Yama Rising

Yin Xiangnan, male, 25 years of age, passed away at age 18...

He entered the underworld seven years ago, participating in all types of grand occasions during his time here, and he was part of the second batch of Yin spirits to have entered the new Hell.

Right as the Yin energy screens appeared, he immediately looked up to watch them intently with an unblinking gaze.

It had been so long since Yin energy screens had last appeared that he had almost forgotten their existence. However, he knew that everytime these screens appeared, it was always to declare some major event!

He wasn't the only one. In this instant, all of the Yin spirits who had some experience in Hell immediately stopped what they were doing to look up at the screens.

Currently, the daily number of people who died from natural causes in Cathay was around 52,000, and over the course of the past decade, the number of Yin spirits in the new Hell had already exceeded two hundred million!

In terms of national population, Cathay ranked first in the world with 1.4 billion, Hindustan was second with 1.3 billion, Usonia was third with three hundred million, Indonesia was fourth with 260 million, and Brazil was fifth with 210 million. Thus, the current population of Yin spirits in the Cathayan Underworld would already be enough for it to rank as the fifth most populous nation in the mortal realm!

Thus, most of the Yin spirits were completely bamboozled.

Who am I? Where am I? What's going on?

Inside the office that Yin Xiangnan was situated in, all of the Yin spirits stuck their heads out the windows with stunned expressions, pointing up at the Yin energy screens in the sky while discussing spiritedly among themselves.

"What on earth is that?"

"I've never seen this before! Could it be aliens? Oh wait, I'm already dead..."

"Hey, look at this! These things ripple when you poke it! What is this stuff?"

What a bunch of excitable hillbillies!

Yin Xiangnan cleared his throat as he said, "Watch and learn my friends, something big is about to happen."

"Do you know what these things are?" Countless Yin spirits were gathered on the street, and all of the Yin spirits in the company turned to Yin Xiangnan with curious expressions.

"Of course," Yin Xiangnan replied as he took a sip of his tea. "You only came down recently, so you haven't seen any of Hell's past national public announcements. I recall the last one was around five to six years ago, when the founding of the third coming of Hell was announced."

"Not bad, Brother Yin!"

"As expected of an old ghost like you!"

"So basically, these things are like LED screens that can be conjured up across the entire nation?"

Yin Xiangnan was very pleased with the feeling of being looked up to by his peers.

Right as he was about to speak, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a woman rushed into the room. "I could hear all of you chit-chatting all the way from outside! Have you finished your report, Yin Xiangnan? And all of you, do you think a national public announcement is an excuse for you to stop working? Even if the sky falls on us right now, your finance department has to submit its report by the end of today, no ifs, ands, or buts, do I make myself clear? It's already the end of the month! Hurry, hurry, hurry! You can't be wasting time like this!"

The smug look on Yin Xiangna's face immediately vanished as he replied in an awkward manner, "We'll do that right away..."

Right at this moment, a burst of white light suddenly erupted from all of the screens across the entirety of the Cathayan Underworld.

All of the Cathayan Underworld's hundreds of cities, thousands of counties, and tens of thousands of villages and townships were basked in this white light at the same time. All of the Yin spirits who were chatting with one another instantly fell silent as they looked up at this divine miracle.

Several seconds later, a surge of Yin energy swept over all of the screens, following which Qin Ye's face emerged. He was wearing a tight-fitting black dragon robe, and the Harken was on his left, while Zhao Yun was on his right.

These were three of Hell's five top dogs!

This was what they were referred to by the netherworldly citizens, the other two were Arthis, who was the master of the six paths of reincarnation, and Qin Changxin, who was overseeing all matters in Everburn and Ashmound. Of course, most of the Yin spirits had only ever heard of their names, and it was an astonishing sight to be seeing three of the five top dogs at once!

In this instant, the entire Cathayan Underworld was silent, and Qin Ye declared, "I am the ruler of Hell, Yanluo Qin."

His gaze seemed to be able to sweep over the entire nation, and every single Yin spirit felt as if Qin Ye's gaze had rested on them individually for an instant. Qin Ye continued, "What is an underworld emissary?"

