Chapter 21: Man-Eating Vine

Shi Quan stayed in the library for the whole morning, and after eating lunch, Maerde did not return until the afternoon.

At the same time, he also brought news that the Hall Master of the Nuoding City Spirit Hall wanted to meet him in person.

In order not to delay tomorrow's soul hunting, Maerde briefly explained a few things to Shi Quan before personally bringing him to the Spirit Hall.

Unlike the Spirit Hall in the small village, the Spirit Hall in Nuoding City was extremely magnificent; the width of the front alone exceeded one hundred meters, it stood twenty meters high, and was divided into three floors in total.

Under Maerde's lead, Shi Quan came directly to a door on the third floor, and without knocking, pushed the door open and entered.

"Dean Ma, you've returned so quickly?" A resonant voice sounded from within the room, and there was no annoyance in the voice at being suddenly disturbed.

This was a bright office, and the room was large, measuring a full seventy or eighty square meters. Behind a wide desk in the middle sat a middle-aged man in a neat Spirit Master Uniform, and the Badge on his chest was engraved with a Five-Sword Badge.

Soul Scholar, Spirit Master, Great Soul Master, Soul Elder, Soul Ancestor.

It showed that he was a battle-type Spirit Master of the Soul Ancestor level, just like Maerde.

"I don't want to delay this child's cultivation." Maerde pointed at the middle-aged man and introduced him: "Xiao Quan, this is the Hall Master of the Nuoding City Spirit Hall, Daosen. You can just call him Hall Master Daosen."

"Hello, Hall Master Daosen." Shi Quan greeted him politely.

"So you are Shi Quan. Good, good, good, truly a hero among youths. Come over here and let me take a look." When Daosen saw Shi Quan, his eyes clearly lit up. He stood up, walked out from behind the desk, and walked toward Shi Quan while beckoning him over.

Calling it a look was, in reality, an examination.

How could someone who could become a Hall Master of the Spirit Hall be an ordinary person? During the time Maerde was away, Daosen had already learned the general situation of Shi Quan from Su Yuntao, who had helped Shi Quan awaken.

If someone else had told him that a Soul Scholar with only level one Innate Soul Power could break through to level ten within a year and a half, his first reaction would have been that they were an Evil Soul Master.

If it weren't for Maerde giving him repeated assurances and tirelessly explaining it to him for an entire morning, Daosen certainly wouldn't have believed it.

After checking Shi Quan's body and soul power, Daosen also examined Shi Quan's martial soul, and even had Shi Quan personally demonstrate the process of his cultivation.

Only then did he preliminarily gain Daosen's trust.

After confirming that there were no problems with Shi Quan's strength and that it was all due to his own cultivation, the topic finally returned to soul hunting.

After a brief discussion, Maerde and Daosen decided that the two of them would personally take Shi Quan to the Hunting Soul Forest tomorrow to hunt a Spirit Beast.

Leaving the Spirit Hall and returning, Maerde gave Shi Quan two more instructions to get some good rest.

Back at the Dormitory, Shi Quan did not relax and still cultivated for the whole night.

The next day, early in the morning, after getting up early and packing, Shi Quan left the academy with Maerde and boarded the carriage prepared by Daosen.

Two Soul Ancestors going together to hunt a century-old Spirit Beast was not exactly a difficult task, so the three of them did not need to specially prepare other things.

They set off directly.

"Take a look. These are the Spirit Beasts currently remaining in the Primary Soul Hunting Forest. This record was only updated last week, so there won't be any major discrepancies."

As he spoke, Daosen took a booklet from his bosom and handed it to Shi Quan.

The Spirit Beasts in the Hunting Soul Forest were all specially raised, so the Spirit Hall naturally had some simple records. In addition to enforcing the law, the Spirit Hall Enforcement Group in the Hunting Soul Forest would also regularly record the situation of the Spirit Beasts in the forest. This was the origin of the booklet in Shi Quan's hand; this kind of booklet was for internal use within the Spirit Hall and was generally not shown to outsiders.

Shi Quan flipped through the booklet in his hand, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes. This booklet not only recorded the types of Spirit Beasts existing in the Primary Soul Hunting Forest, but even their approximate age and location were recorded. This booklet was essentially an internal map of the Hunting Soul Forest.

*Scratch, scratch, scratch*—the sound of the pages turning rang out continuously. Shi Quan didn't want to flip through it so quickly, but there was no help for it; in such a large Hunting Soul Forest, plant-type Spirit Beasts over four hundred years old were pitifully scarce. Most were beast-type Spirit Beasts, and after looking through seven or eight plant Spirit Beasts in a row, none were suitable.

"No way... it can't be that what I want isn't here."

