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

Li Xingyao's breathing became heavy involuntarily, and a scorching light ignited deep within his dark pupils.

Powerful! It's no longer just about attack or defense!

Compared to these advanced skills that truly touch upon the rules and are capable of altering the battlefield environment, the "Arrow of Death" he learned cannot even be considered an application of death power. This is the true power of a necromancer! Amplifying oneself, eroding life force, as if controlling a domain!

While intermediate-level professionals have surpassed the limits of ordinary humans, they are still essentially within the realm of "biological beings." Faced with an army composed of an overwhelming number of ordinary people, or with powerful technological weapons, they still face the possibility of death.

But advanced professionals, besides the physical attributes enhanced by star energy... if they have mastered these advanced skills, they have already begun to shake the rules of the world! Their individual power is enough to influence an area, truly stepping into the "inhuman" realm.

An unprecedented desire surged within him. He wanted to master these powers! He wanted to grasp the rudimentary application of this power of rules!

However, the glaring "learning difficulty" and "estimated mastery time" following the skill description were like a bucket of cold water poured on him.

A few months? Or even a few years? That's too long. It won't take him more than 5 months to go from beginner to advanced.

"The Banner of Ten Thousand Souls..." Li Xingyao thought subconsciously. His intuition told him that the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls' subsequent abilities might bring him unexpected help in skill learning and comprehension. He thought of reshaping the spirit within the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls, but this would require him to try it later and would also require time to restore the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls' power.

The most urgent task is still soul power! The next stage of repairing the Myriad Soul Banner requires 10,000 points of soul power! And as his strength increases, the evolution of summoned creatures, the consumption of cultivation, and the increase of summoned creatures will only increase the demand for soul power.

Relying solely on the limited soul power gained from summoning ordinary undead to devour in the world of the dead each day is too inefficient and has too limited a source.

He still needs to find a new and more efficient source of soul power as a supplement.

Li Xingyao closed the skill database, his gaze returning to its calm and sharp focus. His fingertips moved rapidly across the screen, accessing the Tianjing City Public Information Inquiry System. He listed his search criteria one by one:

Location: Within the jurisdiction of Tianjing City.

Location type: Non-military restricted area, non-government core control area (entry can be applied for by citizens with Lv.3 privileges).

Key feature: Locations where large-scale, continuous biological (star beasts or ordinary animals) deaths occur.

Additional options: Priority will be given to factories and institutions that allow paid tours or have internship positions.

Excluded areas: residential areas, core business districts, and ecological protection zones.

Confirmed, search!

The data stream on the screen scrolled, filtered, and compared rapidly. A dozen seconds later, the search results were clearly displayed:

[Optimal Matching Result]:

Tianjing City Star Beast Ecological Breeding and Processing Consortium (Outer Ring AC Zone):

Location: Edge of the outer ring defense zone of Tianjing City, adjacent to the urban area defense security buffer zone.

Description: Each region has 1-2 large-scale integrated star beast breeding bases (mainly low-threat, easily tamed, and high-economic-value breeds), equipped with modern quarantine and slaughterhouses. A fixed batch of adult star beasts are slaughtered daily. Significant animal mortality occurs.

Access: Citizens with Lv.2 access can apply for a visit (advance reservation required; entry to the core aseptic cutting workshop is not permitted). There are no paid programs or fixed intern positions.

(Note: Due to the involvement of primary stellar energy materials, the internal security level is relatively high.)

Tianjing Glory Arena (Central Business District, Zone D):

Location: Outside the downtown business district.

Description: A large, comprehensive arena. In addition to professional battles, daily "Beast Fighting" performances and professional vs. Star Beast challenges are scheduled (Star Beasts range in level from beginner to advanced, mostly obtained through capture or culling from breeding farms). Star Beasts die daily.

Access: Tickets are available for viewing (prices vary).

(Note: Legendary battles are held once a month; other battles will be announced on a temporary basis.)

Tianjing City Third Food Industrial Park (North Suburb Industrial Zone):

Location: A large industrial cluster in the northern suburbs of the city.

Description: This facility houses over thirty large-scale, modern food processing plants, encompassing streamlined slaughtering and processing of poultry (both common and hybrid), livestock (both common and hybrid), and aquatic products (both common and hybrid). Daily slaughter volume is extremely high (slaughter times vary by batch).

Access: Citizens with Lv.1 access can apply to enter the industrial park's public areas and some factory areas open to the public for tours (no appointment required, registration is sufficient). Many factories offer paid tours of their production lines. Many factories are continuously recruiting assembly line workers or quality control interns (low entry requirements, easy to apply).

(Note: The deceased individuals were ordinary living beings, whose soul energy was weak but abundant in total.)

[Other alternatives]:

Tianjing City Federal Public Hospital (a large medical institution, handling daily natural and accidental deaths, involving privacy and strictly controlled).

