Yama Rising

176 recipients of prestigious awards in the scientific fields… What did they want to do?

Actually, it didn't even matter what they wanted to do, just the fact that so many powerhouse scientists were gathering together at a press conference was already astonishing beyond belief.

No mistakes or falsehoods could possibly be hidden from them, and one could only imagine the immense pressure they would pile onto the researchers of the Cathayan Underworld.

"You take some records for now, I'll go contact Yanluo Qin!" Wang Chenghao immediately departed from the room.

Six Origin Diagram, Aurogon's Eye, central hall.

The entire hall seemed to be situated in outer space with a vast and illusory setting and countless stars all around.

The stars were arranged in rings and giving off dazzling light. The group of individuals at the center of the hall were surrounded by the countless stars, and the radiance of the stars had already become extremely soft upon reaching them from such a far distance away. Looking down from the ceiling, one would discover that there were nine giant rings in the hall, and the closer to the center the rings were, the fewer stars they contained, but at the same time, the stars closest to the center were the largest and brightest ones.

In reality, these weren't stars at all. Instead, they were shimmering Yin runes that formed a galaxy of millions of stars!

Qin Ye, Zhao Yun, and the Harken were all present, standing in a triangular formation as they watched the leader and deputy leaders of the Resurgence Team with solemn expressions. Beneath their feet was a grid formed by blue rays of light, much like a chessboard, and it was rippling incessantly, giving off a peaceful and ethereal appearance.

Beside them were Zu Chongzhi, Lu Ban, and the three professors, and their netherfire was on the verge of being snuffed out. Their eyes were tightly shut, and their bodies were trembling slightly while Zhao Yun and the Harken were quietly chanting something. Wisps of Yin energy interspersed with countless indistinct runes were rising up before drifting into their temples.

This was a soul bolstering enchantment.

The names of the underworld's arts had always been concise and clean, but that didn't necessarily mean that they weren't powerful.

Souls of Yin spirits could gather or scatter. As a soul became more condensed, the possibility of a breakthrough could arise, but if a soul wasn't sufficiently condensed, it could dissipate. The dissipation process was so subtle that it was extremely difficult to detect with the naked eye, and a soul could even dissipate for several centuries without completely vanishing, but the process was undoubtedly taking place.

A soul bolstering enchantment had the effect of injecting a vast amount of Yin energy into one's body in a short time while also sealing off all of the Yin spirit's meridians so that no Yin energy could seep out. Once Yin energy became condensed to that extent, a breakthrough was going to come next. However, the soul bolstering enchantment wouldn't allow a Yin spirit to make a breakthrough, but the effect produced would be the same as if a breakthrough had been made.

What did that mean?

A Yama-King was able to see an entire nation with a single glance. From a biological perspective, this was the result of incredible eyesight and motion capture ability. At the same time, a Yama-King's brain would be far more evolved than that of the average Yin spirit, just like a CPU upgrade, allowing it to store and analyze far more information. Furthermore, with this improved "CPU", it would also be very difficult for memories to fade.

"Aside from using a soul bolstering enchantment, there's no other way to inject all of the Yin runes into the minds of the scholars…" Qin Ye sighed. He didn't know how to use this enchantment, and with his status, there was no need for him to learn to use it, either. However, as soon as Zhao Yun and the Harken proposed this enchantment to him, he could already predict the residual aftereffects.

Essentially, what they were doing was extraditing their Yin energy to the scholars, and after casting this enchantment, they would be unable to use Yin energy for at least a month!

With millions of Yin runes to remember, one had to be at least an Abyssal Prefect to be able to memorize everything. However, the three professors of the mortal realm weren't even Netherworld Operatives, and even Zu Chongzhi and the others were only Anitya Hellguards. In order to elevate their physical functions to the extent where they would be able to memorize all of the Yin runes using the soul bolstering enchantment, Zhao Yun and the Harken would have to tax themselves immensely.

However, this would allow all of the scholars to memorize all of the Yin runes and develop eidetic memory.

"Despite the drawbacks, this is a necessity," Qin Ye sighed as he looked down at his own right hand with a grim expression.

