Yama Rising

Near the end of 1969.

In a certain guest hall, Gao Changgong was seated on his chair in a respectful manner, taking occasional glances at the two death gods in the hall through the eyeholes of his bronze mask.

This was a spacious room constructed with some Great Viet influences, but of course, it was mostly constructed in the typical style of the Cathayan Underworld. At the back of the hall was an embroidered screen that was around three meters in length and roughly a meter tall, depicting the Aurogon dancing through a sea of clouds. Around it were several resplendent lanterns, and the entire hall was very elegant to behold.

At the center of the room were two rows of tables and chairs, and the two death gods were seated on the first and second chairs of the row on the left.

They were already extremely old, and they were wearing Aztec-style cloaks with green as the primary color scheme. These cloaks were embellished with intricately crafted golden ornaments and colorful feathers, and complex tattoos could be seen on the exposed parts of their skin. It was clear from their presentation that they were taking this visit very seriously.

There was an indescribable aura of rot and decay in their Yin energy, and if it weren't for the fact that his presence was necessary, Gao Changgong would've already fled from the room.

With each passing second, he felt as if he were slowly aging, and in addition to that, these were two deranged death gods that no one in the world dared to provoke! This was probably the only place where they would display any restraint and civility.

Right at this moment, the door was gently pushed open, and Gao Changgong heaved an internal sigh of relief as he immediately rose to his feet before extending a respectful bow. "Gao Changgong pays his respects to Yanluo Xu."

The person who had just entered the room was the second King Yanluo, and he was wearing a tight-fitting white robe with a golden crown on his head, and there was a white jade belt around his waist, accentuating his exceptional figure. His brows looked as if they had been carved out of granite, and his eyes were bright as stars, while his face was as chiseled as a marble statue. Even though he was only standing on the spot, he still gave off an extremely authoritative and intimidating aura.

The two ruler death gods of the new continent slowly rose to their feet, then extended deep, respectful bows while holding onto their canes for support.

No matter how deranged or insane they were, they didn't dare to do anything out of line in the presence of this man.

Gao Changgong obediently picked up his notepad. Everything that Yanluo Xu said and did had to be recorded, but the two ruler death gods of the new continent had specifically stated that no outsiders were to be present during this meeting, so he had to fill in and complete the tasks that would normally be assigned to the secretaries and assistants.

"Why are you here again?" the second King Yanluo asked in an impatient manner before taking a sip of tea. "The foundation of your religion has been destroyed, and your faith no longer has an anchor, so your demise is inevitable. Plus, it's not like you're going to die, you'll only be returning to the Heavenly Dao. Surely that's not too difficult for you to accept! I've told you this in the past: my cultivation method doesn't suit you. I am a living human, while you two are Yin spirits, so we're fundamentally different. Are you deaf or do you not understand Cathayan?"

Mictlantecutli was holding onto his cane with both hands, and he looked so frail that it was as if he could pass away at any moment. Even though the second King Yanluo was being quite rude, he didn't dare to display any displeasure as he smiled, causing all of the wrinkles on his face to bunch up together. "Esteemed Yanluo Xu, I have a question that you are most likely the only one in this world capable of answering."

"Go on then," the second King Yanluo prompted in an impatient manner.

Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa exchanged a glance before the former asked, "Does space exist in this world? I'm not talking about the underworld, not the space of the mortal realm."

The second King Yanluo was rather taken aback to hear this question, and he put down his teacup as he asked, "Why do you ask that?"

Mictlantecutli replied, "Half a year ago, humans stepped onto the moon in the mortal realm. You're already aware of our situation. During the past century or so, we've been frantically searching for a solution to our predicament, but unless we can get Northern Usonia and Southern Usonia to believe in the Aztec religion again, there's no way for us to survive. However, what if we turn to outer space?"

Mictetikasiwa was wearing a golden crown that seemed almost too heavy for her frail head to carry, and she said in an excited voice, "If space exists, then perhaps there's a realm just like ours somewhere out there! We can still live for several more centuries, and if we can spread our religion to another suitable plane during that time, we'll be able to survive! Hence, we came here to ask you this question."

