Yama Rising

Right as the Infernal Judge raised his hand, all of the Yin spirits involuntarily stood up a little straighter as they stared intently at the image unfolding before their eyes.

In the next instant, a speck of light appeared in the sky before becoming brighter and brighter.

Initially, it was white in color, as if it were a star in the cosmos, but before long, it had turned a scarlet color, and it was also becoming larger and clearer by the second!

All of the Yin spirits' eyelids were twitching, and even through the screens, they were struck by an asphyxiating sense of pressure. In the face of this astonishing scene, movies like 2012 and Armageddon were child's play!

"Holy shit..." The netherfire in a young Yin spirit's eyes had turned completely red, perhaps from fear, or perhaps from excitement. "Did he just summon an asteroid?!"

Indeed, that was exactly what it was.

The asteroid was coming from above the heavens and burning with boundless scorching flames, as if a fire god were descending from above, crashing down toward an area near the Infernal Judge.

The closer it got, the faster it seemed to travel, and at this point, the entire sky had been illuminated a scarlet color. It was as if the sky were a piece of paper, and a scarlet demon was about to tear out from behind it at any moment!

Everyone looked on with bated breath, and finally, an earth-shattering boom rang out as scorching flames erupted in all directions!

BOOM!!!!

The giant asteroid crashed down around 10 kilometers in front of the Infernal Judge, and layer upon layer of shockwaves erupted forth in a frenzy, sending fierce wind blowing in all directions and uprooting all of the surrounding trees. Visible shockwaves instantly proliferated through the entire surrounding area, followed by a burst of blinding light.

Boundless light illuminated the entire Cathayan Underworld, and all of the netherworldly citizens involuntarily closed their eyes. Only after the light had completely faded did they carefully reopen their eyes, following which the netherfire in all of their eyes instantly contracted drastically.

They were greeted by the sight of a bleak desert.

The Infernal Judge had been standing in front of a forest just a moment ago, yet all that was left now was a barren desert.

One could easily be forgiven for thinking that this place had always been a desert if not for the asteroid sitting at the center of the desert.

Silence.

The silence lasted for over a minute, following which the sound of spirited discussion gradually rang out, slowly becoming louder and louder until it crescendoed into a raucous commotion in just several seconds!

"Is this the power of an Infernal Judge?! Legend has it that Zhong Kui has reached this level!"

"How dare you mention the great Zhong Kui directly by name?! He'll erase you with a casual flick of his finger!"

"That's not an Infernal Judge, that's a fucking human weapon!"

"Is this what all underworld emissaries are like?! This is not the image I had of them at all!"

However, the most excited ones of all were the young Yin spirits.

All of them were looking on with their jaws resting on the ground, completely stunned by what they had seen.

All of them had fantasized about jumping into a xianxia novel and becoming godly figures capable of erasing entire worlds with a simple gesture, and this dream didn't seem completely out of reach now!

"Is this real?" Amid the raucous commotion, one young Yin spirit after another finally returned to their senses. "Are underworld emissaries all like the immortals that we see in xianxia novels? Even an Infernal Judge is capable of this?!"

"My god... Could it be that I didn't die? Did I arrive in the world of a xianxia novel instead?"

"Are we able to cultivate Yin energy as well?"

"Holy shit, this is unbelievable! If I had known this is what this world is like, I would've died sooner!"

"Silence!" Qin Ye seemed to be able to hear the commotion ringing out across the nation, and his voice rang out again. "Infernal Judges are the cream of the crop when it comes to mid-grade underworld emissaries. Each major cultivation rank entails a massive disparity in power. Next, I will be showing you the powers of Abyssal Prefects and Yama-Kings, the pinnacle of all underworld emissaries."

As his voice trailed off, all of the screens across the nation dimmed in unison once again, and as they lit up, another image had appeared.

This one was depicting Qin Changxin.

He was standing atop the sea, and in front of him stood a massive island.

Before anyone had a chance to react, he gently thrust a hand forward without any embellishment.

There was no charging of power prior to unleashing a powerful technique, not even a war cry or anything like that. He merely thrust his palm forward as if he were swatting at a mosquito.

However, as a result of his casual gesture, heaven and earth instantly began to tremble and quake violently! Through the shaking image, all of the netherworldly citizens could see the giant island exploding into countless pieces. Tsunamis erupted in all directions up to dozens of meters in height, then crashed down heavily to form massive vortexes!

This was the power of an Abyssal Prefect!

With just a simple gesture, Qin Changxin had completely transformed the entire area, erasing what was once a landmass! All of the netherworldly citizens looked on with slack-jawed expressions for a long while before casting their eyes toward the direction of Everburn in unison.

So this is what an underworld emissary is! Why are they called underworld emissaries? They should be called human weapons! If this is what an Abyssal Prefect is capable of, what can a Yama-King do? Are they human nuclear weapons?!

Only now was everyone beginning to realize just how fearsome their youthful-looking King Yanluo was.

Countless Yin spirits gulped in unison in Everburn.

