Yama Rising

At the Aegyptian Underworld.

Anubis was holding a golden wine chalice, and there was a pharaoh headdress with a pattern of interchanging golden and green stripes adorned on his head. He was wearing a pristine white robe, and on his chest was a semi-circular piece of armor constructed from gold and sapphire. Currently, he was staring intently toward the east with an unblinking gaze.

There's no mistaking it... I'm sure of it... This is the sound of the reactivation of the Cathayan Underworld's creation-grade divine artifact, King Yanluo's Seal! 

The Cathayan Underworld had just ushered in a new era, which naturally involved a change in leadership, so it only made sense that King Yanluo's Seal was accepting a new owner, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something amiss.

Something's not quite right... He stroked his own chin gently with his mummified hand, and after a long while, he asked, "Where is our closest surveillance site to the array of the Cathayan Underworld?"

"That would be the Strait of Tsushima, my Lord," the owl perched on his shoulder immediately replied.

"Get them to relay to me the scenes they're seeing right away."

"Your wish is my command."

On the Strait of Tsushima, an elderly fisherman abruptly raised his head as he stood on his boat, and the sight that he was greeted by immediately had his jaw dropping straight to the ground. A series of peculiar Yin runes appeared before him, and several seconds later, he found himself adhered flat against his boat like a spider while looking ahead with an astonished expression.

Even the most massive tsunamis should've already run out of power on a journey as long as the one from Ashmound to the Strait of Tsushima. Theoretically speaking, there was no way that he should've been able to see what was happening near the port of Ashmound, but the image reflected in his pupils was rapidly changing and expanding!

Five minutes later, the image of the gargantuan waves raging near the edge of the Array of the Nine Gods appeared in his pupils.

"Found you... Hehehe..."

Right at this moment, countless splashes of water suddenly erupted into the air from the sea, and each and every splash of water contained a snowy white seagull.

However, all of these seagulls were dead.

They were only sets of skeletons covered in disheveled white feathers, but their eyes were of a bright red color, and they gently flapped their wings, flying up into the sky.

From a distance, this appeared to be a normal flock of seagulls, but currently, their bright red eyes were focused intently on the direction of the Cathayan Underworld's Array of the Nine Gods.

Further away in the distance, many other objects, both animate and inanimate, such as turtles or boats, were also springing into action. Anything that happened in the Cathayan Underworld was inevitably going to attract attention from all of the other underworlds, and through these objects, the rulers of the international underworlds were able to conduct surveillance on the Array of the Nine Gods.

In this instant, death gods from countless underworlds were watching intently, and Anubis was no exception to this. He was looking on with a grim expression, and as a capable ruler of the Aegyptian Underworld, which was one of the four pillars, his instincts rarely ever proved to be false. Anything that was enough to arouse suspicion from him was almost definitely a major issue.

His movements were calm and elegant as he stroked his finger along the golden staff placed across his knees. He cast his eyes directly up ahead with an unblinking gaze, and there, a Yin energy screen was currently broadcasting everything taking place at the Array of the Nine Gods to him.

What could the problem be... What problems could exist in the Cathayan Underworld... 

Time slowly passed by, and all of a sudden, his eyes lit up as he abruptly stood up from his seat. All of the servants in the palace immediately fell to their knees in response.

"Time... The problem is time!" The netherfire in his eyes sprang up to over three meters tall and was warping and flickering violently as he swept his gaze around the palace. "The creation-grade divine artifacts of the Cathayan Underworld are different from ours!"

The abilities of the four pillar's creation-grade divine artifacts weren't a secret. In fact, even the abilities of the divine artifacts in the possession of all of the first-rate underworlds weren't a secret, either. This was because all creation-grade divine artifacts possessed a universal trait, which was that as long as their owners didn't voluntarily give them up and the underworlds that they belonged to continued to stand, there was no way to change their owners. Thus, on the international stage, all nations were actually very eager to boast about their creation-grade divine artifacts as there were no potential repercussions, and it was a display of power.

