American Comics: Tales of Cultivator

Tang Song's Divine Sense pierced the widening crack, revealing a desolate world within, where only darkness and lava existed. It was an extremely harsh environment.

The land was scorched black, lava rivers flowed everywhere, and countless bizarre creatures roamed the barren, scorched earth!

"Hell!?"

Tang Song's Divine Sense radiated several kilometers through the crack in the Magic Array. In the few kilometers of scorched earth his Divine Sense could perceive, tens of thousands of demons lived densely packed together.

Scorched black land, lava cracks everywhere, glowing red lava, Lesser Demons walking aimlessly like zombies.

From time to time, demons would fall into the boiling lava, turning into a wisp of smoke.

The sky was also filled with densely packed demons with fleshy membranes. These demons circled in the air, occasionally swooping down, extending their claws to snatch a Lesser Demon from the ground. A group of Winged Demons would then swarm over, fighting to tear apart the food in its grasp, instantly splattering purplish-black blood across the air.

The harsh environment and the creatures constantly slaughtering each other made Tang Song somewhat suspicious. Had the Undead Wizard opened a Passage to Hell before his death?

A Teleportation Beam descended from the Magic Array, leading directly into this world. Without any radiance, illuminated only by the firelight of the Lava Sea, the Abyss of Hell, the light beam cast by this Magic Array was exceptionally conspicuous.

Countless demons surrounded this light beam, from top to bottom, completely encircling it, like a straw covered in sugar, swarming with densely packed ants.

Tang Song tried cutting through with two streams of Sword Qi, severing the Bluestone Slabs beneath the Black Market, but the Magic Array, condensed from black flame, remained stubbornly suspended in the air even without the ground as support.

Waves of low demonic whispers and roars emanated from within the Magic Array.

"Boss! You should retreat first! Kane and I will handle this!"

Listening to the roars growing closer from within the Magic Array's flames, Lane drew his Rapier from his waist, pulling Tang Song back while simultaneously scolding the Training Camp Gunmen: "Escort the Boss out! Quickly!"

"No need!" Tang Song's Divine Sense was in close proximity to the Teleportation Beam opened by the Magic Array. Feeling its strength, he had a good idea of the situation.

He smiled slightly, waved his hand, and with a flick of his wrist, four Ghoul White Bone Banners immediately rose from the four corners of the Troll Black Market, whirling and flying before him.

Tang Song pointed with two fingers, and the four White Bone Banners descended around the Magic Array. As the White Bone Banners unfurled, black energy hung down. Instantly, Black and White Impermanence, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, leading over a dozen Ghost Gods and hundreds of Underworld Soldiers, appeared in formation. These Ghost Gods and Underworld Soldiers, enveloped in black mist, were products of the White Bone Banner's Restriction Formation. Theoretically, as long as the White Bone Banners were not destroyed, these Underworld Soldiers were immortal and indestructible. The host of Underworld Soldiers and Ghost Gods completely surrounded the Magic Array.

That wasn't all. Tang Song patted his Five Yin Wallet. The Wallet opened, and from the black vortex, hundreds of jade-like beads poured out, clattering onto the ground. With clicking sounds, these rolling jade beads transformed one by one, like Transformers, from thumb-sized beads into Skeleton Demons over two meters tall, spitting phosphorescent fire.

These Skeleton Demons, with bones as hard as iron and mouths spewing poison smoke, stood at the end of the Underworld Soldier formation.

Some Skeleton Demons directly leaped onto the ceiling. Their sharp bone claws pierced the stone ceiling like cutting tofu, overlooking the Magic Array spitting black flames from above.

The Ghost Gods and Underworld Soldiers formed by the White Bone Banner's Restriction Formation, plus hundreds of Skeleton Demons, totaled nearly a thousand Underworld Soldiers and Ghost Generals surrounding the Magic Array.

"Crack!"

Tang Song, stroking his chin and pondering whether this force was sufficient, turned his head.

The host of Underworld Soldiers and Ghost Gods also turned their heads along with his gaze. A Training Camp Gunman from Southeast Asia, trembling, bent down to pick up his gun. Seeing the gaze of countless Ghost Gods, he showed Tang Song an expression uglier than crying:

"B-Boss, I didn't mean to..."

