Yama Rising

Qin Ye was staring at everything in front of him with an incredulous expression.

This was a golden palace constructed in a prominent Aztec style, and many Aztec gods were engraved onto the surrounding walls.

The carvings were extremely intricate, and the palace was around a kilometer in size. Furthermore, it was constructed entirely from the A-grade ore, heavenrealm stone.

Qin Ye knew that not only was this type of ore extremely hard and durable, even more importantly, it was able to absorb Yin energy.

All Yin energy released inside and outside of the palace would be completely absorbed. The fact that the entire treasure vault was constructed from heavenlrealm stone made it just as much a prison as it was a treasure vault.

It was exactly because of this that they weren't able to sense who exactly it was that was imprisoned here.

"So there really is a treasure vault here." Tezcatlipoca's voice rang out from beside him, and Qin Ye glared at him with a disdainful expression.

What? So you're suddenly eager to join me now that there's a treasure vault? Shouldn't you be hanging from that pillar outside? You've come at a really bad time!

"Why are you here?"

Translation: piss off!

Tezcatlipoca put on an innocent expression as he said, "I don't know, either. I opened my eyes, and voila, here I was."

He was pretending to be completely oblivious to the implications behind Qin Ye's words.

The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, following which Tezcatlipoca said, "You'll need someone who's familiar with the Aztec religion to accompany you, won't you? Otherwise, you won't even be able to identify the treasures here."

Qin Ye pursed his lips as he averted his gaze, then said, "We can take a look, but don't touch anything in here no matter what you do."

Tezcatlipoca's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately understood Qin Ye's intentions.

Those three humans had perished due to insufficient Yin energy. The four soul lamps outside had to be lit in order to open the treasure vault, and for death gods like them, this was no issue, but for those three ordinary humans, it required their souls to be completely sucked out of their bodies.

Most importantly, the three soul lamps had already been lit even prior to Qin Ye and Tezcatlipoca's arrival.

In other words, those soul lamps were going to be lit regardless of whether they had abandoned the three of them or not. This meant that whatever was trapped inside here wanted them to come in. In fact, it had done everything in its power to ensure that they would come in.

Under these circumstances, Qin Ye was feeling very circumspect and cautious. If they were to casually touch things without exercising any caution, they could trigger unforeseen outcomes that could prove to be extremely detrimental.

Right at this moment, the entire hall began to tremble slightly, and both of them immediately released their Yin energy without any hesitation as they inspected their surroundings with cautious looks in their eyes.

The hall was riddled with all types of patterns, and the patterns were perfectly arranged around a relief of a sun at the very center of the hall. In the instant that the hall began to tremble, bursts of golden light erupted out of all of the eyes of the Aztec god engravings on the walls.

The light slowly surged over the hall, flowing along the reliefs on the walls. Several minutes later, the lines of all of the reliefs of the Aztec gods on the walls were glowing with dazzling golden light. The juxtaposition of complexity and simplicity presented a truly stunning sight to behold.

The hall was over a kilometer in radius and over 100 meters tall. All of the ancient gods of a fallen religion seemed to have sprung to life within the surging golden radiance. As for Qin Ye and Tezcatlipoca, they were like a pair of mortals standing at the feet of gods. They were gods themselves, so they weren't stunned by this sight, but this was still a breathtaking scene for them to behold.

10 minutes later, the outlines of all of the gods were filled by the golden light, yet the golden radiance continued onward in a winding path, converging toward the sun at the center.

In the instant that all of the golden light completely gathered at the center of the hall, a burst of pure golden radiance suddenly erupted from the relief of the sun.

The golden light was like a beacon that had emerged in the darkness, evoking a sense of awe and veneration.

The golden light proliferated outward in rings that resembled shockwaves, but they weren't actually very strong. Qin Ye and Tezcatlipoca's clothes were flapping incessantly amid the wave of golden light, but to them, it only felt like a series of gentle hands caressing their bodies. Within the massive golden sun, a weapon was beginning to emerge from the radiance.

It was accompanied by countless specks of pure golden light, making it resemble a rising sun that was surrounded by a cluster of stars. The specks of light formed a golden fountain that was several dozen meters tall, but it was unable to conceal the majesty of the weapon at the center of the light.

"It's only one step away from becoming a creation-grade divine artifact..." Qin Ye watched the weapon for a while through narrowed eyes, then turned his gaze toward Tezcatlipoca again. Right as the weapon began to rise up, a stunned look had suddenly appeared in Tezcatlipoca's eyes, and his lips were trembling slightly as he took an involuntary step forward.

All of a sudden, a deafening buzzing sound rang out, and all of the light faded at the same time. The hall returned to normal again, and the only thing that had changed was the stone ax standing at the center of the sun.

"That's it... It still exists..." Tezcatlipoca's mouth was already gaped wide open in astonishment.

"What is it?" Qin Ye asked.

Tezcatlipoca didn't immediately reply. There was an extremely complex look on his face, and only after a long while did he lower his head as he took several deep breaths in succession. By the time he raised his head again, his expression had already returned to normal.

"Its name is Tepoztli, and it was once my weapon," he replied as he looked at the stone ax with complex emotions in his eyes.

