Yama Rising

It had been three days since the ship had set out from Luzon, and here, the underworld looked no different from the mortal realm. The sea and the sunlight were exactly the same, and the only clues that indicated that this was the underworld were the flocks of strange seabirds that one encountered from time to time.

Of course, the sailors of the underworld didn't need to eat or drink, so this saved a lot of time and energy, but at the same time, there arose a much more terrifying prospect than running out of food and water: sea monsters.

Qin Ye was looking at a map of the underworld, and it wasn't much different from a map of the mortal realm. There were some differences, but it was still possible to tell which nation was which. However, on the vast sea, there were only 10 routes marked in green on the map. Those were all of the routes from the new continent to Asia.

All of the other routes were colored in red, and many places along those routes were annotated in black with wisps of netherfire burning over the annotations.

One of those specks of netherfire was situated to the lower right of the Star Cluster Federation, and Qin Ye gently laid a finger onto it, upon which an extremely formidable burst of Yin energy immediately rushed into his mind. This was initial Yama-King level Yin energy!

He closed his eyes, and the Yin energy automatically formed an image in his mind. This was an image of a monster that strongly resembled a giant while. It was over 500 meters in size, and as it slammed its tail down onto the surface of the sea, massive waves were swept up in all directions.

Sea monsters were the most terrifying beings in the seas of the underworld, and this nautical map that was tinged with the Yin energy of the most powerful sea monsters was a must-have for all ship captains.

The power of a sea monster was directly proportional to their size, and generally speaking, sea monsters that reached 10,000 meters in size would be at the initial Yama-King level. These sea monsters were extremely bloodthirsty, compulsively attacking all ships carrying Yin spirits that they encountered, and countless ships had been destroyed by them throughout the course of history. Furthermore, upon reaching the Yama-King level, these sea monsters would develop their own territories.

"Sea Monster Saunder..." He opened his eyes as he carefully felt around the speck of netherfire with his finger. As golden text began to drift out of the netherfire, he read aloud to himself, "Active in the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean, possessing Duke level power and a body that's 512 meters in length. Degree of aggression: medium. Saunder is one of the rarer, more docile monarch beasts of the sea."

Qin Ye did a quick count and determined that there were roughly 40 to 50 underworld sea monsters, and every single one of them occupied a massive hunting area. However, only six of them stand at the very top of the marine ecosystem.

The second one was the North Sea Monster, Kraken!

It was active near Greenland and was extremely aggressive! Its body was roughly 30,000 meters in length, and it was extremely lazy, moving roughly only once per century. There was no way to calculate its overall area, but it was estimated to be over 100 square kilometers.

The third one was the East Sea Monster Leviathan, Behemoth!

Behemoth was active near the territory of the current Aegyptian Underworld and had once been chased by Death God Anubis to the Red Sea. Following its quiet return, it no longer dared to wreak havoc in the middle-eastern sea. It possessed a body that was 28,000 meters in length and an incalculable area, estimated to be over 100 square kilometers.

The fourth one was the Mediterranean Sea Monster, Charybdis!

It was said that this was a daughter to Poseidon and Gaia with a body that was roughly 30,000 meters in length and extremely aggressive tendencies. It had once attacked Athens, the capital of the Argosian Underworld, and after being severely wounded by Hypnos, it fled deep into the sea and had still yet to make a reappearance. Its overall area was impossible to calculate, estimated at over 100 square kilometers.

The fifth one was the Red Sea Monster, Scylla!

This was a hydra that was once the ruler of the Mediterranean Sea. Following a battle for dominance against Charybdis, it was defeated and fled to the Red Sea. However, following Charybdis's disappearance, it returned to the Mediterranean Sea. It was extremely aggressive and bloodthirsty, but having personally witnessed Charybdis's defeat, it didn't dare to provoke the Argosian Underworld. Its body was 27,000 meters in length, its area was impossible to calculate, projected to be over 100 square kilometers.

The sixth one was the monster of the Indian Ocean, Naga!

