Yama Rising

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Whoosh... He released his Dusk Legionnaire, and it was rumbling behind him like a black hole. Within the inky-black vortex, there were already around a dozen specks of netherfire.

There were several spots that were left vacant, and those belonged to the likes of Chu Renmei and Ryu Changmin. There were also several spots where the netherfire was flickering incessantly, and the faces of evil ghosts such as Otakemaru and Leatherface were constantly surfacing there. It would most likely take another season for these evil ghosts to be completely devoured.

As expected of an art passed down between King Yanluos. Regardless of how powerful an evil ghost is, as soon as they enter my legion, there's no way for them to escape! 

Qi Nü was silent for a few seconds before flying into the Dusk Legionnaire as a streak of light.

Thus, the room fell silent, and only then did Qin Ye rise to his feet as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

Inside the belly of Gui Xu, Yingzhou was completely still and unmoving. Qin Ye had no idea where Gui Xu had drifted to during the course of that battle, but it was finally over now.

At times, the conclusion of a battle didn't have to be violent and breathtaking. Instead, it was more important to figure everything out and achieve the desired outcome, and this outcome couldn't be more satisfactory for either party.

Qin Ye had obtained the moving fortress that was Gui Xu, the method to control Gui Xu, the allegiance of Qi Nü, and perhaps even the usage method of the Taisui fungus was soon about to be his as well. On top of that, there were the dozens of evil ghosts that he had captured in Mirage City set to occupy more spots in his Dusk Legionnaire.

This was truly a massive halt.

"But it's not over yet," Qin Ye mused to himself as he swept his gaze around the stone chamber. "Xu Fu, I really can't rest until I pluck you out from behind the veil of history... I'm different from the second King Yanluo, he has sufficient power to look down on you like an ant, and perhaps he wouldn't even be bothered by your actions. He stands far too high above everyone else and isn't threatened by anyone. However, I'm not the same."

A cold smile appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, "I'm petty and weak, I'm most likely the weakest King Yanluo in history. Hence, as soon as I detect any danger, I have to actively stamp it out to protect myself. Xu Fu, you have well and truly angered me."

After that, he took off his tattered robes, and a gust of Yin wind swept over his body, following which a brand new King Yanluo robe appeared to replace the old one.

There was something else that he had to take care of.

At the time, hundreds of thousands of Qi Nüs had self-detonated at once, and he had thought that he would be at least severely disabled in the aftermath, if not killed. However, following the explosion, he was indeed severely wounded, but he was still alive and ended up with no disabilities, and there was only one thing that could've possibly saved him.

At the time, Fate had disappeared and written something on his back. That had to have been the key to his survival.

He spread the robe that he had just taken off onto the stone table, upon which he discovered a line of shimmering golden text inscribed on the back.

"Third Hokage!" he exclaimed, then cleared his throat out of embarrassment and scratched his own head with an awkward expression. "My sincerest apologies to the third Hokage, that was nothing more than a joke. There's too much pressure on me nowadays, and even Wang Chenghao is getting more and more serious, I have to entertain myself and relax somehow. Now then, let's see what it actually says..."

He was suddenly beginning to miss those days when he had no shame. Now that he was trying to keep up an austere and honorable image, it felt as if there was a heavy weight on his shoulders.

Of course, what was inscribed onto the back of his robe wasn't anything that was anywhere near as embarrassing as "Third Hokage". Instead, it was...

"Yellow Emperor Protector Seal! Brother Xu once told me that he had the title of Yellow Emperor outside of the underworld... That's even more shameless than calling yourself hokage! Does this mean that this Yellow Emperor Protector Seal is something that he left behind? Theoretically speaking, with each major breakthrough, an underworld emissary should attain a new origin Yin artifact, yet I'm currently using a Yin artifact of his after reaching the Yama-King level. Does this mean that Fate took the spot of the origin Yin artifact that I should've attained after my breakthrough? If that's the case, then the main reason for this has to be this Yellow Emperor Protector Seal!"

