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

The fragments of information fed back when the snakes devoured their souls indicated that this puddle was their core hunting ground, and that there was a "small pool" nearby that they guarded, with some kind of luminous crystal fragments settled at the bottom. This information drew Li Xingyao's attention.

As the sun began to set again, it painted the sky a brilliant orange-red. Night was falling, and fearing the possibility of encountering powerful, solitary star beasts hunting, Li Xingyao ordered a halt to the advance and ordered them to choose a nearby sturdy ruin as their camp for the night.

The trailer was already piled high with various spoils of war: fangs, furs, claws, venom glands... a dazzling array of finds that far exceeded yesterday's harvest. He even ordered the skeleton warriors to discard some of the less valuable meat to save space, preparing to load more precious materials later.

The undead forces deployed around the camp, and the skeleton warriors began sorting and binding the spoils on the trailers to prevent them from falling off on the return journey. Li Xingyao walked to the small pond guarded by withered vine snakes.

The pool water was clear, and he ordered a skeleton warrior to go into the water and scoop up some small, fragmented crystals that emitted a faint blue-white fluorescent light from the bottom of the pool.

"This is... Star Glow Ore Fragments?" Li Xingyao recognized the substance. It contained a faint amount of pure star energy, which, although far inferior to star cores, was still a decent energy amplifier and could be used to make low-level star energy equipment or certain alchemical catalysts.

It seems the withered vine snake uses this place as its nest, relying on the energy released from these debris to inhabit it. He carefully collected these debris; although there wasn't much, it was useful.

As night fell and the campfire was lit, Li Xingyao used dry branches and compressed fuel to roast the leg meat of the boar he had caught that day. The fat dripped into the fire, sizzling and filling the air with the aroma of meat. While eating the roasted meat, he tallied up the day's total harvest and simultaneously examined the Myriad Souls Banner in his mind.

The reserves of soul power have reached an astonishing level! The daytime frenzy of hunting and devouring brings massive soul power gains.

More importantly, during the daytime cleanup, he discovered and killed a "Thunder-Patterned Boar" that was about to evolve and had a significantly different size and strength, and finally obtained a long-awaited star core from its head!

It is the size of a pigeon egg, pale yellow in color, with fine arc-shaped patterns inside. When it circulates, it emits pure energy fluctuations. This is a low-level "electric" attribute star core!

Holding the warm, smooth crystal and feeling the immense energy within, Li Xingyao couldn't help but smile. All the effort and risks of this trip had paid off handsomely at this moment!

"One star core is enough to cover all the materials we've gathered so far, with some left over..." He carefully put the star core into his inner pocket. Instead of absorbing it immediately, he planned to save it for when he returned to camp, to avoid any accidents during absorption.

After finishing dinner and arranging for the undead to keep watch, Li Xingyao entered meditation again. After a day of hunting, his star energy was nearly half depleted, even though he mainly fought with undead.

If he fought on his own, his gains might not be even a tenth of what they are now. His current achievements are already equivalent to more than a month's worth of gains for some hunters.

Feeling the stellar energy within his body and the abundant soul power in his sea of ​​consciousness, he was filled with even greater anticipation for tomorrow's cleanup plan.

Li Xingyao planned to make the most of his current advantages. He mainly used the star energy he recovered each day to summon undead creatures. Although he only summoned ordinary skeleton-type undead, he expected that if he could expand his team, he could clear the plains in a little over a week.

The wealth contained in this plain should be enough to propel him to an advanced professional! This would allow him to graduate at either the early or late advanced level, which should yield a substantial reward.

Furthermore, one's own wealth will also affect the speed at which one advances to become a super professional. Although advancing to super is no longer simply a matter of accumulating star energy, having more resources prepared is definitely beneficial.

The next morning, Li Xingyao woke up early again. After a night's rest, his star energy had fully recovered, and it had even improved due to the battles of the past few days.

Without hesitation, he immediately began a new round of summoning. Yesterday's battle had proven the crucial importance of ranged firepower, and the skeleton warriors, as cannon fodder and laborers, were being consumed rapidly.

With abundant star energy, he summoned another thirty skeleton spearmen and forty skeleton warriors. The undead army reached one hundred and eighty! The vast expanse of gray-white bones almost covered the outer perimeter of the temporary camp.

After a quick meal, the team set off again. Today's goal was to advance westward and clear another relatively intact section of the factory ruins.

The ruins in this area are more densely packed, with tall broken walls and twisted metal frames creating a complex terrain that makes it easier for star beasts to hide.

Li Xingyao adjusted the tactics, dividing the team into three echelons: the first echelon consisted of crocodile-skinned zombies and skeleton sword guards, forming an assault team to clear the interiors of large buildings; the second echelon consisted of skeleton warriors, forming a sweeping team to follow and collect loot; and the third echelon of ranged units were dispersed to occupy various high points to provide fire support and early warning.

Later, inside a partially collapsed factory, they encountered a nest of "Ironclad Weasels." These star beasts were not large, but their bodies were covered with scales as hard as metal, which were difficult to penetrate with ordinary bone spears.

They utilize the complex terrain to launch continuous surprise attacks, and their incredibly powerful teeth can easily crush the leg bones of skeleton warriors.

