Everyone felt a little more at ease upon hearing Liu Buli's words. They understood his meaning; it seemed he had used the artifact in his hand to pinpoint the ghost's location, which was precisely where they wanted it to be.
To swap positions with the monster on the other side, their flying swords had to land on the ground.
Seeing the ground already swarming with monsters, Shen Muzhi's expression was rather grim. However, since they had decided to face this, his hesitation was now unnecessary.
Taking a couple of deep breaths, Shen Muzhi directly guided his long sword back to the ground.
At the same time, Liu Buli had already swiftly activated the artifact in his hand. Lu Wuming's position suddenly shifted, his figure seeming to flicker for a moment. When the flicker ended, the spot where he had stood was now occupied by an ugly-looking monster. Liu Buli himself didn't have the energy to deal with the monsters; he was still remotely observing Lu Wuming's situation. Fortunately, Shen Muzhi kept his promise. Not only the monster that had just been teleported in but also the surrounding circle of monsters that had closed in were all cleanly eliminated by him.
For Shen Muzhi to protect two people while also attacking the monsters was indeed quite difficult in his current state. Thus, although he cleared the monsters quickly, his injuries were not spared. The Karmic Fire Red Lotus bloomed wildly around the few individuals, its flames seemingly capable of burning everything in existence, a testament to Shen Muzhi's utmost effort.
You Siqi watched from the side, her heart aching. It was a pity she couldn't say anything. She knew everyone was pushing themselves beyond their limits. And since only one of them was bearing the brunt of the effort, any further expression of her concern would be inappropriate.
As Shen Muzhi rapidly dealt with the monsters, Liu Buli once again activated the artifact in his hand. This time, he sent away a few monsters near them and brought back Lu Wuming, who had been sent to fight the ghost. The situation was much better than before. Lu Wuming had only a wound on his chest; the rest of his body was intact. Seeing that both his ghost claws were still attached to his arms, Liu Buli breathed a sigh of relief. He asked anxiously, "Did it have any effect?"
"Just as I thought, it really startled him," Lu Wuming nodded, his tone full of smugness. "However, his reaction speed was a little better than I anticipated, so my attack didn't cause him too much damage. But if we repeat this a few more times from different directions and positions, he definitely won't be able to withstand it." After all, everyone knew that whether it was a ghost or a cultivator, their state of mind was the most crucial element. If one couldn't stabilize their mind while controlling an artifact far beyond their capabilities, it was only a matter of time before they suffered a backlash and fell into demonic possession.
Lu Wuming had quite a few wounds, but after rapidly absorbing the malevolent thoughts and malice from the monsters Shen Muzhi had killed, his not-so-severe injuries quickly returned to normal. He exchanged a glance with Liu Buli, and Liu Buli held his breath and activated the artifact once more.
Concurrently, the distant ghost sensed the disturbance around him, but he had no time to react. Lu Wuming appeared behind him without warning, raising his blade-like ghost claws and slashing viciously towards his neck. He had tried his best to dodge to the side, but the ghost claws were too fast, and the distance between them was too short. Even with considerable evasion, the ghost's neck still bore a deep gash from Lu Wuming's attack. Almost half of his neck was severed, and his head hung askew. He stared in Lu Wuming's direction, and judging by his aura, this blow, though causing him to bleed profusely, was not enough to kill him.
Ignoring his own injuries, he was clearly enraged by the current situation. He directly raised his long sword and fiercely slashed towards Lu Wuming. Unfortunately, as his sword energy approached Lu Wuming, his body flickered, and the spot where he should have been standing was now occupied by an ugly monster. The monster seemed confused as to why it had appeared there. Thus, when the divine sword descended, the monster had no time to dodge. Blood splattered, and the monster's body was cleaved in two.
Despite being certain of his opponent's demise, the rage from being ambushed did not diminish in the slightest. He could no longer sense Lu Wuming's presence. To vent his anger, he could only continue to attack the corpse before him. Even after reducing the monster to mince, his hatred did not subside. The wound on his neck was slowly healing, but due to his continuous fighting and the sword's power-draining aura, the healing speed became increasingly slow, almost negligible. Realizing this, the ghost's rage intensified. The surrounding monsters continued to swarm him, seemingly believing he was at the end of his strength and could be easily killed with a little more effort. All he could do was constantly resist the monsters' attacks. He couldn't even spare the energy to search for Lu Wuming's location, which only fueled his anger further.
With another sword strike that cleared the approaching monsters, the ghost randomly chose a direction and roared with fury, "Lu Wuming! If you're a man, fight me honorably! What kind of shamelessness is it to keep resorting to sneak attacks!?"
"Shameless, but at least I win," Lu Wuming's voice suddenly came from beside him. The ghost was startled. At the same time, a ghost claw seized his throat. With a light "crack," the bones in his neck snapped completely, and his head fell to the ground.