Yama Rising

This was a creation-grade divine artifact and the body of a living ancient god!

Perhaps they weren't just materials… It suddenly occurred to Qin Ye that the six paths of reincarnation could serve more than just its intended purpose.

At this point, the red mist around Xu Fu's notepad was already becoming fainter and fainter. At the same time, hints of golden light were beginning to spill out of its pages. Qin Ye took a deep breath to calm himself down, then asked, "Are you saying that the combination of the two has resulted in some type of unexpected change?"

"That's very much possible," the Harken said as it paced back and forth with a contemplative expression. "You already know the laws of the underworld, such as Yin Yang co-action, and Yin Yang non-interaction, but below these laws are also rules of underworld physics."

The Harken turned toward the notepad before continuing, "Firstly, each creation-grade divine artifact has its own unique ability, as well as one or even several additional abilities, and the additional abilities could be similar to the primary, unique ability. You already know that. Secondly, two creation-grade divine artifacts with similar properties can fuse together under special circumstances. Thirdly, unless a creation-grade divine artifact is completely destroyed, its ability won't disappear. Instead, it will simply go from one form to another, and this is an example of that third rule."

I see… Qin Ye nodded with a contemplative expression in response. This was a sound explanation for what was taking place here.

The Cathayan Underworld's six paths of reincarnation were most likely the most special reincarnation system in the entire world, and no unforeseen changes had arisen prior to this most likely because the two components hadn't completely fused together yet. After several months, Yu Kiang and the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn had finally fused as one, and the effects were beginning to show.

"What is its ability?"

Zhao Yun cupped his fist in a salute as he replied, "I have some theories. I arrived here several days before you did, and my guess is that after fusing into the six paths of reincarnation, the ability of the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn still exists. It transcends beyond the ancient god, Yu Kiang, and its unique ability has transformed into something completely brand new, but also similar to its original one. What do you think the unique property of Yu Kiang is?"

Qin Ye rubbed his own chin in contemplation as he replied, "Is it its identity as a rain god?"

"Yes, but also no," Zhao Yun replied. "To put it more accurately, it's the process of creating something from nothing, then regressing from something to nothing. In other words, it's a cycle!"

Qin Ye's brows furrowed slightly with befuddlement upon hearing this, but a thought then suddenly occurred to him, and he was struck by a sense of enlightenment.

Indeed, the water cycle gave rise to rain, and that was a process of creating something from nothing.

The rain would then fall onto the ground and return to nothingness. After that, it would rise up from the ground as water molecules to be absorbed by the clouds to produce rain again, and that was a cycle in itself!

What he had been confused about was what similarities existed between Yu Kiang and the six paths of reincarnation, but thinking about it now…

Weren't the six paths of reincarnation cycles in themselves? Didn't they also create something from nothing, then revert something back to nothing?

Did this mean that Yu Kiang corresponded with the philosophical meaning of the six paths of reincarnation?

"Then how was the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn also fused?"

Zhao Yun thought about this for a moment before replying, "I'm guessing that the unique ability of the Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn is quite possibly purification, decomposition, or restoration, with an additional sensory ability."

He turned toward Arthis before continuing, "Here's my theory: Arthis became like this because of faith. She wants to become a Yama-King. That's quite obvious, and it's a common goal for all underworld emissaries. This goal or desire became the driving force behind the new six paths of reincarnation, activating the new six paths of reincarnation that had just completed its fusion. No one has ever come here up to this point, but most Yin spirits were aware that this place had to have a warden. On top of that, the existence of a warden could've been unintentionally revealed by the other underworld emissaries here when they say things such as 'if you don't confess now, you won't have a chance to do so when you face the warden'…"

Qin Ye took a deep breath as he nodded in response. "This will instill a sense of worship in the Yin spirits who have passed through the six paths of reincarnation. They are awaiting notification from the six paths of reincarnation, and the only one they can pray to and worship is the warden, Arthis! They may not even have realized this themselves!"

The Harken's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "We all know the two paths to become a Yama-King, but out of the two paths, pursuing godhood through accumulating power of worship is more difficult due to how fragile Yin spirits are. After passing through the 18 abysses of punishment and reaching the six paths of reincarnation, they've already atoned for all of the sins they committed during their lifetimes, making them pure souls awaiting reincarnation. All they have are their memories and their faith, and Yin spirits like this are far too fragile. Hence, it's impossible to extract their faith from them. Some have tried in the past, but all of them have failed. This is impossible even for Yin spirits that haven't passed through the 18 abysses of punishment, let alone those that have! However, the 18 abysses of punishment don't even exist yet! I'm still in the process of creating them! Hence, the Yin spirits that have come here are still rather fragile, but in better condition than if they had passed through the 18 abysses of punishment. Could it be that the new six paths of reincarnation have sensed their warden's desires and have automatically purified the Yin spirits?"

"That's exactly what I thought," Zhao Yun replied with a nod.

