Yama Rising

By the time Zheng Shuguo arrived at the Jiankou section of the Great Wall of Cathay, the entire place had already been surrounded by over 1,000 investigators.

Zheng Shuguo was wearing general epaulets on his shoulders, and all of the investigators that caught sight of him immediately bowed respectfully in greeting. Director Lei of the Special Investigations Department was in a semi-retirement mode, and as a result, the Prefect-level Zheng Shuguo had taken over as the director of the Special Investigations Department. Even though this department was already far from its heyday, the threat of a general was still enough to earn everyone's respect.

Zheng Shuguo nodded to acknowledge the investigators, then strode down directly from the beacon tower. The Jiankou section of the Great Wall was one of its most precarious stretches. The terrain here fluctuated drastically, and it was situated at over 1,000 meters above sea level. In fact, the terrain was so steep that this section of the Great Wall formed a "W" shape.

However, Zheng Shuguo wasn't in the mood to be looking at this right now. His gaze had already settled on the sky, where tens of thousands of evil ghosts were revolving in the air involuntarily up above, screaming in horror as they formed a massive black ball. On the monitors, it could be clearly seen that millions of Yin spirits were still yet to arrive from even further away!

"Have we verified which Yama-King this is?" he asked.

"No, but..." The investigator beside him made his way over to him with a grim expression, then set the monitor down at a place where it was convenient for Zheng Shuguo to see. After just a single glance, Zheng Shuguo could already feel his own pulse thumping violently.

The Yin energy reading in the sky above this section of the Great Wall was registering in excess of five billion, and an even more terrifying burst of Yin energy had already encompassed the entire nation.

The Yin energy reading was 120 billion!

"According to our records, this is Ghost King Zhao's Yin energy," the investigator informed.

Zheng Shuguo massaged his own glabella in an exhausted manner as he said, "Maintain high alert at all times. This has already escalated beyond what we can deal with. Remember your duties as investigators and the vows that you swore when you first joined the Special Investigations Department! If any mishaps occur, no one is allowed to retreat unless an order to retreat is issued!"

"Yes!!"

……………………………………

Qin Ye knew that his decision to absorb Yin energy from the mortal realm would create quite a stir, but he failed to anticipate just how massive a stir he was going to create.

However, he didn't have any spare capacity to think about that anyway.

At the center of the area surrounded by the Yin spirits, the Yin energy was extremely dense, and it had formed a ball with a diameter in excess of 20 meters. Occasionally, a series of agonized human faces would appear on the surface of the ball, and on each occasion that they did so, Yin energy would immediately frantically rush into the ball before filtering into Qin Ye's body.

There were some indescribable changes taking place in his physical body. It wasn't becoming more resolute, nor was it becoming more supple and limber. Instead, it was becoming... more profound.

One Yin rune after another was washing over every single one of his bones and tendons, then adhering themselves layer by layer onto his bodily structures. There was no visible change, but Qin Ye could sense that his entire body was undergoing an unfathomable transformation. He had a feeling that back when he was a nascent Yama-King, he wouldn't even be able to break through his current self's defenses.

This led him to wonder exactly what he was now.

A Yin rune being? Xerath?

There was no time for him to think as Yin energy was converging toward him from all directions, but it was giving him a sense of warmth, as if he had returned to his mother's womb and was immersed in amniotic fluid. Several minutes later, he slowly closed his eyes.

As the Yin energy washed over him, every single cell in his body was slowly undergoing a qualitative change. He had already completely transcended beyond all humans and Yin spirits, reaching a higher level of existence. There was only one term that could be used to describe what he was becoming: a god.

Time passed by one day after another, and after an indeterminate period of time, he finally opened his eyes.

This was an instinctive action, just like how birds would break through the shells of their own eggs when it was time to hatch.

At this moment, Qin Ye was experiencing a sense of restrictiveness.

It was as if his hands and feet had been shackled. He wanted to rise to the heavens and declare himself to the world, but he could feel something enveloping him, andhe instinctively wanted to break through those things.

He gently raised his hand, and in the instant that he came into contact with the Yin energy layer around him, it instantly disintegrated like snow under the scorching, summer sun.

At the same time, he was struck by a sense of extreme hunger.

There was no time for thought. He instinctively opened his mouth, and the enormous Yin energy vortex that was revolving around him gushed into his mouth in a frenzy.

He was like a feeding whale, and after close to 20 minutes, all of the Yin energy had gushed into his stomach.

Only then did he lick his own lips with a satisfied expression.

He clenched his fists, and he could sense unprecedented power flowing through his veins. The ability to physically shatter space was often mentioned in fantasy novels, but that was always just a statement of hyperbole. However, in his present state, he really did feel as if he could shatter space with a single punch!

He slowly raised his head, and a refreshing breeze blew into his face.

He couldn't help but take a deep breath, and his lungs were quickly filled with the cool, autumnal air.

He then gently thrust his palm forward, and the space up ahead warped violently as if it had been struck by a giant fist.

Qin Ye's eyes immediately lit up upon seeing this, and he withdrew his fist with an incredulous expression as he took a deep breath.

"Was that... space?" He looked at his own fist with a stunned expression. "Did I come into contact with space just now?!"

In all power systems, time and space were always the paramount laws, yet he had just been able to touch space with his bare hand!

