Yama Rising

A grim look appeared in Zhao Yun's eyes as he thrust his palms forward without any hesitation, slamming them against the wavering protective barrier. Immediately thereafter, Qin Ye, the Harken, and Arthis did the same thing.

Massive quantities of Yin energy were injected into the protective barrier, but it was still too little, too late. Qin Ye's pupils contracted drastically as he yelled, "What are you waiting for?! Run!"

The destructive power of the second-generation forbidden art was so great that even a being above the Yama-King level couldn't withstand it, and this was completely outside of their expectations.

Lu Ban and the others shuddered slightly upon hearing this, and only then did they return to their senses before frantically fleeing the scene. They knew that they were only posing hindrances here. If the Yama-Kings didn't have to withstand the power of the explosion to protect everyone else, they would've been the first ones to escape.

In the blink of an eye, all of the Yin soldiers around the protective barrier retreated in a frenzy. Meanwhile, Qin Ye and the Yama-Kings were reinforcing the protective barrier with all their might, and their arms were cracking incessantly from the strain. Qin Ye's teeth were gritted tightly as he said, "What happened, General Zhao?"

"I was too careless." Zhao Yun's teeth were also gritted tightly, and his cape was burning with scorching netherfire. "This protective barrier is able to withstand 30 times the power of a first-generation forbidden art. According to the estimates of the Yin Mountains Research Institute, the second-generation forbidden art should be somewhere within 10 times to 20 times more powerful than first-generation forbidden arts. At the moment, this is already the most powerful defensive barrier I'm capable of creating..."

Damn it...

Sweat was pouring down Qin Ye's face from exertion, and right at this moment, the Harken yelled, "Get out of here!"

Before Qin Ye had a chance to reply, it continued, "All of us are expendable, but no harm can be allowed to befall you! Even if we're injured, we can recover behind the scenes, but no one can take your place!"

"Go!" Arthis also urged with a grim expression. "Hurry! We won't be able to last much longer! Where's your cowardly side when we need it? Just get out of here, we'll take care of the rest!"

This wasn't the time for hesitation, and Qin Ye closed his eyes before immediately turning around and rushing away.

Right at this moment, the enormous protective barrier warped violently.

Time seemed to have fallen completely still.

The protective barrier was like a massive black screen that had been distorted into strange angles, as if a terrifying, deformed monster were lurking beneath it, but in the next instant, everything fell still again.

It was the briefest moment of calm before the impending storm.

Immediately thereafter, an earth-shattering boom rang out as countless bursts of red light tore through the darkness, forming a crimson rose that bloomed violently over the sky for over 100,000 kilometers.

This was the true power of the second-generation forbidden art!

Qin Ye didn't even get a chance to swear out loud before the gusts of fierce wind swept up walls of yellow sand that filled the entire sky!

All he could do was lay himself flat against the ground and protect his own head with his arms, while releasing his Yin energy with all his might to form a barrier around him. After that, he closed his eyes and let the heavens decide his fate.

The entire world seemed to have been robbed of sound, but it was trembling violently as if an earthquake had struck. After what felt like an eternity, Qin Ye slowly opened his eyes, and his first reaction was to inspect his own internal condition.

Much to his surprise, he was completely fine!

Furthermore, he could see that Zhao Yun, Arthis, and the Harken were all standing in their original spots, relatively unscathed, while an enormous black hole that was over 100,000 kilometers in size had appeared at the center of the desert.

I'm... fine?

He slowly rose to his feet, and even now, his heart was still thumping like a jackhammer. He raised his own hand and took a look to confirm that he was indeed safe and sound. Only then did he notice that his entire body was already drenched in cold sweat.

"Are you alright?" he asked in an extremely hoarse voice.

The three Yama-King's nodded in unison, but for some reason, they didn't say anything, and he couldn't see their expressions as they had their backs facing him.

"What happened just now? Why didn't the explosion of the second-generation forbidden art do anything? Did you manage to withstand it?"

But that's impossible! If they could withstand it, they wouldn't have told me to leave!

Zhao Yun was the first one to return to his senses, and he raised his head before pointing up at the sky. Qin Ye looked up in the same direction, then finally heaved a long sigh of relief.

A figure had appeared up above.

It was a well-built figure with a head of short hair, wearing a set of simple camouflage attire and combat boots.

"Is that the second King Yanluo?" All of the unease in Qin Ye's heart instantly faded. "He came right in the nick of time..."

At the moment, a black ball was rapidly shrinking within the second King Yanluo's palm, and finally, he crushed it into nothingness between his two hands. He then descended onto the ground before turning to Qin Ye with an impressed expression.

"Not bad at all." Several seconds later, he began to applaud with a smile. "I didn't think that you would be able to restore the record of the Demonic Oven's explosion."

"What's that?" Qin Ye made his way over to the second King Yanluo. He was already over 180 centimeters tall, but he was still significantly shorter than the second King Yanluo, and that was very displeasing to him.

How the hell did you get so tall? Did you get fed growth hormone with your breast milk as a baby?!

