Yama Rising

Well done...

Qin Ye wasn't surprised at all to hear this. All experiments had a chance of failure, and he had already experienced far too many similar situations during the past four years.

"Meeting adjourned," he declared as he rose to his feet in a calm manner. "Let me reiterate: no one is allowed to leave the Yin Mountains before the conclusion of the meeting! Secretary Jiang will notify all of you when the meeting is set to recommence."

After that, he vanished into thin air as a gust of Yin wind.

In the next instant, he had already appeared outside the Yin Mountains and was traveling directly toward the hydroelectric power station situated at the center of the Ul Shan basin in the Yin Mountain Range.

He had put on a calm and relaxed display in the conference hall, but at this moment, he was flying at full speed with a grim look on his face, and after less than a minute, he had already arrived above the hydroelectric power station.

Down below, the entire area had already been surrounded by Yin soldiers, and he vanished on the spot once again before reappearing in the underground laboratory beneath the hydroelectric power station.

He had guessed that none of the scientists would've left, and that was indeed the case. As he appeared in the laboratory, he was greeted by a chaotic scene, as well as a giant crater in the ground that was close to 20 meter meters wide and over 20 meters deep.

All of the architects were gathered around the crater, and Qian Duolai was also present. Qin Ye immediately made his way toward them before asking, "What happened?"

Qian Duolai replied, "There was an explosion that wasn't recorded, but according to what I've managed to gather thus far, the explosion resulted from the first-ever attempt to generate electricity, and judging from the density of the Yin energy, the explosion would've taken place right at the beginning of the experiment. However, according to my observation, the morale of the architects and the foreign scientists doesn't seem to have been dented at all."

"Of course our morale hasn't been damaged," Lu Ban immediately chimed in to their left as he stared intently into the giant crater. "We know that a brand new world lies up ahead, and we are merely passing over the most crooked steps on the staircase to the new world. What's there to be sad or dejected about? No physicist or chemist is a stranger to failure."

The underworld emissaries who were responsible for cleaning up the aftermath had already made their way into the room, but they received no attention from any of the scientists or architects. Emoven was in the process of discussing something with Xu Chengyang with her brows tightly furrowed, and Franklin was also locked in a heated discussion with Dirac. In the wake of the explosion, his hair had been blown up to resemble a bird's nest, but it seemed as if he had already forgotten about the major explosion that had just taken place less than an hour ago.

Qin Ye walked a lap around the crater, then made a subtle hand gesture toward the five architects. The architects immediately nodded in response, then issued an apology to the scientists who were speaking with them before following Qin Ye out of the room.

The hydroelectric power station wasn't very large, but it certainly wasn't small, either, and it had everything that a hydroelectric power station should have. Qin Ye and the five architects were walking along the dam, which resembled a city wall, and Qin Ye finally asked, "What was the specific cause of the explosion?"

Zu Chongzhi sighed, "I won't bore you with the exact scientific principles involved, all you need to know is that basic underworld matter, at least the matter in the new energy resource that we can currently analyze, is in string form rather than particle form. The only theory from the mortal realm that corresponds with this is string theory, and in string theory, matter is arranged in threads before being interwoven into strings, and that is the basic gist of string theory. However, in order for matter to exist in this form, there must be a membrane enveloping it on the outside."

He paused momentarily before continuing in a sullen voice, "This membrane is also a type of Yin rune, and during the past four months, we've searched through all of the Yin runes that have displayed reactions with the electron Yin rune and the proton Yin rune. The one that we just tested was the Yin rune that displayed the strongest reaction, but unfortunately, we still failed. At the moment, we're unable to find any Yin rune that can bring string theory into reality."

Qin Ye turned toward Zu Chongzhi with a slightly surprised expression.

This essentially meant that the experiment had come to a grinding halt. The gates of the new era were standing right in front of them, yet the final step of the staircase leading to the gates was missing. However, Zu Chongzhi and the others didn't seem to be all that surprised by this outcome.

"So what do we do now?" Qin Ye asked.

Lu Ban swept a cautious gaze through their surroundings, then replied in a low voice, "To be honest, we've had a theory ever since the beginning of the experimentation stage. However, the theory can only be tested in the final step. That appears to be our only choice right now, but only you can decide whether we actually pursue it."

"I'm listening."

Lu Ban took a deep breath before continuing, "Since the six paths of reincarnation broke down Xu Fu's energy resource into three components, we've already managed to find a substitute for tourmaline of the mortal realm. However, in order to create this brand new type of electricity-like energy string, the only possible source from which we can secure a suitable membrane would be..."

His voice trailed off there as he pointed directly upward.

He was referring to Heaven!

A flash of enlightenment appeared in Qin Ye's eyes, and he quickly fell into deep thought.

This appeared to be a very simple issue to resolve, but it was connected to a vital problem.

He needed an energy resource that could be made readily available to the entire world, not an extremely precious resource that could only be used on a niche basis at best.

If the energy resource couldn't be made readily available, then there would be no way to bring about a new industrial revolution, and the impact of this imminent new era was also going to be significantly lessened.

However, in order for the new energy resource to be made readily available, the production cost had to be cheap, and it had to only incorporate materials that were also readily available.

Relying on Heaven was a temporary solution, but there was no way it would be sustainable over the long run.

Under these circumstances, would the Cathayan Underworld be able to become the world's electric generator as they had planned?

"Is there no other way?" he asked in a grim voice.

The five architects shook their heads in unison, and Xu Chengyang replied, "Perhaps there is. After all, we still haven't searched through the Yin runes in the first and second layers. However, there is an extremely vast number of foundational Yin runes, and it would take another three to four years to search through all of them. Don't forget that the Prometheus plan is nipping at our heels, and three to four years is already enough time for many unforeseen circumstances to arise!"

