Yama Rising

Thus concluded the short meeting, and everyone departed.

Seeing as a plan to strike at the Nipponese Underworld had already been devised, certain factors had to be considered in advance, and preparations had to begin right away. These preparations included conscription for the next few years, officially recovering the Hanyang Underworld, and construction in the Strait of Tsushima and the three eastern provinces.

After this meeting, all of the directors were undoubtedly going to begin to make some moves. However, there was still a lot of time left, so there was no need to rush.

The other factor to be considered was the pressure from other underworlds. The three pillars were definitely going to get involved. After all, this was going to be a blatant denial of an underworld's right to exist, so the three pillars were undoubtedly going to be deploying their troops. According to the current plan, the idea was to intercept these troops with the second-generation forbidden art. However, a question arose from that arrangement: who was going to intercept these troops prior to the detonation of the forbidden art?

The armies of the three pillars were definitely no joke. During the conference in Nara, Qin Ye had witnessed Erinys's Golden Fleet. The naval might of the three pillars was certainly nothing to be scoffed at, and once their troops were deployed, they would definitely be led by death gods.

Thus, they had to stall those troops until the second-generation forbidden art descended upon Amano-Iwato. Where was that battlefield going to be? Who was going to command Hell's army? Which Yama-Kings were going to be deployed? All of these things had to be arranged.

At the same time, they had to consider just how powerful the Nipponese Underworld's resistance was going to be.

However, the prerequisite to all of this was the development of second-generation forbidden arts and launching technology.

Qin Ye returned to his own office, then read through some official documents in an absentminded manner before tossing them aside. He sat in his chair in contemplation for a short while, then summoned Wang Chenghao into the office. "Inform President Zu and everyone else who needs to be notified that I'll be making a trip to the Sword Coral Research Institute tomorrow. You'll be coming with me."

……………………………………

The Sword Coral Research Institute was situated in the province of Hainan. For every country, their underworld and mortal realm maps would be slightly different. In the underworld, there was a massive coral island that was around 70 to 80 square kilometers situated to the west of Hainan, and it was shaped like a sword.

Ever since Qin Ye brought back the Omeyocan plan, construction had begun on the Sword Coral Research Institute, and only after the two years since the inner demon was slain was construction completed.

The pristine white waves were crashing against the black rocks, and Qin Ye stood atop a rock with his hands clasped behind his back, looking out at the vast sea before him. "It's underground?"

Zu Chongzhi smiled as he replied, "We initially planned to construct the research institute above the ground, but there was too much noise from the sea, so we decided to construct it underground in the end."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he pressed a palm down onto the ground, and a series of circles of Yin runes immediately began to spread over the ground like ripples. Several seconds later, the rocks split apart in all directions, and a hole that was around 100 meters in size was revealed.

There were a total of four staircases that were constructed from faux wood, each of which was at least 20 to 30 meters wide. On either side of the staircases were faux wood railings that were quite refined and antiquated in appearance, while the walls were riddled with reliefs, and they were naturally depicting the grand achievements of the third King Yanluo.

Qin Ye made his way down the staircase while inspecting his surroundings. During the past few years of development of the education industry, knowledge in Yin runology had become more prevalent, and it was beginning to show. For example, there was no need to walk down these staircases. Instead, they were like the automatic escalators that one would find in the shopping centers of the mortal realm.

At the same time, Zu Chongzhi was giving Qin Ye a report of the progress that had been made during the past two years. "With the emergence of the new energy resource, space exploration technology has also been slowly progressing. Here, I must apologize for my incompetence. Even with the models of the mortal realm, we haven't been able to make much progress in the last two years."

Qin Ye finally withdrew his gaze. At this point, they had already reached the bottom of the staircases, and ahead of them was a heavy black gate. There was a plaque that was over 20 meters in length hanging above the gate, and the words "Sword Coral Research Institute" were glowing with netherfire upon it.

On either side of the gate were around a dozen Yin soldiers, and they immediately made a fist with their right hand before clasping it in front of the chest as a salute toward Qin Ye and Zu Chongzhi. Zu Chongzhi injected his Yin energy into the gate, and it slowly opened. Only then did Qin Ye ask, "What's the problem?"

Beyond the gate was a cavernous space. Computers still hadn't been developed yet, and up ahead was a front desk where 20 to 30 underworld emissaries were gathered. Behind the front desk was a relief of the Harken capturing ghosts, and the wooden badges of all of the departments were hanging on the wall. There were tables and chairs, screens, and all types of ornaments placed on either side to conceal the gates that led to different places.

Zu Chongzhi walked along as he sighed, "Space exploration in the mortal realm stems from astrology, but we have no stars to observe."

He led Qin Ye through a gate, and the elevator beyond the gate rose up, quickly taking them to a giant platform.

This was a place with an abundance of advanced Yin runes. The area was roughly three kilometers in size, and the ground was a round platform constructed from white jade. At the center of the platform was a hole that was around 500 meters in size, and there was nothing in it. Working groups were gathered around the hole in an eight trigrams formation, and there were countless men in blue robes reading through documents in their respective positions.

Beyond the platform was the vast and ethereal space. It was clear just from a single glance that no one aside from Zhao Yun could've torn open space like this.

"The center of the platform is where the telescope is supposed to be," Zu Chongzhi explained. "Professor Zhou, Professor Ma, please gather all of the professors of the working group here. Yanluo Qin is here for an inspection, so please raise any troubles and concerns that you have, and we'll try to work on some solutions."

