Yama Rising

Envy let loose a furious roar as all of his fur shot forth in unison. Even though his fur was quite short, each and every one of them was like a lethal steel needle, striking all of the oncoming Soul Shackles and knocking them off their original path.

"Oh? So you're not a complete pushover." Arakshasa remained concealed within the vortex as a red karmic flame lotus flower flew out. As soon as it emerged, the terrifying heat of its flames immediately caused the surrounding air to warp and shimmer violently.

Envy's Yin energy erupted forth in full force, and his reddish-black Yin energy surged up into the heavens like a reverse waterfall. Amid the reverse waterfall, a pair of giant scarlet eyes slowly opened. Following an earth-shattering roar, the karmic fire lotus flower was abruptly destroyed, while the Yin energy around Envy exploded like a tsunami.

As a result, it was revealed that he was a white monkey with three eyes and six ears. Close to half of his body had been stripped down to the bones, and he was wearing a beast hide skirt, holding a section of wood that was riddled with flowers that never faded, bearing fruit that never wilted. The monkey crouched down slightly, and in the next instant, it pounced directly toward the sky at an alarming speed!

With a thunderous roar of fury, the section of wood it was wielding was swung down with tremendous force, causing the entire space to tremble, and Arthis's Yin energy vortex was instantly destroyed.

"Even before your ancestors appeared, I was serving our revered king." Yin energy faded like the falling tide while Envy stood like an immovable pillar with a cold smile on his face. "How dare an ant like you display such disrespect to me? Show me what you've got, Reincarnation King! Don't tell me this is all that the Yama-Kings of Hell are capable of!"

Silence.

Two seconds later, a cold voice rang out in response. "As you wish."

A burst of golden light erupted directly into the heavens, followed immediately by a second burst, then a third one… Soon, countless bursts of golden light had erupted into the sky!

The entire darkness was illuminated by the boundless golden light, and within the sea of light, a mystical and holy voice rang out, but in the span of less than a second, it had already transformed into an anguished howl of grief.

All of the souls in the six paths of reincarnation were wailing in unison as an enormous figure that was virtually the same size as Envy burst out of the Yin clouds.

This was a massive Asura that resembled a statue, but it was most definitely a living being. It had three heads and six arms, and in its hands were six different items, namely a dagger, a skull, a string of prayer beads, a vase, a red spider lily, and a willow branch. She was seated on a lotus flower platform formed by the karmic flames of Hell, and all six of her golden eyes locked onto Envy in unison.

Envy faltered slightly upon seeing this, and even he was astonished by just how formidable the Asura's Yin energy was. What was most alarming to him was that there was a hint of the power of worship interspersed within the Yin energy!

His soul began to tremble violently, and in this moment, he felt as if he had returned to the Battle of Zhuolu, facing the most formidable foes he had ever battled.

Never did he think that he would be struck by the same feeling in the face of another enemy over 5,000 years later.

He opened his mouth as wide as it would go, looking as if he had dislocated his jaw, then let loose a thunderous roar, releasing powerful soundwaves that forced Arakshasa downward. Immediately thereafter, an enormous circle of Yin clouds exploded over the ground, and Envy sprang up into the air before swinging his staff viciously down toward Arakshasa.

Arakshasa's three faces were each displaying a different emotion, namely anger, elation, and grief, and in the instant that the staff came crashing down toward her, she stood up and raised two of her palms to the heavens.

A circle of king protea flowers bloomed all around her, and right as Envy's staff was about to strike the top of her head, she looked up before beginning to chant an incantation.

All of her joints began to crack and morph, and her body expanded further and further, threatening to encompass the entirety of heaven and earth. Right as the staff came into contact with her, Envy was stunned to discover that it had already been caught by the Asura's raised hands.

…………………………

Violent Yin energy exploded in all directions, and even Qin Ye and Zhao Yun, who were charging at the forefront, could feel their clothes flapping incessantly around them.

The two Yama-Kings were going all-out from the get-go, and it was very unlikely that an outcome would be decided in their battle anytime soon. In fact, unless one of them decided to launch a kamikaze attack, it would most likely be a matter of days before their battle drew to a conclusion. The Yin energy shockwaves from their battle were sweeping through the entire battlefield, and both armies were pushed aside slightly.

Qin Ye paid no heed to all of this. Arthis was taking on Envy, and the army had been split up into three parts. Only around 100,000 troops had been left to her, and they were facing demonic ghostly immortals that were all Anitya Hellguards, Infernal Judges, or even Abyssal Prefects.

He didn't want to think about the eventual casualties. The casualties would undoubtedly be severe, but this wasn't the time to be considering such things.

The Yin soldiers were willingly staying behind as they wanted to give their King Yanluo the best opportunity to get to the top of the pagoda, and if he were to hesitate, he would be squandering their sacrifices.

The only way for him to repay them was to forge ahead as quickly as he could, doing everything in his power to defeat the inner demon before Hell's army was completely vanquished.

At this point, the bronze gate was only around a kilometer away, and Qin Ye finally allowed himself to take a backward glance.