However, time was the true acid test. No matter how much a nation boasted about their divine artifact, it had to be subjected to the test of time unless that nation refused to take part in international affairs. As long as they did feature on the international stage, cracks would inevitably begin to show. During the past several thousand years, all nations were as familiar with the abilities of other nations' creation-grade divine artifacts as they were with the backs of their hands.

"The primary ability of all creation-grade divine artifacts is the ability to stabilize a nation. However, all creation-grade divine artifacts possess two abilities. The first ability is universal among all creation-grade divine artifacts, but the second is all different. For example, our Scales of Eternal Justice can transform all attacks, no matter how powerful, into equilibrium. This is why the Argosian Underworld didn't dare to advance its army into the Aegyptian Underworld. Another example is the Argosian Underworld's Hourglass of Time, which can reverse time in the underworld by 50 years... Even among all of the creation-grade divine artifacts, King Yanluo's Seal ranks within the top three."

Anubis was rapidly organizing his own thoughts as he continued, "Its ability... is to enhance the Yin energy of the entire Cathayan Underworld, and it's one of the main reasons that Hell was able to stake a claim in the four pillars! With the enhancement in Yin energy, it would become easier to produce high-grade cultivators. The King Yanluo can only assign a limited number of high-grade Yin spirits in person... That, combined with the enormous population of the Cathayan Underworld, is why it has always had the most Infernal Judges, Abyssal Prefects, and Yama-Kings during the past several thousand years. On top of that, the genesis of more Yin energy will result in an increase in the number of Yin runes! This is a natural advantage when it comes to creating forbidden techniques and developing technology. However, King Yanluo's Seal may be an extremely powerful artifact, but it has a downside, which is that it possesses a 'manifestation' that other creation-grade divine artifacts don't possess."

He took a deep breath, and the more he thought about this, the clearer his thoughts became. It was as if a series of foundational beams were rising up in his mind, allowing for the construction of a bridge that paved the way to the final answer.

He gently stroked his golden staff as he murmured to himself, "Until the very instant we unleash our creation-grade divine artifacts, no one will be able to know whether we've already activated it or not. However, King Yanluo's Seal is different. As an assistance-type creation-grade divine artifact, it has a 'manifestation' that's extremely distinctive, which is the Yellow Springs. The Yellow Springs acts as the main source of kinetic energy in the Cathayan Underworld, and if it ceases to flow, the Cathayan Underworld would be sure to be plunged into a state of chaos! The six paths of reincarnation, the 18 abysses of punishment, the Naraka Bridge, none of those things would be able to function! Yet now..."

He raised his head, and the netherfire in his eyes was burning with unprecedented intensity as he stared intently at the screen. In his eyes, there was a clear message being carried by the enormous waves, it was like a declaration telling the entire world that the Cathayan Underworld had reawakened.

"If King Yanluo's Seal had been operating this entire time, the tsunamis it would trigger definitely wouldn't be this color. This is a sign that an enormous volume of water from the Yellow Springs has suddenly gushed into the sea through the inlets, resulting in this gradual color gradient. In other words..."

He smiled as he placed his hands onto the top of his staff while appraising the Yin energy screen with a cold expression. "The Cathayan Underworld deactivated King Yanluo's Seal, and it was definitely for quite a long time, 20 years at the very least!"

The color of this tsunami was enough to tell him everything. It was like yellow coloring had suddenly been poured into blue coloring, and the two were constantly mixing together. However, due to the excessively abrupt introduction of the yellow coloring, a process was required for the two to form a cohesive mixture.

If the Cathayan Underworld hadn't deactivated King Yanluo's Seal and the Yellow Springs had been flowing this entire time, then there was no way that there could be such a clear divide between the seawater and the water of the Yellow Springs. In that case, the question was why had the Cathayan Underworld deactivated King Yanluo's Seal?

