Yama Rising

This was one of his personal resolutions ever since the Second King Yanluo departed - he would think twice before he acted from now on.

“My Lord.” Wang Chenghao answered his call at once. Qin Ye instructed, “Prepare a tea reception for some guests that are about to arrive.”

It wasn’t long before several Yin spirits dressed in ancient attire drifted into the City Tower and entered straight into the conference room.

Qin Ye sat at the head of the table, followed by Zu Chongzhi, Li Chun, Lu Ban, and so on and so forth. He smiled at everyone and nodded his head, “Everyone’s been back for a week now. I’ve asked Arakshasa and the Harken to make the necessary arrangements for you. I wonder if you’re satisfied with it thus far?’

Qin Ye was fairly young as far as King Yanluos were concerned. In fact, given their experiences with the previous King Yanluo of Hell, they could tell that Qin Ye was at times still rather brash and naive, at least in his demeanor and body language.

“I’m grateful to King Yanluo for your care and concern.” He smiled in response, “We’ve all been assigned to different departments as advisors in our fields of expertise. Colleague Lu Ban was even appointed the chief engineer.”

The tea was clear and cold. Unfortunately, nothing in Hell was warm. Even then, tea could be considered a luxury in the underworld right now, because there was only a small plot of land dedicated for tea plantations. It was a prized product that regular citizens of Hell would never even dream of having.

“I am.” Zu Chongzhi chuckled, “We’ve always been focused on our research in the past, so there’s no way we would be equipped with the skills to lead our respective departments in any event. Over the last week, we’ve spent most of our time speaking with our colleagues and getting up to speed. The way Hell handles things right now is very different from the way it used to be. We’re still adapting.”

He chuckled, “You can even say that I’m willing to drag my pride and face through the mud in order to stand tall as the pillar of Hell. It’s laughable, but I’ve been undertaking every foreign expedition thus far, albeit with a change of my appearances. I long for the day when… I have an army of strategists and experts more qualified than I to send on these missions. Everyone, please hang in there.”

Qin Ye smiled and took another sip of his tea. He would always have to be teachable and willing to learn. But at the same time, he would always need to act the part as the King Yanluo of Hell.

“I’ve summoned everyone here today because there’s something else I would like to talk about.” He set down his teacup and tapped his finger. At once, a map of the netherworld appeared in the air in front of them, “I’ve not quite had the chance to have a chat with you esteemed scholars ever since your return. What I’d like to know is how the situation outside currently looks.”

“Then, let me begin.” Wu Daozi didn’t reject the implicit nomination, and he walked out calmly, cupped his hands respectfully to Qin Ye, and then addressed everyone, “Ever since the Second Battle of the Oracle, it became apparent that there was a need for the underworlds to come together for international discourse. The Federation of Underworlds was formed by the top ten underworlds in the netherworld. From there, they went on to nominate the four strongest underworlds to act as the permanent members of the federation. 200 years later, they came to be known as the Permanent Four, or the P4.”

Meanwhile, Wu Daozi couldn’t help but nod in approval at Qin Ye’s teachable heart. At once, he pointed to Cathay’s location on the map, “Geographically, Hindustan and Cathay are at a disadvantage. Aegyptus is in a slightly better position, but the most advantageous location is indubitable that of the Argosian Underworld.”

Qin Ye chuckled.

How dare they test the knowledge of their King? If I didn’t know any better, I might well put Wu Daozi to death right away.

But Qin Ye knew better. They were actually running the risk of ruffling the dragon’s whiskers in order to fill any potentially debilitating gaps of knowledge that they could right away!

“But things are different once you cross the Straits of Malacca. Borneo, Malaya, Ceylon, and the Spice Islands are all tributaries to the Hindustani Underworld. To put it bluntly, we have far fewer vassal states than the Argosian Underworld.”

Qin Ye immediately considered the implications of something like this, “Then… how are we supposed to expand our wealth? Do we have to complete our internal exploration, before finally trading our specialty products for Yin spirit stones?”

Everyone fell silent, and Shang Yang gazed deeply into Qin Ye’s eyes and spoke respectfully, “And that is to… increase our international influence.”

“Then, there’s the various indigenous gods of death of South Usonia. These territories are extremely rich in resources of all kinds. For instance, over the last hundred years, the Aegyptian Underworld and the Hindustani Underworld have been vying over the agricultural mountain ridges belonging to the Incan Death God Supay. In the end, the Hindustani Underworld prevailed. Their spoils - wealth! Endless wealth and resources!”

“However, they also need to develop their own underworlds. After all, war and conflict is a costly affair. Thus, they have no choice but to invite tenders from the powerful underworlds in the world, trading the natural resources in their lands in order to meet their immediate needs. You can most certainly find ghostpower easily accessible in these regions! Furthermore, resources for the development of a basic underworld are relatively inexpensive. So long as you are willing to share some of your profits and resources with these underworlds, it’s basically no different from money falling from the sky!”

Qin Ye nodded in realization. It wasn’t too different from how things were in the mortal realm.

“The profits to be gained for rendering aid in these situations aren’t low as well! It’s a good way of broadening our income streams!”

“Then… what about the Russian Underworld?” He finally asked, “Where do they stand?”

“First, and foremost, they possess the largest territory in the world, and they must be commensurately rich in natural resources.”

Qin Ye rapped the table gently, “Then what’s keeping them from becoming one of the top underworlds to date?”

“In turn, they face difficulties planting cities and expanding their infrastructure. Although they may have the knowledge of exactly where the natural resources are located, the lack of connectivity forces them to prioritize, pick and choose the resource veins to tap into. Your Excellency, despite this fatal flaw that limits their growth, we definitely shouldn’t underestimate them, because… their strength in other aspects are incredibly strong!”

At once, everyone fell silent.

Disaster.

One faction would fight hard for their rights, while the other faction would fight equally hard to stifle it. The end result would naturally be war - a true, cataclysmic disaster for the netherworld!

A King Yanluo never beats about the bush. Thus, without missing a beat, Qin Ye picked up his teacup and went on, “The Russian Underworld wants to strike a deal with Hell. This was the main reason why they appeared in Daehan in the first place. And for this reason, they’d even waited patiently for decades on end.”

“Because… they’ve discovered traces of a Resentment Crystal Vein in the Mongol Empire.”

“What?!” “H-how is this possible? Since when did the Mongol Empire get their hands on a divine Yin artifact? The conditions don’t seem right for a Resentment Crystal Vein to appear!” “No way… Resentment Crystals… What are they planning to do with it? These are one of the main sources of fuel for a spirit crystal reactor--… Are they… trying to secretly develop Forbidden Arts?!”