American Comics: Tales of Cultivator

Chapter 156: Ghoul White Bone Banner, Siege, Breakthrough (Requesting Subscription)

At the exit of the Troll Black Market, black energy permeated the air.

The troll guarding the exit yawned and had just pulled open the iron gate.

A pig-headed person carrying a basket clanked forward without looking, walking straight out. The moment its front foot stepped out of the iron gate, with a splash, its entire body fell directly into the black mist.

The dense mist was so thick one couldn't see their hand in front of their face. Strands of black energy hung down, and the pig-headed person's body was instantly dragged into the mist with a whoosh.

Immediately after, a crunching sound came from mid-air.

"Ah—"

A goblin following behind the pig-headed person looked up, directly meeting the blood rain dripping down from the black mist.

Terrified, it screamed and fell to the ground, scrambling backwards.

The troll responsible for guarding the exit slammed the iron gate shut with a clank, scared, and ran frantically into the largest building in the Black Market to report.

"What happened?"

Hearing the commotion at the exit, Alexander Corvinus exchanged a glance with the Elf Prince beside him.

The Elf Prince grabbed a goat-headed person who was running back frantically from the direction of the exit. The half-orc with a goat head, human body, and goat hooves had its hoof grabbed. Just as it was about to curse angrily, the Elf Prince raised the short spear in his hand and thrust it backwards into a centaur standing beside it, stabbing it straight through.

The centaur clutched its neck in pain, letting out neighing cries, and fell down with a thud.

The goat-headed person wiped off the blood splattered on its face and looked at the expressionless Elf Prince.

It said tremblingly, "Someone outside is using black magic to block the Black Market's Gate. We, we can't get out!"

"Black Wizard?"

The Elf Prince glanced at Hellboy, who was grappling with a giant ape not far away, and then turned his gaze towards Alexander.

"There are no Black Wizards in the Bureau!" Alexander Corvinus shook his head at him.

"It's not aimed at you, so is it for the Golden Crown!"

The Golden Crown seemed to have touched a nerve with the Elf Prince. He released the goat-headed person's hoof, pulled out the short spear stuck in the centaur's neck with a hiss, and twisted the short spear with both hands.

The mechanism turned, and the short spear instantly lengthened into a bright silver long spear.

"I'll go take a look!"

Alexander Corvinus glanced at the Elf Prince who was hurrying towards the exit, then looked back at Hellboy, who was tangled up with the giant ape, and turned to squeeze into the crowd.

"What is this? Is it black magic? Does anyone here know?"

With the iron gate half-open, looking at the dense mist outside and the black energy faintly hanging down within the mist, a group of half-orcs crowded at the gate discussed animatedly.

A troll looked at a few Black Wizards wearing hooded cloaks in the crowd.

"It's not black magic—"

A pale hand reached out from under the cloak of the leading Black Wizard, holding a crystal ball the size of a baby's fist.

Inside the crystal ball, black energy pulsed.

Looking at the energy fluctuations in the transparent crystal ball, a hoarse voice came from under the cloak.

"There are no power fluctuations from any Dimensional Lord, nor does it seem like an Evil God's arrival. This isn't Black Wizardry—"

"Is there any way out?"

"We can't get out. Just now, two naga didn't believe it and rushed out, and they were swept away by the black energy—"

"Naga, those creatures from the sea, how did they end up in the Troll Black Market!"

"What time is it, and you still care about this? First, think of a way to escape!"

Amidst the noise, the Elf Prince, holding his long spear, came to the iron gate. He looked at the dense black mist outside and the huge black shadow faintly enveloping the sky above the black mist.

The Elf Prince pondered for a moment, then thrust and tossed with his spear.

A goblin standing in front of him was directly impaled through the back of its neck by his long spear and tossed into the black mist.

"Ah!"

The goblin screamed, flailing its limbs, and plunged headfirst into the black mist. The moment it entered the black mist, its originally green complexion instantly dimmed, and its entire body turned a deathly gray.

