Yama Rising

The entire hall fell silent.

Everyone was looking at the heavenly official from the Xi He Retirement Home, wondering what Qin Ye's intentions were.

There was no way they weren't going to allow him to not invest! Heaven was depending on Hell's investment for its elderly care, and they wouldn't be able to answer to their superiors if they couldn't secure investments!

"Xi He Retirement Home, eh?" Qin Ye rose to his feet, and with a flick of his wrist, his beaded bracelet fell into his grasp. He gently massaged the bracelet as he gestured for the heavenly official to continue.

The heavenly official immediately obliged. "Our Xi He Retirement Home is the most recently established set of retirement homes, and it's situated at the venues where the first and second Divine Peach Banquets were held. The retirement home was constructed by Heaven's Rolling Door Real Estate Company, and most of its inhabitants are Abyssal Prefects who came from Hell. Abyssal Prefect Cui Jue was the one who gathered the funds required to construct the retirement home."

Qin Ye looked up at the heavens and heaved a long sigh before asking, "Who else is there?"

"Our vice-director is Abyssal Prefect Zhong Kui, and our second vice-director is Abyssal Prefect Zhang Liang, who once served as the governor of Fengdu. There are currently a total of 43 Abyssal Prefects in our retirement home. Your Excellency, you can't just leave these past heroes of Hell to spend their twilight years in misery and sadness!"

Misery and sadness my arse!

Qin Ye was on the verge of erupting, but he caught himself just in the nick of time. His eyelids were practically spasming at this point as he said, "These are indeed all pillars of Hell who have made significant contributions..."

The heavenly official's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this, while the rest of the heavenly officials stared at Qin Ye with appalled expressions.

They're only Abyssal Prefects, yet they can already be considered to be pillars of Hell? We have Yama-Kings and emperors from the major dynasties of the mortal realm staying at our retirement homes, why don't they qualify as pillars of Hell?! Aren't you being a little too blatant with your bias here?!

Qin Ye naturally wasn't going to consider what the other heavenly officials were thinking. He gave the servant behind him a slight nod, then vanished as a gust of Yin wind. The servant immediately knew what Qin Ye wanted, and he smiled as he said, "Please wait here, everyone. In the meantime, the heavenly official of the Xi He Retirement Home can come with me."

"Why is the representative of the Xi He Retirement Home the only one granted a private audience with Yanluo Qin?"

"In terms of contributions made to Hell, our Yellow Emperor Retirement Home doesn't lose to any other retirement home!"

"The Xi He Retirement was only founded less than 300 years ago, why do they get investments while we're left out here to dry?"

"This is an agreement established by the rulers of all three realms! Is Yanluo Qin planning to renounce it?!"

The underworld emissary's smile slowly faded, and several seconds later, he yelled, "Silence! The representative of the Xi He Retirement Home is only being granted an audience with Yanluo Qin, there's no guarantee whether an investment would be made or not. Even if investments are to be made, it's up to Yanluo Qin to decide the sequence with which he invests in your retirement homes. Here in Hell, there's no one who can tell our King Yanluo what to do! I understand that you're all very worked up, but you still have to follow the rules here! Guards!"

"Present!" A row of Yin soldiers fanned out in silence outside the hall, while the servant swept a menacing gaze across all of the fearful heavenly officials in the hall.

"Take everyone somewhere else to rest. I'll be sure to inform all of you as soon as I receive any news. In the meantime, please ponder upon your transgressions and make sure you treat our King Yanluo with respect next time!"

…………………………

Qin Ye didn't pay any heed to these trivial matters. After disintegrating into a gust of Yin wind, the next time he appeared, he was already in the guest hall, where Ksitigarbha was currently seated, sipping casually on some tea.

The guest hall was very large, and at the very back was an embroidered piece of artwork depicting a ghostly dragon emerging from a netherworldly sea. The piece of artwork was five meters wide and two meters tall, and around it were placed several antiquated tables and chairs in an orderly fashion. As soon as Qin Ye appeared, Ksitigarbha set down his teacup with a smile as he said, "That was pretty quick. Throughout all of history, only the second King Yanluo was a little quicker than you."

Qin Ye sat down beside Ksitigarbha in a grumpy manner, then picked up a teacup and downed all of its contents in one go before slamming it down onto the table. "How did he deal with them?"