He then turned to the notepad and said, "Clearly, we've discovered one of the properties of the new six paths of reincarnation, which is that it isn't something that can only be used by a single person. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to extract the runes from Xu Fu's notepad while Arthis is extracting power of worship from the Yin spirits."

This was a process of purification!

Xu Fu's bloodline restriction, which had Qin Ye completely stumped, was currently being rapidly purified, decomposed, or restored by the new six paths of reincarnation!

It was impossible to determine which one of those three abilities applied here because all three were possible in this situation.

In any case, this was a massive weight off his shoulders!

This thing was a restriction shredder!

With that massive issue unexpectedly resolved, Qin Ye heaved a long sigh of relief. "In short, the ability of the new six paths of reincarnation is purification, decomposition, or restoration, and this ability is not limited for usage to a single person. With that in mind, there's something I want to try…"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he closed his eyes, and 10 seconds later, the entire palace began to tremble slightly. The greedy gleam in Arthis's eyes vanished, and in the next instant, boundless Yin energy converged before scattering as countless black butterflies, revealing Arthis, who was holding a hand to her own forehead. She then immediately turned to Qin Ye with a vicious expression.

"Come, only one of us is going to leave this place alive today! I'm going to… Ah, Brother Yun!"

Her voice was abruptly toned down three octaves, and she put on a shy display as she turned her face slightly to the side while adopting a gentle expression. "You did the right thing, Brother Yun. As a woman, I can't afford to spoil my own figure."

What is this?! How could there be such a shameless piece of scum under my administration?!

Qin Ye's expression immediately darkened as he stabbed Arthis right where it hurt the most. "He's already been watching you eat like that for several days."

Arthis blushed as she lowered her head. "That's so embarrassing…"

Qin Ye continued to wield his figurative dagger with relish as he chuckled coldly, "I would be embarrassed too if Brother Yun saw me eating in my true form."

Boom!

Arthis was completely rooted to the spot, feeling as if she had been struck by a bolt of lightning.

Arthis's true form was something that she had been desperately trying to hide from Zhao Yun because it only had a mouth and was missing all of the lady bits!

Of course, the mouth could still be used, but change was the spice of life, and it couldn't be used all the time! Furthermore, due to her lack of a body, her throat muscles were most likely not very tight, either…

Arthis turned toward Qin Ye with a vicious expression. She had decided there and then that only one of her and this snake of a man would be able to leave this place alive!

"Come on now, let's all get along." Zhao Yun stepped in right before the commencement of an all-out battle. "You must be tired, go and take a rest. We'll examine the six paths of reincarnation to see just how it's changed in case you have problems using it in the future."

"Alright." Arthis blushed upon hearing this, and both Qin Ye and the Harken were very perplexed to see this. What was there to blush about?

Thus, Arthis vanished as a gust of Yin wind, leaving a parting sentence behind. "Use it however you like, Brother Yun, I guarantee you there won't be any problems."

Qin Ye looked on with a wooden expression as she departed. In reality, he really wanted Zhao Yun to take her off his hands, but for the sake of Zhao Yun's future happiness, he simply couldn't bring himself to tell Zhao Yun to take her.

"Looks like I was right." Once Arthis completely disappeared from view, Qin Ye turned to Zhao Yun and said, "The new six paths of reincarnation answers to be first and foremost. I instructed it to cut off Arthis from absorbing more power of worship, and it obeyed. At the same time, I instructed it to prioritize undoing the restriction on Xu Fu's notes, and it did that as well."

The three of them were standing in a triangular formation, and the Harken and Zhao Yun were facing Qin Ye with their backs facing the hall. Right at this moment, a burst of golden light arose behind them.

The light was very gentle, yet both the Harken and Zhao Yun immediately swung around to see it.

Right before their eyes, Xu Fu's notepad had been completely opened!

The red restriction on its surface had disappeared, revealing its white pages, upon which were inscribed countless Cathayan characters and accompanying diagrams!

Even Zhao Yun couldn't help but tremble with excitement at this monumental sight.

The key to the next era, the defibrillator that was going to revive the Cathayan Underworld, had finally fallen into their hands!

Qin Ye's throat had suddenly run dry.

Having lived in the mortal realm for so long, he knew that all wars that took place in the mortal realm were for resources.

These resources included things like population, territory, crude oil, gold… These were the stakes for virtually every war that had taken place in history.

The day that he had been longing for for all this time had finally arrived!

I have to be calm and not make a fool out of myself… He took several deep breaths in succession, then gritted his teeth and raised a hand to draw the notepad into his grasp.

Despite his impatience, he opened the notepad extremely carefully, and he was greeted by the sight of pages upon pages of incredibly detailed text and diagrams!

"Yin Yang universal energy resource concept", "Yin Yang kinetic energy application and expectations", "super massive living being modification technology", "Yin Yang universal energy resource flaws"…

These titles were like fireworks going off one after another right beside Qin Ye's ears, making them ring incessantly!