Summoning the Undead

Li Xingyao's spirits soared! Using this fused spiritual power, he once again locked onto the sword-wielding skeleton and began constructing a summoning channel. This time, the process was incredibly smooth! A channel, invisible to the naked eye and composed entirely of spiritual power, with faint spatial ripples, was instantly erected between the undead space and the skeleton!

"It works!" Li Xingyao was overjoyed.

Next came the infusion of star energy! Without hesitation, Li Xingyao activated the 100 points of star energy within his body. Recalling the star energy required to summon the skeleton warrior, he directed his thoughts, and 30 points of pure star energy, like a silver stream, surged into the newly constructed mental channel!

The moment those 30 points of starlight touched the core of the sword-wielding skeleton's soul—

"Kara!"

A crisp sound, like bones snapping and realigning, pierced the deathly silence of the sea of ​​skeletons! The locked-on skeleton warrior froze abruptly! The dim, ashen light deep within its eye sockets suddenly shone with a faint, eerie blue hue the instant the stellar energy surged in! Like a spark ignited!

The next moment, its entire skeletal body suddenly transformed into a blurry grayish-white stream of light, and with a "whoosh," it was instantly pulled into Li Xingyao's undead space along that invisible spiritual channel! The whole process was as fast as lightning!

Become!

Within the undead realm, against a hazy, gray backdrop, a complete skeleton warrior stood silently. It stood approximately 1.7 meters tall, its frame robust, a worn, grayish-white color, as if weathered by countless years. Its right hand gripped a rusty short sword, its blade pitted and chipped, resembling more of an antique unearthed from a junkyard than a weapon. Its empty eye sockets stared ahead, devoid of any spirit, like the most standard cannon fodder template.

However, Li Xingyao keenly sensed something different. Although the skeleton warrior's exterior was dilapidated, its skeletal structure was unusually intact, without any obvious cracks or defects. Most importantly, at the moment it was pulled into the space, Li Xingyao, through the connection of the Myriad Soul Banner, clearly felt an extremely faint "presence"—it wasn't consciousness or emotion, but more like the difference between a cold stone and a piece of rotten wood. It seemed… to possess a little more "spirit" than those completely empty skeletons?

Although he didn't yet understand the situation, the joy of successfully summoning for the first time hadn't faded. Li Xingyao immediately turned his attention to the sea of ​​skeletons below. The target with the faint mental fluctuations from before had disappeared, but similar fluctuation points remained! He quickly locked onto another target—also a sword-wielding skeleton, with almost invisible dim points of light hidden deep in its eye sockets.

"This time, I'll try using my own power without the Myriad Souls Banner!" Li Xingyao thought fiercely. He wanted to confirm whether his previous success was due to the correctness of the textbook knowledge or the decisive role played by the power of the Myriad Souls Banner.

He held his breath, no longer relying on the Myriad Souls Banner, but instead using some of his restored spiritual power to attempt to construct the summoning channel once more. The process was still difficult; the gathering and guiding of his spiritual power was like wading through quagmire, slow and sluggish. But he gritted his teeth and persevered, even breaking out in a fine sweat on his forehead. Finally, a spiritual channel, far less stable than before and appearing much more ethereal and fragile, barely took shape.

Inject another 30 points of Star Energy!

The stellar energy flowed into the channel and made contact with the core of the target skeleton's soul.

However, a sudden change occurred!

There was no crackling sound, no flash of eerie blue sparks. The locked-on skeleton warrior merely twitched violently, as if struck by an invisible force! Immediately afterward, at its core soul touched by the stellar energy, a powerful and chaotic resistance, like an enraged wasp, surged back along its fragile mental pathways!

"Ugh!" Li Xingyao groaned, feeling a cold, chaotic shockwave slam into his mind! The summoning channel instantly twisted and shattered! A sharp pain shot through his brain, his vision blurred, and he almost lost his mental perception!

It failed! And it backfired!

After a chaotic resistance, the skeleton warrior below seemed to be frightened. The dim light in its eyes weakened, and it staggered back a few steps before quickly merging into the roaming skeletons around it and disappearing from sight.

The stark contrast made Li Xingyao instantly realize that relying solely on his rudimentary, untrained spiritual power was simply insufficient to stably construct a summoning channel, let alone suppress the faint, instinctive resistance of the undead from the world of death! The pure soul power provided by the Myriad Soul Banner was the key to stably summoning special skeleton warriors!

"So it wasn't my fault, it was the power of the Myriad Souls Banner." Without further hesitation, he immediately connected with the Myriad Souls Banner. Gentle yet powerful soul energy was once again injected.

Target locked for the third time! Construct a channel! Inject 30 points of star energy!

"Kara!"

