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

hum...

A stream of soul fragments, noticeably thicker and more concentrated than the one seen in the visitor passage that afternoon, surged into the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls like iron filings attracted by a magnet, penetrating physical barriers!

Soul Power +0.05… +0.08… +0.03… +0.07… +0.01…

Although individual fragments are still weak, their greater quantity and higher frequency make up for it! In just five minutes, the increase in soul power reported by consciousness exceeded 40 points! This efficiency is close to the level of spending ten minutes in the visitor corridor of a poultry factory this afternoon!

"It's done!" Li Xingyao felt relieved and immediately withdrew the suction force of the Myriad Soul Banner. Verification successful! Efficiency has significantly improved within the factory area or near the core area!

As night deepened, the streetlights in the industrial park lit up one by one. Li Xingyao turned around and joined the flow of people leaving get off work, heading towards the bus stop outside the industrial park. His steps were steady and light; the slight fatigue from a day's work had long been dispelled by a sense of accomplishment and a clear plan for the future.

Sitting on the electric bus on the way back, the city's neon lights flowed past the window. Li Xingyao closed his eyes to rest, but the plan in his mind was rapidly being perfected:

Recruitment Targets: Select the largest pig or poultry processing plants in the industrial park with the highest slaughter volume, and apply for entry through the system using the bio-observation practice method. The application should specify that the applicant needs to patrol and walk around the plant area, covering a relatively large area to facilitate the identification of optimal recruitment sites.

Time arrangement: Night shift (8 pm to 8 am) is preferred. Night shift management is relatively relaxed, and according to the schedule, the slaughter peak of some production lines happens to be after the equipment maintenance and restart late at night.

Li Xingyao now needs less sleep, so he can take a nap on the way to and from work, and use the daytime for cultivation or other things.

Data recording: The efficiency of soul power absorption is statistically analyzed during absorption, and the soul power absorption rate at different locations and in different factories is recorded in real time to establish a more accurate data model.

Long-term plan: "Soul farming" in the industrial park will become a regular daily routine for the foreseeable future, requiring adjustments to my schedule to integrate into my life. This will accumulate sufficient soul power to support the next stage of repairs to the Myriad Soul Banner and the further evolution of summoned creatures.

When the electric bus arrived at the stop near Li Xingyao's apartment, Tianjing City was already ablaze with lights. He stepped off the bus, looked up at his window, which was glowing with soft light, and felt a sense of peace.

Wilderness hunting brought him his first pot of gold and invaluable practical experience, and today, in the steel jungle of the city, he has found an equally important path to growth.

Li Xingyao pushed open the apartment door, the fatigue of a long day washing over him like a tide, yet his spirits were unusually high. He kicked off his shoes and went straight to the training room. He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and let his consciousness sink into his sea of ​​knowledge.

The "Circulation Method" slowly circulated, guiding the star energy to flow through the meridians, like a gentle stream soothing the body's fatigue and damage. At the same time, he diverted a wisp of his mind to communicate with the Myriad Soul Banner.

"Devour." A thought flickered in his mind.

[Soul Power +10... +10... +10...]

His soul power continued to grow slowly as usual, but Li Xingyao paid it no mind. He maintained this state of meditation and absorption, his mind like a precision instrument, simultaneously controlling his own stellar energy and the Myriad Soul Banner. He was gradually becoming more proficient; every breath he took triggered the flow of stellar energy, and every fluctuation of his will guided the growth of his soul power.

Two hours passed in silence.

When Li Xingyao opened his eyes again, it was already night. His first thought was to look at the Myriad Soul Banner in his sea of ​​consciousness.

[Star Power: 1991-1997]

Soul Power: 2424.5-5754.5

"As expected... the increase in star energy from daily cultivation is incomparable to the absorption of star cores." Li Xingyao relaxed slightly. He could advance tomorrow, and his fingers unconsciously traced across the cold alloy floor.

If cultivation at higher levels is like this, requiring painstaking effort for every bit of progress, then his rate of improvement will be far greater than in the early stages. However, his soul power, due to absorption, has increased by over three thousand points, so the gains are quite stable.

"Not enough..." Li Xingyao muttered to himself, a hint of determination flashing in his eyes. He was still nearly half short of the 10,000 soul power required for the next stage of repairing the Myriad Soul Banner.

"Perfect the undead lineup..."

Li Xingyao recalled a previous idea—to find and contract with liches-type spellcasting undead to compensate for the team's lack of ranged magical firepower. This idea was like a spark, instantly igniting his motivation to act.

His consciousness sank once more, this time directing Li Xingyao's perception towards that desolate and vast world of death. His spiritual power transformed into invisible tentacles, cautiously extending and piercing through the hazy boundaries of the undead space, probing towards a darker and more dangerous area.

That was a death world region he had never set foot in before. He could sense the chaotic death power in the distance, like the haze under dark clouds. Li Xingyao could sense that there were near-advanced undead creatures there.

An hour has passed.

