Yama Rising

"Are you sure?" Mictlantecutli turned around with an incredulous expression to face the servant down below.

The servant replied in an uneasy manner, "I am, and he's currently standing right outside the northeastern gate of Chichenhagen..."

Silence.

Only after a few seconds had passed did Mictlantecutli give a slight nod in response. "Alright, you can go now."

This was an enormous space, and everyone standing inside was made to resemble ants on a chessboard.

Down below was a vast expanse of black Yin clouds, and the entire space was surrounded by a pitch-black sky. Specks of light that resembled stars were flying through the sky in all types of different trajectories, and within this simulated space, there was a gigantic object that was just barely visible under the radiance of the stars.

"Why is he here?" Mictetikasiwa asked as her brows furrowed tightly. "On top of that, he didn't pass through Xolotl's Screen, nor did he set off any of the restrictions. How did he enter the new continent?"

Mictlantecutli didn't reply right away. A few seconds later, a cold smile appeared on his face as he said, "It looks like Xolotl and the others aren't the only ones waiting to see us die..."

Mictetikasiwa raised an eyebrow as she asked, "So you're saying that the Cathayan Underworld has planted a foothold in the new continent, and that he's also waiting for the day that the religions of the new continent meet their demise? Is he not afraid of having to face our wrath by displaying his intentions so blatantly?"

A self-derisive look appeared on Mictlantecutli's face as he chuckled, "We'll both disappear eventually. We'll either fuse as one with the Heavenly Dao, or leave this plane and be replaced by Xolotl and the others. We're just a pair of doomed rulers clinging onto dear life, what is there to fear about our wrath?

"So he's certain that we're going to die?" Mictetikasiwa mused as her eyes narrowed slightly.

If that were the case, then it meant that the cultivation method he had provided to them to help them break through the Yama-King level was nothing but a lie! Did he really think that the new continent wouldn't dare to attack the Cathayan Underworld?

At this point, nothing was beyond them!

Mictlantecutli turned toward her with a complex smile on his face as he said, "Perhaps he's certain that we're going to have to leave this world one way or another."

After that, his colorful cape, which was around two meters in length, rose up behind him like a pair of wings, and he vanished on the spot as a gust of Yin wind. "Let's go and meet him. He is trespassing on our territory, and he has to provide a good reason for his actions."

……………………………………………………

On the third-to-last level of Chichenhagen was the Golden Sun Palace, and on the ground at the center of the palace was a resplendent carpet with the legend of the five suns embroidered upon it.

On the four walls were murals depicting important legends from the previous four suns, and up above was a hollow stone ceiling that had been constructed in the shape of the sun, made to appear especially life-like and vibrant by the addition of colorful paint.

Extremely intricately crafted golden candlesticks were positioned all around the room, and the very center were two rows of tables and chairs, three of which were already occupied.

"Yanluo Qin, long time no see," Mictlantecutli greeted with a smile as he extended a wizened hand.

"Indeed." Qin Ye also smiled as he shook Mictlantecutli's hand, but as he attempted to pull back his hand, Mictlantecutli refused to let go.

Qin Ye raised an eyebrow as he looked into Mictlantecutli's eyes, and complete silence instantly descended upon the entire palace.

Several seconds later, Mictlantecutli tightened his grip slightly as he remarked, "You've already become a mid Yama-King. I must say, that's very impressive. During your inauguration, you were still only a nascent Yama-King, yet you've already made a breakthrough within the past few years. As expected of a powerhouse nation like the Cathayan Underworld."

He was still holding onto Qin Ye's hand, and all of the golden accessories hanging from his body were clinking incessantly.

His smile then slowly faded, and an authoritative gleam that could only belong to a ruler death god appeared in his eyes.

"However, don't forget that you're in this room with two advanced death gods." He released Qin Ye's hand as he said, "The Seal of the Five Suns is a restriction that can only be unleashed by advanced Death Gods with the assistance of the creation-grade divine artifact, the Crystal Skull of the Sun God. With this restriction in place, we'll immediately be alerted if any underworld emissary below the advanced death god level enters our territory without our permission."

A smile appeared on his face, causing his wrinkles to pile together as he concluded, "Trespassing on the territory of another nation is seen as a declaration of war."

As his voice trailed off, the Yin energy of Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa surged through the air in silence, and even though no sound could be heard, that didn't make the eruption of Yin energy any less fearsome! The entire world around Qin Ye transformed into a complete blur, and Yin energy was surging around him like a vortex, causing the fine hairs all over his body to stand up on end. In the blink of an eye, he felt as if he had been plunged into a swirling vortex of suffocating killing intent.

This was clearly meant to be a display of intimidation, but that wasn't going to work on the current Qin Ye. He stood like a resolute mountain amid the waves of Yin energy, and even though his robes and hair were flapping incessantly, he remained calm and collected, standing with his hands clasped behind his back as he said in an unhurried manner, "I naturally have a good explanation for my unannounced entry."