Soon, around a dozen Yin spirits in black robes were gathered at the scene, and all of them were looking quite unkempt. Right after Zu Chongzhi introduced everyone, one of the professors immediately said, "Your Excellency, there's no way for us to continue in our work unless we have access to a telescope!"

"This is Professor Ma Xingchun from the materials department," Zu Chongzhi said, and he was just about to do some further explanation, but Qin Ye raised a hand to cut him off.

"There's no need to explain anything. Scientists don't need to waste their time on appearances and formalities. Let's go and continue our discussion over there."

There were many eight immortal tables beside the railing, and they were clearly meant to be places for the workers to gather and exchange ideas. As soon as they sat down, tea was immediately brought to them, but Ma Xingchun shook his head to refuse his cup of tea.

It was clear that he had a lot to get off his chest, and as soon as they sat down, he immediately began. "We've already completely memorized the Omeyocan plan that you brought to us, but the foundation of everything is the telescope."

Qin Ye nodded in response, indicating for him to continue.

"Without a telescope, we're unable to examine the special properties of the space of this plane. We can't determine whether there will be certain hazards, and we can't do things like calculate the degree of loss of gravity from the trajectories of the asteroids. Thus, there's no way for us to decide on what materials to us."

"Isn't that all outlined in the Omeyocan plan?" Qin Ye asked.

"We can't just copy what's on the plan," another professor replied before Ma Xingchun could. "Through our analysis, we discovered that the Omeyocan plan's spacecraft isn't suitable for our Cathayan Underworld. The design chosen for that spacecraft imitates a hermit crab, which is able to detach its shell at any point, but that was a decision made based on the special circumstances of the Usonian Underworld, and it's not something we can replicate. If we're going ahead with space exploration, then the entire nation must come together as one and pool its efforts together. Retreat cannot be an option! Hence, the design of our spacecraft will definitely have to be different. Truth be told, the material science and biology professors here have already proposed a better idea. On top of that, according to the information we were given, there will be Yin beasts in outer space. If we can trace their movement and determine from their special characteristics what properties are required to travel through space, then that'll allow us to make the best decision about how to proceed."

Qin Ye nodded in response. "What about the telescope? What requirements do you have for that?"

Zu Chongzhi replied, "During the past two years of research, we've managed to work out the concept behind the super telescope described in the Omeyocan plan. Following the demise of Yama-King level beings, their soul will dissipate, but their Yin energy will forever remain in their bones. They were able to infinitely extend the visual range of the telescope through Yin energy and Yin rune resonance. If we want to achieve the same thing, then we must use the bones of a Yama-King level Yin beast, and the only suitable thing we have at the moment is the Kraken. According to Ghost King Zhao's investigation, there are no longer any Yama-King level Yin beasts left in the Cathayan Underworld, and we're currently trying to make Prefect-level Yin beasts work, but we've performed over 20 experiments, and Prefect-level Yin energy is simply unable to achieve perfect resonance with advanced Yin runes. If we lower our standards, then the effectiveness of the telescope will be greatly discounted."

Qin Ye set down his teacup before looking directly at the professors. "Hypothetically speaking, if Hell can provide you with the remains of a Yama-King level being, how long will it take for you to build a super telescope."

"One year! No, eight months!" All of the professors immediately stood up with fervent expressions upon hearing this.

They had already had enough of this inability to make progress!

The Cathayan Underworld was trying to develop space exploration technology, but they weren't able to do anything! During the past two years, they had already memorized the Omeyocan plan back to front, and they had become extremely frustrated by the limitations preventing them from making progress.

Back when the Sword Coral Research Institute was first founded, all of the work groups were constantly debating with one another. However, at this point, everyone spent all their time drinking tea and reading newspapers together, occasionally pulling out the Omeyocan plan, which everyone had already memorized, so see if they would be struck by any miraculous sense of inspiration.

Now that they were hearing what appeared to be a promise from Hell, they certainly weren't going to pass up this opportunity!

The Yin Mountains Research Institute had already made progress in developing second-generation forbidden arts, how could they fall behind? The Ying Mountains Research Institute was constantly releasing progress reports and holding press conferences at all of the major academies, while the Sword Coral Research Institute was unable to release anything. How were they supposed to recruit people in the future?

Qin Ye smiled as he rose to his feet. "Please come with me, everyone."

The professors needed no further invitation, and Qin Ye vanished on the spot as a gust of Yin wind before reappearing beside the large hole at the center of the platform. All of the scientists hurriedly followed along, not wanting to waste even a second.

The entire scene had fallen completely silent, and even the scientists and trainees who were elsewhere in the room turned to see what was happening, wondering why the professors were so excited..

The professors paid no heed to what everyone else was thinking. They were staring intently into the hole, wondering if it was finally time for their Sword Coral Research Institute to shine after two whole years of frustrating stagnation.

Ma Xingchun was so excited that his hands were trembling slightly, and everyone looked on intently as Qin Ye pulled out a small black ball.

The ball was completely formed by Yin energy, and it was impossible to tell what it was. He gently crushed the ball in his hand, and in the next instant, a burst of vast Yin energy erupted over the entire area.

All of the tables and chairs on the entire platform trembled and swayed violently in the face of the fearsome shockwaves, and all of the scientists who were drinking tea immediately had their tea spilled all over their chests. However, no one paid any heed to that as their attention was focused entirely on Qin Ye and the professors.

This is... Yama-King level Yin energy!