Yama Rising

Qin Ye smiled as he replied, "As the ruler of a nation, I'm naturally always interested in expanding my territory."

Xu Fu's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. It had to be said that he was extremely handsome and refined in appearance. This expression would make anyone else appear sinister and sleazy, but it had an entirely different effect on him.

Before he had a chance to reply, Arthis suddenly said, "Do you really want to stay here for the rest of your life?"

Xu Fu immediately turned toward Arthis upon hearing this, and only after a long while did he shift his gaze away.

Instead of speaking right away, he began to tap the surface of the table with his fingers, and several minutes later, he smiled as he said, "The situation in the East Cathay Sea actually isn't all that complex."

This was a decision that he couldn't take lightly. He knew that even though Qin Ye hadn't promised him any reward in exchange for this information, it would be extremely unwise of him to lie to Qin Ye in his current state. Furthermore, there was no way that the Nipponese Underworld would be able to withstand an attack from several Yama-Kings anyway, so there was no reason for him to lie.

"Many years ago, I constructed Fantasy City using the seabed passageway. Due to the geographic location, the first party that I had to contact was the Nipponese Underworld." He smiled as he continued, "I'm not afraid to admit that I was constantly prepared to have to make my escape at the time, and the first direction I considered was naturally to go toward the east. The Nipponese Underworld wouldn't accept me as they feared the wrath of the Cathayan Underworld, but at the very least, they wouldn't be able to stop me from entering the new continent through the Pacific Ocean. I didn't establish any deep ties with the Nipponese Underworld, but I did learn some things about it. For example, there are no Yin Yang Mezzanines in the mortal realm in Nippon. Instead, all of its entrances to the underworld are in its Shinto shrines. Do you know of shimenawa? According to Nipponese legends, stepping over a shimenawa entails crossing into another world. In reality, that's not just a myth. The Nipponese Underworld has a total of nine Abyssal Prefects, but only Izanami and Susanoo-no-Mikoto are advanced Abyssal Prefects ruling over the nine regions. They are assisted by around 30 Infernal Judges, who keep records of almost all of the shimenawa, including who they are and when they crossed over. Only through those places can one enter the Nipponese Underworld. In other words, the entrances to the Nipponese Underworld are very narrow, which make them very inconvenient for armies to pass through. This indicates that Izanami has already abandoned all thoughts of expanding her territory. However, if you want to advance your army into the Nipponese Underworld, then the only way would be by crossing over the shimenawa."

Qin Ye's eyes narrowed slightly as he asked, "What do you mean when you say they keep records of 'almost' all of the shimenawa?"

Xu Fu replied, "I once heard a rumor. There is a set number of shimenawa in Nippon, but there are some that are unmonitored."

Qin Ye's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this.

"They're either situated near dilapidated and abandoned shrines, or in extremely secluded areas. There's no one maintaining those shimenawa, but with the passage of time, some of them seem to be barely hanging on by a thread, but they refuse to snap. Why do you think that is?"

"I have no time to play games," Qin Ye said in an indifferent voice.

Xu Fu smiled as he continued, "It's because of the Shinto religion. All underworlds exist due to legends in the mortal realm. That's how things like grand scripts of death come into existence. The legends and religions of the mortal realm can have an extremely significant impact on an underworld, and the existence of the Shinto religion makes it so that everything in Nippon truly has a spirit. Thus, it's not an uncommon sight for things like ancient trees or rocks in secluded places to develop spirits over time. The shimenawa that they draw are more so for marking out their own territory rather than connecting the underworld with the mortal realm, and if I recall correctly, the most renowned of those territories belong to three ghostly immortals. The first one is Aokigahara of the Fuji River in Yamanashi prefecture. Upon reaching the deepest point of Aokigahara, you'll encounter two massive trees that have centuries of history, and between them is a shimenawa formed entirely by interwoven black and white hair. The second place is Sandanbeki Rock Cliff of Wakayama prefecture. The shimenawa there is situated out at sea between two stone pillars, and it's formed by the remains of seabirds, with all types of bird's nests resting on it. The third one is the waterfall of Tojinbo in Fukui prefecture. The shimenawa rope there is situated on the seabed instead of on the surface of the sea. There are two giant stone pillars on the seabed there, between which is a shimenawa formed by seaweed, all types of shellfish, and the remains of fish. Foreigners wouldn't be able to draw the connection at all, but the Nipponese would definitely be able to identify it as a shimenawa."

He made a grabbing motion with one hand, and a horsetail whisk flew into his grasp as he continued, "If you would like to increase the scale at which your army advances into the Nipponese Underworld, then you'll have to come into contact with these three demonic ghostly immortals."

"Who are they?" Arthis asked.

"I don't know," Xu Fu replied. "I don't have much interest in beings below the Yama-King level. However, they are the only pathways between Nippon and its underworld that aren't monitored by Amano-Iwato. There are some other shimenawa as well that belong to creatures such as Bake-danuki, but those are too small to be useful to you."

This was a very important piece of information, and Qin Ye committed it to his memory before asking, "Is there anything else?"

