Yama Rising

The Cathayan Underworld was in a state of nationwide celebration, but not all nations had the same reaction to this event.

At the headquarters of the Coalition of Underworlds, everyone was sitting in silence in the wake of Izanami's unconditional surrender declaration.

They had just witnessed the end of an underworld that had stood for over 2,000 years. If news of this were to be released, there would undoubtedly be countless netherworldly citizens across the underworld denouncing Qin Ye as a dictator and a desecrator of civilizations, but at the very least, no one here dared to speak against him.

The Cathayan Underworld's ability to airdrop forbidden arts was a threat that no nations were able to defend against, and in light of that, everyone wisely chose to remain silent.

In the end, the Golden Fleet and the Naga Fleet remained berthed in the South Cathay Sea this entire time, not daring to advance any further.

Ultimately, none of the underworlds dared to stand up for the Nipponese Underworld.

No one said anything, not even the ruler death gods of the three pillars. Wherever Qin Ye's gaze landed, the ruler death god under his scrutiny would reflexively avert their gaze. A faint smile appeared on his face as he declared, "In an hour from now, the Cathayan Underworld's army will reach Kyoto and announce the conclusion of this diplomatic dispute."

All of the death gods in the hall took a silent glance at Qin Ye, fighting back the countless insults that they wanted to hurl at him.

He had just razed an entire nation to the ground, yet he was playing it off as a diplomatic dispute.

Qin Ye paid no heed to the resentful eyes aimed at him. He had always been known for his shamelessness, and that was certainly holding him in good stead here as well.

"If no one would like to say anything, then I'll be going on ahead," he continued as he rose to his feet. "As for the discussion surrounding the new weapon, my representatives will facilitate the discussion."

After that, he departed while all of the other ruler death gods looked on in silence.

Only after over 10 minutes had passed did the ruler death gods of the three pillars stand up before also departing in silence.

Right as Thanatos arrived at the entrance of the conference hall, he took a glance back at the hall's lavish interior. His gaze roamed over the intricately crafted statues, the masterful oil paintings, the resplendent chandeliers, then finally came to a rest on the four sets of tables and chairs at the forefront.

These four sets of tables and chairs carried a pronounced Cathayan, Hindustani, Argosian, and Aegyptian style. They didn't appear to be all that remarkable, but every single piece of wood used to craft them was extremely expensive, and taking a seat on the red pads of the chairs was an experience so heavenly that it could make one moan out loud.

These were the seats reserved for the four pillars, the superpowers that reigned supreme at the top of the underworld.

He knew that the Cathayan Underworld's hold on its status as one of the four pillars had never been that strong. It had nothing to do with the power of the nation, the problem was its isolation. A nation that was completely cut off from the rest of the world simply couldn't be expected to lead the rest of the world effectively.

There had been widespread speculation with regard to the reasons behind the Cathayan Underworld's self-inflicted isolation. However, after Qin Ye voluntarily divulged the information that everyone had been dying to hear, and all of the death gods were contemplating taking advantage of the situation, the Cathayan Underworld had made a display of absolute power that granted it the strongest hold it had over its status as one of the four pillars for the past century.

From this point onward, no one would ever think about knocking them down from their throne again

He turned and departed as he heaved a faint sigh to himself.

By the time Qin Ye reappeared, it was already several hours later.

He had arrived in a massive tenshu pavilion, within which countless daimyos had gathered. Tokugawa Ieyasu was standing at the center of the group of daimyos, and in the instant that everyone caught sight of Qin Ye, they immediately bowed to welcome his arrival. Among them, Amanozako's massive figure was particularly eye-catching.

"Greetings, everyone," Qin Ye smiled as he said. "I know that all of you are concerned about your fiefdoms. I made a promise to all of you, and I fully intend to keep it. Qin Changxin will be responsible for taking care of everything. I'm sure all of you are already familiar with him, so I won't make any introductions. Is General Yue up there?"

It was clear that Qin Ye was in no mood to be seeing these daimyos at the moment, and Tokugawa Ieyasu immediately caught onto that as he smiled and replied, "Of course. General Yue has always been here. Prior to the arrival of the forbidden art, Master Harken and Mistress Arthis had already rescued General Yue. However, the situation was very urgent at the time, and the forbidden art fell right after that, so Izanami didn't have time to do anything."

Qin Ye was just about to depart when he paused momentarily, then turned to Tokugawa Ieyasu with a meaningful smile. "It's not a forbidden art, its name is Death God."

"Ah yes, please pardon my inaccurate use of words," Tokugawa Ieyasu immediately replied with a bow.

Using a forbidden art went directly against the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts. As for Death God, it was a new weapon, and strictly speaking, it wasn't a forbidden art.

Qin Ye nodded with a smile, then made his way directly toward the teleportation array, followed by a large group of secretaries, assistants, and bodyguards.

There was a tidy and simple room on the top floor of the tenshu pavilion. Qin Ye instructed his entourage to remain at the entrance of the staircase, then opened the intricately constructed sliding door alone.

The door was gently opened to reveal an elegant Nipponese-style hall, and beside the table at the center of the room sat a figure.

He was wearing a long robe, but it could still be clearly seen that his right shoulder was missing. In the instant that Qin Ye strode into the room, the figure immediately stood up before extending a respectful bow. "Yue Fei pays his respects to Yanluo Qin."

