The fire-resistant beach was a shore paved with fire-resistant iron scraps and rock debris.
The beach contained 20% fire-resistant iron, allowing it to maintain the form of sand grains under the intense heat of the lava without melting.
“This should be the beach.”
Purple Hammer stopped the lava skeletal lizard beneath him and gazed at the pitch-black sandy ground before him.
Beside the sand, the lava lake flowed quietly, occasionally sending up a burst of sparks.
Purple Hammer checked the time and waited patiently behind a stone wall near the sand.
Time passed quietly, and the hour Purple Pincers had mentioned soon arrived.
Purple Hammer watched the lava for any movement.
The Lord Fish King did not keep Purple Hammer waiting for long. The lava churned, and a red-black head emerged from the boiling liquid.
A pair of bulging eyes on its head scanned the beach as it continued to surface.
Until its massive body had completely emerged from the lava.
The Lava Fish King was five meters long and 1.7 meters tall, covered in red-black scales. Beneath its massive body were four thick fins.
Although the fins were sturdy, they were unable to support such a massive body for movement on land.
This was one of the Lava Fish King's characteristics.
While ordinary lava fish could move on land for short periods, the Lava Fish King could not.
It could only move slowly across this fire-resistant beach.
“Is this the Lord Fish King?”
Purple Hammer watched the Lava Fish King. To prevent it from escaping, he waited until it had fully crawled onto land before taking an iron ball from his satchel.
Then, he tossed it toward the Lava Fish King.
The Lord Fish King, moving leisurely across the beach, felt a crisp sound against its scales and quickly looked back.
Its bulging eyes lit up, and it lowered its head to snap up the fire-resistant iron ball.
Special secretions in its mouth, combined with the high temperature, began to digest the iron ball.
As it digested, the Fish King's pupils dilated suddenly. It uncontrollably shook its head and then flopped onto the soft sand, comfortably rubbing its scales against the grains.
Once the iron ball was fully digested, the Fish King returned to normal, turning its body to search the beach for another of those delicacies.
Seeing this, Purple Hammer revealed himself at the right moment and tossed another iron ball right in front of the Lava Fish King.
The Lava Fish King looked at Purple Hammer, then at the iron ball tossed before it.
Ultimately, it could not resist the temptation of the AA+ purity. It paddled its fins, crawled over, and swallowed the iron ball again.
Seeing that the Fish King had lowered its guard, Purple Hammer quickly released the blessing power from the two guardians.
Sensing the power of the two supreme guardians, the Lava Fish King's final bit of wariness vanished, replaced only by a sense of kinship.
It wriggled its body to crawl in front of Purple Hammer, rubbing its head against his armor. At the same time, its large mouth moved toward Purple Hammer's waist, wanting to swallow all the fire-resistant iron balls.
“No rush, no rush, Lord Fish King. As long as you're willing to help me cross the lava lake, these treats are all yours.”
Purple Hammer reached out and patted the Lava Fish King's head. The creature's intelligence was not high, but it could barely understand Purple Hammer's meaning. It retreated into the lava, leaving only the eyes on its head to watch him.
Seeing this, Purple Hammer knew the Lava Fish King had agreed. He returned to the saddle of his lava skeletal lizard and led the way along the shore of the lava lake.
Beneath the surface, the Lava Fish King followed Purple Hammer closely.
Upon reaching the destination, Purple Hammer saw the fire-resistant boat that the purple-skinned blacksmiths had already transported to the lake's edge.
Two purple-skinned blacksmiths were waiting by the shore.
“Lord Purple Hammer!”
The purple-skinned blacksmiths waved when they saw him.
The Lava Fish King also arrived at the shore at this moment, its eyes sparkling as it stared at the large boat.
“Lava Fish Kings love eating fire-resistant iron, and the purity of the iron in this fire-resistant boat is quite high.”
“The Lord Fish King won't eat a hole in my boat halfway through, will it?” Purple Hammer asked with some concern.
“Don't worry. During the casting process, we added a small amount of impurities to the fire-resistant iron. Those impurities have a taste that lava fish dislike.”
“While it will attract lava fish, no fish will actually eat it.”
Seeing the two blacksmiths guarantee this one after another, Purple Hammer nodded. Together with the two blacksmiths, he pushed the fire-resistant boat into the lava lake.
A chain was tied to the front of the boat, connected to a circular bit forged from fire-resistant iron.
As long as the Lava Fish King bit the bit, the circular structure would lock onto its head, and the fire-resistant boat would be towed through the lava.
Of course, the whole process required the Lava Fish King's cooperation.
If it did not cooperate and released the bit, the circular structure would fall off on its own.
Purple Hammer rode his lava skeletal lizard and lightly leapt onto the fire-resistant boat.
The structure of the boat barely accommodated Purple Hammer and the lava skeletal lizard.
Purple Hammer had the lizard crouch down to save as much space as possible while he went to the bow and threw down the bit connected to the chain.
“I'll have to trouble you for a ride, Lord Fish King.”
With that, Purple Hammer tossed down a fire-resistant iron ball.
The Lava Fish King, which had already surfaced in anticipation, swallowed the tossed iron ball in one gulp. It then circled the boat once and clamped its jaws onto the bit at the bow.
It then dived beneath the lava lake and began towing the fire-resistant boat forward across the surface.
The boiling lava surged past the sides of the boat, the scorching liquid being parted as they moved.
Soon, Purple Hammer could no longer see land. He had entered the smoke-filled center of the lava lake.
The outermost ring of the lava lake near the shore had the lowest concentration of smoke, and visibility was clear.
But after passing that outer ring and entering the lake proper, scalding thick smoke shrouded his vision, leaving only a small area around him visible.
Further out, there was only a gray, murky darkness.
Above him was also thick smoke; looking up revealed only pitch blackness.
Only the lava beneath the boat emitted a scorching red glow, providing illumination within the dark fog.
Purple Hammer gripped the edge of the boat, feeling as if he were sitting on a precarious vessel sailing across the boundless lava of a bottomless hell.
No life was visible, nor was any direction. A chaotic sense of perception wrapped around his soul like thick syrup.
It was a viscous sensation that clung to his perception and judgment.
The smoke seemed to possess a certain toxicity that would unconsciously lull one into a weary sleep, leading to an unnoticed death upon this lava.
Beneath the lava, monsters were lurking, watching Purple Hammer on the boat.
Of course, they were all colleagues, and with the Lava Fish King leading the way, he would not be attacked.
While the toxic smoke posed a threat, Purple Hammer could withstand it with his current strength.
Zeno's blessing had significantly improved his resistance to toxins.
“I can't stay for long. I must head further down immediately.”
Purple Hammer had no intention of exploring the lava lake. He needed to reach the end of the lava to see Lord Tongmu and pray for his blessing.
The adventurers have already entered the Lava Stratum; he had to hurry.
Purple Hammer sat at the bow as he and the boat disappeared into the end of the mist.
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