Yama Rising

"I genuinely didn't think that you would give me the option to choose peace." Ye Xianguo took a casual sip of wine. "I thought that you would be determined to kill me."

"As King Yanluo, I can't afford to take that risk," Qin Ye replied with a smile, but the veins on the backs of his hands were bulging.

If possible, he would tear the inner demon into a million shreds, but at this point, it was untouchable.

This was only a fragment of the inner demon's soul here, and if he were to allow his emotions to get the better of him, leading him to recklessly strike down this puppet, then the Cathayan Underworld would be sure to be beset with more riots. He could've acted on his own selfish wishes 20 years ago, but he couldn't do that now.

"I enjoy dealing with smart and practical people like you," Ye Xianguo said as he raised his glass before extending it slightly toward Qin Ye.

"Same with me." Qin Ye also raised his glass, and the two glasses gently touched with a crisp clink. Their eyes met, and both of them began to smile.

Don't think that your victory is assured! Come and attack Hell if you dare!

"You're clearly a smart man, so I won't waste time with unnecessary words." The inner demon picked up the napkin beside him, then dabbed at its own mouth before proposing, "I promise that I won't touch the Cathayan Underworld again for the next three years."

Qin Ye smiled as he replied, "Alright, then Hell promises that it won't attack any of the 73 immortals for the next three years."

"How can I trust you?" the inner demon asked.

Qin Ye raised an eyebrow as he scoffed, "Do you need a written contract?"

The inner demon took a meaningful look at him, then shrugged in response. "You're right, a written contract is useless."

Neither of them would be willing to sign a Heavenly Dao Contract, and no other form of contract would be absolutely binding to them anyway. Thus, a verbal agreement would have to suffice.

Just as Qin Ye was thinking that this conversation had drawn to a conclusion, Ye Xianguo suddenly leaned forward slightly, then said, "There's actually another way to ensure a win-win outcome for both of us, but it'll depend on whether you're courageous and decisive enough to pursue this path."

"Oh?" Qin Ye raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

A mysterious smile appeared on Ye Xianguo's face, and he pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket before gently pushing it toward Qin Ye along the table.

Qin Ye's eyes narrowed slightly, and he could clearly sense that the aura of a Yama-King was enclosed within this piece of paper.

Furthermore, this wasn't normal paper. Instead, it was parchment paper that was extremely old, so much so that it was yellow with age and even showing signs of rot.

This was true parchment paper, which was made with sheepskin that was soaked in limewater to remove the fats, then stretched vigorously using special wooden frames.

Through the process of physical stretching, the sheepskin would be dried and maintain a stable state.

This type of paper was very difficult to produce, but it was also extremely durable. The fact that it was already in such a sorry state meant that it had to have been at least several hundred years old.

In terms of the evolution of paper, the underworld had followed a similar path to the mortal realm. During the 14th century, the paper of Cathay swept through the entire underworld, and as a result, parchment paper was phased out. Among the parchment paper that still remained in the present day, most bore religious or historical records. However, Qin Ye had also seen this type of paper in another setting.

Ye Xianguo's smile faded as he asked, "Don't you want to see what's inside here, Yanluo Qin?"

Qin Ye calmly accepted the piece of paper, then laid it out layer by layer. Finally, the symbol of an eye was revealed at the center of the piece of paper.

To say that it was an image would be inaccurate. Instead, it more so resembled a type of text that formed the shape of an eye. In the instant that Qin Ye's gaze settled on the eye, a burst of inexplicable violence and killing intent instantly reared up in his heart.

This wasn't the first time that this had happened, but on the previous occasion, he was still only a mid Yama-King. At this point, he was already impervious to psychological blows like this.

This was from an extraterrestrial god!

Nothingness had been correct in assuming that the inner demon had collaborated with extraterrestrial gods for its own personal gain.

It had been born from the emotions of all of Earth's living beings, yet for its own benefit, it had turned its back on the planet that had given rise to it without any hesitation.

