"The guy" Shen Muzhi mentioned was naturally the ghost with the Xi Chi longsword in his hand.
Lu Wuming did not hide anything from him when he heard his question. He directly extended his unhealed arm and said, "Better than your situation, because the Ghost King wanted to capture me alive. So he didn't try to kill me when dealing with me. It's just one arm, but it's been enough."
Seeing the broken mark on his arm, everyone's expression turned grim.
Everyone had seen how strong Lu Wuming's recovery ability was.
This was the first time a wound had not healed for such a long time.
For a moment, everyone fell silent.
Perhaps because everything before had gone too smoothly, none of them had expected such a terrifying monster to be guarding them at the end of their plan.
The only place they could hide now was the Land of Death, but hiding here indefinitely was not a long-term solution.
After all, after that brief encounter, the ghost should have realized that Liu Buli and the others were no match for him. Therefore, whether the battle took place in the Ghost City or the Land of Death, he could ensure his victory. In that case, those insignificant advantages might as well be abandoned.
"The leader of the Ghost City is the Ghost King. It's probably the Ghost King's idea to keep those ghosts within the Ghost City and have them wait there."
After a moment of silence, Liu Buli spoke. He said slowly, "However, the ghost holding the divine sword will likely report the situation of the battlefield to the Ghost King soon. By then, if the Ghost King allows him to bring the sword to the Land of Death to pursue us, we will have nowhere to hide."
What he said was the truth.
If the ghost pursued them too deeply, they would have to flee further into the Land of Death. But the problem was that there were monsters deeper within the Land of Death. If they ran too deep, those monsters' abilities might not be inferior to the divine sword held by the ghost.
Then, they would be caught between a wolf and a tiger, a true dead end.
Everyone understood this. It was precisely because of this that after hearing Liu Buli's words, their faces turned grim, and no one uttered a word of rebuttal.
In the end, Liu Buli's gaze returned to You Siqi. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Based on your experience, is there a way to deal with this Boss-level monster?"
You Siqi thought for a moment and nodded.
Meeting everyone's expectant gazes, he said, "There is a way to deal with it, but it's definitely not with our current strength. Didn't I tell you before that I arranged Xi Chi's sword as a late-game foreshadowing? Do you know what that means? It means the protagonist will only encounter this sword as an opponent when he is halfway to godhood. And even at that level, the protagonist cannot easily defeat the owner of this sword. So, considering our current state, where we are not even max level, what are our chances of winning?"
Very good.
This answer was worse than no answer.
The morale of the group was further dampened. After all, according to the answer from this author, they had no chance of winning this battle.
This couldn't go on.
Moreover, worrying about Lu Wuming's injuries, Liu Buli, who was the most intelligent among them, now looked worried and lost his ability to think.
Seeing him like this, everyone knew that they probably couldn't rely on him for now. So after another moment of silence, Shen Muzhi took the initiative to raise his hand and asked You Siqi, "Siqi, analyze if my idea is wrong. You said I would only encounter him in the late game, but when I do, he will have already spent a long time honing his skills with this divine sword. At that time, he and the sword will be one, and it will be difficult for me to fight him, which should be understandable. But according to the timeline, he shouldn't have had the divine sword for too long now. His honing with the divine sword is not yet complete. Doesn't that mean that even though our strength is weaker, we still have a chance to defeat him?"
As he said this, the group, who had already shown signs of giving up, suddenly regained their spirits. You Siqi nodded somewhat dazed, opened his mouth, wanting to offer some constructive suggestions, but didn't know where to start.
This time, it was Liu Buli who frowned. After calming down, his brain's ability to process things returned to normal. He took a few deep breaths, letting his mind settle slightly, and then he spoke, "I don't know the situation of the ghost race, but for cultivators, if they obtain a magical treasure that is far beyond their ability, and they don't properly hone it, but forcefully use it, it might be fine after one or two uses. But if they use it too many times..."
"Qi deviation!"
You Siqi and Shen Muzhi said in unison.
Liu Buli finally showed a hint of relief on his face and nodded gently. He said, "That's right. Mild cases result in qi deviation, and severe cases result in self-destruction. This is because the spiritual energy in the body is insufficient to support the operation of the magical treasure, and during combat, the flow of spiritual energy cannot be controlled. Therefore, when the magical treasure has absorbed all the spiritual energy that the host can supply, and the required spiritual energy is still not met, the magical treasure will actively begin to absorb the host's life force. This is the fundamental reason for qi deviation and direct death."
After saying this, Liu Buli turned to look at Lu Wuming. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Humans are like this, but what about the ghost race? If this magical treasure is completely overloaded, can their bodies still withstand it?"
After all, the ghost race's recovery ability was there. So, if the consumption and recovery were balanced, it might not be impossible for the host to be kept in a state of near-death.
This was their only hope, so they had to confirm it.
What finally relieved everyone was that after hearing the question, Lu Wuming was silent for a moment, then nodded. He agreed with their idea and said, "Even for the ghost race, the normal recovery ability of ghosts is not as strong as mine. So, if they forcefully use magical treasures that their strength cannot control, it's only a matter of time before they are drained by the magical treasure."
Everyone's faces lit up with joy.
However, Lu Wuming sighed and raised his still not fully recovered arm again. He said, "But in this situation, do you think the few of us are enough to push him to his limit?"