A messenger bird was nestled in his grasp, and he gently closed his hand around it, upon which it dissipated into a wisp of Yin energy. Everyone else in the room was focused entirely on the soul bolstering enchantment, so no one noticed what he was doing.

The messenger bird had just been sent to him by Wang Chenghao, and it contained a list of names of all of the people wishing to be present during the press conference.

"So there's going to be close to 200 prestigious scientific award recipients, important representatives from the top 10 consortiums, several death gods, and representatives from the three pillars…" Just the mere thought of this was enough to strike him with a throbbing headache.

All of the world's leading experts in the relevant fields were going to be present, and if this press conference were to go awry, this project would crumble like a house of cards before it even began!

Qin Ye was feeling extremely uneasy about everything.

They were going to be judged by the entire academic world, and it was truly going to be a trial by fire. During the past dozen or so days, they had worked tirelessly day and night, and not a single one of them had gotten even a wink of sleep. They had read Xu Fu's notes over and over again and thought of all of the questions that could be raised, forming groups to raise questions against one another to simulate the debate that was going to be held, but they simply didn't have enough time and people.

There were simply far too few capable scholars in the nation, and once the Resurgence Team officially began to work on the project, the education sector had to be established. This was going to be a lengthy process.

At this point, it was only going to be a handful of them facing the entire academic world in a debate, and it was almost certain that there were going to be questions asked that they weren't prepared for.

Thankfully, there were many questions that they could refuse to answer by citing confidentiality, and that was the only shield they had to hide behind.

"However, voidsilver must be revealed, and unfortunately, that's the only lead we currently have on the rest of the world. Regardless of what the final outcome of the debate turns out to be, voidsilver is definitely going to become the next big thing in the world. All scientists will immediately begin to research it, but in order to give the rest of the world what they want, we have to reveal our only advantage and level the playing field against our own favor…"

Right at this moment, the other underworld emissaries in the room finally opened their eyes, which had remained closed for an entire day, and even Zhao Yun was visibly exhausted.

"It's done," he declared in a concise manner before immediately closing his eyes again to begin the rest and recuperation process.

He and the Harken's Yin energy had already been significantly debilitated, yet the researchers were giving off Abyssal Prefect level auras!

"How do you feel?" Qin Ye immediately asked.

The question was naturally being posed toward the researchers of the Resurgence Team.

"I've never felt better!" Lu Ban replied, and he wanted to force a smile onto his own face, but was unable to do it in the end.

They knew that memory alone wouldn't be enough for them to win the Great Revelation Debate.

As a scholar, having exceptional memory was certainly an advantage, but it was far from everything. In order to stave off a challenge from the top scientists of the entire world, what they needed was a wealth of knowledge!

Unfortunately, Cathay had never been all that exceptional in the field of physics. Otherwise, why would they have gone all the way to the Argosian Underworld to study several centuries ago?

The Curie Laboratory, the Röntgen Laboratory, the Lenard Laboratory… All of these laboratories were vastly renowned in the entire world, and even though they had memorized all of the Yin runes in existence, that still didn't instill them with much confidence.

"Don't worry." Qin Ye knew exactly how they felt.

As the ruler of the Cathayan Underworld, the pressure on him was even more severe! If this project proved to be a flop, then he would be faced with backlash and ridicule from the entire world.

"Regardless of whether you succeed or not, we'll still continue to do this!" he declared in a serious voice, giving everyone a vote of confidence. "With these notes at our disposal, I'm certain we'll be able to discover a new energy resource sooner or later, so just do your best and don't fear the consequences! If we fail, we'll receive some ridicule, but what I want to know is whether you have the confidence to ensure that we'll have the last laugh!"

Xu Chengyang took a deep breath, and his pulse began to quicken as his cheeks became slightly flushed.

In this instant, he felt as if he had traveled several decades back in time. In that small room, sitting across from that elderly man in front of that small table, he had been asked: "Don't pay any heed to what other people think, all I'm asking is whether you have the confidence!"

History always managed to repeat itself, and despite the fact that he was already an old man, the passion of his youth had been completely reignited!

"You can count on us!!" Pang Hai, Deng Ruifeng, and Xu Chengyang were filled with a sense of unprecedented determination.