The second King Yanluo waved at Zhao Yun and the others before explaining, "There was a mighty divine artifact in space that was the size of a planet. However, due to certain reasons, it once exploded, and you've just managed to replicate the explosion from back then. Of course, this explosion is only a tiny fraction of the power of the actual explosion. When a true divine artifact explodes, only a true deity would be able to survive, and I was fortunate enough to have witnessed that. However, it's far too difficult to completely replicate the circumstances that led to the explosion. I could only guess the most fundamental factors, and in my spare time, I recorded it out of boredom..."

"Hold on, you're saying this isn't the second-generation forbidden art startup module that you left behind?" Qin Ye asked with a stony expression.

The second King Yanluo faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which his mouth gaped wide open, but he quickly put on a composed expression as he replied, "That was uh... indeed my thought process back then... So I created that into... whatever startup module..."

You're not fooling anyone!

Qin Ye had to hold back the urge to slap him across the face! Why hadn't he told everyone in advance that this was replicating the power of an explosion of a divine artifact as large as a planet?! Things were on the verge of descending into disaster just now!

No wonder the researchers and Zhao Yun had all misevaluated its power, there was no way that anyone could've calculated this!

In the face of Qin Ye's cold gaze, the second King Yanluo was feeling quite awkward, and he cleared his throat before using his "that's not the point!" diversion technique.

A cold smile appeared on Qin Ye's face. It had been a long time since he had seen anyone use that diversion technique. As Arthis, Wang Chenghao, and himself had climbed up higher and higher through the ranks, they had done away with such shameless tactics, but it appeared that the second King Yanluo still hadn't received the memo.

The second King Yanluo continued with a serious expression, "The point is that your restoration has been completed far sooner than I expected. If I had taken on this project myself, it would've most likely taken me 50 to 60 years to reach the same stage. Hence, on behalf of the world's gate, I would like to order 12 second-generation forbidden arts from you!"

"On behalf of the world's gate? Can you even represent them?" Qin Ye countered. "Has everyone else agreed? You're not getting anything out of me unless you pay up?"

As soon as his voice trailed off, a scroll was tossed into his hands, and he spread it open to take a look, upon which his expression immediately changed.

It was a massive list of A-grade and S-grade materials, as well as S-grade war fortresses, mechanical beasts, and siege weapons!

Qin Ye closed the scroll as a warm smile appeared on his face. "Should we take a walk together?"

Zhao Yun and the others could clearly see that they wanted to discuss something alone, so they quickly departed. It was already nighttime, and the sky was filled with countless stars. Qin Ye and the second King Yanluo slowly walked along the desert, enjoying the unique scenery of the desert in the night.

After walking quietly for a few minutes, Qin Ye suddenly asked, "Will this cause radiation to the area?"

"No," the second King Yanluo replied. "You can't even begin to imagine what the original explosion was like. It doesn't require any radiation, just the power of the explosion alone was enough to kill all beings that weren't true gods."

Qin Ye nodded in response.

Before he had a chance to continue, the second King Yanluo asked, "What do you plan to name it?"

Qin Ye was silent for a long while before replying, "Seeing as this is replicating the explosion of the Demon's Oven, I wanted to call it Demon, but demons don't exist in the Cathayan Underworld, so it should be named Death God."

It was a simple name, yet it entailed pure death.

The second King Yanluo nodded in response. He was useless at naming things, so he didn't find this to be a bad idea. Qin Ye continued, "Is the situation in the world's gate that bad?"

He stopped in his tracks as he looked into the second King Yanluo's eyes, then said, "Even now, I'm unable to fathom exactly how powerful you are, and even the Heavenly Dao seems to fear you to a certain extent. The entire world is like a game to you. You come and go as you please without any fears or worries. How is there something in the world's gate that even you're unable to take care of?"

The second King Yanluo looked back at him, and only after a long silence did he reply, "It's not as simple as you think."

He paused for another minute before casually kicking up some sand as he continued, "I never planned to step in. You want to know why? It's very simple. All of you think that you're gods, death gods, but you don't know how big this universe is and how terrifying true gods are. They are on the other side of the universe, watching everything developing, witnessing the rise and fall of one civilization and planet after another. They are far colder and more aloof than the Heavenly Dao. In contrast with them, the Heavenly Dao is as pure as a three-year-old infant. For any civilization, once it branches out into space, it will be a new beginning. They will have emerged from their comfort zone and stepped onto the battlefield between realms. If they succeed, then they'll encounter countless civilizations that they had never thought existed. There are demons, elves, insects, all types of strange things. If the underworld can't break these shackles, then it doesn't deserve to take that step. At the very most, I can only ensure that Earth won't be destroyed. This is my home, after all, and I'll help where I can, but I definitely won't do everything and lure all of you into a false sense of security. You may be standing at the pinnacle of the underworld, but in the face of the most powerful civilizations in space, you're nothing. On top of that, I'm not your nanny. Why should I risk my life for your sake? If I were to do that, other gods would do the same, and that's strictly prohibited."

"You're a god?" Qin Ye asked with a stunned expression.

"Indeed, a true god!" the second King Yanluo replied as he puffed out his chest.

Qin Ye hesitated for a long time before asking a suicidal question. "Are you insane?"

"I can kill you with a single punch, you know that?" The second King Yanluo glared at him before vanishing on the spot. "In 10 years, we'll complete the trade!"