Yama Rising

“Just you guys?” Although Qin Ye snorted back coldly, the truth of the matter was that his forehead was already percolating with cold sweat. After all, this was the first time he had been caught in such a dangerous predicament ever since the founding of the new Hell. Arthis had always told him that the netherworld was in chaos, but it was only today that he truly understood the full implications of such a phrase.

Given just how outnumbered I am, it’s going to take more than a miracle to get out of this bind…

They felt incredibly heavy!

Arthis had on various occasions informed Qin Ye of the importance of military formations. In fact, she had even gone so far as to inform Qin Ye that armies were practically built around military formations. Yet he had never in his wildest dreams expected his first encounter with an enemy military formation to be under such conditions. Furthermore… the military formation he had encountered was far more troublesome than he could ever have anticipated!

Zzzzt, zzzzt, zzzzt… Qin Ye desperately maintained his Prestige of the Luminary as the rain of arrows continued to pelt down and Yin energy continued to erupt all around him. But before Qin Ye could even take a breather, he heard yet another disheartening roar, “AGAIN!!!” Within moments, a second volley of arrows hurtled through the sky like an endless tsunami!

“These arrowheads are forged from human bones at the hour of extreme Yang. They can even be said to be the natural counter to all defensive abilities powered by Yin energy. Even if you’re a Judge, you’ll still feel the pain of Yang energy coursing through your body as soon as these arrowheads strike you…” The man within the mobile residence glanced up at the sky that was filled with arrows with a sneer as he took a sip from his vermillion wine cup, “When it comes to our understanding of Yin spirits, the Confucius Family is second only to the Yama-Kings of the Ten Palaces. On the other hand, you’re just a newly minted Infernal Judge. So, if you’re even contemplating the prospects of escape… I’m afraid that’s wishful thinking.”

Unfortunately, it also remained a fact that the arrows were forcefully slamming against Qin Ye’s Prestige of the Luminary, so much so that it had already begun to visibly wear down!

There was no reason to be thinking of other contingencies.

Just then, there was a loud clattering sound - the Prestige of the Luminary had finally been breached!

My defenses have actually been breached!! The five or six volleys of arrows have whittled down the density of my Prestige of the Luminary so much that they’ve actually managed to breach my defenses!

The next thing Qin Ye knew, the sounds of drilling had vanished, only to be replaced by the rushing sound of the arrows gaining momentum once more. In that instant, Qin Ye moved instinctively. He unleashed the full extent of his energy and immediately darted down below.

Yin soldiers empowered by military formations were clearly on a whole different level altogether!

Qin Ye knew better than to underestimate the weapons that had been made entirely out of paper. In fact, he had no doubts that the pit of spikes was no less powerful than the rain of arrows that had assaulted him above!

No way up, and no way down… Qin Ye could practically feel a lump in his throat right now. Not only was a military formation powerful, it even had the ability to snare its target and make escape no more than an impossibility!

Instantly, a Judge-class shockwave of Yin energy swept across the field, repelling the rain of arrows in the sky and creating a buffer zone of fifty-meters radius around him. The Yin spirits directly under his feet weren’t even able to grunt in pain before they promptly exploded into a cloud of flying ash.

These were Yin soldiers after all… and much had to be invested in conscripted Yin spirits before they could be considered true Yin soldiers!

No response.

Still, no response.

On the other side, Qin Ye had finally managed to catch his breath.

Admittedly, the effects of the military formation meant that the Yin soldiers were far more powerful than before. However, a single strike from his Judgment Pen had easily erased hundreds of Yin soldiers in one fell swoop. If that were the case, wouldn’t disposing of the rest of the military formation simply mean blotting several more times with his Judgment Pen? Although he might not be able to sustain that many attacks with what little remained in his tank right now, the only thing he needed to do right now was to drag things out until the shard of King Yanluo’s Seal could finally respond to his desperate cries!

I can hold on!

To be fair, it was a misnomer to say that this happened in the distance, because apart from the array of ten thousand Yin soldiers surrounding Qin Ye, everything around them was concealed by a dense fog of Yin energy. But now, Qin Ye could see that the fog was slowly clearing up, only to reveal… countless shadows among their midst, together with a massive silhouette that looked like a small hill!

Wuuuuu… The cold blare of war trumpets soon reverberated through Limbo. Dong, dong, dong… Tremorous sounds of war drums echoed in the distance. Qin Ye was stunned. He glanced around with great dismay, only to realize that countless flags embroidered with peculiar designs had been raised in the areas where the Yin energy was dispersing. Yet what was most terrifying was the fact that the flags stood tall amongst… countless other Yin soldiers!

It was as though an icy god of death were standing tall on the horizon, staring avariciously at Qin Ye’s soul.

Ten thousand Yin spirits was merely a number in writing, but it was only when one stood face to face with an army of such magnitude that he would truly be able to appreciate the depth of such forces. Qin Ye was fighting desperately for his survival against ten thousand Yin spirits, only to discover that reinforcements of six times that number had just arrived. To this end… the reinforcements could practically be said to be vast as the skies and deep as the oceans.

And that wasn’t all. There were another eleven mobile imperial residences clustered together in the midst of the army of sixty thousand Yin soldiers. Moreover, Qin Ye could sense copious amounts of Judge-class Yin energy emanating from each of these mobile residences! The mountain-like existence also slowly emerged from the fog, appearing no different from a giant tortoise. Most surprisingly, the colossal tortoise was also a Judge-class entity! A terrifying amount of Yin energy diffused from its body. Its back was covered in barbs, while its eyes were blazing with menacingly green netherflames. Qin Ye’s heart practically froze in that instant.

Why? Why do they have to go this far?

That was the sound of sixty thousand Yin soldiers charging en masse!

And that wasn’t all! Qin Ye soon heard a muffled sound, before a majestic tsunami soon rose from behind the vanguard of spearmen.

Countless flaming arrows instantly blotted out the sky with a fine curtain of light, and every single one of these arrows in the sky were aimed directly at Qin Ye!

“Damn it!!” Qin Ye cursed at the top of his voice. Without any further hesitation, he mustered every modicum of energy within his body and wrapped himself tightly with his Prestige of the Luminary.

One second… two seconds… three seconds...

Shk! Shk! Shk! The only thing that Qin Ye saw was a shower of arrows that were pouring towards him. There was no room for mistakes. Qin Ye drew down every last bit of Yin energy in his body, gritting his teeth as he desperately kept the arrows outside of his body!

The bravado of a man… At that very moment, it suddenly dawned upon him that next to the might of tens of thousands of Yin soldiers backed by the strength of military formations, a single man’s bravado… was incomparably small.

I don’t even have any Yin artifacts at my disposal! There’s still much to be done for the new Hell, and not even my citizens could be said to have been properly settled in. So, where are the Yin artifacts supposed to come from?

In fact, I don’t even have any colleagues to call upon for reinforcements… In that instant, despair completely filled every corner of Qin Ye’s heart.