In the face of the two pairs of eager eyes, a hint of a smile appeared on the second King Yanluo's face as he said, "I didn't think that you two would be the first ones in the underworld to think about exploring other planes. I can tell you now that space does exist, and it's very likely that intelligent life forms exist in this very star system. The Milky Way of the Underworld is known as the Yin Space River, and in contrast with the Milky Way of the mortal realm, all planes within this star system are situated very close to one another!"

The two ruler death gods of the new continent immediately sprang to their feet with excitement upon hearing this.

Mictetikasiwa then extended a respectful bow toward the second King Yanluo as she said, "Thank you for answering our question. So long as we continue to live, we promise that the new continent will ever become an enemy to the Cathayan Underworld."

"It's not a big deal," the second King Yanluo replied with a casual smile. "Besides, no one dares to make an enemy out of me."

Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa nodded sheepishly in response. "Once we return to the new continent, we'll begin conducting research in this area right away, and all of our findings will be stored at San Juan Teotihuacán. All of those records will be made fully accessible to all past and present King Yanluos of the Cathayan Underworld."

………………………………………………..

After Gao Changgong relayed his memory to everyone in the room, the hall fell completely silent. Qin Ye was absentmindedly drumming his fingers against the tabletop, and he had already fallen into deep thought.

This explained many things that couldn't be explained in the past.

For example, why was it that there hadn't been any civil turmoil in Usonian even though Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa had already gone off the deep end several centuries ago?

It was because they weren't completely deranged, after all. They were indeed devouring their own followers in order to extend their lifespans, but they hadn't made it so that it was completely impossible for their netherworldly citizens to survive.

Similarly, why hadn't Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa intervened during the plot hatched by the three Caribbean Death Gods?

Were they oblivious to what was happening? Surely there was no way that was possible! They were the ruler death gods of Usonia, and there was no way they would've failed to notice something so significant. After all, the Kraken had entered their territory, how could they possibly have failed to detect that?

One of the six kings had encroached upon their territory, and that was an act of direct provocation toward them, yet they hadn't done anything.

This was because they were also researching space exploration, and they had a head start of several decades on the Cathayan Underworld! No wonder they didn't have the time to spare to address anything else!

Their insanity was only a facade that prevented the rest of the world from entering Usonia. They were well aware of the fact that the entire world was eagerly awaiting their demise. Once they passed away, the new continent would be left with only several ordinary death gods and no ruler, and a world war would most likely ensue as the entire world fought to claim this massive continent!

For every underworld, there was no limit to their desire to increase their territory and population.

I see… I finally understand why they didn't ask me any questions back when I told them Zhao Yun's cultivation method. It's because they were focused entirely on something else. They've already been researching space exploration for several decades, and they didn't dare to believe the method I provided to them, nor were they willing to give up on the project that they had been working on for several decades. The new cultivation method is something that they were only going to consider if and when their forays into space exploration fail, so there was naturally no need for them to ask any questions.

With that in mind, a faint smile appeared on his face.

The plane was like a chessboard, while all of the death gods were pieces on the chessboard. In the past, he had thought that the two ruler death gods of the new continent were only a pair of deranged old geezers who were desperately flailing about like fatally wounded animals, but it seemed that they weren't quite so desperate or deranged after all.

If he hadn't summoned the 12 envoys for this meeting, he would've never guessed that the new continent would be researching space exploration technology!

"They have more than enough people for the job, including the past death gods and all of the brilliant minds of Usonia. No wonder no skilled personnel from Usonia ever appears during international conferences. You would think that at least a small percentage of them would be able to escape from the new continent, but that hasn't been the case. What's most likely been happening is that as soon as they entered the underworld, they were taken by Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa straight to the place where space exploration technology was being researched."

At this point, everything was clear to Qin Ye.

Even though the new continent was also researching space exploration, there was no direct conflict between them and the Cathayan Underworld as the objectives of the two were completely different.

