Yama Rising

In this instant, all of the underworld emissaries throughout the entire Nipponese Underworld turned toward the same direction.

Fearsome Yin energy fluctuations washed over the entire nation, and it was as if a terrifying monster were awakening from a long slumber. Wisps of Yin energy rose up from the ground all over the Nipponese Underworld, then immediately bloomed into a series of black lotus flowers.

Honda Tadakatsu drew a sharp breath as he turned around with an incredulous expression to inspect his surroundings. Countless inky-black lotus flowers had bloomed all around him on the nearby mountains, the moat in front of his tenshu pavilions, and all of the surrounding rock faces! In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the entire Nipponese Underworld had been stained black.

Gusts of Yin wind swept past, causing the black lotus flowers to gently sway amid an unsettling rustling sound.

Time seemed to have fallen completely still in this instant, and all of the surviving netherwordly citizens and Yin soldiers raised their heads in unison to turn their attention toward the same spot. In the next instant, all of the black lotus flowers trembled in unison before flying up into the sky as fast as lightning. An impenetrable screen of Yin energy quickly appeared in the sky, then surged in its entirety toward Tokyo.

"What on earth is that?!" Tokugawa Ieyasu was looking up at the sky with an astonished expression. In the span of no more than a few minutes, the boundless screen of Yin energy had transformed day into night. It was as if the sun had been devoured, and immediately thereafter, the vast expanse of darkness above the tenshu pavilion beganto revolve and warp before finally forming a massive vortex!

"What's happening? What's going on here?"

"Who does this Yin energy belong to? It's becoming more and more powerful by the second!"

"It seems to be coming from the top floor of the tenshu pavilion! Isn't that where General Yue is? But he's lost his Yin energy long ago!"

All of the underworld emissaries were staring at one another with dumbfounded expressions, while Amanozako began to lower her own massive body to the ground in silence.

"Someone's making a breakthrough to become a Yama-King on the top floor!" She was trembling incessantly as she adopted a dogeza pose, but her heart and her eyes were involuntarily looking up toward the top floor of the tenshu pavilion.

Yama-Kings stood at the very top of the underworld food chain, and not even a single Yama-King had been produced throughout the Nipponese Underworld's long history, yet one was emerging right before their very eyes!

Is this the power of the four pillars?

Yue Fei was nothing more than a crippled shadow of his past self, yet within minutes of being visited by Qin Ye, he was suddenly making a breakthrough to become a Yama-King, transcending beyond the highest cultivation rank he had ever reached even during his prime!

If only we were also emissaries of the Cathayan Underworld...

Before they had a chance to think about anything else, the vortex up above suddenly accelerated in its rotation, and in the next instant, pillars of yellow light came crashing down from above, illuminating the entire top of the tenshu pavilion a golden color.

It was as if the light of a new sun had pierced through the dark clouds, basking the tenshu pavilion in its golden radiance, giving it the appearance of a mountain of gold.

The world seemed to have been sliced apart, and the juxtaposition of the inky-black sky and the radiant golden tenshu pavilion created such an awe-inspiring contrast that all of the underworld emissaries could only look on in marvel and wonder.

Before they had a chance to say or do anything, a vast expanse of Yin energy that was as enormous as the heavens suddenly erupted from the top of the tenshu pavilion, and all of the underworld emissaries immediately fell to their knees as their legs gave out from under them.

"What terrifying power! This is not power that's achievable through skill and expertise alone!" Honda Tadakatsu had always been extremely confident in his own skills in battle, but at this moment, his forehead was pressed tightly against the ground, and he wanted to stand up, but was physically unable to do so. Never had he felt this type of fear from anyone in the Nipponese Underworld.

It wasn't a fear of death. Instead, it was instinctive fear toward a higher life form.

He wasn't the only one. All of the daimyos gathered beside him had also crumpled to the ground, trembling uncontrollably in dogeza poses. Even all of the skeletal warhorses around the tenshu pavilion had also knelt down onto the ground, and there was no sound to be heard aside from the howling of the Yin wind.

Qin Ye hadn't left.

Theoretically speaking, the soul of the inner demon would've definitely been sufficient for Yue Fei to make a Yama-King level breakthrough on the spot, but Yue Fei's spiritual body was incomplete, so he had to be present to ensure that this breakthrough was successful.

"The more powerful I become, the more responsibilities I have to take on. My power is like lightning in the night, as brilliant as it is eye-catching," Qin Ye sighed to himself as he took a seat. However, right at this moment, he suddenly raised his head before casting his gaze toward the west.

"Oho, and the good news just keeps coming."

Cathayan Underworld, Formosa.

"What is the meaning of this?! What you're doing is illegal!" At the Hindustani Underworld's energy resource outpost in Formosa, a Yin spirit wearing a white turban and a sapphire necklace was in the process of yelling at the top of his lungs with an enraged expression. "I'm going to take this matter to court! We issued sufficient fees, so why are we not entitled to receive..."

Before Ambassador Abdullah had a chance to finish, several spears were aimed directly at his throat, and his voice instantly trailed off into silence.

Outside the Hindustani Underworld's energy resource outlet, around a dozen Yin soldiers were assembled in a row. They were led by a commander who wasn't particularly tall or physically imposing, but there was no concealing the killing intent radiating from his body, and it was clear that he was a Yin soldier who had been in actual battles in the past.

