He could bend the metals in his magnetic field or cause them to accelerate to a speed faster than his divine sense could push them to because the force working on them now is the combined effort of his divine sense and his 1,024 life seeds.
This feeling of his divine sense and life seeds working together in perfect harmony was sublime. It made him feel as if he had ascended to another state of existence.
This was only an illusion, of course. But it didn't have to be an illusion for much longer.
He knew instinctively that all he needed to do to advance to a state of higher existence was a single thought. It is a feeling he could get because he had reached the limit of perfection of the third mortal coil.
This feeling made him say in awe, "Patriarch Sword Flash was right. Cultivation and formation have a lot in common."
He looked at the Life and Death Art and saw that it had reached 100%. Next, he checked his space ring and saw a lot of life essence.
He nodded in perfection and said, "Everything is ready. I am ready."
He has reached the peak of the third mortal coil with all 1,024 life seeds intact. All 1,024 life seeds are filled to the brim with energy, and all of them are connected and can be mobilized together at once.
The harmony of lightning, wood, and himself is complete now. So his life seeds are stable, and he is in total sync with them.
Finally he is in an environment with a high concentration of mana, and he has a lot of life essence. This means that there is nothing left for him to prepare. So he decided to make the illusion of ascension become a reality.
He closed his eyes and willed his life seeds to fuse. The lines of energy connecting them bound them and pulled them together. They were going to become one again, or he would die trying.
He could set aside some of his life seeds as insurance. That way, if the process fails, he won't die.
But he didn't do such a thing that will hinder his future if he succeeds. Besides, he didn't think he had anything to worry about.
As his life seeds merged into one big beautiful object of great power and potential. As they merged, they discharged a lot of energy that made him shine with light.
From the outside, it lolled as if there were stars within him and these stars were colliding violently. But the fusion was anything but violent. The merger was actually peaceful.
It was as if the life seeds were already one but we're pretending to be separate entities. This is true in many ways. So the fusion was more of a return to origin than a violent collision of individual powerhouses.
His 1,024 life seeds already came from one source. But now that they were going back to become one again, they would never be the same thing that they were when he was in the second mortal coil.
This kind of event couldn't be hidden from the resident peeping toms. Stella became anxious when she noticed it.
She rushed up to her master and said, "Master, Arthur is advancing? Arthur is advancing!"
The ball of lightning said, "I know. I can see it."
She asked anxiously, "Is he going to be fine?"
The ball of lightning replied, "So far so good."
She still asked, "How can you be sure? His energy signature looks complicated and random. That doesn't look good to me. He looks like he is failing."
Her master sighed and said, "There is beauty in the randomness. The complication contains a truth that you are blind to. He is very talented. Everything will be fine."
She said, "But…"
But her master interrupted her. "Don't be so anxious. Just wait and see."
Stalla struggled to stay still after being admonished by her father to stay still. She was finding it difficult to stay still because what she was sensing from Arthur was far from peaceful.
Usually, when cultivators at the third mortal coil advance, the reaction of their life seeds towards each other is mellow and sublime.
It should be as if the life seeds are melting slowly and fusing into one another peacefully. But the reaction of Arthur's life seed didn't seem peaceful to her at all.
His life seeds appear to be fusing and not outright destroying each other, but she can't be sure because she can't see what's going on with him clearly.
There is a strange field around him that is rilling mana up. In her senses, he looks as if he is in the center of a storm with winds capable of lifting anything metallic and yanking it into orbit around Arthur.
That kind of thing is not normal at all. Not only is the field blinding her sight, but she is also sure that its appearance is unlikely to be good.
If it were possible, she would go over to Arthur's place to warn him. Unfortunately, she can't do that because a slight slip of his concentration can make a perilous process of advancing become a doomed one.
Her attempt to help him would only cause him to slip up. So even if she didn't want to listen to her master's advice and even if she didn't want to believe that everything is fine, she had no choice but to calm down and wait.
The wait was very short. Arthur's advancement lasted less than a day. This was either a very good thing or a very bad thing.
She doubts it is a good thing after everything she has seen of his advancement. But again, she can't be sure because there is a strange storm around him that is blocking her sight.
By now, the power of the storm had increased many times. The earth element of mana had congregated around Arthur because of the storm and had formed a thick cocoon around him that was blocking her sight.