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

Soul technology… Although Senior Qin Mo didn't explicitly mention it in the materials, he hinted that it was the most promising and immeasurably potential path among all advancement routes, but also the most difficult. It directly addresses the source of necromancy, involving the control and mastery of one's own soul.

However, the demands of this path are beyond imagination. The information also hints at its core bottleneck, its very essence.

In this world, the strength of the soul is largely predetermined, especially for necromancers who follow this path. To improve it later in life, there are essentially three ways:

First, it relies on the slow and steady process of nurturing and strengthening through special meditation methods and the accumulation of time, which often takes decades or even longer.

After all, necromancers are a class that doesn't mind spending time; even if their lifespan is too short, they still have the option of becoming liches, allowing them to continue living in the world.

Secondly, they sought out legendary spiritual treasures, those rare and precious materials that contained the pure essence of the soul or had special nurturing effects. However, these things were all priceless and extremely rare.

Thirdly, there are some forbidden and extremely risky devouring techniques. They are not as effective as the second type, but stronger than the first. However, this method is also very restrictive, and some of them are extremely cruel and inhumane.

"What's most difficult for others might be my greatest advantage," Li Xingyao muttered to himself, a sharp glint in his eyes. He thought of the ancient and mysterious Ten Thousand Soul Banner in his sea of ​​consciousness, and of his nearly twenty thousand points of soul power reserves!

Others lack the rare resources and long time to nurture their souls, but he has no shortage of soul power! Isn't this purest soul energy the most direct nourishment for enhancing soul strength?

Based on reference materials and his own information, Li Xingyao roughly estimated that a low-level skeleton warrior contains about 10 points of soul power, an ordinary person's complete soul energy is about 50-100 points, while the soul energy of a high-level professional may be between 200-500 points, and a super strong person may reach 500-1000 points, or even higher.

"I have nearly 20,000 points of soul power..." This number made Li Xingyao's heart beat slightly faster. Theoretically, this was a massive resource enough to boost his soul strength to an astonishing level!

Although the guide also emphasized that it was extremely difficult to get started with soul technology, requiring a long time to sense and communicate with the ethereal "true self" with spiritual power, it might take several years or even more than ten years to gain anything, but Li Xingyao had a feeling that with the soul power of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner and the support of a massive amount of soul power, he might be able to find an unprecedented shortcut.

Having made up his mind, Li Xingyao no longer hesitated. He sat cross-legged on the carpet.

I closed my eyes, and my consciousness quickly sank into my mental space.

Following the introductory methods in the materials, Li Xingyao began to attempt to connect with his own soul. He entered a meditative state, trying to communicate with his "true self" using his mental energy. As his mental energy began to search for his soul, it seemed to dive into the deep sea, gradually descending slowly within his own mental space.

After some time, his mental energy dropped below his usual mental space level, where he could see the Myriad Soul Banner and a miniature version of the Death Space above him. Yet his mental energy continued to decline, seemingly without end. Throughout this process, he was unaware of his own soul.

As his mental energy waned, the surroundings seemed utterly dark, and he could perceive nothing. Slowly, a sense of dread, like entering the deep sea, arose within his mental energy, as if preventing him from going any further.

Upon realizing this situation, Li Xingyao was somewhat perplexed. According to the records, the soul exploration stage required a considerable amount of time to gradually try until one's spiritual power could perceive one's own soul before one could move on to the next stage.

However, Li Xingyao's intuition told him that this stage shouldn't be that difficult. In order to reduce the oppressive feeling of the mental space on his mental power, he gathered his thoughts and began to think of a solution.

"Soul" and "Soul Power" are two things that Li Xingyao has never thought about. Although he can use soul power with the Myriad Soul Banner, he has never learned about this knowledge and simply uses it through the Myriad Soul Banner.

Because he could use the Myriad Soul Banner almost whenever he wanted, it had now put him in a bit of a predicament. After thinking for a long time without finding a particularly good solution, he decided to take a gamble before giving up, since he currently had a considerable amount of soul power.

Having made up his mind, he directly communicated with the Myriad Souls Banner!

The ancient banner of ten thousand souls floated silently, its dark patterns slowly flowing, and the soul tassels along its edges moved without wind.

"Use soul power as a guide to build a bridge to connect the road ahead!" he murmured to himself.

In an instant, the Myriad Souls Banner trembled slightly, and a stream of pure soul power, condensed to the point of being tangible and radiating a soft white light, descended from the banner like a living serpent, heading straight towards the endless, deep abyss of consciousness darkness below the range of spiritual perception!

Soul Power -1... -1... -1...

The trickle of soul power continued to drain, extending downwards as if trying to forcefully carve a path through the void. This process continuously increased the pressure on his mental strength, and Li Xingyao concentrated intently, fine beads of sweat gradually appearing on his forehead.