What is he trying to say?

Yin Xiangnan looked out the window as well to stare up at the screens suspended in the sky, and even the female manager who had just rushed into the room was also looking up at the sky with a puzzled expression.

What were underworld emissaries? The answer to that question was simple: they were the enforcers of Hell responsible for maintaining law and order in the Cathayan Underworld.

Why was such a question being asked?

Qin Ye seemed to have gleaned the thoughts of all of the netherworldly citizens across the entire nation, and he said, "There are six ranks among underworld emissaries, namely Netherworld Operative, Soul Hunter, Anitya Hellguard, Infernal Judge, Abyssal Prefect, and Yama-King. I'm sure many of you have already heard of this."

Countless netherworldly citizens nodded in response to this. During these past few years, the ranks of the underworld emissaries hadn't been kept a secret from the netherworldly citizens, but nor had they ever been elaborated upon.

Why was this topic suddenly being discussed?

Right as everyone was looking on with befuddlement in their hearts, the image suddenly zoomed out, depicting several Netherworld Operatives wearing long black robes, giving off menacing Yin energy while holding Soul Shackles in their hands.

It wasn't difficult to reach this rank, all one had to do was to be officially anointed by Hell. During the past decade, some netherworldly citizens had already managed to reach this level.

The images were depicting all corners of the mortal realm, and most of them depicted hospitals. As soon as any mortal perished, a murky soul would emerge from their body, following which a Soul Shackle would instantly be wound around their neck. At the same time, a talisman would be plastered to their forehead, and with an authoritative cry of "by Hell’s Dictum, all rabble shall disperse'', the dazed looks in the eyes of the Yin spirits would give way to clarity once again, and they would follow along behind the Netherworld Operatives obediently.

One Soul Shackle could often capture several Yin spirits, and wherever a Netherworld Operative appeared, all of the drifting souls in the surrounding area would frantically rush away. Those who couldn't get away in time immediately fell to the ground, kneeling with their foreheads pressed against the ground as they trembled uncontrollably.

The Netherworld Operatives were like imposing rulers of death!

"That's so badass!" This sentiment was shared by countless young, male Yin spirits all over the nation. However, they were only intrigued by how badass the Netherworld Operatives looked to them. In contrast, most of the Yin spirits were thinking of something else entirely.

These Netherworld Operatives could return to the mortal realm!

Several elderly Yin spirits were rooted to the spot for several seconds on a plaza, and as they spoke, even their voices were cracking from excitement. "They can return to the mortal realm?! These Netherworld Operatives are allowed to return to the mortal realm?!"

They were aware of the six ranks of underworld emissaries, but they didn't actually know how powerful they were or what purposes they served.

"Does this mean that if we get selected to become Netherworld Operatives, we'll be able to return to the mortal realm?!"

"My god, that's insane! I recall that only those who performed their jobs well in Yin Construction would be given the chance to return to the mortal realm for a trip!"

"I heard about that as well from the old ghosts in my area, but that privilege was done away with long ago. It looks like the only way to return to the mortal realm now would be to become a Netherworld Operative!"

Countless Yin spirits were extremely enticed by the prospect of a return to the mortal realm.

They were willing to make any sacrifice even if they were only permitted to take a single look at the mortal realm!

Once again, Qin Ye seemed to have read everyone's thoughts, and he explained, "Netherworld Operatives form the foundation of the underworld emissary system. They're responsible for collecting all Yin spirits in the mortal realm and guiding them into the underworld. Netherworld Operatives work in the mortal realm, and they're changed once every decade."

The Netherworld Operatives depicted on the screens began to rise up into the air, then instantly disintegrated into Yin energy that drifted in all directions like gusts of wind before reforming themselves as if they were performing a magic trick. At the same time, the Soul Shackles in their hands were dancing like venomous vipers that had a mind of their own, and their demonhead sabers were resting on their shoulders, giving them a menacing and domineering appearance.

