Yama Rising

Right as Mictetikasiwa's voice trailed off, the plane in the vortex slowly revolved to reveal the gargantuan creature sitting on the back of it.

It was a giant hermit crab, one that was constructed entirely from mechanical parts.

It was impossible to tell exactly how massive it was, but it had to be at least 1,000 kilometers in size, and it was attached firmly to the back of the plane like an all-devouring demon, greedily digging up the ore on the plane.

It was impossible to describe its appearance with words. Even though its appearance was so strange, there wasn't anything hideous or sinister about it. Instead, it was breathtakingly beautiful.

This was the underworld's first-ever spacecraft. In fact, it was a floating city!

Qin Ye continued to stare into the vortex with an astonished expression. The hermit crab was so massive that just the mere sight of it had made all of the fine hairs all over his entire body stand up on end, and its entire body was riddled with layer upon layer of densely packed green netherfire and golden Yin runes. At the same time, its countless "eyes" were giving off a crimson light, and its gigantic pincers were positioned in front of it like a shield. Its eight legs had gouged deep into the plane, acting as hooks to keep it in place, and it was carrying a huge pyramid on its back.

At the top of the pyramid, there was an enormous flame that rose up to over a kilometer in height, resembling an eternal torch in the darkness of space. In that instant, Qin Ye thought back to all of the fantastical technology portrayed in the Final Fantasy series that he had played in the past, as well as all of the animated shows that he had previously watched, but this thing put all of that to shame!

They simply weren't on the same level…

He finally understood why all of the wealth that the Usonian Underworlds had accumulated over the span of over 1,700 years had been exhausted. This was a project that no single underworld could complete on its own, not even one of the four pillars!

"This is our vision," Mictlantecutli said in an excited voice as he stood beside Qin Ye. "It's situated in a separate plane, and we combined it with the images of space that we managed to record. This is a constant reminder to us of our ultimate objective, but in reality, it's still yet to be launched into space."

Qin Ye stared at the gargantuan hermit crab with a dazed expression. It was completely different from the spacecrafts of the mortal realm. It wasn't streamlined in the slightest, but there was no need to consider air resistance anyway. It would be the most impractical design conceivable for a spacecraft in the mortal realm, but it had been made into reality in the underworld. This was what a spacecraft of the underworld was supposed to look like!

Looking at the vast Omeyocan, Qin Ye knew that he had most definitely been wrong about the future direction that he had envisioned.

He involuntarily closed his eyes, but the image of the gigantic Omeyocan was all that he could think of. Power, Yin energy, and Yin runes were the foundation of the underworld. Everything in the mortal realm could be referenced, but that was the extent of it.

The mortal realm had nuclear weapons, while the underworld had forbidden arts. However, Yama-Kings of the underworld could directly withstand forbidden arts and survive, but that was impossible in the mortal realm.

The mortal realm had special forces, but even the Netherworld Operatives of the underworld were far more powerful than the most elite special forces soldiers. Upon reaching the Yama-King level, one would attain power that was completely unfathomable to those in the mortal realm.

The rulers of the underworld were more brutal and ruthless, but this wasn't because they didn't know how to be diplomatic. Instead, it was because of the power system.

In the face of overwhelming power, everything else was simply inconsequential.

The scientists of the underworld had always been impoverished and unable to make big strides in scientific development, but because they suddenly lost their intelligence upon arriving in the underworld. Instead, it was still because of the power system!

They hadn't found the right way to integrate power with technology.

This wasn't an integration of the past and the present. Instead, it involved integrating Yin runes with the most basic industries of the mortal realm to create something that had never been seen before!

There was no need to design streamlined bodies to minimize air resistance, or things like propulsion fuel, space pods, hibernation pods, and propellers, all that was needed were countless Yin runes linked together by the most advanced technology. Once this was achieved, one would be able to create floating cities like the ones that only appeared in fantasy novels and films!

This was a completely different path than the one taken by the aviation industry in the mortal realm!

With that in mind, Qin Ye finally understood what he had to do, but at the same time, a disheartening realization dawned on him.

Even though he was a Yama-King, his mastery of Yin runes was downright pitiful. He had always adopted a lackadaisical attitude when it came to cultivation, and as a result, he was far less powerful than his cultivation rank suggested. In fact, any of the ruler death gods of the other three pillars would be able to easily stomp him into the dirt in a one-on-one battle.

I thought that having a sharp mind alone would be enough to allow me to succeed as a ruler in the underworld, but it looks like I was wrong. If my mindset is incorrect, then that incorrect mindset will be adopted by all of my subordinates. My reliance on the mortal realm means that everyone else is also turning to the mortal realm for answers, when in reality, the correct path is the one being taken by the two ruler death gods of the new continent. It seems that I've allowed my pride to pull the wool over my eyes.

With that in mind, Qin Ye knew that he had to improve his mastery of Yin runes as quickly as possible. If he were to continue like this, then he would be an incapable King Yanluo that would ultimately lead the Cathayan Underworld to ruin.

He turned toward Mictlantecutli as he asked, "Are you sure this thing will be able to ascend to space?"

