Yama Rising

In this instant, it was as if time had stood completely still.

Qin Ye wasn't holding back in the slightest as he swung his sword through the air. Such a brilliant opportunity would only come once. None of his subordinates had informed him of this plan, but they were able to execute it to perfection with a combination of experience, courage, and determination.

The attack had come far too abruptly, and it was traveling far too quickly. Having been completely caught off guard by this sudden turn of events, even the inner demon was rooted to the spot for a split second, immediately following which it instinctively dodged toward the side.

In the next instant, it abruptly drew a sharp breath before raising its hand in an attempt to block the attack, even going as far as to use its own body as a shield.

In that split-second of panic, it had forgotten that the bone shard was right behind it!

However, it was already too late.

Everything seemed to slow down, and the inner demon felt its own senses heightened significantly in this instant. Out of the corners of its eyes, it could see the two Abyssal Prefects screaming as they barged through the intercepting envoys, desperately trying to rush back to the center of Zhuolu.

It also saw Qin Ye's sword slicing through the bone shard, severing it into two pieces in mid-air.

All of the blood in its body instantly rushed into its head upon seeing this, and it was so enraged that it found itself temporarily unable to speak. Hundreds of golden eyes immediately lit up on its arm as it grabbed toward Qin Ye with all its might.

Die!

Right as its palm was about to strike Qin Ye, the latter vanished on the spot once again, only to be replaced by another Yin spirit.

This was the Dusk Legionnaire's mutual teleportation ability!

The inner demon's enraged strike sent a wave of Yin energy sweeping through the air, instantly forming a Yin energy fountain that was several dozen kilometers in radius!

An enraged roar rang out from within the churning Yin energy, and the 11 envoys exchanged a glance with one another before immediately fleeing into the distance without any hesitation.

Alongside the violent eruption of Yin energy taking place behind them came an indescribable sense of horror that was making their souls tremble.

The inner demon's roar grew louder and louder until it resembled rumbling thunder, and the two armies locked in battle in the distance faltered slightly upon hearing this before turning toward the center of Zhuolu with stunned expressions.

An aura that was above the Yama-King level erupted forth without any reservation alongside boundless Yin energy, while Qin Ye returned to his post behind Hell's army.

Zhao Yun turned to him with a dumbstruck expression as he asked, "What did you do just now?"

"Nothing," Qin Ye replied. "I just poked the hornet's nest a little. This is when the true battle is going to begin."

In its fit of fury, the inner demon was restraining its own power at all, and the vast Yin energy that it was releasing had formed an enormous vortex in the sky. Within the vast vortex, a giant golden eye suddenly appeared.

It was like a sun that had risen in the night, and in the instant that it appeared, an oppressive atmosphere settled over the entire battlefield. Everyone on the battlefield could only look up helplessly at the gigantic eye in the sky, feeling extremely tiny and insignificant.

"To think that I was tricked by mere ants… How pitiful…" The inner demon's enraged voice rumbled throughout the heavens, following which thousands of golden eyes lit up in unison, illuminating the entire sky!

At the same time, a burst of violent trembling began to spread through the earth, becoming more and more pronounced by the second!

By the end, it had already escalated into a full-blown earthquake!

Giant rocks were flying in all directions as countless trenches appeared over the earth before growing wider and wider. Bursts of scarlet Yin energy erupted into the heavens from those trenches, fusing together perfectly with the countless dazzling eyes in the sky.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as all of the Yin clouds exploded violently, and in the next instant, all of the underworld emissaries and demonic ghostly immortals drew a sharp breath in unison as they looked up at the sky with astonished expressions.

They were greeted by the sight of a giant butterfly that appeared to be around 50 kilometers in size, roughly comparable with the size of the entirety of Zhuolu!

The butterfly was hovering amid the Yin energy up above, looking like a deity that had descended from the heavens.

However, it wasn't strictly a true butterfly. Its head was more like that of a dragonfly, with a gaping hole at the center, within which was a giant golden eye. On either side of the head was a pair of deer antlers, and they were astonishing in size, winding upward to form a crown that was several kilometers in stature!

Furthermore, its wings didn't belong to a butterfly, either. Instead, they were like phoenix wings that were completely formed by crimson flames, with clear signs of feathers visible within.

Its entire body was covered in inky-black fur that resembled mountains and valleys, gently swaying in the fierce wind. Its body was also riddled with irregular eyes that were around 10 meters in size each, making for a terrifying monster that would only appear in one's worst nightmares.

"This is the inner demon's true form…" Zhao Yun murmured after taking a deep breath. "Whatever you did, it looks like you've truly enraged it."

The inner demon spread its wings like a god of creation, and bursts of rainbow light fell from its wings like rain. In the blink of an eye, the countless beams of rainbow light had vanished into the bodies of all of the Yin soldiers on the battlefield.

