Yama Rising

Formosa.

All of the Yin spirits on the island, regardless of their nationality, occupation, or status, were kowtowed on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

The entire territorial sea of the Cathayan Underworld was churning violently under the two enormous vortexes in the sky, sweeping up enormous waves in all directions. It was like the center between two forbidden arts, and ferocious shockwaves were released one after another. In particular, the Yin energy from both sides were crashing violently against one another between Formosa and the Nippon Sea, as if they were fighting for supremacy.

"My god..." On all of the ships that were still yet to have reached the shore, the crew members were all kneeling in their cabins with their palms joined together, praying with all their might.

This was the signal for the Cathayan Underworld's resurgence.

The Cathayan Underworld was telling everyone that even after 100 years of isolation, it was still a world-leading superpower.

Qin Ye was able to see all of this as he released his consciousness from the top of the tenshu pavilion, and a pleased smile appeared on his face.

Several decades ago, he had created the new Hell on his own, and his only ally was Arthis, who bullied him for fun. At the time, the situation had truly seemed dire.

After that, he had conquered Ashmound and slain the daolords to unite the nation. He then re-established the six paths of reincarnation and ushered in the new energy resource industrial revolution, and now, he had conquered the Nipponese Underworld.

Throughout this journey, he felt that he had done extremely well, and it was exactly because of all of the diligent efforts that he had dedicated that it was all the sweeter for him to finally reap the rewards of his labor. A sense of overwhelming satisfaction and joy was bubbling incessantly in his chest.

There was a quote that he had read somewhere. He couldn't recall who the quote was from, but it went along the lines of: "when there's no pressure on an individual to survive, they will inevitably begin to pursue spiritual fulfillment."

On this day, he felt like he had achieved just that.

As the ruler of the Cathayan Underworld, every single word that was uttered by him was like an imperial edict. Even throughout the entire underworld, the only beings who could rank alongside him were the ruler death gods of the other three pillars.

Right as he was basking in his own satisfaction, a burst of golden light suddenly erupted out of his chest, immediately following which an object flew out amid a fluttering sound.

It was Hell's Record!

He stared at the book with a stunned expression.

Why has this thing appeared? I've already reached the pinnacle of cultivation, what can this thing do for me?

"Hold on!" Qin Ye's eyes abruptly widened as a thought occurred to him. "This isn't the pinnacle of cultivation! There are beings out there that transcend beyond advanced Yama-Kings!"

Could it be?

He wasn't too fixated on status. After all, there really wasn't any status in this world higher than the ruler of one of the four pillars. However, additional power was certainly something that he wasn't going to refuse!

Right as these thoughts were flashing through his head, Hell's Record sprang open, and lines of golden text began to appear on its pages.

Qin Ye's eyelids twitched slightly as his eyes followed the golden text that was emerging before him.

Hell's Record was sparing no praise in its assessment of his achievements, even going as far as to use idioms reserved only for the most heroic of generals in Cathayan history!

These were accolades that weren't even afforded to the likes of Yue Fei in the history books, yet he was now on the receiving end of such high praise!

"How unexpected," he chuckled to himself. A brainless bully like the second King Yanluo clearly didn't deserve such titles. Only titles like dictator, barbarian, and ruffian would be fitting to describe him.

He continued reading.

"Throughout all of history, not a single general from any era or generation has managed to conquer Nippon, and the same applies in the underworld. However, the third King Yanluo was able to complete this ambitious feat after several thousand years. In doing so, he has unified Easter Asia, as well as granting the Cathayan Underworld a natural barrier against the west. From now on, the provinces of Nippon and Formosa will act as an effective barrier for the Cathayan Underworld against potential invaders. Conquering the Nipponese Underworld allows the Cathayan Underworld to expand its territorial sea eastward to the center of the Atlantic Ocean and perhaps even beyond that. Regardless of whether it's in terms of strategic value or for the procurement of resources, this achievement is invaluable. In the history of the underworld, this is a feat second only to the unification of the Cathayan Underworld by the first King Yanluo. Now calculating the accolades to be rewarded for the successful takeover of the Nipponese Underworld."

It really is going to give me something! Can I still become more powerful?

Qin Ye's eyes were virtually glowing, and soon, a series of lines of text began to quickly appear in the air before him.

"For being the first person in the history of the Cathayan Underworld to raise war against the Nipponese Underworld, you will be awarded 100 million merit points."

"For being the first person in the history of the Cathayan Underworld to capture Ruler Death God Izanami and Death God Susanoo-no-Mikoto of the Nipponese Underworld, you will be awarded 300 million merit points."

"For being the first person in the history of the Cathayan Underworld to conquer all eight regions and wipe out Kyoto, you will be awarded 500 million merit points."

"For being the first person in the history of the Cathayan Underworld to decimate all of the Nipponese Underworld's yokai and Kunitsukami, you will be awarded 500 million merit points."

In total, there were over 10 reward clauses, and after just a brief glance at them, Qin Ye's heartbeat immediately began to accelerate.