"No need for formalities." Qin Ye was fighting to suppress the excitement in his heart. This was a man revered by virtually all Cathayans. He wasn't particularly tall or handsome, and his skin was rather coarse. In fact, it could even be said that he was completely unremarkable, but this man had led an epic life that had given rise to countless legendary tales.

At the same time, his life was one of tragedy, and it was perhaps because of this that he was easier to sympathize with as the heroic protagonist of the tales of his life.

Throughout all of history, there had only been six Wumus, namely Li Guangbi, Ma Yin, Gao Huaide, Cao Wei, Liu Qi, and Yue Fei.

"Sorry to make you wait so long," Qin Ye sighed as he grabbed onto Yue Fei's hand. "I'm embarrassed to think that it took us several hundred years to rescue you."

Yue Fei cupped his fist in a salute as he replied, "There's no need to apologize, Yanluo Qin. I feel extremely honored and fortunate that you made this effort to rescue me at all."

Qin Ye released Yue Fei's hand with a smile before withdrawing his own hands.

He was unexpectedly calm.

Perhaps he was so tranquil and calm because he had already been waiting for this moment for so long. Furthermore, he couldn't help but feel as if there were something missing about Yue Fei.

If he had to pinpoint what that particular thing was, he would say Yue Fei was missing the heroic aura that he expected him to possess.

Despite this, his expression betrayed nothing as he sat down onto the main seat, then crossed his legs as he picked up his teacup in a graceful manner before taking a sip, following which he asked, "What happened to your right shoulder?"

"This is because of the Nipponese Underworld's blood maggot curse," Yue Fei replied in a calm manner. "No one knows where it came from, and Izanami isn't the true master of the Nipponese Underworld. After she entered the Nipponese Underworld, she ate the food of the underworld, and that was how she became afflicted by the blood maggot curse, forcing her to remain here as the ruler of the Nipponese Underworld. Prior to her arrival here, someone had already created this underworld. Izanami went to great lengths to capture my soul as she discovered that devouring the spiritual body of high-grade emissaries of the Cathayan Underworld can alleviate the symptoms of the curse."

Yue Fei cocked his head to the side and gently stroked his missing shoulder as he continued, "Having already served as food for her for several centuries, I am but a crippled man with nothing to offer. I heard that our Cathayan Underworld collapsed a century ago. May I ask if the six paths of reincarnation have been restored?"

Qin Ye lowered his head upon hearing this. He finally realized what Yue Fei was missing now.

It was drive and purpose.

He felt himself to be useless baggage, that he wasn't worth being rescued by the Cathayan Underworld. Perhaps he even felt guilty and ashamed.

With that in mind, Qin Ye stroked his teacup as he heaved a forlorn sigh.

"You want to enter the cycle of reincarnation?" Qin Ye asked. "You do realize that after you're reincarnated, you'll lose your memories from this lifetime, so you'll no longer be yourself. You were willing to serve the first King Yanluo and the second King Yanluo, so why can't you serve me as well?"

"It's not that I don't want..."

Before Yue Fei had a chance to finish, Qin Ye raised a hand to cut him off, then looked directly into his eyes as he asked, "A missing shoulder is nothing. Let me ask you just one thing: if your spiritual body is still whole, would you be willing to serve Hell?"

Yue Fei immediately rose to his feet without any hesitation, then fell to one knee as he replied, "I would want nothing more than to remain as your loyal subordinate and serve Hell with the entirety of my heart and soul!"

A surprised look appeared on Qin Ye's face upon hearing the decisive tone in Yue Fei's voice. In this instant, it was as if he had sprung back to life.

His chest was heaving slightly, and even though there was nothing physically remarkable about him, he was suddenly exuding an extraordinary aura.

In the abyss of despair, he had been shown a glimmer of hope, and that was more than enough to ignite the ambition and fighting spirit that had laid dormant in his heart for centuries.

This was the Wumu that Qin Ye wanted. Prior to this, he had even wondered whether the historical records had exaggerated Yue Fei's exploits, whether the current Yue Fei was still even worthy of receiving the inner demon's soul. After all, the inner demon's soul was a completely unique artifact in this world, so he had to be extremely careful with who he decided to give the soul to.

However, he was certain about what the right decision was now.

The old Yue Fei had never disappeared, it had merely been suppressed. His heart and spirit had been buried under a veil of despondence and shame, and he didn't want Hell to waste any more time with him just because he had been a heroic figure during his lifetime. At the same time, he didn't want to live out the rest of his existence in the underworld as a cripple, so he chose to be reborn.

Only after Qin Ye told him that his missing shoulder wasn't worthy of concern did the Yue Fei of old return with a vengeance.

Qin Ye stood up as he made a grabbing motion, and countless high-grade Yin runes emerged in mid-air, following which a rainbow ball of light appeared above his palm, gently revolving on the spot.

An aura beyond the Yama-King level slowly spread through the room, and even Yue Fei was barely able to repress his elation upon sensing this.

For the first time in several hundred years, his cursed shoulder was feeling itchy, and that was only from the smell alone!

It was as if the flesh there were striving to grow back like countless seedlings fighting to burrow out of the soil.

"Eat it," Qin Ye instructed as he pushed the ball of light slowly toward Yue Fei, and the latter immediately grabbed it before swallowing it without any hesitation.

In the next instant, a burst of enormous Yin energy exploded throughout the tenshu pavilion before sweeping in all directions.

A Yama-King was about to be born!