I Became the Alchemy Master by Picking Up Trash-Chapter 217 - 215: Xi Yuan Tournament (Part 41)

From the air, the water of the Turquoise Pool is absurdly clear, sparkling like a crystal gemstone with dazzling beauty. Apart from a large number of aquatic plants, there are almost no large Water Beasts in the entire Turquoise Pool; the most numerous are the Bone Scrapers.

The large transparent fish shoals are quite noticeable from a bird’s eye view. Seeing the speed swimming state, similar to the Sky Wind Annihilation Array fish school, everyone felt a chill, realizing without Li Xing’s modified flower pot taking them flying, they would absolutely not be able to safely land on Lake Heart Island.

Southwest of the Turquoise Pool, the Desert Boat Team using Long Fang Luo skin rafts to cross the lake, also traveled halfway through their journey.

The scent of Long Fang Luo skin was largely masked by Bai Ling’s potion and further enclosed by a talisman array, thus preventing any seepage whatsoever, resulting in a peaceful and safe first half of the voyage.

As time passed, the protective talisman enveloping the bottom of the raft generated slight Elemental Power fluctuations. This minuscule fluctuation exposed the faint scent of Long Fang Luo skin to the water.

Bone Scrapers can detect the scent of flesh from several kilometers away, immediately catching the trace emitted by the raft.

But before the Bone Scrapers could confirm the source of the scent, the talisman array stabilized, and the scent was once again sealed.

The hungry Bone Scrapers did not disperse, instead circling around the raft, repeatedly verifying the source of the scent.

The Shangguan siblings, realizing their team was surrounded by Bone Scrapers, cautiously controlled the Elemental Power output, but keeping the talisman array completely stable proved too difficult.

Very soon, the fluctuations reappeared, and this time, the Bone Scrapers clearly detected the scent of flesh coming from that oval-shaped odd thing on the water.

The shoal of Bone Scrapers surged with excitement, launching attacks around the raft, disregarding what kind of Star Beast the monster might be, as long as it was edible, they wouldn’t pass it up.

Under the continuous slicing of sharp fish fins, the talisman array became increasingly unstable, releasing more scents that attracted even more Bone Scrapers to rush over.

Seeing the nearby lake filled with transparent small fish, the four people’s faces on the raft turned ashen. They never imagined there were so many Bone Scrapers in the Turquoise Pool.

They had reached mid-course and couldn’t retreat, so they had to grit their teeth and forge ahead.

Bai Ling: "Chen Qi, toss a chunk of Luo meat out there, throw it far."

A large chunk of Luo meat was thrown a hundred meters away by Chen Qi, and the lake surface instantly showed numerous water lines rushing toward where the Luo meat fell.

"Quick, paddle!"

In the blink of an eye, the Luo meat was pulverized into crumbs and devoured by thousands of Bone Scrapers, and even the blood-stained lake water was consumed.

The cloudy lake water returned to clarity in less than three minutes. With no food to find, the Bone Scrapers refocused on the raft. Under such circumstances, Chen Qi had no choice but to throw out the bait once more.

Every time the bait was tossed, it attracted more Bone Scrapers; the Desert Boat Team’s method was akin to drinking poison to quench thirst.

Throwing the bait might buy some time to escape, but not throwing it would lead to immediate attack and the threat of being dragged under by Bone Scrapers. Between a death sentence and a stay of execution, they chose the latter.

With the increasing number of Bone Scrapers, the bait disappeared almost instantly, leaving insufficient time for the Desert Boat Team to escape.

They had little Luo meat left, and Chen Qi, hoarse from anxiety, cried out: "Captain, we’re running out of Luo meat, what do we do?"

From the first wave of Bone Scraper attacks until now, they managed to paddle another six hundred meters forward. Lake Heart Island was very close, but the last few kilometers felt like scaling the sky.

Bai Ling was even more anxious than Chen Qi, as after all, the raft crossing idea was hers, and with everyone in danger now, she bore the primary responsibility from any angle.

