Azeroth: Starting with Eagle Eye in the Necropolis.

The tree hollow dwelling Cenarius prepared for him was filled with life energy, and the calming floral scents in the air helped to restore his spirit. Malfurion would occasionally come over, bringing some fresh berries and herbs, and the two would have simple exchanges about the druidic way. Rhodes's life force was indeed powerful, even surpassing Cenarius's, but he was a complete novice when it came to theory.

Previously, he would record his spells in spellbooks and use those books to cast spells, but now Rhodes has decided to learn them using his own power.

Rhodes discovered that although this future Archdruid had not yet fully mastered all nature magic, his understanding of life energy was already quite profound. Malfurion was particularly adept at communicating with plants, able to sense the emotions and state of the entire forest.

“Every leaf is breathing, every root is listening.” Malfurion sat opposite Rhodes, toying with a glowing leaf in his hand.

"Life is not isolated, but a network. When we become part of this network, we can gain power far beyond that of an individual."

Rhodes pondered, "Like a magic net?"

"Pretty much, but I prefer to call it Nature, it's purer and closer to primal life," Malfurion nodded.

“Professor Cenarius said that you can now freely enter and exit the core of the dream, which is truly enviable. I have tried many times, and the deepest I have ever reached is the third layer of the Emerald Dream.”

“You will do it,” Rod said sincerely.

"In my timeline, you are the most powerful druid in Azeroth, one of the guardians of the Emerald Dream."

Over the next few months, Rod entered a period of intensive training.

Every morning, learn from Malfurion how to communicate with nature, stroll through the forest, listen to the whispers of ancient trees, and feel the pulse of the earth.

In the morning, under Cenarius's guidance, he practiced various uses of life energy—healing wounds, promoting plant growth, strengthening life forms, and even drawing life energy from the environment to replenish himself.

This was incredibly easy for Rhodes, a primitive demigod of the wilderness, and he learned it very quickly.

In the afternoon, he focused on training in energy fusion, gradually attempting to integrate it with his own unique "Heroes of Might and Magic" magic system.

Create the spell that should have been born in history, summon the clay giant.

The spell to summon earth elementals has been improved to summon clay giants with natural attributes that can be repaired by the woodland.

During Rhodes and Malfurion's training, their relationship deepened.

Chapter 358 Wood Release: Wood Human Technique

Now Rhodes knows why Malfurion gave him a big hug when they first met.

After inventing the spell to summon clay giants, Rhodes immediately summoned Cenarius and Malfurion.

In the world of Azeroth, earth elementals exist, but traditional elemental summoning requires communication with elemental planes or, like a shaman, requesting the assistance of elemental spirits. Rhodes desires a more direct and controllable creation.

He spent two whole weeks refining the clay giant summoning spell, combining his understanding of the laws of the earth and life.

The new spells no longer require summoning ready-made earth elementals from the elemental planes, but instead extract clay and rock directly from the earth, endowing them with temporary life and intelligence using life energy.

When the first improved clay giant rose from the earth, even Cenarius was amazed.

This giant is five meters tall and is made of dark brown clay and granite, with moss-like green veins on its surface—the pathways through which life energy flows.

Although its movements are slow, its power is astonishing; a single punch can leave a deep dent in the stone formation of the training ground.

"You can control several of these giants at the same time?" Malfurion asked curiously.

Rhodes closed his eyes and assessed the situation: "With my current energy and mental strength, I can only manage around seventy at most."

I have now mastered the method to permanently summon Holy Light Elementals, or Fire Elementals, and I can also permanently summon Earth Elementals.

However, the Clay Giant spell has only just been developed, borrowing magic from the world of Azeroth. To make it permanent, it needs a continuous supply of life energy, since this is a world where matter is conserved, unlike their own elemental units.

Since he has no shortage of cannon fodder, Rhodes simply decided not to develop a permanent summoning version of this spell.

From now on, this skill of summoning clay giants will simply be a spell for druids, which can be used to act as a meat shield for themselves in battle. This was the original intention behind developing this spell.

