<h4>Chapter 44: Soaring Upwards</h4>
Resting for a day, Zhongshan''s injuries werepletely healed, even the lingering effects of the Demonic Body Tempering Technique had disappeared.
But in just one day, due to the cave entrance being blocked earlier, the internal temperature had risen sharply, and the air had be increasingly thin. Tianling''s face was already flushed red, panting heavily. Perhaps, even with two months'' worth of food, they wouldn''tst until that day.
"Zhongshan, is there any way? Hurry up," Tianling urged anxiously.
Looking at Tianling, Zhongshan shook his head and smiled, saying, "Do as I say."
"Mm-hmm," Tianling nodded immediately, as if quickly agreeing.
"How long can your red silk extend at most?" Zhongshan asked.
"It''s damaged now, so it can only extend up to a hundred meters at most, and it can''t fly either," Tianling shook her head.
"A hundred meters? That''s enough," Zhongshan nodded.
"Huh?" Tianling looked at Zhongshan strangely, not understanding the connection between Zhongshan''s n and her damaged red silk.
"Tie the red silk around my waist. I''ll climb up and take a look at the passage. If I fall, quickly pull me ashore to avoid falling into the magma," Zhongshan said calmly, staring at Tianling.
"Zhongshan, you''re not asking me to climb up with you, are you? It''s so high, can this red silk handle it?" Tianling immediately asked.
"Who said you have to climb? Listen to me, okay?" Zhongshan said solemnly again.
Seeing Zhongshan''s serious tone, Tianling couldn''t help but nod involuntarily.
"Mm." Zhongshan nodded in satisfaction.
Then, Tianling took out the red silk and tied one end around Zhongshan''s waist, holding the other end in her hand.
Zhongshan hugged the mountain wall and slowly climbed upward. Gradually, his body even turned upside down. However, Zhongshan always used his five fingers to dig five holes in the rocks to borrow strength before continuing to climb upside down.
The interior of the cave was curved, like the inside of a bottle. Zhongshan slowly climbed upward.
When the slope changed from hanging upside down to vertical, Zhongshan sighed deeply.
Below was the rolling magma, and as long as he fell identally, even the current Zhongshan wouldn''t leave behind anything but ashes.
Feeling the scorching heat, Zhongshan continued to climb vertically. The vertical rock wall seemed even harder, requiring all his strength to dig holes.
Finally, after climbing another three meters vertically, Zhongshan saw what he was looking for: mist, no, it should be water vapor. Arge amount of water vapor evaporated from a certain location, forming clouds and rising.
He climbed carefully.
"Hiss."
As Zhongshan''s foot slipped, he lost his bnce, his ten fingers tightly gripping the hole. That was close; he almost fell. Although Tianling was there, if anything unexpected happened, it would be disastrous. With fear gripping his heart, he became even more cautious with his footing.
After climbing about ten meters, surpassing the underground wateryer, Zhongshan reached the dry rock area where there was no underground water anymore. One hand held onto the hole in the rock while the other hand took out arge knife and began to dig.
Zhongshan carved a deep hole in the rock wall and then turned in a circle along the rock wall, digging out a circr groove on a t surface. He then put away the knife and took out arge number of stones from his storage bracelet, slowly inserting them into the groove, leaving most of them exposed.
This reduced the diameter of that spot by about half a meter.
Zhongshan estimated that the diameter was still five meters, a huge passage five meters wide leading upwards.
Carefully retracing his steps, Zhongshan returned to the previous cave, looking at Tianling with a slight smile.
"How did it go? What were you doing up there? Are you building steps slowly up to the top?" Tianling asked worriedly.
Shaking his head, Zhongshan didn''t answer. He just smiled faintly and began to search inside the cave. Slowly, he found arge stone, six meters in diameter. Zhongshan lifted his knife and started chipping away at therge stone. The method he had practiced for cutting patterns before was now showing its effect here. In no time, therge stone was shaped into a disc-like oval.
"Tianling, tie thisrge stone to my back. I''ll go up again," Zhongshan said.
"Huh? You''re taking thisrge stone up?" Tianling asked strangely.
"Mm," Zhongshan nodded.
"Then you go up first. Later, when you''re tied to the red silk, you can hoist it up. Isn''t that fine?" Tianling suggested, feeling pleased with herself, as if she had thought of a problem that Zhongshan hadn''t considered.
"What if I fall?" Zhongshan shook his head andughed.
After Zhongshan finished speaking, Tianling''s smile froze. That''s right, what if therge stone fell while being hoisted up? That would be disastrous.