Shi Quan continued to flip through the booklet with a feeling of trepidation and nervousness.

"This is it!"

Shi Quan's flipping motion finally froze.

"Did you find a suitable one?" Maerde curiously tilted his head to look at the booklet in Shi Quan's hand.

"Man-Eating Vine?" When he saw the age description that followed, Maerde immediately frowned. "About five hundred and fifty years; the age is too high."

"I think it's worth a try." Shi Quan's gaze, however, was fixed straight on the Man-Eating Vine.

The Man-Eating Vine sounded scary by name, but in reality, it was a very common Spirit Beast. In its normal state, this vine would coil into a ball and look beautiful. If a person or beast approached within a certain range, the Man-Eating Vine's vines would instantly spread out, growing several times larger in a short period, like a giant mouth engulfing the person or Spirit Beast and binding them tightly.

The vines of the Man-Eating Vine were very special. Their toughness was not considered strong among vine-type Spirit Beasts of the same level, nor were they thick, and they had no toxins. However, its vines had a very special characteristic: Growth. As long as one could not break free from its Entanglement in one go, those broken vines could quickly heal and then continue to grow.

Growing fast and being able to heal—these two points, when applied to a plant-type Spirit Beast, were a manifestation of vigorous vitality.

What Shi Quan wanted was a Spirit Beast with strong vitality, and the characteristics of the Man-Eating Vine could also satisfy his needs for his First Soul Skill.

In fact, according to Shi Quan's estimation, given his current situation, he could successfully absorb some more powerful top-tier Spirit Beasts of the same age. He could completely challenge the limit age for a second Spirit Ring, which was over seven hundred years, but he could not.

Once the age he absorbed was too high and the quality of the Spirit Ring was too strong, his true situation would be suspected. Therefore, he had to make some trade-offs on the first Spirit Ring of his Blue Silver Grass martial soul, making himself seem special, but not too abrupt.

So, on the basis of sacrificing the Spirit Ring's age and strength, his requirement for his first Spirit Ring was that it must provide a support skill that satisfied him!

And the characteristics of the Man-Eating Vine met Shi Quan's requirements. If he absorbed the Man-Eating Vine's Spirit Ring, the Blue Silver Grass would likely obtain a soul skill related to rapid growth.

Although using Internal Energy could also allow the Blue Silver Grass to extend its length, as the distance increased, the soul power required would increase exponentially. If he had a Growth skill, it could not only reduce the consumption of extending the Blue Silver Grass, but perhaps also increase the attack and control range of the Blue Silver Grass.

"Why don't you see if there are any other suitable ones?"

Shi Quan was not in a hurry to decide; he also wanted to see if there were any other more suitable Spirit Beasts. However, after looking through the entire booklet, from all aspects, the most suitable one was the Man-Eating Vine. Under Shi Quan's insistence, the target for this trip was finally settled as the 'Man-Eating Vine'.

Nuoding City was several hundred miles away from the nearest Hunting Soul Forest. It wasn't far, but it wasn't close either. The carriage drove all the way, and the group didn't finally arrive at the small town on the outskirts of the Hunting Soul Forest until noon the next day.

"Forming a group to hunt speed-type Spirit Beasts..."

"Seven people waiting for a Soul Hunting Permit..."

All kinds of shouting could be heard incessantly. Looking around, there were also a large number of various shops established for Spirit Masters.

"So many people." Through the carriage window, Shi Quan couldn't help but curiously look around.

The carriage did not stop in the market town. After walking out of the market and seeing the vast forest not far away, Shi Quan still couldn't help but show a look of shock.

Tall trees were intertwined in patches; this kind of scene could not even be compared to the primeval forests of his previous life.

On the outskirts of the forest, there was a circle of huge steel fences. Outside the fences, Spirit Hall soldiers wearing refined iron full-body armor and holding long spears were patrolling in strict military formation.

The carriage drove all the way into the military camp of the Spirit Hall soldiers before it stopped. The carriage they were riding in had the exclusive logo of the Spirit Hall, so there wasn't even anyone checking them along the way.

After getting off the carriage, the three of them did not stop. While walking toward the entrance of the Hunting Soul Forest, Maerde also began to instruct them on some precautions within the Hunting Soul Forest.

As they spoke, the three of them had already arrived at the entrance of the Hunting Soul Forest.

Daosen, who was walking in the front, took out a token from his bosom and showed it to the guarding soldiers. With a loud shout, the soldiers quickly cleared a path, and he personally led Daosen into the forest.

"Sir, the location you mentioned should be in this direction." The soldier respectfully pointed toward the southeast.

Daosen nodded and looked at Maerde, who was to the side. "Maerde, delays lead to complications; let us finish this quickly."