"Thud!"

When the goblin landed on the ground, it was already stiff and unable to move, having become a corpse.

The black mist is poisonous!

Several orcs standing at the very front saw what happened when the goblin came into contact with the black mist and retreated.

For a moment, the people behind were falling over each other, and a chorus of curses erupted.

The Elf Prince leaned on his long spear, watching the state of the goblin's corpse in the black mist, while the people around him subconsciously distanced themselves from him.

After all, no one wanted to be thrown into this poisonous black mist.

Strands of black energy hung down from the sky, rolled up the goblin's corpse, and pulled it upwards.

Whoosh! The Elf Prince acted quickly. He picked up an iron hook with a rope from the side, waved his hand, and threw the iron hook, snagging the goblin corpse's shoulder blade.

"Pull!"

The black energy, carrying the goblin's corpse, was still rapidly rising.

The Elf Prince threw a bundle of rope connected to the iron hook to several tall and strong half-orcs and trolls in front of him.

He pointed at them with the long spear in his hand and ordered! These tall and strong minotaurs, lion-headed persons, and trolls were all strong and robust, tyrants in their own tribes, how could they tolerate such humiliation.

A lion-headed person glared, just about to speak.

Pfft!

The Elf Prince's long spear directly pierced through its throat!

Clatter!

The people around instantly retreated, clearing out a large empty space between them.

"Pull!"

The Elf Prince looked at the rope rapidly shooting outwards, raised the still dripping long spear, and pointed at a bear-person standing in front of him! The burly bear-person shook its round little ears, grunted silently, directly grabbed the rope, placed it on its shoulder, and began to pull.

Buzz! With a pull on the rope, under its immense brute strength, the thumb-thick rope instantly became taut—

Rip! Under the immense force, the iron claw directly tore apart the goblin's arm, and an entire severed goblin limb was pulled out from the black mist.

Thud thud thud, the bear-person stumbled forward a few steps, almost falling face first onto the ground.

The green and still bloody goblin severed limb directly smashed onto the face of an unlucky troll.

The unlucky troll was just about to get angry when it turned around and met the Elf Prince's pale, expressionless face.

"Not strong enough, next time I should tie it around the waist!"

The Elf Prince used his long spear to pick up the goblin severed limb at the troll's foot, examining the location of the torn wound, lost in thought.

His gaze swept across the surroundings, and everyone around retreated.

The dark race that dared to make a living in the Troll Black Market were naturally not easy to deal with, but they couldn't withstand Prince Nuada's reputation in the Underworld.

Hundreds of years ago, the Dark Elf race won the war against humanity. The general who commanded the Dark Elf race back then was Prince Nuada.

He was brave and skilled in battle, with extraordinary martial arts. Even after several hundred years, his reputation is still widely spread in the Underworld.

These dark creatures didn't want to provoke this Elf Prince, besides, they had their own little ideas in mind.

If the Elf Prince could pave a way to the Outside using others' lives, that would also be very good, provided, of course, that the unlucky fellow paving the way wasn't themselves.

"I, I have a way!"

A dwarf-like green-skinned goblin saw Prince Nuada's gaze fixed on himself and quickly took out a flying device from the pocket behind him.

He hastily explained, "This is a human drone. With it, we can check the situation Outside!"

While explaining, the goblin placed the drone on the ground, took out a controller with a screen, and started controlling it.

Buzz buzz! The drone's four propellers rotated, and under the gaze of all the dark creatures, it flew towards Outside the iron gate.

The four Ghoul White Bone Banners, transformed into dozens of meters high, surrounded the four corners of this Residential Area.

The banner body, composed of fine white bones, unfolded downwards from the white bone banner pole. The four banner faces were all painted with scenes of ghost gods feasting. On the due east banner face, two ghost gods, one black and one white, occupied most of the banner face, sitting high in the main seats of the feast.

A group of ghost gods several sizes smaller surrounded the two stern Black and White Impermanence, either holding wine glasses or nodding obsequiously, looking like a picture of officialdom.