Encouraged, Rhodes continued his research, and a month later, he began developing new spells.

This spell is called the Life Version of the Giant of Light. Originally, Rhodes wanted to follow the same approach as developing the Giant of Holy Light and create a life version of the giant.

However, life energy and holy light are completely different. Holy light can be materialized under one's own manipulation, but life energy is an ethereal thing that exists within the living organism itself.

If you want to use the Giant of Life, then you need to find a vessel, whether it is the earth or something else.

Rhodes began to ponder this alternative solution, when suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him. Since he had already gotten the Uchiha clan's Susanoo for free, and even developed a holy light version of Sharingan genjutsu attacks, why couldn't he get something from the Senju clan, such as the First Hokage's stuff?

Wood Release.

The word flashed through Rhodes' mind in an instant: the manipulation of life energy. If it's internal, warriors are better at it, fighting by burning their own life force to unleash terrifying rage.

If we're talking about external aspects, then Druids are more adept at it, and Pandaren Monks also manipulate life energy, or rather, the forces of nature.

Since trees are also a form of life energy, Cenarius and Malfurion are quite skilled at using spells to summon trees, treants, and even vines.

Isn't this equivalent to Wood Release? With my current life energy, I could totally try to develop this.

With a clear goal in mind, Rod began to test his ideas.

Druid magic already includes spells like "Entanglement" and "Nature's Grasp" that manipulate plants, and Malfurion can even summon treant warriors with short-lived mobility.

But those spells either control existing plants or summon nature spirits from the Emerald Dream to temporarily possess them. What Rhodes wanted was a more direct and creative "growth" and "shaping".

“The key lies in the ‘template’ and ‘energy conversion’,” Rhodes recalled his discussion with Malfurion.

“Trees need time to grow, but life energy can accelerate this process. If I can construct a complete ‘wood structure’ in my mind in advance, and then use energy to directly catalyze the seeds or wood, making them grow and take shape rapidly according to my will…”

This is entirely feasible, and the wooden figure must be made of good materials; otherwise, the energy conservation principle will not be met.

Their enormous size requires sufficient rigidity for support, and fortunately, trees are generally quite strong, with some even being as hard as steel.

Especially in the world of Azeroth, in the ancient forests of Kalimdor, there are towering trees that grow to hundreds of meters tall.

Rhodes selected one that could grow to a height of over 300 meters, had terrifying hardness, and also possessed excellent fire resistance; otherwise, such a giant wooden figure would be completely destroyed if attacked by fire.

However, there is also an alternative version of its use, which is unique to oneself. After summoning this giant wooden figure, one can then equip it with the Holy Light Giant, forming a suit of armor around its body.

That would make it even more perfect. Whether it's in terms of handsomeness, fighting ability, or style, it would be absolutely top-notch.

After careful selection, Rhodes began the formal experimentation of this spell.

He opened his palm, and a small, vibrant green twig lay in his hand.

Rhodes infused it with a stream of pure life energy.

The twig began to swell, branch, and extend at a visible speed. Within seconds, it had grown into a sapling about half a person's height, with gnarled branches. Rod concentrated, imagining the shape of an arm—not a real flesh and blood arm, but a biomimetic structure made of tough wood, with flexible vines connecting the joints.

The main branches of the sapling begin to twist and come together, the bark becomes more lignified, and the internal structure becomes denser.

The forked branches at the ends converged to form five short, thick "fingers." A moment later, a "wooden hand," about the size of a normal human arm, made entirely of dark brown hardwood and dark green vines, floated in front of Rhodes. The fingers could also bend and stretch slightly according to Rhodes's will.

"It's done!" Rod's eyes lit up.

The most difficult first step—making the plant grow rapidly and solidify in a specific shape—was successful. This is much more delicate than simply making the plant grow wildly or deform. It requires extremely precise energy manipulation and a deep understanding of the laws of plant growth. Making it grow into the shape you want is very difficult.

“But it’s not fast enough, and it’s not big enough.” Rhodes dissipated his energy, and the wooden hand lost its support, crumbling into a pile of ordinary wooden blocks.

