Yama Rising

"Now then, I will be reading out document number 0000 from the Cathayan Underworld."

Qin Ye was about to deliver his address at the meeting of the Coalition of Underworlds, and the entire conference hall was completely silent. Everyone's attention was focused on the lectern, and Qin Ye suddenly smiled before continuing, "Prior to reading out the document, everyone here has a right to know the circumstances surrounding this invasion. Firstly, I have to make one thing clear: the Cathayan Underworld is not a warmongering nation. Throughout the entire history of the Cathayan Underworld, we have never once actively launched an invasion on any other nation."

As soon as his voice trailed off, a death god immediately countered, "That's only how your predecessors did things, it doesn't represent your stance on this subject."

Qin Ye wasn't flustered at all by this. It was only to be expected.

In an era of peace, no underworld wanted to see any wars arise. No one wanted to be neighbors with a warmongering underworld as it would be like constantly living next to a ticking time bomb.

Even the five Northern Europa nations and the Alkebulan Underworlds didn't stick up for the Cathayan Underworld here. Despite the fact that they were close allies of the Cathayan Underworld, they didn't want to see the underworld ravaged by war, either.

"I assure you that my stance on war is identical to that of my two predecessors," Qin Ye said. "As I'm sure you're all aware, the Cathayan Underworld has only deployed its troops to the Nipponese Underworld as the latter had sent armed forces into the Cathayan Underworld's territory completely unannounced..."

"Yanluo Qin," Yamaraja interjected in a cold voice. "We all know that's just a manufactured excuse to start this war, so let's not play any more pointless mind games. Even if that's true, this is only a diplomatic dispute, and it's certainly not sufficient reason to launch an invasion! What are you trying to do? Are you trying to transform the Cathayan Underworld into a fascist nation? The Nipponese Underworld has existed for close to 2,000 years! It may not be able to compare with the top underworlds, but it has still made significant contributions to the cultural development of the underworld! The Coalition of Underworlds won't accept or condone any invasions, especially ones launched with the intention of destroying a nation!"

He rose to his feet as he looked directly into Qin Ye's eyes. "You are seeking to destroy an entire race and culture. This is genocide! It's no different from what Hitler did in the mortal realm!"

Thanatos chimed in in a cold voice, "Even though Hitler immediately became a Marquess after entering the underworld, he was placed into a torturous purgatory for all of eternity without any chance for reincarnation. Are you trying to follow in his footsteps to start a third underworld war?"

With two of the three pillars leading the way, the death gods who were too scared to speak before this immediately made their voices heard as well.

"Yanluo Qin, the duty of the four pillars is to lead the development of the entire underworld, not wipe out civilizations!"

"Yanluo Qin, forgive me for being blunt, but I find the Cathayan Underworld's invasion of the Nipponese Underworld completely inexplicable!"

"The Cathayan Underworld's invasion of the Nipponese Underworld is threatening to tear apart the very fabric of this era of peace and prosperity! As the dominant power in Eastern Asia, the Cathayan Underworld should be taking it upon itself to ensure the peace and stability of the region, not wreaking havoc and chaos!"

These voices reflected the attitude of the entire world, and it seemed that the entire underworld was against him.

"Silence!" Qin Ye said in a tranquil voice. "I'll listen to what everyone has to say after I read out document number 0000."

He cleared his throat and swept his gaze over all of the death gods present before continuing, "The Cathayan Underworld's declaration of war against the Nipponese Underworld is part of our nation's domestic politics. Historically speaking, the Nipponese Underworld is a part of the Cathayan Underworld, so this is not an invasion."

His voice was very calm, yet it immediately sent a massive stir sweeping through the entire hall.

"The Nipponese Underworld is a part of the Cathayan Underworld?" Yamaraja scoffed. "That's the best joke I've heard this century!"

Thanatos said in a cold voice, "If your objective for starting this war is to make the Nipponese Underworld a part of the Cathayan Underworld, then I am prepared to exercise my right to defend the civilizations of the world. Yanluo Qin, this is no place for jokes. Please consider your words carefully before you speak."

