Yama Rising

The two of them began to carefully inspect this cave.

The entirety of the massive cave was completely enshrouded in darkness, and the Yin energy was so dense that it was virtually tangible, forming a series of black misty veils within the cave. However, aside from the pond of blood at the very center of the cave, there was nothing else to be seen.

Qin Ye and Zhao Yun exchanged a glance before approaching the pond, and the more they approached the pond, the more they were struck by an indescribable sense of pressure. By the time they arrived at the pond, Qin Ye was close to the point of asphyxiation, while even the Yin energy around Zhao Yun was rippling unsteadily, as if it could disperse at any moment.

Right at this moment, a burst of bright light suddenly erupted from Zhao Yun's chest. King Yama's Seal emerged from within the purplish-golden light, and the surrounding Yin energy was instantly wiped out, while that suffocating sense of pressure also abruptly vanished.

This wasn't the complete King Yama's Seal.

Qin Ye reached out to gather all of the seal's fragments together, forming a fist-sized jade seal that hovered above his palm. The seal was of a translucent yellow color, and the sound of the turbulent rivers and lakes could be heard emanating from within it. It was an extremely ornate and beautiful seal, but its surface was riddled with cracks.

"The seal has been heavily damaged, and it'll take at least several months for it to make a full recovery," Zhao Yun explained. "Otherwise, a creation-grade divine artifact with an owner would absolutely dominate one without an owner such as the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn. However, in its current state, all we can use it for is dispersing the aura of the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn."

Qin Ye nodded in response before squatting down beside the pond of blood. After appraising it in silence for over 10 minutes, he suddenly asked, "Brother Zhao, would it be possible to take this blood back with us?"

"Of course." Zhao Yun nodded as he prepared to spring into action, only to suddenly pause as he asked, "Why would you want to do that?"

Qin Ye appraised the pond with an intense gaze, and asked, "Don't you think this pond is a little too round?"

Indeed, the pond was in the shape of a perfect circle without any imperfect sections.

"Are you saying..."

"I'm saying that this is the Holy Grail!" Qin Ye's eyes narrowed slightly as he licked his lips and said, "According to legends, the Holy Grail was used to hold the blood of Jesus, which is also the origin of modern red wine. I can't think of any other place for the blood of a divinity to be held other than in the Holy Grail."

Zhao Yun's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't immediately say anything. Only after a long silence did he speak again. "I see..."

All of a sudden, the Yin energy around him exploded violently, and the blood in the pond seemed to have been drawn toward something as a wave that was several meters tall erupted out of it. Immediately thereafter, the blood rapidly converged toward the center of Zhao Yun's palm.

What was quite peculiar was that in the instant the blood came into contact with Zhao Yun's palm, most of it exploded into blood mist that dispersed through the air, while only a small portion formed tiny specks of light that gathered on his palm. It was as if the entire pond were rapidly evaporating, leaving behind only the most essential parts.

Whoosh...  The blood mist became denser and denser, and a drop of blood the size of a fingernail finally appeared on his palm. However, it was completely different from the blood that was previously in the pond. At that time, it had been a completely opaque red color that was impossible to see through, whereas this drop of blood was completely translucent and was giving off a sense of indescribable power.

It was exceedingly pure, and it seemed to be encompassing this entire world!

Through it, one could seemingly glean the meaning of everything in this world, from life to death, from heaven to earth, from light to dark... It was like a wondrous kaleidoscope that was attracting the souls of all living beings. Qin Ye was completely entranced as he stared at this drop of blood, but all of a sudden, he bit down onto the tip of his own tongue, using the pain to snap himself out of his stupor.

Only then did he discover that his back was drenched in cold sweat, and a hint of lingering fear could still be seen in his eyes.

Is this the blood of one of the gods of creation? 

Just the mere sight of it alone struck him with the urge to fuse as one with it, to become a part of it. If it weren't for the fact that the Plumed Serpent God had no other alternatives, there was no way it would've tried to target something like this.

Lurking behind its extremely beautiful exterior was danger of equal measure. No one knew what would become of them if they were to devour the blood of a divinity.

Whoosh... Finally, the pond was completely emptied, and at this point, even Zhao Yun's Yin energy was fluctuating violently. Qin Ye was just about to say something when Zhao Yun shook his head, and cautioned, "Stand back, My Lord; we're not the only ones here..."

In the instant that Qin Ye positioned himself behind Zhao Yun, the latter summoned his Courage of Dragons Silver Spear and plunged it into the ground with all his might with an almighty roar. Immediately thereafter, a thunderous boom rang out!

A series of cracks that resembled a cobweb rapidly spread along the entire earth before quickly transforming into a giant trench. Icy blue light erupted forth from within the trench, as if a sea of ice were hidden beneath the ground. The ground then collapsed in its entirety, and Qin Ye instantly cast his gaze downward, upon which he immediately drew a sharp breath.

The area beneath their feet was empty!

No, it wasn't completely empty. As they hovered in mid-air, they could clearly see that a stone statue in the form of a cup had appeared where the pond had been.

The statue was massive, standing at around 120 to 130 meters tall with a diameter of roughly 100 meters, and it was giving off a primordial aura.

That's the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn! 

However, neither of them had the time to examine the gigantic Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn as at the foot of it stood an enormous frog! The icy blue light wasn't radiating from the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn; it was entirely emanating from this frog!

"What is that?" Qin Ye looked down at the massive space beneath his feet with a stunned expression. This was a glittering and translucent lake riddled with countless scarlet lotus flowers growing all over its surface. The giant frog, which was around 300 meters in size, was situated at the center of the lake, and the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn was sitting squarely on its back!