He was being awarded over a billion merit points!

In the past, he had only awarded merit points in allotments of millions or tens of millions, so this was a massive step up from there!

Will this be enough to take me beyond the Yama-King level?

As the final reward clause appeared, the total number of merit points awarded to him reached 1.8 billion!

It was also in the same instant that Hell's Record exploded again, disintegrating into specks of golden light that lingered in the surrounding air.

A type of profound power was being released by the golden specks of light, and the power entered Qin Ye's body in wisps and tendrils. In the next instant, everything before his eyes exploded, and it was as if the entire world had been shattered. A vast expanse of pure golden light completely enveloped his entire body.

At the same time, he was struck by a sense of drowsiness that made him involuntarily want to close his eyes. It was as if he had returned to his mother's womb, and he felt extremely warm and content. His skin and body also seemed to have returned to their most sensitive state, and a gentle hand was carefully arranging all of his meridians.

He slowly closed his eyes, so unbeknownst to him, his bones were slowly transitioning toward a pure golden color, while his blood and flesh was also beginning to turn white.

It wasn't a deathly white color. Instead, it was like the color of the most premium mutton fat jade, a pure and pristine complexion.

Heaven and earth seemed to have transformed into his cocoon, and he was being reborn within the cocoon.

Time quickly passed by, and after an indeterminate period of time, some of Qin Ye's senses finally returned to him.

His eyelids were impossibly heavy, but his brain was telling him that it no longer wished to sleep. He slowly opened his eyes, and he could still see that he was basked in a vast expanse of golden radiance.

He gently exhaled as he attempted to stretch his limbs. He didn't know how long he had been sleeping for, but as he stretched his own body, all of his joints cracked and popped in quick succession.

The first feeling that had occurred to him was that he had grown more powerful.

If his body had been forged from iron back when he was an advanced Yama-King, then he would be a man of steel right now.

He had a feeling that even if he had to take a forbidden art head-on, he definitely wouldn't have to fall into a slumber.

Despite the significant improvements in his power, he could sense that he still hadn't reached Zhao Yun's level yet.

He was a little disappointed by this observation. At the time, Zhao Yun had devoured the soul of Genghis Khan by chance. Genghis Khan and Izanami were both rulers of underworlds, but they were completely different in status.

Izanami was merely the ruler of a third-rate underworld for 2,000 years, while Genghis Khan was the almighty ruler who had led the Mongol Empire to sweep across the entirety of Asia and Europe! There was no comparison between the two regardless of whether it came to territory or achievements. Ultimately, Izanami hadn't even created the Nipponese Underworld, so she was nothing more than an imposter death god.

However, Qin Ye wasn't feeling despondent, either.

After all, as the third King Yanluo, the Harken and Zhao Yun would always be present to protect him from danger. If worse came to worst, he could always rely on the cheat code that was the second King Yanluo, so it wasn't actually all that important whether he transcended beyond the Yama-King level at all. The only thing that the breakthrough would do for him was afford him an extra degree of safety.

Space exploration was the final step of his plan, and once he opened the planar walls, he would have to face extraterrestrial civilizations, which would also have beings above the Yama-King level.

With that in mind, he continued to assess his own newfound power.

He wasn't beyond the Yama-King level, but at the same time, he no longer seemed to be a Yama-King, either. Instead, it felt like he was somewhere in between the two.

He could sense some clear differences compared with back when he was a Yama-King, and the most prominent change was that his Yin energy had disappeared.

An indescribable aura had taken its place. It was darker than true energy, but brighter than Yin energy, and more profound than immortal energy.

"What cultivation rank is this?" He tried to stretch out his own body, and right at this moment, a string of loud cracks suddenly rang out around him. Countless fractures appeared on the surface of the surrounding golden cocoon, following which it abruptly exploded and disintegrated into dust.

A familiar scene appeared before his eyes, and he adjusted his own robes. Right as he was about to take a step forward in a triumphant fashion, an excited voice suddenly rang out from behind him. "Three to King straight! I win!"

Who is this insolent scum?!

Qin Ye turned around with a menacing expression, only to be immediately stunned by the sight that he was greeted by.

The second King Yanluo, the Harken, and Qin Changxin were currently huddled around the table, playing a game of dou dizhu, and it was none other than the second King Yanluo who had ruined this moment for Qin Ye with his excited yelling.

Qin Ye was so enraged that his lips began to tremble slightly.

I'm here working my ass off to make this breakthrough, while you ungrateful idiots are here playing dou dizhu?! How dare you?!

"Ahem!" He cleared his throat to draw attention to himself, but the second King Yanluo didn't even look up as he waved a hand in response.

"You there, get me some tea."

Tea my arse!

"Ahem!!" Qin Ye cleared his throat more forcefully this time, and the second King Yanluo finally turned to face him.

There was a toothpick between his teeth, and he looked at Qin Ye for a while before asking, "How do you feel? It's quite remarkable that you've managed to reach this point. Go just a step further from here and you'll truly become a formidable force in the universe."