Yama Rising

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Uncle Wu was lying sprawled out on the ground, and his only thought was: it's over... It's all over... We're dead for sure this time...

His nephew was right beside him, and the young Yin spirit had never been more acutely aware of the fact that this was Hell, a different world from the one he had known. However, his life was going to come to an end before he had a chance to even explore this new world...

They laid trembling on the ground for one minute... then two minutes... then three, yet the expected killing spree didn't commence. Instead, a voice rang out in all directions.

"Daolord of the Beast Dong Zhuo has been slain! As for the rest of you, surrender and you shall be spared!"

Uncle Wu's eyes immediately sprang open upon hearing this, and he stared at the ground in front of him with incredulity in his eyes and a myriad of emotions in his heart.

It's over? The vastly renowned West Capital City has been conquered? Even Daolord Dong is dead? The very same Daolord that we revered as a god? 

His nephew immediately began to raise his head, but Uncle Wu instantly shoved his head back down again. After that, he tentatively raised his own head.

As a result, he was greeted by the sight of countless arms raised high up to the sky in surrender, and the army of Hell was currently dispersing all of the surrendered soldiers. There was no bloodshed or slaughter; only a peaceful scene that came in stark contrast to the violent battle that had just taken place.

Where's the sun? Where's the sun that just exploded in the sky? 

Most of the Yin Soldiers were looking up at the sky with entranced expressions, and he also hurriedly followed suit.

There, a young general in a white cape and a suit of white armor was standing up in the heavens. The purple light and the golden stars were quickly converging towards his hands before forming an indistinct object; it was as if a divine miracle were taking place right before everyone's eyes.

"My god... Is that... cultivation?" A young voice rang out beside Uncle Wu, who pressed his nephew's head back down as he continued to look upward in a slack-jawed manner. He could feel his worldview rapidly collapsing before reforming into something completely new, and he couldn't utter a single word.

The sun had been compressed into a ball!

Right at this moment, the sound of long horns rang out, and a herd of imposing skeletal war horses quickly approached from the distance. All of the Yin Soldiers in their wake stood up straight and arranged themselves into orderly rows, but the herd of horses displayed no intention of stopping, galloping directly toward the imperial palace.

They were led by a young Emissary of Hell dressed in an extremely lavish robe. Uncle Wu took a glance at him before instantly lowering his head, not daring to look for any longer.

Qin Ye was straddled atop his war horse, and as Zhao Yun informed him of their victory through voice transmission, his heart immediately flew toward the imperial palace, toward the entire Underworld!

It's over... It's finally all over... No, it's not over; this is a brand new beginning, the rise of Cathay! This is the beginning of a brand new era! 

Cathay had been torn for over a century, and it was now finally united. Only Qin Ye himself knew just how arduous and bitter his reign as King Yanluo had been. However, everything was going to change from this day forth!

The nation had been united, and there was still over a century left before the collapse of the Array of the Nine Gods, so he had plenty of time to lead the Cathayan Hell on a path of resurgence!

However, prior to that, he had to take a look for himself and ensure that Dong Zhuo was truly dead in order to erase any final shreds of doubt he had.

"Only now do I dare to declare to the world that I am King Yanluo!" A sense of extreme excitement swept through his heart like a tsunami. If it weren't for the fact that he wanted to give off a sense of calmness and composure, he would've already flown directly to the palace like an excited child! Even though he was straddled atop his war horse, his heart had already flown to the imperial palace. It only took him a few more seconds to get there, but it felt to him as if a few long days had passed by.

Finally, he reached the entrance of the imperial palace. There were no longer any Yin Soldiers guarding the gate, and he took a deep breath before making his way forward.

With each step he took, his stride became more solid and controlled. The more excited he was internally, the calmer he appeared on the outside. Zhao Yun had already arrived behind him, and a faint smile appeared on his face at the sight of Qin Ye's composure.

It was important not to display too much emotion as emotions could be taken advantage of, and in this aspect, Qin Ye was doing very well.

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Only after walking for a full minute did Qin Ye finally arrive before the imperial palace. Rows of Han Dynasty palace lamps stood on either side of him, while the imposing palace stood up ahead. In the same instant that he stepped into the palace, Arthis, Oda Nobunaga, Qin Hui, and Su Daji made their way over to him together in a respectful manner. 