The spiritual energy followed the thin stream of soul power, probing downwards. The surroundings were absolutely silent and dark. Just as nearly two hundred points of soul power had been consumed, the soul power "rope" extended and touched a certain "object"—

hum...

A deep, resonant hum, seemingly capable of shaking the entire spiritual space, gradually spread from the bottom of the abyss! Through the unique "conductor" of the soul power stream, Li Xingyao's spiritual power clearly perceived that in the originally lifeless void below, there was a blurry, fragile object, seemingly with a fatal weakness, connected and disturbed by this slender soul power "rope." That object was slowly being "pulled and pulled" upward from its location!

"There's a response!" Li Xingyao's heart skipped a beat, and a surge of joy welled up within him, but he immediately suppressed it with vigilance. He knew that this was of utmost importance; it wasn't just about his cultivation path, but also about his life. He dared not relax in the slightest, and instead, he nervously and cautiously increased the output of his soul power.

Subsequently, the diameter of the thin stream of soul power gradually increased, and the soul power was consumed at a faster rate. The consumption frequency of -1, -5, and -10 gradually increased, eventually stabilizing at a consumption rate of 10 points.

At the same time, the vibrations below became increasingly clear, and the "object" was rising at a noticeably faster pace. In Li Xingyao's mental perception, an incredibly huge, blurry shadowy outline was breaking through the endless darkness, striding towards the mental space he was familiar with!

A sense of oppression washed over him, not malicious, but stemming from its vastness and importance. His body knew clearly that this was something very important, like a vital organ such as the heart, and instinctively felt the need to protect it.

Finally, the enormous shadow broke through the boundary of darkness and completed its final connection with the soul power flowing from the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and Li Xingyao's spiritual power!

Boom! ...

The deafening roar, like the beginning of the universe, did not come from his ears, but directly shook his mental space!

In that instant, Li Xingyao seemed to freeze, his entire mental space as if it had been completely shattered and broken down into its most primitive particles, and then instantly reassembled! An indescribable sense of clarity swept over every cell in his body!

It was as if I had always perceived the world through a blurry glass, but now that glass had been shattered, the world had become incredibly clear, vibrant, and transparent! My perception of myself, of energy, and of everything around me had reached an unprecedented level of sensitivity!

The area surrounding Li Xingyao's spiritual space underwent a dramatic transformation! Countless dazzling and indescribable rays of light, the colors and forms of which were like a meteor shower of creation, burst forth, intertwined, and danced wildly throughout the space!

This is a miraculous sight that occurs when the soul's energy, spirit, and astral energy first perfectly connect and resonate!

What shocked him even more was that the star energy within his body, under the infusion of soul power, resonated with his soul, and began to spontaneously and continuously increase, just like cultivation!

Star Energy +1… +1… +2… +8… +10…

The numbers representing the increase in star energy seemed to be jumping wildly in his consciousness, as if there was no end!

This incredible process seemed to last a very long time, yet it also seemed to be only a moment.

As the vast radiance of the laws gradually subsided and receded into the surroundings of his mental space, Li Xingyao's "thoughts" returned. He immediately "looked" at his mental space.

The Banner of Ten Thousand Souls and the miniature of the Death Space still hovered in the center, but between them, there was something else—a small figure about the size of a palm, radiating a soft and pure light, with a face and figure that were still somewhat blurry, like a carefully sketched but uncolored drawing.

It floated there quietly, forming a stable and mysterious triangular structure with the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls and the Death Space, seemingly connected by an invisible energy.

There was absolutely no need for explanation. The moment Li Xingyao "saw" it, he immediately understood—this was his soul!

The initial stage of the spiritual journey has been completed in such an incredible way!

Li Xingyao suppressed the overwhelming joy and shock that threatened to burst from his chest and immediately checked his condition. He then discovered that his soul power was still being consumed, and he only had a little over ten thousand units left. This greatly surprised him, and he quickly stopped the soul power transfer from the Myriad Soul Banner.

[Soul Power Reserves: 18753 → 11675] (7078 points consumed!)

[Star Energy: 2002 → 2709] (An increase of 707 points!)

"Consuming 7078 points of soul power in exchange for 707 points of star energy increase?! A conversion efficiency of nearly 1:10?!" This result made Li Xingyao's breath catch in his throat, and an overwhelming joy instantly overwhelmed him like a tsunami! This efficiency far surpasses meditation or star core absorption!

This gain almost robbed him of his ability to think, and he instinctively wanted to replicate what he had just done. He immediately communicated with the Myriad Soul Banner, guiding his soul power once more, preparing to infuse it into the little figure that had just appeared.