Anubis narrowed his eyes as he mused, "It's definitely not as simple as a mere change in administration. There's most definitely more to this than meets the eye... What could've caused the second King Yanluo to deactivate King Yanluo's Seal? Could it be that the third King Yanluo had staged a coup? No, that's impossible, the second King Yanluo is far too powerful to be threatened by a coup... The Cathayan Underworld is clearly intent on keeping some secrets, but the reactivation of King Yanluo's Seal has told us many things. For a very long time, your societal and technological development has remained stagnant! In fact, it's very likely that no new high-grade Yin spirits have emerged in the Cathayan Underworld during this time, and the power of your existing high-grade Yin spirits must've suffered a decline as well! This means that after this political transition, the Cathayan Underworld is nothing more than a shadow of its former self!"

He licked his own lips greedily with his bright red tongue.

He had been plotting for a very long time to find a weak point in the Cathayan Underworld, and this was the perfect opportunity for him to take advantage of to seize the slice of the pie that the Cathayan Underworld had always received. The Array of the Nine Gods completely isolated the Cathayan Underworld from the rest of the world, and thus, everyone else could only speculate about the current condition of the Cathayan Underworld. However, never did he think that the evidence that he had been searching so painstakingly for would appear right before him without any warning!

The Cathayan Underworld had fallen. In contrast with the insurmountable peak it had been in the past, it was definitely currently in a far weaker state. Anubis was even of the opinion that King Yanluo's Seal had been deactivated to facilitate the political transition. Thus, the question now was how long had the seal been inactive for?

20 years? 50 years? Maybe even... 100 years?

If King Yanluo's Seal really had been inactive for 100 years, then there really could be a change in the makeup of the four pillars! That would be a massive shift in the entire international political balance!

These thoughts were evoking such a degree of excitement in his heart that even his fingers were trembling. Only after a long while did he manage to calm himself down before taking a deep breath.

There's no rush... 

The Cathayan Underworld had occupied a spot in the four pillars for the past several thousand years, and patience was required to undermine such a powerhouse.

He would continue to probe and prod during the upcoming international conferences, and upon confirming without a doubt that the Cathayan Underworld was indeed no longer fit to continue as one of the four pillars, that was when he would strike with full force!

Everyone would want to share the massive slice of the pie that the Cathayan Underworld received, so once he led the way, he would undoubtedly have the support of virtually all of the underworlds! Just the mere thought of this filled him with excitement again.

"Yanluo Qin, eh? Hehe, there are still a few months left, I look forward to meeting you in Nara..."

He didn't contact the other underworlds and inform them of his analysis. He was confident that none of the leaders of the four pillars would be so stupid that they hadn't thought of all of this themselves.

He could sense that there was something amiss, and the other death gods would definitely be able to as well. The treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts held in Tōdai-ji of Nara would be the commencement of the main course. If there were still any idiots who hadn't figured out what was going on by that time, then he could issue them a reminder in exchange for some benefits.

…………………………………………………..

Qin Ye was feeling rather uneasy.

The tsunamis were far too massive, and they were imbued with incredibly fearsome Yin energy. On top of that, this was supposed to last for half a year?

He didn't know where this unease was coming from, and it wasn't the time to be thinking about this. The fact that he didn't know the answer meant that the answer was beyond his current base of knowledge, and he had better things to do now than ponder on this matter.

With the reintroduction of the Yellow Springs into the Cathayan Underworld's waterways, he would now be able to make use of those buildings that had remained stagnant for all this time!

For example, there was the Hall of Tremors where Yin armaments could be crafted, the Aurogon's Eye where Yin runes could be developed, the Myriad Treasure Pond where artifacts could be created... These buildings had appeared in the Cathayan Underworld long ago, and now, it was finally time to begin making use of them.

"My Lord, would you like to go to Lotus City or Ashmound now?" Zhao Yun asked.

Qin Ye took a deep breath to repress the excitement in his own heart, and after some careful consideration, he asked, "Can we rebuild the six paths of reincarnation right away?"

"We can." Zhao Yun nodded in response. "The Yellow Springs is vital for the operation of the six paths of reincarnation. The old six paths have been destroyed, but with the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn and the body of Yu Kiang, the new six paths of reincarnation will only be more powerful than the previous set. On top of that, the sooner this is done, the better. Yu Kiang hasn't died, and I'm sure it was able to sense the return of the Yellow Springs. If I'm not mistaken, it'll do everything in its power to awaken itself and assess the situation."