"My Lord, we've already searched the entire palace and ensured that there are no rebels left."

"Your Excellency, the entire city is now under our control. With General Zhao present, no one dares to put up any resistance."

"Lord Qin, there were some Yin spirits in the palace that had devoured blood food, and I was afraid killing them would dirty your hands, so I've taken care of them in your stead."

"My Lord..." Oda Nobunaga was the last one to get an opportunity to speak. There were many things that he wanted to say, but as he opened his mouth, all of those words got stuck in his throat. In the end, they all molded together into one heartfelt word: "Congratulations!"

All of his emotions had been injected into that one simple word, and unbeknownst to everyone else, his hands were trembling in his sleeves.

From his return from the Strait of Tsushima to his pledge of subordination to Cathay, he had witnessed the most arduous period that the Cathayan Hell had endured. At the time, it had nothing, and it was being led by an unreliable King Yanluo who did nothing but scam and steal from both realms. However, before he knew it, Qin Ye had resolved the incidents concerning the 12 envoys, the Forbidden Arts of the Russian Underworld, and Daehan's grand script of death. Finally, after toiling for three years, he was able to deploy his troops all over the nation, and after another three years, he had united the entire Underworld!

"It's like a fairytale..." he couldn't help but murmur inaudibly to himself, and at this point, there was nothing left but admiration for Qin Ye in his heart.

History was only going to remember the victors. It didn't care what had been done to attain victory.

The Cathayan Hell was on the verge of disintegrating into warring states, but Qin Ye had put an end to that, restoring peace and unity to the land.

Qin Ye's hands were also trembling slightly as he slowly stroked his hand over the white jade banister before him. After taking many deep breaths, his complexion had become unnaturally red, and his voice was slightly hoarse as he asked, "Are you sure?"

"I'm certain." Su Daji immediately knelt down on one knee. "As I was slaying those evil ghosts, I read their memories and learned that all of the settlements of the Westriver Province, the Cloudriver Province, and the Rich Province had been conquered by Dong Zhuo. Thus, with the fall of West Capital City, there are no longer any rebels left in these final three provinces."

"I can also vouch for this." Qin Hui immediately followed suit as he also knelt down onto the ground. "Dong Zhuo had been lying in wait for over a century, clearly too afraid to display his ambitions in the face of Hell and the almighty former King Yanluo. Prior to obtaining the Shu Han Imperial Palace, he had constantly been hiding in the Westriver Province; only after obtaining the Shu Han Imperial Palace did he make his ambitions known to the world."

"It's quite a pity..." Su Daji lowered her head while glowering viciously at Qin Hui, but her voice remained unchanged as she continued, "I tried to convince Dong Zhuo to see the light in the past, but he refused to be convinced. Thankfully, Your Excellency was able to crush West Capital City with your unmatched power. I'm sure that this monumental feat will earn you a particularly flattering chapter in the history books! Please allow me to offer you my most heartfelt congratulations, my Lord!"

After that, she kowtowed in earnest while internally giving herself a pat on the back.

Qin Ye didn't say anything. After another thirty minutes without any news of rebels being discovered, he finally drew upon his Yin energy and gently swept a hand through the air, conjuring up a projection of himself. Of course, the projection depicted him in his Emissary of Hell form.

It was certainly good to have a youthful body, but this youthful appearance simply wasn't very authoritative and wouldn't be able to intimidate anyone.

In the instant that his projection appeared, the entirety of West Capital City fell silent. All of the Yin spirits stared up at the massive projection with dumbfounded expressions, while Qin Ye declared in an indifferent voice, "I am Qin Ye, and I was fortunate enough to have inherited the role of the third King Yanluo. My capital lies in Everburn City of the Insignia Province."

His words were very concise, but his voice was not to be ignored. "From this day forth, I hereby declare the cessation of Hell's unification war!"

All of the Yin Soldiers were extremely excited to hear this, so much so that they almost flung their hats up into the air, but they forcibly repressed that urge.