It wasn't just him. The Training Camp Gunmen, who originally thought they were brave enough, felt their limbs go weak facing these undead creatures and moving skeletons.

These Gunmen, who were said to have reached the peak of human physical ability, felt their hands and feet turn soft.

Tang Song waved his hand and said:

"Lane, Kane, you're not needed here. Take them and thoroughly search this Troll Black Market. We came all this way; we should at least take some spoils of war back!"

"Boss! You..."

Lane was about to say something, but then he saw the Ghost Gods and Skeleton Demons. It seemed he couldn't be of much help here either.

He swallowed his words, nodded towards Tang Song, accepted the order, and led the Gunmen to begin ransacking the entire Troll Black Market.

"Buzz!"

Tang Song turned back and sat on the chair, stroking the trembling Tiger Head. A black Hornless Flood Dragon, as thick as a bucket, coiled beside him in a Snake Formation, flicking its tongue towards the Magic Array.

His Divine Sense felt the densely packed demons about to surge out from the Magic Array's Teleportation Passage.

Tang Song thought for a moment, then flicked a finger. A brass bell shot out, flying above the Magic Array. With its opening facing down, it spun rapidly.

With each rotation, the bell doubled in size. After seven or eight rotations, a giant, golden Great Desolation Bell hung suspended in the air above the Magic Array.

Hiss! Just as Tang Song lit another cigar and had taken a couple of puffs, a grating scratching sound, like fingernails scraping against glass, came from within the Magic Array.

Then, an arm with black claws emerged from the crack in the Magic Array. A creature with flesh wings, closely resembling Gollum from Lord of the Rings, crawled out of the glowing red Magic Array crack, smelling the meaty scent of human souls and the fragrance of souls.

It split open a large mouth that stretched back to its head, filled with barbed fangs, and let out a roar, "Clang!"

This Winged Demon crawled out of the Passage, and just as it was about to flap its flesh wings to take flight and survey this new hunting ground, a bell sound rang out above its head.

The Great Desolation Bell's Soul Suppressing Restriction reverberated with the bell sound.

With a thud, the demon's head swam, and it fell headfirst onto the ground.

Four White Bone Banners sent down streams of black energy, wrapping around the demon's fleshy membrane, limbs, and head, pulling forcefully.

The stunned demon was instantly torn into pieces. Purplish-black demon blood, along with its internal organs, splattered everywhere.

However, the four White Bone Banners didn't seem to mind. After dividing the bulk of the demon's corpse, streams of black energy descended, not even sparing the steaming purplish-black internal organs on the ground, and rolled them into the Banners.

Chewing sounds echoed within the Bone Banners. The appearance of this Winged Demon seemed to break a certain calm. Accompanied by grating shrieks, another large group of Winged Demons crawled out of the Lava Rift.

"Clang!"

The Great Desolation Bell rang out, its sound vibrating. These demons, who had just climbed out of the Hell Dimension, were stretching their flesh wings and fleshy membranes. One after another, they fell headfirst onto the ground.

The black energy from the White Bone Banners rained down, rolling up one demon corpse after another, swallowing them whole into the Banners.

Seven or eight, dozens, hundreds... Winged Demons with flesh wings.

Fallen Demons resembling zombies, carrying iron chains.

Possessing Demons like ghosts, turning into wisps of black smoke.

Under the Great Desolation Bell, these formless demons suffered the most tragic fate, directly dispersed into smoke and dust by the bell sound.

The world on this side of the Passage seemed to hold an indescribable temptation for demons. The Magic Array's Passage opening was only about three meters wide.

Yet, seven or eight demons squeezed out instantly. Heaven knows how they managed it, but these demons, turned into sardine cans, didn't get a chance to breathe the sweet air of the Human World. As soon as they crawled out of the Passage, they were harvested for their souls by a wave of bell sound.

Their flesh and blood became the nourishment for the Ghoul White Bone Banners.