He gently stroked the tattered golden characters. Due to the explosion earlier, his robe had been completely shredded, but thankfully, the golden characters had been left largely unharmed. As soon as his fingers came into contact with the text, he immediately discovered that these characters were composed of a series of Yin runes! Furthermore, these Yin runes were transforming into a streak of golden light upon contact before vanishing into his glabella.

"There are some things that I initially didn't plan to tell you." Brother Xu's voice rang out in Qin Ye's mind, and Qin Ye listened with rapt focus. "To be honest, you're not very suited for the position of King Yanluo."

This was Mr. Xu's classic "I'm the best, everyone else is trash" opening dialogue...

"You've lived in the mortal realm for too long, and you haven't experienced what it's like to rule over an entire realm. I helped you make a lot of changes, but some things are deeply ingrained and cannot be wiped away in a short time. For example, the high-end powerful beings of Hell play a major role in dictating the outcomes of its battles, yet you just so happen to be someone who doesn't like to cultivate. As King Yanluo, you'll be facing countless battles in the future. Currently, battles between underworlds are fought on an extremely primitive basis with the exception of forbidden techniques, and there will be many, many occasions where you will need to fight in battle in person. By my estimates, as you currently are, there is a 70% chance that you'll die on the battlefield, so this is the final thing that I can give you. 

"The Yellow Emperor Protector Seal is one of my most powerful seals. Having said that, it's not all that impressive. I have a total of over 40 types of seals, finger techniques, palm techniques, and leg techniques, each of which has several dozen abilities. In any case, it has a pretty badass name. However, this is something that I decided to leave to you after careful consideration, and you shouldn't look down on it, either. The seal will ensure your survival against any attack that's powerful enough to render you unfit for battle, and after withstanding the attack, the seal will help your recover rapidly over a span of five minutes. After five minutes, your recovery will plateau at a slower but constant rate that will allow you to continue in battle, and the seal has a one-week cooldown period. If you've activated it, then that means that you are forging ahead with courage and challenging yourself. If you hide in your imperial palace for the rest of your life, then the seal will most likely never appear. In order to activate the seal, you must first reach the Yama-King cultivation rank, which you clearly already have. If you've made it to the point where you're hearing this message, then congratulations, you've come a long way. I don't know how long it's been since we parted ways, but you've become a lot more powerful than you were during the Hungry Ghost Festival, both in terms of cultivation rank, as well as in your mental fortitude, the latter of which is far more important. Remember that power isn't everything, and true power never comes from the physical body alone.”

Qin Ye's eyelids twitched slightly as the message drew to a conclusion.

He couldn't decide whether to thank Brother Xu or give him a vicious slap the next time they met.

Then again, if he dared to slap Brother Xu, even the Yellow Emperor Protector Seal wouldn't be able to save him...

Even though the Yellow Emperor Protector Seal was a passive ability, it was still extremely valuable.

He waved a hand through the air, and the tattered robe dissipated into Yin energy. He wasn't just taking a look at the seal for the sake of it, he was doing so because he didn't have full trust in Qi Nü.

If there were some other traps lying in wait at the shrine, then he had to at least be able to ensure that he would be fit for battle, and after resting for this period of time, he was ready.

Wait a minute, battle? Why am I thinking about battle? Why am I thinking about going into battle in person? Th, this isn't like me! Have I finally been brainwashed by the second King Yanluo and the Harken? 

This wasn't the time for such petty gripes, so he could only set those thoughts aside for now. At this point, he had recovered to a decent extent, and it was time to go and see exactly what was hiding in the shrine.

With the key to activating Gui Xu under his control, the feeling of constantly being watched had disappeared, and he made it all the way to the mountain summit with no mishaps.

Qin Ye's brows furrowed slightly as he stepped onto the mountain summit. Along the way here, there were two things that had stuck out to him as rather strange. Firstly, Yingzhou was known as an immortal mountain, yet he hadn't discovered anything "immortal" about this place.

It was just an ordinary mountain, and the only thing prominent aside from its beautiful scenery was the lack of living beings here.