Qin Ye was trembling ever so slightly as he continued, "It's been three years since my army first marched from Everburn and Ashmound, and now, the final major power of the Underworld has been eradicated. I hereby announce that the Cathayan Hell is officially united! From now on, the entire land falls under Hell's administration, and you will all be citizens of Hell! Regardless of whether you live in a city, county, township, or village, your home falls under the direct jurisdiction of Hell! From now on, there will no longer be any unofficial settlements or cities, only the provinces and cities of Hell!"

He was choking up ever so slightly as he continued, "The Underworld has been fractured and divided for over a century, but from this day forth, all 9.6 million square kilometers of its land... No, Outer Mongolia must be taken into account as well. All 35 provinces and 56 ethnic groups of Yin spirits will be reunited as one! From now on, there will only be a single voice in the Cathayan Underworld, and that is the voice of Everburn City!"

At the conclusion of his address, the projection faded, and deathly silence ensued.

After an indeterminate period of time, a cheer that was brimming with excitement suddenly rang out. "Long live Yanluo Qin!! Eternal Glory to Hell!!"

The cheer seemed to be contagious, and soon, the same words were being roared by over 200,000 Yin Soldiers with all their might. "Long live Yanluo Qin!! Eternal Glory to Hell!!"

"Long live Yanluo Qin!! Eternal Glory to Hell!!"

"Long live Yanluo Qin!! Eternal Glory to Hell!!"

Initially, it was only a wave of cheers, but in the span of less than three seconds, it had become an unbridled roar of thunderous voices as everyone joined together in celebration!

"Finally... We've finally been reunited!!" A Yin spirit from the old Hell was jumping up and down with unadulterated excitement as he tightly embraced the Yin Soldiers beside him. "How many years has it been? In the beginning, Everburn had nothing, yet now, we've united the entire nation! We've really done it!"

"Long live unification! Long live unification!!"

"AAARGH! I can't believe this is actually happening!"

"I feel like I'm in a dream! We really did participate in the war of unification, and we made it to the very end!"

"My god! I can boast about this for the rest of my life! No, I'll boast about this for 10 reincarnations!"

The entire city had erupted into a frenzy.

Qin Ye listened to the raucous cheers outside the palace, basking in this captivating atmosphere of joy and celebration.

Never did he think that his power and duty would form a symbiotic relationship to produce such a wonderful final outcome.

Never did he think that responsibility and acknowledgment would come hand in hand and produce the ripe fruit that was named "satisfaction".

This acknowledgment and satisfaction was extremely heavy, and he was so excited that every single one of his cells was numb.

He raised his head and said, "General Zhao, come take a walk with me. We'll use this time to discuss some things."

Su Daji bowed, and said, "I can only marvel and admire your willingness to oversee everything in person, My Lord. It's a very good idea to take a look at the people for yourself. That way, you'll be able to better understand them, and that will help you govern them."

The more boot-licking she did, the more proficient at it she became...

"There are indeed some things that we must discuss." Zhao Yun followed behind Qin Ye, and said in a low voice, "First and foremost, you must officially found a nation. At the very least, you must officially announce a capital; Cathay has a tradition of setting a new era name with the commencement of each reign. Also, you must devise a military system. Prior to founding a nation, this wouldn't have mattered, but now that a nation has been founded, everything must undergo an official procedure."

Qin Ye nodded in response.

"After that, we need to track down the Judgment Pen. Then, there are the six paths of reincarnation, 10 Yama Palaces, and 18 abysses of punishment; these will all be imperative to the operation of the Underworld."

"Also..." Zhao Yun paused here momentarily before slightly narrowing his eyes  as he asked, "What about the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn?"

Qin Ye's gaze stiffened slightly upon hearing this, yet before he had a chance to reply, Zhao Yun continued, "Dong Zhuo didn't release it, and it didn't even appear, so could it be that it really isn't here?"

"That shouldn't be the case." Qin Ye's brows furrowed slightly as he shook his head in response. "If it's not here, then the same problem rears its ugly head again. Why did Dong Zhuo insist on facing off against us here rather than engaging in battle at Sword Gate Pass?"

He cast his gaze around the entire imperial palace. "This palace is surrounded by nothing but plains, making it far too susceptible to being surrounded. Why did he decide to pursue such foolish tactics?"