I Became the Alchemy Master by Picking Up Trash-Chapter 182 - 180: Xi Yuan Tournament (Part 6)

At the same moment Li Xing was searching for herbs and food in the Earth Lungs Area, in the southwest where the Desert Ship was located, countless spherical thorns gathered in one spot, gradually forming an area comparable in size to a city square, correctly referred to as "Brown Continent."

These spherical thorns were entirely brown in color, numbering over ten thousand. The smaller ones were about the size of a fist, while the larger ones were as tall as a two-story building.

The thorns had no leaves on them; their branches were densely packed with finger-length spikes, with many of these spikes pierced into the bodies of dead Star Beasts. The blood and internal organs were drained by the thorns for nutrients, leaving the corpses shriveled up like mummies.

The four members of the Desert Boat Team were trapped in the thorny bushes, while Shangguan Lin Yuan and Shangguan Xian Yu struggled to maintain a defensive formation to protect their teammates.

Strangely, these thorns seemed to possess a consciousness, rotating rapidly while compressing and impacting the defensive formation. The spikes, driven by centrifugal force, became as sharp as swords.

The talisman array was rendered unstable due to the impact, with the faint golden talisman patterns flickering. The Shangguan siblings were struggling to hold it up, especially Shangguan Xian Yu, the Water Elemental Spirit, who had to not only maintain the Defense Talisman Array but also constantly switch Energy Stones to regulate her body temperature, appearing extremely flustered.

Shangguan Lin Yuan, being a Fire Elemental Spirit, was less affected by the constraints of the five elements, putting him in a much better state than Shangguan Xian Yu. Hence, he took on most of the energy output for the talisman array, giving his sister a chance to catch her breath, barely maintaining the defense talisman array.

As for why things turned out this way, we need to go back to a few hours earlier.

When Bai Ling and the others were first teleported here, there was only a small patch of spherical tumbleweeds, half a person tall, numbering two to three hundred, quietly scattered on the ground.

Feeling the presence of humans, these tumbleweeds inexplicably started moving. Clearly brainless plants, they rushed towards the four people like Star Beasts, trying to collide with them.

No one knew how the tumbleweeds sensed the human aura, yet they could accurately target and respond to their positions and movements, moving at a frightening speed.

Shangguan Lin Yuan couldn’t evade them in time, and his calf was scratched by the spike of a tumbleweed, instantly drawing blood. The blood was absorbed immediately by the closest tumbleweed.

The blood-fed tumbleweed visibly inflated, finding it sweet, and charged more frantically towards Shangguan Lin Yuan.

There must be some anti-coagulation substance on the thorn spikes; although Shangguan Lin Yuan’s wound wasn’t large, it kept bleeding profusely. In a short while, the sand on the ground was soaked with blood.

A faint scent of blood lingered in the air, driving all the tumbleweeds mad as they charged at them more viciously.

"What the hell are these things? So annoying!"

Shangguan Lin Yuan, enraged, activated his Fire Elemental Spirit, unleashing a searing flame that ignited the nearest patch of tumbleweeds.

The tumbleweeds had very little moisture, looking almost like dry sticks, and when set ablaze, crackled and popped immediately. The fire quickly spread; in an instant, all the tumbleweeds around were engulfed in flames.

Just as everyone, including the live-stream audience, thought the tumbleweeds would turn to ash, Bai Ling shouted "No!" and hurriedly pulled her three teammates back.

The tumbleweeds, taller than half a person, twisted and contracted in the flames, with thorny branches winding tightly, and the flames gradually extinguished as the branches twisted.

Instead of carbonizing to death, the fire made the tumbleweeds shrink in size, becoming harder and more solid.

Hundreds of fist-sized tumbleweeds, covered in spikes, appeared in place, spinning rapidly like never before, shooting towards the Desert Boat Team.

Bai Ling silently cursed, realizing too late that these weren’t ordinary tumbleweeds but the seedlings of Blood-sucking Vines!

