I Became the Alchemy Master by Picking Up Trash-Chapter 181 - 179: Xi Yuan Tournament (Part 5)

Don’t let the initial step fool you, now that we’re specifically looking for the random teleportation array, it’s nowhere to be found.

Three hours passed and the Defiance Squad nearly scoured the Earth Lungs Area completely, yet found nothing. The group began to doubt whether there was still a Transmission Array here at all.

The temperature in the Earth Lungs Area was higher than the desert, and extremely humid. The damp air formed a thin film of water on their skin, preventing the release of heat and burdening their skin, like being in a sauna, making it hard to breathe.

Ye Qingting had exhausted his Energy Stones, so Li Xing gave him her share. But as time went on, Ye Qingting’s condition worsened, and the Energy Stones were being depleted faster.

To prevent the disastrous situation where the temperature control talisman completely failed, Ye Qingting had to reduce power, maintaining the temperature at the highest level he could tolerate.

Ye Qingting drank the last sip of water, his face showing an unnatural flush.

He wanted to use the Elemental Power to create some ice to cool down, but found his Primordial Spirit operating extremely slowly, almost at a standstill.

The speed at which the ice formed couldn’t compete with how quickly it melted. Despite his efforts, he failed, merely wasting energy.

Seeing his state, Li Xing couldn’t help but worry: "Qingtian, take a break."

Ye Qingting shook his head: "No need, time is pressing, finding the Transmission Array is the primary task." Just after he spoke, Ye Qingting tripped over a small clod of earth, falling forward abruptly, his Ice Sword clattering to the ground.

Li Xing grabbed his arm, feeling his body burn like it was on fire, realizing something was wrong. Looking again at Ye Qingting, his eyes were tightly shut, his breathing shallow and rapid, already in a coma.

Cui Tianxiao and Qi Ming exclaimed together: "Qingtian—!" "Brother Ye!"

Li Xing frowned, bent over, and hoisted Ye Qingting over her shoulder, heading toward a giant rock they passed earlier. Cui Tianxiao picked up the Ice Sword and pulled Qi Ming to follow.

The ground beneath that rock was the only spot nearby without any cracks, so there was no worry about steam emerging. It could serve as a temporary resting place.

Putting Ye Qingting in the small shadow under the rock, Li Xing pulled out her own bottle of water. She unscrewed the cap, pried open his mouth, and poured half the bottle in, pouring the rest over his head and neck to cool him down.

"Ah Xing, you’ve already given up your Energy Stones, and now you’re using your water for Qingtian, what about you?" Cui Tianxiao saw that Li Xing’s bottle hadn’t been touched; she must have been holding back her thirst all the way to give it all to Qingtian.

Cui Tianxiao really hated his recklessness, not saving a drop of water and dragging everyone into this plight; he felt utterly useless.

Li Xing: "I’m not thirsty."

Cui Tianxiao felt distressed. Walking for several hours in a place as hot as an oven, how could she not be thirsty?

He, a big fellow, felt his skin was about to be seared to cracks. Li Xing with her delicate skin, must have found it even harder. If Li Xing had complained a bit, he would have felt better, but Li Xing said nothing, her strength was moving.

Cui Tianxiao sniffed; damn this place, making his eyes dry and irritated, unable to cry even if he wanted to.

"You rest here, I’ll go look around, find some herbs to relieve Qingtian’s heat exhaustion."

Cui Tianxiao wiped his face and said, "I’ll go with you!"

"No need, Qingtian hasn’t woken up, you stay and protect him."

Qi Ming: "Sister Xing, take me with you, I’ll keep looking for the Transmission Array."

Qi Ming had already taken two Heavenly Spirit Pills, his spiritual power drastically reduced. Severely dehydrated, his skin shrunk, his eyes gray and blue, Li Xing feared he might collapse any minute too.

"No need to look, if it were there, we’d have found it by now."

Qi Ming was about to cry, if there was no Transmission Array, didn’t they basically mean to be eliminated?

"No way, it’s definitely because I’m too stupid to find it! We haven’t been to the center of the Earth Lungs Area yet, maybe there’s..."