He paused momentarily as his eyes narrowed slightly, then continued, "For example, if I told you that I'm here to support the new continent's space exploration project, would that be a good enough reason?"

All of the Yin energy in the room silently dissipated, and Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa remained standing still on the spot as if nothing had just happened.

"Space exploration project?" Mictlantecutli's expression remained completely unchanged. "Yanluo Qin, do you think that we're so senile that you can just make up any excuse to placate us?"

Qin Ye took a meaningful look at the two death gods, then suddenly sat down and crossed his legs before casually picking up the coffee cup on the table and taking a sip. "It looks like I was mistaken. It's not important whether this project exists or not. There are only the three of us here right now, do you two have some time to hear me tell a story?"

"Of course! I would be glad to humor you, Yanluo Qin." Mictetikasiwa also sat down, and the tense atmosphere and killing intent in the room instantly vanished. It was as if they were the closest of neighbors, catching up after a long separation.

Qin Ye was still smiling, but internally, he was dead serious.

He wanted to hear the two death gods tell the truth, not to placate him with lies. However, for a pair of ruler death gods who had already lived for thousands of years, the truth could be extremely difficult to extract.

If he wanted to hear them tell the truth, then he had to give them sufficient incentive.

Furthermore, even if they did tell him the truth, it was still yet to be seen whether actually had the information that he needed.

"This story begins on a certain continent." He took a sip of his coffee, then continued, "The two death gods of this continent encountered some unforeseen circumstances outside of their control, causing the collapse of their religion. Thus, as deities, their anchor in the mortal realm became weaker and weaker, and they had to think of a way to avoid fading into the sands of time."

Mictlantecutli raised a hand to interrupt Qin Ye as he said, "Pardon me for being frank, Yanluo Qin, but your story isn't original at all, and your delivery is also quite clumsy."

"That's because the delivery and the originality of the story aren't important at all." Qin Ye maintained a polite smile as he continued, "They tried many things to ensure their own survival, hoping to latch onto any opportunity that they could. Right as they were at a complete loss for what to do and were beginning to fall into despair, the mortal realm gave them hope again. Specifically, what had given them hope was the news that humans had been sent to space for the very first time."

He set down his coffee cup as his smile faded, and he looked directly at the two death gods to gauge their reactions.

"That's an interesting story," Mictlantecutli said as he nodded in response, but his expression betrayed no emotion whatsoever.

Qin Ye withdrew his gaze in a slightly disappointed manner upon seeing this. However this was only to be expected. If he didn't offer the two of them sufficient incentive to tell the truth, then they would remain completely unmoved, even if he were to spill his guts to them.

With that in mind, Qin Ye continued with his story. "However, the odds were still against them. Specifically, they ran into two major problems. Firstly, their underworld has the largest territory out of any underworld, and if they were to let the other underworlds know that they intended to venture into space, then all of the other underworlds would do everything in their power to seize this opportunity as well. Thus, their underworld would be swarmed by foreign visitors, and that would severely hinder their plan. This is simply due to human nature. The other underworlds could refrain from participating in the project, but they'll do everything in their power to ensure that they can establish foundations on the new continent prior to the departure of the two death gods. Only then would they have the best chance to claim the most territory from the new continent once the two death gods were gone."

Mictlantecutli heaved a faint sigh upon hearing this. "Indeed, an insatiable appetite for a larger territory has always been a part of human nature."

Qin Ye nodded in agreement, then continued, "They don't want to be interrupted at all before they succeed in their project, so they decided to keep everything a secret."

He took another sip of his coffee before turning to look at the two death gods again. "What do you think of the story thus far?"

"I'm a little intrigued now," Mictetikasiwa replied with a smile.

"Well, the most interesting part is still to come." Qin Ye leaned toward the two death gods as he gently tapped the table with his fingers. "As the two death gods developed their project further and further, they suddenly realized that they didn't have enough funds."

Right as his voice trailed off, the smiles on the faces of Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa stiffened ever so slightly.

There it is!

Qin Ye wasn't completely sure of whether the new continent was actually pursuing space exploration. According to his analysis, there was an extremely high chance that this was the case, and only once they had delved extremely deep into the project would they encounter issues related to insufficient funds.

However, an extremely high chance didn't equate to certainty.

There was no way for him to confirm without a doubt that the new continent really was pursuing this path, and before confirmation could be made, this was all just a hypothesis.

Qin Ye was using everything that he had learned and extrapolated to chip away at Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa's internal defenses, and all he wanted to know was the truth. Even if the truth turned out to be unfavorable news to him, he was still already prepared to compensate the new continent in exchange for the truth.

This was something that was worthy of taking a gamble on!

Mictlantecutli looked into Qin Ye's eyes with a calm expression, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he mused, "How interesting."

Qin Ye looked straight back at the two death gods as he continued, "The underworld of the two death gods had the most plentiful mineral produce out of any nation, and it had accumulated a foundation over the course of close to 2,000 years, and never did they think that this foundation would be insufficient to support this single super project. Thus, they found themselves in a situation where they couldn't advance any further, but retreat also wasn't an option."