Inside the Ghoul White Bone Banners, spirit marks rapidly formed, nourished by the demons' flesh and blood, beginning to generate Restriction Formations.

As the White Bone Banners consumed more and more demons, the Banner Bodies of the four Ghoul White Bone Banners began to grow slowly, visibly, like bamboo joints... The Ghost Gods and Underworld Soldiers surrounding the Magic Array, ready to clear out any stragglers, whose bodies were originally illusory, also became clearer and clearer as the White Bone Banner's Restriction Formations increased. Even their armor began to materialize.

"Clang, clang, clang—"

As time passed, the speed at which demons spewed out from the Magic Array's Lava Rift also increased, eventually becoming almost like an assembly line.

The bell sound was continuous, and even the chewing sounds on the four White Bone Banners disappeared. Often, streams of black energy would descend, rolling up seven or eight demons, and just as they were sent into the Banner Bodies, more demons would surge from the ground. The Great Desolation Bell's bell sound became a continuous peal... A large pile of demon corpses quickly accumulated on the ground, stacked like small mountains. Some Skeleton Demons had to act as laborers, moving these demon corpses outwards. In groups of three or five, they devoured the demons' flesh and blood on the periphery.

Eventually, Tang Song even had to personally intervene, refining these four Ghoul White Bone Banners, helping them digest the demon corpses rolled inside.

Under Tang Song's refinement, the Restriction Formations within these four Ghoul White Bone Banners rapidly took shape. The bone-chilling chewing sounds began to echo again within this dilapidated Black Market. One hour, two hours, three hours... "Commander, it's here!"

In a Basement area of the Troll Black Market, a Training Camp Gunman who discovered the place led Lane and Kane here.

Lane looked at the Security Door made of pure steel, identical to a Vault door, somewhat surprised. He stepped forward and examined the password lock and fingerprint lock on the Vault door. "How is it? Can you open it?"

Kane stepped forward, touching the cold steel door, and asked Lane.

"No, this type of Security Door requires specific fingerprints and a password. I can decipher the password, but the fingerprint is very troublesome!" Lane shook his head.

"I'll make a phone call and have them find a couple of locksmiths!"

Lane made a phone call, and in less than half an hour, the Gunmen from the Territory escorted the two best locksmiths in all of New York to the scene.

The two locksmiths were brought before the Vault door and had their hoods removed.

"What's your name?"

Lane looked at the white-haired old man in his fifties before him and asked.

"Sir, my name is Steve!" Out of professional habit, Steve secretly surveyed the surrounding environment. He and his partner were the most formidable theft gang in all of New York. Steve's skill at opening safes and vaults was well-known in New York's Underworld.

He had once opened a private bank's Vault in three minutes and, with his partner, stolen millions of US dollars from the Vault within twenty minutes, thus gaining considerable fame in the New York Underworld.

This time, as he was preparing to steal a batch of gold with his accomplice, someone came knocking.

He initially thought the police had discovered them... Both of them were feeling uneasy.

But then a few Gunmen directly produced a business card, saying they needed his help. He was immediately blindfolded and brought here.

Steve still remembered the panicked complexion of his partner when he saw that business card.

"Don't worry, I'm just asking the two of you to open this Vault door!"

Lane clapped his hands, signaling the two locksmiths not to worry. The Gunmen nearby brought the prepared tools.

Electric drills, welding torches, cutting gears, endoscope lenses, all sorts of lock-picking tools were available... Under the two locksmiths' efforts, the heavy steel door was opened in less than ten minutes! After unlocking the Vault's Security Door, the two locksmiths wisely turned their backs. After all, having been in New York for so many years, their indiscreet colleagues had either ended up in prison or Hell.

"Prepare a thank-you gift and send the two gentlemen back!"

Lane signaled to a few Gunmen.

The Gunmen who brought the two locksmiths put their black hoods back on them and helped them out of the Basement.

Kane stepped forward, gripped the Vault door's dial, twisted it forcefully, and pulled outwards. Soon, the solid steel Security Door, thirty centimeters thick, was pulled open.

The moment the steel door was pulled open, a dazzling golden light shone from within.

