Holding the banner consumes a significant amount of Magic Power.
Although Li Xingkong had made some designs to reduce consumption when refining the magic weapon, the complexity of the magic weapon, coupled with his own insight that had reached the Golden Core Stage, meant that even with further refinement, the consumption was still somewhat terrifying for a Qi Refining cultivator.
This is also why Divine Land sent a team of cultivators to carry out this mission; one person's Magic Power was simply insufficient to support the Soul-Guiding Banner sweeping across the entire area.
" The Soul-Guiding Banner is moving!"
Just as they had swept through nearly a quarter of the area, the banner bearer clearly sensed that something had appeared inside the Soul-Guiding Banner.
Several cultivators stopped simultaneously. Any movement was good news, better than no movement at all.
He handed the banner to the monk leading the group, then made several hand seals and poured his Magic Power into the banner.
As the incantation was activated, the white crane on the banner flapped its wings, drawing out a wisp of soul from within the banner, which then hovered to the left and right of the banner.
There is only one soul.
Upon seeing the soul appear, the cultivators clearly realized the problem.
In the previous great battle, it was clear that more than one cultivator had perished, and judging from the battle situation, their souls should have been quite close together.
They only found one soul, which was clearly different from what they had expected.
Sure enough, after circling the banner a few times, the soul revealed its true form.
Even as a soul, the Snail People's appearance, so different from that of the Earth Star People, is still easily distinguishable.
The soul had just been captured and was still in a state of confusion and ignorance, its perception of the outside world not yet restored.
"This guy is really tough; he managed to leave behind his soul even without any cultivation."
One of the accompanying cultivators looked at the disgusting snail-shaped head and made a few comments.
"Or we could just leave him here to fend for himself. These guys don't deserve to be in our camp."
Another cultivator waved his hand, clearly not showing any kindness towards these Snail People either.
"That won't do. We still know too little about these guys. Bringing one back will allow us to learn more about them. Once we get back and have thoroughly investigated him, it won't be too late to take him down."
The leader of the group shook his head; this guy still had some value.
Although they gained something, it wasn't what they wanted, and it was all for nothing.
After resting for a short while, the cultivators resumed their work.
The battlefield covered too large an area, and relying on just a few of them to search was really inefficient.
But there's not much that can be done. In this post-war period, cultivators are all burdened with various tasks, and there simply aren't many cultivators available to spare.
Besides, there's only one Soul-Guiding Banner; it's useless if there are many people.
The meticulous search continued for another three or four days, and the entire area around the battlefield was almost completely searched, but apart from the lone Snail People's soul inside the Soul-Guiding Banner, nothing was found.
This dampened their enthusiasm even further, and as time went by, their hope of finding their souls only grew fainter.
We searched the entire calculated area, but still found nothing.
"What should we do? We can't just go back like this!"
After circling around, the cultivators stopped.
" Old Eagle, are you right? Is it this way?"
"Based on the footage, this is the area where they were fighting."
The Old Eagle started calculating again, and the area it calculated was still this place.
"Your calculation skills are so-so. If it doesn't work, we can expand the search area and try again. In short, if we can't find anyone, we won't have the face to go back."
If we can't think of a better way, we'll have to use the brute force method: expand the search area around the battlefield.
A remnant soul of a Snail People was indeed found here, which means this is indeed the site of a battlefield. Although Old Eagle didn't find the person, his calculations were quite reliable.
"By the way, didn't we find a remnant soul of a Snail People? Could we do something with it?"
As the cultivators were discussing their plan, the Old Eagle suddenly slapped its thigh.
"That's true, this guy was involved in the battle, he definitely knows our location."
After the Old Eagle said that, the other cultivators also realized what was going on.
The group looked at the cultivator leading the group, as he was the only one who possessed the complete incantation to control the Soul-Guiding Banner; this task would have to be undertaken by him.
"You're pretty quick-witted, kid. I'll do it!"
The leading cultivator began manipulating the Soul-Guiding Banner, and the Snail People's soul reappeared beside the banner.
Snail People don't know any magic, nor do they understand any of the languages Divine Land, so it's impossible for them to obtain information through communication.
However, as a soul entity, and having entered this Soul-Guiding Banner, its entire soul was under the banner's control until it left.
The leading cultivator simply channeled a wisp of Magic Power to it through the banner, and scenes appeared around the Snail People's soul.
Its soul is severely damaged, and it still lacks a clear mind, which explains the chaotic scene surrounding it.
It contains memories of its life on its original planet, as well as various memories of fighting in spaceships.
Among these memory clusters, the largest one represents their final battle.
The pressure from the cultivators was too great; the memories of his dying moments caused his soul to relive them again and again.
Look at this!
Within the Snail People's memories, they quickly located the corresponding battlefield and found the whereabouts of the previous cultivators.
No wonder they couldn't find the souls of these cultivators; in the subsequent battle with the cruiser, they had already advanced far beyond the battlefield range calculated by Old Eagle.
With the Snail People's memories, the location of the cruiser's destruction was no longer obscure.
Following the direction guided by their memories, the group flew straight towards that spot.
As they approached the location, the Soul-Guiding Banner was unfurled, and with just a few waves, several souls were swept into it.
After releasing their souls and counting the number of people, the cultivators were very excited.
All of them are here; all the cultivators who perished are here, and not a single soul has dissipated.
Even during the soul-summoning ceremony, they pulled in the soul of a Snail People as well.
"All souls are here, let's call it a day!"
The group of cultivators did not search any further; their mission was complete.
The news of the soul's discovery reached the Earthly Capital before the team returned.
Meanwhile, the Earthly Capital also began preparing physical bodies for these cultivators.
Their souls can still be found, but their original bodies are long gone. They can only use these new bodies to cultivate again.