Yama Rising

Qin Ye wasn't overly surprised to hear this.

The inner demon was a massive threat that warranted his full attention, but it wasn't something to panic over.

After all, the inner demon was only a single entity.

While it was true that hidden threats were always the most troublesome to deal with, at the very most, it was only a threat of the same level as the other three pillars. The Cathayan Underworld had no shortage of enemies in the underworld, and it wasn't overly concerning for another one to be thrown into the mix.

In that case, everything that it had said about now wishing to make an enemy out of Qin Ye and that they had no conflict of interest had been nothing more than lies.

"So what happened to me earlier?" Qin Ye asked.

"You adopted your true Yin spirit form," Nothingness replied. "You've actually already seen it many times. For example, Oda Nobunaga has revealed his true form in your presence in the past. Oda Nobutada also did the same thing back when you were in Daehan. There was also the recent instance where all of the Yama-Kings of the world revealed their true forms in order to deal with the extraterrestrial threat."

"I want to know what exactly triggered that transformation," Qin Ye said.

Nothingness was silent for a moment before sweeping a hand through the air, upon which a golden screen appeared, depicting the process of evolution. From paramecium to dinosaur, from cephalopod to echinoderm… Some were as large as mountains, some were as tiny as ants. All types of living beings were rising and falling throughout the stream of evolution.

Nothingness said, "Humans are in a state of equilibrium, but by no means are they perfect beings. Their main strength is their intelligence, and Yin spirits are the same as they maintain a human form. However, each Yin spirit has their own true form, a perfect form that allows them to unleash all of their power. It's very difficult for most Yin spirits to capture this true form, which lies hidden in their souls, and only beings at or above the Infernal Judge level can reveal their true forms at will. In films of the mortal realm, those who set forth to vanquish ghosts and demons always force them to reveal their true forms first. Firstly, this allows them to gauge their power, and secondly, even though a being's powers are significantly enhanced in their true form, if they die in their true form, they will be truly erased from existence, regardless of how powerful they are."

I see… Looks like I'm never going to reveal my true form again then…

Nothingness swept a hand through the air, and the light screen silently vanished.

A contemplative silence then descended upon both of them, and it was broken several minutes later by Nothingness, Who asked, "Do you not have anything to ask me?"

"I thought you would tell me everything yourself," Qin Ye replied. "After all, you're hiring me to slay the inner demon for you, so shouldn't you be the one actively providing me with information?"

He had already identified the true purpose of the trial of inner demons.

All death gods had steadily grown more powerful while weathering countless assassination attempts and potent threats. Back when there were many more underworlds and the entire underworld was at war, there were assassination operations taking place on a regular basis. Unless one possessed the power to match their status, there was no way that they would survive for long.

If the Cathayan Underworld were to choose space exploration as its main direction, then they would face the same situation.

Under that context, Qin Ye was far too weak to fit his role as the ruler of the Cathayan Underworld.

Furthermore, the Heavenly Dao was plotting to bring down the inner demon.

Qin Ye had always been the one out-calculating and manipulating others, but he had been well and truly beaten at his own game by the Heavenly Dao on this occasion.

Why had the Heavenly Dao put him through the trial of inner demons?

While it was true that this was his punishment for trying to damage the peace treaty, was he expected to believe that the Heavenly Dao was unable to prevent the inner demon from detecting what was happening?

There was no way that this was the case.

Even a being like the Plumed Serpent God could be completely concealed by the Heavenly Dao.

If he hadn't performed a divine descent, no one would even be aware that he was still alive.

The Heavenly Dao was able to erase all signs that a death god was still alive, so it had to be a simple task for Them to conceal an unfolding divine art.

Thus, the Heavenly Dao had to have allowed the true inner demon into the trial on purpose.

At this point, Qin Ye had already mapped out the sequence of events that had led up to this point. Nothingness knew about all of this, including the fact that the second King Yanluo had set his eyes on him as far back as a century ago, which was why he hadn't encountered any resistance when inheriting King Yanluo's Seal. Of course, the Heavenly Dao had to have been aware that Qin Ye wasn't the only one trying to ascend to the throne in the wake of the fall of the old Hell.

The second King Yanluo hadn't done anything to thwart the plans of Dong Zhuo and Cao Youdao, yet he had chosen to foil the inner demon's plans.

In other words, even the second King Yanluo was of the opinion that the inner demon would become entirely unstoppable if it were allowed to establish an anchor in the underworld.

Now that the situation in Hell was already stable, the Heavenly Dao was taking advantage of this opportunity… No, perhaps They had already planned this out with the second King Yanluo in advance! The Heavenly Dao had intentionally left the trial of inner demons vulnerable to exploitation in order to see if the inner demon still harbored its old ambitions.

If it didn't intervene, then everything would be fine, and that would be the ideal outcome. If that had happened, Qin Ye would most likely never find out that Qin Zhongguo's soul was inside the inner demon's body, and that it had already been taken over.

If the inner demon failed to turn up, then that would mean that it had already discarded its ambitions to become a true death god. In that case, the only thing that would be achieved by informing Qin Ye of these things would be to instigate a war between the Cathayan Underworld and a being above the Yama-King level, which would be extremely detrimental to the stability of the Cathayan Underworld.

However, the inner demon had come, which meant that it hadn't given up on its plans.