There were cranes flying in the sky, but they weren't alive. Instead, they were mere skeletons. Flying skeletal creatures wasn't a rare sight in the underworld, and it was the only thing remarkable about this place, so why was it referred to as an immortal mountain?

Secondly, why was there a Nipponese shinto shrine here?

He didn't ask those questions as they were most likely related to Qi Nü's trump card. Unless she developed absolute trust in him or recovered her lost souls and spirits, there was no way she would answer those questions, so there was no point in asking.

Thus, he stood in front of the shrine and began to carefully inspect it.

This was a very typical Nipponese shinto shrine with a torii gate constructed from redwood at the entrance along with a wooden door-shaped plaque. According to the beliefs of the shinto religion, upon crossing through this gate, one would reach the realm of the gods, so this gate acted as the divide between gods and mortals.

Beyond the torii gate was a wooden shrine that wasn't very large, standing at only around four to five meters in radius. The entrance was wide open, and the white curtains at the entrance were folded aside. It was a very old shrine, but it was quite clean and tidy.

There wasn't much to be seen on the outside, and upon entering the shrine, Qin Ye discovered that there were only three types of items in it, namely prayer flags that were hung up all around the shrine, a round futon, and a statue that was around the same height as a grown man. 

Qin Ye's pupils abruptly contracted at the sight of the statue as it held an identical appearance to the man that he had seen in Bu Wantian's memories!

The long and thin beard, the ethereal and carefree disposition... It was none other than Xu Fu himself!

The statue was carved out of stone, but it was impossible to see the stone material’s original color. Some parts were white while other parts were yellow, and this was an indication that this statue had been standing for a very long time, perhaps even more than 1,000 years!

The statue bore the appearance of Xu Fu, but he was in a set of completely different attire.

He was in a pure white round-collared traditional Han robe with wide sleeves. There was a tight-fitting jade belt around his waist, and a black cap with intricate golden ornaments all over its surface. 

Qin Ye carefully inspected the face of the statue, then examined the attire that Xu Fu was depicted to be wearing here, and his brows furrowed tightly as he murmured to himself, "This is the attire worn by high-ranking Nipponese officials in ancient times..."

Right at this moment, Qi Nü emitted a faint screech to catch his attention, and only then did he notice that there was a wooden badge that was yellow with age sitting beside the foot of the statue.

There was a name engraved upon the badge: Jimmu!

This discovery was like a bolt of lightning that struck Qin Ye squarely on the head, answering many of the questions that were still lingering in his heart. His mouth was slightly agape, and he slowly took a step backward as he stared at the statue with incredulity in his eyes.

It was no wonder that the Xu Fu depicted in this statue was wearing such prestigious Nipponese Attire... He wasn't a high-ranking official or general, he was Emperor Jimmu, the legendary first emperor of Nippon!

Emperor Jimmu was a godlike existence in Nipponese legend, but no official historical records of him had ever been discovered. It was said that he was the first ruler to have established an empire in Nippon, founding the nation and the imperial family, yet this legendary figure... was Xu Fu!

Everything that Qi Nü had told him rang out in his mind once again.

"Xu Fu's final trump card is hidden on the roof of the shrine." 

"Xu Fu's final trump card is hidden on the roof of the shrine. It contains the location of all of the light towers in the mortal coil that he's hidden all over the world, and details on all of his ties with different countries. I gathered these things bit by bit over time, and if you can help me recover my soul, I'll tell you the true purpose of the light towers in the mortal coil, as well as the only way to find the Peach Blossom Spring! Trust me, the Peach Blossom Spring truly exists! However, you can't find it through conventional means. Aside from Xu Fu, I'm the only one in this world who knows how!" 

Qin Ye was in complete disbelief as he murmured to himself, "So this is his tie with Nippon? The first emperor of Nippon who founded the nation is actually the number one human cultivator in history and the owner of the Peach Blossom Spring? Is this only one of his identities or is that all? If there are others, then what alternative identities has he adopted? What has this man done in the past 2,000 years?"