If Frank were here, he would definitely find this white bone banner familiar. The ghost gods painted on this banner face were vaguely exactly like the one he took to Mount Fuji back then.

On the ghost god's feast, what was placed on the long table wasn't chicken, duck, fish, or three animal sacrificial offerings, but one by one struggling spirits of the dead. On the due west white bone banner, strands of black energy hung down. The banner face was likewise a scene of ghost gods feasting, but the dozens of ghost gods surrounding them were no longer the two Black and White Impermanence.

An Ox-Head and a Horse-Face sat in the main seats. The Ox-Head held up a bronze wine vessel, leaning against a three-pronged steel fork behind its back.

The Horse-Face beside it also held up a wine vessel, and what stood behind it was a spear! On the due south white bone banner, sitting in the main seats were a Leopard-Tail and a Bird-Beak!

On the due north white bone banner, sitting in the main seats were one with a head like a fish with gills, and one that was winged and closely resembled a Wasp! Logically speaking, four white bone banners dozens of meters high placed in the New York City Area should be extremely conspicuous, but looking in from Outside the area enveloped by the four white bone banners.

It was empty, where could there be any white bone banners?

Within the area enveloped by the white bone banners, strands of black energy hung down, sweeping up all living things within the area.

Kane moved out a folding chair from the RV. After Tang Song sat down, the Striped Fierce Tiger pacing in the alley obediently lay down beside him, letting him stroke it.

Lane trimmed a cigar and handed it to Tang Song.

Boss Tang snapped his fingers, and a ball of flame floated at his fingertip, lighting the cigar. Tang Song smoked the cigar while stroking the big cat, watching the four Ghoul White Bone Banners show their might not far away.

The prototype of the Ghoul White Bone Banner was the Five Poisons White Bone Banner from Heshan Dao. This magic art is ranked thirty-seventh in the Heshan Scripture.

The original method was to use extremely potent poison to harm people. The corpses and bones of these people contained poison smoke, and these corpses and bones would then be taken to be refined into a long banner. As long as this long banner was waved at someone, it could instantly poison them. In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they could turn into a pool of blood water, so it is also known as the Corpse Dissolving White Bone Banner.

Tang Song's four Ghoul White Bone Banners are products of his magical modification, combining the methods of Heshan Dao and Yellow Springs Sect.

The patriarch of the Yellow Springs Sect is said to be the Underworld Emperor of the Netherworld. The Yellow Springs Sect's cultivation method can borrow the power of ghost gods, and its magic arts also imitate the power of ancient ghost gods.

Just like these four Ghoul White Bone Banners, their restriction formations simulate eight of the ten great Underworld Commanders of ancient times: Black and White Impermanence, Ox-Head, Horse-Face, Leopard-Tail, Bird-Beak, Fish-Gill, and Wasp! It is said that if the Yellow Springs Sect's restriction formation method can nurture a magic tool to the True Form Magic Treasure stage, the spirit of its magic treasure can possess one-tenth of the might of these ten great Underworld Commanders! One must know that in the Jambudvīpa World, during the ancient Heavenly Court era, these ten great Underworld Commanders all had Pure Yang level strength. Even placed in the Heavenly Court, they could be called achieved True Immortals! Boss Tang's nearly three years of operation have not only trained a batch of Body-Protecting Armored Corpses and Skeleton Demons, but with these four twelve-restriction formation Ghoul White Bone Banners erected, no matter how great...

"Hmm?"

Tang Song was half-lying on the lounge chair, smoking a cigar and stroking the cat, when a drone flew out swaying from the iron gate not far away.

Boss Tang's smile instantly froze! Buzz buzz—

The drone flew out from the iron gate, flying through the black mist, and kept flying upwards following the direction where the black energy had just swept.

