Yama Rising

His entire body was completely insubstantial and formed by white light. He still had that ethereal and carefree disposition about him, but his eyes were completely blank and devoid of sparkle as he looked ahead in a wooden manner.

The second King Yanluo pointed at him and said, "I've already sealed his three souls and seven spirits, but you still have to be careful. There are several memories of his that even I can't touch, those are memories that he's sealed away with his entire life force. I hope for your sake that what you're looking for isn't in those memories."

Qin Ye didn't hesitate and immediately injected his consciousness into the top of Xu Fu's head.

Countless images instantly flashed through his eyes. This was Xu Fu's life, but it was being presented in an extremely chaotic and disjointed manner.

One's so-called consciousness was the deepest part of one's soul, and similar images could be seen both in possession and in soul searching. The deeper one delved, the more distant the memories, while the most recent memories were always near the surface of one's consciousness. What Qin Ye wanted to see weren't particularly distant memories, what he was looking for was within the past 200 years of Xu Fu's memories. Thankfully, Xu Fu's daily life wasn't very diverse or exciting, so it wasn't difficult to sift through his memories.

He had concealed himself and completely isolated himself from the outside world. In order to ensure his own safety, he spent the vast majority of his time in the Peach Blossom Spring.

Soon, Qin Ye stumbled upon a certain memory. Inside this memory, Xu Fu had a short goatee and his hair was split down the center and immaculately combed. He was wearing a grey vest and there was a monocle sitting on his face.

These were his memories from his lifetime as Nikola Tesla.

Upon entering this memory, all of the surrounding sound was immediately silenced, and Qin Ye felt as if his consciousness had descended into a calm and peaceful abyss. In the meantime, every part of Xu Fu that belonged to Nikola Tesla was becoming clearer and clearer.

This was a spacious room.

It was constructed in a classic 18th to 19th century Usonian style with antiquated lamps and an old fireplace. Through the floor-to-ceiling window, one could even see horse-drawn carriages traveling outside.

He had adopted Nikola Tesla's perspective. After all, he was currently viewing one of Nikola Tesla's memories.

"Long time no see, Mr. Richardman." Nikola Tesla took off his hat, and someone immediately took it from him before hanging it up on a nearby hat rack. However, Xu Fu's gaze didn't turn toward the person who had taken his hat, so Qin Ye couldn't see who it was.

Richardman was a bald elderly man with a short yet thick beard and a pair of glasses on his face. He was wearing a crisp suit, and he shook his head in a stunned manner as he said, "According to the telegrams, you're already dead! I'm truly shocked to see you here..."

"I had reached the age where it would've become suspicious had I continued living, I'm sure you understand what I mean." The person beside Nikola Tesla handed him a cup of coffee, and Nikola accepted it before taking a sip, then smiled and continued, "After all, I'm not the only monster in the Freemasonry."

The Freemasonry!

Qin Ye's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be very interested in an organization from the mortal realm, but the Freemasonry was different.

Leonardo da Vinci, Xu Fu's first foreign identity, had been a member of the Freemasonry!

"During the past few days, I searched through virtually the entire island top to bottom, but I didn't find any blueprints or notes about the new energy resource. This is definitely a well-guarded secret, and I've done an exhaustive search of the Peach Blossom Spring in person but failed to find anything, so I'm almost certain that these things aren't hidden in the Peach Blossom Spring."

He watched the unfolding scene calmly as his mind raced rapidly. "Seeing as it's not in the Peach Blossom Spring, it had to have been stored somewhere else. I can't think with the logic of someone from the underworld. Xu Fu is a living person, so he would clearly prefer to put these things somewhere in the mortal realm. In that case, wouldn't the Freemasonry be a perfect place?"

It had to be said that it made a lot of sense.

He continued watching.

"Let's not waste any time with idle chatter." Richardman waved a hand and asked, "Do you want to store something here? That can be arranged, but member status is required."

Nikola Tesla smiled as he pulled out a letter. "I have a letter of recommendation from Mr. da Vinci."

