Chapter 459 - Chapter 459: Chapter 451 Soul Craving Tendril Staff_1 (2/2)

He quickly drew his sword and struck again.

This time, he executed a Critical Chop.

Bang!

The dark energy emerging from the Vine Staff failed to withstand the chop, causing the staff to fall to the ground with clear marks of the blade on it.

“Die!”

Qin Niu’s strikes were ruthlessly fierce as he chopped down once more.

This time it was even more terrifying; he unleashed the Rupture special effect.

Crack!

The Vine Staff was directly chopped into two pieces.

A wisp of black Qi panickedly flew out from within the staff, trying to escape quickly.

A bizarre scene ensued – Qin Niu’s Ink Blade seemed to generate a fearsome suction force, rapidly absorbing the wisp of black Qi along with the energy within the staff.

“No… no…”

The black Qi struggled desperately, emitting a piercing scream of extreme panic.

Unfortunately, it was to no avail; in the end, it was violently sucked into the Ink Blade.

Qin Niu observed all this with a contemplative expression on his face.

Having nourished the Ink Blade for so long, its sentience seemed to be growing stronger along with its ability to release Blade Qi.

This blade had always been bloodthirsty.

But it was the first time it devoured the soul of its victim during a kill.

Qin Niu was somewhat concerned that the blade would ultimately follow a sinister path.

Just like the legendary Blood-Draining Divine Blade, and the swords Ah Bi and Yuan Tu, they were top-notch weapons of evil.

He worried that one day he would be backfired by the Ink Blade, controlled by it, and turned into a killing machine.

If that happened, he would have fallen into the path of wickedness.

After completely devouring the wisp of black Qi, the Ink Blade didn’t stop; it continued to absorb the energy within a section of the Vine Staff.

This Vine Staff was certainly no ordinary one; it appeared dark brown and very common.

Old vines deep in the mountains were extremely similar to it.

Qin Niu stared at the Vine Staff and scrutinized it closely. At the severed section, there were faint traces of gray Qi swirling. Apart from that, the interior of the Vine Staff contained numerous tiny pores. The surface of the staff bore brown, fine granules densely and evenly spread across the entire staff.

The more he looked, the more familiar it appeared.

“Why does this Vine Staff look so much like the Soul Craving Tendril Wood mentioned in Master Mo Yang’s ‘Plants Illustrated Handbook’?”

There were various types of soul-nourishing trees, ranging from towering trees to low-lying vines.

Master Mo Yang had only seen two types.

One was very similar to locust trees and could grow to forty or fifty meters high, requiring one or two people to encircle it.

The essence of it resided in the heartwood, which alone held value for soul nourishing.

Yet for such trees, nine out of ten were hollow.

These tall soul-nourishing trees were highly prone to being hollow. Once hollow, their heartwood was practically useless.

This was why soul-nourishing trees were so precious and rare.

Master Mo Yang additionally noted that among soul-nourishing trees, nine out of ten were hollow, and the occasional solid ones could only be considered as mediocre.

In other words, even if the soul-nourishing tree was not hollow and its heartwood was usable, it was still not a superior quality.

What qualified as superior?

They needed to endure for a thousand years and withstand thunder tribulations to be considered treasures of this world.

Using such wood for soul nourishing, it could restore even a fragmentary soul.

There was no need to even think about such prime quality – even if it existed, immortals would surely take it away.

Then there was another type of soul-nourishing wood, which took the form of a vine.

It was known as Soul Craving Tendril Wood or Soul Craving Tendril Staff, which was easier to obtain compared to the previous type of soul-nourishing tree.

A purplish-brown color was considered high-quality.

The Soul Craving Tendril Staff also had the effect of nourishing souls, though its efficacy couldn’t match that of the previous type of soul-nourishing wood.