Once the spikes of Blood-sucking Vines pierced the prey, the anesthetic on the spikes would incapacitate the prey, allowing it to be drained of blood, serving as nutrients for the development of the Blood-sucking Vine seedlings.

They had to find a way to shake them off!

Reality always tends to strike hard; even though the four were used to desert combat, they couldn’t surpass the speed of the spherical objects, as human feet aren’t suited for sprinting in the desert.

Had it not been for Chen Qi of the Earth Elemental Spirit constantly manipulating the sand to set barriers against the Blood-sucking Vines, they would have long been overwhelmed by the tide of Blood-sucking Vines.

Helpless, Bai Ling had to have the Shangguan siblings set up a defensive formation to block the Blood-sucking Vines, leading to the scene at the beginning.

The Desert Boat Team assumed that as long as the Blood-sucking Vines couldn’t breach the defensive formation, they would leave to find other prey.

Little did they know, the Blood-sucking Vines not only didn’t leave but used plant pheromones to summon all nearby Blood-sucking Vines, determined to drain every last drop from the four of them.

The four within the defensive formation watched as more and more Blood-sucking Vines gathered outside, showing no signs of dispersing, filling them with regret for entrapping themselves.

At this point, they had already lost the best chance to break through; beyond waiting, there was no other path.

In the live broadcast room.

The host, looking at the variously-sized brown thorn balls, wondered aloud, "Master Zou, isn’t tumbleweed the most common low-risk plant in the desert? How did it become so dangerous?"

Zou Huali: "That’s not tumbleweed but the number one killer among desert plants, the Blood-sucking Vine."

The host was shocked: "Blood-sucking Vine? Master, this..."

Zou Huali: "You think these don’t look anything like Blood-sucking Vines?"

The host nodded.

"Because they are the seedlings of Blood-sucking Vines. This plant is what I refer to as a dominant species; after millions of years of evolution, the seedlings and mature plants are completely unrelated in form. The predation ability of the seedlings is weaker than that of the mature plants; for survival, they mimic tumbleweed, deceiving Star Beasts into dropping their guard, allowing them to get close and suck blood."

The host realized: "No wonder Bai Ling didn’t raise the alarm when the team first got surrounded by the Blood-sucking Vines!"

Zou Huali nodded: "Indeed. But you can’t blame her for that. The seedlings of the Blood-sucking Vine and tumbleweed are so alike in appearance that they are difficult to distinguish. Had it not been for the shape transformation after being burned, even I wouldn’t have recognized them."

Zou Huali rarely interacted with the host; feeling honored, the host seized the opportunity to ask a new question.

"Master Zou, can you explain why the seedlings of the Blood-sucking Vine aren’t afraid of fire? Have they already evolved to the point of defying the five element restraining laws?"

Zou Huali: "Of course not. The Blood-sucking Vine isn’t inherently fire-resistant; the key lies in the surface of the seedlings, which is coated with a layer of biological adhesive. Besides locking moisture within the seedlings to prevent evaporation, this adhesive has a particularly unique function, which is to weaken Elemental Power."

The host exclaimed: "Weaken Elemental Power? What does that mean?"

"It means what it sounds like. This biological adhesive is quite similar to the properties of Yellow Spring Soil; it can significantly reduce the effect of elemental powers. Though it seemed like it was burning fiercely just now, the Blood-sucking Vines weren’t critically damaged. Instead, that minuscule Fire Elemental Spirit attack stimulated the Blood-sucking Vines, inducing them to switch into a hyper-aggressive form more suited to preying on victims."

Lin Zhian sighed: "Judging from this, the four contestants of the Desert Boat Team will have a hard time breaking free."

Zou Huali nodded gravely.

If no more enticing prey appeared for the Blood-sucking Vines, those four youngsters would have no chance of escaping from such a large group of Blood-sucking Vines.

Perhaps the Desert Boat Team will become the first team to collectively forfeit in this competition.