It was said that this was a creature with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a snake with eight snake heads on her back. To this day, no one had seen her true appearance, and she had a very calm and placid personality. Over 30,000 Yin spirits in total had witnessed her throughout the course of history, and she never entered the shallow regions of the sea, maintaining a peaceful relationship with the Hindustani Underworld. She was the only one of the six sea monsters yet to have her appearance fully uncovered, and it was estimated that her body was in excess of 30,000 meters in length with an incalculable area.

Qin Ye heaved a faint sigh as he processed this information. The longer he served as King Yanluo, the more it became apparent to him just how fascinating the underworld was. All of the legendary sea monsters of the mortal realm truly existed in the underworld!

Every single one of them was at least at the demigod level, and they were extremely legendary figures, renowned as the six kings of the sea.

Throughout the course of history, no fleet had dared to sail through the territories of the six kings, and none of the fleets that had set out to try and uncover the secrets of these sea monsters had managed to return to tell the tale.

He only took a brief look at this information before setting it aside, filing it away as general knowledge in his mind, then turning toward another stack of documents on the table.

This was the identity that Rick had prepared for him.

Even though he wasn't traveling through the mortal realm, he needed a mortal realm identity once he arrived in Usonia. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to come into contact with the high-ranking members of the Freemasonry.

He opened the file of documents, and only after looking through them for several seconds, he couldn't help but chuckle with amusement. "I didn't think there would be someone this foolish in the world."

Edward Ross.

Caucasian police officer currently living on 17th Street, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. The Usonians had always had a tendency to name their streets after numbers, and there could be many 17th Streets in Beverly Hills alone.

However, this street was situated in a prime location with Hollywood sitting right up ahead, the University of Southern California located down below, and to the left was 20th Century Fox, while to the right was the town hall. Perhaps he had been too heavily influenced by Hollywood, but this Mr. Edward Ross was an extremely avid occult practitioner.

Indeed, what Rick had provided him wasn't a green card, nor was it some type of fake identity. Instead, he had provided Qin Ye with a host to possess.

According to these documents, Edward had already been possessed by several beings in the past, and Qin Ye was the eighth one. This gave him a feeling similar to using a condom that someone else had used, and he was rather reluctant to accept this host. Who knew if there were some strange... fluids flowing inside his body?

The method of possession was very simple. On the 13th of every month, the renowned Arcadia International Funeral Home of Los Angeles would release an access card, and the holder of the card could enter a private area in the Rose Hills Mortuary. At the same time, Edward was going to be praying. He hadn't been entered for the past decade, and as a devout celibate, he was most likely feeling quite lonely.

Qin Ye's mind was working quickly, committing the time and location to memory, following which he set the documents aside. Beneath this file was a set of documents on the Rose Hills Mortuary.

There were several renowned cemeteries in Los Angeles such as the Forest Lawn Memorial Park of Glendale. The former Roman Pope had once specifically paid a visit to this memorial park, and in the park stood "Moses", one of the masterpieces of the legendary sculptor, Michaelangelo. President Reagan and his wife, Jane Wyman, were also buried there. On the mountain behind the memorial park was a massive oil painting of Jesus's crucifixion, acting as a symbol of resurrection.

Then came the cemeteries designated for celebrities such as the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary, in which renowned figures such as Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner were buried. After that came the Rose Hills Mortuary.

After just a brief glance at the mortuary's information, Qin Ye's brows immediately furrowed slightly.

The documents didn't just include the current state of the mortuary, but also the recent news from there.

The remaining area of the Rose Hills Mortuary had already been sold earlier this year.

Usonian cemeteries were extremely expensive, especially some of the more renowned ones. It had to be said that they had managed to incorporate their cemeteries as a core part of their tourism industry. For example, in order to be closer to some celebrities following their deaths, many people would pay more than what it cost to purchase houses just to secure a plot of land in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Similarly, many cemeteries would also actively contact some famous figures and provide them with favorable terms to try and convince them to agree to be buried there after their deaths. As a result, the prices of burial plots in these cemeteries also rose dramatically.

At this point, it would cost up to two million USD to purchase a "mansion" in the Rose Hills Mortuary!

However, the information that Rick had provided to him clearly stated that aside from that private area in the Arcadia International Funeral Home, the entirety of the Rose Hills Mortuary had been purchased, and according to investigations, the money to purchase all of those plots had come from the same account!

