Yama Rising

That storm would be inflation.

Back when he was first learning this, he had found this to be quite confusing. Why would inflation occur with less dragon jade in the domestic currency market?

Only after learning about this subject in-depth did he realize that this was because of currency reflux.

Currency reflux could take place through international trade or national debt, and that would deal a massive blow on the Cathayan Underworld's currency market, which would've already shrunk significantly at that point, thereby creating massive inflation and unimaginable losses in intangible assets!

Every nation was extremely cautious when it came to manipulating its currency.

Bai Chengzhou continued, "Once the new energy resource enters the market, we have to open up currency exchange services so that the rest of the world can exchange all of the dragon jade we've stored. Only then will they have the dragon jade required to purchase our energy resource."

Only then would the Cathayan Underworld's dragon jade become the dominant currency on the world market.

"Ideally, after all of this, the total amount of currency in our nation will still maintain its current level. However, we'll have large sums of dragon jade overseas, and the best way to ensure that those sums of dragon jade don't just remain idle would be to open up national trade right away!"

Qin Ye's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. National trade would require all of the Cathayan Underworld's ports and cities to open up, and once that happened, the entire world would be able to see exactly what had become of the Cathayan Underworld.

They would all come to realize that the Fengdu of the past was already gone, and that Everburn had taken its place.

What would the other underworlds think?

The most infuriating thing to them would be that this impoverished nation had the most advanced energy resource in the entire world!

The entire nation would be brightly lit by the new energy resource, and the light would illuminate the envious faces of all of the foreign underworld emissaries across the entire world.

The Zhu Rong plan must be implemented...

As Qin Ye reaffirmed his determination, Bai Chengzhou continued, "When the time comes, our entire nation will have access to the new energy resource, and that would be enough to disguise the signs of the fall of the old Hell. On top of that, we can limit the cities that we open up to the rest of the world to only our port cities. For example, we can focus all of our trade on the island of Formosa, transforming it into a global trade city, and that'll prevent the rest of the world from seeing deeper inland into our nation. I think this is the best way to proceed, and we won't need to ask the second King Yanluo to remove the Array of the Nine Gods. All of the other nations will only be able to watch as we develop within the safety of the array!"

Qin Ye's eyes instantly lit up upon hearing this. He had failed to consider this as a possible tactic!

The Kraken was going to be modified into a military fortress to weather the storm that was the international trade conference and also to stun all of those hillbillies. However, it wasn't large enough to hold merchant ships from all over the world. Ports weren't just places for ships to dock, rest and recreation facilities for the sailors on the ships also had to be provided. The Kraken possessed an enormous body, but it still wasn't large enough to accept several hundred cargo ships at once while also providing facilities for rest and recreation.

However, Formosa could satisfy all of these requirements.

With an area of 36,000 square kilometers, it was 150 times the size of the Kraken, which meant that several port cities could be developed on it.

He immediately cast his gaze toward the several directors of Yin Construction, upon which he discovered that all of them wore calm and unflustered expressions, but were frantically taking notes.

The construction boom sweeping across the entire nation still hadn't passed yet, so it was the perfect time to be developing Formosa.

There was massive potential for the real estate industry to grow in the current Cathayan Underworld!

Bai Chengzhou continued, "As long as we hold second-generation forbidden arts, in fact, we don't even need to fully develop them. All we have to do is tell the world that we have the ability to detonate the forbidden arts reactor, and that would be enough. With second-generation forbidden arts acting as protection and with the new energy resource attracting the attention of the entire world, we'll be able to export our new energy resource and its related technology to the rest of the world, then frantically trade with other nations! The other nations will be under the opinion that we have to do this in order to recycle our dragon jade, thereby forming a trade loop to ward off inflation, never would they guess that we really do need these things! If we only open up Formosa to the rest of the world, there's no way they'll be able to see through us! Within a century, there will be a good chance for us to restore the Cathayan Underworld to its former glory!"

His deafening voice reverberated throughout the entire hall, and all of the Yin spirits present in this meeting couldn't help but be swept up by his excitement.

The resurgence of their nation was imminent.

The nation had endured far too many hardships. The longest feudal era in history resulted in the dominance of major clans and a completely untenable state of affairs. Thus, the second King Yanluo made the bold decision for the entirety of Hell to ascend to Heaven, and in the wake of these drastic changes, only now were they finally seeing a glimmer of hope for a resurgence!

"Directors of Yin Construction," Qin Ye called out.

"Present!"

Qin Ye turned to the directors and instructed, "Prepare all of the best city designers and construction workers."

He swept his gaze across all of the Yin spirits present as he continued, "I've discussed this with General Zhao and the Harken in the past, and our plan is to continue keeping all of this a secret. There are still five and a half years left until the international trade conference is scheduled to be held..."

His voice trailed off here, but it was clear what the conclusion of his sentence would've been.

Five and a half years later, they were going to stun the entire world!

Thus, during these next five and a half years, all of the basic technological output, including large numbers of film scripts, scripts for variety shows, radio towers, etc. All of these things had to be developed.

These things weren't difficult to develop. All they had to do was take blueprints directly from the mortal realm, then search for suitable substitutes in the underworld. At the very most, it would take a year to sort out everything. None of the top researchers of the nation would even have to get involved as this was a project simple enough for less skilled personnel to complete.

As for the remaining four and a half years, that would be the time for them to roll out the new energy resource across the entire nation and usher in a new era for the Cathayan Underworld!

