After resting for a day, all of Zhong Shan's injuries had healed. Even the aftereffects of the Heavenly Devil Body Tempering Great Technique had disappeared.
But during that single day, with the cave entrance blocked, the temperature inside had climbed higher and higher, while the air had grown increasingly thin. Tian Ling'er beside him already had a flushed little face and was panting for breath. Perhaps even with two months' worth of food, she would not last until then.
"Zhong Shan, is there anything we can do? Hurry!" Tian Ling'er said anxiously.
Looking at Tian Ling'er, Zhong Shan shook his head with a smile and said, "Do as I tell you."
"Mm-mm." Tian Ling'er immediately nodded, as if she were quick to state her position.
"How long can your Red Silk extend at most?" Zhong Shan asked.
"It's damaged now. It can only extend a hundred meters at most, and it can't fly, either." Tian Ling'er shook her head.
"A hundred meters? That's enough." Zhong Shan nodded.
"Eh?" Tian Ling'er looked at Zhong Shan strangely, not knowing what his plan had to do with her damaged Red Silk.
"Tie the Red Silk around my waist. I'll climb upward and check the passage entrance. If I happen to fall, quickly pull me back to the bank. Don't let me fall into the magma." Zhong Shan stared at Tian Ling'er and spoke calmly.
"Zhong Shan, you're not going to make me climb up with you, are you? It's so high—can this Red Silk really hold?" Tian Ling'er immediately asked.
"Who said I was making you climb? Listen to me, understand?" Zhong Shan said solemnly once more.
Seeing Zhong Shan's stern tone, Tian Ling'er nodded unconsciously for some reason.
"Mm." Zhong Shan was satisfied.
Then Tian Ling'er took out the Red Silk and tied one end around Zhong Shan's waist, gripping the other end in her hand.
Pressing himself against the mountain wall, Zhong Shan slowly climbed upward. Gradually, his body hung upside down, but he always gouged five holes into the rock with his five fingers before daring to brace himself and continue climbing upside down.
The inside of the place was curved, like the interior of a wine bottle. Zhong Shan's figure slowly climbed upward.
When the slope changed from upside down to vertical, Zhong Shan let out a long breath.
Boiling magma rolled below. If he fell even slightly carelessly, the current Zhong Shan would not be left with so much as dregs.
Feeling the searing heat, cold sweat breaking out across his forehead, Zhong Shan continued climbing straight upward. The vertical stone wall seemed even harder, and he had to exert all his strength just to gouge out a hole.
Finally, after climbing another three meters vertically, Zhong Shan saw what he wanted: mist—or rather, water vapor. A large amount of vapor was steaming dry from that spot, evaporating upward.
He climbed carefully.
"Skree!"
His foot slipped. Zhong Shan lost his balance, and his ten fingers clung desperately to the holes. That had been close—he had almost fallen. Although Tian Ling'er was down there, something could go wrong if he was unlucky. A burst of fear surged through his heart, and he paid even closer attention to his footing.
The underground water layer was about ten meters high. Once he crossed those ten meters and climbed into the dry-rock zone, there would be no underground water here—the underground water layer did not pass through this place.
With one hand gripping a hole in the rock, he took out his saber with the other and began digging.
He chiseled a deep hole into the stone wall. Then, following the wall, he went around once and dug a circular groove into a flat surface. After that, he put away his saber and took a large number of stone pieces from his Storage Bracelet, slowly inserting them into the groove and leaving most of each piece exposed.
This caused the diameter of that spot to shrink by roughly half a meter out of nowhere.
Zhong Shan estimated it with his eyes. The diameter was now five meters—a huge passage extending five meters upward.
He returned along the way he had come, moving carefully. Zhong Shan once again reached the Mountain Cave from earlier and gave Tian Ling'er a faint smile.
"How is it? What were you doing up there? You made a layer there—were you planning to build steps and slowly construct them all the way to the top?" Tian Ling'er asked worriedly.
Zhong Shan shook his head without answering. He merely smiled faintly and began searching through the stone cave. Before long, he found a large boulder. It was six meters in diameter. Zhong Shan raised his saber and began cutting into it. The method he had once practiced for carving patterns displayed its effect again here. In no time, he had hacked the boulder into the shape of an enormous oval dish.
"Ling Er, tie this boulder to my back. I'm going up once more."
"Eh? You're taking this huge rock up?" Tian Ling'er asked strangely.
"Mm." Zhong Shan nodded.
"Then go up first. Later, tie it to the Red Silk and have me hoist it up. Wouldn't that work?" Tian Ling'er said smugly, as if she had thought of an issue Zhong Shan had overlooked.
"What if I fall down?" Zhong Shan shook his head with a smile.
After Zhong Shan finished speaking, Tian Ling'er's smile froze. Right—what if he fell while hoisting the boulder? Wouldn't that be the end of everything?
Shaking his head, Zhong Shan smiled and used the Red Silk to tie the boulder to his back. Although moving was somewhat more difficult, Zhong Shan was immensely strong and naturally was not afraid of this bit of weight.
He returned along the same route and once more reached the place filled with stone pieces.
