Divine Transcendence

After about the time it takes to brew a pot of tea, Chen Wan was forced to continuously retreat as the water level rose rapidly. She held Yuan Ming’s white ape beast skin and bronze longsword in her arms, her whole body pressed against the stone wall.

At this moment, the river water had already filled the entire cave, and the water level had reached Chen Wan’s waist.

Her anxiety had turned into despair, and an inevitable thought emerged: "Why am I so foolish? He won’t come back..."

After all, that guy was just a beast slave. Even if he didn’t have any accidents and really found a way out, he wouldn’t risk coming back to save her. After all, they were strangers who had met by chance.

But it was ridiculous that when she saw him leave, leaving behind the beast skin and longsword, she felt an indescribable sense of relief.

Just as Chen Wan was blaming herself, the water surface in front of her suddenly churned, and a dark figure emerged, gasping for breath.

She almost couldn’t help but cast a fireball spell at the person.

When she saw that it was an extremely ugly humanoid toad, she suddenly became excited, her eyes becoming moist.

Yuan Ming, who had rushed back, also felt surprised by the changes here, and said in a deep voice, "It seems that there was a flash flood. I almost couldn’t find your location."

"The underground river is much longer than I thought. I swam for a long time but couldn’t reach the exit." Yuan Ming shook his head and gasped for breath.

Chen Wan’s face immediately stiffened, her heart turning to ashes.

"But I found a cavity ahead, which is much larger than here. It won’t be submerged for the time being. We can rest there for a while, catch our breath, and then continue to search for a way out downstream." Yuan Ming took a deep breath and changed the subject.

"We can only give it a try." Chen Wan was speechless about Yuan Ming’s heavy breathing while speaking.

Seeing the water level gradually rising to chest level, she didn’t want to stay any longer.

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

"I haven’t practiced water techniques, so I can only hold my breath for about half an hour." Chen Wan thought for a moment and said.

At this moment, she deeply regretted discriminating against water techniques just because she was a disciple of the Fire Refining Hall. Fortunately, disciples of the Fire Refining Hall had requirements for their breath because they had to forge embryos for a long time, so her breath was not weak.

"Half an hour should be enough. Later, lie on my back, and I’ll take you underwater." After a brief thought, Yuan Ming said.

Chen Wan hesitated as she looked at Yuan Ming’s back covered in black bumps.

"With your speed, without me, you definitely won’t be able to swim that far in half an hour." Yuan Ming glanced at her and said indifferently.

Chen Wan took a deep breath and nodded.

With one hand holding Yuan Ming’s white ape beast skin and bronze longsword, and the other enduring discomfort, she placed it on Yuan Ming’s shoulder.

"Take a deep breath." Yuan Ming reminded her.

Chen Wan immediately followed his instructions.

In the next instant, Yuan Ming’s body suddenly sank, taking Chen Wan’s body with him into the water.

Yuan Ming kicked his legs outward, then forcefully closed them, and his body shot out in the direction of the water flow, swimming a distance of seven or eight zhang in an instant.

Arriving at the edge of the cave, the river water converged and flowed into a tunnel.

Without any hesitation, Yuan Ming took Chen Wan into it and swam downstream with all his strength.

Inside the cave, it was pitch black.

Chen Wan closed her eyes tightly, with only the muffled sound of water flowing in her ears. Her heart couldn’t help but speed up, and the hand grabbing onto Yuan Ming’s shoulder involuntarily tightened, her body instinctively pressing against Yuan Ming’s back.

Yuan Ming felt Chen Wan’s tension behind him and could only use both his hands and feet to swim downstream quickly.

After about the time it takes to brew a pot of tea, Chen Wan gradually adapted to the cold feeling underwater and couldn’t help but open her eyes.

However, she couldn’t see anything in the pitch-black water, only vaguely feeling the surrounding stone walls, which gave her a sense of claustrophobic fear.

After looking for a while, she closed her eyes again, feeling slightly better this way.

But at this moment, she suddenly felt something touch the back of her heel.

However, she didn’t move at all, nor did she make any kicking movements. It was impossible for her to touch anything other than water.

In that case, there must be something chasing and touching her.

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

Before she could figure it out, that touch came again, and it was much stronger than before.

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

With just one look, she was startled, almost unable to hold back her scream, and she grabbed Yuan Ming’s hand tightly.

In the dark river water behind her, a huge black shadow appeared, definitely not a fish.

Suppressing her fear, Chen Wan tightly held the beast skin and bronze longsword, and vigorously patted Yuan Ming’s back.

Yuan Ming immediately realized that something was wrong and turned his head to see what the problem was. As a result, he heard a crying sound coming from behind.

