Yama Rising

The teahouse was very peaceful.

The floor was paved with soft tatami mats, and pieces of artwork and calligraphy from renowned Nipponese masters were hanging on the walls. Intricate vases were placed in the corners of the room, and out of the vases were protruding shoots of red spider lilies.

Just outside the window next to the table they were sitting at was a channel built from sections of bamboo, carrying shimmering creek water into the pond. In fact, the entire teahouse was built on top of a small pond and concealed by the surrounding lush greenery.

There were no servants here, and between the two of them was a tea tray that was no different from the tea trays of the Cathayan Underworld, and Kana Fujii picked up a silver tea holder from the tea tray in an elegant manner before taking out some tea leaves from the jar. She then poured out a stream of clear spring water from the water bowl.

Strangely enough, even though the spring water was ice cold, as soon as it entered the cup, it began to bubble as if it had been brought to a boil, and the refreshing fragrance of tea began to waft through the air.

Kana Fujii pulled back the sleeve of her kimono, revealing a section of her fair arm as she gently pushed a teacup toward Qin Ye with a hospitable smile. "This is a premium Nipponese tea, please enjoy."

Qin Ye accepted the cup of tea but didn't drink from it. Instead, he smiled as he said, "Let's cut straight to the chase, I have a very tight schedule."

There had to be countless businesses, research centers, and important officials from all nations waiting outside his door for a chance to meet him, and they weren't going to leave before they could secure an audience with him.

Kana Fujii was slightly taken aback to hear this.

She had taken the time to review everything that Qin Ye had done during this conference in detail, and she had to admit that he was a brilliant tactician, and that his style was completely different from that of the second King Yanluo.

She had thought that a King Yanluo capable of achieving such a massive feat would definitely be the type to engage in formalities and dabble in some small talk with her for a while. After all, the Sacred Treasure Consortium was unmatched on the international stage when it came to construction prowess, but to her surprise, Qin Ye was extremely direct and forthright when it came to discussing official matters.

So he's a pragmatist who appears gentle on the outside, but is firm and unyielding on the inside...

Kana Fujii was quickly applying mental tags to Qin Ye, but at the same time, she didn't dare to delay any further as she said, "In that case, let's get down to business. If possible, Our Sacred Treasure Consortium would like to take on all of the Zhu Rong plan's construction projects."

As soon as her voice trailed off, she brought out a card with a nine-petal lotus insignia etched on its surface, then offered it to Qin Ye with both hands. "This is a small gift from our Sacred Treasure Consortium. With this card, you'll be able to withdraw twenty million Yin jade from all of the banks under the jurisdiction of our consortium all over Asia, and our chairman, Mr. Ichiro Fujii, asked me to give this to you in person."

Silence.

Kana Fujii's expression remained calm and collected, but her heart was already pounding violently.

This was a massive opportunity!

Even though the Sacred Treasure Consortium was the world's number one construction business that had arisen from the construction industry, there was no lack of strong businesses nipping at its heels.

An example of this was the Blue Forest Corporation, which had taken over 100% of the market share for high-end restaurant construction all over the world and 40% of the market share for mid-range and low-end restaurant construction. The corporation had five exceptionally skilled construction teams, and it was constantly striving to challenge the Sacred Treasure Consortium for the top spot in the construction industry.

She had seen a representative of the Blue Forest Corporation in Chief Secretary Borfis's office, so she knew that they also had their eyes on this opportunity.

If they could mark their own name on a project like this, which was going to impact the entire world and usher in the next era, their influence, technology, and quality of service would immediately be recognized by the entire world, so they were also going to do everything in their power to grab this opportunity!

Of course, everyone knew that there wasn't going to be much point in this meeting as they would have to wait for the official tender, but in order to leave a good first impression on this young King Yanluo, they had to send someone, and the first gift that they offered up numbered in the tens of millions in Yin jade.

Amid the oppressive silence, Qin Ye took the card from Kana Fujii, and she heaved an internal sigh of relief.

"This really is a lot of money," Qin Ye said as he flipped the card over with a hint of a smile on his face. Several seconds later, he raised an eyebrow and sat back in his chair as he asked, "What connections do you have in the government of the Nipponese Underworld?"

"You think far too highly of us, Yanluo Qin, we're just a consortium..."