Zhong Shan carried the boulder through vertically with great care, then cautiously laid it down flat atop the protruding stone pieces. It happened to cover most of the entrance.
The boulder slid downward into the groove. Zhong Shan climbed inside and carefully felt around. It fit perfectly.
Sitting in the hollow of the boulder, he gripped a hole in the stone wall with one hand and grabbed the Red Silk with the other as he called, "Ling Er, tie the Red Silk around your waist and come up the way I did just now."
"Mm, I'm coming." Tian Ling'er cried out excitedly. She had already been itching to try after watching Zhong Shan climb earlier.
She quickly tied it around her waist. Imitating Zhong Shan, she gripped the stone holes and climbed upward. It looked fun, but once she actually tried it, it was incredibly difficult and incredibly thrilling.
Tian Ling'er clenched her teeth and climbed slowly.
Zhong Shan also slowly gathered in the Red Silk.
When she reached the underground water layer, perhaps because water vapor had emerged, that spot was rather slippery.
"Ah! Aaaah!"
Tian Ling'er slipped. In her terror, she let out a scream and fell.
Am I going to die? There's magma below! Tian Ling'er was completely petrified.
"Snap!" The Red Silk caught Tian Ling'er taut.
Suspended above the magma, Tian Ling'er was so frightened that her soul nearly flew from her body. She remained dazed for a long while.
"Stop swinging around. Come up quickly." Zhong Shan called down from above. What is this, a swing?
"Oh, oh!" Tian Ling'er immediately jolted to her senses, grabbed the Red Silk, and quickly climbed up.
Only after climbing into the hollow of the boulder did Tian Ling'er lie down there, still shaken.
"That scared me to death! That scared me to death!" Tian Ling'er repeatedly patted her little chest and spoke in terror. Just now, she had been a hair's breadth from life and death. If not for the Red Silk, she would have been finished.
Looking at Tian Ling'er, Zhong Shan smiled faintly.
"Are you all right? We're getting out," Zhong Shan said.
"Getting out?" Tian Ling'er looked upward. There were still three thousand meters above them. How could they get out?
"This time, I'll take you flying out." Zhong Shan spoke confidently.
"Flying?" Tian Ling'er asked in astonishment.
"Lie down, hold on to the Red Silk, and I'll come up at once," Zhong Shan said.
"Mm." Although Tian Ling'er had no idea what he intended, she still did as Zhong Shan said.
Hanging from the rope, Zhong Shan lowered his body slightly and looked at the magma below, swallowing hard. It'll definitely work.
With a flip of his hand, he took out his saber and looked at the surrounding mountain walls. Water vapor—everywhere was water vapor.
Zhong Shan circulated his power and struck the mountain wall with all his strength.
"BOOM~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
With a deafening crash, that section of mountain wall shattered open.
With a swing, he turned and rapidly slashed toward another direction.
Slash, slash, slash.
"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM~~~~~" His saber fell rapidly, and the stone walls around that section of the underground water layer shattered in quick succession. A massive amount of underground water gushed out from the broken wall.
Seeing this, Zhong Shan put away his saber and quickly climbed up to the boulder above.
"Zhong Shan, what are you doing?" Tian Ling'er asked in surprise.
Seeing Tian Ling'er sitting there, Zhong Shan's eyes widened. He lunged over, hugged Tian Ling'er, and pressed her down into the hollow of the stone.
He hugged her tightly and pressed himself firmly against her. Once again, there was not the slightest gap between their bodies.
Caught off guard by Zhong Shan's sudden assault, Tian Ling'er's eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief. What is Zhong Shan doing?
Just as Tian Ling'er was about to resist, suddenly—
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM"
A supermassive explosion suddenly rang out from below.
A huge amount of underground water surged toward the enormous Magma Pool below like a tsunami. A small amount could turn into water vapor, but there was simply too much underground water.
As it roared downward into the Magma Pool, only part of it evaporated on the way. But the moment it touched the magma, there was no other possibility—all of it evaporated into gas.
One portion of water became more than a thousand portions of gas.
The scene below was a completely sealed Mountain Cave. The air current could only rush upward.
In that instant, a vast amount of underground water transformed into gas in the blink of an eye.
A thousandfold, more than a thousandfold—in an instant, the bottom of the Mountain Cave seemed to turn into an air cannon.
A tremendous air cannon thundered upward.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM"
The boulder Zhong Shan was standing on shot into the sky. The massive airflow sent the extremely heavy boulder soaring upward like a cannonball at a ferocious speed.
Tian Ling'er had just been about to resist Zhong Shan's "outrageous act" when a loud boom suddenly rang out below. Then she felt the boulder behind her abruptly slam into her, pressing her body against Zhong Shan's even more tightly. It felt as if this tremendous force were trying to squeeze her right into Zhong Shan's body.
We're flying? The boulder is flying? The boulder is carrying us into the sky? Tian Ling'er was stunned by the astonishing sight. Zhong Shan really can take me flying out?
Then her face flushed with embarrassment because of their current position. The two of them were pressed chest to chest, as if they were about to merge into one.
P.S. Second update. Please vote for me.
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