Qin Ye took a deep breath. In this situation, he was also beginning to feel a sense of excitement. As the Cathayan Underworld's King Yanluo, he was fulfilling his duties and rising to the challenge posed to him by the entire world.

So what if he was going to be ridiculed and lambasted by the entire world? So what if all of his allies were to turn on him and stab him in the back? Given enough time, he was confident that he would be able to repay all those who had wronged him by tenfold!

As the ruler of a nation, he had to have the determination and resolve to take on these responsibilities!

I really have changed…

He swept his gaze across everyone in the room, and his voice was calm but also filled with implacable determination as he declared, "In that case, it's time to face the world!"

……………………………………………………

Jeju-do.

Unbeknownst to everyone in the mortal realm, this scenic island was completely different in appearance in the underworld.

Here in the underworld, it was a bleak and eerie land.

None of the trees on the island grew any leaves, but they were still alive. This was like an island of the undead with undulating mountains of different shapes and sizes, and wisps of Yin energy drifting between them. If a horror movie were to be filmed here, the production cost would be significantly reduced as there was no need for any CGI with this perfect setting.

However, its geographic location was very important. It was the largest island facing the Strait of Tsushima, and it acted as a natural barrier to the eastern part of the Cathayan Underworld's territorial sea. There was also a Cathayan military stronghold there, which was being overseen by Liu Yu.

Following the subjugation of the Daehan Underworld, Liu Yu had become a lot more obedient. Under the orders of Qin Ye, the previously wild and uncouth Liu Yu had immediately begun construction work on the island. Perhaps after being spared by Qin Ye, he had found purpose in living once again.

It had only been around a dozen days since he had received Qin Ye's orders, and the final step of the Jeju-do construction project was currently being completed.

"I wonder what the purpose of this construction project is."

Standing atop the city wall, Liu Yu was looking into the distance, and he couldn't help but heave a long sigh as he gently stroked his hand over the city wall.

Not only was he the ruler of this island, he was also the security guard.

He had no choice but to accept this duty, and he didn't want to reject it in the first place. Qin Ye's orders had been brought to him by an Emissary of Hell who was only a Netherworld Operative, and even though Liu Yu was the official ruler of Hanyang, the Netherworld Operative had treated him with utter disdain.

Indeed, it was an order, and his opinion was invalid. The order had been delivered in the form of a true imperial edict, and that was something that he hadn't seen in over 100 years prior to this.

"Was it all just a dream, after all?" he mused to himself with a complex expression.

He had fantasized about mobilizing his troops and invading Eastmount Province. He knew that no one was a match for him there, yet what was standing there now was a city, an insurmountable fortress known as Ashmound.

He found this to be quite strange himself, but ever since Qin Ye became an Abyssal Prefect and slowly reached the Yama-King level thereafter, all of his ambitions had slowly died down like a candle flame being snuffed out.

It wasn't that he no longer had ambitions, he simply didn't dare to entertain them.

He knew just how ruthless and unforgiving the Cathayan Underworld's King Yanluo could be.

Even now, aside from Yang Jiye and Yu Qian, not a single one of the 12 envoys were serving roles befitting of their skills. All of them were working in very ordinary jobs and were being completely shunned. Even Zhou Yu and the others didn't know why they had been assigned these jobs.

Right at this moment, he abruptly raised his head and cast his gaze out toward the sea.

On the horizon in the distance, a row of Yin beasts crashed through the waves and were heading straight for Jeju-do!

Behind them were several dozen massive ships!

The ships were constructed from all types of different wooden materials and constructed in numerous different styles, but all of them were extremely intricately crafted and breathtakingly lavish!

Right at this moment, three flags suddenly rose up on the three ships at the very front.

They were the flags of the Aegyptian Underworld, the Argosian Underworld, and the Hindustani Underworld.

These flags were far too recognizable.

Liu Yu wasn't surprised to see this.

After all, the Cathayan Underworld was on equal footing with these powerhouse underworlds.

However, the next 10 flags to appear instantly had him completely rooted to the spot.

He shuddered as he leaned forward with an astonished look on his face, staring intently at the 10 flags.

"These are the flags of all of the top 10 consortiums in the world! Why have all of these superpowers arrived at Jeju-do at the same time?! What on earth is going to happen here?!"