The Cathayan Underworld's research was designed to usher in a new era for the underworld, whereas the new continent's research was for the sole purpose of allowing Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa to escape this plane to spread their religion to other planes.

Thus, the scale and technology involved were all going to be drastically different.

However, there were still going to be similarities, such as the thought processes involved and the arts used.

With that in mind, a thought was already beginning to take shape in Qin Ye's heart.

Was there a chance for the Cathayan Underworld and the new continent to collaborate in this field? If that were possible, then the Cathayan Underworld would have a lead of several decades over the rest of the world when it came to space exploration technology!

"There's no fundamental conflict of interest, and their source of information was the second King Yanluo, so a collaboration is definitely not impossible! On top of that, Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa don't care about anything like patents right now. They're doing this for survival, not for money! In exchange, I can grant them the usage rights to King Yanluo's Seal!"

King Yanluo's Seal was able to improve the quality of Yin energy, and enhance Yin runes. As such, it should be a massive asset when it came to research into the field of space exploration! Regardless of whether it could provide any actual benefit or not, at the very least, it should be a tempting proposition to Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa!

With that in mind, Qin Ye was even more convinced that space exploration was the right way to go.

Under the current circumstances, the Cathayan Underworld had the most advanced energy resource technology in the world. Even if the second King Yanluo was right, and this energy resource couldn't play a fundamental role when it came to space exploration, it could help that cause in other areas. He was confident that once he made this proposal following the commencement of the international trade conference, there would be no underworld willing to compete with the Cathayan Underworld.

In addition to that, he also had to conduct his own experiments to see what he could get away with creating without it disintegrating into black butterflies, as the second King Yanluo had proclaimed. That task could be delegated to his researchers, and in the meantime, he had to travel to the new continent right away to negotiate with Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa.

This was a negotiation between ruler death gods, so no one could go in his place.

While he was there, he could also take a look at the so-called treasure vault mentioned by the Plumed Serpent God, as well as visit the place that the second King Yanluo had described.

Having made up his mind, he raised his head and cast his gaze toward everyone in the room. "12 envoys."

"Present!" The 12 envoys immediately rose to their feet as they cupped their fists in respectful salutes.

A serious look appeared on Qin Ye's face, and an authoritative tone also crept into his voice as he said, "There's something I need you to do for me right now."

Before they had a chance to ask, he continued, "Our Cathayan Underworld is about to begin a project, the scale of which has never been seen in history. As long as you do everything in your power to contribute to this project, I can let bygones be bygones and forget the past. What do you say?"

Silence.

While it was true that they had disrespected Qin Ye in the past, they hadn't ever considered betraying this nation, and in this situation, they knew that the era that belonged to them had already passed by.

With that in mind, countless complex emotions welled up in their hearts. However, there was no point in reminiscing about the past, and Zhou Yu stood up as he cupped his fist in a salute. "I, Zhou Gongjin, am willing to dedicate my life to serving Hell!"

Their era had already passed them by, but there was nothing stopping them from contributing to creating the era that belonged to the Cathayan Underworld!

How could their names be absent from the new era?

Zhou Yu's declaration seemed to have snapped all of the 12 envoys out of their reverie, and in that instant, all of them stood up in unison.

"I, Ma Fubo, am willing to dedicate my life to serving Hell!"

"I, Chang Yuchun, am willing to dedicate my life to serving Hell!"

"I, Han Qinhu, am willing to dedicate my life to serving Hell!"

"I, Guo Ziyi, am willing to dedicate my life to serving Hell!"

"I, Ban Dingyuan, am willing to dedicate my life to serving Hell!"

"I, Wang Meng, am willing to dedicate my life to serving Hell!"

"I, Gao Changgong, am willing to dedicate my life to serving Hell!"

"I, Cha Han, am willing to dedicate my life to serving Hell!"

In the past, the 12 envoys had been haughty and untamed, going as far as to try and force their King Yanluo to grant them independence, but on this day, all of them were submitting to the new administration again.