Right at this moment, an emotionless voice rang out beside him. "As an advanced Yama-King, you've already reached the very pinnacle of cultivation in the underworld. As such, you'll naturally be able to touch the most profound things in this world."

Qin Ye repressed his astonishment as he turned before cupping his fist in a salute. "What brings you here?"

It was Nothingness.

Standing behind Them was Zhao Yun, but the latter paid no heed to Nothingness and was looking at Qin Ye with concern in his eyes.

Qin Ye gave him a reassuring nod, then continued, "Are you here to oversee my breakthrough?"

Nothingness shook Their head in response. "There's one thing that I've never been able to find the answer to, so I came to you for an answer."

"Go ahead."

Nothingness's brows furrowed slightly as They said, "I've thought extensively about this for a long time. You are not a cold and detached person. On the contrary, you value interpersonal relationships very highly, so theoretically speaking, you shouldn't be able to pass the trial of inner demons..."

"You want to know how I did it, right?" Qin Ye smiled as he summoned Fate with a flick of his wrist. "Do you recognize this?"

"I do," Nothingness replied. "It's the imperial pen of the second King Yanluo."

After a brief silence, a thought seemed to have occurred to Nothingness, and They said, "I get it now."

Fate was able to inscribe the fate of all people. Failure to complete the trial of inner demons would result in an erasure of memories, but what if someone were to write down their memories?

The trial of inner demons prohibited one from recording their own memories, but it had no restrictions on others recording one's memories for them. The reason for this was very simple: in the scenarios presented in the trial of inner demons, there was no way that anyone else would help the trial-taker record their memories. If anyone in the illusion were to make records of the future, then the sequence of events in the trial of inner demons would be altered, thereby resulting in automatic failure.

However, Fate was different.

There was no need for Qin Ye to ask someone else to record his memories for him, and he didn't even need to be controlling Fate as it wrote. Thus, with this trump card up his sleeve, he didn't need to worry about failing the trial of inner demons at all!

"I see," Nothingness sighed. "No wonder all of the other death gods had to endure so much in their lives before they could overcome the trial of inner demons, yet you were able to replicate their feats despite your severe relative lack of life experience. It was truly a surprise that you were able to succeed, but seeing as you were able to think of something as crafty as using Fate to help you, you deserved to win."

Qin Ye nodded in response.

He had never overestimated himself. On the contrary, he was very aware of his own limitations.

In terms of mental fortitude, the ruler death gods of the three pillars were definitely superior to him. They had lived for too long and seen too much. They had survived the era of chaotic warfare across the entire underworld before climbing to the very top, and it was simply impossible for Qin Ye to compete with them in terms of life experience.

Thus, Fate had played an extremely important role in his success, but why did that matter?

Tools were also a part of one's power, and his name had already been recorded by the Heavenly Dao. History was always written at the discretion of the victors.

"There's something else I have to say." Nothingness's voice was as unhurried and aloof as ever. They turned to glance at Zhao Yun, then asked, "Do you know why Ghost King Zhao came here in person?"

"He came here to protect me during my breakthrough, of course," Qin Ye replied.

Nothingness turned back to him, then asked, "Then why do you think I also came here?"

"That would be... to witness history, of course! After all, I'm one of the eight most powerful beings in the world..."

Silence.

It was an extremely awkward silence.

Several seconds later, the Heavenly Dao said, "You're right, I also came here to protect you."

Wait, what? Really?

Qin Ye was very much taken aback to hear this. Since when was he worthy of protection from the Heavenly Dao Themself? Was this one of the benefits of doing the Heavenly Dao's bidding?

The Heavenly Dao seemed to have gleaned his thoughts, and They said in a cold voice, "Have you thought about how much attention you'll attract by making this breakthrough in the mortal realm? You're lucky that the Array of the Nine Gods is still standing and can conceal your actions. Otherwise, the entire world would've sensed what happened here. Also, have you forgotten who your opponent in the mortal realm is?"

Qin Ye faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which a drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead.

He had been too reckless...

He had been too eager to make his breakthrough, and as a result, he had forgotten that the mortal realm was the domain of the inner demon!

With that in mind, the inner demon most definitely already knew that he had become an advanced Yama-King!

Before he had a chance to think about this any further, the Heavenly Dao continued, "Your divine nation has been attacked."

"Divine nation?" Qin Ye asked as he raised his eyebrows.

"This is a western concept," the Heavenly Dao explained. "According to their hierarchy, Thanatos is a main god, otherwise known as a ruler death god. As for the Three Judges, they are subsidiary gods, while the nascent death gods who serve them are known as servant gods, and everyone else falls into the godly servant category. A divine nation is a nation ruled over by a god. In other words, it's your underworld. The riots currently taking place in the Cathayan Underworld aren't important. They have already been quelled by Ghost King Zhao, but he doesn't know the root cause behind the riots, and that's another reason why he came here so urgently to see you. He has to report these strange happenings to you. However, the riots may not be important, but the implications behind them are extremely significant. They entail that the inner demon is about to complete its fusion, and it's already attempting to find a way to enter the underworld. In the near future, you are most likely going to face a riot of an unprecedented scale. Once the inner demon has claimed enough territory in the Cathayan Underworld, it will officially establish an anchor in the underworld, thereby allowing it to stake a foothold there. I'm afraid to tell you that you don't have much time left."