Yama Rising

The door was opened, and a beam of sunlight was allowed to shine into the room. However, regardless of how bright the sunlight was, it was impossible to see anything inside the room as it was filled with dense Yin energy.

The door was gently closed, and Benson gulped nervously as he strode into the room. The Yin energy of a high-grade underworld emissary was exerting a subtle sense of pressure upon him, and he shuddered before clearing his throat and extending a respectful bow. "Esteemed Yama-King Qin, we've made our decision."

A path opened up amid the inky-black Yin energy, revealing the young underworld emissary who was seated in front of the golden table. He was merely seated in silence, yet it was as if he was the center of the universe, and the suffocating Yin energy permeating from his body evoked within Benson nothing but a sense of reverence.

"Take a seat," Qin Ye said with an inviting hand gesture, and Benson's group quickly did as he was told.

No one said anything, and Qin Ye swept his gaze over Benson and his companions before breaking the silence. "Tell me your decision."

Benson stood up again before extending another respectful bow. "Esteemed Yama-King, would you be able to answer two questions for me?"

Qin Ye nodded in response with an indifferent expression. "Go ahead."

A serious look appeared on Benson's face as he asked, "Firstly, what do you need us to do and how dangerous is it?"

A faint smile appeared on Qin Ye's face upon hearing this.

The fact that this question was being asked told him that there was at least a 70% chance that Benson would agree to his condition.

If he weren't interested in the proposal at all, he wouldn't be asking any questions. Furthermore, it was clear that he was feeling quite uneasy. The only thing that they could count on was that Qin Ye would be kind and righteous enough to fulfill his promise.

Only if the task assigned to them were sufficiently difficult and Qin Ye had a sense of conscience would they be able to morally handcuff Qin Ye, and only then would they be able to ensure that the ones among them who survived would be able to reach the Cathayan Underworld alive.

They were completely powerless and could do nothing but place their lives in Qin Ye's hands.

However, at the same time, their single-minded determination to pursue their goal made them very admirable.

The room fell silent, and just as Benson and his group were starting to grow uneasy from waiting, Qin Ye finally said, "Directly above you is Philadelphia of Usonia. During the past half a month or so, many forces have arrived in Philadelphia, including two of the Master Masons of the mortal realm's Freemasonry, the three death gods of the Caribbean, the catholic church's guardian of the Spear of Longinus, and the Red Eagle Navy and Black Shirt Navy, each of which has their own objectives and motives. Counting myself, there are a total of four Dukes, at least three Marquesses, and countless other Yin spirits of lower cultivation ranks."

Qin Ye paused momentarily before concluding, "The forces involved will include the Usonian Underworld's navies, the Caribbean fleets, the werewolves, the church... It'll definitely be a mission that's not for the faint of heart."

Benson's group drew a collective sharp breath upon hearing this, and all of their faces turned deathly pale. They had to support themselves with their hands pressed against the table to stop themselves from slumping to the ground.

Four Dukes, three Marquesses, and countless other Yin spirits!

The monumental task they were about to undertake was like a mountain weighing on their backs, causing their souls to tremble uncontrollably. Those were powerful beings that they didn't even dare to think about in the past! In contrast with any of those forces, they were as puny and insignificant as ants.

Could ants like them really shift those massive mountains?

Their expressions slowly transitioned from shock and astonishment to despair as they cast their eyes toward Qin Ye.

Qin Ye was also watching them, and he was quite pleased to see their reaction.

They were in despair, but they weren't cowering from the task, and that was a very good sign.

Benson took a deep breath before asking, "Esteemed Yama-King Qin, how are you going to take the other Yin spirits away from the new continent?"

"I'll go and see Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa in person and convince them to spare the survivors among you, then take you back to the Cathayan Underworld through official channels," Qin Ye replied with a serious expression. "In addition to that, I can promise you here that if you survive this mission, you'll be given roles in various important departments of the Cathayan Underworld. If you die, then your family and friends will be compensated immensely, while everyone else among you will also be treated just like normal Cathayan Underworld citizens."

His voice was regal yet restrained as he continued, "Nothing worthwhile comes without paying a price. I'm going against two of the most powerful Yama-Kings for your sake, so you have to make this worth my while. Only then will it be a fair trade."

The room fell silent yet again.

All of the Yin spirits bit down onto their lower lips as they considered how to proceed. The despair in their heart had been replaced by a glimmer of hope in the wake of Qin Ye's wonderful promises. Their eyes were filled with concern and hesitation, but that was greatly outweighed by a sense of fierce determination to risk it all in exchange for the potential of a better life.

Indeed, risk and reward always came hand in hand.

Qin Ye didn't rush them, and only after a full 10 minutes had passed did Benson declare with a determined expression, "We accept your proposal. We swear on the name of the sun god that we will give it our all in the name of our cause, and we hope that you will treat us with the same sincerity!"

His words seemed to have strengthened the resolve of the Yin spirits around him, and they gritted their teeth like wounded beasts with their backs to the wall as they declared in unison, "In the name of the sun god!"

"Good." Qin Ye heaved an internal sigh of relief before rising to his feet as he said, "Next, I need you to tell me all of the trump cards you have at your disposal. From now on, my orders must be absolute."