"Chen Qi, when I count to three, throw all the remaining Luo meat! Forget the talisman array, Lin Yuan use Fire Element to attack the Bone Scrapers, Xian Yu manipulate the water, full speed ahead!"

At this point, they could only gamble.

Bai Ling added after a moment’s thought, "If the raft breaks, abandon immediately!"

Victory was just within reach, and with even the slightest hope, Bai Ling didn’t want to give up.

Yet the Bone Scrapers were several times faster than the Blood-sucking Vines; falling into the fish shoal meant instant transformation into bare bones, they had to initiate the Transmission Array before hitting the water.

Following Bai Ling’s command, Chen Qi mustered all his strength and threw the remaining Luo meat all at once a hundred meters away. The loud sound and fresh flesh drew every Bone Scraper attacking the raft away.

The Shangguan siblings immediately withdrew the talisman array, one stood at the rear of the raft keeping watch for Bone Scraper movements with spiritual power, while the other manipulated Water Element into a raging wave to lift the raft for a rapid escape.

As the scene of leaping fish shoals on the lake surface receded, their tense hearts slightly eased; at this speed, the raft could reach the shore in another five or six minutes.

Sadly, the shoal didn’t give them even one minute. That bit of meat wasn’t enough for tens of thousands of Bone Scrapers to share. Those that missed out were driven to ferocity by the scent, continuously swimming, searching for traces of prey.

Without the talisman array’s protection, the raft resembled a mobile food cart, attracting every Bone Scraper that didn’t get a bite of the meat.

Numerous slender water lines surged toward the raft feverishly.

Countless Bone Scrapers appeared before Shangguan Lin Yuan’s eyes, their density terrifying to behold. Shangguan Lin Yuan launched over ten fireballs consecutively, mixing water and fire to create a fog.

The lake surface attack scattered the fish shoal, yet the Bone Scrapers’ willow-leaf-like form allowed them to drift with the currents, quickly regrouping and pursuing the raft relentlessly.

Shangguan Lin Yuan attacked the fish shoal, buying time for the raft while shouting:

"Xian Yu, faster!"

Shangguan Xian Yu was drenched in sweat: "Brother, this is the maximum speed!"

Bone Scrapers were faster than the raft, with greater numbers; soon several Bone Scrapers entered the towering wave carrying the raft. Should they lift their bodies slightly, their sharp dorsal fins could cut into the raft.

Shangguan Xian Yu gritted his teeth, abruptly severing the link with the lake water, causing the giant wave to break instantly, dropping the raft along with the Bone Scrapers into the lake.

Taking advantage of the dispersed fish shoal by the giant wave, before they could regroup, Shangguan Xian Yu once again conjured a giant wave, carrying the raft forward.

The overwhelming number of fish exhausted the efforts of the Shangguan siblings until they had reached the end of their tether, leaving the raft surrounded. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Gazing at the nearby Lake Heart Island, they felt strong resentment within, lamenting a failure so close to success.

Just as they were about to press the Teleportation Array, buzzing sounds echoed in the sky. The modified Treasure Flower Pot, like a cascading jasmine, carried eight people flying in from afar.

Chen Qi rubbed his eyes, pointing at the flower pot excitedly shouting: "Li Xing! It’s Li Xing! Save us—!"

The boiling lake scene left the eight people in the flower pot astounded. Li Xing was speechless; what did her luck entail, always encountering things like this? So annoying!

Since the Desert Boat Team explicitly expressed their desire for rescue, as per the competition system, they had to save them.

Song Shurun maneuvered the flower pot above the raft, Ye Qingting, Cui Tianxiao, Pei Nan, and Chou Xiaoyuan each dropped a rope, grabbing the four just before the raft sank.

With the addition of four people’s weight, the floating capacity of the flower pot noticeably decreased, reducing its flight height to almost half of before. Chen Qi hanging at the lowest point had to work hard to curl up to keep his feet clear of the water.

Fortunately, the Treasure Flower Pot’s quality was solid, and Li Xing’s modification skills were superb, with the pot swaying it finally safely carrying twelve people to the island.