At this moment, Xu Lang felt an intense heat behind him; he guessed that the fire beetle swarm was no more than ten meters away from him and Shirley Yang.
Fortunately, there was an underground river ahead; if it weren't for the proximity of the underground river to the Nine-Tiered Demon Tower, everyone here would likely struggle to survive.
When the two reached the riverbank, everyone had already plunged into the water, leaving behind ripples that spread continuously, while Xu Lang pulled Shirley Yang into the deeper part of the river.
Xu Lang held Shirley Yang tightly and quickly dove towards the riverbed, but he noticed that Shirley Yang's face was extremely pale, her delicate features flushed red from holding her breath.
Seeing this, Xu Lang immediately understood the reason and felt a bit helpless in his heart.
In fact, Shirley Yang wasn't running slowly, but compared to Xu Lang, she still fell short.
Shirley Yang had been dragged along by Xu Lang, gasping for breath, and before she could take a deep breath, she was pulled directly into the underground river, naturally unable to hold on for long underwater.
Seeing that Shirley Yang was at her limit, Xu Lang helplessly moved closer to her, then blocked her mouth with his, forcefully passing air to her, fearing she might float to the surface, so he could only use his legs to clamp down on her ample backside and push downwards.
The two were pressed tightly together, and Xu Lang felt as if two mountains were crushing his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe.
At this moment, Xu Lang had only one thought: he absolutely could not let Shirley Yang surface, he could not let her be in danger, so he continued to pass air to her again and again.
The benefits of cultivating immortality were revealed for the first time underwater.
Even though Xu Lang had lived two lives and had many teachers teaching him knowledge through screens, he considered himself experienced, but he had never truly practiced.
Xu Lang never expected that Shirley Yang's figure would surpass Yingzi's, making him feel an impulse to never let go.
With such a figure and that face, which old man could resist?
Above the river, the fire beetles continued their suicide attacks.
The fire beetles, glowing blue, died upon contact with water, but they also caused the surrounding temperature to rise rapidly, creating a thick mist of steam.
Only when the fire beetles finally ceased their suicide attacks and flew away after circling in the air did Xu Lang reluctantly release Shirley Yang, only then realizing that he and Shirley Yang were actually the last to surface.
Shirley Yang gasped for air, her face flushed as she looked at Xu Lang, unable to say a word.
Xu Lang pointed at the numerous fire beetle corpses on the water's surface and said, "No need to thank me; it was all unavoidable, you understand..."
Hearing Xu Lang's nonchalant words, Shirley Yang held back her urge to strike him and muttered, "I believe you, right? Then explain why you were sticking your tongue out underwater?"
Before Xu Lang could respond, Shirley Yang picked up the bag she had dropped earlier, which contained her notebook.
Xu Lang actually wanted to say that it was all instinctive and uncontrollable, but he ultimately chose to remain silent; it wasn't the right time to say anything.
Besides, what was wrong with taking advantage of saving her life?
Was there a problem with that? Of course not.
At this moment, the fat guy exclaimed, "The big guy is hurt; he got hit on the back by a fire beetle!"
Seeing this, everyone hurried over to help, dragging the big guy to the opposite riverbank, all of them panting heavily.
Old Hu was about to check the big guy's injuries when Xu Lang suddenly said, "Everyone, hurry and leave here; a super-large monster is coming. If you don't want to die, rush to the camp, and remember, no one is allowed to shoot or look back."
Although Old Hu didn't know what was happening, he trusted Xu Lang and quickly urged everyone to get ashore and leave.
The fat guy suddenly said, "Where did the wind come from? Damn, there's something in the water, it's huge!"
Xu Lang quickly drew the sword from his back and urged, "Quick, quick, quick, everyone go; I'll hold them off!"
However, the thing in the water was moving too fast; just as everyone had run a dozen meters, a gigantic monster emerged from the water.
Its two eyes were like giant lanterns, its head resembling an enormous frog's head magnified countless times, and its body was like a massive crocodile, its skin shimmering with colorful scales, its enormous form at least ten meters long.
Suddenly, Professor Chen's voice came from afar: "Xu, run quickly; that's a prehistoric giant salamander; this creature should have been extinct long ago!"
Xu Lang didn't look back and shouted, "Old Hu, quickly drag the people away; the commotion here will likely attract the fire beetles."
At that moment, a blood-red tongue suddenly struck out, at least three meters long; Xu Lang sidestepped and slashed, the sharp edge of his sword instantly splitting the giant salamander's tongue in two, dark green blood spraying out.
