Overlord Salamander

After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Chen Wan was forced to retreat again and again by the rapidly rising water. Clutching Yuan Ming's White Ape Beast Hide and Bronze Longsword to her chest, she was already pressed against the stone wall.

By then, the river water had filled the entire cavern, rising to Chen Wan's waist.

The anxiety in her heart had turned to despair, and an unavoidable thought surfaced: How could I be so foolish? He isn't coming back...

That fellow was, after all, only a furred beast slave. Even if he had encountered no mishap and truly found a way out, he would never risk returning to save her. The two of them were neither kin nor acquaintances, merely strangers who had crossed paths by chance.

How laughable. When she had seen him leave behind the beast hide and longsword, she had actually felt an indescribable sense of reassurance.

Just as Chen Wan was wallowing in self-pity, the water before her suddenly churned with waves. A dark figure abruptly surfaced, letting out a series of heavy, wheezing breaths.

She nearly failed to restrain herself from firing a Fireball Technique at him.

When she saw clearly that it was an incomparably ugly humanoid toad, excitement suddenly rose in her, and her eyes nearly welled with tears.

Yuan Ming, who had hurried back, was likewise surprised by the changes here. In a muffled voice, he said, "Looks like a mountain flood broke out. I nearly couldn't find where you were."

"How was it? Did you find an exit?" Chen Wan hurriedly asked.

"The underground river is far longer than I expected. I swam for a long time, but still couldn't reach its exit." Yuan Ming shook his head, speaking through ragged breaths.

Chen Wan's expression immediately froze, her heart turning to ashes.

"However, I found a hollow up ahead. It's much larger than this place and won't be flooded for the time being. We can rest there first, catch our breath, then continue downstream to search for a way out." Yuan Ming took a deep breath, changed the subject, and continued.

"We can only give it a try." Chen Wan was rather speechless at Yuan Ming's habit of pausing dramatically before delivering the important part.

Seeing the water gradually rise to her chest, she did not want to remain here another moment.

"How long can you hold your breath?" Yuan Ming asked.

"I've never cultivated water arts. At most, I can hold it for half a quarter-hour." Chen Wan thought for a moment before answering.

At that moment, she regretted beyond measure that she had looked down on water arts simply because she was a disciple of Fire Refining Hall. Fortunately, Fire Refining Hall disciples had to spend long periods tempering artifact blanks, which also required breath control, so her breath was not particularly weak.

"Half a quarter-hour should be about enough. In a moment, lie on my back. I'll take you underwater," Yuan Ming said after a brief consideration.

Hearing this, Chen Wan looked at Yuan Ming's back, covered in black bumps, and hesitated.

"At your speed, without me carrying you, you definitely won't reach that place in half a quarter-hour," Yuan Ming said indifferently, glancing at her.

Chen Wan took a deep breath and nodded.

She held Yuan Ming's White Ape Beast Hide and Bronze Longsword in one hand, while with the other, she suppressed her discomfort and placed it on Yuan Ming's shoulder.

"Take a deep breath," Yuan Ming instructed.

Chen Wan immediately did as he said.

The next instant, Yuan Ming suddenly sank downward, dragging Chen Wan's body forcefully into the water.

Yuan Ming flipped his legs outward and kicked hard, then drew them back together. His body shot fiercely along with the current, and in a single burst, he swam seven or eight zhang away.

At the edge of the cavern, the river narrowed and poured into a tunnel.

Without pausing in the slightest, Yuan Ming took Chen Wan into it and swam fiercely downstream with a frog-like stroke.

Inside the tunnel, it was pitch-black.

Chen Wan squeezed her eyes shut. The only thing in her ears was the muffled sound of flowing water. Her heartbeat could not help quickening, and the hand clutching Yuan Ming's shoulder unconsciously tightened while her body instinctively pressed closer against his back.

Sensing Chen Wan's fear behind him, Yuan Ming could only paddle with both hands and feet, swimming quickly downstream.

After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Chen Wan gradually grew accustomed to the icy feeling underwater and could not resist opening her eyes.

Yet she could see nothing in the pitch-black water. She could only vaguely sense the stone walls enclosing her above, below, left, and right, stirring a claustrophobic terror within her.

After looking for a while, she shut her eyes again. That actually made her feel better.

But just then, she suddenly felt something brush against her heel.

Yet she had not moved about or made any kicking motion. There was no way she could have touched anything other than water.

If so, then something must have come after her and touched her.

Are there fish in this underground river? Chen Wan wondered.

Before she could figure it out, that brushing sensation struck again, and with far greater force than before.

Realizing something was wrong, Chen Wan immediately opened her eyes and turned to look behind her.

That glance made her jolt in fright. She nearly opened her mouth and screamed, while the hand clutching Yuan Ming tightened hard.

In the dark river behind them, a huge black shadow had appeared. No matter how she looked at it, it did not resemble a fish.

Suppressing her fear, Chen Wan forcefully slapped Yuan Ming's back with the hand holding the beast hide and Bronze Longsword.

