Yama Rising

"Su Wei of the Demon Vanquishing Army pays his respects to Yanluo Qin and his esteemed superiors."

"Fang Changqing of the Soul Quelling Army pays his respects to Yanluo Qin and his esteemed superiors."

"Wang Zi'an of the Reincarnation Army pays his respects to Yanluo Qin and his esteemed superiors."

It was 3 AM, and a group of generals clad in antiquated army had just entered the massive tent that had been set up in Yuncheng. Inside the tent were the four Yama-Kings and all of the high-ranking officials of the Yuncheng municipal government and the local Special Investigations Department branch.

At this point, all of the forces had already been gathered, and the army had swelled to a total of over 630,000 troops.

The entirety of Yuncheng was filled with specks of netherfire that were even more dazzling than the stars in the sky, presenting a scene that was akin to the outer space of the underworld. It was both magnificent menacing, and it struck the beholder with a sense of asphyxiation.

Inside the tent, the tension in the air was virtually palpable. A series of netherfire candles were flickering incessantly, casting wavering shadows across the entire tent, and a constant stream of underworld emissaries were entering and exiting the tent, presenting different files that they stacked onto the table in front of Qin Ye.

Starting from the previous night, 1,700 scouting groups had entered the bottomless holes, then returned at 12 AM. After taking three hours to compile all of the gathered data, all of the information had been placed into these files, which had, in turn, been presented to everyone in the tent.

Mayor Bai of Yuncheng had disappeared, so the municipal party committee secretary was attending the meeting in his stead. With each page that he read, the more terrified he became, and by the time he had finished reading the compiled information, his clothes were already drenched in cold sweat.

No one could've imagined that there would be so many evil ghosts buried under Yuncheng! Essentially, they had been living above a massive evil ghost tomb for thousands of years!

They had no right to speak here. Given the power of the mortal realm, the most they could do was assist Hell. They had only just been presented with this information, while the commanders of the Yin soldiers present had already completed an analysis of power between the two sides, and the results of that analysis were far from optimistic.

This was the largest and final opposing force, yet the enemy forces were extremely powerful. In total, they had 1,656 Anitya Hellguards, 24 Infernal Judges, six Abyssal Prefects, and four Yama-Kings!

Could they really win this battle?

One uneasy pair of eyes after another was directed toward Qin Ye, who was sitting on the main seat in the camp.

Due to the unease that everyone was feeling, all of the commanders had fallen silent.

This was the third time in the history of the new Hell that their King Yanluo had led Hell's troops into battle. The first occasion was the Battle of Ashmound, while the second occasion was the war of unification.

The new administration of Hell had already created countless miracles in the past, but was this hurdle going to prove to be too difficult to overcome?

Amid the silence, Qin Ye tapped his table to draw everyone's attention, then said, "Now that everyone has had a chance to look at the data, I'm sure you all have an idea of the situation that we're facing. While the bottomless holes have been investigated, the Reincarnation King has already brought back some blight vermin. Thankfully, there was still a small batch left."

He slowly rose to his feet, and his Yin energy seeped through the tent around him. All of the preparations were complete, and it was time to begin the final battle!

His voice was very calm, as if he were describing something completely mundane, and he declared, "At 5 AM tomorrow, a total of 700 blight vermin will break through the skeletal wall for us. An hour after that, our entire army will advance toward Zhuolu. This is an unavoidable battle!"

He swept a fiery gaze across everyone present as he continued, "The fate of humanity and the world rests on the outcome of this battle! As descendants of the Yellow Emperor, we have no excuse, nor any right to avoid this battle! I'll be counting on you, everyone."

Some battles had to be fought, even though they were clearly going to be extremely difficult from the outset.

The enemy was more formidable than anything Hell had ever faced, but backing down was not an option. As was the case with all turning points in history, someone had to step up and make the difficult decision, one that could even be considered to be a little deranged.

Failure would spell catastrophe, while victory would ensure the future.

Through his words, Qin Ye was expressing his determination to everyone, and all of the commanders reflexively sat up a little straighter as the concern and unease in their eyes turned into calmness and resilience.

The worst that could happen to them was death.

They had lost their chance to be heroes as humans, but they certainly weren't going to be remembered as cowards in the afterlife!

With a wave of Qin Ye's hand, four badges appeared in mid-air. His gaze swept over the faces of all of the commanders present as he gently picked up one of the badges, then injected his Yin energy into it, upon which the image of Envy appeared on its surface.

He took a deep breath, then asked in a voice that was brimming with killing intent, "Who wishes to step up and slay Envy of the four ominous stars?"

"East Conquering General Gao Mingquan wishes to offer his services!"

"Border Guardian General Xu Zi'an wishes to offer his services!"

"West Vanquishing General Su Wei wishes to offer his services!"

"East Vanquishing General Fang Changqing wishes to offer his services!"

In the blink of an eye, several generals stepped forward at once, yet they were all forced back into their seats by a gust of Yin wind, following which a figure made its way to the center of the tent.

"Sit back down, this is not an opponent that you can deal with." Arthis turned to Qin Ye with a serious expression, then cupped her fist in a salute and extended a deep bow as she said, "Warden of the six paths of reincarnation and Reincarnation King Arthis wishes to offer her services!"

"Are you sure?" Qin Ye asked with a serious expression. This was not the time to be messing around.