Six of the eight directors of Yin Construction were present, and as they exchanged a glance with one another, all of them could see their own eagerness mirrored in each other's eyes.

They had a very happy predicament on their hands. At the moment, there were countless real estate development businesses all over the nation, and there were already far too many jobs for Yin Construction to handle. In a year and a half at most, they would have to lay down circuitry all over the entire nation, and that project had to be completed within four years. With the massive influx of workers required to complete these projects, Yin Construction was going to become an extremely bloated organization once all of these projects were finished.

However, this was only to be expected. There was a type of efficiency known as Cathayan efficiency. If a foreign nation wanted to construct a road, for example, they would have to hold multiple parliamentary discussions and face opposition from different parties. However, this didn't exist at all in Cathay!

A bridge could be constructed in a month! A hospital could be built overnight!

As long as the government supplied them with sufficient funding, laying down circuitry all over the entire nation over the span of four years wasn't an issue! This was one of the main advantages of an authoritarian government system!

After a brief pause, Qin Ye continued, "Tell them to make all the required preparations, and I want to see the construction blueprint for the entire island of Formosa within a month, as well as blueprints for at least 10 ports that comply with international standards! If everything goes well, our policies will be inclined toward the construction of Formosa. Do you have the confidence to complete the construction of 10 ports and 10 cities within four years?"

The directors took a collective deep breath, following which one of them replied, "If we can get all of the currently unemployed netherworldly citizens in our nation to participate in this project, then it's possible. On top of that, we also require sufficient machinery."

"Rest assured, you'll have all the support you need for the duration of the projects."

The directors exchanged a glance with one another, then nodded firmly in response.

This was a political mission that had to be completed!

"Very good." Qin Ye nodded before turning to Bai Chengzhou. "In that case, after the international trade conference, we'll open up Formosa immediately. At the same time, we'll announce that we've made big strides in the Zhu Rong plan."

"The education industry also has to be established," Bai Chengzhou added.

Qin Ye nodded in response, and his mind was already drifting to the prospect of second-generation forbidden arts.

Such a grand project could only commence once the education industry had produced several generations of talented personnel, and that would take at least 30 years.

For projects of this magnitude, even a powerhouse nation like Usonia in the underworld would only be able to take on two at the same time at most. Any more than that, and the strain on the entire national economy would be too great.

The meeting continued, and only after three whole days did the entire meeting conclude.

Every single step had been discussed in detail, and upon leaving the conference hall, all of the Yin spirits were feeling utterly exhausted, but they couldn't snuff out the flames of excitement in their hearts no matter what!

Everyone knew how Usonia had risen to be a powerhouse nation in the mortal realm.

The process of its rise had been dissected and studied countless times, and it was finally the Cathayan Underworld's turn to replicate it!

The sense of mission, excitement, and anticipation in their hearts made it impossible for them to rest. Instead, they returned to Everburn right away, rushing back eagerly to their respective departments to relay the contents of the meeting to their colleagues.

This was a grand plan for the resurgence of an entire nation! If anyone dared to try and slack off or do a halfhearted job, then they weren't going to keep their jobs for much longer!

In the Yin Mountains Research Center, Qin Ye had also returned to his own room and was drinking some tea.

On a mental level, he was utterly exhausted, but at the same time, he was extremely satisfied and fulfilled.

You know, this King Yanluo job isn't so bad...

A faint smile appeared on his face as he looked around at the room with a slightly wistful expression.

He had stuck with his scientists through thick and thin, and next, it was time to negotiate patent usage rights with the foreign scientists and register patents on the international level, neither of which were processes that he had to take part in in person.

This room had been his office for the past four years, and now that it was time to return to Everburn, he had to admit that he was a little reluctant to leave.

However, his reluctance to part with this place was far outweighed by his eagerness to see what new heights he could take the Cathayan Underworld to!

The gates to the new era were already open, and following his return to Everburn, massive changes would sweep over the entire underworld!

………………………………………………..

Cathayan Underworld, Everburn.

Following the past few years of development, Everburn had already become the undisputed center of the Cathayan Underworld. There were many finer details that were still slightly lacking, but it was a grand and majestic city, nonetheless.

The city had been planned out very well in its construction, with countless antiquated buildings stretching as far as the eyes could see in all directions. Tamed Yin beasts were drawing carriages through the streets, and the business area was extremely lively and bustling. A series of cloth flags that were burning with netherfire were flapping in the wind in the recreation district, giving it a very vibrant and alluring appearance.

The topography of Everburn was rather rugged and uneven. It wasn't quite as rugged as a mountain city, but it wasn't far off. Once night fell, netherfire would light up in all of the well-organized buildings, and even though they were a little sparse, there was still a sense of prosperity to the city. They were stars on a clear summer's night, striking the beholder with an indescribable sense of peace and harmony.

Of course, the Cathayan Underworld was still lacking in resources, so only Ashmound and Everburn had been constructed to this extent. Just like in the major cities of the mortal realm, there were also countless dream-chasing Yin spirits who had come to Everburn from all parts of the nation.

At this point, two months had already passed since the final breakthrough in the Yin Mountains.

None of the netherworldly citizens were aware of the monumental development that had taken place over at the Yin Mountains.

Life had to go on, and unless it was something directly related to them, none of the netherworldly citizens were interested.

However, all of a sudden, all of the netherworldly citizens looked up into the sky in unison.

In the blink of an eye, countless Yin energy screens had appeared out of thin air, and the Yin spirits who had only recently perished were all completely rooted to the spot by this astonishing sight.

What the hell is going on?!