As Qi Ming spoke, his voice lowered. The central temperature of the Earth Lungs Area reached seventy-five degrees, with unstable surface cracks and erupting magma. The organizers wouldn’t likely risk lives by setting the Transmission Array there.

Perhaps what Li Xing said was true.

"Recover your strength first, then think about leaving. Ah Xiao, take care of these two, you can’t wander off before I return."

After speaking, Li Xing strode towards the center area they hadn’t explored yet.

Originally thought such a hot place wouldn’t have many plants, but to Li Xing’s surprise, the closer she got to the high-temperature area, the more plants she found.

Most of the cracks were thickly covered in vegetation, and from the surface, there was no sign that magma flowed beneath.

Because the closer to the center, the more frequent the steam eruptions. After millions of years of evolution, plants could withstand temperatures of over a hundred degrees, absorbing steam and using the cracks as incubators to grow in clusters.

Li Xing carefully searched each crack, occasionally picking leaves, flowers, and roots, accumulating quite a few usable materials along the way.

Since entering the Earth Lungs Area, the Three Thousand Lotus had been constantly clamoring to come out in Li Xing’s Divine Sense, but Li Xing ignored it. Now that she was getting closer to the high-temperature area, the Three Thousand Lotus became excited again.

"Master, Master! When will you let me out?"

"Why let you out?"

"There’s Fire Element everywhere, I want to eat! Please let me out now!"

The Three Thousand Lotus’s childish whining could not sway Li Xing’s will.

"No."

The Three Thousand Lotus was anxious: "Why not? You promised to help me find suitable energy to devour, and now that there’s Fire Element everywhere, you’re going back on your word! You’re despicable!"

"I’m despicable? Hah." Li Xing’s tone didn’t sound malicious, but the Three Thousand Lotus had a bad premonition, this heartless woman was angry.

"Back during the preliminaries, who was it that ate Wang Liang’s Fire Snake and was so overwhelmed with energy that you lost consciousness, leaving me, a weak woman, helpless before a Star Beast, utterly bullied?"

The Three Thousand Lotus was at a loss for words. It seemed...there was such an incident.

He admitted he fell asleep after devouring the energy, but Li Xing was no weak woman. Helpless? Bullied? Hey, hey, come on, even lies should be believable!

"You’re exaggerating. Though I fell asleep and couldn’t help you fight, I heard from Hui Hui that you didn’t get the short end of the stick at all!"

Li Xing haughtily tilted her head: "Hmph, that was just my good luck in encountering weak opponents. What’s done is done; you can’t erase your mistake because of my outstanding ability. The Fire Energy here is much stronger than Wang Liang’s Fire Snake, if you eat too much and sleep for months, who’ll refine Alchemy for me? No, absolutely not letting you out!"

"Don’t, don’t!"

The Three Thousand Lotus was genuinely scared; this woman’s words were final. If it indeed wasn’t let out, it would miss such a feast, and for years to come, it would be regretful.

For its desires, the Three Thousand Lotus bowed to reality. A tiny flame wiggled in Li Xing’s Dantian, almost identical to Hui Hui’s usual coquettish antics, its voice soft and cute.

"Dear Master, please let me out this time—! I promise, I’ll take small bites, eat only as much as I can digest, and definitely won’t get greedy. If I overeat and end up sleeping, letting Master get bullied by Star Beasts or bad guys, you can punish me to never swallow the Energy Ball in your Dantian during your cultivation again! Please, Master, love you—!"

Li Xing stifled a laugh. Although the Three Thousand Lotus usually had an austere demeanor, looking down on Hui Hui for acting all sweet and coy, when it came to its turn, it was no different from Hui Hui.

"Since you begged me like that, fine then. But even if you can digest, you’re not allowed to eat too much. The flora and fauna here are accustomed to high temperatures. If you destroy too much of the magma and Earth Fire, affecting the temperature, they won’t survive."

"Got it, got it!"

Li Xing pretended to pick a Magma Grass, using her body to block the camera’s view, and the Three Thousand Lotus swooped into the crack for a feast.