Shaking his head, Zhongshan smiled and tied therge stone to his back with the red silk. Although it made his movements a bit more difficult, Zhongshan was not afraid of the weight.
Retracing his steps, Zhongshan returned to the ce where he had inserted the stones. Carefully, he lifted therge stone upright and then ced it gently down, resting it on the protruding stones, covering most of the hole.
With therge stone sliding into the groove, Zhongshan climbed inside it and found it just right.
Sitting in the hollow of therge stone, Zhongshan held onto the hole in the rock wall with one hand and grabbed the red silk with the other, calling out, "Tianling, tie the red silk around your waist and climb up like I did just now."
"Mm,ing." Tianling eximed excitedly. She had been itching to climb after watching Zhongshan climb earlier.
Quickly tying the red silk around her waist, Tianling followed Zhongshan''s example, gripping the hole in the rock wall and climbing up. It seemed fun, but in reality, it was incredibly difficult and thrilling.
Tianling gritted her teeth and climbed slowly.
Zhongshan also slowly retracted the red silk.
When they reached the underground water formation, perhaps due to the water vapor, that spot was particrly slippery.
"Ouch, ahhhh..."
Tianling''s slip sent her into a panic, and she let out a piercing scream as she fell. Dead? Below was the magma, and Tianling was frozen with fear. "Snap!" The red silk caught Tianling just in time. Suspended above the magma, Tianling was so terrified that she was almost paralyzed.
"Don''t sway,e up quickly," Zhongshan called from above. This swinging back and forth felt like being on a swing!
"Okay okay," Tianling immediately snapped out of her daze, grabbing the red silk and climbing up quickly.
Once she reached the hollow of therge stone, Tianling copsed with a trembling heart. "You scared me to death, scared me to death," she kept patting her chest in fear. It had been a close call; if not for the red silk, she would''ve been done for.
Seeing Tianling like this, Zhongshan smiled faintly. "Are you alright? We''re about to leave," he said.
"Leave?" Tianling looked up at the three thousand meters above. How could they leave?
"This time, I''ll fly you out," Zhongshan said confidently.
"Fly?" Tianling eximed in astonishment.
"Get ready, lie down and hold onto the red silk. I''ll be up in a moment," Zhongshan instructed.
"Mm," although Tianling didn''t understand what was happening, she followed Zhongshan''s instructions.
Hanging his body, Zhongshan looked down at the magma below, swallowing hard. It would definitely work.
In a swift motion, he drew hisrge knife and looked around at the rock walls, all covered in water vapor.
Zhongshan exerted his strength and swung his knife forcefully at the nearby rock wall.
"Boom!"
A loud noise echoed as the rock wall shattered.
Without hesitation, Zhongshan swiftly swung his knife in another direction.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
With rapid strikes, the rock wall surrounding the underground wateryer quickly copsed, and arge amount of underground water gushed out from the cracked rock wall.
Seeing this scene, Zhongshan put away his knife and quickly climbed to the top of therge stone.
"What are you doing, Zhongshan?" Tianling asked in surprise.
Looking at Tianling sitting there, Zhongshan widened his eyes, hugged Tianling tightly, and pressed her into the hollow of the stone.
Holding her tightly, Zhongshan pressed himself against her, leaving no gap between their bodies.
Caught off guard by Zhongshan''s sudden attack, Tianling''s eyes widened in disbelief. What was Zhongshan doing?
Just as Tianling was about to resist Zhongshan''s "outrageous" behavior, suddenly:
"Boom!"
A tremendous explosion came from below.
A vast amount of underground water rushed toward the huge magma pool below. While a small amount could turn into water vapor, this much water was beyond that capacity.
Roaring into the magma pool, most of the water evaporated upon contact with the magma, turning into gas.
In an instant, therge amount of underground water turned into gas.
Thousands of times its original volume, in an instant, the bottom of the cave turned into what seemed like a giant air cannon.
A huge st of air surged upwards.
"Boom!"
Therge stone Zhongshan was on soared into the sky, propelled by the massive airflow. The heavy stone seemed like a bullet, ascending at a crazy speed.
Just as Tianling was about to resist Zhongshan''s "outrageous" behavior, suddenly, a loud noise came from below. Then, Tianling felt therge stone behind her suddenly rush towards her. It pressed against her and Zhongshan, squeezing their bodies together even more tightly, as if the force was trying to merge them into one.
Flying? Therge stone was flying? Therge stone was carrying us away? Tianling was stunned by this moment. Could Zhongshan really fly us out?
Then, Tianling blushed at their current position. Because the two of them were pressed chest to chest, it seemed like they were about to be one.