Farming Games are All About Grinding

As Han Qiwu kept digging, he suddenly heard some muffled "pop pop pop" sounds.

This sound...

It must be that Molten Slime.

Turning his head to look.

Five chubby Molten Slimes were wobbling towards Little Ice, aggressively preparing to spew molten lava.

Oh, hell no!

Han Qiwu quickly switched to his ice blade and rushed forward, using his vein-severing technique to interrupt the nearest Molten Slime.

This Little Ice is so expensive; if you ruin it, think of how heartbroken I'd be.

Repairing it costs money!

The interrupted Molten Slime felt terribly uncomfortable.

The vintage molten lava in its mouth was stuck — neither coming out nor staying in.

It was suffering.

Han Qiwu could see its struggle, so he thoughtfully tapped the tip of his ice blade on its chubby stomach.

"There, there. Once you're gone, you won't feel the pain anymore."

Molten Slime: "??????"

True to his word, Han Qiwu made those slimes disappear into glowing white light within five minutes.

"Rest in peace."

After sending off the slimes, Han Qiwu glanced at the spoils in his storage compartment.

[Fragment of Molten Slime Heart] ×1, [Slime Mud] ×5.

Unexpectedly, another fragment of the Molten Slime Heart appeared.

Adding this to the previous two pieces, he only needed one more to complete the Molten Slime Heart.

Nice, very nice.

Should he just craft it immediately this time?

Han Qiwu checked the map, stored away Little Ice, and wandered around with Poison Liquid Radio in search of Molten Slimes.

Taking the initiative!

Time to hunt down Molten Slimes.

Anyway, with the half-functional compass in hand, finding slimes would be a piece of cake.

After a short wait, the compass refreshed.

Han Qiwu realized there were indeed a lot of these creatures.

They were everywhere.

And when battling other creatures in the mines, these slimes were quite obnoxious.

They'd spew streams of molten lava left and right, burning their opponents.

Unfortunately for them, they crossed paths with Han Qiwu. With his mastery of the vein-severing technique, Molten Slimes were nothing but oversized toys — two swipes and they're gone.

After more than an hour, Han Qiwu finally obtained the last fragment from a jumbo-sized Molten Slime.

Carefully, he laid all four fragments on the ground, arranging them into the shape of a heart.

Once set, waves of heat emanated from the fragments, and their connections began to merge into one solid form — transforming into a heart-shaped, bright red object resembling solidified lava.

[Molten Heart]

[Usage: Slime Treasure]

[Effect – Control Molten Lava: When consumed, evolves and gains the ability to control molten lava]

[Note: Prepare a large water supply before consuming]

Han Qiwu held the Molten Heart and dangled it in front of Xiao Lai.

"Do you want to eat this?"

Xiao Lai nodded vigorously, deeply attracted to the heart's alluring spicy, smoky scent.

A Slime's ultimate craving!

Han Qiwu smirked and stashed it away, saying, "Don't rush. We'll do this at home."

"Pop pop!"

Xiao Lai puffed up in frustration and hopped on Little Spark, grumbling.

Seeing its antics, Han Qiwu chuckled and said, "Silly Xiao Lai, you'll need tons of water to eat this. At home, you can eat it leisurely—what do you expect to drink here, lava?"

"Pop pop pop!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Lai quickly shook its head. If it drank lava, it'd dry out and be done for.

Following the map markers, Han Qiwu found the stairs he had created earlier and descended them.

[Cable Car Floor Refreshed]

[You've arrived at Mine Level 90]

To his surprise, the temperature on Mine Level 90 was milder than expected. The deeper molten lava had a darker hue, but there were fewer scattered rocks and smaller areas overall, without tributaries leading to lava rivers. It looked deceptively simple.

As usual, a small treasure chest sat in the mine's center.

Han Qiwu eagerly walked over, swinging his weapon to crack it open, only to find a lone rock inside.

[A rock of unknown breaking time]

Han Qiwu: "??????"

Do you want me to just throw you away?!

What kind of treasure chest is this?

After picking up the rock, Han Qiwu found nothing else in the chest. Not only that, the chest itself vanished into thin air.

Han Qiwu: "..."

Whatever. I'm leaving.

Time to head home for dinner.

After a tiring day, he was thoroughly exhausted.

Taking the cable car, Han Qiwu returned to Mine Level 1 and deftly made his way home.

Once inside his yard, he initially planned to wash up, but reconsidered. If Xiao Lai's evolution took substantial time, it'd be better to handle that first.

"Little Spark, place Xiao Lai by the shore," Han Qiwu commanded.

Obediently, Little Spark did as told, placing Xiao Lai by the riverside. Not content with simply completing the task, it mischievously unleashed a current toward the electric jellyfish nearby.

The jellyfish retaliated, shaking its tentacles and smacking Little Spark's feet.

"Zzzap."

For a moment, Han Qiwu thought he could see Little Spark's skeleton.

The shock was penetrating.

Too bad electric jellyfish weren't portable; otherwise, they'd be perfect for combat.

Now he wondered—does this game even have underwater battle zones?

Then again, fighting underwater with an electric jellyfish might be risky; accidental friendly fire could be deadly.

Used to being zapped, Little Spark casually shook its bird-like head and calmly resumed its sparring with the jellyfish.

Han Qiwu shook his head helplessly, retrieving the still-warm Molten Heart from his storage compartment and handed it to Xiao Lai, cautioning, "Eat slowly—this'll make you stronger."

Xiao Lai solemnly nodded before swallowing the Molten Heart in one quick gulp.

Han Qiwu: "..."

So my words just flew right past you?

Whatever.

Let's see what happens.

At first, nothing seemed unusual after Xiao Lai consumed the Molten Heart. But seconds later, smoke started rising from its head.

And the smoke wasn't white.

It was red, curling like dramatic cinematic effects.

Alongside the smoke, Xiao Lai's skin grew increasingly red.

Quickly, Han Qiwu scooped a bucket of water from the nearby river and fed it to Xiao Lai.

"Ssssss…"

The icy river water evaporated into vapor upon touching Xiao Lai's body, creating an intimidating cloud.

When the mist cleared, Xiao Lai's skin was still bright red.

"Let's use some ice instead," Han Qiwu decided, eyeing the river water warily. He didn't want to toss Xiao Lai in and accidentally turn the water temperature to seventy or eighty degrees.

That'd boil up a stew of fish soup.

And there'd be way too much soup to consume.

He grabbed a bucket of water, placed Xiao Lai inside, and dashed towards the icy wilderness.

Once in that frozen landscape, Xiao Lai finally started improving, sipping icy water from its small mouth, its skin alternating between red and green.

Han Qiwu stayed nearby, applying old ice to its body to cool it down.

The transformation process lasted about ten minutes before Xiao Lai suddenly collapsed onto an adjacent ice block, lying motionless.

[Green Slime evolving. Estimated time: one hour]

Alright, time for a shower!