## Chapter 360: Imprint and the Dark Lord Banner
Steppenwolf placed his palm on the Boom Tube opened by the Mother Box. The next moment, his palm felt as if it had been struck by a high-pressure electric current, and his entire body was directly flung out, crashing heavily against a wall made of Blood Jade Lotus petals.
"Roar, Darkseid!"
Steppenwolf stood up and looked at the Boom Tube. He understood that the reason the Boom Tube rejected him was because someone on the other side had revoked his clearance.
Although he had been exiled from Apokolips, as a former General of Apokolips, he naturally possessed the clearance to command the Parademon Legion and activate the Mother Box.
On Apokolips, the only one with the power and qualifications to strip him of this clearance was the King of Apokolips, his nephew, Darkseid.
Steppenwolf's eyes were filled with rage, but seeing the blood mist gradually appearing around him, he knew this was not the time for anger. He needed to leave this place as quickly as possible.
Staggering to the Mother Box, Steppenwolf placed his palm on it and chanted in the language of the New Gods.
It wasn't a spell, but a string of management code used to alter the Mother Box.
He wanted to close the Boom Tube leading to Apokolips and open a new one to leave this place.
"My King! Should I interrupt his operation!"
Desaad, observing through the Boom Tube, saw Steppenwolf attempting to close it and quickly asked Darkseid.
The Mother Box left on Earth was crafted by Desaad for Darkseid before he ascended to the throne.
Later, Darkseid suffered a crushing defeat on Earth, and the Mother Box was lost there, split into three parts. Although Desaad had left a backdoor in these Mother Boxes, it was like a disassembled mobile phone with the battery removed; remote control naturally had no effect.
Now that Steppenwolf had reassembled the disassembled phone, Desaad could naturally regain remote control over the Mother Box.
Darkseid remained expressionless, calmly watching the Mother Box without saying a word.
Desaad had followed Darkseid for thousands of years and was already familiar with the monarch he served.
Clearly, although Darkseid had refused Steppenwolf's request to return to Apokolips, he also didn't want his uncle to die before his eyes.
Desaad decisively closed his mouth and silently watched Steppenwolf's every move through the Boom Tube.
"Buzz!"
As Steppenwolf's palm gathered energy, the runes on the surface of the Mother Box began to shift.
The patterns subtly representing galaxy coordinates began to point towards a remote galaxy.
That was also Steppenwolf's Place of Exile.
...
"Can you please take your hand off my Mother Box!"
Just as Steppenwolf was about to change the teleportation coordinate of the Boom Tube, a voice suddenly sounded behind him.
Swoosh! Hearing the voice so close behind him, almost pressed against his back, Steppenwolf felt a chill run up his spine, reaching his heavenly spirit.
Steppenwolf released the palm pressing on the Mother Box at the fastest speed possible, grabbed his axe, turned, and chopped—all in one fluid motion.
The lightning energy unleashed by the Electro-Axe spread out like a fan.
The surrounding blood mist was neatly cut through. Clang! With a loud crash, the Electro-Axe's energy wave heavily struck a Blood Jade petal.
A visible shockwave swept through the strange blood mist again.
However, this blood mist did not disperse. Instead, it gathered in front of Steppenwolf, quickly coalescing into a human form.
"Hiss!"
Looking at the blood mist before him, Steppenwolf raised his Electro-Axe and brought it down on this ghostly thing.
"Clang!"
Steppenwolf's axe passed directly through the blood mist and struck the ground heavily.
Dozens of cracks spread across the reinforced concrete ground of the dam, fracturing across the entire dam. The next moment, with a rumbling sound, dust flew, sand and rocks surged, and the entire abandoned dam collapsed, revealing a blood-colored lotus platform below.
Beneath the dam, a Blood Jade Lotus Platform about thirty meters high and a hundred meters in area had appeared at some unknown time.
Steppenwolf looked around. He was standing in the center of the Blood Jade Lotus Platform, surrounded by towering, blood-colored walls that stretched endlessly, their boundaries unclear.
A sense of inexplicable insignificance welled up in his heart.
"Roar!"
Steppenwolf shook his head, casting the emotions in his heart aside.
"Get out here!"
He raised the Electro-Axe in his hand, gathering the energy around his entire body onto the axe blade, and chopped down at the Blood Jade Platform beneath his feet.
Clang!
Steppenwolf's axe blade struck the Blood Jade-like Lotus Seed Ground, chipping off a piece of the axe blade forged from alien alloy.
The chipped axe blade flew past Steppenwolf's face, leaving a bloodstain. The drops of blood didn't even reach the ground.
They turned into wisps of blood mist and dissipated.
Steppenwolf held his broken Electro-Axe, watching the blood mist surge before him.
The blood mist churned, gradually contracting inwards. Soon, a figure that looked familiar to Darkseid, who was observing through the Boom Tube, appeared on the Blood Jade Lotus Platform.
"Who are you? Is this your doing!"
Steppenwolf looked at Tang Song, who was dressed in white, and pointed his broken Electro-Axe at him.
Tang Song ignored him. He extended his palm, and the next moment, a black suitcase appeared out of thin air in front of him.