A familiar sound! A flash of grayish-white light!

The second sword-wielding skeleton warrior was successfully pulled into the undead realm, standing steadily next to the first. It had the same dilapidated appearance, but its skeleton was intact, and it also possessed a faint sense of "intelligence."

The fourth one! Same procedure! The third sword-wielding skeleton warrior is successfully in place!

Withdraw your mental energy. At this moment, beside the eerie blue flame in the center of the undead space, three gray-white skeleton warriors stand silently like the most loyal guards, their empty eye sockets staring straight ahead, their rusted swords lowered. Ruined, cold, yet carrying a silent, chilling aura.

Li Xingyao let out a long sigh of relief. Mental exhaustion washed over him like a tide, but his heart was filled with the excitement of a successful exploration. He tried to issue commands through the weak connection he had established with the soul cores of the three skeleton warriors using his mental power.

"Raise your right hand."

"Grip the sword."

Take a step forward.

"Swing and slash."

"Turn around."

The instructions are clear and concise.

The three skeleton warriors reacted almost the instant he gave the order!

Li Xingyao recalled his experience and summarized the summoning process.

The first form (first summon, soul power + star energy): The movements are standard but slightly stiff, like a machine with a pre-programmed sequence. Raising the arm, gripping the sword, taking a step, slashing, turning around, each movement is accompanied by a slight "creaking" sound of joint friction. It is completed meticulously, but lacks variation, appearing mechanical and rigid.

The second body (with a small amount of soul power and star energy): Its movements were noticeably smoother! Although the joints could still be heard cracking, the range of its arm raises, the distance of its steps, and the force of its sword swings were all more natural. When turning, there was even a slight adjustment in its center of gravity, as if it were a machine with a more refined program. Most importantly, Li Xingyao could sense through the connection that when it executed the "turn around" command, there seemed to be a very faint sense of "understanding," rather than pure mechanical obedience.

The third form (a small amount of soul power + star energy): Its movements surprised Li Xingyao the most! Its fluidity was almost on par with the second form, but when completing the "sword slash" motion, its wrist made an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible inward rotation! This subtle change caused the rusted blade to trace a more cunning and subtle arc in the air! It was as if… it wasn't doing this for the first time? Moreover, when it completed all the commands and stood at attention, Li Xingyao, through the connection, could feel the flickering of the eerie blue spark at its soul core, which seemed… a little more solid than the other two forms?

The difference! A huge difference! Considering what I just experienced.

The textbook describes ordinary summoned creatures as standard cannon fodder, like skeleton warriors without any mental fluctuations, mechanically executing commands, slow to react, and lacking agility. But the latter two, especially the third, clearly exceed the textbook's description! Their reactions are faster, their movements more natural and fluid, even… faintly displaying traces of combat instinct? Especially the third one's subtle inward-spinning slash—that's something no inexperienced skeleton could possibly perform!

The Banner of Ten Thousand Souls! It not only provides purer soul power to aid in summoning, but it also seems to inject an extremely special "something" into the core of those undead souls that originally only possessed weak instincts during the summoning process! It is this special thing that gives them a "foundation" that surpasses ordinary undead skeletons!

Li Xingyao's heart pounded. He felt he had touched the tip of the iceberg of the true power of the Myriad Souls Banner! His situation was far beyond that of an ordinary necromancer! He possessed the terrifying ability to strengthen the undead and enhance their inherent potential!

A strong urge compelled him to immediately summon the three skeletons into the real world to see their actual behavior. But reason quickly suppressed the thought.

This is the bedroom! The space is cramped, and although these three sword-wielding skeletons are old, their skeletons are intact. With rusty swords in their hands, if they lose control or move too much, damaging the furniture is a minor issue; triggering the smart home system's security alarm, or even alerting the Emergency Hazards Management Bureau (EAD), would be a real problem!

EAD has extremely strict regulations on the use of power by professionals within the city. "I don't want to be checked on my very first day of awakening."

He suppressed his impulse, controlling the three skeleton warriors to form a triangular formation within the undead space, maintaining a silent posture. The immense mental strain, coupled with the shock of his first deep encounter with the world of the dead, left him feeling intensely fatigued, like heavy lead weights dragging down his consciousness. He knew that tonight's exploration had to come to an end.

Consciousness slowly withdrew from the realm of the dead.

His senses returned to the real world. The bedroom was pitch black, with only the smart home system glowing a faint blue standby light in the corner. The neon lights of the city outside cast a dim strip of light through the gap in the curtains. Li Xingyao collapsed onto the bed, overwhelmed by both physical and mental exhaustion. Almost the instant his head hit the pillow, his consciousness faded into darkness.

The bedroom was silent except for the boy's steady, long breathing.