Yama Rising

If it weren't for this trial of inner demons, never would he have imagined that so many things would've happened during his period of unconsciousness all those years ago.

After a long silence, he suddenly turned toward a certain direction and asked, "Did you already know about this? Is that why you chose this specific memory?"

There was still nothing but empty space in that direction, but there was something different.

Nothingness was standing less than 20 meters away from him, and even though there was clearly no wind, Their clothes were flapping incessantly.

They didn't deny this, nor did They admit to it. Instead, after a few seconds of silence, They said, "Sometimes, even your eyes will deceive you."

Qin Ye didn't say anything. Instead, he cast his gaze forward.

The indistinct object within the darkness had become a lot clearer. It consisted of countless streaks of light that were constantly flowing, thereby creating its outline, revealing it to be a Yin rune, one that Qin Ye had never seen before.

It was around the size of a plate, and it was extremely complex, more so than even the Yin runes in the ninth circle. Furthermore, as soon as Qin Ye caught sight of it, an extremely intense sense of nostalgia welled up in his heart.

He felt as if he could see the days that he had spent with his grandfather. Even though they were living in constant hunger and poverty, it was a peaceful and enjoyable life. He felt as if he could see the days free from worry that he had spent at the Academy of Cultivators. He felt as if he could see his leisurely daily life back when he was running his coffin shop. All of these memories converged as one, evoking hints of warm, nostalgic emotions in his heart.

"This is one of the foundational Yin runes for constructing a divine art. Its name is Nostalgia, and you can refer to it as a Yin rune of the 10th circle."

Nothingness was still wearing Their tattered black robe as They made their way over to Qin Ye's side, and on this occasion, They had taken on the form of a wise elderly man. "It's also known as one of the primary Yin runes. All of the other Yin runes from the first to the ninth circles are merely different parts of it that have been altered. The foundation of the underworld is people. To put it more accurately, it's the souls of people, and souls are where human emotions reside. There are a total of 72 obstacles in the trial of inner demons, and with each obstacle that is overcome, mastery will be attained over the corresponding Yin rune. If anyone can overcome all 72 obstacles, then they will possess a flawless psyche and be able to use Yin runes as second nature."

I see...

Qin Ye nodded in response before turning to the Heavenly Dao. "You didn't erase my memories."

He had failed the trial, but he could still recall his past memories.

"Unforeseen circumstances arose," Nothingness replied. "The inner demon descended into the trial in person, and that goes beyond the boundaries of this trial, so there's no punishment for you on this occasion."

"Is that all?"

"That's all."

"You know what I want to hear!" Qin Ye's voice abruptly spiked up a few octaves as he looked straight into the Heavenly Dao's eyes with a hostile expression. "You want to gloss things over just like that? Why did the inner demon descend into this trial? Why did you show me that particular memory? Are you trying to convince me that none of this can be attributed to your own selfish desires?!"

Qin Ye was unable to suppress his own fury any longer, and he gritted his teeth as he continued, "Can you honestly tell me that this was only a normal trial?"

His Yin energy erupted violently behind him as he stared intently into Nothingness's eyes, only to be met with a completely expressionless gaze. "You knew that the inner demon had my grandfather's soul, yet you didn't try to inform me of that at all! I can let that slide. After all, you have no obligation to tell me those things. However, the inner demon isn't as powerful as you, so why was it able to suddenly enter the trial of inner demons?! Don't tell me you couldn't stop it! I looked at the peace treaty, and I saw the second King Yanluo's signature on it! Just that alone would be enough to intimidate the inner demon! You are the Heavenly Dao, yet you're resorting to these dirty tricks to strike up conflict between the inner demon and myself! Why are you doing this?"

His accusations came thick and fast, yet Nothingness's expression remained completely unchanged. "I can answer your questions, but are you sure you're prepared to hear the answers?"

A serious look appeared on Their face as They continued, "Once you hear what I have to say, your only choice will be to oppose the inner demon, one of the most powerful beings in this world, and backing down will not be an option. Are you sure you're prepared to face all that?"

Qin Ye drew Fate and rested it against Nothingness's neck. "If you don't tell me now, I'll make sure you're silenced forever."

No one said anything.

After a brief silence, the Heavenly Dao said in an indifferent voice. "The chances of you defeating me are below 1%."

In other words, your threat is not menacing in the slightest.

"Do you think that's going to stop me from trying?" Qin Ye asked with a cold smile.

Both of them fell silent again.

After another brief silence, Nothingness said, "Following the fall of Fengdu, I was the first one to sense it, followed by the inner demon. I do not interfere with the changes of the three realms, but that doesn't apply to the inner demon, who is an entity formed by all of the world's desires to begin with. Thus, it chose to intervene."

Intervene?

The Heavenly Dao's voice was very calm, but They were revealing a massive revelation.

Why would the inner demon possibly step in in the wake of such an event?

Hell had fallen, and the position of death god was vacated as a result. That was the only thing that could tempt it!

It wanted to become a legitimate death god!

It was no wonder that the Heavenly Dao had told him that he would have no choice but to oppose the inner demon after hearing the truth. The inner demon was lusting for his position, and for that alone, it had to die!

"Judging from how things are right now, it ultimately failed, right?" Qin Ye asked.

