Raging Thunder continued mercilessly, "And if Arthur manages to become the fourth patriarch, our slots won't count until two patriarchs die and the number of patriarchs becomes two again."
When the young talent heard this, he wailed and said, "Noooooo! Why me! Why now?"
Another golden core cultivator said, "Who doesn't want to make the attempt to advance to the fifth mortal coil? I heard that if we had enough resources, we would be able to learn the vessel sigil techniques better. The resources we need are a special type of incense that can increase comprehension capabilities."
"So with enough resources, we would have more people capable of advancing to the fifth mortal coil and more people with the opportunity to advance. Unfortunately, the one thing we lack in this region is enough resources."
Another golden core said with some anticipation, "I hope this war will give us a lot of resources. I need money so badly."
Raging Thunder shook his head and said, "My only hope is for Patriarch Sword Flash to return safely and on time with the resources he promised. I'm getting too old to wait."
Pink Ivy, who had been silent all along, said to all of them, "If you get valuable resources, I am willing to offer my services in exchange for them."
Everyone turned to look at her, including Arthur. What they saw was a humanoid plant person. Her body was made of twisted and knotted ivy vines, but her hair and leaves were pink, not green.
This appearance is similar to the appearance of Lady Evergreen. The two of them lost their human body and became humanoid plants because of the Everlasting Wood Art.
They are not the only ones with this kind of body. There are other golden core cultivators in the sect who cultivated the Everlasting Wood Art and became different types of humanoid plants. Only Arthur didn't lose his human form despite also cultivating the Everlasting Wood Art.
The services that Pink Ivy was offering were her ability to help plants grow and break through their limits. As the only golden core cultivator in the sect who mastered the Wood Vessel Sigil technique, she is the only one who can do this for them.
She can use the ability of the Wood Vessel Sigil technique to ripen in a day special plants that need centuries to mature. These special plants can be eaten to advance cultivation. So her services are very valuable.
Patriarch Evergreen can also help plants grow. But no one is going to go to her to ask her to help them grow plants. This made Pink Ivy the only one who could offer that service.
Of course, this was before the appearance of Arthur. Arthur has now learned the Wood Vessel Sigil technique and can also help plants grow. But he didn't compete with her because he didn't need to.
He hasn't reached the peak of the fourth mortal coil yet, so he is in no hurry to accumulate the resources needed to advance to the fifth mortal coil.
What's more, the mastery of his Wood Vessel Sigil technique is at 1%, so he can't compare to her skill with the technique in terms of efficiency and maximize the efficacy of life energy.
So he let her make her offers to everyone else without challenging her offers. But he did look around for Void Claw.
He was wondering what Void Claw was doing to acquire resources. But he didn't see Void Claw around, so he dismissed the thought.
The group of golden core cultivators chatted for a while. Then they dispersed and went to make preparations for the war.
Even the people who thought that they had made enough preparations went back to make more. This was because the patriarchs had given them new responsibilities that they had to prepare for.
While the golden core cultivators were chatting with each other, Void Claw was having a discussion with the avatars of the two patriarchs.
He bowed and asked respectfully, "May I ask, where is my master?"
Lady Evergreen snorted and said, "I thought that you were about to ask for something important like the upcoming war."
Thunder Drake sighed and replied, "We don't know. But we know that he is fine. His soul lamp is lit, so wherever he is, he must still be alive."
Before Void Claw could reply, Lady Evergreen said, "His soul lamp flickered many times, though. So he is probably in a lot of danger."
Void Claw's heart tightened when he heard that. But he was familiar with Lady Evergreen's antics, so he eventually chuckled and said, "I hope he returns safely."
Lady Evergreen advised him, "I wouldn't count on that."
Thunder Drake couldn't take it anymore. He said, "Stop scaring the boy."
Lady Evergreen asked with mock surprise, "What? Scaring him? Now, why would I do that?"
She defended herself by saying, "I was just telling him the truth. You should have seen the way Sword Flash was serious before he went on the trip. Sword Flash is usually never serious about anything. But this time, he looked ready to die. He looked ready to stake his life. So I won't be surprised if he turns up dead."
"His death is not only possible, it is highly possible. So I was advising this young man to prepare himself mentally for the loss of his master."
Thunder Drake facepalmed and said, "You didn't have to say so much."
Lady Evergreen said, "But I wanted to."
Thunder Drake scolded her, "If you didn't say so much, you wouldn't die. In fact, I think it was better that you didn't say anything at all."
Lady Evergreen rolled her eyes and said, "I just couldn't stand by and watch you deceive the young man by saying everything is fine when in reality, everything is not fine."
Thunder Drake insisted with a deep growl, "Everything is fine. I bet that Sword Flash is just around the corner waiting to suddenly appear and surprise us."
Lady Evergreen said with a sneer, "Just keep deluding yourself."