Watching Tang Song calmly examine the suitcase, completely ignored, Steppenwolf could no longer suppress the rage in his heart.
He bent his knees, leaped up, and brought his Electro-Axe down fiercely on Tang Song's head again.
Tang Song reached into the suitcase and took out a translucent canister. He extended a finger, teasing the small monster that had just taken shape inside.
"Tsk tsk tsk..."
Tang Song's finger seemed like a phantom, passing directly through the experimental-grade protective canister and reaching the Doomsday Embryo.
The ugly yet cute little monster immediately hugged Tang Song's finger and opened its mouth to bite down.
Unexpectedly, when it bit down, the finger it was holding exploded into a ball of blood mist.
The Doomsday Embryo stared with its large eyes, its foolish gaze filled with confusion.
The ball of blood mist, however, seemed to condense into a thread of red light and merged into the Doomsday Embryo's brow.
"Ah woo!"
The Doomsday Embryo instantly felt sleepiness wash over it. It yawned in the green nutrient fluid, drank a few gulps of nutrient fluid, curled up its body, and fell into a slumber.
Meanwhile, above Tang Song's head, two shadows were fiercely fighting.
The aftershocks of their clash, bang bang bang, were like an eighteen-grade gale swaying everything.
If this Altar Space hadn't been abnormally sturdy, the aftershocks of their battle alone could have destroyed a city.
However, even within the Blood Lotus Space, their clash still distorted the light, and shockwaves pounded against the surrounding Blood Jade walls. ...Just now, seeing Steppenwolf's Electro-Axe about to cleave down on Tang Song's head,
In the center of the Blood Jade Lotus Platform, after absorbing the living soul energy of nearly ten million Parademons, one of the All-Heaven Dark Lord Banners stuck around the Blood Jade Lotus Platform grew against the wind.
A ferocious deity phantom on the banner surface struggled free from the banner.
This ferocious deity's face was identical to Tang Song's. It stepped on two black dragons, had a large azure python wrapped around its arm, and held a pitch-black great halberd. Raising its hand, it blocked the Electro-Axe Steppenwolf chopped down.
Then, countless large pitch-black water thunders appeared around its entire body.
These water thunders blasted towards Steppenwolf, instantly drowning him.
Steppenwolf had never seen this kind of lightning technique before and was directly knocked to the ground by the barrage of water thunders.
The ferocious deity with Tang Song's face said nothing, stepped forward, and thrust its halberd at Steppenwolf.
Steppenwolf barely managed to swing his Electro-Axe, deflecting the incoming great halberd. Dragging his scarred body and his broken Electro-Axe, he slashed past the great halberd, aiming for the enemy's hands holding the halberd.
The ferocious deity with Tang Song's face, facing Steppenwolf's strike, had an azure python coiled around its arm extend its head. It opened its mouth and bit down on Steppenwolf's Electro-Axe blade.
The azure python's poison fang bit into the axe blade, instantly sending sparks flying.
Blocked by the azure python, Steppenwolf's move instantly revealed a flaw.
The ferocious deity with Tang Song's face swung the great halberd in its hand. Steppenwolf felt a severe pain in his arm. Looking down, his right arm had been severed by the sharp halberd blade.
In intense pain, Steppenwolf quickly pulled back, trying to retreat.
With a squelch, the ferocious deity with Tang Song's face raised its great halberd, thrusting forward. The halberd pierced through Steppenwolf's body, impaling him on the halberd head.
"Still a bit lacking. Nurtured by nearly ten million living souls and boosted by the Netherworld Blood Lotus, it still took over a dozen bouts to take down a Steppenwolf!"
Seeing this scene, Tang Song couldn't help but shake his head. His posture at this moment was like an old man holding a birdcage and teasing a bird, except he was holding a canister containing the Doomsday Embryo.
He looked up at Steppenwolf, who was hanging on the halberd shaft like dried cured meat, not entirely satisfied with the performance of his Gonggong True Form.
The Twelve All-Heaven Dark Lord Banners were a set of True Form Diagrams personally refined by Tang Song after the Ghoul White Bone Banner.
Since Tang Song's cultivation had achieved success, the Ghoul White Bone Banner, which he had found convenient to use, had become chicken ribs.
After all, the upper limit of Underworld Government Gods was set.
In the true Netherworld Government of the Jambudvīpa World, Underworld Government Yin Commanders like Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and Black and White Impermanence, were only at the True Immortal strength.
The upper limit of the Magic Treasure True Spirit simulated by Tang Song using the Yellow Springs Sect Daoist Technique was also locked there.
The strength of these Magic Treasure True Spirit Yin Commanders was at most equivalent to the Nascent Divinity Realm.
Of course, several Yin Commanders could combine their strength to simulate summoning the phantom of King Yama, but the fact remained that this set of magic treasures was gradually failing to keep up with Tang Song's pace.
So Tang Song simply placed this set of Magic Treasure level Ghoul White Bone Banners in the Blood Sea Hell.
He handed them over to the Blood Daoist to command, establishing a Netherworld Government in the Western Hell.