Qin Ye forcibly repressed his killing intent as he kept his head lowered. He was afraid that if he were to look at the inner demon now, he would be unable to repress the urge to attack.

Anyone could serve as King Yanluo, but the inner demon absolutely could not be allowed to take this position!

He slowly folded the piece of paper up again, then pushed it back toward the inner demon. "What is the meaning of this?"

Ye Xianguo didn't immediately reply. Instead, he was silent for a long while before speaking again. "There are many secrets in this world. For mortals, there is this planet, and then there is space outside of this planet. For them, there's nothing that can pose a threat to them within billions of light years. However, do you know what lies outside of the underworld plane? Have you considered the possibility that there would be a pack of bloodthirsty wolves, constantly prowling outside of our world, searching for an opportunity to enter it? Have you wondered whether there are certain things that don't belong to any of the three realms, but have actually already been lurking in our world for centuries?"

A smile appeared on his face, and it stretched literally from ear to ear, splitting his face in half in a terrifying display as he continued in an alluring voice, "We refer to them as extraterrestrial gods."

A smile also appeared on Qin Ye's face.

"Is that supposed to be a joke?"

"Absolutely not," Ye Xianguo replied. "They are extremely powerful, and all they need is an anchor point in order to enter the underworld. Do you understand what I'm saying now, Yanluo Qin?"

A grim look appeared on Qin Ye's face upon hearing this.

The inner demon had just raised a point that he had failed to consider, which was that if other planes were to invade the underworld, the underworld would naturally have to face them in battle, but where would the battlefield be?

It could only be the underworld plane.

Without space exploration technology, the underworld was at a severe disadvantage and could only settle for passivity.

What would happen after that?

If the underworld plane were to become the battlefield, regardless of whether the battle was lost or won, it would be a painful loss for the underworld!

For the first time, he came to realize just how important space exploration technology was.

Space exploration technology wasn't just something that the Cathayan Underworld could leverage in order to maintain its lead over the rest of the world. Instead, it was imperative to ensure that the underworld wouldn't become the battlefield for future clashes between planes!

"Even if we win the battle, it would take centuries for us to repair the underworld from its severely ravaged state," Ye Xianguo said in an indifferent voice. "In contrast, it would only take our enemy planes several decades to accumulate sufficient power to launch another attack. Even if we ward them off once, twice, thrice... It won't matter in the end because we'll have entered an infinite negative loop..."

"What are you trying to say?" Qin Ye interjected impatiently as his brows furrowed slightly.

He knew that this was all leading up to something, and he wanted the inner demon to cut straight to the chase.

Those who hadn't been in his position before would never be able to understand the responsibilities weighing down on the rulers of the four pillars, and this position definitely couldn't be relinquished to a being like the inner demon!

There was no way he could allow the inner demon to live, whether it was for his own sake or for the good of the entire world.

Ye Xianguo took a deep breath, then asked with a smile, "In that case, why don't we join the side that is destined to be victorious from the very beginning?"

A faint smile appeared on Qin Ye's face, and in the next instant, his Heavenly Dragnet erupted out of his sleeves before hurtling directly toward Ye Xianguo.

Ye Xianguo faltered slightly upon seeing this, then merely allowed himself to be destroyed by the Heavenly Dragnet without offering up any resistance. The wooden bamboo battens concealed beneath his skin were shattered into countless pieces, following which a thumb-sized speck of golden soulfire emerged.

"I thought you were a smart man." A voice that was completely different from Ye Xianguo's was coming out of the soulfire. It was impossible to tell the gender of the voice, and it sounded like the culmination of countless anguished howls. With each word that was spoken, countless gusts of Yin wind were swept up through the surrounding area, transforming this place into the center of a vortex.

"After all, idiots wouldn't even think to negotiate with me, but it appears I was mistaken about you."