Qin Ye's eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this.

This man had written a letter of recommendation for himself!

Richardman immediately focused his gaze upon Nikola Tesla upon hearing this, and after a long while, he exclaimed, "So it really is true."

Even though Leonardo da Vinci had been dead for close to 200 years at that point, he didn't seem surprised at all. He picked up the letter and began to carefully read it, while Qin Ye was also looking at him.

This man had to be an extremely high-ranking member of the Freemasonry.

Even in the Freemasonry, there was a hierarchy of members. The one at the top was the Master Mason, while those at the bottom were the Entered Apprentices. This man had to be very high up on the hierarchy to know about Leonardo da Vinci's identity and secret.

In that case, he had to be renowned in society, so who was he?

Several of the most powerful figures of Usonia at the time sprang into Qin Ye's mind, but all of the candidates were eliminated one after another. Inside the memory, Richardman put the letter away before giving a nod. "I welcome you to the big family that is the Freemasonry. Now then, what do you want to store here?"

Nikola Tesla picked up a box. It was a very small box that was no more than a foot in size, and it was about as thick as the leatherbound suitcases that were popular at the time. He gently placed the box onto the table before pushing it toward Richardman. "I require presidential level confidentiality measures."

"You don't have the right to access that," Richardman countered as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"But Mr. da Vinci did, didn't he?" Nikola chuckled. "You are the manager of the First Usonian Bank, and storing important items from important people is part of your responsibilities. That's how you climbed all the way to the top, wasn't it, Mr. Treasurer? All I need is for this box to be stored for 100 years. If I don't come back to retrieve it within 100 years, it will automatically self-destruct."

So he's a treasurer... This was one of the three highest ranks in the Freemasonry. However, what was rather confusing to Qin Ye was that he had never heard of this First Usonian Bank.

Richardman stared deeply at Nikola for a long while before silently accepting the box, then put on his hat and departed, leaving behind only a parting message. "Don't forget to pay the annual maintenance fees. If you fail to pay for one year, the service will immediately be terminated, and if you fail to pay for 10 years in a row, I have the right to hand this item over to my superiors. Once I pass away, I'll give this item to my successor. He's a trustworthy man, and he'll be sure to look after the item in my stead."

After that, Richardman departed.

However, Nikola didn't leave. Instead, he remained in his seat, and after a long while, he suddenly chuckled to himself, "Rest assured, I hate having to deal with unexpected problems and unnecessary people. You will continue to live a long life, barring any unforeseen circumstances..."

The memory concluded here, and the darkness slowly faded. Qin Ye was standing above the sea of Xu Fu's consciousness with a contemplative expression, and all of a sudden, he completely spread out his consciousness, doing everything in his power to search for memories related to Nikola Tesla.

It turned out that those memories were very easy to find.

Most of this lifetime was spent as a normal person, and he didn't go through those memories. Instead, he was paying close attention to the memories from after Nikola Tesla turned 86 years old, which was when he supposedly died.

Sure enough, there was still a long passage of memories after his death, but that passage had been completely sealed away by an inky-black veil. He had a feeling that even the slightest attempt to access those memories would instantly result in the destruction of Xu Fu's soul.

"Shit!" Qin Ye cursed in a frustrated voice. He was certain that this passage of memories was integral to Xu Fu's invention of that new energy resource, but these memories couldn't be touched at all!

What was even more troublesome was that the restrictions that Xu Fu had placed upon himself were so absolute that even he couldn't recall these memories if he tried. All he could do was hope that the box that Nikola Tesla had given to Richardman contained all of the notes related to the new energy resource.

"That should be what's in the box," Qin Ye mused as he clasped his hands behind his back. "For Xu Fu, there was nothing else worthy of being recorded in Nikola Tesla's life. He hadn't invented electricity, all he had done was popularize it. The only thing that could make even someone like Xu Fu proceed with such extreme caution had to be the new energy resource that could be used in both realms!"

With that in mind, Qin Ye committed the names of Richardman and the First Usonian Bank firmly to memory.

