Yama Rising

"A biological mothership?!" The jaw of the director beside Perkins had already dropped straight to the ground, while the netherfire in his eyes had contracted drastically. "How is that possible?! How could the Cathayan Underworld possibly be capable of creating a biological mothership?!"

"This is impossible! It doesn't make any sense!"

"My god... Did they capture one of the six kings?! Which one is it?!"

"None of the other three pillars have managed to do this, how have they done this?"

Theoretically speaking, it wasn't difficult to create a biological mothership in the underworld.

The more powerful a Yin beast was, the more difficult it would be to damage its body, so one could dig holes or even set off explosions in the carcass of a powerful Yin beast without any concerns. Yama-King level Yin beasts relied heavily on their powerful bodies, and their skin was resolute beyond belief. As far back as several centuries ago, Darwin had already proposed the theory of Yin beast biology, but none of the underworlds had been able to put his theories into practice.

Powerful Yin beasts were quite intelligent, and if death gods were to try and hunt them down, they wouldn't even rise to the surface. Instead, they would dive down to depths in excess of 10,000 meters, where the terrifying water pressure would severely hamper even a death god's movement and powers. Furthermore, failure to capture and kill the Yin beast would undoubtedly incur vengeance from the Yin beast in the future, and due to those reasons, no one had ever tried to capture one of the six kings, and Yin beast biology remained just a theory.

As for Yin beasts below the death god level, they simply didn't make for suitable subjects. Ascending to the death god level was a significant evolutionary process to become a higher life form, and it was very easy to spot a Yin beast of that caliber based on their physical size. There were underworlds who had tried to create biological motherships in the past from the bodies of Abyssal Prefect level Yin beasts, but those projects had all concluded in failure, and thus, this theory that was supposed to have kicked off the great era of underworld exploration never eventuated.

In the present day, there were only so many safe waterways, and even if a death god were to discover precious materials elsewhere, it would be very difficult for them to send Yin spirits to collect those materials. It could be said that due to the obstacles posed by marine Yin beats, the underworld had only managed to explore roughly 50% of this entire plane.

Thus, it was an extremely astonishing sight to be seeing a biological mothership.

There was no doubt about it, its massive size had already far exceeded the stature that an Abyssal Prefects level Yin beast would be capable of reaching.

As they were looking on with astonished expressions, a humanoid figure had finally appeared before them. Before they had a chance to identify the humanoid figure, the figure released a burst of terrifying Yin energy before abruptly withdrawing it, demonstrating exceptional Yin energy control.

This is a Yama-King! All of the underworld emissaries immediately extended respectful bows in unison. "We pay our respects to the esteemed Yama-King of the Cathayan Underworld."

Zhao Yun was standing before them, and he didn't give a reply right away. He was actually quite displeased that he had to stop what he was doing at such a crucial juncture to greet these people.

It had already been four whole years since he set foot on the Kraken's body alongside 50,000 construction workers and King Yanluo's Seal.

He had personally witnessed the rise of a giant city from scratch, transferring all of the buildings on the blueprints into the real world, and at this point, they were already charging down the home stretch.

Right beneath his feet, hundreds of scientists from the Yin Mountains Research Center were laying down an electromotive system, and the project should be completed in another one and a half more years at most, right in time for the international trade conference!

He didn't have any time to be wasting with these people from the GTO!

"The Heavenly Pillar City is in the process of construction, and it will be the venue where the international trade conference is held. Feel free to roam the island and inspect it as you please, all food and lodging in the city will be taken care of for you. I'll be taking my leave now." After that, Zhao Yun instantly vanished as a gust of Yin wind.

It could be said that Zhao Yun was being quite rude here, but none of the foreign underworld emissaries took any offense to that.

This was the attitude that a Yama-King should have!

"I'll inspect the conference venue," Perkins said as he heaved an internal sigh of relief with Zhao Yun's departure. He then pulled out a notepad as he continued, "Cathayan buildings have a strong emphasis on symmetry with four city gates, each one corresponding to one of north, south, east, or west. As we discussed earlier, I'll be inspecting the central area, while Director Erwin will be inspecting the left side of the city with 10 evaluators. Start by evaluating the safety measures in place, then the ease of navigation, traffic system, lodging conditions, and environmental conditions to give a score based on international standards. If there are any problematic areas, then record them using image capture crystals, then seek out that Yama-King for communication. Director Lisa, you'll be responsible for assessing the right side of the city. Once we've completed all of our inspections, we'll meet back up and discuss the next step."

"Understood."

They had already conducted so much similar work in the past that there wasn't any need for a detailed debriefing. Thus, the three directors parted ways, and Perkins strode directly toward the pagoda at the center of the city.

This was a biological mothership, and with each step he took, Perkins couldn't help but be struck by a sense of awe and privilege. They were most likely the first foreign underworld emissaries to have set foot onto this place, and given the power of the Cathayan Underworld, there was no way it wouldn't have transformed this place into a prosperous city, so this inspection was only a formality.

He adjusted his own emerald ring, then strode along with his group of assessors, and he quickly discovered that this city was different from other underworld cities.

The difference lied in the street lamps.

Initially, he didn't notice this, but he quickly came to realize that these street lamps were far taller than normal street lamps were in the underworld.

Netherfire wasn't all that bright, so most street lamps were only around two meters tall. Any taller than that, and its light would fail to illuminate the street down below sufficiently. However, street lamps in this Heavenly Pillar City ranged from three to five meters tall, and there was netherfire burning within them, but the light that they cast onto the ground wasn't very bright.

All Yin spirits could see in the dark, but it was still far more comforting to have light in the darkness. Even though Perkins could clearly see everything around him, it was all in black and white, and that was what the majority of Yin spirits saw at night, making for a very uncomfortable experience.