Right as the voice trailed off, Chu Renmei and Huang Jiansen had already appeared on either side of the soulfire. The appearance of the two evil ghosts had undergone drastic transformations.

Chu Renmei was wearing a tattered crimson cloak, while Huang Jiansen was wearing a white cloak.

Threads of soulfire quickly unfurled from their hands, then shot forth toward the soulfire like lightning.

The speck of soulfire seemed to be completely oblivious to this as it said in an unhurried voice, "Even so, our verbal agreement still stands."

Right as the soulfire threads were about to reach it, the speck of soulfire abruptly vanished.

It was fast, incredibly so!

It was on an entirely different level compared with the speed of a Yama-King. In fact, it was approaching the speed of the Heavenly Dao!

It was only a small speck of soulfire, but it left a stark white mark across the entire sky in its wake, as if a speeding arrow had sliced the entire heavens in half.

"Is this the power of a being above the Yama-King level?" Qin Ye sighed as he made his way over to the window before casting his gaze outside.

He knew that he wouldn't be able to actually capture Ye Xianguo, but this was a display of his attitude, the attitude of the ruler of the Cathayan Underworld.

It was also right at this moment that a burst of silver light erupted from the center of the city, flying directly toward the speck of soulfire at a speed that wasn't inferior to that of the inner demon.

Zhao Yun had finally made his move!

……………………………………

Fierce wind was blowing past Zhao Yun's ears, and his scarlet cape was billowing out behind him like a pair of wings. Netherfire was revolving along the entire length of his Courage of Dragons Silver Spear, and it was aimed directly at the speck of soulfire!

The soulfire up ahead faltered slightly, then flickered violently as it was stopped cold in its tracks for a split-second out of sheer astonishment. "Hell has another being above the Yama-King level?!"

This sudden turn of events had caught it completely off guard. Up to this point, every act of provocation the inner demon had made was intended to merely intimidate Hell. It didn't want to start a battle right away. After all, it was still incapable of traveling between the underworld and the mortal realm as it pleased at the moment.

It had done all of this in order to create a fair negotiation environment.

Similarly, Qin Ye had also made a grand entrance with four Yama-Kings descending at once, including the inner demon's arch-nemesis, the God of Nine Energies. This was also an act that was meant to intimidate the inner demon.

All of these mind games had been played solely for the purpose of facilitating negotiation that had just taken place. This was also why the inner demon hadn't chosen to add any further terms to the negotiation.

However, never had it considered that there would be a being above the Yama-King level among Hell's ranks!

This was not just a gesture of intimidation anymore, Hell was aiming for its throat!

What could it do?

It was flying through the air as quickly as it could, but this was only a soul fragment. If it were being pursued by a Yama-King, it would be able to escape, but there was no way it could escape from a being above the Yama-King level!

Could it voluntarily destroy this soul fragment?

Right as this thought occurred to the inner demon, a clearly phoenix cry suddenly rang out behind it.

The speck of soulfire flickered slightly, then turned around, upon which it witnessed an astonishing sight.

A massive rift had split open in the sky over the entire city, and moonlight was filtering down through the rift to illuminate the earth. From within the inky darkness on either side of the rift, countless specks of netherfire surged forth as if they had been summoned. They rapidly converged and twisted before forming a giant netherfire phoenix that was revolving around Zhao Yun, forming a gigantic vortex that was extraordinarily spectacular to behold.

At the center of the vortex, Zhao Yun's cape rose up behind him, and there was a stark contrast between his tiny figure and the vast sky behind him. In the blink of an eye, Zhao Yun's cape transformed into a pair of fiery scarlet wings, and another phoenix cry rang out as he shot forth directly toward the inner demon as a flaming phoenix.

There was no time for the inner demon to evade!

It was too fast, and it didn't even have the time to self-detonate its soul fragment!

If this soul fragment were to be captured, its main body would immediately be located, and the consequences would be catastrophic!