"Who are your backers?" Qin Ye cut her off as he gently pushed the card back toward her. "All of the underworlds are fighting over this opportunity, and the first to strike will definitely be the national ministry of construction. This matter concerns the political relations between the Cathayan Underworld and the Nipponese Underworld, and if you were indeed just a normal consortium, the government of the Nipponese Underworld would've definitely prohibited you from approaching me in light of the strained relationship between our underworlds."

He picked up his teacup and took a sip of tea. The refreshing tea made him feel as if all of the pores all over his entire body had opened up, and he set down the teacup again as he continued in an unhurried manner, "The fact that you're here means that you have connections in high places. Let me reiterate: I have no time for lies and useless small talk. If you want to take on this job, then you have to show me your sincerity, understood?"

His tone was very calm and placid, but Kana Fujii's entire body shuddered in response. The aura of the ruler of one of the four pillars and the confidence stemming from a powerhouse nation that had stood thousands of years culminated in a sense of pressure that made her feel as if she were being scrutinized by a vicious tiger.

After a brief pause, she replied, "Our Fujii Clan has people in the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. This is not a secret, Mistress Izanami is aware of this as well."

Qin Ye nodded in response. It made sense that they had people in all of the Nipponese Underworld's important government ministries. It was no wonder that Izanami was opposing them, but they were completely going against her and sucking up to him.

"Do you know what the death gods of your nation have done?" Qin Ye rose to his feet and said, "There are currently no construction projections pertaining to the Zhu Rong plan, and if any projects arise, I'll contact you. If that's all for today, then I have some other matters to attend to, and I'll be leaving now."

After that, he immediately stood up to leave.

"Your Excellency!" Kana Fujii yelled as she hurriedly stood up from her chair. "Please wait! What Izanami and the others did had nothing to do with us! We had no idea what they were planning, and we would've never done something so foolish! Your Excellency, please don't reject our Sacred Treasure Consortium on the basis of actions completely unrelated to us! Please believe in our industry-leading experience and expertise! We can offer you prices at a mark-up of only 30% of the cost price! Please wait, Your Excellency! How about 29%? We can negotiate!"

Qin Ye finally stopped, yet before Kana Fujii even had a chance to heave a sigh of relief, he said in a calm voice, "I'm not rejecting you, it's just that construction on this project will only commence in 10 years at the earliest, and we'll only be inviting tenders in eight years. We still haven't even entered the inspection phase yet, so it's too early to be talking about all of this."

He then turned to Kana Fujii with a meaningful expression and continued, "Also, the death gods of your nation seem to have lost their way lately, so I hope you can show them the right way to proceed. If you want to thrive in eastern Asia, then you had better figure out who is the king of this area, don't you think?"

Kana Fujii shuddered as she pursed her lips tightly.

Qin Ye tucked a strand of her stray hair behind her ear in a gentle manner as he smiled and said, "If the Nipponese Underworld continues to provoke me, it'll be very difficult for me to have a good impression of Nipponese businesses."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he vanished as a gust of Yin wind.

Kana Fujii remained standing on the spot in silence.

Only after a long while did she look up at the sky while biting down firmly on her own lower lip. "Izanami, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, you're a pair of idiots!"

……………………………………………

As Qin Ye returned to his room, the commotion from the massive crowd of people gathered outside instantly died down.

He swept his gaze through the crowd, and it was truly an extensive lineup.

Aside from the underworlds that were absolutely against the Cathayan Underworld, such as the three pillars, the Nipponese Underworld, and the Russian Underworld, around 27 to 28 of the 34 underworlds had sent representatives to see him!

This was a completely different scene from the one several days ago!

All of the representatives wore sycophantic expressions, yet none of them dared to stand in Qin Ye's way, and he was like a sharp sword that cut through the crowd with ease. The underworld representatives on either side of him all wanted to speak to him, and they were staring at him like hungry wolves watching a delectable piece of meat, but they didn't dare to say anything.

Of course, Qin Ye paid no heed to them, either.

However, just as he was walking along, someone suddenly caught his eyes. "Are you from the Southern Pacific Ocean's Star Cluster Federation?"

The representative that he had spoken to faltered slightly upon hearing this, then looked down at the insignia on his own chest with a stunned expression to make sure that Qin Ye really had just spoken to him.