Only after Abdullah and his peers fell silent did he make a hand gesture, instructing his soldiers to lower their spears. "The province of Formosa will be going into lockdown fro a week. During this time, no Yin spirits are permitted to leave the island. The Cathayan Underworld will satisfy all of your needs, and all those who attempt to leave the island without permission will be detained as spies."

"That's not fair!"

"You're telling me we have to stay in this building for a week?"

"What's the reason for this? You have to give us a proper explanation!"

"I apologize for the inconvenience caused to everyone," the commander said with a steely expression. "You will be compensated by the Cathayan Underworld after the event, but for now, you must do as you're told. During the lockdown period, you're only restricted in your movement, but there are no restrictions on anything else. As for everyday necessities, those will be delivered to you in half an hour."

After that, the row of Yin soldiers stationed themselves in front of the entrance, and Abdullah could only return to the building with tightly furrowed brows.

After returning to his office, Abdullah glanced out his window to find that all of the shops and other national energy resource outposts had also been placed under lockdown.

The Hindustani Underworld's energy resource outpost wasn't just responsible for arranging imports and exports of energy resources. At the same time, it was also collaborating with the Cathayan Underworld in new energy resource research. Thus, due to the large number of Yin spirits employed there, the building was very tall. Just like the other buildings belonging to the three pillars, this building towered over all of the other buildings on the island of Formosa, and from this vantage point, Abdullah was able to clearly see every single corner of the island.

"What is going on?" Abdullah returned to his seat and poured himself a cup of coffee as his gaze roamed over the island with tightly furrowed brows. There was no way that the Cathayan Underworld would decide to place the entire island under lockdown for no reason, so there had to be an explanation for this.

The jobs of all diplomats had certain areas of overlap with the duties of spies.

They were responsible for reporting what they learned back to their nation as quickly as possible, so essentially, they were official spies who worked out in the open.

Abdullah had already been working at Formosa for 10 years, and with the experience that he had accumulated during this time, he had a strong feeling that something big was about to happen on the island.

Before he had a chance to think about anything else, the entire world suddenly trembled slightly.

It was a very strange feeling.

It was as if the sky had suddenly turned dark before clearing up again in the brief span of a millisecond.

Abdullah faltered slightly upon seeing this, then immediately sprang to his feet, knocking over his teacup in the process, but he paid no heed to that as he stared intently at the tall mountain range on the horizon. As a Soul Hunter, he could clearly sense a burst of incredibly powerful Yin energy fluctuations surging toward the island.

Furthermore, the fluctuations were only growing more and more powerful. It was like the butterfly effect, triggering only a slight breeze in the beginning, only for the breeze to build up into a ferocious storm!

He looked on with an alarmed expression as the clouds near the Alishan Mountains rapidly receded, and the horizon began to blur, much like the visual effect of heat rising up from hot tarmac to warp the air.

A terrifying thought sprang into his mind, and his throat immediately ran dry as he suddenly stumbled back a few steps. His body was trembling uncontrollably, and he was only snapped out of his stunned stupor as he bumped into his own desk.

All of a sudden, an all-encompassing wave of darkness erupted from the Alishan Mountains.

It swept over the entire world so quickly that it was as if it had never appeared in the first place. Perhaps the split-second of darkness was too brief to even be detected by the retinas of normal Yin spirits.

The darkness disintegrated as soon as it appeared, but it didn't drift down from the heavens. Instead, it transformed into countless black butterflies that surged toward Formosa like a river of darkness.

They were flying extremely quickly, and in the blink of an eye, they had already formed a vast sea of clouds above the island. The clouds were constantly surging and revolving, devouring the sun and concealing all light. Within the span of less than an hour, the entire sky had been concealed behind a wave of darkness.

At the center of the darkness was a massive vortex, around which lightning was flashing incessantly. All of a sudden, a pillar of black light came crashing down from the vortex, directly striking the Alishan Mountains.

At this point, Abdullah had already seen enough to understand what was happening, and he instantly lost all sense of composure as he yelled, "There's a new Yama-King arising in the Cathayan Underworld! My god!"

After that, he rushed over to his phone like a madman before frantically picking up the receiver. "Connect me to the embassy! Hurry!"

Of course, he wasn't the only one witnessing this spectacular scene.

It was so grand and vast that countless underworld emissaries across the world were able to see the phenomenon that had encompassed Foromsa. At the same time, the phones on the desks of all of the death gods began to ring in unison.

In the Hindustani Underworld, Yamaraja heaved a faint sigh before setting down the receiver of his phone. "Two Yama-Kings, eh?"

The benefits of war were on full display here.

The Cathayan Underworld is making preparations for the opening of the Array of the Nine Gods...

With two new Yama-Kings soon to join its ranks, the Cathayan Underworld's power already far exceeded that of the Russian Underworld. In addition to that, there was the combination of super high altitude flying shuttles and Death God, and taking that into account, the Cathayan Underworld was already infinitely approaching the other three pillars in power.

The only thing they were lacking in comparison was their foundation.

He heaved a long sigh before standing up and making his way to the window, where he looked out at the Hindustani Underworld. "It'll take the Cathayan Underworld many more centuries to accumulate the same foundation it had during its heyday, but so long as Death God continues to exist, no one will be able to make a move against it. It has truly risen up again from the ashes."