Yama Rising

Everything in the world seemed to fall still for a second, and immediately thereafter, the inner demon let loose a thunderous roar, releasing boundless light as it attempted to adopt its true form again.

However, right at this moment, Nothingness reached out and gently laid a hand onto its head.

"Do you regret what you've done?" Nothingness asked in an emotionless voice. "You've transcended several major tribulations, and even I am unable to track you down. Even for me, the only way to find you would be to kill everyone in this world. You should've lived for all of eternity, but here you are, completely cornered and trapped."

The light that was radiating from the inner demon's body flowed back into itself as if time were being reversed, and it stared intently at the Heavenly Dao as it gritted its teeth tightly. "Throughout the past several thousand years, I haven't interfered with any of your plans, nor destroyed any civilizations! Why do you insist on hunting me down?!"

The Heavenly Dao heaved a faint sigh.

They offered no response as They abruptly tightened Their grip, and the inner demon immediately shuddered, following which a blood-curdling screech rang out across the entire Shanxi Province.

Nothingness made a grabbing motion before pulling Their arm back, and a butterfly that was around half a meter in size and was glowing with rainbow radiance was pulled out of the inner demon's body.

Countless ripples instantly appeared around the butterfly, and in the blink of an eye, the butterfly was destroyed before being compressed into a palm-sized ball that was colorless and transparent.

BOOM!!!

A deafening noise rang out across the entire world, as if the sky were collapsing.

Regardless of whether it was the very bottom of the Mariana Trench or at the top of Mount Everest.

Regardless of whether it was a sleeping infant or a deaf elderly individual.

In this instant, everyone in this world who possessed a consciousness heard the same sound ring out from the bottom of their hearts.

All of a sudden, vast expanses of inky-black clouds appeared in the sky, and they had appeared and expanded so quickly that they formed a solid black screen over the sky in the span of less than a second.

The entire world was encompassed within the darkness, from the eastern hemisphere to the western hemisphere, from the south pole to the north pole. It was like the explosion of a nuclear weapon that impacted the entire world, and circles of Yin clouds were slowly spreading toward all directions with Fenglingdu at the center, presenting a breathtaking sight to behold.

In the next instant, all of the darkness began to rapidly converge toward the Myriad Soul Pagoda, making it resemble a funnel in a sea of ink.

A giant butterfly projection that was over 100 kilometers in size rose up into the heavens from the center of the funnel. It possessed no substantial form, but it most definitely existed. It wasn't illusory, but it was as unreachable as a rainbow.

It was roaring and sighing with grief as if it signified the end of an era in history. In the end, it vanished into the center of the funnel amid an indignant roar, fading into nothingness.

At the same time, all of the Yin clouds faded, and the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars returned. As light replaced darkness, countless people across Cathay raised their heads in unison.

Inside the encampment outside Fenglingdu, several of the surrounding soldiers abruptly raised their heads to look up at the sky with dumbfounded expressions.

All of the investigators, including Zheng Shuguo, had witnessed this scene, as had the entire army that had surrounded Fenglingdu.

In the next instant, a wisp of rainbow energy surged out of their orifices before forming a rainbow butterfly that flew up into the sky.

The same thing was taking place in millions of people across Cathay!

These people belonged to all types of demographics, and the range and scope were nothing short of astounding.

The millions of rainbow butterflies crossed through space to instantly descend upon Zhuolu before converging to form a massive ghostly face, which then faded away into nothingness amid an anguished howl.

A burst of violently rumbling rang out within the Myriad Soul Pagoda, and the entire pagoda suddenly began to tremble and sway.

In the next instant, bursts of yellow radiance descended from the sky, and all of the clouds up above parted toward either side. The light was like a divine sword that fell directly onto the Myriad Soul Pagoda, and an audible crack rang out from the indestructible pagoda.

A crack appeared at the top of the pagoda before rapidly extending all the way down to its bottom, and a resounding boom rang out as the entire pagoda crumbled away, tumbling down level after level from the top to the bottom. With the pagoda's destruction, the countless Yin soldiers in the pagoda also fell back down onto Zhuolu.

The long vendetta between the Yellow Emperor and Chiyou had finally drawn to a conclusion in this moment.

Right in the instant that the ghostly face vanished, Qin Ye's body gradually began to fade before suddenly disappearing as well!

…………………………………

Qin Ye was feeling extremely sluggish.

Every single nook and cranny in his body felt as if it had been filled with lead, and it was as if his eyes had been sewn shut.

He wanted to open his eyes to see what had become of the inner demon and Chiyou, but the exhaustion was too great, and his consciousness quickly faded away.

He slept for what felt like an eternity, and by the time he reopened his eyes, the first sight that he was greeted by was a pure white world.

It was an ancient temple constructed from ice. It was extremely beautiful, and all of the flora and fauna around it were also carved out of ice in an extremely meticulous and lifelike fashion.

