Yama Rising

The cabin and deck of the ship were two completely different worlds.

The second King Yanluo was sitting alone on the sofa, smoking one cigarette after another, and the ashtray in front of him was already packed full of cigarette butts. Furthermore, he wasn't smoking a good brand of cigarettes. Instead, it was the really cheap and smelly type.

The lighting was very gentle, and there was a musician playing a beautiful melody, but the second King Yanluo clearly wasn't listening to it at all as he looked up at the ceiling with an absentminded look on his chiseled face. Several seconds later, he suddenly spat out the cigarette in his mouth, and it flew straight into the ashtray as he said, "Take a seat."

The space in front of him rippled slightly, following which a figure in a Taoist robe emerged out of thin air. No one else seemed to be able to see him, and he cupped a fist to extend a salute with his horsetail whisk slung diagonally across his chest. After watching the second King Yanluo with a meaningful expression for some time, he finally said, "You've overstepped your boundaries, Yanluo Xu."

"Ah, welcome, Yin Xi," the second King Yanluo greeted with a smile. "How have I overstepped my boundaries?"

If there were any modern Taoists present, they would most likely immediately fall to their knees in the face of Yin Xi to revere one of the founders of their faith!

According to historical records, it was said that Yin Xi was one of Lao Tzu's closest companions and was the only person who had accompanied Lao Tzu throughout his entire journey to founding Taoism!

Yin Xi wore an indifferent expression as he replied in an unhurried manner, "I understand that you're concerned in the wake of the abrupt changes that Hell has undergone. The descendants of Lao Tzu and the other seven major clans are confused as to why they have to issue so much military expenses every year. They've become very corrupt and have even cut off communication between the Australis Underworld and Fengdu. You want to punish them, but are reluctant to do so as all of the Eight Great Clans are dynasties that have stood for thousands of years, not to mention that the head of each clan is a renowned emperor in Cathayan history. During their heyday, around 80% of all of the officials in the imperial court came from the eight clans. You can kill them all, but who would be left to oversee official matters if you do that? You've already issued orders on three occasions to the Li Clan of the Tang Dynasty, forbidding them from establishing private armies, yet your orders have not been followed. You've warned the Zhu Clan of the Ming Dynasty against engaging in smuggling on multiple occasions, yet they're still the wealthiest clan in the Cathayan Underworld. I'm sure you've heard of the secret treasure of Longxing Temple, which is said to be worth an astronomical sum. Then there's also the Zhao Clan of the Song Dynasty, the Aisin-Gioro Clan… None of them are easy to deal with, and it would be impossible for you to pull them out by the roots. The Eight Great Clans are all interconnected, and striking at any one of them would spell turmoil for the entirety of the Cathayan Underworld. On top of that, you're a lazy man, so I'm not surprised that you decided to eradicate the old Hell and start everything anew. However…"

He paused momentarily here before continuing in a cold voice, "It was agreed upon by all of the four pillars that the next ruler death god can't inherit Pandora's Box until they've been in power for at least 300 years. One of the major duties of the four pillars is to guard the secret within the box. The things inside it are far too dangerous, yet you've entrusted it to someone with no foundation and is only remarkable for the fact that he's consumed the Taisui fungus."

The second King Yanluo poured himself a glass of wine and swirled it around his glass without giving a reply.

Yin Xi continued, "He may have passed our tests and been acknowledged by all of the gods in heaven, yet you've alleviated some of the psychological pressure of the tests imposed upon him by the three saints by proclaiming that they're your tests, isn't that right?"

The second King Yanluo took a sip of wine before replying, "He's still just a child."

"But he's taken on the duty of King Yanluo," Yin Xi sighed. "This is not an easy position to occupy… Setting that aside for now, what were you thinking when you gave him Pandora's Box? You can still take it back before he opens it."

The second King Yanluo suddenly set down his wine glass as he turned to Yin Xi with a smile. "What do you think of my eyes?"