"No problem." Maerde agreed and scooped Shi Quan up into his arms. "Let's go!"

As the words fell, the two figures shot out; both of them were at the Soul Ancestor level, and century-level Spirit Beasts posed no threat to them at all.

The two traveled at high speed, and the Spirit Beasts they encountered were all low-level ten-year Spirit Beasts, with century-level ones being rare. Daosen, taking the lead, released the soul power fluctuations unique to his status as a Soul Ancestor, and no blind Spirit Beast came to cause them trouble along the way.

A few hours later.

"It should be right around here." Daosen's speed gradually decreased.

The surroundings were still dense jungle, and after walking for a short while, Daosen's figure came to a stop. "Found it."

Following Daosen's gaze, there was a dark red flower, shaped like a ring, as vibrant and beautiful as a blazing sun; however, if one observed carefully, the petals of this seemingly floral plant were actually composed of thin, long vines piled together.

"That red flower is it." Daosen tilted his chin slightly forward, his gaze shifting to Maerde as he spoke.

Maerde strode forward, his murky gaze instantly becoming sharp. A dark golden iron rod appeared in his hand, and as his soul power surged around him, four Soul Rings—white, yellow, yellow, and purple—spiraled up from beneath him.

Whoosh, the long rod swung, bringing with it a gust of wind.

Before the heavy, powerful strike could land, a sound of rustling leaves trembling violently rang out continuously. The large dark red flower exploded, and a massive amount of dark red, thin, long vines suddenly scattered in all directions, wrapping toward the long rod.

"Is this a Spirit Beast?" Looking at the suddenly erupting Man-Eating Vine, Shi Quan only felt his scalp tingle.

In his mind, an image immediately surfaced of a person curiously stepping forward to examine it, only to be wrapped into a vine cocoon by the erupting Man-Eating Vine.

Seeing a Spirit Beast's attack method and a battle between a Spirit Beast and a Spirit Master for the first time, Shi Quan could not help but feel his heart racing.

He secretly put himself in their shoes, wondering how he should face the enemy in such a situation.

Maerde's way of dealing with it was very simple and brutal; every time the heavy, powerful dark golden iron rod swung, a large number of vines were directly shattered by it.

The most troublesome thing about the Man-Eating Vine was that its vines would constantly regenerate, but its disadvantage was also obvious: because its vines were relatively thin and long, their toughness was not very high. A Strong Attack System Spirit Master like Maerde could easily crush it as long as his soul power was slightly higher.

Under the swinging of the heavy, powerful long rod, the regeneration speed of the Man-Eating Vine clearly could not keep up with Maerde's destruction speed, and the Man-Eating Vine's vines could not regenerate infinitely; that required the consumption of soul power.

Under Maerde's violent long rod, the Man-Eating Vine was soon left with only the last section of vine, lying limply on the ground and trembling; even when it moved occasionally, it appeared very weak and powerless.

"It's done, Xiao Quan, come over." Maerde held the long rod and checked it up and down before saying so.

Century-level Spirit Beasts have no intelligence, only the instincts of a beast, so generally, one does not need to worry about a Spirit Beast feigning death to counterattack before the ten-thousand-year level.

"Thank you, Teacher." Shi Quan then returned to his senses. He had not expected that Maerde, who usually looked gentle and elegant with a bit of a stubborn, bossy streak, would be so fierce when fighting.

While lost in thought, Shi Quan had already strode to Maerde's side. Maerde then took a Long Dagger from his waist and handed it to Shi Quan.

Shi Quan took the Long Dagger, bent down, and inserted the dagger diagonally into the vines at the center of the Man-Eating Vine.

After the Man-Eating Vine's final death throes, a faint yellow light slowly emerged from its corpse, gradually transforming into a yellow Soul Ring.

"Be careful." Maerde patted Shi Quan's shoulder with concern; things had reached this point, and he could only cheer Shi Quan on.

Shi Quan nodded, sat cross-legged, took a long breath, and then summoned his martial soul.

The blue light intersected with the yellow light in mid-air. The yellow Soul Ring in mid-air was drawn by the Blue Silver Grass, and it immediately drifted down onto Shi Quan's head at an extremely fast speed, then rapidly shrank, finally turning into the size of a golden bracelet and falling straight down, settling onto the Blue Silver Grass in Shi Quan's hand.

The next moment, Shi Quan's body suddenly trembled violently.

The gazes of Maerde and Daosen, who were to the side, were fixed firmly on Shi Quan.

"The energy of the Soul Ring is beginning to impact. Xiao Quan, keep it up, you must hold on." Maerde's fists had long since clenched tightly without him realizing it. His gaze toward Shi Quan, besides concern, was filled with even more anticipation—anticipation for Shi Quan's success!

(End of this chapter)