This was a world that sat above a sea of cloud and mist, and at this moment, Qin Ye was situated in a spacious room of ice. Even though the entire room was constructed from ice, it was somehow very warm.

His brows furrowed slightly as he inspected his surroundings, and he then took a moment to inspect his body, upon which he discovered that he had already made a full recovery, and his powers had advanced even further.

Unfortunately, he still wasn't close to reaching above the Yama-King level.

"You're awake." Right at this moment, a familiar cold and aloof voice rang out from behind him. Qin Ye didn't even bother to turn around as he stood up before performing a few stretches, cracking his own joints one after another as he asked in a casual voice, "Is this your divine nation?"

There was no response, so Qin Ye took that as confirmation.

He casually inspected his surroundings as he said, "I must say, it really suits you, given your personality."

"This is only a part of my divine nation, situated on the peak of Mount Everest." Nothingness slowly made Their way over to Qin Ye. At this moment, They were in the form of an elderly and benevolent Taoist priest, as if They were trying to make Themself appear not so cold and indifferent, but there was no way to hide Their inherent nature.

They made their way out of the temple as They said, "You've already been sleeping for two whole years."

Do They want to have a chat?

Qin Ye hurriedly followed along behind Them.

The two of them slowly strode along the icy path outside, passing by a series of empty temples before the Heavenly Dao finally said, "The battle at Fenglingdu went completely beyond my expectations. Out of the original army of Hell, there are still over 100,000 troops remaining, and they've all undergone breakthroughs following their return to Hell."

"I see."

"After the inner demon left the Myriad Soul Pagoda, I intervened to erase it out of existence in person... Why are you not surprised at all by that?"

Qin Ye shrugged in response. "The fact that I've woken up here means that Hell is already safe. Otherwise, given your personality, you wouldn't even take a second glance at me. In this plane, the only person worthy of your respect is the second King Yanluo. As for everyone else, they ultimately all exist within the boundaries of your laws. Only those who can go beyond the boundaries of your laws will be acknowledged by you, right?"

The Heavenly Dao nodded in response.

"You brought me here because you feel like the balance of karma is skewed, that your laws are unbalanced. I helped you kill the inner demon, yet you didn't do much throughout the entire process, so you feel like the interaction wasn't fair. Thus, you decided to bring me here. To be honest, I really do pity you sometimes. Were you the one who created the laws or are you just a slave to them?"

The Heavenly Dao raised Their head and cast Their gaze up toward the clouds in silence.

After a long while, They finally said, "That's a completely pointless question."

It was clear that the Heavenly Dao didn't want to discuss this subject any further, and They said in an indifferent voice, "I am both the creator and the enforcer of laws, and all laws must abide by the policy of fairness. Hell did indeed contribute far more to the battle of Fenglingdu than I did, so as the spokesperson of the laws, I should offer you a token of gratitude."

They made a grabbing motion, and the space before Them rippled slightly. By the time They spread their fingers open, a rainbow ball had already appeared on Their palm.

"This is the soul of the inner demon."

The ball seemed to have been formed by Yin energy, and it was glittering and translucent. Every single second, there seemed to be countless anguished souls wailing within it, and the Heavenly Dao said, "Any underworld emissary at the Infernal Judge level or above can immediately make a breakthrough to become Yama-King after devouring this."

Qin Ye drew a sharp breath upon hearing this, and a hint of burning desire appeared in his eyes as he looked at the ball.

This was something capable of instantly creating a Yama-King! It was no exaggeration to call it a divine artifact!

It wasn't that he hadn't killed high-grade underworld emissaries before, but all high-grade underworld emissaries who perished either returned to heaven and earth, or naturally dissipated into Yin wind or netherfire. However, the Heavenly Dao was somehow able to regather the inner demon's soul after its death! Just how powerful were They?

The value of an item like this could not be overstated. With it at his disposal, he could give rise to a fifth Yama-King at any time! However, the question was who he should give it to.

Wang Chenghao wouldn't work, he wasn't suited to serve as a Yama-King. Su Daji and Qin Hui were out of the question as well. They were loyal at the moment, but there were permanent blemishes on their past. If he were to give them something so precious, what were the people who had followed Qin Ye from the very beginning supposed to think?

After thinking for a while, Qin Ye discovered that Qin Changxin and Qin Xinzhong seemed to be the only suitable candidates. However, they didn't believe in the religions of Cathay, and without the power of worship from their native Nipponese Underworld, could this thing really succeed?

All of a sudden, a name sprang into his mind, but he quickly repressed it.

This was something that he had to think long and hard about.

The Heavenly Dao paid no heed to what Qin Ye was thinking as They continued onward, and a giant gate of ice appeared up ahead. With a wave of Their hand, the gate swung open.

Given how astonishing the first present had been, Qin Ye was already mentally prepared for what was to come, but even then, he couldn't help but be stunned by the sight of what was beyond the gate of ice.