Fine beads of sweat trickled down Li Xingyao's forehead, tracing down his temples, making his face appear slightly pale. His spiritual power repeatedly touched areas emanating powerful yet obscure fluctuations—an aura of coldness, antiquity, decay, and danger, like a tomb that had slumbered for millennia.

But each time he approached this area, it was like hitting a cold, iron wall, and he felt a resistance that made him not want to move forward. However, a curious and eager will surged towards him like waves, trying to connect with Li Xingyao's sea of ​​consciousness through his spiritual power. Each time, it made him tremble with fear, and he quickly withdrew his spiritual power.

"Still haven't found it..." Li Xingyao withdrew his senses with some disappointment, letting out a long breath of stale air, tinged with exhaustion. "Either the distance is too far, or the undead level of these beings is too high. With my current level and the level of the Myriad Soul Banner, I simply cannot summon them." Reality was like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing his brief hope.

With conventional methods temporarily blocked, Li Xingyao turned his gaze to the undead standing solemnly within the undead space. Twenty skeleton swordsmen stood silently like a forest, ten skeleton hunters stood solemnly in silence, and twenty crocodile-skinned zombies exuded a putrid aura. They were his current foundation, representing 95% of his current combat strength.

"Since we can't find new ones, let's make the old ones even stronger." Once this thought took hold, it couldn't be suppressed any longer. Evolution! Li Xingyao would continue to upgrade his undead creatures; this was currently the fastest way to increase his combat power!

Li Xingyao's gaze locked onto the three undead spirits positioned at the very front of the formation. He focused his mind and communicated with the Myriad Souls Banner.

"Infuse! Evolve!"

hum!

The Myriad Soul Banner in the sea of ​​consciousness trembled slightly! Vast and pure soul power, like a flood bursting its banks, surged out from the banner, splitting into three gray-white energy torrents, which successively poured into the soul cores of the three undead creatures!

boom!

In an instant, the skeleton swordsman who was first infused with soul power burst forth with a grayish-white light! The light was not gentle and holy, but rather carried a cold, silent chill, like liquid nitrogen being injected into boiling metal in a furnace!

"Click-click-click—click! click!"

A series of teeth-grinding sounds of bones cracking and flesh tearing echoed through the silent deathly space! The skeleton swordsman's body twisted, deformed, and stretched violently in the light! Its original shape and height changed at a visible speed, as if its body was being kneaded by an invisible force, with friction sounds coming from all parts of its body as if it could not bear the burden.

The sound sent a chill down Li Xingyao's spine. It was a genetic instinct to fear such a sound, like the sound of an ancient predator devouring its own kind.

The changes in undead creatures continue!

Every bone in the skeleton swordsman's body is getting thicker, longer, and denser!

The surface of the bone is no longer a rough gray-white, but has emerged with a cold and hard texture similar to that of metal after quenching. The gray-white has a faint metallic luster, and the surface has fine, naturally formed spiral patterns, as if the material has been upgraded, giving people a more premium feeling.

At the same time, their arm bones became longer and more slender, with even fine bony ridges rising on the arm bones, like reinforcing ligaments; their finger joints became more flexible and stronger, and the knuckles for gripping swords became thicker. The most significant change was in the bone swords they gripped—the blades were lengthened, narrowed, and thinned, transforming from the originally somewhat cumbersome longswords into long, narrow straight swords!

The blade became even sharper, its edges gleaming with a chilling light, and the sword even emitted a thin layer of gray-black energy, which was sharp death energy flowing through the blade!

Within the skeleton swordsman's eye sockets, the ghostly blue soul fire pulsed and expanded violently as if fueled, its color shifting from ghostly blue to deep blue. The soul fire contracted and condensed, its color becoming even more profound, like a deep blue gemstone embedded in a skull, its interior shimmering with a faint white light and radiating spiritual fluctuations.

The entire process lasted approximately five minutes, each second accompanied by the groans of bones and the flickering of soul fire. When the blinding light receded like a tide, the new undead creature stood proudly in the undead realm!

It stands nearly two meters tall, with a well-proportioned and explosive skeletal structure. It is no longer a simple skeleton, but rather a slender human wearing bone armor. Its entire body has a cold, hard gray metallic luster, which gleams coldly under the light of the undead space. The bone sword it holds tightly in its hand has smooth and dangerous lines.

Skeleton Swordsman!

The name naturally came to mind for Li Xingyao; it was the mental information given by the evolved Skeleton Swordsman. At the same time, a clear yet complex feedback, like a gentle stream, flowed upstream along the mental connection and into his consciousness.

That was no longer a simple emotion, but a logical exchange of information, carrying a sense of awe and absolute obedience to Li Xingyao, his master!

This evolved Skeleton Swordsman possesses simple intelligence and thought, and is no longer a bewildered and chaotic low-level undead.

Li Xingyao was overjoyed, his heart pounding uncontrollably. He suppressed his excitement, trying to concentrate and send a clear message to the Skeleton Swordsman: "How are you feeling?"