It was looking down on Qin Ye. It didn't think that Qin Ye deserved his role, and it was under the opinion that it could od better.

The Heavenly Dao didn't prevent that as They knew that as long as the inner demon didn't give up, in the instant that Qin Ye saw Qin Zhongguo's soul in its body, he would have a reason to hunt down the inner demons.

Thus, this had been an elaborate plot all along, and this was why Qin Ye was displaying such hostility toward the Heavenly Dao.

He didn't know why the Heavenly Dao wanted to bring down the inner demon. All he knew was that They were using him to do Their dirty work while acting all high and mighty at the same time.

Nothingness wasn't enraged by Qin Ye's thinly veiled insults. They turned to face Qin Ye, then said, "You really are just as sharp as the second King Yanluo says."

They didn't feel awkward at all at the fact that Qin Ye had seen through everything. In Their eyes, the only thing that mattered was to achieve their objective.

Both of them fell silent again.

Nothingness seemed to be formulating Their words, and after a long silence, They finally spoke again. "Do you know how the supercritical tides took place?"

Before Qin Ye had a chance to answer, the Heavenly Dao continued, "It's because two planes are getting closer and closer, and the natures of death gods are resonating with one another, thereby triggering the supercritical tide. The Land of Origins is where death gods are most concentrated, so the supercritical tide begins from here. Ultimately, the underworld must step out of this plane. It is inevitable that there will be fierce competition between the underworld and the other planes that exist in space. Perhaps we can all coexist in peace and harmony, but it's far more likely the future will not be so peaceful. In a war between planes, every single Yin spirit of the underworld will have to become involved. However, that doesn't apply to the inner demon. It has no sense of good and evil, all it has is desire. If a war between planes takes place, that'll provide it with the perfect opportunity for growth. As long as it's sufficiently intelligent and simply stays put, devouring the desires of two planes in secret, regardless of which side comes out on top, the inner demon will become an unstoppable monster. On top of that, it has more than sufficient reason to help other planes instigate war against the underworld, and Medes was most likely tempted by it. The inner demon can influence the world in extremely subtle and untraceable ways. We cannot allow it to grow more powerful and leave it unchecked. However…"

"However, you're too busy, so you want me to complete this insignificant task for you, right?" Qin Ye scoffed.

The Heavenly Dao clearly didn't manage to identify the insult in Qin Ye's words, and They nodded in response. "Correct."

Correct my arse! I was being sarcastic! Do you really think this is an insignificant task?! This is a being above the Yama-King level, and on top of that, it's completely untraceable! How the hell am I supposed to hunt this thing down?! Can't you be more self-aware?! At least offer me some type of compensation or something like that!

Qin Ye's eyes were bulging as he stared at the Heavenly Dao, but They clearly weren't getting the hint.

I've never seen someone so shameless in my entire life!

Qin Ye cursed internally as he temporarily set aside the urge to mention compensation. "Between the inner demon and myself, one of us must die. Is there anything you can tell me that will help me?"

Nothingness nodded in response. "The inner demon is completely untraceable, and even I can't track it down. However, seeing as it's unwilling to discard its ambitions, that opens up a window of opportunity for you to kill it."

Before Qin Ye had a chance to ask, Nothingness continued, "Traces will be left behind in all of the people that it possesses."

Qin Ye waited for a few seconds before blinking with a blank expression. "That's it?"

"That's it."

Motherfucker…

If it weren't for the fact that he was no match for the Heavenly Dao in battle, he would be challenging Them to a duel of life and death!

Right at this moment, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and a contemplative look appeared on his face as he fell into deep thought.

Traces will be left behind in all of the people that it possesses…

The most fearsome attribute of the inner demon was that it was untraceable, so it was impossible to tell where it was at any given time. However, if he could track it down, then he would be able to target it.

Its biggest advantage was its untraceable nature, but now…

Qin Ye suddenly raised his head and cast his gaze toward the Heavenly Dao. "What exactly are these traces that will be left behind?"

"The people that it possesses will be able to see supernatural beings, and extremely peculiar supernatural events will be sure to occur in the area that they stay in. These traces will be present for three days after the possession, and you'll be able to sense its location during those three days. If you use an art that allows you to constantly track it, it'll definitely sense what you're doing, and your plan will be thwarted. Thus, this is already the most reliable method."

Qin Ye couldn't help but admire how ruthless the Heavenly Dao was.

They had set a trap for the inner demon in the form of the trial of inner demons, and if the inner demon were to display any signs that it still harbored its former ambitions, the Heavenly Dao would immediately act to hunt it down.

"Also, if you think that the inner demon is only fearsome due to its untraceable nature, then you couldn't be more wrong," Nothingness continued. "It's able to easily exacerbate the desires in your heart, and it can switch to any host within a span of 10 seconds. Thus, even if you track it down you won't be able to defeat it or even capture it."

"Unless?" Qin Ye asked.

"Unless you force it to reveal its true form," Nothingness replied with a smile. "However, in order to do that, you have to at least be able to resist all desires and emotions. No one is able to completely shut out their emotions and desires, but there are some ways in which you can prevent yourself from being controlled by the inner demon."

Qin Ye's brows furrowed slightly as he involuntarily cast his gaze toward the Nostalgia Yin rune.

It was clear that he had been targeted for this role from the very beginning, and he had dived headfirst into this trap!