Above the boiling Sea of Magma, the Abyss Hurricane still raged. By this time, without anyone noticing, it was already January of the year 903 of the Black Iron Calendar...
Ever since the human Knight team exploring the temple ruins had left two years ago, this place had once again become an uninhabited zone. Each year, apart from certain specific times when traces of people could be found here, for the vast majority of the time, even someone who happened to arrive here would not find a single soul.
An ironhide salamander that lived in the Underground World crawled out of a dark cave, cautiously searching for food that would allow it to survive. At last, after groping about in the darkness for nearly an hour, relying on its unique sensitivity to the scent of food, the ironhide salamander discovered some rare delicacies near the edge of the Sea of Magma.
Those delicacies were some thoroughly air-dried jerky, water melons, and the like. Beside them was a wine bottle, the wine inside long since dried up. Yet although the air-dried jerky and water melons were already too tough for ordinary people to swallow, they could still go down an ironhide salamander's throat.
Creatures of the Underground World each had their own means of survival. Powerful creatures could use their claws and fangs to capture enough prey, while weak creatures developed broader, more varied food chains and corresponding digestive abilities. The ironhide salamander undoubtedly belonged to the latter.
The jerky, hard as stone, was swallowed whole by the ironhide salamander and entered its stomach chamber, which was filled with gastric acid. The salamander's gastric acid possessed extraordinarily strong corrosive and decomposing properties. Soaked in it, the jerky began to break down, releasing nutrients and energy needed by the ironhide salamander that