Li Xingyao immediately changed tactics, ordering the zombie squad to forcefully break through the wall to create an entrance. This allowed more units to enter, while the spearmen concentrated their fire on the relatively vulnerable eyes and abdomen of the armored weasel. The sword guards were responsible for close-quarters combat, specifically targeting the joints.

The battle lasted a full hour, and in the end, the undead forces annihilated the troublesome star beasts at the cost of fifteen skeleton warriors and three sword guards being damaged.

However, the gains were also considerable. The scales of the Ironclad Weasel were excellent materials for making light armor, and their teeth and claws were even more valuable. In addition, they gained more than 400 soul power.

This battle made Li Xingyao realize that the Crocodile Armor Zombies were very useful in this complex terrain. So he consumed most of his Star Energy and 800 Soul Power to summon and upgrade 10 Crocodile Armor Zombies.

Because the battle with the Ironclad Weasel in the morning was quite intense, and Li Xingyao summoned another wave of zombies, he took a break.

In the afternoon, the team advanced to a relatively open plaza area, which used to be the center of the factory area but was now overgrown with waist-high weeds. Li Xingyao keenly sensed the unusual silence in this area.

Sure enough, when the first group of zombies stepped into the center of the square, something unexpected happened!

The ground suddenly trembled violently! Accompanied by a deafening roar, a giant star beast over five meters long burst out of the ground! It resembled an enlarged pangolin, but its back was covered with obsidian-like crystalline carapace, its six pairs of thick limbs ended in huge claws for digging, and its head had no eyes but only a huge mouth covered with spiraling teeth!

"Crystal Armored Earth Dragon!" Li Xingyao's heart skipped a beat. This was a relatively rare high-level star beast, known for its defensive capabilities and digging abilities. It usually lived deep underground and rarely appeared on the surface. It seemed that their large-scale operation had alerted this underground creature.

As its entire body emerged from underground, the Crystal Armored Earth Dragon let out a deafening roar and charged towards the nearest zombie squad! Despite its enormous size, it was incredibly fast, its six pairs of limbs moving in alternating motion to generate astonishing propulsion!

"Everyone retreat! Ranged units, focus your attacks on the leg joints! Zombies, don't take the impact head-on!" Li Xingyao roared as he focused all his energy on conjuring the Arrow of Death.

But the earth dragon's defense was far beyond imagination! Bone spears struck its crystallized carapace, some of which were deflected, leaving only shallow white marks. Even the arrows of death could only corrode a small pit in its carapace, failing to cause serious damage; the crystal-armored earth dragon was simply too large.

With a swipe of its massive claws, the earth dragon sent a crocodile-skinned zombie flying, its thick skin torn away to reveal the bones beneath. Another zombie tried to retreat from the side, but a tail whip from the earth dragon shattered half of its body!

Li Xingyao's pupils contracted; this star beast's power far exceeded his expectations. He immediately changed tactics: "All units, spread out! Maintain distance! Melee undead, stay away! Ranged attackers, continue attacking its leg joints! Skeleton hunters, aim for its mouth!"

Although the earth dragon has a strong defense, it is relatively clumsy in turning. After Li Xingyao commanded the undead army to disperse, it began to take advantage of its numbers and harass and attack from all directions.

The sword guards began to use their agile movements to dodge the earth dragon's attacks, which made the crystal-armored earth dragon's attacks less deadly than before, and also caused it to become agitated.

The skeleton hunter patiently waited for an opportunity, and whenever the earth dragon opened its huge mouth to roar, it concentrated its firepower to shoot inside. The crystal-armored earth dragon's oral cavity defense was very weak, and these attacks made it even more agitated.

This battle of attrition lasted a full hour. When the earth dragon finally slowed down due to blood loss and exhaustion, Li Xingyao seized the opportunity and ordered all the remaining zombies to swarm forward and attack, while the skeleton warriors clung tightly to its limbs and tail.

At the same time, he concentrated all his mental energy and shot out an unprecedentedly huge arrow of death, which precisely pierced the earth dragon's mouth and went straight inside as it roared anxiously!

The earth dragon let out a final, mournful cry, struggled violently for a few moments, and then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

700 Soul Power! This is the strongest soul power Li Xingyao has ever obtained.

The skeleton warriors stepped forward and carefully broke open the carapace of the dragon's head. Inside the steaming brain tissue, a fist-sized star core, emitting an earthy yellow glow and with natural crystalline veins on its surface, lay quietly.

A high-grade star core! And it's the star core of the Crystal Armored Earth Dragon, renowned for its defensive capabilities; its value exceeds 100 million credits. Furthermore, since high-grade star cores can be used to craft super-powered equipment, their price will likely be even higher!

Li Xingyao carefully put away the star core, his excitement beyond words. This star core was enough to keep him from worrying about credits for a short period of time.

However, the cost was also extremely high. The undead army lost more than a third of its units, especially the Crocodile Skin Zombies, which served as the core meat shields; only four remained intact.

Li Xingyao began to arrange for the skeleton warriors to skin the Crystal Armored Earth Dragon. This was the most valuable material on its body besides the Star Core. Given its size, these crystal armor skins were worth at least 20 credits.