Qin Ye made a quieting gesture before continuing, "To provide context, we must go back to over a century ago. Do you know why the second King Yanluo chose me as his successor? Also, the Cathayan Underworld was at the height of its powers under the rule of the second King Yanluo, so why was it suddenly isolated from the rest of the world?"

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this.

Indeed, this was a mystery that had been on everyone's mind throughout the past century.

Everyone's attention was focused on Qin Ye, and he explained in a calm voice, "100 years ago, Ksitigarbha became a true god and ascended to Heaven. His ascension triggered a massive chain reaction that destroyed the entirety of the Cathayan Underworld, and all of the Cathayan Underworld's emissaries also ascended to Heaven along with him."

Deathly silence.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, a string of gasps rang out around the hall, and there were even several death gods who had sprung to their feet. Even the ruler death gods of the three pillars were staring at Qin Ye with incredulity in their eyes.

"All underworld emissaries?" Yamaraja asked in a strained voice. "Including the Yama-Kings of the 10 Palaces and the Sixfold Ghost Kings?"

Everyone waited for Qin Ye's answer with bated breath. Hela's mouth had gaped open in shock, while Jörmungandr was shaking his head as if he were in a trance. Both of them were staring at what they had believed to be a powerful ally. The statement was very brief, and Qin Ye's voice had also been quite calm, but the information that he had just revealed was nothing short of a bombshell!

In contrast, the invasion of the Nipponese Underworld was nothing! The complete decline of the Cathayan Underworld was enough to change the state of the entire world! This really could be the catalyst to the third great war of the netherworld!

"That's right," Qin Ye replied without any hesitation. "When I took over as King Yanluo, the Cathayan Underworld had no Yama-Kings or Abyssal Prefects, and only a single Infernal Judge."

Veins were bulging on the backs of Anubis's hands as he gripped tightly onto his armrests. In this instant, there were so many thoughts flashing through his mind that he found himself temporarily at a loss for words.

He was thinking about what to do next.

Could he pressure the Cathayan Underworld? It wasn't like they had the power to resist anyway! They could refuse to pay for the energy resource and even turn the tables on them, seizing the means of energy resource production!

It was clear that the Cathayan Underworld didn't have the power to protect the new energy resource, so it couldn't blame anyone else for taking advantage of its weakness.

In fact, was there a case to be made for invading the Cathayan Underworld? Was there finally a possibility that the four pillars could become the three pillars?

The main question on Anubis's mind was why Qin Ye had revealed all of this.

Did he not understand the consequences of divulging this information? Why had he chosen to do this?

The ruler death gods of the three pillars wisely chose not to say anything, waiting in silence for Qin Ye to continue.

"The journey to rebuilding the Cathayan Underworld was a long and arduous one, and during this process, we captured an insubordinate Yama-King by the name of Xu Fu. Through searching his soul, we discovered that he was the first-ever emperor and ruler of Nippon, Emperor Jimmu! Throughout all of history, all underworlds have followed the same process of formation. A nation has to be united, following which a religion arises, and only then can death gods and underworlds emerge. Thus, the Nipponese Underworld has always been part of the Cathayan Underworld's territory! As such, the war between the Cathayan Underworld and the Nipponese Underworld is an internal affair for the Cathayan Underworld, and all underworlds that dare to intervene in this matter will be viewed as the Cathayan Underworld's enemy!"

His voice was like rumbling thunder that rang out across the entire conference hall, but no one said anything on this occasion.

There was too much information to process...

The fall of the Nipponese Underworld was already a foregone conclusion, but what was much more astonishing to everyone was the knowledge of what had happened in the Cathayan Underworld during the past century.

It was no wonder that the Cathayan Underworld had isolated itself from the rest of the world. Without the Array of the Nine Gods, the Cathayan Underworld would've most likely already ceased to exist by now!

