I Became the Alchemy Master by Picking Up Trash-Chapter 225 - 223: Spirit Book Ten Thousand Miles

Suddenly, Chu Yunyi’s face turned serious as he took out a metal canister from his spatial button. The canister slowly displayed writing, stroke by stroke like a branding iron, illuminating the entire canister in a striking red glow.

"What’s this?"

"The exclusive skill of Baili Ancestor, Spirit Book Ten Thousand Miles. Once activated, within ten thousand miles, messages can be conveyed between two objects of the same origin with just four characters."

At this moment, the writing on the canister had fully appeared—Yunyi Are You Safe?

The strokes were like knives, vigorous and powerful, unmistakably Chu Baili’s handwriting.

After the writing lingered for thirty seconds, it faded away, and the metal canister returned to its original golden shine.

Chu Yunyi glanced at Li Xing, using his finger as a pen, wrote four words on the metal canister.

All Four Are Safe.

——————

On Lake Heart Island.

Chu Baili looked at the writing emerging on the canister, overjoyed and excited.

"Qi Ming, don’t worry, your teammates are with Yun Yi, and they are all safe!"

The anxiety in Qi Ming’s heart finally settled, the situation wasn’t too bad, the four of them being teleported together was perfect for forming a team. Even if someone had ill intentions, they’d have to reconsider if they had enough strength.

Holding the canister, Chu Baili continued to communicate with Chu Yunyi.

"Where are you?"

"Sand Snake Tunnel"

The famed sand snake, known throughout the Qianyuan Continent, even though they were long extinct, many treasure seekers still told their legends. But the sand snake tunnels spread almost throughout the underground of the Ruoye Desert, the scope is too large, how to find them?

With Xu Tai unavailable, Chu Baili had no choice but to call upon Wang Shun of the Third Legion. Wang Shun, a Xi Yuan native, is a Major General stationed in the desert region and should be familiar with desert creatures and terrains.

"Wang Shun, is there any record of the sand snake tunnel distribution in the Third Legion’s database?"

"This... I’m afraid not."

The sand snakes eat anything and everything, so there’s no occurrence of them attacking human settlements due to lack of food. Since everyone kept to themselves, why would anyone bother to explore their lairs?

Ning Ze timely reminded: "Elder Chu, the Third Legion might not have it, but the Merchant Guild probably does."

Chu Baili’s eyes lit up, right, how could he have forgotten that!

People hustle for profit. The renowned Ruoye spices, derived from aged sand snake droppings, were something merchants, driven by interest, could overturn the Ruoye Desert for; what are mere sand snake tunnels!

"Quickly summon the President of the Xi Yuan City Merchant Guild to see me!"

Ning Ze’s efficiency was top-notch, quickly bringing President Wu.

President Wu’s physique wasn’t as robust as a soldier’s, and after several transfers, he was nauseous to the point of doubting life itself. Had it not been for the spiritual soothing agent Ning Ze fed him before getting on the island, he’d have fainted.

Upon meeting Chu Baili, President Wu mustered his strength, respectfully saluting: "Wu Yong pays respects to Elder Chu!"

"Wu Yong, how many locations are there where sand snakes congregate in the Ruoye Desert?"

"In response to Elder Chu, adult sand snakes are solitary Star Beasts; they only temporarily gather underground during their egg-laying period, rarely appearing in groups."

"Does your guild have a map of the sand snake tunnels?"

Wu Yong nodded, they indeed had one.

He activated his light brain, projecting a three-dimensional image in mid-air. Everyone, Chu Baili included, was stunned by the complexity of the tunnel system depicted in the map.

Indeed, as Chu Baili had imagined, nearly the entire underground of the Ruoye Desert was the living area of sand snakes.

Sand snakes have long lifespans, spending their lives eating and growing, hence in the fifty-kilometer thick underground soil layer, sand snake tunnels are laid out. With body width as the criterion for various ages, they carved out a 12D magical underground city, so intricate that even following navigation couldn’t lead you out.

As for the soil layer beyond fifty kilometers, it’s not that there aren’t sand snake tunnels, but humans simply cannot explore that deep and have given up on mapping it.

Chu Baili’s heart sank halfway; with such a complex underground tunnel system, even sending an army in to search may very well result in them being lost forever.

Wang Shun pointed to the upper portion of the image and asked Wu Yong: "President Wu, adult sand snakes love basking in the sun above ground, so theoretically these tunnels should have many exits. Why does the image show only three?"

"This..." Wu Yong looked troubled, "Major General Wang, to be honest, the tunnels have more than just these three exits, but the exit locations are classified information of the Merchant Guild. As a branch president, I am really not at liberty to disclose them."

Sand snakes have this habit; their bodies start to excrete only when their heads pierce the ground and hit sunlight. Sand snake droppings often accumulate in underground soil layers not far from the exit, forming Ruoye spices after years of high-temperature fermentation.

In other words, knowing the exit locations is equivalent to knowing the locations of Ruoye spices, and it was only because the Ruoye spices near those three exits were already excavated that they were marked on the map.

"How dare you—!" Chu Baili fumed, "At such a time, Wu Yong still stubbornly guards trivial secrets?"

"Four outstanding students are currently trapped in the sand snake tunnels, waiting for rescue. Compared to their lives, the paltry profits of your Merchant Guild are nothing!"

"While others might treasure the Ruoye spices, neither I nor the soldiers are interested! Wu Yong, if you know what’s good for you, mark all exits now, or else I’ll personally have a word with Jiang Hongfei!"

The Merchant Guild is under the supervision of Elder Jiang Hongfei. After the Element Testing Instrument incident, Elder Jiang’s status in the Elder Council plummeted; if Chu Baili indeed approached Jiang Hongfei, he would likely win. After all, among those trapped are the most outstanding talisman masters and dual-layer Double Heaven Armor Healing Masters of the Qianyuan Continent. Compared to their future contributions to the continent, the Ruoye spices are indeed feces. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Wu Yong, of course, understood this. The moment Chu Baili asked for the tunnel map, he knew the exit positions couldn’t be preserved.

However, he needed to show his stance; otherwise, if Elder Jiang pursued this matter later, he wouldn’t be able to shoulder the blame. In celestial conflicts, why should a small figure like him suffer?

Before Chu Baili could urge further, Wu Yong straightforwardly completed the tunnel map.

"Elder Chu, because the soil near the surface is dry and loose, comprising mainly gravel, most tunnel exits are buried by sand and cannot be traced. Currently, there are only seventeen identifiable tunnel entrances, please see."

Seventeen red dots appeared on the map.

Chu Baili nodded, his anger subsiding.

Since Yun Yi and the others know they are in a tunnel, they will certainly move toward the surface to find an exit. However, relative to the vast and intricate underground passages, there are too few exits. If they get lost underground, it might take years or decades to find the way out.

Those of them outside can’t offer much help and can only hope the location where the four descended is close to one of the exits, allowing them to leave sooner.

"Wang Shun, arrange personnel to station forces at these seventeen locations, using energy bombs to clear the sand and obstacles near the exits. Once the tunnel entrances are fully exposed, use high-power fans to blow air into them!"

"Yes—!"

"Ning Ze, return and have the First Army’s interrogation department dispatched to Xi Yuan City. Have Xue Ji interrogate them one by one; there must be a mole in the event team!"

"As you command!"

After organizing everything, Chu Baili wrote four words on the canister:

Go Against the Wind.