Another World: When a Necromancer Possesses the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls

Li Xingyao could even feel that his five senses had become more acute under the continuous tempering of the star energy. The trajectory of dust floating in the air and the hum of energy flow in the distant pipes became exceptionally clear.

His star energy had been restored, and his spirit had been rekindled and replenished. Li Xingyao slowly opened his eyes, his dark pupils shining brightly in the dim light of the training room. He silently recited to himself, "Preparation complete."

"Evolve Summon!"

In the sea of ​​consciousness, the ancient banner of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner floated quietly, while in the space of the dead, five strangely shaped skeleton warriors stood silently. They were the result of their unexpected evolution in Lin Wei's training ground today.

Their skeletons were noticeably thicker, nearly a quarter larger than those of ordinary skeleton warriors, and had a greyish-white hue reminiscent of aged ivory, making them appear even more robust. Most striking were the weapons they wielded—no longer rusted, pitted iron plates, but longswords with sleek lines, crafted entirely from some kind of dense bone structure!

The sword is long and narrow, gleaming with a cold, hard luster. It is single-edged, with a sharp point as sharp as a needle, exuding a simple yet deadly sense of lethality! The spine of the sword even faintly reveals natural reinforcing veins that resemble bone texture, clearly giving it greater toughness and lethality than ordinary bone weapons.

"Skeleton Swordsmen..." A name naturally surfaced in Li Xingyao's mind, as if whispered from his soul. He could clearly sense their state; the ghostly blue soul fire burning in their empty eye sockets seemed more condensed and active, conveying a fighting instinct that made them clearly more powerful than skeleton warriors.

"Give it a try!" Li Xingyao's mind raced, and his mental power instantly locked onto an ordinary, unevolved skeleton warrior in the undead space. It still retained the appearance it had when it was first summoned, with a relatively slender frame, holding a short sword covered in rusted chips, and the ghostly blue soul fire in its eye sockets was weak but steady, like an oil lamp that could be extinguished at any moment in the wind.

The Banner of Communication with Ten Thousand Souls!

hum!

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, the ancient banner glowed faintly, and a pure, cold soul force imbued with a dense aura of death was activated. This power, like an invisible stream, flowed along Li Xingyao's spiritual connection, surging into the undead space and directly injecting into the body of the ordinary skeleton warrior who had been locked onto!

The instant the soul power touched the core soul fire of the skeleton warrior, a faint, electric-like mental feedback instantly surged upwards and into Li Xingyao's consciousness!

"Excitement...longing...satisfaction..."

This feedback is extremely simple and primal, like a newborn baby's instinctive reaction to food, without any complex thinking, only the purest emotional fluctuations! But these emotions are incredibly clear!

Li Xingyao felt a sudden sense of relief; his tense nerves relaxed, as if a huge boulder had been lifted from his heart. Communication was possible! This proved his guess was entirely correct, and it also meant that this evolutionary process itself was positive for the summoned creatures, even something they desired!

"Continue!" Without further hesitation, he activated his will, and the soul power stored in the Myriad Soul Banner surged forth like a flood bursting its banks, pouring even more fiercely into the skeleton warrior!

As soul power continued to be poured in, astonishing changes appeared on the skeleton warrior!

Its skeleton began to emit a faint, visible grayish-white light! This light was not intense, but rather like flowing moonlight, carrying a cold, bone-deep sense of transformation.

Enveloped in this light, every bone that makes up its body seems to be re-carved by an invisible sculptor! Dense and subtle "crackling" sounds emanate from inside the bones, like ice and snow melting, or like metal and stone being reshaped.

The originally relatively slender arm and leg bones expanded and thickened at a visible speed, becoming more dense, and the surface showed fine, reinforced textures like those of metal after quenching, exuding a sense of tough strength!

The vertebrae became thicker and more stable, the joint spaces at the junctions seemed to be narrowing, and the structure became more integrated, supporting a more powerful transmission of force. Overall height also increased, growing from about 1.7 meters to nearly 1.9 meters in just over ten seconds!

The skeletal structure has become more harmonious, with broad shoulders and long arms, exuding a balance of power and speed.

And its weapon! The rusted short sword, enveloped in the light of soul power, was being reshaped like metal thrown into a furnace! The rust peeled off like withered leaves, and the pits were smoothed and filled by an invisible force.

The blade was stretched and shaped to become longer and narrower, eventually becoming a bone sword over 1.2 meters long, made entirely of gray-white bone material, with a single-edged blade and an extremely sharp point!

The sword has a smooth blade with a cold, flowing light. Reinforced veins also appear along the spine of the sword, and the hilt has become more compatible with the newly grown, thicker finger bones. The sound of wind breaking can be heard when it is swung.

The reshaping process lasted approximately three minutes. As the last wisp of soul power merged into the skeleton warrior's core soul fire, its light receded like a tide. A brand new "Skeleton Swordsman" stood silently in the undead realm!