Was someone anticipating a mass spree of death to sweep through their entire family?

"Interesting..." Qin Ye closed the file with a contemplative expression. He knew that this was a warning from Rick to him that if he were to initiate a possession ceremony there, then there was a very good chance that he would be noticed.

Who was it that had purchased all of the plots of land in the third most renowned cemetery of Los Angeles?

Qin Ye couldn't help but shake the feeling that the mystery up ahead was thickening further and further. During other times, it wouldn't be that strange to see someone do this, but this was right when a revolt was about to be staged in the Usonian Underworld, and some Yin spirits were planning to break the barriers between life and death to release countless Yin spirits to flee into the mortal realm.

"Considering how sensitive this time period is, I can't treat this as a mere coincidence," Qin Ye mused to himself. "After possessing Edward, I have to investigate this First Usonian Bank right away. Such a bank doesn't even exist now, so it has to have been merged or disappeared throughout the course of history. Once I track down this bank, I have to immediately leave any area where a potential conflict could erupt."

Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa were on the brink of insanity, the three death gods below them were raring to take their places, and three death gods of the Caribbean had become an independent force as well, thereby making for an extremely complex situation that would be impossible for one to extricate themselves out of if they were to sink into it.

He looked out the window to find that dense, dark clouds had already gathered above the surface of the sea, making it appear as if a storm were about to arrive soon.

Even an idiot could tell that Usonia was about to descend into complete pandemonium, and that was only Northern Usonia.

Southern Usonia was where the native Usonian religion had been born, and there were also most likely many ancient gods lying in slumber there. If the Plumed Serpent God wanted to avenge himself, then he had to make sure that the person that he wanted to exact his revenge on was still alive.

"A storm is coming..." He heaved a faint sigh, and right at this moment, a burst of door-knocking rang out. A skeletal sailor whose entire body was enveloped in white netherfire opened the door as he informed with a fawning smile, "Sir, we've already arrived near Xolotl's Screen and are about to pass through it. This is a rare sight, and there may be some turbulence as we pass through Xolotl's Screen. Our captain has specifically asked me to notify you not to be alarmed and that you can open the window to take a look if you're interested."

"Alright." Qin Ye waved a hand through the air, and the door swung shut, following which he cast his gaze back out the window.

No ships had large windows. Regardless of what type of glass was used, an excessively large window would be extremely vulnerable to the threat posed by tsunamis and sea monsters. The Liberty was no exception to this, and as a result, his window was only around the size of a bowl.

However, that was already enough.

"Xolotl's Screen, eh?" A faint smile appeared on his face. Not long ago, he had made a promise to Xolotl in exchange for the capture of Xu Fu, but not long thereafter, they were forced to face off as enemies during a world conference due to conflicting interests. Qin Ye was quite interested to see just how the vastly renowned Xolotl's Screen had been constructed.

On the distant horizon, a massive wall could already be seen with the naked eye alone. It was like the Great Wall of Cathay, stretching as far as the eyes could see.

There were complex Yin runes engraved on every single brick on the wall, and the entire screen was like an insurmountable mountain. Even from this far away, Qin Ye could see the countless gleaming weapons on the city wall.

For a Yama-King like him, it wouldn't be a difficult task to inspect an entire nation in an instant, and after taking an intrigued glance, Qin Ye was just about to withdraw his gaze, but his expression suddenly stiffened, following which he abruptly refocused his attention on Xolotl's Screen.

It had snapped...

The enormous screen had snapped!

It had been snapped into two parts down the middle, and it seemed to have only been snapped not long ago and there hadn't been enough time to repair it yet. The opening was so massive and glaring, as if... as if a sea monster that was several kilometers in width had just bulldozed directly through it!

He took a deep breath as he rushed over to the window with an intense look in his eyes.

"An opening of this length could've only been created by one of the six kings! Does this mean one of the six kings crashed through Xolotl's Screen? There's a very good chance that this is true. Otherwise, what could've possibly broken through the screen with Xolotl overseeing proceedings? However, why has this happened, and why now of all times?!"