Yin Xi's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

Is he trying to seduce me?

Before Yin Xi had a chance to reply, the second King Yanluo continued, "My eyes are never wrong when it comes to judging character. Rest assured, I told him not to open the box unless he was absolutely confident, and he'll definitely do just that."

Yin Xi's brows furrowed even further upon hearing this. "Is his self-restraint really that reliable?"

"No, but you can count on his cowardice," the second King Yanluo replied.

"…" Yin Xi had no idea what to say to that, and only after a long while did he begin, "In that case…"

"In that case, why did I give it to him now? Is that what you want to ask?" The second King Yanluo flexed his neck from side to side as his smile faded, and he asked, "Do you know what he did? He ventured into the new continent alone as a nascent Yama-King and was somehow able to make sense of everything. I promise you that he hasn't seen the grand script of death before his trip. After that, he managed to intercept the script without any assistance from us! Would you even be able to guarantee that you could do that if you were in his shoes?"

He took a deep breath before continuing, "It would be inappropriate for any of us to get involved, as our intervention would be sensed by the being that wrote the grand script of death. Hence, we needed someone to step in in our stead. Originally, I had already given up and was going to allow the three death gods of the Caribbean to attain godhood, then try and track down that being through them, but never did I think that he would be able to pull this off without any guidance from us! He's shown himself to be extremely capable, so why can't I give the box to him? Why can't I try to add to his responsibilities a little? He'll find out about all of this eventually anyway."

Yin Xi countered in a grim voice, "But no one can predict the future, what if a problem arises with his administration?"

A sly smile appeared on the second King Yanluo as he suddenly leaned forward and replied, "You know, that's actually the second reason why I entrusted him with the box. You don't know the finer details here, so you don't know exactly what he's obtained. Do you think all he's gotten out of this is a breakthrough to the mid Yama-King level?"

He shook his head, and his smile widened as he continued, "No, he's obtained much more than you can imagine. The entire underworld is going to undergo an enormous change in the next 100 years, and that change will begin in the Cathayan Underworld! He will lead the Cathayan Underworld to greater heights than the first King Yanluo and I ever have, and it's due to these two factors that I made up my mind to give him the box."

Yin Xi was stunned to hear this.

What exactly could the new King Yanluo of the Cathayan Underworld have possibly obtained to inspire so much confidence in the second King Yanluo? And what was this massive change going to be?

A mysterious look appeared on the second King Yanluo's face as he continued, "Perhaps he will have to be the one to resolve the issues in the Australis Underworld. Do you still think I've made the wrong decision?"

Yin Xi had nothing to say to that, so he could only heave a faint sigh in response. "I hope you've made the right decision. I still have some matters to attend to, so I'll be going now. I… No, all of us will be waiting for him at the World's Gate. We are eagerly awaiting the day that the Cathayan Underworld's troops step through the World's Gate again, and only then will we truly acknowledge him."

After that, Yin Xi vanished on the spot, while the second King Yanluo remained seated nonchalantly on the sofa. He swirled the wine in his glass around gently as he chuckled to himself, "You think he needs acknowledgment from you? As the former King Yanluo, even I haven't said anything yet, what are you getting so excited for? Just as you aren't under the jurisdiction of the underworld, you have no jurisdictive power over the four pillars, either! These guardians really are getting worse and worse with each passing generation…"

He brought his glass to his lips, yet just as he was about to take a sip, he suddenly stopped as the slight tremors had begun to run through the entire ship. Immediately thereafter, it began to gently descend as if it had entered an abyss.

"Are we already there?" He set down the wine glass before standing up and stretching lazily. "Take a good look, Qin brat. This is the true state of the world, and given how intelligent you are, you should be able to figure out some things. You should be able to understand the responsibilities that you must shoulder and just how heavy they are…"

………………………………………………

On the ship's deck, Qin Ye was also holding a glass of wine.

Just now, a vast expanse of mist had arisen.