Silence.

Several seconds later, Qin Ye nodded in response. "Alright, I'm aware of the situation now. I'll enquire Ksitigarbha about this right away, and I'll come back to you with an answer within a day."

After bidding farewell to the scientists, Qin Ye instantly vanished on the spot, and by the time he reappeared, he was already standing on a large altar.

This was an altar constructed from bluestone, and it resembled the Temple of Heaven in the mortal realm with rows of banisters etched with engravings of the Harken and the Aurogon situated all around the altar, while a pristine white lotus flower sat at the very center.

This was where Ksitigarbha was situated!

The gates of Heaven had opened long ago, but there had been no divine descent. At the moment, Hell was far too busy to deal with Heaven, so upon discovering that he was unable to actively summon Ksitigarbha, nor was he able to directly contact Heaven, Qin Ye had planted this lotus flower here and essentially forgotten all about it.

This place was still part of the Yin Mountain Range, and it wasn't far away from the Yin Mountains Research Center. He felt like had already done Ksitigarbha a great service by building an altar for him that resembled the Temple of Heaven of the mortal realm.

"I didn't think that I would have to bother him again after all," Qin Ye murmured to himself with a self-derisive smile before extending his consciousness toward the lotus flower.

Yin energy surged in waves from all directions, and in the blink of an eye, an inky-black vortex had taken shape around the altar. Even in the midst of Yama-King level Yin energy, the lotus flower still managed to remain completely untouched and untarnished, and not even a single one of its petals had been blown off.

Qin Ye closed his eyes, and at this point, his consciousness had already entered a murky realm that was very difficult to describe. It was as if it had pierced through the atmosphere and reached what was further beyond.

However, all of a sudden, he reopened his eyes with a surprised expression.

His consciousness had been cut off, which meant that Ksitigarbha had rejected his call!

"Could it be something's happened in Heaven?" he murmured to himself with tightly furrowed brows. "That shouldn't be the case. If something were to happen in Heaven, the balance of the three realms would be disrupted, and the second King Yanluo would definitely inform me of that somehow. Even if he's unable to send a message to me for some reason, the Harken and Brother Zhao would inform me of such a thing, yet neither of them have said anything."

In that case, it was most likely the case that nothing had happened in Heaven, and Ksitigarbha simply didn't want to speak to him.

Upon making this realization, Qin Ye was immediately struck by a sense of awkwardness. Then again, this made sense. Ksitigarbha had gone out of his way to arrive in the underworld to see him and ask if there was anything he could help Qin Ye with, only to be immediately abandoned on this completely deserted plaza in the middle of nowhere.

It was indeed a well-constructed place, but that still didn't change the fact that Ksitigarbha had been abandoned here without any company for several years!

Couldn't Qin Ye have at least paid semi-regular visits to this place? How was anyone supposed to harbor friendly feelings towards him after what he had done?

Qin Ye was suddenly struck by the feeling that if he were in Ksitigarbha's shoes, he would also want to ignore himself.

"How could you do this?" He slapped himself on the back of the hand in a reprimanding gesture before stroking his own chin as he began to slowly circle around the lotus flower.

How could he get through to Ksitigarbha? Could he still make up for this by watering and fertilizing the lotus flower every day?

At the very least, he would have to repent for several months, and he certainly didn't have that much time on his hands. Qin Ye had never been one to stick to the straight and narrow, and his hand was already creeping toward the sash around his own waist.

You made me do this! I didn't want to have to do this!

Right as he gently lifted up the hem of his dragon robe and was about to pull out his water gun to squirt the lotus flower in the face, the lotus flower suddenly swayed slightly before going into full bloom.

At the center of the flower was a sympathetic human face, but at this moment, it wore a cold expression.

An extremely awkward atmosphere immediately settled over the entire scene.

Qin Ye surreptitiously released the hem of his dragon robe as he cleared his throat and greeted, "Lord Ksitigarbha."

A cold smile appeared on the human face as it said, "I must say, out of all of the past King Yanluos, you are the only one who has ever thought about defiling a god and was actually prepared to do it."

"... It's not that serious, I was just trying to... apply some organic fertilizer... I haven't seen you in a few years and I really missed you."

"You missed me so much that you wanted to take off your pants?"

"... I mean, if you want, I can take off the rest of my clothes as well..."

Motherfucker!

Ksitigarbha had already witnessed just how shameless the new King Yanluo was from up in Heaven, but he had thought that after undertaking the role of King Yanluo, Qin Ye's status would've naturally erased the negative facets of his personality, but some things were simply impossible to erase. Shamelessness was carved into Qin Ye's DNA, and there was simply no getting rid of it!

The human face repressed its fury as it said in a cold voice, "It's a rare occasion when the esteemed Yanluo Qin thinks of me. To what do I owe this great honor?"

These words were clearly meant to be an insult, and they carried the anger and indignation that had been building up in Ksitigarbha's heart for the past few years.

However, Qin Ye's shamelessness was not to be underestimated, and these verbal attacks were completely ineffective on him. If Ksitigarbha was under the opinion that this would be enough to awaken Qin Ye's sense of conscience and make him have second thoughts about stating his request, then he was dead wrong!

Qin Ye rubbed his hands together and said, "Well, I obviously came to you because I have a request for you. After all, we're not that familiar with one another, so why would I come to find you for nothing? Hey, don't go! Don't close your petals! Why are you so petty?! Oi, I'm warning you! If you don't open your petals right now, then you're going to get a spray! I've got diabetes, I'm telling you! My piss will kill this flower if you're not careful!"