No wonder the Cathayan Underworld had only opened up an outpost in Formosa several decades after it first re-emerged during the conference in Nara! It turned out that Qin Ye had been bluffing all along, and that the Cathayan Underworld had been extremely vulnerable this entire time!

"How could this be..." Hela slumped back into her chair as she massaged her own temples with incredulity in her eyes. "How is this possible..."

During the past few decades, due to the influence of the Cathayan Underworld's Zhu Rong plan, work on the Argosian Underworld's Prometheus plan had ceased indefinitely. Following the emergence of the new energy resource, the five Northern Europa nations had even managed to grab some market share in the Argosian Underworld with its cutting-edge technology.

However, it turned out that they had been relying on a sinking ship all along!

The Cathayan Underworld had the new energy resource and Zhao Yun, but all of the other three pillars had a crushing advantage over the Cathayan Underworld regardless of whether it came to wealth or power! At the moment, the Cathayan Underworld wasn't even fit to be one of the four pillars!

"Why would he tell everyone that?" Hela looked up at Qin Ye with mixed emotions in her eyes. "Doesn't he know the consequences behind his words? The state of the entire world is going to be turned on its head because of this announcement!"

There were a few seconds of complete silence, followed by hushed conversations that quickly crescendoed into a sea of discussion!

All of the death gods were staring at Qin Ye as if they were looking at a delectable piece of meat, and only the ruler death gods of the three pillars were able to maintain their composure.

They were weighing up their options. This information was nothing short of a bombshell, and they were scrambling to decide what they were going to do next.

There was no way that the invasion on the Nipponese Underworld would be able to shake up the state of the world, but news of the reality of the Cathayan Underworld's internal affairs was certainly something capable of creating a massive stir in the world!

Not only was the Cathayan Underworld at its lowest point in thousands of years, it had to spare troops and power to invade another nation! Didn't that leave the Cathayan Underworld completely vulnerable to attacks?

What if they were to forcibly step in after the Cathayan Underworld conquered the Nipponese Underworld? Would they be able to seize both underworlds?

These were the first thoughts that sprang into the minds of the three ruler death gods, but their attention was then quickly turned toward the potential underlying hazards.

What had given Qin Ye the confidence to reveal such a damning secret? So long as the Array of the Nine Gods remained standing, there was no way that anyone would've been able to find out the true state of the Cathayan Underworld, so why had he willingly revealed this information?

Thanatos was looking up at Qin Ye with a perplexed expression, unable to comprehend Qin Ye's words and actions.

Qin Ye seemed to be able to see the thoughts of all of the death gods, and he smiled as he suddenly said, "As I'm sure you're all aware, the current capital city of the Cathayan Underworld is Everburn. You may be under the impression that we simply renamed Fengdu, but that is not the case. All of the old Hell's resources, cities, and Yin spirits were eradicated during Ksitigarbha's ascension, so the new Hell was built up completely from scratch. At the moment, our population only stands at around 300 to 400 million, while the troops in our army only number in the millions."

The commotion in the hall crescendoed to even greater heights in the wake of this revelation.

Even Hela, Jörmungandr, and all of the Alkebulan Mythical Spirits had risen to their feet.

What is he doing?! Doesn't this mean that the Cathayan Underworld doesn't even have any forbidden arts left?! Why is he doing this?!

"Silence!" Qin Ye's voice erupted over the entire hall alongside his formidable Yin energy, and everyone quickly fell silent again.

He smiled as he continued, "Now then, have we arrived at a consensus? Do we all agree that the war in the Nipponese Underworld is a part of the Cathayan Underworld's internal affairs? Let's have a vote to settle this. Those who agree that this is an invasion that needs to be stopped by force by the Coalition of Underworlds, please raise your hand now."

The announcement was met by complete silence.

Not a single underworld representative raised their hand!

"Oh? Weren't you all adamant about protecting the civilizations of the world earlier?" Qin Ye asked with an amused smile. "How about we adjourn this meeting for a short while so everyone can have some time to think?"