No, it wasn't correct to refer to this creature as a frog. The creature's entire body was near-transparent, as if it were carved out of crystal, and the patterns on its body were Yin runes that Qin Ye was completely unable to decipher. Even a single glance at those runes made him feel as if he had fallen into a boundless starry sky and that his soul was about to leave his body. Right on top of its head, in between its two eyes, was the head of a human male.

This head was completely identical to the head on the snake slough from earlier!

Also, there was something else! Qin Ye cast his incredulous gaze past the frog and peered into the lakebed, where he discovered a pile of bronze ware, all of which looked very familiar... They were all artifacts unearthed from the Three Star Mound!

Qin Ye was completely rooted to the spot at the sight of this revelation.

So the snake-human hybrid had metamorphosed into a cicada, then into a frog, and this frog was being worshipped like a god with a pile of Three Star Mound offerings placed at its feet. However, this very same frog was being crushed under the creation-grade divine artifact that was the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn.

Setting aside the fact that this completely went against the laws of evolution, the timelines didn't even match!

What era was Jesus from? What era was the Three Star Mound from? And what era was it when the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn came to Cathay?

There was a gap of 2,500 years between these events! Why was this frog being crushed under the chalice? Actually, the more pressing question was what exactly was this frog!

Qin Ye was appraising the frog in an extremely cautious manner. He couldn’t sense any Yin energy from it, but he could feel a sharp pain, as if his skin was being pricked by sharp needles. He had experienced this phenomenon before; it was a sign that the concentration of Yin energy had already exceeded that of air in the area, thereby destroying the balance between Yin and Yang!

This was Yin energy that had gone beyond all conceivable limits, indicating that this creature was more powerful than they could imagine!

"Divine artifact dilemma... Mutual devouring... Ancient god..." Right at this moment, Zhao Yun suddenly began to murmur to himself, "All of that really did happen! I didn't think that I would have the honor of witnessing such a legendary scene during my lifetime..."

"What's going on?" Qin Ye asked with furrowed brows. His curiosity was like a wild stallion that had escaped from its stable. This already went beyond everything that the second King Yanluo had taught him!

"Please wait a moment, My Lord." Zhao Yun pointed his spear directly at the chalice as he spoke, and in the instant that the tip of his spear came into contact with the chalice, scintillating light erupted from the point of contact. Countless patterns of light permeated through the air like cobwebs, and in the next instant, a layer of rock fell away from the surface of the chalice, revealing a golden exterior!

Whoosh...  Golden light filled heaven and earth as the cobweb-like patterns spread over the entire chalice. Five minutes later, the layer of rock adhered to the surface of the chalice completely fell away, crashing into the lake below, causing the water in the lake to ripple and surge. As a result, an antiquated cup-like artifact that was over 100 meters tall was revealed, giving off an unmatched radiance.

This was the true form of the Holy Grail!

It was breathtakingly beautiful and entirely constructed from gold with countless patterns etched all over its surface. Three massive gems were embedded into the chalice, acting as the centerpiece of this complete creation-grade divine artifact. The terrifying power that it was giving off would be enough to force Qin Ye to his knees if it weren't for King Yama's Seal. The water in the lake around the frog began to churn violently, forming layer upon layer of giant waves that crashed heavily into the surrounding walls.

Zhao Yun grabbed onto Qin Ye, and the two of them descended onto the rim of the Holy Grail. He slowly walked along the grail's rim as he said, "I'm assuming the second King Yanluo hasn't taught you about all of this, Lord Qin. After all, he's not a Yin spirit; he's a living human instead. Thus, his understanding of Hell's history isn't as thorough as that of Lord Bo Yi Kao."

He cast his gaze downward with a solemn look in his eyes, and his entire body was trembling slightly as if he were struggling with something. "The historical records of the era that this creature lived in have almost entirely disappeared. I only know about this as I heard the first King Yanluo mention it by chance."

Qin Ye's curiosity was at a boiling point, but he didn't interrupt as he eagerly listened to Zhao Yun's story.

"In order to explain this properly, I have to talk about this from several different angles to give you a comprehensive understanding." Zhao Yun continued in an unhurried manner, "Firstly, I must tell you about this frog's identity."

His voice was very serious, and he was speaking in a very deliberate manner. "If I'm not mistaken, there's a very good chance that this is the ancient god, Yu Kiang."

Yu Kiang? 

Qin Ye faltered slightly before a lightbulb abruptly lit up in his head. "Yu Kiang? You mean the god of wind and water? Isn't that a legendary god?"

"Technically, we're also legendary figures," Zhao Yun replied in a serious voice, "Particularly you, My Lord. As King Yanluo, the ruler of Hell, you are the most legendary figure of us all! You are a god of an even higher rank than Yu Kiang!"

He took a deep breath before continuing, "Yu Kiang is a god that existed during the primordial era, which is the period in history prior to the official founding of Cathay's first dynasty. In other words, it was before the Xia Dynasty, so before 2,800 BC."

A contemplative look appeared on Qin Ye's face upon hearing this. "The Three Star Mound also existed before the Xia Dynasty, and it has prominent clan traits, but we don't know exactly how large of an area it encompassed. Judging from the abundance of bronze artifacts that have been unearthed thus far, we can estimate that it was an extraordinarily large civilization; it could even be proof that there was a dynasty before the Xia Dynasty. It existed around 3,000 BC, and it's the main piece of evidence affirming Cathay's 5,000-year history."

"That's right," Zhao Yun replied. "My Lord, have you noticed that these timelines are astonishingly identical? The period prior to the founding of the Xia Dynasty is referred to by Hell as the primordial era."