When Tang Song conquered more and more worlds, the existence of the Underworld Government would spread to numerous parallel universes. At that time, leveraging this power of faith, this set of Ghoul White Bone Banners that had followed him for so long might not be unable to be refined beyond their quality.
And this set of All-Heaven Dark Lord Banners, chosen by Tang Song to replace the Ghoul White Bone Banner, was strictly speaking not a magic treasure or magic tool.
Instead, it was a True Form Diagram that Tang Song had visualized.
He visualized the True Appearance of the Twelve Ancestral Magi from ancient times, recorded in the Yanfu World Source.
Dijiang: Like a yellow sack, red as cinnabar fire, six legs and four wings, chaotic and faceless, the Ancestral Magus of Space and Speed.
Jumang: Green as bamboo, bird body and human face, riding two dragons, the Ancestral Magus of Wood in The East.
Zhurong: Beast head and human body, covered in red scale, ears pierced by fire snakes, stepping on fire dragons, the Ancestral Magus of Fire in the South.
Rushou: Human face and tiger body, covered in golden scale, wings on its shoulders, a snake piercing its left ear, riding two dragons, the Ancestral Magus of Metal in the West.
Gonggong: Python head and human body, covered in black scale, stepping on black dragons, an azure python wrapped around its hand, the Ancestral Magus of Water in the North.
Xuanming: Human face and bird body, with an azure serpent hanging from each ear, stepping on two azure serpents, the Ancestral Magus of Rain/Ice.
Houtu: Human body with a snake tail, seven hands behind its back, two hands in front of its chest, holding a Tengshe (Mythical Flying Serpent) in its hands, the Ancestral Magus of Earth in the Center.
Qiangliang: Holding a snake in its mouth, holding a snake in its hand, tiger head and human body, four hooves for feet, long elbows, the Ancestral Magus of Thunder.
Zhulong: Human head and dragon body, entirely red, the Ancestral Magus of Time.
Tianwu: Eight heads with human faces, tiger body and eight tails, the Ancestral Magus of Wind.
Xizi: Human face and bird body, with an azure serpent hanging from its ear, holding a red serpent in its hand, the Ancestral Magus of Lightning.
Shebishi: Human face and beast body, ears like a dog's, an azure serpent hanging from its ear, the Ancestral Magus of Poison.
These Twelve Ancestral Magi are said in legend to be formed from the physical body of the Yanfu World's Pangu.
Each Ancestral Magus mastered a power of Heavenly Dao rules, coupled with their formidable physical body capable of withstanding Innate Spiritual Treasures. It can be said that their strength was absolutely among the top thirty even in the entire Jambudvīpa World.
Refining magic tools and magic treasures is often limited by their material, which is the reason for the Ghoul White Bone Banner's insufficient origin.
If one wanted to refine a magic treasure capable of bearing the True Form of the Twelve Ancestral Magi, its material would be extremely difficult to find even in the Jambudvīpa World.
In the Marvel World, finding such materials containing Xiantian Material is even unthinkable.
Tang Song simply used a part of his mental thought to simulate a wisp of the divine aura of the Twelve Ancestral Magi.
Then, he transformed a part of his Nascent Divinity into the True Form Diagram.
The benefit of doing this was that these Twelve All-Heaven Dark Lord Banners were equivalent to Tang Song's twelve clones.
The next step was to nurture these twelve True Form Diagrams to grow.
The reason Tang Song chose the Twelve Ancestral Magi was because the Twelve Ancestral Magi are also known as the Twelve All-Heaven Demonic Gods.
They were born from the Turbid Qi of Heaven and Earth and could devour soul flesh and blood to nourish and strengthen themselves.
The more souls they devour, the faster the Twelve All-Heaven Demonic Gods grow...
There is even a legend in the Jambudvīpa World that the souls of all living beings in the Jambudvīpa World are fragments of Pangu's soul.
If the Twelve All-Heaven Demonic Gods could devour all life in the entire Jambudvīpa World, they could reassemble Pangu's Pangu True Body.
Whether this matter is true or false is impossible to verify. In fact, the demise of the Twelve All-Heaven Demonic Gods also subtly reflects this legend.
However, it is true that the Twelve All-Heaven Demonic Gods can devour souls to strengthen themselves.
The flesh and blood of nearly ten million Parademons formed the Blood Jade Lotus Altar, and their souls were devoured by the Gonggong Banner among the Twelve All-Heaven Dark Lord Banners.
The wisp of divine aura that Tang Song visualized expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye after devouring enough souls.
It could even transform into the Gonggong Demonic God to fight.
Of course, this is also greatly related to the fact that Tang Song had branded enough Ancestral Magus Imprints in the Jambudvīpa World back then.
This is like inputting a person's behavior, speech, mannerisms, and every single thing they have done into an intelligent robot.
In this situation, the person simulated by the intelligent robot would appear identical to the original person in the eyes of outsiders.
Tang Song's True Form Imprint utilizes the Ancestral Magus information he collected to replicate his All-Heaven Demonic Gods, the Twelve Ancestral Magi, in this world.
(end of chapter)