Yama Rising

"Can you create the six paths of reincarnation on your own?"

"I can," Zhao Yun replied in a confident manner. "The most difficult part of rebuilding the six paths of reincarnation is securing the required materials. The complete remains of an ancient god are extremely difficult to track down. Their bodies contain enormous power, and all I need to do is draw upon this power and connect it to the karma of the Heavenly Dao. However..."

He paused momentarily before continuing, "The six paths of reincarnation is the foundation of Hell. Without it, Hell is incomplete, and once it's rebuilt, Hell will be complete again. As a result of this, more natural phenomena will arise, and I don't have enough power to conceal them."

Qin Ye's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. The fact that even Zhao Yun would be unable to conceal the aforementioned phenomena meant that they would definitely be no less eye-catching than those tsunamis, and he couldn't decide whether it was a good thing for two sets of phenomena to take place in such a short time.

He was still far too lacking in experience...

"In that case, let's leave it for now. Yu Kiang has already been restricted for thousands of years, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to leave it for a few more days. Let's go to Ashmound first, and in three days, we'll travel to Lotus City to construct the six paths of reincarnation." Qin Ye cast his gaze toward the sea and said, "As for this place, station some Emissaries of Hell here to oversee proceedings, and get them to immediately report back to me if they notice any abnormal developments."

"Yes."

………………………………………………

Light rippled and warped in front of Qin Ye, and by the time he reopened his eyes, he was already back in Everburn.

"Long live Hell! With the sun and moon restored, the ecosystem of the Cathayan Underworld is now complete! I offer you my most genuine congratulations, Yanluo Qin!"

All of the provincial governors, magistrates, and procurators around him immediately extended congratulatory salutes with elation etched on their faces.

Who didn't want their country to be powerful and prosperous?

Who didn't want to live in a powerful nation, particularly the most powerful nation in the world?

The Cathayan people had always been very tolerant of power. During the course of history, Cathay had fluctuated in power, but its people had never disappeared. In fact, 90% of the time, the Cathayan people had stood near the top of the world. During the Song and Tang Dynasties, Cathay's GDP had been as high as 60% of global GDP, and it was exactly because of its past glory and the recent downturn that everyone was yearning for more power.

They wanted to be just as powerful as before, standing at the top of the world as the paramount powerhouse.

"Long live Hell! Our nation is becoming more and more powerful! It'll only be a matter of time before it returns to its former status!"

"Throughout the past several thousand years, Cathay has always been a major player on the international stage, regardless of whether it's in the mortal realm or the underworld. The only thing that's changed is that we're now facing a new set of opponents."

"Our return to the top of the world is imminent!"

Qin Ye nodded with a smile in response to everyone's rousing words. Right at this moment, a carriage drew to a halt on the side of the street that they were situated on, and Wang Chenghao emerged from it in a respectful manner. "Yanluo Qin, all of the scholars are waiting for you on Azure Dragon Street."

Everburn was split up into four major areas, named after the four holy beasts [The four holy beasts of Chinese mythology are the White Tiger, the Xuanwu Turtle, the Azure Dragon, and the Vermillion Bird.]. The Azure Dragon Area was situated in the west, and at the center of the area was the Azure Dragon Street, which was the designated heart of the city. Back when Everburn still wasn't called Everburn, the special buildings that had appeared with the expansion of the Cathayan Underworld were all gathered here. Currently, Oda Nobutada was tasked with overseeing the area, and all trespassers were to be executed with no exceptions.

The first place to benefit from the return of the Yellow Springs was none other than Azure Dragon Street!

Even the six paths of reincarnation needed the Judgment Pen to judge good and evil. Currently, the Judgment Pen was still nowhere to be found, and that was the final missing piece of the Cathayan Underworld. However, Azure Dragon Street was the place where one could most directly experience the residual fragments of the last civilization.

………………………………………………

Clip clop, clip clop...  The sound of thundering hooves rang across along the entirety of Azure Dragon Street. The Yin beasts were drawing a carriage along very quickly, and currently, seven species of tameable Yin beasts had been discovered across the nation. Four of those species had already been tamed, and they were as fast as the express trains of the mortal realm. At this point, these tamed Yin beasts were already in the process of being sent to all of the provinces and cities in the country.