Urban waste treatment center - organic matter incineration plant (processes diseased and dead poultry and livestock, kitchen waste, etc., with mixed and chaotic energy, low efficiency and pollution risk).

Tianjing City Vocational Training Center - a private training area. The training area is designed with specific training objectives, environment, and incentives in mind. Unexpected situations may occur during training, potentially leading to the accidental death of trainers, training materials (Star Beasts), or support personnel.

Li Xingyao's gaze lingered between the three optimal matching results, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the table, making a soft tapping sound.

The Star Beast Breeding Consortium perfectly suited his needs, as the soul energy of star beasts was undoubtedly far superior to that of ordinary poultry. However, the limitations were too great; he could only move around in the outer viewing passage, and the core area of ​​the factory was heavily guarded. The effective absorption radius of the Myriad Soul Banner was two kilometers; if the slaughter area was located far from the area Li Xingyao could reach, its effectiveness would be greatly reduced. The reservation process was also cumbersome.

The Dome Arena doesn't align well with my current needs, so I'm not considering it for now. The soul energy of high-level star beasts or contestants is tempting, but the problem lies in the uncertainty.

High-level and legendary battles are rare and unpredictable, and the souls of ordinary low-level and mid-level star beasts offer him limited improvement at present. He can go there to look for intelligent creature souls later.

The Third Food Industrial Park, at present, seems to be the most suitable choice for its needs. The target organisms have the weakest soul energy, but the number is huge, there are almost no barriers to entry, the factories are dense and easy to move, and most importantly, it can stay in the location closest to the slaughter line for a long time.

"Industrial park..." Li Xingyao murmured, his eyes gradually focusing. Efficiency! Stability! These were what he needed most right now. Even a small amount is still something, and when the quantity reaches an astronomical number, the gathered streams of soul power will be enough to form a river. He made his decision immediately.

"First, I'll go to the Star Beast Breeding Farm to verify the actual absorption effect and range limitations of the Myriad Soul Banner in an industrial environment, then I'll go to the food processing industrial park." A clear action plan formed in his mind. He needed first-hand test data to support his subsequent "soul-farming" project.

After shutting down the database, Li Xingyao changed into his outdoor clothes and prepared to leave. He didn't bring a backpack; using his personal terminal to access and record his experimental data was enough.

At 11:30 a.m., the city's electric bus brought Li Xingyao to the edge of Zone C on the outer ring of Tianjing City. He came here first because it was the closest to him. As soon as he got off the bus, a smell completely different from that in the city center hit him.

The air was filled with a faint smell of fermenting hay, the distinctive muttony odor of star beasts, and a subtle, almost imperceptible, bloody stench filtered by the system. The view was expansive; a massive alloy mesh fence enclosed a vast area, dividing it into different breeding zones.

You can see groups of rock-skinned pigs, several sizes larger than their counterparts in the previous life, rolling around in the mud, or horned sheep with spiral horns and thick wool grazing on specially made energy pasture.

In the distance, several massive silver-gray factory buildings, like crouching metal behemoths, mark the processing area.

Li Xingyao walked to the "Visitor Registration Center" next to the main entrance of the breeding cooperative. He showed his citizen ID and Lv.3 access certificate, and the smart terminal quickly scanned and authenticated him.

"Mr. Li Xingyao, welcome to the Seventh Consortium. Your visit is now authorized. You may proceed along the green directional path. The authorized area is the outer viewing corridor. Please do not approach the yellow warning line or enter the production area."

Your safety will be ensured by security robot G-774. Have a pleasant visit. ” An electronic synthesized voice sounded, and a gate slid open, revealing a tracked security robot equipped with basic monitors and a low-powered deterrent sonic generator, which silently slid to his side.

Li Xingyao nodded calmly and stepped inside. He didn't choose to take the internal sightseeing shuttle bus, but instead walked along the fully transparent observation corridor that surrounded the factory area, more than five meters above the ground. The view from here was excellent, taking in the breeding area below and part of the factory buildings in the distance.

He walked casually, his gaze sweeping over the star beasts below and the factory in the distance, but in reality, a portion of his mind was immersed in his sea of ​​consciousness, communicating with the Myriad Soul Banner, spreading his perception out to the maximum extent like an invisible spider web.

The ancient banner of the Ten Thousand Souls trembled slightly, emanating a wave of longing. An invisible suction force, centered on Li Xingyao, quietly enveloped an area with a radius of two thousand meters!

hum...

From Li Xingyao's perspective, countless extremely faint, almost transparent specks of light, like fireflies summoned, drifted up from the direction of the distant slaughterhouse.

These points of light are small and dim, most of them appearing as a murky grayish-white, with only a very few points of light from the powerful star beasts carrying a faint, almost imperceptible pale yellow glow.

These are the fragments of souls that have just died or have already died! Every day, weak, culled, or slaughter-ready star beasts are sent to the slaughter line at the breeding farm.