That was a silver insignia with the design of a starry night sky etched on its surface.

Did he just speak directly to me?

In this instant, his head was ringing!

The Star Cluster Federation was an impressive-sounding name, but in reality, it was only an alliance consisting of eight minor underworlds, namely Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Even the territories of all eight of these underworlds combined weren't even as large as the province of Hainan.

Even the slightly larger underworlds, such as the Marshall Islands, Republic of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, and New Zealand weren't willing to join them. Instead, they had forged their own alliances such as the Red Moon Federation, the Siren Alliance, and the Council of Three. However, this tiny underworld that could barely be any less significant had somehow been remembered by the Cathayan Underworld.

Of course Qin Ye remembered this federation.

At the time that the initial vote was held, he had noticed that the Star Cluster Federation had stood with the Cathayan Underworld!

Of course, he knew that they were taking a gamble. In order to develop, a small underworld like theirs had to latch onto the coattails of a powerhouse, and they were making a high-risk high-reward gamble.

It was only a single vote cast by the raise of a single hand.

It didn't impact the overall outcome, but the federation had stood with the Cathayan Underworld at the time, and Qin Ye was going to show everyone that all those who stood with the Cathayan Underworld would be granted his good graces for their vote of confidence!

The representative was completely shell-shocked, and Qin Ye smiled as he said, "Assistant Wang told me that he's already reserved the Shanhai Hall for a banquet today. The banquet will be an occasion to celebrate the Cathayan Underworld's return to the international political stage, and after the banquet, we'll be discussing topics surrounding the new energy resource with our allies. Will the eight death gods of your Star Cluster Federation be able to attend?"

As soon as Qin Ye's voice trailed off, the representative of the Star Cluster Federation instantly became the center of attention!

Everyone was scrutinizing him with envy, resentment, remorse, all types of complex emotions in their eyes.

What has a tiny underworld federation like yours done to deserve a personal invitation from the ruler of one of the four pillars?! We've been standing here all day like fucking idiots, and he hasn't even taken a look at us!

However, no matter how envious they were, they had to admit that the Star Cluster Federation had made the right gamble, and it was now being rewarded for it.

The representative of the Star Cluster Federation was so excited that he was beginning to tremble uncontrollably.

Representatives from tiny underworlds like theirs never did anything other than raise their hands to give their insignificant vote that no one cared about, and never did he think that there would come a day where he would be able to share the same banquet hall as the regal Cathayan Underworld!

"Yes! I'm sure they'll be able to attend!" He immediately bowed so deeply that he almost doubled over, and his voice was on the verge of cracking.

"Don't you need to ask your death gods first?" Qin Ye asked with a smile, and the door to his room had already been opened for him by a servant.

"There's no need for that! They'll definitely be free!"

Do you think every death god is as busy as your esteemed self? We're super free!

The door was closed, and only then did the representative of the Star Cluster Federation stand up straight again. He adjusted his own tie, and he had never felt so excited in his entire life. He took a brief moment to inspect the envious eyes around him with triumph, then hurriedly rushed away to the room reserved for the Star Cluster Federation.

Only after he had vanished around the corner did all of their other underworld representatives turn back to face Qin Ye's door, and at this point, there were only two Cathayan Underworld guards standing on either side of the entrance.

An underworld representative approached one of the guards with a fawning smile before offering up a visiting card. "This is a visiting card from the Vatican City Underworld, please relay it to Yanluo Qin. Our pope earnestly awaits an opportunity to be able to share a meal with the esteemed Yanluo Qin."

The guard's heart was full of derision, but he accepted the visiting card with perfect etiquette as he replied, "I'll be sure to do so, but Yanluo Qin has been feeling rather weary of late, so you might have to wait a while."

Weary my arse! The conference is already over, what does he have to be weary about?! What a load of bullshit!

Despite his profanity-laden thoughts, what actually came out of his mouth was: "Of course. Please notify us any time Yanluo Qin has some spare time to see us, and we'll be sure to arrive right away."

Immediately thereafter, visiting cards came flying in from all directions, all of which were being sent to the Cathayan Underworld, but all of them received the identical "Yanluo Qin is feeling rather weary" response.

You want to meet me? I recall you were standing firmly with the utopia alliance not long ago, yet you want to see me now? Of course I'll see you! Maybe some time next century!!