"He said: 'I don't have money, but I do have a pair of fists, would you like me to show them to you?' In the end, several upper immortals had no choice but to come down in person through divine descent to negotiate terms. During the second King Yanluo's reign, Hell invested the least that it ever did into Heaven."

Qin Ye wanted to chuckle, but couldn't bring himself to do so, and he massaged his own throbbing temples as he sighed, "So Heaven is actually one massive retirement home?"

"That's right," Ksitigarbha replied with a smile. "You must be very surprised, right? I was just like you when I found out. The original purpose of Heaven can no longer be traced, but giving some retired underworld emissaries and deities a place to rest isn't a bad idea. On top of that, they were telling the truth about the agreement. There is a renowned stone plaque in heaven known as the Hong Meng Stone Plaque, and Hao Tian, the first King Yanluo, and the Yellow Emperor, the rulers of Heaven, Hell, and the mortal realm, respectively, erected the agreement in the form of the stone plaque, stating that so long as Heaven continued to exist, Hell would issue 50% of its operating costs."

Qin Ye was holding back a torrent of abuse as he asked through gritted teeth, "What about the other 50%?"

"The earnings from Taoism and Buddhism will cover that."

A menacing look appeared on Qin Ye's face as he asked, "What if I refuse to invest?"

Ksitigarbha smiled and replied, "How do you think your power matches up against that of the second King Yanluo?"

Qin Ye gave a cold harrumph in response.

"What do you think of all the deities and powerful beings in Heaven?" Ksitigarbha joined his palms together in a benevolent manner as he said, "If you don't invest, countless legendary figures from Cathay's history will constantly be knocking on your door every single day. They're also Yama-Kings, so you won't be able to avoid them, Amitabha."

He pulled a scroll out of his sleeve as he spoke, then pointed a finger at it, and a speck of immortal energy instantly transformed into a lotus flower that bloomed on the scroll.

"What's that?" Qin Ye asked. He seemed to be able to see a map of the Yin Mountains on the scroll.

Ksitigarbha smiled as he gently tossed the scroll upward, and it vanished into thin air as he replied, "This is one of your hiding spots, of course. It wasn't easy for me to track down this place, so I can't just forget it..."

A horrified look appeared on Qin Ye's face as he stared at Ksitigarbha, and a sense of foreboding welled up in his heart. "Hold on a minute..."

A pleasant smile appeared on Ksitigarbha's face as he continued, "As the manager overseeing the attraction of investments from Hell, if Yanluo Qin tries to use force to avoid paying his debts, then I will hold him accountable."

Holy fuck!

Qin Ye abruptly sprang to his feet, and his lips began to tremble as he pointed at Ksitigarbha and ordered, "Guards, throw this demonic monk out of this place at once!"

I thought you really came down just to catch up with me and reminisce about old times, but this was a fucking trap all along!

"Don't be like that, Benefactor Qin, we can talk about this..."

"Piss off! And that's Yanluo Qin to you, not Benefactor Qin! I have no money to give!"

"Surely you can always spare something. No one has it easy at the moment..."

After a period of heated discussion, Qin Ye sat back down again with a resigned expression, sorely regretting his decision to allow this sly monk into the Yin Mountains Research Center. "You know what the current situation in Hell is like. I don't have money, but Ghost King Zhao has a pair of fists! At the very most, I can only invest in the retirement homes that you and the Aurogon are in. As for the rest, I don't know any of them anyway!"

Ksitigarbha heaved a forlorn sigh. "I don't want to have to do this, either, but during the past century, Hell has been completely inactive, and as a result, the facilities of many of Heaven's retirement homes are suffering from deterioration and neglect. There are a lot of renovations and repairs that have to be made, and everyone is hoping that Hell would foot part of the bill. Also, due to the large number of underworld emissaries who ascended under abnormal circumstances, hundreds of retirement homes have been forced to expand. The heavenly officials that have come to see you are only the first group of representatives. Once some of the construction projects are underway, you'll receive many more visits from representatives of other retirement homes."

At this moment, all Qin Ye wanted to do was to rush through the world's gate and drag out the irresponsible bastard hiding in there, then slap him to death!

It was no wonder that the second King Yanluo had rushed into the world's gate so soon and proclaimed that he wasn't going to come out for the next few centuries! As usual, he was running away from his responsibilities again!