"In actual combat, the enemy will not give me a few minutes to slowly 'grow' an arm. I must compress the growth time and be able to instantly summon a formed wooden structure from the ground."

Perhaps we could try another approach, such as creating a core for this wooden dummy—a central control console. As long as the core isn't destroyed, the dummy won't collapse. I would act as the visible core, but in reality, I'm just an energy supplier. This core could be made recyclable, returning all the dummy's nutrients to the earth after the battle. This would be the perfect solution.

Rhodes tried again, this time focusing on "weaving" rather than pursuing violent thrust when injecting energy.

Life energy seeps into the core acorns like threads, guiding cell division, lignin deposition, and vascular bundle formation... A miniature, densely structured "wood core" takes shape in seconds.

Then, using this "wood core" as a base, he introduced more life energy and natural forces from the environment, like building scaffolding, allowing the wood to rapidly grow and splice along the pre-set structural path.

Another month of hard training ensued.

"Wood Release·Wooden Mallet!"

"Boom!"

The ground cracked open, and a giant hardwood pile, over two meters in diameter and with a front end swollen like a heavy hammer, burst out of the ground and slammed into the nearest stone pillar with tremendous force.

"Wood Release: Tree Binding for Eternal Burial!"

Dozens of thick, dark green vines, like giant pythons, burst forth from the ground around the target stone pillar, coiling around it with lightning speed. Not only did they bind it tightly, but countless sucker-like roots also sprouted from the surface of the vines. Because of Rhodes' control over life energy, he could absorb the life of his opponent.

"We also have control skills."

"Wood Release·Wooden Spindle Wall!"

A row of heavy wooden walls, over five meters high and nearly one meter thick, rose from the ground in an instant. The wooden planks were tightly interlocked, and the surface of the wood gleamed with a metallic sheen.

Rhodes wasn't very satisfied with this move; its defensive capabilities were far inferior to his own Holy Crystal Wall, making it somewhat impractical.

Another month later, in the fourth month of developing the Wood Release spell, Rhodes finally completed his Wood Release technique. To demonstrate this spell, Rhodes specially invited Cenarius and Malfurion to come and watch.

There are no fancy starting gestures, just a simple clap of both hands.

"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"

"boom--!!!"

Centered on Rod's feet, the ground within a radius of 100 meters shook violently and cracked!

The outline of a colossal creature rose from the ground in just a few seconds!

A giant wooden figure, nearly eighty meters tall, made entirely of dark brown and dark green wood, with both rigid and flowing lines, stood majestically in the center of the experimental field! It had a humanoid body, broad shoulders, thick arms, and legs firmly planted on the ground, with a clearly defined wooden face.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in its body, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

The wooden figure stood silently, like an ancient wooden statue.

But both Cenarius and Malfurion could sense the terrifying life energy surging beneath that silent wooden shell, and the earth-shattering power that could erupt at any moment.

Chapter 359 Holy Light Armor Set Wooden Giant

Rhodes stood atop the wooden figure with his arms crossed in an extremely stylish pose. This enormous wooden giant was created by Rhodes.

If Rhodes wanted, he could have kept it in his chest near his heart or neck, or even wrapped it in his skull for better defense.

But sometimes it's unnecessary. With his current power, if he were to use this move, this giant would be an almost world-destroying force.

Furthermore, when Rhodes uses it, he can put on the Holy Light Armor to further enhance his attack and defense, and even conjure up various weapons for the giant to use.

The giant formed by the Holy Light is pure energy. Rhodes discovered that once the height reaches a certain level, without support, this pure energy body consumes a lot of energy.

Even if one summons a giant tens of meters tall using their own strength, they can only maintain it for a short time and cannot fight for a long time, but this wooden giant is different.

He can fight for a long time, and after putting on a suit of holy light armor, this wooden giant, which is not a pure energy body, consumes very little energy from Rhodes.

This is an advanced use of this move.

The wooden figure raised its right arm, its huge wooden fist forming a fist, and then punched out from a distance towards a deserted rocky hill!