Soon, it passed through the black mist and arrived in front of the Ghoul White Bone Banner on the due east, painted with Black and White Impermanence—

The ghost gods who were feasting on the banner body seemed to notice this flying iron fellow. A ghost god dressed as a military general, sitting in the lower seats, got up from behind his kneeling long table, knelt on one knee and clasped his fist towards the two huge ghost gods sitting in the main seats, and pointed outside the banner face.

The slightly shorter and fatter ghost god, dressed in black, just glanced outside at the drone and slightly waved his hand.

The military general ghost god clasped his fist and stood up, turning to walk towards outside the hall.

In the drone's video feed, the Elf Prince watched with his own eyes as an Undead Ghost God General riding a tall warhorse and wearing fish scale armor emerged from the white bone banner face.

This ghost god rode on the horse, holding a long spear upside down in his hand.

The slightly illusory warhorse stepped on the black mist. The Undead Ghost God General raised his long spear, carrying a sense of charging forward fearlessly and looking down on the world with disdain, and thrust towards the drone.

Rip! Although it was clearly just a single cavalry charge, the Elf Prince felt a sense of the momentum of a thousand soldiers and ten thousand horses across the screen.

The sharp long spear was aimed at the drone. Although it was clearly across the screen, the Elf Prince only felt that a long spear was stabbing towards himself in the screen. He threw his head back—

The dwarf goblin looked at the static-filled screen of the drone controller in his hand with a slightly trembling hand. Thud, he fell headfirst onto the ground! "He was scared to death!"

A Black Wizard looked at the goblin's corpse and frowned.

"Prince Nuada, what exactly is Outside?" The Black Wizard looked at the Elf Prince, who had just straightened up with a backbend, and asked.

When the dwarf goblin was controlling the drone just now, hindered by the Elf Prince's long spear, among the people present, except for him and the dead goblin, no one else saw clearly the footage captured by the drone.

Prince Nuada glanced at the Black Wizard wearing a cloak. As for these guys who deal with Dimensional Evil Gods, even he didn't want to provoke them.

"It's something composed of white bones, with spirits of the dead attached to them. It seems like Undead Wizard's magic?"

"Undead Wizard? After the Middle Ages, the surviving Undead Wizards are few and far between. Besides Urnos, I can't think of anyone else who can use this kind of large-scale Undead Barrier!"

The Black Wizard's voice was heavy and hoarse, stating his inference about this matter.

"You are slandering me! Little fellow, if you don't apologize, I'd be happy to collect your bones as a specimen!"

A hoarse voice, no less than the Black Wizard's, came from behind in the crowd. Many orcs and trolls all looked backwards.

Four strong and robust trolls were carrying a sedan chair, walking inwards.

A huge body like a mountain of flesh was sitting/lying on the sedan chair. From the head, one could vaguely see the shadow of a troll, but with this obese physique, it weighed at least over a thousand pounds. With every step the four trolls carrying the sedan chair took, the ground seemed to be shaking.

The troll lying on the sedan chair twisted its body laboriously, talking to a Black Wizard beside him.

The Black Wizard walking beside the troll's sedan chair likewise wore a full set of one-piece hooded cloak, but he held a White Bone Staff in his hand.

"Urnos?" The Black Wizard in the crowd looked fearfully at the cloaked person holding the White Bone Staff, clearly recognizing his identity.

Besides being amazed and fearful, this Black Wizard seemed to forget to hide her identity, revealing a clear female voice.

Urnos looked at her with some surprise: "Witch, I didn't expect there were still Witches existing after the Middle Ages?"

"Which Dimensional Evil God do you believe in, little girl? These Evil Gods are not easy to deal with!"

Urnos cackled strangely, two balls of ghost fire flickered under his cloak, staring intently at the Witch in front of him.

The Witch felt a chill run down her body from being stared at by Urnos and pulled down her hood.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Urnos, no offense intended. It's just that you are the most famous Undead Wizard in the entire Underworld, so when I saw the Undead Barrier Outside, I thought of you!"

Urnos saw the Witch sensibly soften and apologize, only then withdrew his gaze and placed his sight Outside the door.

