ran back to the cultivation room. He wanted to confirm if the 1% progress was a fluke or not.
This time, he took 4 pills. He didn't want to wake up starved and shrunken again. Anyway, the pills weren't his, so he didn't have to care about the cost.
This round of comprehension lasted for a day too. It also increased his progress by 1%. This made him happy.
It also made him happy that he didn't lose weight this round. But accompanying his excitement was some astonishment.
"Four superior rank 1 blood pills can only barely break even with the consumption of the Everlasting Wood Intent. What is it doing with so much vitality?"
Four superior rank 1 blood pills mean the vitality of four beasts at the tenth transformation of the first mortal coil. He is astounded that he needed that much just so that he wouldn't lose weight during the process of comprehending it.
On the other hand, the Dominating Fire Intent didn't require so much help. He could comprehend it three times daily and even recover on his own.
It can be seen that if he didn't have the help of pills to comprehend the Everlasting Wood Intent, it would take him at least one month to rest after each attempt. So it will take him 100 months to comprehend it completely.
Or he might never be able to comprehend it if the Everlasting Wood Intent kills him before he can finish comprehending it. That is possible with the way the force diagram made him fall from the tenth transformation to the ninth.
Even Elder Storm Hawk said it is possible for him to be relegated to the first transformation because of the Everlasting Wood Intent. This disparity between the Everlasting Wood Intent and the normal techniques like the Dominating Fire Intent made his eyes light up in anticipation.
He said, "I can't wait to see how powerful this technique is. It has to be powerful, or all those pills will have been eaten for nothing."
He has already taken seven pills for two attempts at comprehending the force diagram. He intends to take five pills next time to make it an average of three pills per attempt.
If he has to perform 100 attempts to finish comprehending the Everlasting Wood Intent, he will need 300 superior rank 1 blood pills. He believes that the Everlasting Wood Intent has to be very powerful for swallowing the vitality of 300 beasts at the tenth transformation of the first mortal coil.
After putting away his thoughts, he contacted Blood Root and told him that he wanted to join the Apex Alliance.
Blood Root was ecstatic to hear that. He asked to come over to Arthur's place immediately so that they could execute the registration process.