Lane and Kane, along with a few Training Camp Gunmen, entered the Vault.

On rows of oak shelves, small partitions were made from oak boards. Stacks of palm-sized square gold ingots gleamed against the black oak boards. This was the unique radiance of wealth.

Lane casually picked up two pieces, tapped them lightly, and a pleasant sound echoed within the Vault.

"The purity isn't very high, it should be privately minted gold!"

Lane walked back and forth between the rows of oak shelves, checking the quantity and estimating in his mind, "There's probably about fifty tons in this Vault!"

After refining this gold, its value would be roughly three billion US dollars.

A Troll Black Market with hundreds of years of exclusive operation naturally wouldn't have just this much money... Soon, behind this row of oak shelves, Lane discovered some stacked oak boxes.

Lane moved one down. This large oak box, one meter long and wide, and half a meter high, was casually thrown onto the ground. The box wasn't locked. Lane pushed open the lid, and a dazzling array of jewels immediately surged out.

Inside the box were countless gemstones, at least the size of dove eggs, with larger ones as big as a fist.

Red, blue, yellow, green, and various colored diamonds. Most of these gemstones were unpolished raw stones.

And there were at least a dozen boxes of this size here. The value of the jewels in these boxes alone was completely comparable to the batch of gold on the shelves.

Lane opened some other sized boxes. Some contained full boxes of old silver coins and gold coins.

There were also some boxes containing strange beast hides, bone, and some individually boxed artifacts emitting energy fluctuations.

Knight's Cross Swords with obvious The Church style, magic staffs, parchment scrolls written with unknown text. Many Orcs who traded in the Black Market didn't have human identity, so bartering had been popular in the Troll Black Market for hundreds of years.

Here, gold and silver were hard currency, followed by precious items like gemstones, and also some animal furs. Don't underestimate these inconspicuous dark races; they have their own skills to survive in an environment dominated by humanity.

Just like Dwarves living in mountain ore veins, they are excellent at metallurgy. Most of the gold mined from the ore veins they brought to this Black Market to process.

For hundreds of years, the Troll Clan had raked in profits relying on this Black Market. However, the entire Troll Clan, over hundreds of years, had essentially worked for free for the Tang family! Three hours passed. The black flame ignited by Urnos at the price of a phylactery went from dense to light, from large to small. The Lava Rift opened by the Magic Array was also shrinking little by little.

Summoning demons with witchcraft was an advanced magic art even among Black Wizards.

After all, demons in Hell are bloodthirsty beings that devour souls.

Many Black Wizards were often backlashed and completely devoured by the demons they had just summoned.

After all, to demons, any living creature would do; they weren't picky eaters.

Normally, with Urnos burning one of his phylacteries, the Dimensional Rift he opened and the tens of thousands of thick-skinned and tough demons he summoned, while perhaps not enough to destroy the world, could certainly turn the entire New York into a true City of Chaos.

Making hundreds of thousands of people bleed...

Even if the Federal Government dispatched organized armies to eliminate these demons, it wouldn't be a simple matter.

After all, some demons weren't afraid of human firearms at all.

But these demons ran into Tang Song, who completely disregarded conventional fighting methods, and suffered greatly.

The Great Desolation Bell's bell sound was their bane!

As soon as these demons stepped out of the Rift, they instantly became harvested leeks, crop after crop...

Abyss Demons coming to the Human World merely coveted human souls.

Boss Tang swung his scythe, and none of these demons' souls or flesh and blood were spared...

Tang Song watched the Rift shrink to less than half a meter. The number of demons squeezing out of the Rift also began to sharply decrease. He changed his hand seals, trying to stabilize this Dimensional Rift.

He tried over a dozen Restriction Formations from the three schools of Buddhism, Taoism, and Demonic Arts, but the Dimensional Rift continued to shrink.

Clearly, there were reasons he didn't understand. Everyone has their own specialty.

Seeing that the closing of the Dimensional Rift was a foregone conclusion, Tang Song casually waved his hand and put away the Great Desolation Bell that had been ringing for three hours.

Under the Ghoul White Bone Banners!