Right at this moment, Secretary Jiang entered the room. "Your Excellency, the heavenly official from the Xi He Retirement Home is here. Would you like to meet him now?"

Qin Ye massaged his own glabella and didn't reply.

The rules of the three realms had to be followed, but he really didn't want to make this investment right now.

However, after carefully pondering the issue, he realized that he had no choice.

His top priority at the moment was to secure sources of large batches of immortal energy, and the best way to do that would be to invest in or directly become a shareholder in the Xi He Retirement Home, thereby allowing him to secure immortal energy directly from the heavenly waterfall. However, if he were to invest in only the Xi He Retirement Home, his target would be too obvious, and the Xi He Retirement Home would undoubtedly come under a huge amount of scrutiny.

He raised his head as he turned to Ksitigarbha with a dejected expression. "Can immortal energy directly enter Hell?"

"It can," Ksitigarbha replied with a nod. "However, Heaven, Hell, and the mortal realm are like layers of an egg. Hell is the yolk at the very center, and it's separated from Heaven by the mortal realm. Immortal energy can enter Hell, but it cannot be allowed to enter the mortal realm!"

"Why is that?"

Ksitigarbha replied, "If immortal energy is allowed to enter the mortal realm, a series of uncontrollable changes will arise. For example, lifespans will be lengthened, and some people will be able to find opportunities to ascend. If the lifespans of people in the mortal realm are extended by too much, then Hell would be directly affected, and the equilibrium of the three realms will be tipped off balance. Regardless of whether it's Yin energy or immortal energy that enters the mortal realm, the balance of the three realms will be affected, and the consequences of that will be far more catastrophic than you can imagine."

Qin Ye didn't immediately instruct Secretary Jiang to invite the heavenly official in to see him. Instead, he asked, "In that case, can we open up a direct passageway just like your divine descent?"

"That won't work, either. I was once a Yama-King of Hell, which is why I was able to do this. However, creating an independent passageway through which immortal energy can be funneled into Hell to support the new energy resource would be a project on a completely different scale. On top of that, it encroaches upon the basic laws of non-interaction between the three realms, and the Heavenly Dao will most likely step in. This would be considered as smuggling between realms. The Heavenly Dao most likely won't intervene when it comes to interaction between the three realms on a small scale, but billions of tons of immortal energy will have to be funneled into Hell to support the new energy resource, and that would completely change the state of the world, so there's no way the Heavenly Dao wouldn't step in. You could perhaps do this in secret and have the second King Yanluo cover up for you. At the same time, you also have to make sure that everyone in Heaven is satisfied so they don't go around saying anything. Otherwise..."

He paused momentarily before continuing in a grim voice, "You'll have to endure a total of 81 heavenly tribulations, and I'm sure you won't enjoy that."

Qin Ye fell silent upon hearing this, and many thoughts were flashing through his mind.

The best thing to use here would be a battery that could store immortal energy and be transported to Hell. That would make it possible for immortal energy to be funneled into Hell without the need for a complete passageway, and all that would be required would be the battery patent. However, before he had a chance to follow that train of thought any further, Ksitigarbha suddenly said, "I recall that the Mother Buddha possesses a treasure known as the Mutton Fat Jade Vial, which is capable of storing entire seas and mountains."

Qin Ye was naturally aware of why Ksitigarbha had suddenly decided to mention this, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he asked, "Just tell me which retirement home she's staying in."

A benevolent smile returned to Ksitigarbha's face, and his demeanor became even more amicable as he replied, "She just so happens to be in the same retirement home as I am! As for the amount to invest, it doesn't have to be too much. Seeing as Hell is also struggling financially at the moment, just a few billion will suffice. Dragon jade can be used in both Heaven and Hell. After entering Heaven, it'll react with immortal energy and gradually transform into immortal jade, so you don't have to worry about the logistics."

"... I'm really beginning to doubt that you're the same person who vowed not to gain enlightenment until he saved all souls and emptied Hell..."

"That's neither here nor there, Yanluo Qin, this is just the rental fee for the jade vial. Followers of Buddhism like myself have no need for money, Amitabha... By the way, if you manage to develop wireless transfer technology using the new energy resource, you can pay through that as well..."