I Became the Alchemy Master by Picking Up Trash-Chapter 96 - 95: Preliminary Round (Part 13)

In the forest, many Star Beasts possess spiritual power which can interfere with the search for badges, but there are tricks to cope with it.

The spiritual power on the badges is forcibly attached, and over time, it dissipates at a constant rate.

How to capture this uniformly diminishing spiritual power fluctuation among the many chaotic spiritual powers tests the students’ ability to control and perceive spiritual power.

This time, Qi Ming walked at the forefront, his focus highly concentrated, firmly locking onto that diminishing spiritual fluctuation.

Gradually, Qi Ming entered a clear and tranquil state, where mountains, rocks, trees, and Star Beasts all disappeared from his eyes, leaving only spots of light representing spiritual power. His target was flickering at a special frequency, getting closer and closer.

He didn’t need to worry about anything, just advancing towards the target was enough, because he knew his teammates would clear all obstacles for him.

Liu Yuan wasn’t as adept at controlling spiritual power as Qi Ming, but tracking someone was a piece of cake for him.

"Liu Yuan, what exactly are you doing?" Zhang Long noticed Liu Yuan tracking another team, unsure what he was up to.

"Don’t speak, just follow them. Once they find the badge, we’ll snatch it!" Liu Yuan didn’t like Qi Ming, but he knew Qi Ming’s abilities surpassed his own. What he couldn’t find, Qi Ming might be able to.

Zhang Long, Wang Liang, and Qian Xiaowu exchanged glances, all feeling that this method was not honorable, but the promotion spots were too important to them. Moreover, the competition rules didn’t prohibit snatching, so they tacitly agreed.

Having contributed nothing along the way, Liu Yuan at this moment spared no effort, applying a Stealth Talisman Array with concealment functions onto everyone, making it even harder for Qi Ming and his team to detect them.

An hour later, Qi Ming led his teammates to a mountain hollow, where many towering white giant mushrooms grew.

Qi Ming pointed to one of them and said, "It’s there, in the 7 o’clock direction of the mushroom cap!"

Cui Tianxiao acted fastest, shooting a few arrows at the mushroom stalk, using them as a ladder to climb up to the mushroom cap, and indeed found a palm-sized bright silver badge in the spot Qi Ming indicated.

"Found it—!"

Cui Tianxiao excitedly waved to his teammates, but noticed the situation beneath the mushroom tree suddenly changed, and without a word, jumped down, pulled his bow, and roared:

"Let them go—!"

Zhang Long had a knife to Ye Qingting’s neck, while Wang Liang and Qian Xiaowu subdued Li Xing and Qi Ming.

Seeing the situation of their team being hopeless, Liu Yuan’s arrogance immediately surged. "Hand over the badge, or I’ll activate their Transmission Array!"

In competitions, confrontations between teams are inevitable, but the school wouldn’t allow life-and-death battles among students, thus who initiates the Transmission Array and how it is initiated represents different meanings.

Initiating your own Transmission Array indicates a forfeit; being forced to transmit by others implies a conflict where they are the loser.

In a certain sense, both result in elimination, but in this ranking of disdain, forfeiting is slightly better than losing. After all, forfeiting could be due to being overwhelmed by powerful Star Beast Spirit Plants, while losing means being outmatched by classmates.

"Despicable!"

Cui Tianxiao was livid; he couldn’t tolerate being threatened, let alone using his teammates against him.

Qi Ming: "Did you guys use a Stealth Array?"

Liu Yuan grinned smugly and replied, "So what if we did! Qi Jieba, you’re quite capable. I really ought to thank you. If it weren’t for you leading the way, we’d still be wandering aimlessly at the mountain’s base."

This mountain hollow was exactly at the depression of a top hat, and with its terrain naturally concealing energy, Qi Ming finding the badge hidden here made Liu Yuan grudgingly admit that his perception ability was superior.

Seeing Cui Tianxiao still unwilling to comply, Liu Yuan stepped in front of Qi Ming, his palm hovering over his heart, harshly declaring, "Throw over the badge! Otherwise, I’ll eliminate him right now!"

"Brother Xiao, don’t give it to him!" Qi Ming was infuriated; losing to Liu Yuan was even harder for him to swallow than forfeiting.

Cui Tianxiao’s Thunder Arrow buzzed with a lightning storm sound, the arrow point steadily aimed at Liu Yuan. He shared the same sentiment as Qi Ming, preferring to forfeit rather than be manipulated.

"If you dare to press it, I’ll forfeit with the badge," Cui Tianxiao’s voice was low, carrying undeniable determination.

Once Cui Tianxiao transmitted back with the badge, it meant their team was out, and the badge too would be nullified, benefiting no one.

Zhang Long hurriedly said, "Brother, it’s not personal, we’re all just after the promotion qualification. No need to harm ourselves or others. Just think, if it were on the battlefield, with your teammate’s life in our hands, would you really refuse to exchange the badge?"

Cui Tianxiao’s gaze flickered but the arrow in his hand still steadily aimed at Liu Yuan.

Ye Qingting sneered, "What a ’harm oneself without harming others’! I wonder how Senior Zhang Meng would feel hearing your words!"

Zhang Long exclaimed, "You know my brother?"

Ye Qingting: "When Senior Zhang Meng was around, the Fierce Dragon Team was the third seat of Harssas, and every battle he participated in showed valiant and upright behavior, serving as a role model for juniors. Who would’ve thought, after just two years since his graduation, the Fierce Dragon Team would become a crafty, short-cut seeking squad, resorting to dirty tricks and then urging opponents to comply without harm. It’s truly pitiful and lamentable!"

Ye Qingting’s words made Zhang Long flush with embarrassment. She was right; if his brother were here today, he would certainly not agree to their tracking, much less resort to threats and coercion.

Zhang Long lowered his knife and stepped back, as the captain made his stance clear, Wang Liang and Qian Xiaowu also released the hostages.

In a blink, the Fierce Dragon Team lost all their advantages, Liu Yuan was furious, pointing at Zhang Long and roaring, "Fool, you fell for their trick!"

Zhang Long shouted, "Shut up!"

Zhang Meng was a dual-talented fighter and talisman master, so after his graduation and departure, Zhang Long had always sought someone with the same dual talents to fill his brother’s place, but could never find a suitable candidate.

Hearing that this year there was someone named Liu Yuan in the Rune Master Department, both a talisman master and a feared presence in the department, with presumably decent martial arts skills, Zhang Long extended him an olive branch.

However, Zhang Long now deeply regretted his decision; rumors of Liu Yuan being unbeatable in the Rune Department were baseless. His talents in talisman might be high but were certainly outclassed by this Qi Ming, and his attitude was poor. Zhang Long must have been blind to choose him as a companion.

Zhang Long cupped his fist to Ye Qingting and said, "Brother, I’m sorry. We were too eager to advance and lost our sense."

Ye Qingting’s expression softened somewhat; Zhang Long wasn’t a despicable person, this was likely incited by that little scoundrel Liu Yuan.

Zhang Long: "Let’s compete fairly without dirty tricks, and whoever wins gets the badge. Do you dare to accept the challenge?"

Ye Qingting nodded; they were never afraid of fighting.

"How do you want to compete? One-on-one or team battle?"

Zhang Long glanced at the useless Liu Yuan, feeling indignant, "Let’s have a duel between martial masters, best of three."

"Alright!"