A host of fully armed Underworld Soldiers, led by a host of Ghost Generals who had solidified into physical entities, stepped forward to slaughter the stragglers from the Rift.

A tall demon with arms like scythes squeezed out of the less than half-meter Rift.

Its entire bone structure looked almost completely broken.

This Scythe Demon, whose aura was not weak, let out a triumphant, grating shriek upon arriving in the Human World.

Before it could revel for long, two expressionless Underworld Soldiers stepped forward, raised their long spears, and stabbed the demon with scythe-shaped arms to death.

Streams of black energy descended from the White Bone Banners, rolling the demon into the Banners.

At this moment, the white bone on the surface of the four Ghoul White Bone Banners was denser, and the Ghost God Feast Painting on the Banner Bodies was clearer.

The crystal clear, jade-like White Bone Banner Poles, joint by joint like bamboo, upon closer inspection, the Banner Pole on the east side had twenty-two joints.

The Banner Bodies of the other three White Bone Banners had surprisingly grown twenty bone joints.

"Boss! We found the Troll Black Market's Vault! In the Vault..."

Lane came before Tang Song, reporting the valuables found in the Troll Black Market.

"So much?!"

Tang Song was also surprised. He stroked the Tiger Head and asked Lane, "How about we take over this Territory?"

Lane thought for a moment, looking a bit hesitant: "Boss, after this incident, these dark creatures probably won't trust us anymore?"

Tang Song smiled and said, "It's fine, we won't show our faces. You find a new Address, and later have Selene step forward, and then have Lucien find some strong werewolves to bolster the scene!"

"The Troll Black Market is destroyed. I think the dark creatures in New York will definitely need a place to make deals!"

Lane nodded understandingly: "I understand, Boss!"

"Also, this Troll Black Market, having lost its Magic Barrier, is a large area and the position is good. Go to the City Government later and make arrangements to acquire this land and build a residential area."

"Was there a deed for this land in the Troll's Vault?"

Tang Song said impatiently, "Forget it, you get one later. Use my name to call Mister Governor.

Give him a 20% share, and he'll handle the rest of the matters!"

"Understood, Boss!"

"Hiss!"

A grating friction sound, like glass scraping, interrupted Boss Tang's conversation with his trusted confidant and general manager.

The two turned their heads. At this moment, the ground where the Magic Array had been, which was originally only a red thread, had a large opening torn in the Lava Rift. A pair of thick arms clung to the ground and crawled out.

A demon nearly three meters tall, with four long horns on its head, covered in countless scales, and dragging a long dragon tail behind it, crawled out of the Rift.

With a loud clang, after the demon climbed out onto the ground, it dragged out a heavy trident from behind it. It roared and swung the trident, directly pouncing on the two humans present.

Clang, a crisp sound rang out. A faint spark of firelight flashed in the darkness.

The demon retreated a few steps. Its arm muscles bulged, and a heat flow constantly surged within its muscles.

"Ox-Head, are you an Ox-Head Demon? Why are you in the Human World? Who is your Liege?" (Demonic language) The demon looked at the Ox-Head, who was also holding a trident, its gaze filled with fear.

It had used seventy percent of its strength in that attack, but it had retreated several steps, while the guy with the Ox-Head hadn't moved an inch.

Clearly, in terms of strength, this Ox-Head surpassed it.

The Ox-Head Yin God was enveloped in a cloud of black mist. Holding its trident, it showed no intention of acknowledging the demon.

The ignored demon's face twitched rapidly a few times. Its long dragon tail swung angrily, producing a low sound of breaking air.

It raised its trident and chopped down at the Ox-Head blocking its path. The Ox-Head also raised its trident, gathered itself, and charged towards the demon.

A suffocating cold wind blew in their faces. The Ox-Head's trident grazed past the demon's face.

The demon tilted its head slightly and casually swung its trident, stabbing towards the Ox-Head's heart.

"Hiss!"

The demon only felt its trident stab into thin air. Using too much force, it almost stumbled into the Ox-Head's embrace.

From the side, a sharp spear seized the opportunity to thrust out, piercing its chest.

(End of chapter)