"Theoretically, it should be able to do that with no issues," Mictlantecutli replied as he looked up at the gargantuan Omeyocan. "The Hummingbird Art that allows for flight has been applied to every single part and connective joint. While it's true that our technology isn't as advanced as that of the mortal realm, that doesn't matter here. On top of that, we've applied four types of arts, including the Fortification Art, to every single part of Omeyocan. Its outer shell is constructed from the lightest and most resolute SS-grade metallic ore, darksilver, and for this purpose, we dug up all of the darksilver ore across Northern Usonia and Southern Usonia. As for the material used to inscribe Yin runes upon the outer shell, we used the sap from dragonblood trees, which are S-grade natural treasures. Through a simulation, we've determined that the sap from dragonblood trees is able to preserve itself for over 50 years in the weightless and airless environment of space. Since we decided to use the sap of dragonblood trees, its color hasn't faded in the slightest. Using this sap, we created a brand new array on the entire surface of Omeyocan, and we named the array 'Teteocan'."

Qin Ye nodded in response. "Omeyocan is the name of the thirteenth heaven in Aztec mythology, and directly next to it is Teteocan, the twelfth heaven where the parent god of the Aztec religion resides."

He turned toward Mictlantecutli with a genuine expression as he said, "I sincerely wish you luck in making it through the twelfth heaven to reach Omeyocan."

You have my respects for pioneering the space exploration industry in this world, and I hope to see you succeed.

"Thank you for your kind words," Mictetikasiwa replied as a wide smile appeared on her face, causing all of her wrinkles to bunch together. She then pointed at Omeyocan as she said, "The Teteocan array consists of five arts, including the Flotation Art, the Buoyancy Art, and the Directional Control Art. I have the blueprint for the array, and you can see it anytime you'd like."

She was making it sound very simple, but Qin Ye knew that this was far from a simple matter.

Arts were combinations of Yin runes that came together to achieve resonance, which would then produce the desired outcome.

Every single Yin rune used in an art had to be extremely carefully selected, and it was often the case that thousands of candidate runes had to be sifted through to find the right one.

Over the past several thousand years since the great war of the netherworld, every single established art had already been refined to the extreme.

In order to combine several arts together, one would have to inject additional Yin runes into arts that had already been refined to perfection. Furthermore, not only did they have to be combined in a way that would prevent them from rejecting one another, they had to resonate with each other as well, and this was most certainly not a simple process.

"I wouldn't dare to say that we've found the most ideal solution possible, but this is already the best way we can think of to allow Omeyocan to fly in an environment without gravity," Mictlantecutli said in a slightly wistful voice. If he were the ruler death god of the Cathayan Underworld and possessed an incredible creation-grade divine artifact like King Yanluo's Seal, perhaps they would be able to find a better solution.

Many thoughts were flashing through Qin Ye's mind at the moment, and he had already seen enough. All he wanted to do now was to find a quiet place to rest and digest everything that he had just witnessed.

Most importantly, he had to establish a clear understanding of the relationship between Yin runes and Yin energy, and scientific technology.

"Is the supercritical tide going to be taking place tonight?" he asked. In doing so, he was implicitly stating that he didn't have any interest in staying here any longer, and that he wanted to wait for nighttime.

Mictlantecutli immediately understood his intentions, and he replied, "That's right. Someone will be taking you to the Heavenly Platform when the time comes as that's the best place to see the supercritical tide. Would you like to go and rest now?"

Qin Ye nodded in response, and several underworld emissaries immediately approached him in a respectful manner before leading him away.

15 minutes later, Qin Ye was lying on a recliner chair in a guest room outside Chichenhagen, and he closed his eyes to reflect on what he had just seen.

Countless emotions were bouncing around in his heart, including excitement from finally identifying the right path ahead, anticipation for the future changes that he was going to make, as well as astonishment from witnessing the fifth sun god telescope and Omeyocan. This collection of emotions was swirling around incessantly in his mind, and in the end, they culminated into a long sigh.

In order to stay ahead of the times, Qin Ye had to constantly be conducting self-reflection and inspecting himself for flaws.

At this moment, Qin Ye was going through intense self-reflection in the wake of the revelation that had just been presented to him. His old mindset and new views were constantly clashing, and even he didn't know what these clashes were going to result in in the end.

For now, he didn't have time to think about Yin runes. His mastery of Yin runes wasn't very lackluster, but the second King Yanluo had told him of a place where he could improve his Yin rune mastery.

Setting that aside, there was only one question left: why had they chosen to construct Omeyocan in the form of a hermit crab?

The sight of Omeyocan had left an extremely deep impression on him, even more so than the body of the fifth sun god, so his mind couldn't help but stray toward thoughts surrounding that astonishing flying fortress.

Could it be that their Yin rune combinations aren't good enough to facilitate space exploration for extended periods of time, so they have to stop for repairs on every planet that they reach? Could it be to prevent the sap from the dragonblood trees from being worn away by the harsh environment of space? In that case, they would require more storage room to store spare parts and Yin rune inscription materials. Could that be the reason for the form that they chose for Omeyocan?

Qin Ye certainly wasn't naive enough to believe that Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa had chosen this form because they liked hermit crabs.

There was no way that things like personal preferences could play a role in something as important as this.

The hermit crab's form did indeed allow for massive storage space, but other forms could achieve the same thing as well, as long as they were hollowed out.

Qin Ye was unable to think of an answer to this question, so he set it aside as he thought about himself instead.

If the Cathayan Underworld were going to construct a space fortress, what form was it going to be constructed in?

The images of countless mythical creatures immediately began to flash through his mind.