Han Qinhu was in the process of fleeing the scene, and he immediately raised his shield, but the light passed through everything without encountering any impediment before vanishing into his forehead.

It was a breathtakingly beautiful scene to behold, but it was also one that was fraught with lethal peril. The spiritual body of the inner demon was impossibly massive, virtually concealing the entire heavens, and its voice was like rumbling thunder as it declared, "No one's heart is devoid of weaknesses. Yanluo Qin, you have truly enraged me."

You have no right to oppose me! I am the only true god in this world!

In the next instant, an indescribable sense of violence welled up from deep within Han Qinhu's soul. He wanted to resist it, but found himself completely unable to do so! He had to vent this fury and violence, and the urge was just as instinctive as that of drinking, eating, and breathing!

He drew his sword in one swift motion, then stabbed it directly toward Wang Meng with bloodshot eyes, only to be met with a spear strike from Wang Meng at the same time.

They weren't the only ones overcome by this irrepressible sense of violence. In the blink of an eye, all of the Yin soldiers on the battlefield seemed to have gone insane, picking up their weapons and attacking their comrades. Their orderly formation instantly collapsed, and within the span of just several seconds, thousands of specks of netherfire had already risen up into the air.

At the same time, the four Yama-Kings on the inner demon's side exchanged a glance with one another before immediately turning around and rushing back toward the center of Zhuolu without any hesitation.

All of the demonic ghostly immortals also followed them in their retreat, and at this point, the ground was no longer cracking any further.

Envy's teeth were tightly gritted as he internally cursed the two Abyssal Prefects for their clear failure to protect the inner demon.

All of a sudden, the entire battlefield pulsed slightly like a heartbeat, but none of the frenzied Yin soldiers on the battlefield detected this slight tremor.

"The Myriad Soul Pagoda has been activated!" Resentment was frantically rushing toward Zhuolu as quickly as he could. "It's still not the right time yet! No one knows what's going to happen if the Myriad Soul Pagoda is activated too early! What do we do now?"

He cast his gaze toward the center of Zhuolu with tightly furrowed brows, and there, a series of small mounds had already begun to emerge on the landscape.

The tops of the mounds were cracking and collapsing incessantly, as if there were a powerful giant beneath the surface.

Envy was silent for a moment before replying, "We have no other options. The Many-faced God is stalling for time for our sake, all we can do is get back as quickly as possible."

Right at this moment, a pure white ripple swept over the entire battlefield in the blink of an eye. It was like a wave of soothing comfort, and all of the raised weapons were instantly lowered again.

"What just happened to me?" Wang Meng's soul was trembling as he laid a hand over his own chest with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes. The power of the inner demon was like an all-incinerating blaze, yet the white ripple was like an almighty flood that had drowned out the fire.

"What was I doing just now?"

"What happened?"

"Why was I about to attack you?"

All of the Yin soldiers exchanged one astonished glance after another, then turned around collectively toward the rear of Hell's army.

Qin Ye was standing there with a giant rune behind him. The rune was constantly changing in form, and it was releasing one wave of white light after another. Amid the white radiance, even the most violent of tendencies and most powerful of desires were soothed and quelled.

"That's the origin rune of emotions and desires!" the inner demon exclaimed as it cast a stunned gaze toward Qin Ye.

However, the astonishment on its face quickly faded, and all of its eyes fell shut as pillars of dazzling golden light descended behind it. At the same time, it slowly rose up into the air like an ascending deity. "I must say, this is quite unexpected, but you're already too late to stop me. Come… Come to the arena of millennia past, the place where this civilization began! We'll be waiting for you!"

Its voice was like rumbling thunder, but it garnered no reply.

All of the Yin energy in Zhao Yun's entire body was swelling rapidly as he made a grabbing motion, upon which his Courage of Dragons Silver Spear fell into his grasp. His Yin energy had formed a vast vortex beside him, and it was releasing fierce wind that caused his suit of silver armor to clink incessantly. At the same time, Arakshasa, the Harken, and Qin Ye also released their Yin energy into the heavens while inspecting their surroundings with wary expressions.

An ancient, ruthless aura was slowly seeping over the entire battlefield, and it was growing more and more pronounced. Meanwhile, the earth began to tremble, and the tremors were also becoming more and more violent.

The inner demon had only been stalling for time just now.

This aura was so apparent that even the Yin soldiers on the battlefield could clearly sense it, and in response, they instinctively formed a series of groups in an attempt to seek safety in numbers.

In the next instant, an earth-shattering boom rang out, and the entirety of Zhuolu completely collapsed!

Countless giant rocks were sent tumbling down as a gargantuan pagoda rose up toward the heavens.