No more than several minutes later, the King Yanluo's carriage had already arrived at Azure Dragon Street. The street was paved with even azure ashlar, and on either side of the street were grey city walls extending up to at least 15 meters tall. The street was around 10 meters wide, and as the carriage traveled down the center of the street, it was as if it had returned to ancient times with insurmountable palatial walls on either side of it. As the carriage continued along the street, passing by one antiquated palatial lantern after another, one would begin to detect a sense of cold killing intent.

There was no sound to be heard, but Qin Ye knew that atop the two 150-meter stretches of palatial walls lining the street, there were at least 300 Yin soldiers lurking in secret. All of these soldiers were wearing armor crafted from the carapaces of blight vermin, and they were wielding crossbows crafted from Yin beast tendons and the exoskeletons of blight vermin. If anyone dared to storm the city, they would be met by a ferocious barrage of attacks.

From the front, the palatial wall diverted away in two directions, and at the center was a screen wall, upon which was inscribed an image of Abyssal Prefect Cui, Cui Jue, judging a case. In front of the screen wall sat an elderly Yin spirit. During his days in the mortal realm, this Yin spirit had been the warden of the largest jail in the entirety of Cathay, Dongyang Prison. He was giving off a menacing aura and was immaculately dressed and groomed from head to toe.

If he were to be attacked, the three hanging dragon gates behind him, each of which weighed over a ton, would immediately fall down and swing shut. Immediately thereafter, the 100 imperial soldiers stationed outside would rush in to seal off all avenues for escape or retreat. The entirety of Azure Dragon Street was like a watertight fortress, and this entire setup had been planned out by Qin Ye and the Harken.

Only those who had experienced that era were aware of what the residual fragments of the past civilization present on Azure Dragon Street entailed.

The carriage sped along the street and quickly arrived in front of the screen wall. As soon as it did so, the image of Cui Jue on the screen wall suddenly seemed to spring to life, brandishing the brush in his hands as he quickly wrote out the words: Welcome, ruler of the Cathayan Underworld, third King Yanluo Qin, and assistant Wang.

The carriage didn't stop, and as it passed by the screen wall, the elderly man stood up and extended a slight bow. Not a single sound was made during the entire process, and in the instant that the carriage turned past the screen wall, a scene that could only be witnessed in cultivation novels was presented before Qin Ye's eyes.

Qin Ye took a deep breath as he peered out through the gap in the curtains. This area was over 100 kilometers in size, and it contained six giant antiquated buildings situated right next to one another, namely the Hall of Tremors, the Aurogon's Eye, the Myriad Treasure Pond, the Nine Yin Pavilion, the Faint EarthBuilding, and the Pixiu Chimera Building. In the past, they had been no different from normal buildings, in fact, many parts and floors of the buildings had been inaccessible. However, now, every single building was glowing with the radiance of countless Yin runes.

Innumerable glowing Yin runes had been carved onto every single piece of stone and wooden construction material, and the bottom sections of all of the buildings were inundated by countless Yin clouds that were gently revolving around the buildings, giving them the appearance of heavenly palaces that sat above the clouds. Each building was surrounded by hundreds of soldiers, and looking at this from a distance, there was no sense of menace or threat. Instead, it was truly an awe-inspiring sight.

It was like an immortal realm right in the middle of the underworld!

"My Lord." Zu Chongzhi, Lu Ban, Zhang Heng, and the others were already waiting here, and everyone's faces were flushed with excitement. As soon as Qin Ye stepped out of the carriage, they immediately approached him with respectful salutes and said, "We bear fantastic news! All of the buildings have been perfectly preserved! This... This is the foundation for the resurgence of Hell!"

As the main overseer of this place, Oda Nobutada was also present. Qin Ye emerged from the carriage and asked, "How are things going here?"

"All of the seals placed on the buildings have already been opened. Now, all we need to do is install Yin spirit stones, and the buildings will be ready for use."

"Very good..." Qin Ye took a deep breath before continuing, "Scholars, it's your time to shine. What exactly is it that makes these buildings so special? Please tell me every single detail about them."