The giant salamander let out a piercing scream; due to its injured tongue, the massive creature became extremely frenzied, its enormous tail sweeping through with incredible speed. If Xu Lang hadn't retreated quickly, he would have been unable to withstand that blow.
Hearing the giant salamander's scream, Xu Lang thought to himself that it was bad; he figured Old Hu must have already pulled them away, and he felt no further concerns.
With a wave of his hand, Xu Lang unleashed a series of sword lights, sending out dozens of sword beams several zhang long, forming a massive sword net, then quickly ran towards the great ravine; he couldn't afford to delay any longer.
This prehistoric giant salamander was incredibly fast and an amphibious creature; Xu Lang worried that a single sword beam might not hit, so he aimed to seal off all its escape routes, letting it experience what indiscriminate attacks felt like.
The razor-sharp sword light flashed like flowing light, instantly slicing the enormous prehistoric giant salamander into dozens of pieces. Xu Lang glanced back, very satisfied with the result, then hurriedly continued running forward without looking back.
The Qing Yuan Sword Technique was indeed powerful, but its enhancement to the body was relatively limited; although his physique far exceeded that of an ordinary person, he still hadn't transcended the realm of mortals.
Upon reflection, this was the only slight drawback.
When Xu Lang reached the bottom of the ravine, he found Gawa limping along, while Old Hu was descending from above.
Shirley Yang was the same; she was descending while looking at Gawa below, also intending to save him.
Seeing this, Xu Lang hurriedly shouted, "You two hurry and climb up; I'll take Gawa up with me; those bugs will be here soon."
Seeing Xu Lang return safely, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Old Hu shouted, "I'll go up first and then pull you up together."
With no time to spare for Old Hu, Xu Lang tied him and Gawa together with a rope and began to climb up with all his strength.
Gawa weighed over a hundred jin; even though Xu Lang's physique had greatly improved, it still had some effect. After all, climbing up with someone on his back was different from just walking, and the rope was a bit thin; he hadn't used a safety rope when he came down because it was too much trouble.
When Xu Lang had climbed about halfway, he could vaguely see the fire beetles' distinctive blue glow, making him feel even more anxious. He secretly planned that if it came to it, he would collapse the mountain wall to stop those fire beetles.
Or he could forcibly activate his divine powers to use the protective sword shield that could only be cultivated in the Foundation Establishment stage.
Of course, Xu Lang hadn't mastered the protective sword shield, but he could consume a large amount of spiritual energy to form a protective barrier, which was a simplified version of the protective sword shield.
Even as a simplified version, it should be sufficient to defend against these fire beetles.
Gawa urged, "Brother Xu, a blizzard is coming; you need to go up and don't worry about me."
The cold wind grew stronger, making it hard to keep one's eyes open; it was relatively better below, but the cold wind still felt increasingly fierce.
Xu Lang shouted, "Stop talking nonsense; hold on tight to me and don't move around."
If Xu Lang abandoned Gawa, he could definitely make it up, but he absolutely wouldn't do that. During that massive disaster, it was the Chinese soldiers who risked their lives to save him, and the aftershocks of the earthquake hadn't made them give up on him either.
Just as Xu Lang was about to use sword light to collapse the mountain wall, a sudden pulling force came from above, making him feel much lighter. Taking advantage of this force, he quickly climbed up, his speed at least doubled.
Rumble!
Countless ice particles mixed with the heavy snow, and the howling wind sounded like wailing ghosts, making it impossible to keep one's eyes open.
At that moment, the mountain suddenly erupted with violent tremors, and endless ice and snow began to fall from the mountain.
In that instant, everyone knew that things had taken a turn for the worse.
Professor Hao shouted loudly, "Everyone, hurry and leave here; throw away everything unimportant; it will be too late if you wait any longer!"
Old Hu ignored Professor Hao and, along with the fat guy, pulled the rope with all their might. Shirley Yang was also helping to drag, while the others didn't want to help; in such a situation, too many people would only hinder progress, and their strength couldn't be focused in one place.
Although they couldn't help, no one chose to leave first and abandon their companions; no one could do that, including Professor Hao, who shouted the loudest. He was also watching closely, but since he couldn't help, he was so anxious that he didn't know where to put his hands.
Just before the ice and snow buried the great ravine, Xu Lang finally climbed up with Gawa. Without hesitation, everyone quickly dragged Gawa, who was on Xu Lang's back, away.
At this moment, they still hadn't escaped danger; they didn't need to worry about the fire beetles below, but the threat of being buried by the blizzard still loomed.
PS: I can't hold on any longer; I'm going to take a nap and will continue updating after I wake up in the afternoon. I ask all the big shots for collections and flowers; thank you!