He was confused by what she said and it showed on his face.
So she explained to him, "Other elements, such as fire, can boost the life force and make it enhance the strength of the cultivator."
"The wind element will boost speed, the earth element will boost defense, and so on and so forth. But the best that wood can do is boost vitality. In your case, that translates to more life span."
Arthur shrugged and said, "I don't mind."
Elder Storm Hawk said with a sneer, "No one does at first. But this means that you will be weaker than a cultivator of the same level and be easily killed by them. That extra lifespan won't be of use if you are killed."
Arthur nodded in agreement while Elder Storm Hawk continued. "Anyway, another weakness is the specific vulnerability to fire spells and lightning spells."
"Not only does wood fail to boost the physical attributes of cultivators, but even the vitality that it is proficient in will be greatly weakened and can even become useless in the face of fire and lightning."
"In summary, at the same level of raw power, the wood element will be at a disadvantage to other elements. That's why it is best to combine the Everlasting Wood Art with the Divine Lightning Armament."
She stretched out her hand to him. In the palm of her hand was a ball of lightning.
The lightning was very active, not docile. It was trying to escape from her palm, but she held it together by force.
She said to him, "If you can master this, not only will the weaknesses of the wood element be resolved, but you will also gain terrifying advantages that normal users of lightning won't have."
She withdrew the lightning and pointed at herself as she said, "I am a user of lightning, so I know what I had to give up to master this power. The power of lightning is the power of heaven. It is not a power that mortals can use freely. Any mortal who wields lightning must pay the price."
"The first price to pay is the risk of being consumed by lightning. I am talking about both physical and mental consumption."
"Controlling lightning is very difficult because lightning is very violent and highly destructive. Any mortal who tries to use lightning will be destroyed by it if they fail to control it. That's the risk of physical consumption."
"Even if a mortal manages to control lightning, they will be eroded by the will of lightning. They will become violent and reckless over time. The more they use lightning and the higher their affinity for lightning is, the faster this erosion will become."
"At first, the erosion will seem like a mere side effect of using lightning. But if it is allowed to go out of control, the cultivator will merge with lightning after they are completely eroded by it. Then the lightning will return to the heavens and nature. That is the risk of mental consumption."
"The final price to pay is the consumption of life span. Even if a mortal manages to control lightning and manages to resist mental erosion, their life span will still be cut short by half."
Arthur's eyes widened when he heard this.
Elder Storm Hawk chuckled when she saw his reaction. Fortunately, he was already shocked by what she said, so he wasn't shocked by the giant ball of lightning expanding and contracting dangerously within her.
She said, "That's right. My lifespan was cut to 75 when I mastered the power of divine lightning."
"I had to alleviate the loss with the Blood Demon Art technique of the sect. Even then, I was only able to recover an extra 25 years from the 75 years that I lost."
"So I was already late to reach the third mortal coil as soon as I mastered the divine lightning art. If not for the help and support of the sect, I wouldn't have reached the third mortal coil. That is certain."
Arthur pleaded with her, "Please tell me something good now."
She scoffed and said, "Thanks to the cultivation of the Everlasting Wood Art, you won't have to suffer as much as I did. Even if the Everlasting Wood Art doesn't nullify the reduction of life span, you already gained twice as much life span, so you will have more time."
"The Everlasting Wood Art will also help you resist the mental erosion through its side effect and the physical erosion through the vibrant vitality that it grants you. Now you see why I envy you."
Arthur nodded in understanding. He too would be envious of an ability that could prevent the loss of half of someone's life span.
He could also understand why she wouldn't want to waste her time teaching people. After all, she doesn't have that much time compared to her peers.
Since he already has the Everlasting Wood Art, he began to look forward to cultivating the Divine Lightning Armament.
So he was eager when he asked her, "When do I start learning the Divine Lightning Armament?"
She replied, "When you reach the fourth transformation of the second mortal coil. No matter how good your high-density soul is, you need to reach the fourth transformation of both body refining and energy refining because the Divine Lightning Armament has a high requirement for the body, energy, and mind."
Arthur thought that he could meet those requirements because he was more powerful than normal people. So he wanted to argue.
But before he could say anything, he was stopped by Elder Storm Hawk. She raised her hand to signify that he should keep quiet. Then she said, "I know that you are very talented. I know that you have innate divine strength and a high-density soul. I know that you are more powerful than your peers despite just reaching the second mortal coil. But you still have to hold on because learning the divine lightning armament is dangerous."