"Kate, Kate, heard you, requesting emergency support, requesting emergency support—"

Abe Sapien, the Fishman in the crowd, squeezed among a group of half-orcs, secretly using his communicator to report the situation in the Troll Black Market to Kate in the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense New York Branch.

Fortunately, neither the magic formation in the Troll Black Market nor the strange black mist Outside could block signals.

Abe Sapien nervously looked towards the suddenly appearing Urnos. The appearance of this Undead Wizard, who was ranked among the top three on the Bureau for Paranormal Defense's wanted list, made him feel uneasy. He secretly watched Urnos's situation. This Black Wizard was clearly attracted by the black mist Outside the door.

He didn't notice Abe Sapien, such a small figure squeezed among the trolls.

"Static—"

Abe Sapien was urgently contacting Kate when his communicator suddenly lost connection. Besides the static sound of electric current, no other sound came through. Outside the Troll Black Market, ten minutes ago,

Tang Song, with a dark face, watched with his own eyes as a drone flew out from the Troll Black Market, even flying out of the area enveloped by the black mist formed by the Ghoul White Bone Banners.

It wasn't until he saw an Undead Warrior inside the white bone banner shoot down the drone with a spear that the ugly expression on his face slightly calmed down.

After all, the Jambudvīpa World didn't have this kind of technology. The white bone banner only targeted living things, it's very normal, very normal—

Tang Song took a hard puff of his cigar, silently telling himself in his heart.

"Red Queen, block all signals within five kilometers nearby!"

"Amelia, go in and tell the people inside to hand over Alexander Corvinus!"

"Yes! BOSS! Signal has been blocked!"

Red Queen's voice came from Tang Song's wrist. A brand new mechanical watch was worn on his left wrist.

This watch, with a quite mechanical style design, was a micro computer designed jointly by over a dozen programmers and computer experts from the Tang Group's Skynet Information Department.

Boss Tang carrying it was equivalent to carrying the Artificial Intelligence Red Queen with him. With the help of this micro computer watch, Red Queen could not only remotely control electronic signals and hack into others' computer equipment, but also block nearby signals.

Of course, Red Queen's main program was still in the Skynet Information Department's main computer room. The micro computer in Tang Song's watch was just a subsystem.

With a single order, Red Queen immediately blocked all signals within five kilometers nearby.

At the same time, a Blood Shadow separated from the shadow beneath his foot, turning into a streak of Blood Light that merged into the black mist enveloped by the Ghoul White Bone Banners.

Urnos held the White Bone Staff, pointing towards the black mist Outside the Black Market. From one end of the Skeleton Staff, several streaks of pale white and eerie green rays occasionally flew out. But these rays, hitting the black mist, each seemed like a clay ox entering the sea, disappearing without a trace. The black mist didn't even change a bit.

Seeing that his few rays were useless, Urnos waved his cane, and a Skeleton holding a tattered Cruciform Sword appeared out of thin air in the Troll Black Market.

Under Urnos's command, the Skeleton Soldier crossed the iron gate and walked towards the black mist area Outside—

Clatter!

The Skeleton Soldier holding the Cruciform Sword had just come into contact with the black mist when its entire body instantly collapsed into a pile of white bones.

Several strands of black energy hung down, instantly rolled up these white bones, and merged into the black mist.

It was eaten! Urnos looked in surprise at the high sky heavily filled with black mist. Just a moment ago, he felt that the Malevolent Spirit of the Skeleton Soldier he controlled had been devoured by some kind of existence.

That feeling was just like the feeling he had when he first came into contact with a Dimensional Evil God back then.

Could it be that someone held an Evil God Ritual here, wanting to use the people in the Troll Black Market as sacrificial offerings to summon a Dimensional Evil God? But aren't they afraid of those Mages from the New York Sanctum?

"Mr. Urnos, how is it, is there a way?!"

The owner of the Troll Black Market, sitting/lying on the sedan chair, looked at Urnos, who was standing frozen in place, and couldn't help but ask urgently.

(end of chapter)