It stands nearly 1.9 meters tall, with a robust and powerful frame. The grayish-white surface of its bones gleams with a cold, hard luster, like an alloy forged through countless hammer blows, exuding an oppressive sense of power.

Deep within the hollow eye sockets, the eerie blue soul fire was much more solid and brighter than before its evolution, burning steadily and radiating a colder, more restrained presence, as if it contained a faint sense of combat wisdom.

He gripped a narrow bone sword tightly in both hands. The sword had a simple design, smooth lines, and was made entirely of finely polished bone. The single blade gleamed with a chilling light.

Success! A brand new, even more powerful undead creature has been born!

An immense joy, like the sun breaking through the dark clouds, instantly illuminated Li Xingyao's heart! His previous doubts, worries, and assumptions were now confirmed! The Myriad Soul Banner granted him not only the right to summon undead creatures, but also the terrifying ability to evolve them!

This is not just a leap in combat power, but also means that the summoned creatures in his hands will no longer be static! They can grow and evolve with him, becoming a true, ever-strengthening undead army!

"The plan is feasible!" Li Xingyao murmured to himself, his eyes gleaming. This was far more valuable than he had imagined! This wasn't just a simple upgrade; it was the potential to create a powerful and rapidly growing elite undead force!

However, an even more enticing thought immediately crept in like a vine: could the skeleton swordsmen, who had already evolved once, go even further? Where did their potential end?

In an instant, his will locked onto the earliest evolved and currently most solidified skeletal swordsman in the undead realm. He connected with the Myriad Soul Banner, and pure soul power surged forth once more, attempting to continuously inject it into its soul fire core, just as before!

"Buzz..."

The instant the soul power surged in, a completely different mental feedback suddenly came! It was no longer excitement and desire, but a feeling of... fullness! A feeling of "rejection" as if the container was full and could no longer hold any more!

The feedback was crystal clear, carrying a hint of instinctive resistance, and even a slight sense of "discomfort," as if forcibly injecting it would have negative consequences.

Li Xingyao's heart sank, and he immediately stopped pouring soul power into the skeleton swordsman. The soul fire of the skeleton swordsman only flickered slightly before stabilizing, and the skeleton and bone sword showed no change or other reaction.

Li Xingyao carefully sensed it and found that the core soul fire of the skeleton swordsman was like a cup that was already full of water. Forcibly pouring more water would only cause it to overflow, and might even damage the structure of the cup itself.

"It's 'full'..." Li Xingyao frowned slightly, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the cold ground. "Has it reached its limit at this stage and can't be strengthened any further for the time being? Or... has its evolutionary potential in this form been exhausted? It shouldn't be. It seems that I can only wait until my own strength breaks through, or until the Myriad Soul Banner is repaired to a higher stage, before trying to carry out the next round of evolution."

There's no solution to this problem for now; it requires time to verify. He decided to put it aside for the time being and try again when his soul power was more abundant and his condition more stable. Perhaps, when the Myriad Soul Banner completes its first stage of repair, a new answer will emerge.

Pulling his scattered thoughts back, Li Xingyao focused his consciousness into the core of the Myriad Soul Banner. He needed to accurately calculate the cost of this evolution. His mind sank into the ancient banner surface, carefully sensing the changes in the reserve of soul power within.

Soul Power Reserves: 590/1000.

"20 points of soul power..." Li Xingyao murmured the number, slightly surprised. Evolving an ordinary skeleton warrior into a skeleton swordsman required less soul power than he had expected!

Only 20 points! You should know that there are currently only six Skeleton Swordsmen in the Undead Space, including the one that just evolved (five evolved unexpectedly before, plus the one that just successfully evolved).

If he continues to evolve the remaining ordinary skeleton warriors, with the number of ordinary skeleton warriors he currently possesses (including the redundancy from the previous summons, there are about fifteen or sixteen left), even if he evolves them all, it will only require a little over three hundred soul power, which is well within his acceptable range!

This is an incredibly cost-effective investment!

An impulse surged through him instantly—to immediately upgrade all the ordinary skeleton warriors into skeleton swordsmen! An elite squad of skeleton swordsmen, coupled with his own ever-improving spellcasting abilities, would absolutely sweep aside most of his peers in the upcoming final exams!

It will no longer be an unattainable goal! He could almost see himself standing on the podium, at the top of the leaderboard.

By achieving a high ranking in the final exams, Li Xingyao can gain access to greater authority within government agencies, given his status as a descendant of a hero, and also obtain more resources at universities.

The idea was extremely tempting, and after considering it for a while, Li Xingyao temporarily abandoned the plan.

He slowly shook his head, his eyes regaining their clarity.

"No," he whispered to himself, his voice echoing in the silent training room. "We can't do it that way. We need to...think long-term."