Benson's group immediately accepted this arrangement, and the tumultuous emotions in their hearts slowly subsided. Benson took a deep breath before the netherfire in his eyes extended outward, forming a map of fire.

"This is the area that we're currently situated in, it's called the Fallen Sun," Benson said as he pointed at the center of the map.

The area was a massive basin with four pyramids etched onto the map. He pointed at the pyramid in the center and continued, "No one knows who constructed these Mayan pyramids of the sun. Perhaps it was our ancestors who were traveling to the underworld but got lost in Limbo. In any case, Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa are unaware of the existence of this place, and it's the final sanctuary of us native Usonians."

He then pointed up at the ceiling and said, "Right above us is a Yin Yang Mezzanine, which we refer to as Huitzilopochtli, which is one of the four suns and a clone of Master Tezcatlipoca. This Yin Yang Mezzanine is very unique in that it's riddled with cracks and is constantly on the verge of collapsing, but is somehow able to maintain a peculiar equilibrium. Around 300 Yin spirits can enter and exit this place at a time."

"How long has this mezzanine been in existence?" Qin Ye asked.

Benson faltered slightly upon hearing this before replying in a hesitant voice, "It's... been around for a very long time. I don't know exactly how long, but records of its existence go back several centuries."

Qin Ye nodded with a thoughtful expression upon hearing this, and another piece of the puzzle was slotted into his mind.

Why had the Freemasonry used this place to restrict the sun god? It was because there was a natural Yin Yang Mezzanine here, rather than an artificially created Yin Yang Mezzanine.

The main difference there was the phenomenon of attention bias.

An analogy could be drawn to Mount Fuji here. Many people knew that Mount Fuji was a volcano, but how many people were aware of the fact that it was an active volcano that was capable of erupting?

The same applied to this situation. The Yin Yang Mezzanine here had been around for a very long time, and beneath it laid the final sanctuary of the native Usonians, so no Yin spirits ever emerged from here. As a result, it definitely didn't receive much attention, making it a perfect hiding spot!

With that in mind, Qin Ye nodded to himself before asking, "Where are your troops?"

"Please come with me," Benson replied as he made an inviting hand gesture.

The door was opened again, and Qin Ye withdrew his Yin energy before making his way out of the room behind Benson's group.

Under the bright sunlight of Limbo, there was an undulating rainforest, standing among which were several massive pyramids. Benson did his best to speak in as calm a voice as possible as he pointed toward a certain direction and said, "Please look over there, Esteemed Yama-King Qin."

Qin Ye cast his gaze toward that direction to discover that there was a massive formation situated beside a mountain within the forest, on top of which were standing at least 10,000 Yin spirits!

These Yin spirits were wearing native Usonian clothing and accessories crafted from bones. They were also wielding spears and rhomboid shields, and fierce killing intent was radiating from their bodies.

This was an army that had definitely seen the heat of battle before. That wasn't a surprise, considering they would've had to have endured many battles to ward off the Eagle Warriors scouring for Yin spirits for Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa to devour. They were going to be another substantial force that would further muddy the waters in Philadelphia!

"These are our most elite troops," Benson introduced with a solemn expression. "The most powerful ones among them are Viscounts, and there are a total of 10 commanders, beneath which are 100 Baron level Yin spirits, while the rest are all Knights. This is the army that got us here all the way from Southern Usonia. What do you think, Esteemed Yama-King Qin?"

Benson turned to look directly into Qin Ye's eyes as he concluded, "This is our final trump card."

Through his expression, he seemed to be posing a question: "How are you going to achieve your objective in the face of four Dukes, three death gods, and countless Yin soldiers from multiple powers?"

Qin Ye didn't say anything. The further the plan progressed, the more careful and cautious that he had to be.

He was only a single person, yet he was up against the Freemasonry and the three death gods of the Caribbean, both of which giving this their all, the bystanders of the church, and the Red Eagle Navy and the Black Shirt Navy, both of which held ambiguous stances in this conflict.

If he wanted to have the last laugh in such a complex situation, then countless lives would have to be sacrificed as cannon fodder in order to buy him sufficient time to execute his plan!

These troops may be cannon fodder, but he still couldn't afford to waste them.

"Have you heard of military formations?" he asked in a casual voice as he raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. His nonchalant tone made it sound as if he were asking Benson what he had had for lunch.

Benson nodded in response. "I have. In fact, military formations are extremely sought after for us. If we had some powerful military formations at our disposal, we would've been able to greatly limit our casualties. The regular army of the new continent is using the Golden Sun Military Formation, one of the top 20 military formations in the world, and a military formation of that caliber is completely beyond our reach. We've managed to find some low-tier military formations, but they're completely useless in the face of the Golden Sun Military Formation."

"Have you heard of Wumu?" Qin Ye asked.

Wumu?

All of the Yin spirits faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately turning to Qin Ye with incredulous expressions.

"Are you referring to the Wumu Military Formation? One of the top three military formations in the world?! Hasn't Wumu already been lost to time?!"

Qin Ye didn't answer his question. Instead, he turned to Benson with a cold smile and asked, "How long will you be able to last if I give you Wumu?"

Benson gritted his teeth momentarily before asking, "what do you need us to do?"

Qin Ye's smile widened slightly upon hearing this, but Benson's soul shuddered at the sight of his expression.

"Let me tell you what you need to do..."