Arthis stood up straight as she declared, "Hell has never feared nor bowed its head to anyone! Are we scared just because our enemies are powerful? These demonic scoundrels must be slain for their transgressions against the Cathayan Underworld! So long as I still exist, I will make sure to tie Envy down with every fiber of my being! Even if I am to die, I will drag him into the cycle of reincarnation with me!"

Qin Ye didn't waste any more time with words, and one of the badges flew into Arthis's grasp.

Arthis accepted the badge as she cupped her fist in a salute, following which Qin Ye picked up the second badge. "Who wishes to step up and slay Lust of the four ominous stars?"

Before anyone else had a chance to say anything, the Harken had already stepped forward. "I'll be taking Lust's head."

Even though the Harken was quite diminutive in stature, the entire city of Yuncheng seemed to be trembling with each step that it took, and its fearsome power as a divine beast of Hell was not to be looked down on.

"Are you confident in your chances?"

"So long as I still live, Lust won't be going anywhere!" the Harken declared with implacable confidence. "After this battle, no one would dare to challenge Hell's authority ever again!"

With that, the Harken took another one of the remaining three badges.

With only two badges left, Qin Ye was a little hesitant about how to proceed.

He and Zhao Yun both had to face the inner demon together. On a one-on-one basis, neither of them would be a match for the inner demon, particularly considering the fact that Zhao Yun didn't possess the origin runes of emotions and desires. In this battle, slaying the inner demon was the key, but it seemed like they were lacking the high-end power to deal with both the inner demon and all of its other powerful allies.

Even though the four ominous stars weren't necessarily close allies of the inner demon, in the face of a common enemy, they would definitely set aside any internal conflict that they had in order to oppose Hell together. If he and Zhao Yun were to face the inner demon, who would oppose Resentment and Insanity?

Additionally, the 73 immortals had to be accounted for as well. In a large-scale battle like this, allowing the enemy's powerful beings to do as they pleased was no different from suicide.

Right at this moment, a voice rang out at the entrance of the tent. "Yanluo Qin, may I be worthy of offering my services?"

Qin Ye immediately cast his gaze toward the entrance, and the curtain was pulled aside to reveal a group of figures.

The tent was quite a large one, so the entrance was also quite wide, and from Qin Ye's position, he could clearly see Qin Changxin, Qin Xinzhong, Murai Sadakatsu, Mori Ranmaru, and others standing outside.

It could be said that all of the aides that Oda Nobunaga had taken from the Obsidian Heaven's Eye Bowl were gathered here, and behind them were several dozen men wearing black ninja attire.

Behind those ninjas was a group consisting of over 1,000 people. They were once elite Yin soldiers who answered directly to Qin Ye, and at the center of the three groups was an inky-black coffin.

The coffin was sealed shut with chains and talismans, but even so, wisps of dark Yin energy were still slowly seeping out of it, swirling around the coffin like mist. Upon sensing this Yin energy, all of the underworld emissaries present faltered slightly, then turned toward the four Yama-Kings in unison with incredulous expressions.

Never did they think that they would see something so powerful and regal on an occasion like this.

Before anyone had a chance to say anything, Arthis's voice rang out like rumbling thunder, reaching the ears of every underworld emissary in Yuncheng. "Our backs are truly against the wall here, everyone. The fate of our nation hinges on the outcome of this battle, and we don't know how many underworld emissaries will survive to the end."

Her voice was audible to every single Yin soldier and underworld emissary in the city, and all of them immediately dropped what they were doing to listen carefully.

"Let me make this clear to all of you," Arthis declared in a calm voice. "Anyone who dares to retreat will be sent straight to the path of the beast, the path of the hungry ghost, and the path of the asura!"

It was a very simple and concise announcement, but that didn't make it any less impactful, and it put her determination and ruthlessness on full display.

"Conversely, regardless of where you are and whether you perish, as long as you stand firm until the very end, the path of man and the path of gods will be open to all of you!"

All of the underworld emissaries in the city drew a collective sharp breath upon hearing this.

At this point, Hell hadn't opened up the six paths of reincarnation yet, and there was only a single reason for this: there weren't that many Yin spirits.

Over the course of the past several millennia, the other three pillars had all gathered billions of netherworldly citizens, yet the Cathayan Underworld only had around three hundred to four hundred million, and almost all of them were elderly people who had died from natural causes.

It wasn't that there weren't any netherworldly citizens who wanted to be reincarnated. In fact, most netherworldly citizens wished to be reincarnated, but Hell didn't permit that.

However, that was finally going to change here!

Hefty rewards never failed to spark courage and sacrificial spirit in the hearts of men. Even though there was an extremely arduous battle up ahead, Arthis's declaration instantly gave the morale of all of Hell's troops a significant boost.

"Long live, Hell!" someone suddenly yelled in the distance, and the cry was contagious, quickly spreading across the entirety of Yuncheng.

"Long live, Hell!"

"Long live, Hell!"

"Long live, Hell!"

The collective voices of all of the Yin soldiers swept through the entire city like a tsunami!

Qin Ye inspected his surroundings with complex emotions in his eyes. He had built up Hell from scratch, and his army had absolute loyalty toward him. Additionally, he had the help of Lishan Laomu and the Heavenly Dao.

Even though the armies were evenly matched, even though he was facing ancient demonic deities, there was no excuse for losing this battle!