He ate for fun and relaxation. But his fun was short-lived.
As soon as he finished eating, he bid farewell to Roar and returned to the cultivation room. Then he began another session of cultivation.
Everyone was busy cultivating. It didn't matter if they were in the S grade or C grade. Everyone needed to reach the second mortal coil as soon as possible.
The earlier they reach the second mortal coil, the earlier they can begin taking the performance tests, and the earlier they can begin taking missions for the sect in order to acquire merit points.
It is generally accepted that reaching the third transformation is a race. That race has already started. Its outcome will determine if they will enter the inner sect or not.
As long as someone can reach the third transformation before they run out of time, the worst thing that will happen to them is to become outer elders in the sect.
But if they can't reach the third transformation before they run out of vitality and it becomes too costly to transcend the second mortal coil, the best they will achieve is to become deacons.
It is the deacons who serve as receptionists in the lecture hall and other types of managers in the various halls. For the thousands of proud men and women in the A grade and B grade who managed to reach the tenth transformation before the age of 25, this is a fate that they don't want at all.
So everyone was very busy. The mountain that served as their accommodation had become quiet after two months.
Very few people were moving around. Those who still had places to go were mostly going to the lecture hall.
Arthur occasionally went to the lecture hall to meet Elder Storm Hawk. He didn't go there for a lesson like others in the A grade and B grade. He went there for physical inspection.
Elder Storm Hawk would examine him to make sure that he was fine. She had to see him with her eyes and rely on her judgment to determine that he was fine, not Arthur's words telling her that he was fine.
This is a treatment that only those in the S grade received. For the other disciples, 100 disciples in the A grade were assigned to one elder, while 1,000 disciples in the B grade were assigned to one elder.
The elders in charge of the A grade, B grade, and C grade don't have the leisure to keep track of the physical condition of every one of their students. The elders could only keep track of the cultivation progress of the few outstanding students.
Only disciples in the S grade, like Arthur, can have an elder watch over them as they break through to the second mortal coil.
Arthur didn't ask for it. He just told Elder Storm Hawk that he had returned to the tenth transformation and was ready to transcend the first mortal coil. She was the one who insisted that he must do it in her presence.
He had no qualms about that. Not that he had the blood essence needed to use the Everlasting Wood Intent to reach the second mortal coil on his own. She was going to provide the blood essence, and she was stronger than him, so she could make demands of him.
That morning, they both met in their usual room. There was just a slight difference this time. It was that both of them were nervous, not just Arthur.
Arthur was nervous the first time he met her. He is nervous now because this meeting is momentous and will lead to a drastic change in him. She too was nervous for this exact same reason.
She examined him and saw nothing wrong with him. In fact, he doesn't look any different than he did when he first met her.
So there was no way for her to truly confirm that he had finished comprehending the Everlasting Wood Intent and was ready to transcend the first mortal coil.
She could only ask him, "Are you ready?"
Arthur nodded solemnly and said, "I am ready."
He has the system to know that he is ready. He has also been feeling the side effects of the Everlasting Wood Intent. The most prominent side effect is his drowsiness.
Ever since he reached the tenth transformation with the Everlasting Wood Intent, he has always wanted to fall asleep. He doesn't need to comprehend the force diagram anymore to fall asleep. He can fall asleep anywhere and at any time.
There are other side effects like laziness. So even if he didn't have the system, he would know that he was ready.
After getting his confirmation and the confirmation of the three nascent soul patriarchs of the sect, Elder Storm Hawk nodded and brought out a small glass tube containing a thick green liquid from her storage ring.
She said to him, "This is the blood essence of a rank 6 tree. That tree was known as the Green Light Monarch. The Green Light Monarch is the being who the Everlasting Wood Art was modeled after. Because the Green Light Monarch is a divine being, the technique derived from it is called a divine technique."
"The creator of the Everlasting Wood Art got this blood from the Green Light Monarch and gave it to the founders of the sect together with the Everlasting Wood Art and the Divine Lightning Armament."
"This drop of rank 6 blood essence is to be given to disciples who have the potential to cultivate both the Everlasting Wood Art and Divine Lightning Armament. If the disciples can't meet both requirements, they will have to use a rank 5 blood essence."
"The founders were given ten drops. It has been more than five thousand years since then. In that time, only three people have met the requirements to use the rank 6 Blood Essence. You will be the fourth person worthy of using it."