I Became the Alchemy Master by Picking Up Trash-Chapter 258 - 256: Tentacles

Li Xing and Qi Ming were assigned to the first group. Even through the thick Gravity Battle Suit, Qi Ming could still feel his bulging biceps. As a talisman master, he finally got a taste of a martial master’s strong physique, and couldn’t help but look utterly infatuated.

"Sister Xing, if you had an antidote for the weakness period, it would be great. I could maintain this state and beat up people in the arena!"

Li Xing smiled: "Actually, the increased strength is all yours. I just let it concentrate and burst out ahead of time. The weakness period is a process for the body to relax and recover, it can’t be skipped."

Ye Qingting helped them fasten their helmets and advised: "After getting off the vehicle, the two of you should follow Captain Tang, and absolutely don’t act on your own."

"Right!"

The order to assemble came through the earphones, and Li Xing and Qi Ming quickly jumped out of the armored vehicle. Even with the temperature-regulating talismans and Battle Armor helping to maintain body temperature, Li Xing could still feel the terrifying cold amidst the snowstorm.

The fierce wind stirred the snow, making the entire vision a blur of whiteness, even the direction was unclear. Those Elemental Spirits with spiritual power were slightly better off; without it, even if teammates stood right by your side, you’d have to rely on the helmet’s detector to determine positions.

Gravity Boots needed to be set to triple strength just to keep a person anchored to the ground, preventing them from being blown away by the wind. But this made each step a strength challenge for them.

Qi Ming even felt that without the help of the Dragon Elephant Pill, forget about pushing mammoths to clear a path, he’d need to exert all his strength just to walk normally. No wonder this task was only assigned to Earth Elemental Spirit Warriors, known for their strength.

The two rushed to the assembly point designated by Tang Zheng, and once all fifty people arrived, Tang Zheng’s voice came through the earphones.

"I’ll demonstrate how to find a point of force, how to push, and how to avoid when mammoths move. Watch first, team up with the Fourth Army if you learn, and if not, just help keep the passage smooth."

After speaking, Tang Zheng walked to the outer edge of the mammoth group, placing his hand on a mammoth’s leg that was as tall as an elephant. He exerted force with both arms, pushing the mammoth sideways.

Feeling something pushing its leg, the mammoth shook its fur, lifting one leg slowly out of the frozen soil and moving aside by a dozen meters.

Li Xing was stunned to see that the mammoth’s leg embedded in the frozen soil resembled the slender arms of a giant squid, covered with saucers the size of bowls.

While the mammoth’s arms hadn’t settled yet, Tang Zheng quickly retracted his arms, switching to his shoulder to push against the mammoth’s leg, continuing to exert force.

Sensing greater pressure, the mammoth extracted another arm, leaving a larger gap.

Gradually increasing the force, Tang Zheng pushed the mammoth a full thirty to forty meters aside, which was enough for the heavy armor to pass through.

Having successfully pushed one mammoth aside, Tang Zheng continued inward to push the next one.

After he pushed away one mammoth, warriors were already in position beside it, demonstrating how to keep pressure on the mammoth so it couldn’t move back, maintaining the passage. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Other warriors experienced in dealing with mammoths squeezed through the gaps between mammoth legs, choosing targets along the longitudinal line.

With a detailed demonstration, Harssas Academy’s teachers also joined the clearing line.

Soon a hundred-meter-long passage appeared before everyone, the armored vehicle started, lined up, and slowly entered the mammoth group.

Under the influence of the Dragon Elephant Pill, the task of clearing the path proceeded smoothly, but as time went on, Tang Zheng’s drug effect was fading. Li Xing was the first to notice that he was losing strength, as she was right behind him.

"Captain Tang, you’re entering fatigue phase, I suggest you return to the armored vehicle to rest now."

Tang Zheng’s voice carried with breaths; he’d actually felt muscle soreness fifteen minutes ago, but he intended to push until he couldn’t anymore before retreating.

"I’ll finish pushing this last one and then I’ll go!"

He already had one mammoth leg extracted; with just a bit more effort, it would move. Tang Zheng switched from pushing by hand to pressing with his shoulder, and then suddenly there was a change.

Instead of moving sideways and inserting into the soil again, the extracted mammoth arm, sensing pressure not from its kind, whipped down towards Tang Zheng like a lash.

The arm was as thick as a man’s waist, and if it struck him, Tang Zheng would be as good as pulped meat.

It happened suddenly, and with his physical strength at its lowest, Tang Zheng couldn’t react in time, the arm’s shadow loomed larger on the black helmet.

As Tang Zheng closed his eyes anticipating death, Li Xing moved. With a leap, she darted to his side and punched the falling mammoth arm.

With a resounding "bang," the arm was knocked high, and the mammoth lost its balance, collapsing sideways. Other mammoths hit by it quickly extracted their feet and distanced themselves. Soon there was an empty space around the mammoth.

Li Xing seized the moment to grab Tang Zheng, pushing him towards the armored vehicle.

"Captain Tang, you should go back and rest."

"Ah—oh, okay. Li Xing, be careful."

Tang Zheng was dazed for a moment, then obediently turned back to get into the vehicle. Tang Dou was right; Li Xing indeed had an terrifying strength, but with her there, the path clearing wasn’t a worry.

Using Divine Sense, Li Xing assessed the fallen mammoth and found it had no intention of retaliation. Once it stood up, it tightly clung to fellow mammoths, staying far from Li Xing.

As Li Xing prepared to tackle the next one, a splash of bright blue emerged from the ice fissure created by the mammoth arm.

Li Xing’s eyes lit up as she stealthily pocketed the small flower resembling sorrel into her Spiritual Pendant.

That flower was the Star Blue, which had once fetched over three million for a single one. It grew under such deep ice layers, and would have been incredibly hard to discover without the mammoth’s arm piercing the frozen soil.

From this experience, Li Xing became especially vigilant of the ice soil layer beneath the mammoth arms on the journey ahead.

Li Xing was amazed to discover that nearly every mammoth had Star Blue beneath its feet; they were likely symbiotic.

To collect more Star Blue, Li Xing declined the shift arrangement, leading the team at the forefront.

Tang Zheng had witnessed Li Xing’s unusual strength, and seeing her show no hint of fatigue as she smoothly pushed mammoths aside, he let her take the lead.

On this path clearing assignment, Li Xing reaped a fortune. When they successfully got out of the mammoth group, she even felt a sense of satisfaction.

With no obstacles, the heavy armor sped across the ice field, quickly entering Cold Smoke Castle.

Once in the city, Tang Zheng led his team to the Fourth Army office for duty, while Hao An took Harssas Academy’s students and teachers directly to Cold Smoke Pavilion.

Upon arriving, they received notification from the competition committee that the contest was paused. When it would resume, or if it even would, was unknown.

Wendao was furious, freaking cursed the competition committee! In this age of digital networks, could they not send a photon brain message regarding issues?

If they had informed earlier, these teachers wouldn’t be exhausted like grandsons; they could have gone straight back to Harssas to relax—wouldn’t that have been nice?

Fuming, Wendao went off to find Lianzhou for an explanation, but whether intentionally avoiding them, Lianzhou and the main persons in charge were nowhere to be found.

Luo Jun caught a competition committee staff member, growling: "Why is the competition paused?"

"B-because a beast tide is coming!"