Yama Rising

But even then, he remained completely silent, staring intently at Qin Ye. He was gambling. He was gambling on Qin Ye. Naturally, he didn’t rush them as they deliberated over their decision.

The tension in the air was so high that he could even feel Qin Ye’s every action strumming intently on his heartstrings. Finally, Qin Ye spoke, “What are you after?”

At once, Zhao Yun’s voice resounded in Qin Ye’s ears once more,, “You’re also a divinity, and the main god of a realm at that. However, the strongest among all divinities are naturally the creator gods. They are above everything, and they’re the ones who have opened this world to the Three Realms. Our divinity is inferior to theirs. Naturally, the blood that he’s referring to is the blood of Jesus, one of the creator gods…”

Zhao Yun didn’t seem too surprised by Qin Ye’s response. That said, it only stood to reason, because doing so would essentially be placing Hell’s interest at the forefront. He shook his head, “No.”

What a pity… But it’s no wonder the Plumed Serpent God isn’t afraid to disclose such key intelligence to us.

“Don’t worry, I harbour no desire for the Holy Grail at all.” The Plumed Serpent God chuckled bitterly, “Right now, the only thing that I’m thinking about is my own survival. How can I allow myself to pass on without having taken revenge on the Aztec Gods yet?”

Qin Ye snapped his finger, and the swirling Yin energy around promptly transformed into black butterflies and brought Nadia right back to her room. Meanwhile, he folded his hands and sat silently in his seat, deep in thought.

“Unlikely.” Zhao Yun shook his head, “Have you forgotten? I’m now in the realm beyond that of a Yama-King. I’m technically not even an official of Hell right now.”

“The Heavenly Dao isn’t rejecting my existence, but the precondition to that is that I don’t cause any earth-shattering changes to the world. In other words, I can’t be immoderate with these powers of mine.”

Zhao Yun coughed dryly, “The Second King Yanluo is different in that his existence itself already draws the scorn of the Heavenly Dao. Cough… Besides, nearly a thousand years ago, when he attended his first Federation of Underworlds conference, the gods of death of the other underworlds sought to make things difficult for the new kid on the block. At that time, he slammed his fist down on the table and forced everyone else to sign on a series of unequal treaties. Then, just 500 years later, during the Conference for the Non-Proliferation of Forbidden Arts, Anubis and Thanatos weren’t agreeable to the terms proposed, but the Second King Yanluo beat the living daylights out of them…”

Holy crap… Qin Ye’s eyes widened as he heard the summary of all the great things the Second King Yanluo had done - Brother Xu, what in the world have you done? It’s no wonder the entire netherworld seems to hate you so much!

Qin Ye sighed, “In other words, so long as you abuse your powers to give Hell a seriously unfair advantage, then the Heavenly Dao will come to reject your existence?”

But where was Hell supposed to get so many Yin soldiers?

Qin Ye smiled, “Now is a better time than any other. Besides, it’s the next order of business for Hell right now.”

Unification of the Cathayan Underworld. This was the dream of any warlord of the underworld! Over the course of Cathayan history, there were, strictly speaking, approximately 15 people who had founded their own dynasties. And to that end, Qin Ye had marched out of an insignificant Clear Creek County on his own, forged his own path and claimed two large cities for himself, and was now looking ahead to the unification of the scattered lands, as well as the reclamation of the Holy Grail for Hell!

With that, he knelt down on a knee and cupped his hands respectfully, “I eagerly await your command!”

Qin Ye’s eyes flashed with a trace of enlightenment, and he abruptly turned back, “Dong Zhuo isn’t surrendering?”

“No!” Qin Ye waved his hand, “Why isn’t he surrendering?!”

Seconds later, Zhao Yun drew a deep breath, “Su Daji and Qin Hui have both reached out to him before, so he should know full well that two of the three daolords have defected and are now standing on Hell’s side. And to that end, he should know full well that once the war begins, the forces mustered by the two defected daolords would likely march as pawns against the Daolord of the Beast. It’s not going to be easy for him to withstand the might of the two mighty armies, even with most of King Yanluo’s Seal under his control. Add Hell’s forces to the mix, and he should know full well that it’s not an army that he can stand up against!”

Both men locked eyes at once.

Dong Zhuo probably already has control of the Holy Grail right now!

Qin Ye frowned, “But this is a holy artifact, and a creation artifact at that. Surely there would be some unusual celestial phenomena reported as soon as he gets hold of it, wouldn’t there?”

Qin Ye nodded. Then, after pondering for another moment or two, he sent two messenger birds flying out of his hands. Within moments, two figures materialized before Qin Ye’s very eyes and lay prostrate on the ground, “Su Daji, Qin Hui, pays their humblest respects to King Yanluo.”

“It would be my honour.” Qin Hui responded without hesitation, “It’s the blessings of the gods that I’m able to share any measure of burdens with the King Yanluo of Hell!”

Archnemesis!

Qin Ye waved his hands impatiently, “Spare the flattery. I’ll give you three months to completely purge the Pearl River Delta regions and the three eastern provinces of all Yin spirits. Can you do this?”

Qin Hui stared at Su Daji in horror.

“My Lord… My army of asuras can do the same as well…”

This was all to secure himself the best possible bargaining chips for the upcoming negotiations with the mortal realm.

“Daolord Qin.” Qin Ye turned to Qin Hui, “Do you know where the lair of the Daolord of the Beast is located?”

Qin Ye straightened up, “No, it’s fine. There’s no need to alert him to our movements right now. I’d like you to take care of a few things. Firstly, suss out all locations of Hell’s rift in West Shan Province, Kansu Province, and Kokonur Province, and then…”

Locking him in, huh? Hell is going to unify the nation soon, and I’ll be the one who will be in charge of keeping an eye on Dong Zhuo’s movements… Qin Hui took a deep breath and responded valiantly, “Yes!”

“There’s still one last thing to do before unifying the Cathayan Underworld.” Qin Ye’s eyes narrowed slightly, “And that’s the upcoming negotiations with the mortal realm. Our industries are still in their nascent stages, and we cannot rely on Hell’s own production capacity right now. Not even a hundred years would suffice if we let things progress at its current speeds.”

“The three eastern provinces, Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta, Eastmount Province, Insignia Province… With a total of nine provinces liberated from the bindings of the supernatural forces, I refuse to believe that they wouldn’t accede to our requests!”

The curtains were closing on this chapter, and a new one was soon about to open. So long as they could secure the help of the mortal realm, Hell could focus its attention on conscripting troops, before finally turning the tip of its sword to the rest of the nation!

Nobody could live in isolation - not even one of the top underworlds of the netherworld. The international arena was rife with changes. The passing of the New World, the desperation of the Alkebulan Underworld, and the P4 underworlds who were all competing for glory… Qin Ye couldn’t wait to see how this gorgeous picture would unfold as soon as Hell re-emerges to the forefront of the world.