"There are many other pieces of information I can provide. How about you give me a month to recollect everything, then write it all down for you?" Xu Fu suggested. "If you want to know more information as quickly as possible, there's someone I can recommend to you."

"Who is that?"

"Liu Yu, of course," Xu Fu replied with a smile. "Liu Yu was the first Emissary of Hell of note to contact Izanami, so she was naturally eager to reciprocate, and she sent someone by the name of Thẩm Điền Tử to Liu Yu."

Thẩm Điền Tử?

Qin Ye's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. This was a very familiar name to him, so it had to have at least some level of importance in history.

"He's one of three most powerful warriors under Liu Yu, ranking alongside Chu Linh Thạch and Vương Trấn Ác," Arthis explained. "He's only an Anitya Hellguard, so he's nothing to be worried about."

"Indeed," Xu Fu said with a smile. "Yanluo Qin has already become an advanced Yama-King, a level that I was only able to reach after thousands of years, and that's a clear indication of how powerful Hell has become. As such, there's naturally no need for you to be wary of a mere Anitya Hellguard. However, Thẩm Điền Tử was sent as a representative of Izanami, and during the first two years, all communication between Fantasy City and Izanami was facilitated through Thẩm Điền Tử. In the beginning, we only traded some general items such as specialty local products, but as time passed, Thẩm Điền Tử began to ask for cultivation arts, arts, and artifacts. After that, he was replaced by Otakemaru, who began to engage in trade of military weapons with me. Don't forget that Liu Yu is outside of the Array of the Nine Gods."

Qin Ye stood up as he nodded in response. "Alright, I understand."

There was no further exchange of words, and Qin Ye and Arthis promptly departed. After returning to the six paths of reincarnation, Arthis turned to Qin Ye before asking, "What are you going to do?"

A cold smile appeared on Qin Ye's face as he departed as a gust of Yin wind. "I'm going to make an example out of him, of course!"

……………………………………………………

Liu Yu lifted the curtain of the carriage that he was sitting in before looking outside with an uneasy expression, and only after several minutes had passed did he allow the curtain to fall again.

They were less than 10 kilometers away from Everburn.

It had already been a very long time since he had been here, and he was astonished by just how drastically the Cathayan Underworld had transformed over the past two decades.

A series of massive carriages drawn by Yin beasts were traveling along the main road. Most of them were cargo carriages, and there were quite a few passenger carriages as well, but not many of them were privately owned. After all, keeping and maintaining a Yin beast was quite expensive.

There were countless orchards and farms on either side of the road. With the dissemination of the new energy resource, the Cathayan Underworld was able to replicate the large-scale farming machinery of the mortal realm. This type of model actually wasn't suitable in Cathay due to its massive population, but that wasn't an issue in the Cathayan Underworld. Due to the comparatively smaller population, it was actually easier to implement farming on a large scale.

It was often the case that stretches of factories would be interspersed between the farmlands. Those were processing plants for different types of food such as eggs and dairy, meat and poultry, and even tea and other beverages. All of these industries were coexisting alongside the large-scale farms in a symbiotic relationship, presenting a prosperous sight to behold.

A series of cargo carriages were parked on the side of the road before traveling to all parts of the nation after they were filled with different types of food products. Liu Yu closed his eyes with a pained expression as he lowered the curtain.

He naturally wasn't going to take a public transport carriage. Instead, he was sitting in a luxurious rental beast-drawn carriage. The interior of the carriage was as stable as if they were in a stationary room, and there were all types of furniture, snacks, and beverages inside the carriage.

Thẩm Điền Tử, Vương Trấn Ác, and Chu Linh Thạch were also in the carriage, but none of them were saying anything. Only after a long while did Chu Linh Thạch heave a forlorn sigh. "It still feels like a dream..."

Indeed, the rapid development that the Cathayan Underworld had experienced during the past 20 years was completely surreal!

Liu Yu took a sip of tea before gently setting his teacup down onto the table. "Have you noticed that not a single person has come to greet us since we entered the Cathayan Underworld? We were only granted travel permits by the relevant departments. What do you think that implies?"

No one dared to reply.

This was a clear indication that Hell was already completely disappointed in the Hanyang Underworld.

They had never been so fearful toward what was waiting for them, and this fear was being exacerbated further and further the closer they drew to Everburn.

After a long while, Liu Yu heaved a resigned sigh. "We can only hope Yanluo Qin will forgive us in light of what we've prepared..."

He wasn't even convinced by his own words, but in the face of this colossal powerhouse, he no longer had any intention of resisting.

Finally, a massive plaque bearing the word "Everburn" appeared in the distance, and it was surrounded by hovering specks of white netherfire, making it look as if it were alive.

Beneath the plaque was a security checkpoint constructed in the style of the Han Dynasty, and beyond the checkpoint was the vast and majestic city that was Everburn.

The city was a perfect combination of antiquated and modern elements, and Liu Yu slowly closed his eyes as he instructed, "Take us to the Zhou Manor at 1204 Yellow Springs Road. "