After that, he slowly vanished.

He was well aware of just how cautious Xu Fu was, and he was rather disappointed that he hadn't managed to obtain the records pertaining to the new energy resource on this occasion, but he wasn't disheartened. The secrets of such a cunning man definitely couldn't be exposed easily, and from the very beginning, Qin Ye was prepared to encounter some hardships.

"It looks like I'll have to pay a visit to the new continent after all..."

There were only three or four years left until the 100th death anniversary of Nikola Tesla!

Right as this body was about to disintegrate into nothingness, he suddenly faltered, and his body reformed again as he cast a perplexed gaze toward another direction in Xu Fu's sea of consciousness.

There was still nothing but inky darkness in that direction, but the memories there hadn't been sealed.

It was Yin energy.

The Yin energy was extremely pure, and it could only belong to a high-grade underworld emissary. Furthermore, Qin Ye could tell that this Yin energy didn't belong to an Emissary of Hell.

Thus, he made his way over to the section of Xu Fu's sea of consciousness where that memory was lingering, and he dispersed his own consciousness again to force his way into that memory.

The same peaceful darkness appeared again, and Qin Ye delved deeper and deeper. Several seconds later, light suddenly appeared up ahead, and he found himself situated inside a palace.

Xu Fu was lying diagonally across an arhat bed, and he was holding a letter that he was carefully reading.

Qin Ye was looking at the memory from the perspective of an omniscient god, and after just a brief glance at the letter's contents, his gaze abruptly stiffened, and his heartbeat began to accelerate drastically.

"To the esteemed Emperor Jimmu." Qin Ye took a glance at the opening line before immediately casting his gaze to the very end of the letter.

There was only one person who was aware that Xu Fu was Emperor Jimmu, and that was Izanami!

She hadn't received Emperor Jimmu's soul, and that was how she figured out Emperor Jimmu's connection with Xu Fu.

However, there was nothing at the end of the letter, thereby thwarting Qin Ye's efforts to find out the letter's sender.

He shook his head and continued to read the letter from the top.

"I hope to establish the trade routes between the four nations and Mirage City as soon as possible. I know that you've always stayed far away from the Cathayan Underworld, but there will always be some people willing to probe the Cathayan Underworld in your stead. The state of the world is changing, and the Cathayan Underworld has already been isolated from the rest of the world for 50 years. Hell has refused to participate in all international affairs, and they've even prohibited foreign underworld emissaries from entering their territory. Are you not interested in returning to your homeland to take a look? You expressed your concerns to me in your last letter, but I think those concerns are unnecessary. All of us are death gods, so you do not need to worry about our power. On top of that, we aren't the ones most interested in the sudden changes in the Cathayan Underworld. Instead, the most interested parties are the other top-tier underworlds. If you're willing to open up a trade route between the four nations and Mirage City, there are some things that we can do in your stead. In any underworld, a Yama-King would stand at the peak in terms of combat prowess. In order to display our sincerity, we'll be showing you our stance and resolve during the conference to re-sign the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts being held in the Nipponese Underworld in five years' time. I look forward to seeing your response."

The memory began to ripple, and for an instant, Qin Ye almost found himself slipping out of it.

Back when he had seen Otakemaru in Mirage City and particularly after Otakemaru had brought out the Yata no Kagami, Qin Ye had known that the Nipponese Underworld had to be extremely deeply involved in all of this.

He was no longer a rookie King Yanluo. Having already been in this position for so many years, he had already deduced that there was no way that the Nipponese Underworld would be so bold as to constantly probe the Cathayan Underworld.

At the end of the day, the Nipponese Underworld was only a pawn, but he didn't know who the masterminds, such as the "four nations" in the letter were.

"What an unexpected turn of events. Having said that, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." This memory concluded here, but instead of departing, Qin Ye delved even deeper.

There was still a month left until the conference, and he wanted to see if he could find out any more information.

He wanted to see which underworlds were going to turn on the Cathayan Underworld during this conference, and which underworlds were going to side with the Cathayan Underworld.