Yuan Ming immediately realized something had happened. He twisted his neck to look back and see what was wrong, only to hear a burst of sobbing from behind him.

The sound was somewhat childish, yet carried by the current, it drilled into his ears with startling clarity.

Had he not been wearing the toad hide, every hair on his body would have stood on end, and goosebumps would have crawled across his entire back.

At that moment, Chen Wan pressed the White Ape Beast Hide and Bronze Longsword beneath herself, circulated the mana in her body, and swung a palm behind her.

A hazy red glow immediately lit up in her palm, illuminating part of the waters behind them.

Within the dim light, she saw an enormous, flattened white human face. Its gaping mouth occupied one-third of the entire face, while two bean-sized black eyeballs were remarkably space-saving, growing on either side of its cheeks.

The sight frightened her into letting out a sharp cry. A mouthful of water choked into her throat, instantly disrupting her breath.

That ghastly white face seemed to have been startled as well. Its sobbing became even more urgent, red-black mottling suddenly spread across its white cheeks, and it opened its blood-basin mouth to bite toward Yuan Ming and Chen Wan.

The instant Yuan Ming turned his head, he also saw the creature clearly and cried inwardly, An Overlord Salamander?

He immediately kicked with both legs and swam forward with all his strength. His speed abruptly increased, opening distance between them and that ghostly thing.

Yet the sobbing behind them swelled louder. The savage beast that appeared to be an Overlord Salamander had no intention of letting them go and charged after them.

Chen Wan had already lost her bearings in fright. Her five fingers dug tightly into Yuan Ming's back, her nails sinking deeply into his flesh, while she had already choked down several mouthfuls of icy river water.

Just then, a scorching pain suddenly flared around her ankle. When she turned to look, she discovered that the humanoid monster could actually spray crimson mucus like molten lava from its mouth.

The mucus stuck to her ankle and corroded a large hole through her clothes, burning her skin as well.

Yet it was precisely this intense pain that ignited Chen Wan's fighting spirit and woke her from her panic. Reaching into her sleeve, she took out another Crimson Fire Thunder.

But just as she was about to throw it, she recalled how the fire python had pursued her in the tunnel earlier. If she threw the Crimson Fire Thunder here, leaving aside whether it could kill the beast, the impact of the water surge alone might knock both of them unconscious.

If the cavern collapsed again, they would not even need to leave behind whole corpses. They could simply be buried together here.

Chen Wan felt utterly stifled. Of all places, it had to be in water, where the fire arts she had painstakingly cultivated were greatly restricted. She could not even cast the Fireball Technique.

Just as she hesitated, Yuan Ming beneath her suddenly slowed and pressed one hand against the stone wall.

What is he doing?

The next instant, blue-green halos suddenly lit up on both sides of the stone wall behind them, and two sharp wooden thorns, each around two feet long, abruptly shot out.

"Wood Thorn Technique." Chen Wan was astonished. She had not expected this furred beast slave to know spell arts as well.

The pursuing Overlord Salamander was struck by the wooden thorns, which carved a long gash across its body. Crimson blood flowed out at once.

Pain sent it into a frenzy. It opened its mouth and spat out a huge mass of crimson mucus, which spread toward Chen Wan.

If it struck her, half her back would likely be corroded away.

At that critical moment, the hand Chen Wan had on Yuan Ming's shoulder was suddenly gripped tightly. Then, with a pull forward, she was flung off his shoulder.

The mass of crimson mucus immediately landed on Yuan Ming's back, producing a series of hissing sounds.

Enduring the searing pain, Yuan Ming surged forward, swam to Chen Wan's side, pulled the Bronze Longsword from her hand with one hand, and shoved her rounded, upturned buttocks with the other, sending her forward.

Immediately afterward, Yuan Ming spun around, poured mana into the Azure Fish Sword in his hand, and slashed at the pursuing Overlord Salamander.

Whoosh

Light flashed upon the Azure Fish Sword. Its immense force cleaved apart the water and struck the Overlord Salamander squarely in the face.

The creature let out a miserable howl. Even as a bloody gash split open across its face, great streams of venom gushed from its mouth once more, shooting toward Yuan Ming.

As Yuan Ming turned and fled, black venom suddenly sprayed from the dark bumps on his back as well. Once it dispersed through the water, it formed a scattered, star-speckled mass that surged toward the Overlord Salamander.

The two venoms mixed together, slightly checking the pursuit of the salamander's corrosive poison.

Yuan Ming seized the chance to swim forward with all his strength. Catching up to Chen Wan, he pulled her into his arms, kicked wildly with both legs, and carried her forward in a mad dash through the water.

Behind them, the Overlord Salamander plunged headlong into the area where the venoms had mixed, and the water there immediately began to boil.

The toxin formed by the fusion of the two venoms was something even it could not withstand.

The Overlord Salamander immediately howled without end, no longer able to pursue the two of them.

After this ordeal, Yuan Ming and Chen Wan had not only expended much of their strength, but their breathing had also been disrupted. Whether they could make it to that hollow had suddenly become uncertain.