"Yes!!" All of the scholars extended bows in unison, and after some discussion, construction master Li Chun emerged with a smile. "Please come with me, Your Excellency."

Thus, the group slowly walked along the central path. There were only around a dozen people on the massive street, while the rest were Yin soldiers who were standing ramrod straight in their positions, giving off an air of solemnity. Li Chun said in a low voice, "My Lord, these are no ordinary buildings. These six buildings are the crown jewels of the previous Hell, which stood for over 3,000 years, and each and every one of them possesses extremely powerful special abilities." 

Qin Ye gave a slight nod in response, and Li Chun continued, "Yin runes are the foundation of any underworld. Through the use of Yin runes, all types of effects could be achieved. The Cathayan Underworld's Yin runes are the most powerful ones among those of the four pillars, and the reason for that is King Yanluo's Seal, which is also renowned as the world's premier divine artifact. Looking at all of the other underworlds, most of their creation-grade divine artifacts possess offensive abilities, while assistance-type creation-grade divine artifacts are very rare in comparison, and there are certainly no other assistance-type divine artifacts on the same level as King Yanluo's Seal. King Yanluo's Seal is able to enhance the Yin energy in the entirety of the Cathayan Underworld. The degree of enhancement isn't all that large, but it applies to the entire nation, and it gives rise to even greater diversity in our Yin runes. As a result, there are countless more Yin rune combinations at our disposal, and it's precisely because of this that we were able to create these six peerless buildings."

Right at this moment, they just so happened to have made it to a cluster of tall buildings, and Li Chun extended a slight bow before heaving an emotive sigh. "This is the Myriad Treasure Pond. It took 500 years to construct it, and during the process, the services of 30 scholars, 200,000 craftsmen, and countless Yin rune masters were recruited. Its construction was approved by the first King Yanluo in person, and it houses all of the Cathayan Underworld's Yin artifacts and Yin talismans, including the divine artifact, the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Diagram, and the semi-divine artifact, the original copy of the I Ching. It's constantly calculating Yin rune combination permutations day and night, and currently, there are currently already over four million Yin rune combinations on record. The method of usage and practical application of each combination has also been recorded. Throughout the history of the Cathayan Underworld, all Yin artifacts at or above the Abyssal Prefect level have been produced by the Myriad Treasure Pond, including even the Mirror of Eminence!"

Even though Qin Ye was already mentally prepared for this, he still couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon hearing this. "The Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Diagram? The original copy of I Ching? These things actually exist?"

"Indeed, they do," Li Chun replied as he extended a respectful salute with an excited expression. "For the construction of each of these buildings, it's no exaggeration to say that the power of the entire nation was drawn upon. All of the building materials were of the very best quality with zero compromise, and they're all super Yin artifacts in their own right. These buildings have stood for over 3,000 years without falling, and they exist between the planes of reality and illusion. At their largest, they can hold entire seas, while at their smallest, they can conceal themselves within the tiniest of particles. They can tear through space itself and hide within pockets of space, or they can conceal themselves within a line of text in a book. If Hell were to collapse, the only things that would be able to survive would be semi-divine artifacts, divine artifacts, and these buildings. They are the last piece of tangible inheritance from the previous Hell."

A contemplative look appeared on Qin Ye's face as thoughts began to race through his mind.

During the reconstruction of Hell, the first special structure to be built was Hell's Gate. It was nothing more than a shoddy little temple, yet even it was capable of seizing souls and traversing through the two realms. In contrast, these were buildings that had truly been constructed with the power of the entire nation, and their abilities were undoubtedly beyond the scope of his imagination.

He was beginning to understand the core construct of these buildings. To use an analogy, the Myriad Treasure Pond, the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Diagram, and the original copy of I Ching acted as the CPU that provided instructions for the buildings to operate on. At the same time, this CPU also connects the entire buildings together in the programming language known as Yin runes, thereby achieving the objective of getting the buildings to immediately reciprocate to whatever Qin Ye and the others want the buildings to do.

What was this concept? It was the concept of a supercomputer!

There was a saying that stated "the ultimate peak of science was mythology", and this saying was being perfectly embodied here!