A ferocious battle was taking place behind him, and some of the demonic ghostly immortals that had suffered grievous wounds were rushing headfirst into Hell's army before self-detonating. Even at the cost of their own lives, they were determined to slow the advance of the enemy Yin soldiers.

In the wake of the devastating self-detonations, several hundred Yin soldiers were killed on the spot, and thousands of Yin soldiers were severely wounded by the resulting shockwaves. However, even more Yin soldiers stepped up fearlessly to take their place. The two armies were like a pair of ferocious wolves, tearing into one another at all costs.

At the center of the battlefield, the battle between Arthis and Envy had also reached white-hot intensity. Both of them wanted to defeat the other as quickly as possible so they could help their respective armies, but that was certainly not an easy task for either of them.

Qin Ye withdrew his gaze, then turned to Zhao Yun before asking, "Do you feel it?"

Zhao Yun nodded in response with a grim expression. "The level is sealing Chiyou's nine orifices."

Once the seal was undone, the rate at which Chiyou's resurrection would progress would undoubtedly increase significantly.

Over 5,000 years ago, the Yellow Emperor was only able to dismember Chiyou's body, but was unable to do anything else.

With that in mind, all of the other levels were perhaps sealing other parts of Chiyou's body as well. This was a race against time, and whichever side could achieve their objective faster would be the one that came out on top.

Thus, both sides had to do everything in their power to get to their target first!

Right at this moment, Zhao Yun suddenly yelled, "Get into formation!"

At this point, the bronze gate was right up ahead, and beyond it was a vast expanse of dazzling white light.

Hundreds of thousands of troops swiveled around in unison, and the sound of pounding horse hooves echoed throughout this entire level. In the blink of an eye, the massive army fused as one, forming an enormous military formation.

This formation was optimized for large armies to charge at the highest possible speed.

The hundreds of thousands of galloping Yin soldiers combined their momentum as one, advancing toward the second level like a heavy chariot with a vast expanse of Yin energy and dust swirling around it.

From this point onward, they weren't going to stop until they reached the top of the pagoda!

As they drew closer and closer, the gate became clearer and clearer in their field of view, and right in the instant they reached the gate…

Clang!

The sound of metal crashing into metal rang out in everyone's ears, and most of the Yin soldiers involuntarily covered their ears with their hands. However, as soon as they did that, all of them shuddered involuntarily, and a sense of extreme peril abruptly welled up in their hearts.

A sharp aura converged toward them from all directions, forming countless sabers, swords, spears, and other bladed weapons that descended from the heavens like shooting stars.

Despite the fact that they were caught off guard by the attack, all of the Yin soldiers remained completely calm and collected. As a series of orders were issued, the original military formation immediately transitioned into something else, transforming into a reddish-golden divine bird in the blink of an eye. The bird was covered in reddish-golden fire, and it swooped toward the oncoming attacks with unstoppable might!

This was the Wumu Vermilion Bird Array!

"Charge!" All of the army's generals raised their flags in unison as they roared with all their. They had already spent too much time acclimating themselves with their environment on the first floor of the Myriad Soul Pagoda, so they had no time to waste!

The heavy cavalry units charged ahead like an unstoppable war fortress, and even though the environment on this level was just as strange as the one on the previous level, no one stopped even for a moment.

This was a grave, but instead of people, it was swords that were buried here.

Millions of swords were plunged into the ground in front of the graves, and they came in all types of different shapes and sizes.

This was a tomb for swords!

While Qin Ye had anticipated the presence of this entirely metallic world in the pagoda, this was still a very astonishing sight.

It was said that Chiyou's head was forged from metal, and his entire body was indestructible. Seeing as part of the seal had been broken, it was no surprise that some of his metallic aura had seeped out.

However, unlike the first level, there was no end in sight to this level, so under normal circumstances, the army would have to carry out scouting missions in order to find the entrance and altar leading to the third level.

That would undoubtedly be an extremely perilous endeavor on this level, which was filled with Chiyou's metallic aura.

Hold on…

Qin Ye's expression changed slightly as he suddenly sensed that the landscape on the second level wasn't actually imbued with the will and the aura of Chiyou. Instead, it was filled with another type of sharp aura that was suppressing everything on this level.

It was the metallic aura of the White Tiger, and it was directly suppressing Chiyou's metallic aura!

"We're not the only ones who want to put an end to all of this…" Yin energy danced wildly around him as he suddenly drew his longsword before pointing it directly forward. "The gods also want me to put an end to this vendetta that last stretched across thousands of years!"

With all these hopes and expectations on my shoulders, how can I retreat? How can I afford to be defeated?

Right at this moment, a twisted figure appeared at the center of this tomb of swords, it was squatted down next to the hilt of a certain sword. Its inky-black hair trailed virtually all the way down to the ground, and it suddenly raised its head before casting a fierce gaze toward Qin Ye, as if it had sensed his scorching battle intent.

At this point, Hell's army still had over 300,000 troops left.