The mist was so dense that visibility had been reduced to absolute zero, yet the ship made no attempt to avoid it, sailing directly into it instead. Actually, the mist was rising up from around the ship, so there was no way for the ship to avoid it anyway.

Qin Ye didn't panic as he could smell the scent of another world within this mist, the scent of the underworld.

However, it wasn't exactly the same as the scent of the underworld as there was also a very strong odor of blood, as well as a type of aura that he harbored a natural aversion to.

The second King Yanluo hadn't said anything, so this place was most likely safe. With that in mind, Qin Ye continued to sip on his wine. After the cruise ship had been sailing through the mist for about 10 minutes, he was suddenly struck by a falling sensation.

It was a very slight falling sensation, so minute that it didn't even affect one's balance.

After a long while, perhaps 20 to 30 minutes or even longer than that, the sound of splashing water finally rang out around them, and the dense white mist also receded.

Qin Ye raised an eyebrow in surprise as he was greeted by the sight of a source of light as the mist parted around him.

The light was slightly more subtle than the light from lanterns, and it was coming from…

"Holy shit, is that Yin jade?! This much Yin jade is being used just for lighting purposes?! That's way too extravagant!" he exclaimed to himself.

Technically speaking, the Yin jade wasn't being used solely for lighting purposes. Instead, there was an indescribably gargantuan gate constructed entirely from Yin jade standing right in front of him, and the cruise ship was currently docked in a pitch-black bay.

There were classic renaissance era, Europa-style carvings engraved all over the gate, depicting the ruler gods of the four pillars. It was extremely beautiful to behold, and even the finer details such as the flowers and vines beneath the feet of the ruler death gods were clearly visible. The gate was several hundred meters tall and around 100 meters wide, and on either side of it were city walls that stretched on as far as the eyes could see, making it impossible to see what laid beyond the gate.

Standing atop the city walls were countless spear-wielding Yin soldiers clad in suits of armor. This definitely wasn't just for show as Qin Ye could sense extremely potent killing intent emanating from all of these Yin soldiers, indicating that they were battle-hardened veterans.

As aforementioned, this entire gate was carved out of a single piece of Yin jade, and the light was coming from the surrounding searchlights in all directions, carved out of all types of ore.

Just a rough glance at his surroundings was enough to make Qin Ye's eyelids twitch violently.

There was Dragonslumber Jade, Divine Falcon Stone, Winterless, Eternal Radiance… Every single one of them was at least A grade underworld ore, and they weren't extremely rare, but there certainly wasn't much of them, either, certainly not enough to warrant making searchlights out of them!

In this place, these pieces of precious ore were strewn around all over the place like cabbage!

"Holy shit…" He took a deep breath as he murmured to himself, "What the hell is this place?!"

"This is the World's Gate." The second King Yanluo's voice rang out from behind him before he patted Qin Ye on the shoulder. "This is the biggest secret in the world. Of course, you'll only hear about it if Napoleon is willing to tell you."

Qin Ye fell silent upon hearing this. "What if he's not willing?"

"Then you can try and open that black box," the second King Yanluo replied.

Why does it feel like you're constantly trying to goad me into playing with fire? I'm not gonna fall for your tricks!

Qin Ye ignored the second King Yanluo's provocation as he stared at the gigantic gate in a slack-jawed manner. "The server on the ship told me that this is the first defensive line."

"Indeed, it is," the second King Yanluo replied. "The first defensive line has a total of four exits, and this is one of them. The other three exits are being guarded by Alexander the Great, Constantine the Great, and Emperor Julius Caesar. As for the three saints of our Cathayan Underworld, they're responsible for guarding the core area beyond this defensive line."

Qin Ye drew a sharp breath upon hearing this.

Napoleon, Alexander, Constantine, and Julius Caesar were all vastly renowned figures in history, yet all of them were guarding this so-called first defensive line!

What could possibly lie beyond this gate?