If he wanted to dig upward, his current position made that impossible. After the explosion, the entire terrain had turned into an inverted bowl shape, and he was now near the bottom of that bowl.
If he dug upward now, he would soon get out, but he would still be inside that bowl-shaped area. This could invisibly damage the structure formed after the blast. If investigators came to inspect the site, they would naturally notice something amiss.
But Chen Mo still did not know what the situation outside was really like. Besides, after the explosion, he did not know whether there were any follow-up measures. If the enemy had some backup plan and launched another identical destruction bomb the moment they saw him emerge, Chen Mo would truly be done for.
So, he decided to retreat from his current position and once again use the rocks in his Universe Bag to block the horizontally excavated tunnel. He would return all the way to the place where he had first taken cover, then dig diagonally upward and backward.
That way, he could gradually make his way upward while also slowly moving farther away from the blast site. Digging at an angle would also make it easier for him to cut through the soil and rocks.
The ground here was not made of pure soil. It was mixed with plenty of rocks, some extremely large and others relatively small. Digging this way would also help him avoid getting hit on the head by falling rocks and dirt. The excavated soil would fall by his feet, then be stored in the Universe Bag and dumped behind him, filling in the tunnel as he dug. It was not too troublesome.
If the Green Jade Sword had a sword spirit, it would definitely be speechless