The sound was somewhat childish, but it was clear and distinct in the flowing water, entering his ears.Had it not been for the toad beast skin he was wearing, Yuan Ming would have been covered in goosebumps at this moment.

Just then, Chen Wan pressed the white ape beast skin and the bronze longsword under her body, and her internal mana began to circulate. She raised her palm and waved it behind her.

A hazy red light immediately lit up in her palm, illuminating the water behind her.

In the dim light, she saw a huge but flattened white face, with a wide-open mouth occupying a third of the face. The two bean-sized black eyeballs, on the other hand, were very small and located on the sides of the cheeks.

She was so frightened that she let out a cry, choking on water, and her breath was instantly disrupted.

The pale white face seemed to be frightened as well, and its crying became more urgent. Red and black patterns suddenly appeared on its white cheeks, and it opened its bloody mouth, biting towards Yuan Ming and Chen Wan.

Yuan Ming also saw the appearance of the creature in the moment he turned his head and thought to himself, "Is that a Tyrant Salamander?"

He immediately kicked his legs and swam forward with great force, increasing his speed and distancing himself from the ghostly creature.

However, the sound of "woo woo" behind them grew louder, and the ferocious beast resembling a Tyrant Salamander didn’t seem to want to let them go, chasing after them fiercely.

Chen Wan was so frightened that she lost her composure, her fingers tightly gripping Yuan Ming’s back, her nails digging deep into his skin. She had already choked on several mouthfuls of icy river water.

At this moment, she suddenly felt a burning pain in her ankle. When she looked back, she found that the humanoid monster’s mouth could actually spray a red, lava-like sticky liquid.

The sticky liquid stuck to her ankle, corroding a large hole in her clothes and even scalding her skin.

However, it was this intense pain that ignited Chen Wan’s fighting spirit, waking her from her panic. She reached into her sleeve and pulled out another Fire Thunder talisman.

But just as she was about to throw it, she remembered the scene when they were chased by the fire python in the cave earlier. If she threw the Fire Thunder here, whether it could kill the ferocious beast or not, the impact of the water waves alone might stun both of them.

If the cave collapsed again, they wouldn’t even need to leave their bodies behind, as they would be buried here together.

Chen Wan was extremely frustrated. It was precisely because they were in the water that her fire techniques were greatly restricted, and she couldn’t even cast a fireball.

As she hesitated, she suddenly saw Yuan Ming slow down below her, placing a hand on the stone wall.

"What is he trying to do?"

In the next instant, two green halos lit up on both sides of the stone wall behind them, and two sharp wooden spikes, each about two feet long, suddenly shot out.

"Wood Spike Technique." Chen Wan was surprised, not expecting this beast slave to know such a technique.

The pursuing Tyrant Salamander was pierced by the wooden spikes, cutting a long gash in its body, and red blood flowed out.

In pain, the creature became even more ferocious, opening its mouth and spraying out a large mass of red sticky liquid, covering Chen Wan’s body.

If she were hit, half of her back would probably be corroded.

At the critical moment, the hand Chen Wan had on Yuan Ming’s shoulder was suddenly grabbed and pulled forward, flinging her off his shoulder.

The red sticky liquid immediately fell on Yuan Ming’s back, making a "hissing" sound.

Yuan Ming endured the severe pain, swam to Chen Wan’s side, took the bronze longsword from her hand, and pushed her round and curved buttocks, sending her away.

Immediately after, Yuan Ming turned around and poured his mana into the bronze sword, slashing at the approaching Tyrant Salamander.

"Swish"

The sword’s light shone brightly, and its powerful force split the water flow, striking the Tyrant Salamander’s face directly.

The creature let out a miserable howl, and as a bloody gash opened on its face, it sprayed out another large amount of poisonous liquid, shooting towards Yuan Ming.

As Yuan Ming turned to escape, the black bumps on his back suddenly sprayed out a stream of black poisonous liquid. After dispersing into the water, it formed a connected area, surging towards the Tyrant Salamander.

The two types of poisonous liquids mixed together, slightly offsetting the corrosive poison of the salamander.

Yuan Ming took the opportunity to swim forward with all his strength, catching up with Chen Wan. He embraced her in his arms, kicked his legs vigorously, and swam forward like mad.

Behind them, the Tyrant Salamander rushed into the area where the two poisonous liquids mixed, and the water there suddenly began to boil.

The poison formed by the mixture of the two liquids was something even it couldn’t resist.

The Tyrant Salamander immediately let out continuous miserable howls, no longer having the strength to chase the two.

After this ordeal, Yuan Ming and Chen Wan’s physical strength was greatly depleted, and their breath was disrupted. Whether they could make it to the cave became uncertain.