"Netherworld Operatives possess basic underworld emissary abilities, and their powers are equivalent to that of 50 normal Yin spirits combined. Not only are they responsible for harvesting souls, they also have a duty to inspect the mortal realm and immediately report to their higher-ups if they discover any malicious spirits."

All of the Yin spirits of the Cathayan Underworld were looking on intently. This was the first time the power system of the underworld was being explained to them, and it was also the first time that countless Yin spirits were directly facing the arcane.

What came next was an image depicting Soul Hunters.

Yin energy was drifting all around them, and they appeared to be no different from Netherworld Operatives. However, everyone could see that the Yin energy around them was far more substantial. If Netherworld Operatives could only slice rifts into the ground several meters in length with their attacks, then Soul Hunters would be able to fell entire buildings with a single nonchalant gesture, and the Yin energy screens seemed to be trembling in the face of their power.

The image transitioned again, and on this occasion, it was depicting a vast expanse of inky darkness.

Within the darkness, two specks of netherfire, one azure and one red, suddenly lit up, following the howls and sobs of countless evil ghosts rang out incessantly. All of a sudden, two figures, one black and one white, emerged in a wraith-like manner.

They were wearing familiar pointed hats and black and white long robes, holding mourning sticks in their hands. The word "prosperity" was written on top of one of their heads, while the other one carried the words "world peace" on top of their head. Their inky-black hair trailed down from the brims of their hats, flapping in the wind, while their crimson tongues dangled over a meter in length out of their mouths.

However, not only were the Yin spirits not horrified by this, they found this to be a very intimate and claiming sight.

These two underworld emissaries were virtually the spokespeople of Hell, namely White Anitya Hellguard Xie Bi'an, and Black Anitya Hellguard Fan Wujiu!

"Those are the Black and White Anitya Hellguards!" Yin Xiangnan was looking up at the screens in the sky with an excited expression. He didn't know why this information was suddenly being presented to them, but he was very intrigued, nonetheless.

All of the netherworldly citizens looked on with intrigued expressions as a river appeared in front of the Black and White Anitya Hellguards.

What are they going to do?

Right in front of everyone's puzzled eyes, the Black and White Anitya Hellguards slowly raised their hands before gently pressing them downward.

In the next instant, a resounding boom rang out, and the entire river was split in half down the middle!

"Holy shit!!!" Yin Xiangnan's eyeballs almost bulged out of their sockets as he abruptly sprang to his feet, sending his chair flying back with a piercing scraping noise as the legs of the chair slid across the floor, but no one chastised him for this.

All of the colleagues around him, including the female supervisor who had just said that everyone had to work even if the sky were falling on them, were all completely rooted to the spot as they stared at the screens with slack-jawed expressions.

In that instant, the entire Cathayan Underworld had fallen so silent that even a pin drop would be audible.

If the powers of Netherworld Operatives and Soul Hunters could still be understood and accepted, then the powers of the Black and White Anitya Hellguards were completely outside the realm of everyone's comprehension!

With a simple gesture, they had split an entire river! How could this be real?

Amid the deathly silence, Qin Ye continued, "Anitya Hellguards are considered to be mid-grade underworld emissaries. Upon reaching this level, one would've completely transcended beyond normal Yin spirits. No matter how many Yin spirits challenge them at once, they would all be lambs to the slaughter, and there are rarely ever any ghosts that can stand a chance against an Anitya Hellguard."

The Yin energy screens shimmered slightly as Yin energy permeated across their surface, and by the time the Yin energy dissipated, a tall mountain was revealed.

At the top of the mountain stood a lone figure.

Netherfire was revolving all around him, and his Yin energy was as vast as a river, countless times more fearsome than that of an Anitya Hellguard, which had already stunned the entire Cathayan Underworld into silence with their display of power.

This has to be an Infernal Judge!

The same thought occurred to all of the netherworldly citizens, and with it came a sense of scorching anticipation, especially for a certain group of people.

These were the people who had been special forces soldiers during their lives in the mortal realm, and never did they think that the power system in the underworld could be so terrifying and so alluring!

Everyone was truly eagerly waiting to see what happened next, and right before their expectant eyes, the Infernal Judge gently raised a hand.