Yama Rising

Qin Ye rubbed his chin as he mused in thought - Would a hundred and fifty years be sufficient?

In other words, he essentially had a hundred and fifty years to expand Hell across all nine million six hundred thousand square kilometers that Cathay spanned across. Furthermore, he would have to establish an undefeatable army and a strong economy so that Hell wouldn’t fall prey to the other underworlds as soon as their protective barrier vanishes. The fleeting thought of a coalition of underworlds rushing straight towards Hell instantly sent chills down Qin Ye’s spine!

Economy was the cornerstone of any powerful nation. Without money, everything they did would be no different from empty talk. Although their harvest this time was plentiful, it had to be said that such a harvest was only due to the imperial court meeting that occurred only once every fifty years. Besides… a harvest worth ten billion Yin spirit stones?

“Your Majesty is right.” Yu Qian nodded deeply, “The memorandum of understanding inked between the new Hell and Liu Yu sets a time limit of two years for the commencement of sea trade. If we can’t meet that timeline, the amount of damages we’ll have to pay would be exorbitant, and the new Hell might even have to enter liquidation. Hell is just starting to spread its wings, and we simply can’t afford to taint our name with such notoriety.”

There was a brief moment of silence.

Yang Jiye also added anxiously, “Your Majesty, we must not do so! This concerns the image of Hell as a whole, and it deserves the very best attention that Hell can give. Everything else must be put on the back burner. Either withhold our signature from the memorandum of understanding, or go all out in fulfilling it as soon as we’re committed to it! Hell simply cannot afford to taint its reputation right off the cuff!”

Eh? Come to think of it… I guess they’re not wrong to suggest that I’m shameless…

Both men turned to Zhou Yu at the same time, only to realize that he was simply fanning himself casually without a single expression of concern on his face.

“Good. Hell has a multitude of affairs to deal with, so I won’t be sending you off. I wish you all a safe journey back.”

With that, Zhou Yu and Qin Ye were the only two remaining in the room.

Zhou Yu stood up, pulled out a scroll from his bosom and offered it to Qin Ye respectfully with both hands, “Lord Yanluo, I’ve come in a hurry this time, and have thus failed to bring the tribute with me. This is the list of tributes from the Tangming underworld for the last one hundred years. I’ve already sent out a messenger bird last night, and I estimate that the goods should arrive in the new Hell in the next ten days’ time.”

Fire God Zhou Yu, the man who single handedly torched eight hundred thousand troops in one fell swoop. He was considered one of the best, even among the twelve envoys.

Qin Ye received the scroll, unraveled it and then began to read through its contents. His eyes immediately gleamed brightly. Then, he continued scanning through its contents for the next five minutes, before finally turning to Zhou Yu, “Lord Zhou… is this… a peace offering?”

Zhou Yu smiled faintly, “The Tangming underworld hopes that we can scratch each others’ backs. If Lord Qin is willing, I’ll be willing to send a merchant fleet to the harbor city in two years’ time as well.”

Zhou Yu is far craftier than what was reported in the history books!

He also knew full well that Hell wasn’t strong enough to do anything about the attitude he was showing, much less fall out with a feudal official of the old Hell. Besides, there wasn’t any pretext under which Qin Ye could do anything to him in any event, especially when his attitude took the form of goodwill to Hell.

Everything about the future was unknown, and he wasn’t ready to commit to a single position just yet.

Qin Ye’s expressions finally shifted slightly.

“What is it that you’re looking for?” Qin Ye asked for the second time.

Indebtedness.

The room was silent once again. This time, Qin Ye mulled over the matter for ten full minutes, before finally looking back up and shaking his head placidly, “There’s no need.”

With that, he quickly got to his feet.

Then, without missing a beat, Zhou Yu chuckled softly, as though his following words would be laden with deep, profound meaning, “Hell’s priority right now is to expand into other cities and develop new colonies. If you can’t establish a sea port city, every bit of headway made during the imperial court meeting would have been completely in vain.”

“I’m not talking about me.” Zhou Yu shook his head and sighed wistfully, “It seems like… the Judge who is by your side hasn’t apprised you of what exactly the establishment of a new city is going to entail, has she? The dangers of exploring new frontiers… are definitely beyond anything you could fathom. I’m not trying to toot my own horn over here, but I can assure you that without my assistance, you’ll never be able to pave the way to the sea port city.”

With that, Zhou Yu took his leave.

“Interesting.” He transformed into a nethergale and made a beeline towards the construction site, “I’d like to see just what kind of dangers there are laying in wait for us incidental to founding a new city. Are these really dangers that Oda Nobunaga can’t handle on his own with ten thousand Yin soldiers? Do we really need to accept these Karmic Fire Divine Crossbows?”

The soul induction platform was located not too far away from Hell’s Gate. Thus, as soon as he stepped out of Hell’s gate, he noticed that the soul induction platform was now covered with a strange phenomenon. Countless paper money was scattering everywhere on it, and there was even a barely audible trace of the Great Goddess of Mercy mantra echoing from the center of the platform.

“Is this a new special Yin spirit?” Qin Ye paused for only a moment, before immediately rushing straight over, only to realize that Wang Chenghao and Arthis were already present and waiting for him.

“There’s no rush for that right now.” Arthis stared intently at the soul induction platform, “Don’t you find that… the Yin energy emanating from the soul on this platform is… rather familiar?”

Bloody hell… I don’t have a Shukaku in my body!!!

Qin Ye blinked his eyes at Wang One Tail, as though saying - What’s that got to do with me?

“No…” Wang CHenghao stared back at Qin Ye, almost as though he were a retard. Then, he grabbed Qin Ye’s arm and spoke with a slight tremor in his voice, “Brother Qin… how long have you been in Hell? By my calculations, it must already have been two weeks, right?”

There had been too many things to deal with over the last two weeks, all of which required his personal attention in Hell. He had initially only intended to return to Hell at night. But ever since returning to Hell two weeks ago, he began to take personal oversight of everything leading up to the imperial court meeting, and he had thus stayed the entire duration in Hell.

Qin Ye frowned, “I’ve forgotten to scatter your ashes over the great oceans?”

BOOM!

Sweatdrops immediately started beading up over Qin Ye’s forehead. His expressions looked contrived and horrid, and his lips quivered uncontrollably. Then, staring deeply into Wang Chenghao’s eyes, he grabbed his hands and spoke with a drifty voice, “About that… are you s-s-saying that… I’ve already been comatose for over two weeks back in the mortal realm?!”

Before he could even finish speaking, Qin Ye transformed into a stream of nethergale and vanished from where he was.

The First Academy of Cultivators… I’ve been so involved in the affairs of Hell that I’ve completely forgotten about my duties back in the mortal realm!

Damn it… what’s going to happen to all my teaching credits?!!

1. Naruto reference. Shukaku is the name of the One-Tail Beast in Naruto.