"That's right. However, it's failure doesn't stem from an inability to enter the three realms. You have to realize that the inner demon is omnipresent, but also non-existent at the same time. It has no tangible form, but it exists wherever there are negative emotions. For underworld emissaries, one would have to at least become an Infernal Judge before and attain the ability to fly before they can pass through Limbo on their own. For humans, they're still under the impression that the concept of the three realms is only a myth. Under normal circumstances, they'll never be able to enter the other realms, so it's no wonder that they think that. However, the inner demon is a completely unique existence. The boundaries of the three realms are essentially non-existent to it. It can hide itself within the darkness in the hearts of any human, Yin spirit, or heavenly immortal. This unique trait is the first reason that it decided to try and benefit from the fall of Fengdu. On top of that, all living beings and Yin spirits are governed by their desires. Humans travel to go to work, and they go to work to earn money... If the inner demon can become a true death god and rule over the entire nation, then it'll be a ruler that can never be overthrown because it derives sustenance from all negative emotions. These are the two decisive factors that gave it the confidence to try and attain godhood, but it was unable to achieve this goal in the end. It's not a Yin spirit, nor is it a human. It can only lurk within souls, and it can't directly reveal itself to anyone."

Nothingness's voice trailed off here.

Qin Ye was rather perplexed by this abrupt ending before realizing what the Heavenly Dao was implying.

This was the biggest weakness of the inner demon! If it wanted to do something, then it required a vessel.

Only with a vessel would it be able to unleash its true power.

However, at the time, Hell had been completely destroyed, and in order to rebuild it, it would've faced the same problem that Qin Ye had faced all those years ago, and that was manpower.

With such a severe lack of manpower, how could Hell possibly be rebuilt?

However, how had the new Hell come into existence? It had initially been born from the manifestation of King Yanluo's Seal!

This involved creating an entire plane, something that the inner demon was incapable of. However, without this plane, Hell would be unable to attract any Yin spirits, and without Yin spirits in Hell, it wouldn't be able to possess anyone, thereby rendering it completely powerless.

If it couldn't possess a vessel, how could it rebuild Hell?

It was invincible in that it possessed no form, but in the matter of rebuilding Hell, its most advantageous trait became the biggest obstacle in its path.

Nothingness continued, "Thus, it thought of a way around all of this."

Nothingness then fell silent again, and Qin Ye's eyelids began to twitch as everything instantly became clear to him.

The best way for the inner demon to bypass these obstacles would undoubtedly be to target those who had consumed the Taisui fungus!

Only those who had consumed the Taisui fungus could pass through the three realms as they pleased.

As long as the inner demon could create a foothold in the underworld, its entire plan would be plausible!

No wonder it had been unwilling to make a deal with Qin Ye in exchange for Qin Zhongguo's soul.

Even now, it was still trying to target those who had consumed the Taisui fungus, which meant that it had never given up on its intention to become a true death god!

Thus, it and Qin Ye were destined to be enemies, and that wasn't even taking into account the fact that the inner demon still held Qin Zhongguo's soul.

There was only one between the two that could survive in the end.

"But Grandpa didn't successfully digest the Taisui fungus."

"That's not important," the Heavenly Dao replied. "All the inner demon needs is the Taisui fungus's ability to ignore the boundaries between all realms. It doesn't care what type of soul this is, all it cares about is the soul itself."

A serious look appeared on Nothingness's face as They continued, "That was also the first time I interfered with the operation of the three realms. You saw what happened after that. The second King Yanluo arrived at the scene, but at the time, Qin Zhongguo's soul had already been devoured by the inner demon. Even as mighty as the second King Yanluo is, there would be no way for him to track down the inner demon unless he killed everyone in the world. Thus, he captured a part of Qin Zhongguo's soul. His powers were already unmatched at that point, so the inner demon wasn't able to detect what he did. Even if it did, it wouldn't have been able to do anything, so it chose to depart. However, due to the fact that Qin Zhongguo's soul was incomplete, it was unable to establish an anchor in the underworld, and that's why you're King Yanlou right now. The part of Qin Zhongguo's soul that was captured was used by me to form the foundation of the first obstacle of the trial of inner demons."

Qin Ye raised his head with a furious expression. "So you're forcing us to oppose one another?"

He finally understood everything now. The inner demon had descended in person, going as far as to even oppose the Heavenly Dao, all for the sake of recovering the missing piece of Qin Zhongguo's soul.

From this point onward, the entire Cathayan Underworld would be under the threat of the inner demon!

It completely made sense why it had founded the Yiguandao now.

All deities required anchors.

Without an anchor, the deity would fall. For example, the anchor of Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa, which were the native Usonians on the new continent, had virtually been completely wiped out, and those that remained no longer had faith in them. Thus, they had no choice but to turn to the stars.

At the height of its power, the Yiguandao had become an extremely influential force, able to compete with the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party, and had it been allowed to develop further, it would've definitely become the primary national religion!

A religion that belonged to the inner demon would create an anchor that would virtually never disappear!

The inner demon had already made all of the necessary preparations, only for the second King Yanluo to stop it cold in its tracks at the very last moment. As a result, it had been unable to implement its plan for the past few centuries, but it finally had the opportunity to do so now.

From this point onward, the entirety of the Cathayan Underworld was going to be pitted against a being above the Yama-King level.

Qin Ye took a deep breath, then said, "I have another question."

"Go ahead."

"Hell has already been established, so the inner demon should be able to descend into the Cathayan Underworld anytime it pleases. Why hasn't it done that?"

Nothingness replied, "That's very simple: Qin Zhongguo's soul is incomplete, so it was unable to use the soul to bypass the defenses of the three divine artifacts. However, things could be different now."