Prior to this, they had thought that Qin Changxin was only an administrative official responsible for overseeing the operation of the city, and only now did they realize that if he wanted, he could erase the entire city in seconds!

Everyone fell silent for the nth time, then turned back to face the screens in unison again.

They had already been stunned to the point of numbness, but they still wanted to see what a Yama-King was capable of.

Unfortunately, a display of power from a Yama-King wasn't depicted on the screens. Instead, the image of Qin Ye, Zhao Yun, and the Harken reappeared.

It was still the same image, but all of the netherworldly citizens were looking at the trio in a completely new light.

In the past, they had worshiped and respected the trio for giving everyone safe and stable lives in the underworld. Even though the education industry had not been established, everyone's quality of life had been steadily improving ever since the fabled war of unification.

However, on this occasion, there was also an element of fear, fear toward a higher, more powerful life form.

Even though no display of power had been put on by a Yama-King, the unknown was always the most terrifying.

Having already seen what an Abyssal Prefect was capable of, they didn't even dare to imagine what a Yama-King could do.

Qin Ye seemed to be able to see every single Yin spirit staring up at the Yin energy screens, and he said, "Seeing as everyone has developed a basic understanding of underworld emissaries, there are a few important things I have to announce. Firstly, all netherworldly citizens are eligible to become underworld emissaries."

Under normal circumstances, this announcement would've sent the entire nation into a raucous frenzy. How could everyone not be excited by such a tantalizing prospect?

However, at this moment, there was only a string of gasps, followed by furtive exchanged glances, then complete silence yet again out of fear and respect.

"Secondly, as underworld emissaries, you must know the state of the world and what makes the underworld tick. What allows us to perform all of these miraculous feats? Why are we able to do things that only characters in fantasy novels are capable of?"

He watched all of his people with an intense gaze, then finally declared his most important objective. "All of this will be taught to everyone in schools! From this day forth, we will be selecting sites all over the nation to construct 100 universities! We will start from square one, teaching everyone how to identify Yin runes and practice using Yin energy! University education will last a span of six years, and all netherworldly citizens can issue tuition fees to learn about Yin energy and related subjects. On top of that, we will be providing designated drill grounds and breakthrough halls for all of you. From this day forth, only Netherworld Operatives will be tasked with harvesting souls from the mortal realm. All troops will be disbanded, and aside from the veteran soldiers who participated in the battle of Ashmound, all other Yin soldiers will return to school. In six years, the military will be expanded nationwide, and one must be a Soul Hunter at a minimum to join the military! Hundreds of thousands of university application sites will be opened up across the entire nation. As for details on fees, enrollment times, and semester dates, everything will be released by the North Yin Pavilion."

His voice was growing louder and louder, like a wave that was slowly building to a peak, as he continued, "Similarly, from this day forth, we will be hiring university teachers from all over the nation! All subjects, including physics, chemistry, mathematics, art, biology, meteorology, economics, agriculture architecture, you name it! All of the teaching materials on these subjects will be prepared within a year and a half of the universities being constructed, and these materials will be authored by all of Hell's relevant experts!"

The netherfire in his eyes was glowing as he cast his gaze over his people.

"Do you want to change yourselves? Do you want to make this nation more diverse and vibrant? You hold the key in your own hands! Knowledge can change the entire world, and it can also change your fates! I am eagerly waiting to see which ones among you will be able to stand beside me as new Yama-Kings in a few centuries' time!"

After that, all of the Yin energy screens across the nation rapidly vanished one by one.

The entire nation was still silent.

Close to a minute later, deafening yells finally rang out!

Yin Xiangnan clapped a hand over his own mouth as he screamed into his own palm, but his actions didn't look out of place at all as all of his colleagues were screaming as well!

He knew that a nationwide announcement through these Yin energy screens had to entail the occurrence of a major event!

The education industry was coming, and this education industry was one that would allow them to set foot into the realm of underworld emissaries!

Who didn't want to possess godly power? Who didn't want to climb higher up the social hierarchy?

Dying had already been a drastic change for them, and at this point, many Yin spirits had already profited through all types of industries to become bosses, something that they had never thought they would be able to do during their lives in the mortal realm. However, Hell was telling them that the truly massive changes were still yet to come!

Money and influence were nothing! What was truly going to decide one's place in the world was power, the power to become human weapons!

Furthermore, anyone could do this! Everyone could become underworld emissaries through education! In six years, Hell was going to expand its military, and everyone wanted to be a part of that!

They knew that their chances of becoming Yama-Kings were so slim that they were essentially negligible, but there was still a chance!

The underworld had given everyone an equal opportunity, regardless of what regrets they may have left behind in the mortal realm, and everyone was excited beyond belief!

"Holy shit..." Yin Xiangnan suddenly rushed toward the door as he yelled, "I quit!! I'm going to enroll in an underworld university in a year from now!"

However, it was already too late.

Right after Qin Ye's final declaration, countless Yin spirits had already gathered in front of the hundreds of thousands of registration sites, completely blocking up all of the streets and roads!

This was the starting line, and everyone was trying to get there first!