Chapter 84: The Oak Staff

Staves and wands, as types of alchemical weapons, are actually quite similar to swords and blades; all are common choices among practitioners. The main difference lies in their users: blades and swords are typically favored by bloodline sorcerers, whereas staves and grimoires are preferred by those who follow the elemental or arcane paths. Roco was a naturalist sorcerer who had once been classified under the arcane path, but tens of thousands of years ago, the natural path was subdivided into the elemental branch. Qi Xiao, who had long studied natural runes, found it not at all difficult to craft a staff—especially since Roco had only requested an ordinary one.

From his stores, Qi Xiao retrieved a block of heartwood from a thousand-year-old oak. This material, taken from the core of the ancient tree, was imbued with powerful vitality and stability. The connection between naturalist sorcerers and oak was something Qi Xiao could not fully explain, only that it was a bond stretching back to time immemorial. He then prepared an assortment of spores: glimmer mushrooms, overlord mushrooms, phantom mushrooms, and even plucked a few from the small mushrooms growing inside his room.

He blended a portion of these mixed spores into a solution called the Breath of Nature, adding some nitrate powder to gently suppress the activity and prevent any overly violent reactions. Once the spores had perfectly merged with the Breath of Nature, Qi Xiao brought out an oval object, its emerald hue gleaming like a gem. This was the seed of a floating wood—a magical plant whose trunk and branches appeared almost translucent, leaves seemingly suspended in the air. While the plant itself was of little use, its seeds were renowned among sorcerers for their beauty and practicality; it was said that nine out of ten staves used such seeds as their core, and even Qi Xiao followed this tradition, though he intended to infuse it with his own blend of the Breath of Nature.

Taking a device resembling a syringe, Qi Xiao drew up the Breath of Nature and gently injected it into the floating wood seed. Immediately, streams of air began to swirl within the seed, shimmering like green amber—a sight to soothe the soul.

He then shaped the oak heartwood, straightening and twisting it into a form suitable for gripping as a staff. Under Qi Xiao’s sculpting touch, the staff’s outline gradually emerged. On its surface, he carved a series of intricate natural runes—beautiful, resembling the tree’s growth rings, and serving as conduits for magical energy, guiding and amplifying the wielder’s command of natural magic.

At the tip of the staff, Qi Xiao crafted a carefully designed groove, into which he placed the floating wood seed now infused with the Breath of Nature. The seed’s emerald gleam contrasted vividly with the deep brown of the oak, brimming with vitality. He scattered the remaining mixed spores evenly over the staff’s surface, especially around the floating wood seed, and used his magic to gently guide them. The spores took root and sprouted on the staff’s surface, merging with both heartwood and seed.

Qi Xiao rested his hand upon the staff and slowly poured his magic into it. He could feel the surge of life within: the spores growing, the runes glowing softly, everything unfolding according to his will. In the end, thanks to this exuberant vitality, the mushrooms sprouting upon the staff, the drifting energy within the floating wood seed, and the natural grain of the heartwood all united into a single whole. Magic began to flow and resonate through it.

Qi Xiao was naturally pleased with his creation. This staff had been perfectly formed without a single forging flame, a rare experience in crafting wooden alchemical artifacts. He even believed that, had the base materials been finer, the staff could have reached the level of an excellent-grade artifact. But he had to be mindful of Roco’s financial means—such a staff would cost at least ten thousand magic crystals, even with a discount, and Roco likely could not afford it.

Lifting the completed staff, Qi Xiao admired how it shimmered with green light under the sun, the mushroom spores at its surface swaying as if whispering secrets of the forest. He gently activated the staff with a pulse of magic. The runes at its tip flashed, and the seed embedded there quickly split open and sprouted, growing into a drooling, sharp-toothed carnivorous plant. As the plant’s foul maw opened, Qi Xiao sent another pulse of magic, causing it to wither away at once. He was certain this staff would serve as Roco’s dependable companion, assisting him to reach new heights along the path of natural magic.

Qi Xiao sent a letter in reply, telling them to collect the staff at the alchemy shop two days later at noon, if they had the time. Then, rather bored, he set about constructing spatial nodes, his mind wandering to the matter of alchemical weapons.

Although he did not currently need to fight, judging by his mentor’s demeanor, it would not be long before he faced his first trial in the outside world. He had to make up for his own shortcomings. His defenses and interference spells were already on par with advanced apprentice sorcerers, but his offensive capabilities lagged considerably behind. He relied almost entirely on his energy-element pistol, which was little more than a gun rack for him.

Qi Xiao was unconcerned about whether his power came from his own strength or external objects—after all, these things were of his own making. The problem, however, was that the element pistol had obvious flaws: it was hard to use in close quarters, had a long cooldown, and a rather unreliable hit rate.

To remedy this, he needed a close-combat alchemical weapon, preferably something as powerful as the energy-element pistol, rather than something like the Nebula Rift Sword, which depended more on the user’s own abilities. Though the latter had greater potential, Qi Xiao’s own combat instincts and skills were mediocre; what he needed was immediate combat strength and overwhelming firepower—enough to render all technique irrelevant.

A blaze seemed to flicker in Qi Xiao’s eyes. When it came to sheer destructive force, nothing surpassed fire and lightning.

At first, Qi Xiao had intended to forge a long-bladed weapon, but after making the oak staff, many new ideas occurred to him. A staff, he now realized, might very well serve in close combat.

Since this weapon was for his own use, there was no need to hold back. Among apprentices, Qi Xiao was as wealthy as a landowner, with over ten thousand magic crystals in savings. What’s more, his stores contained quite a few materials approaching, or even reaching, the level of a formal sorcerer—resources he had previously hesitated to use.

He went to the warehouse where he stored wood. In an inconspicuous corner lay a massive, charcoal-black log: the main material he intended for his new staff—lightning-struck wood. Despite its unremarkable name, this was no ordinary timber. It was the wood of a frost paulownia that, having been struck by lightning, had miraculously survived and been reborn. While frost paulownia itself was considered a formal sorcerer’s material, being struck by lightning had actually downgraded it somewhat, making it perfect for the fire-lightning weapon Qi Xiao now planned to create.