Yama Rising

As time wore on, the Mongol forces in the fog attacked with ever increasing fervor, sending tremors rippling through the void as the cacophonous sound of clashing iron echoed bleakly in the surroundings. Qin Ye couldn’t help but turn to the Harken and asked, “Why can’t I see them?”

That’s a thorny situation… Qin Ye thought to himself. Then, for the next few days, Qin Ye and the Harken began to deliberate over the potential variables that they could encounter, as well as the possible countermeasures they could implement against these. Time flew by in the blink of an eye, and the 25th soon arrived.

There was an eerie, gloomy air about it.

BOOM!!!

“Has Brother Zhao finally been released from the shackles tying him down?” Qin Ye’s eyes widened, and he shook his head with a sigh, “What terrifying Yin energy. Not even the Tsar can hold a candle to his immense might. Is this what a Ghost King of Hell is actually like?”

He closed his eyes and attempted to probe the Ghost King’s existence with his own Yin energy. At once, he sensed a stern and austere air about the Ghost King’s Yin energy, almost as though it was declaring that this Yama-King had already reached its bottleneck.

But in that very moment, Zhao Zilong’s Yin energy suddenly sank and dropped so much that it wouldn’t even be a surprise if he became that of a Netherworld Operative.

As soon as the Harken said these words, the Martyr’s Shrine suddenly grew larger, almost as though it was rapidly drawing closer to the duo. Qin Ye froze for a moment, before realizing that it wasn’t the case that the Martyr’s Shrine was drawing closer. Rather, it was simply the fact that the space between them was bending and shrinking, thereby bringing them infinitely closer to each other!

“Bending space… and to think he’d even used it on us…” The Harken sighed with great emotion. But before it could emote any further, a figure covered in netherflames appeared at the gate of the Martyr’s Shrine, cupping his hands respectfully and bowing deeply, “General Zhao Zilong, humbly greets the new King Yanluo of Hell.”

Damn, he’s striking… And this is my Brother Zhao! Qin Ye’s heart thumped with excitement, and he coughed lightly as he nodded back, “Let’s get straight to the point, General Zhao. How should we help you?”

Is this… my first time holding hands? Are we going to march down the avenue of peach blossoms after this?

Zhao Yun: ???

Meanwhile, the Harken immediately leapt up and scratched Qin Ye all over the face, ravaging it without mercy, “Please be gentle? Please be gentle?! What the hell are you talking about?! Why are you even blushing?!”

It swiped its claws furiously at Qin Ye, while Qin Ye scurried away like a mouse scuttling back to its borrow, “I can’t help it! I can’t help it! Hey, not the face! That’s all I’ve got right now…”

Zhao Yun gazed deeply at Qin Ye, as though deep in thought. Meanwhile, Qin Ye clutched at his wounds in pain and looked up at Zhao Yun, “General Zhao, it’s not what you think. This is just a conditioned reaction--…”

Qin Ye: ……

Yet, Zhao Yun revealed a completely peculiar expression - Please know that I’m doing this for your own good. Our King Yanluo cannot be involved in scandals like this, understand?!

With that, he began to write on Qin Ye’s hand.

Zhao yun nodded. Qin Ye stared blankly at his hand. It was strange, because Zhao Yun was writing in neither modern nor ancient Cathayan writing. Thus, he couldn’t understand a single word that was written. However, the Harken’s eyes immediately lit up.

After all, the alter ego within Zhao Yun’s body was none other than the renowned Temujin, a terrifying warlord that had reigned supreme throughout history. It wouldn’t be wise if he managed to glean anything from their interactions right now.

“I am.” Zhao Yun responded with an equally grave expression, “This is a task given to me by the Second King Yanluo, and since he’s not here in person, it tells me that he’s probably already departed from this world. Now that his orders have fallen directly on my shoulders, I’d humbly ask these two lordships for your assistance.”

“Then, I’ll have to trouble you.” Zhao Yun cupped his hands respectfully once more, before promptly vanishing with a majestic flourish of netherflames.

There were priorities after all. Thus, the duo sensibly took their leave as well, vanishing promptly into streams of nethergale that swept away from the Martyr’s Shrine. When they next appeared, they had already reached the edge of the mountaintop once more.

Qin Ye raised his brows with some measure of surprise, wondering why the Harken would suddenly broach this subject. However, he knew that the Harken must have its reasons, “What do you mean?”

“The first is the blade, and the second is the scabbard.”

Qin Ye’s eyes narrowed, “It exists.”

“Incidentally, the scabbard… is forged entirely out of Resentment Crystals! This is why we couldn’t sense even a trace of Zhao Zilong’s Yin energy outside!” The Harken turned back and continued, “Once the Resentment Crystals have been forged into shape, it serves the purpose of isolating Yin energy, both from within and from without. In other words, Yin energy cannot penetrate the shell of the scabbard, and likewise, Yin energy cannot escape from within either!”

The Harken nodded deeply.

After all, if Zhao Yun won, then Hell would secure for itself one of the strongest and most reliable fighting forces around. But if Temujin won, then… the Red Lotus of the Purgatory would be activated, and everything would go to waste! And it would all be on Hell’s shoulder!

Nothing exists in isolation, and everything that happened would have implications. He paced about a little while longer, before turning back to the Harken, “How long will it take?”

Three days, huh… Qin Ye glanced around at the mountaintop. They were going to be up against over a dozen Yuan Emperors, several Imperial Preceptors, and tens of thousands of Golden Horde cavalry! On the other hand, they had only one Abyssal Prefect, one wounded Yama-King that could only fight for seven minutes, as well as a handful of weak-ass cultivators around them!

The Harken lifted its paw, revealing a small golden rune.

“Earlier, we were communicating through Yin Talismans. Temujin hasn’t been to Hell, and he wouldn’t know a thing about such communications. During this period of time, General Zhao gave me the activation spell for the Red Lotus of the Purgatory that he had already set up. Are you concerned that he will fail?” The Harken paused and gazed deeply at Qin Ye, “Perhaps there’s that possibility.”

“The best thing we can do right now is to trust in him and allow him to duel Temujin without any distractions.”

“That way, no matter what the outcome is, he’ll have no regrets. Then… let’s lend him our strength and send him our blessings through our actions here!”

With that, the Harken opened its lips, and a golden scroll flew out. Qin Ye blinked his eyes blankly, “Hang on… That scroll, and the patterns on it… Why does it all look so familiar?”

“Of course it would.” The Harken held the scroll in its lips and explained, “Given my current strength, it’s going to be difficult to resist the assault of over a dozen Yuan Emperors, Imperial Preceptors, as well as the Golden Horde cavalry. But fortunately, we’ve got access to the Ming Dynasty’s Zhu Clan’s treasures from the Longxing Temple. And this would prove immensely useful to us right now - the Great Mist of the Three Divinities Array. Drawn up jointly by Liu Bowen and King Song, the Yama-King of the Third Palace, it took them 47 long years before they finally brought this masterpiece to completion. This is going to be the battle of a millennium that literally transcends time, pitting the Great Ming Dynasty against the Mongol’s Yuan Dynasty. Isn’t that something to look forward to?”