Liu Buli took out a magical artifact from the Qiankun bag, which Lu Wuming had snatched from someone else during their previous adventure in the secret realm.
He couldn't quite recall the name of the artifact, but it possessed the ability of instant transmission. When he first acquired it, he mostly used it to teleport his disobedient disciple away whenever Lu Wuming got too close.
However, teleporting someone to his own location was something Liu Buli hadn't done many times. Moreover, attempting it from such a great distance was a first. He himself was unsure if it would succeed.
But ultimately, this was the only way he could think of to help Lu Wuming and the others.
If they tried to escape on their own, the divine sword would surely catch up. But now that Liu Buli and You Siqi were far away from them, teleporting them directly to their location would prevent the divine sword from reacting, and it might even lose track of them.
He explained his plan to You Siqi, who immediately nodded in agreement. However, before Liu Buli could act, You Siqi nervously asked, "Will it work?"
This question echoed Liu Buli's own doubts.
After a moment of silence, Liu Buli seriously suggested, "Why don't you also extend your hand and grasp the artifact with me? From the perspective of connection, if I can bring Lu Wuming over, perhaps with you by my side, I can also bring Shen Muzhi."
Liu Buli's suggestion offered You Siqi a glimmer of hope. He immediately reached out and grasped the artifact with Liu Buli. Liu Buli channeled his spiritual energy into the artifact and began searching for Lu Wuming and Shen Muzhi's locations. Once the range of his spiritual energy expanded enough to detect them, Liu Buli activated the artifact instantly.
The surroundings flickered with light, and under the tense gaze of Liu Buli and You Siqi, several monsters that had surrounded them vanished with the flash. In their place appeared a blood-soaked Lu Wuming, and beside him, a gravely injured black cat.
The black cat was missing two of its tails, and judging by its current state, it would soon lose another. It clearly hadn't grasped what had happened. Its beautiful beast-like eyes, though dim, still gazed around in confusion.
Lu Wuming's condition wasn't any better. His one remaining arm had been severed at the shoulder. His legs were mere illusions formed by demonic energy, and the constant dripping blood indicated that they too had been recently cut off.
Both of them were in a state of bewilderment, but Liu Buli gave them no chance to recover. Confirming that both had been teleported, he threw his long sword onto the ground, enlarged and lengthened it with a spell, and then, along with the two injured individuals, sat upon it. He then turned away from the divine sword and continued to fly forward without hesitation.
He didn't know if the divine sword was pursuing them, and he dared not gamble on it. Seeing the state of Lu Wuming and Shen Muzhi, he knew that if the divine sword caught up, it would mean certain death for all four of them.
By the time they reached a place Liu Buli deemed somewhat safe, Shen Muzhi had lost another tail.
Shrinking back into a palm-sized kitten, it lay listlessly in You Siqi's palm, licking its wounds.
You Siqi's heart ached. He quickly retrieved some medicine and applied it to the wounds. Although Shen Muzhi's more pressing issue was his depleted spiritual energy, making the medicine less effective, a little extra care offered some psychological comfort.
However, the situation between Liu Buli and Lu Wuming was far from this tender scene.
Seeing Lu Wuming's condition, Liu Buli was extremely worried. But due to the recent teleportation, his own spiritual energy was severely depleted. It was already a struggle to fend off the increasing number of monsters around them. To divert any more energy to Lu Wuming, even if he wanted to, was simply impossible.
As Liu Buli anxiously wondered what to do, a powerful and domineering surge of demonic energy erupted from nearby. The aura was like blades, instantly slaying several nearby monsters. In the process, the aura devoured all the resentment and evil energy from the monsters, then retracted and launched its next attack.
There was only one person among them capable of such a feat.
Thanks to the help of the demonic energy, Liu Buli managed to free up some energy and turned to look at Lu Wuming beside him with surprise.
Lu Wuming's expression seemed much calmer, as if he had accepted his current state. He continued to use demonic energy to form legs and stand his ground, releasing more and more of it to devour the increasing number of monsters.
Just as Lu Wuming himself had said, the energy from those monsters was his sustenance and a means of progress.
At least for himself, devouring the energy from the monsters was far more effective than taking any healing medicine.
Because of this, as he continued to devour, his severed limbs began to regrow before everyone's eyes.
Perhaps due to the innate combat nature of the demon race, the first part to recover was his hands, which now bore sharp demonic claws. Then came his legs. By the time the mountain of corpses and sea of blood formed by the surrounding monsters had been completely absorbed, Lu Wuming's legs had finally returned to normal.
Furthermore, after taking a few deep breaths, when he opened his eyes again, everyone clearly saw that his beautiful eyes were now emitting a terrifying red glow.
Even in the past, when he had absorbed a large number of monsters, Lu Wuming's eyes would turn red. But this time, the palpable sense of his rationality gradually fading was reminiscent of only that one time in the evil god's cave.
Fearing that Lu Wuming might be in trouble, Liu Buli quickly reached out and grasped his hand, which hadn't yet transformed into a demonic claw.
Feeling the warmth transmitted through his palm, Lu Wuming turned to look at Liu Buli.
He then offered Liu Buli a faint smile and said, "Master, don't worry. I am immortal. Only he will die."