"The Cathayan Underworld has stood for thousands of years, how could an oversight as simple as this one have taken place?" His brows furrowed slightly as he pointed at the secretaries and assistants behind them, and they immediately recorded this matter.

"The issues surrounding the brightness of netherfire and lighting facilities in the underworld have already been ironed out thousands of years ago. Could it be that they chose to make the street lamps taller to give them a more auspicious appearance? The problem is that with street lamps this tall, it becomes quite unpleasant to navigate the city at night. Even if they add more street lamps, it still won't change the fact that nothing will be fully illuminated."

Aside from the street lamps, everything else was beautiful. Ancient Cathayan-style buildings were renowned for their beauty and majesty, and the larger the area that the architects had to work with, the more they would be able to show off the culture that the Cathayan Underworld had established during the past several thousand years. The clusters of tall and grand buildings were interspersed with petite yet elegantly designed gardens, presenting a gorgeous contrast to behold.

Everything aside from the street lamps was completely impeccable here.

"Holding a conference here almost feels like taking a holiday," he mused with a hint of approval in his eyes, and before they knew it, the group had already reached the tall pagoda at the very center of the city.

This was still a classic antiquated Cathayan-style building, resembling an elongated version of the Yellow Crane Tower. The eight giant tentacles attached to the top of the pagoda with chains could be seen all around the pagoda, and these tentacles were riddled with countless golden eyes, making the building appear as if it really were a heavenly pillar that stood between heaven and earth. As for those golden eyes, they were like bright moons hanging in the sky.

"What breathtaking beauty..." Perkins praised. "I can already imagine walking higher and higher up this building during the international trade conference like I'm taking a stroll among the stars... The design is truly innovative..."

Right as he was about to step through the main entrance of the pagoda, Perkins faltered slightly once again.

He had spotted more lights.

From his perspective, each level of the pagoda was around four to five meters tall with antiquated Cathayan palatial lanterns hanging overhead. However, due to the height at which the lanterns were hanging, the netherfire within them was unable to provide a sufficient illumination effect.

The secretaries and assistants behind him immediately made records of this issue even without requiring an instruction from him, while he led the way and stepped in through the entrance.

As soon as he entered the pagoda, he was greeted by the sight of several intricately crafted screens, upon which were embroidered different types of scenery and flora and fauna, dividing the spacious hall up into several independent sections. A series of decorative plants could be seen, placed in elegant Cathayan-style vases or intricately carved round pots, adding a hint of vibrance to what was otherwise a rather bland color scheme.

The yellow palatial lanterns overhead were giving off a faint and relaxing light, and a series of bronze candlesticks were placed around the room, also providing a soothing ambience with their gentle radiance. This was only the first floor, and Perkins already found himself nodding with approval.

As expected of a powerhouse nation with a culture as illustrious as that of the Cathayan Underworld.

Standing here, he felt as if he were strolling through the long history of the Cathayan Underworld, and he couldn't help but be immersed in the experience. Some of the secretaries and assistants behind him had never been to the Cathayan Underworld before, and they were already completely entranced by the gorgeous scenes around them.

In contrast, Perkins was more composed. He had witnessed scenes like this far too many times during his tenure, and he made his way to the center of the first floor, where there was a notice board, upon which a clear diagram of the structure of the entire building could be seen.

Perkins looked up as he said, "The fifth conference hall that's designated for private discussions between underworlds is located on the 25th floor, so let's start there."

There were no objections.

Inside large buildings like this one, designated teleportation arrays were generally present, just like at the venue where the international conference in Nara was held. The teleportation arrays weren't very large, but they were sufficient for underworld emissaries to reach wherever they wanted to go in the blink of an eye. Soon, they found the teleportation array after the directions in the hall, and Perkins stepped onto it first.

After a virtually nonexistent split second of dizziness, he had already arrived at his destination, and he nodded in approval upon sensing this. This indicated that the teleportation array was very stable and minimized the discomfort one would experience during the teleportation process. As expected of one of the four pillars.

There was a terrace up ahead, one that was very large and able to hold a gathering of several dozens of people at once.

Immaculately pruned potted plants were placed on either side of a staircase, which was around two meters wide and led directly upward.

"The fifth conference hall is at the top of this staircase." Perkins stood on the terrace and cast his gaze toward the vast sea in the distance. In the sky above, one golden eye after another was hanging overhead, resembling a series of bright moons.

"It's just as beautiful as I imagined. As usual, the aesthetics of the Cathayan Underworld are impeccable." He made his way over to the railing, then looked down from there, and the entirety of the Heavenly Pillar City was visible from his vantage point.

From his perspective, the specks of netherfire fluttering over the streets and alleys were like fireflies dancing on a summer's night, and with the golden moons in the distance, it created the feeling that he was standing among a boundless sea of stars.

A gentle breeze blew past, and a flurry of blue flower petals were swept up.

These were the renowned Divine Blood Flowers of the underworld, and they were his favorite flower.

The bright blue flower petals were riddled with barely visible crimson veins that resembled tiny blood vessels, while the bottom halves of the petals were white in color. The flowers were large and vibrant, with layers of petals, and they were the most common flower presented when welcoming guests.

A smile appeared on his face as he reached out toward one of the flowers, yet his hand immediately faltered as soon as he made contact with the flower pot.

He had just noticed some type of wire.

After a brief hesitation, he quickly looked left and right, then gently tugged on the wire, only to find that it was stretched completely taut and was very long.

"What is this?" He cast his gaze along the wire to find that it stretched all the way to the edge of the building, then seemed to circle around the building in a complete loop.

What kind of wire could this be?

He stared intently at the wire in his hand, and all of a sudden, his hands began to tremble as a thought occurred to him.

These looked like electric wires!