"What the heck, this is way too hot," Qi Han muttered, wiping the sweat off his forehead, grimacing.
By now, he had entered the corridor region where the temperature had reached over fifty degrees Celsius, with areas near the mountain base hitting over sixty degrees.
This was just the air temperature. If one were to touch the exposed lava rocks, the temperature would be well over a hundred degrees.
The shoes Qi Han wore previously couldn't withstand the heat for long, and the soles began to melt.
He had to switch to the high-tech hiking boots custom-made by Ru Yi to stand safely in this area.
Even Pururu, despite its high physical resilience, couldn't handle it and obediently perched on Qi Han's shoulder, feeling somewhat better.
"Ru Yi, do you have anything to cool us down?"
"How about an automatic fan that doesn't need electricity?"
"No, thanks," Qi Han shook his head.
With such high temperatures, the fan would just blow hot air, making it worse.
"How far is the nearest Chiyan Lake?" Qi Han surveyed the surroundings but still couldn't spot the lake.
"Walk forward, then turn right at that big rock up ahead. The lake is about three hundred meters from there," Ru Yi said after a quick scan.
Since the Quests no longer provided map tools, Ru Yi's real-time navigation had become more convenient.
Three hundred meters? Qi Han sighed in relief, glanced at the large rock ahead, and ran over to it.
Turning right, he was immediately hit by a wave of heat.
"Fucking hell," Qi Han cursed softly.
It felt like boiling steam was hitting him, making him retreat behind the rock quickly.
In that brief moment, he caught sight of a crimson lake, roughly a hundred meters in size, a relatively small lake.
The problem was, around the lake's edge, a dozen spirit beasts were drinking the diluted magma.
Fortunately, the spirit beasts didn't seem to care about Qi Han, quietly drinking the liquid.
Even when he peeked out, they didn't glance his way.
Qi Han didn't dare to show himself openly.
He carefully observed the lake shore through the cracks in the rock.
There were three or four types of spirit beasts drinking quietly, all in groups, none alone.
Knowing the lake harbored fierce predators, coming alone would be suicidal; traveling in groups offered a better chance of survival.
Qi Han, having thoroughly researched the various spirit beasts of the Hellfire Corridor, quickly identified the ones present.
Most were hundred-year spirit beasts, with only a few ten-year-level young ones.
The spirit beasts at the lake came from different species, including two species that should be enemies according to records.
Yet here, they peacefully coexisted, drinking side by side without any disputes.
It seemed all the spirit beasts understood they had a common enemy.
Qi Han raised an eyebrow and continued to watch without making a move.
Soon, a young spirit beast appeared to have had its fill of the diluted magma, lifting its head and letting out a small cry, like flipping a switch.
The other spirit beasts began to lift their heads, cautiously eyeing the calm lake surface and preparing to leave.
In the next instant, an anomaly occurred!
A pillar of flame shot up from the lake, piercing straight through a young spirit beast, creating a fist-sized hole in its body.
The flame pillar continued with such force that it left a deep dent in a distant rock.
Qi Han suddenly understood why the rocks around here were so pockmarked.
The injured young beast let out a sorrowful cry and tried to struggle, but the flame pillar had hit a vital spot, incinerating its internal organs.
It could only collapse heavily, its eyes losing their luster.
The mother beast beside it let out a mournful cry but quickly turned and ran away.
The other spirit beasts also began to run for their lives, fearing they would be the next target pierced by a flame pillar.
However, no more flame pillars appeared, and the lake returned to silence.
As the spirit beasts left the lakeside, ripples began to spread across the water again.
Faintly, a slender fish-like spirit beast, about nine meters long, with crimson scales on its back, emerged from the lake.
It grabbed the leg of the small beast and dragged it into the crimson water, bringing silence to the lake once more.
Seeing this, Qi Han couldn't help but scratch his head.
Is this... the Earthfire Dragonfish?
Pururu, perched on Qi Han's shoulder, had also witnessed the scene and couldn't help but shrink back.
This fish is terrifying, much scarier than the ones the poop-scooper uses to make my food.
An Earthfire Dragonfish over five meters long is a hundred-year spirit beast, over ten meters is a thousand-year spirit beast, and over twenty meters is a ten-thousand-year spirit beast.
The one before him was still short of being a thousand-year spirit beast, not the one Qi Han was seeking.
However, the fierce flame pillar attack already made Qi Han's scalp tingle.
A Chiyan Lake of a hundred square meters is considered small.
For such a lake to have a nine-meter-long Earthfire Dragonfish is already the limit.
It's extremely difficult for a thousand-year-level one to appear here.
Qi Han had to keep searching for another lake to see if there was an Earthfire Dragonfish that met the Quest requirements.
"Ru Yi, can I handle such a spirit beast?" Qi Han couldn't help but ask.
"You have to believe in yourself, master. With your two thousand-year spirit skills and level 30 spirit power, along with Tang Sect's hidden weapons, dealing with a thousand-year spirit beast is no problem," Ru Yi said with a twinkle in her eye. "Besides, you can always escape into the system space to avoid attacks."
That makes sense.
Although the flame pillar is extremely powerful, its speed is within Qi Han's reaction time.
Qi Han nodded, feeling more confident.
"Where is the next Chiyan Lake?"
"Walk left for about a kilometer."
Qi Han circled around the big rock and dashed in the direction Ru Yi indicated.
Time to hurry up.
...
Thud, thud, thud.
The sound of a kitchen knife hitting the cutting board echoed in the kitchen of the Qin sisters' home.
After a while, it slowly subsided.
Qin Yao and Qin Yue stood side by side, wearing casual clothes and holding kitchen knives.
On the cutting board in front of them were neatly sliced white radishes.
Next to them was a large basket of whole white radishes.
The two had been slicing radishes in the kitchen all morning.
Unlike when they were learning to make hotpot broth from Qi Han, the top student Qin Yao now had a pained expression.
After a whole morning, her radish slices were still uneven, with each slice being a different thickness.
It was as if the knife in her hand had a mind of its own.
In contrast, Qin Yue's radish slices were already uniform and even, although the thickness still fell short of Qi Han's requirements.
Qin Yao glanced enviously at Qin Yue's radish slices and leaned her head on her sister's shoulder. "Yueyue, what should I do?"
Qin Yue put an arm around Qin Yao and, after a moment of thought, suggested, "How about you teach me how to make hotpot broth, and I'll teach you how to slice radishes?"
Qin Yao's eyes lit up, thinking it was a good idea. "Let's give it a try!"
<+>
if you want to see more chapters of this story and don't mind playing $5 per month to see my latest update, please go to my Patreon [1]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Avicebron[2]
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 313: This Kind Of Man[3]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/becoming-food-in-121763175[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/Avicebron
[2] https://www.patreon.com/Avicebron
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/becoming-food-in-121763175
[4] https://www.patreon.com/posts/becoming-food-in-121763175