"As I'm sure you're aware, according to Aztec mythology, the Plumed Serpent God and I slew Cipactli. That was also the beginning of the dark age for the entire Aztec religion, and it was during that battle that I lost my foot. Tepoztli was the weapon that I was using at the time. It came from one of our parent god’s four children, Xipe Totec. She was the one who crafted this weapon for me. Thus, the weapon had gone through the hands of her and myself, and it had also been bathed in the blood of the Eternal Devourer. As a result, it's only one step away from becoming a creation-grade divine artifact."

The hall fell silent.

Qin Ye didn't respond to Tezcatlipoca's story. This item was likely very important to Tezcatlipoca. In fact, there was a very good chance that it was his origin divine artifact. However, it was also quite important to Qin Ye.

The Chalice of Preiddeu Annwn had formed the six paths of reincarnation, and this new six paths of reincarnation could strip everything down to their origins.

What if this divine artifact were to fuse as one with the 18 abysses of punishment? What kind of reaction would that produce?

His silence represented his attitude, and Tezcatlipoca immediately understood what he had to do. He turned toward Qin Ye, just in time to see Qin Ye looking back at him.

"Yanluo Qin!" Tezcatlipoca clasped his left fist over his own chest without any hesitation as he said, "Please give it to me. It will allow me to recover over 20% of my peak power! I swear that I will never oppose the Cathayan Underworld for as long as I live!"

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

Tezcatlipoca had ambition, but unfortunately for him, he didn't possess the Plumed Serpent God's intelligence. Qin Ye could clearly sense that Tezcatlipoca was easier to control in comparison.

If the Plumed Serpent God were here and in Tezcatlipoca's position, he would definitely say: "I will do everything the Cathayan Underworld tells me to in exchange for this weapon!"

He would be aware that the Cathayan Underworld didn't need an ally who "would never oppose the Cathayan Underworld". After all, the Cathayan Underworld was a powerhouse that wasn't afraid of opposition.

Instead, what the Cathayan Underworld needed was an obedient servant.

Even now, Tezcatlipoca was still unwilling to set aside his pride, and he was verbally expressing an urge to return to his former glory, so Qin Ye had to knock him down a peg in order to teach him a lesson.

"We'll discuss this another time," he replied in a calm voice. "Our top priority now is to find a way out of here. Like I said, we can't touch anything in here."

Tezcatlipoca drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. Qin Ye's excuse made sense, but who could predict what was going to happen in the future?

He had to scour the entire world for the remains of the fifth sun god, then use that to reform his own body, so there was no way he could stay here for any length of time.

In his absence, the Cathayan Underworld could send anyone to take the weapon away!

He forcibly repressed the violent killing intent that was rising up in his heart as he asked with gritted teeth, "Yanluo Qin, we're allies, right?"

"Since when were we allies?" Qin Ye asked. "Did we establish any verbal or written agreement to form an alliance? You better know your place! I'm already doing you a great favor by keeping you alive right now! What right do you have to negotiate an alliance with me? Do you have power or an army? You have nothing! I helped you escape and recover some of your power because death gods are already very rare in the world, and I didn't want to see another one die for nothing! Don't treat my kindness as an invitation to step over me as you please!"

Tezcatlipoca was trembling with rage, and countless emotions welled up in his heart, including indignation, fury, and humiliation...

He was being blatantly insulted, and he wanted nothing more than to tear Qin Ye to shreds with his bare hands! However, his response was: "Alright, I understand."

He needed the Cathayan Underworld's help!

Right at this moment, a faint crack suddenly rang out, and Qin Ye and Tezcatlipoca both faltered slightly before turning toward Tepoztli in unison, only to discover that the ax had separated itself from the sun and was hovering in mid-air!

In the next instant, it shot forth like lightning directly toward the two of them!

The space in its wake was sliced apart, creating arcs of black lightning, and all of a sudden, a sense of foreboding welled up in Qin Ye's heart as he immediately yelled, "Don't move!!"

However, it was already too late.

Tezcatlipoca had already reflexively reached out.

The weapon that had been separated from him for thousands of years was calling out to him, and even though he had heard what Qin Ye had said, he still couldn't stop himself from reaching out for it.

In the next instant, the ax was caught firmly in his grasp, and even he was stunned by this sudden turn of events as he stared at Tepoztli with an astonished expression.

Right at this moment, boundless golden light erupted from Tepoztli to completely encompass Tezcatlipoca, and an ancient godly aura abruptly arose within the golden radiance.

At the same time, the surrounding walls began to rumble and tremble violently as a series of cracks rapidly appeared on their surface.

Simultaneously, the sun at the center of the hall collapsed violently, and a burst of incredibly powerful Yin energy erupted into the heavens, forming a fountain of Yin energy.

The Yin energy belonged to a mid Yama-King!

Damn it!

Qin Ye closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then immediately transformed into a gust of Yin wind that rushed directly toward the opening formed by the collapsed sun.

Down below was a giant, bottomless abyss.

Within the abyss was an eyeball that was over 100 meters in size, and it was also looking up at him.

It was like the manifestation of all of the negative emotions in existence, and at the center o the eye, a mark that was shaped like an ax shaft was rapidly healing.

"Thank you." The inky-black pupil at the center of the eye immediately focused, and a deafening roar erupted from the abyss beneath the ground.

"My name is Medes. I've been trapped here for thousands of years, never did I think that I would be freed again someday... Hahahahaha!"

In this instant, Qin Ye understood everything.