Yama Rising

It's finally over...

Qin Ye closed his eyes with his arm held up high and leaned back against his throne as he heaved a long sigh of relief.

Seated beside him was Qin Changxin, who was staring blankly at all of the raised arms around him, and a smile slowly appeared on his face, but tears were also welling up in his eyes.

Zhao Yun was looking at Qin Ye with fierce approval in his eyes, much like the expression of a father watching his son come of age.

Only they knew just how much pressure they had been under during their past nine days in Nara.

"Through a unanimous vote, we welcome the Cathayan Underworld back as one the international forbidden arts supervision nations," Borfis declared to the sound of light applause.

This was a sign to the entire world that the glory of the Cathayan Underworld had returned.

At this point, no one was stupid enough to oppose this decision, and soon, the applause began to spread across the room, becoming louder and louder. In the blink of an eye, the applause had crescendoed from a light smattering into a thunderous chorus.

The applause went on for a long time, and Qin Ye acknowledged all of the applauding death gods with a polite yet restrained smile, but unbeknownst to everyone, his hands were trembling slightly as he held onto his armrests.

He had managed to stand his ground against the entire world.

Never did he think that he would be overcome by such an intense sense of achievement and satisfaction after securing glory for his own nation. It was only the applause of several dozen people, but it was like a wave washing over him, raising goosebumps over every single inch of his skin.

The support of the entire world completely filled his heart, yet even he didn't know why this sense of satisfaction was so overwhelming. Countless emotions were swirling around in his heart, brewing into the most wonderful sensation. Perhaps this was what it felt like to have one's painstaking efforts rewarded with a favorable outcome.

In the beginning, he had tried to strike back, only for his trump cards to be intercepted, plunging him into extreme unease and concern. However, he had to force himself to maintain a level head and calmly bide his time, even as the utopia alliance began to make its mark on the world. At the end, he was finally able to deal a decisive retaliative blow, and the process seemed quite simple, but in reality, the battle of wits and attrition had only officially concluded just a few hours ago.

First King Yanluo, Second King Yanluo, did I do you guys proud?

He cast his gaze toward the friendly faces all around him, and a faint smile appeared on his face. It was his time stepping onto the world stage, and the impact that he had made would be felt for years to come.

He was confident that under his rule, the Cathayan Underworld would only continue to become more and more prosperous.

Just you wait, ascended predecessors of Hell. This is only the beginning!

Only after the applause had gone on for over a minute did Borfis gesture for silence, following which he continued, "Now then, we will go onto the main subject of discussion for this conference, which is the direction that forbidden arts are developing in, and rules and regulations to regulate forbidden arts. The specific details have already been distributed to everyone by the Coalition of Underworlds in advance. Due to the fact that the Cathayan Underworld has been absent from the world stage for so long, it will not be participating in this discussion. Out of fairness and openness, everyone still has one final chance to make a statement before the final discussion."

He swept a meaningful gaze across the entire venue as he continued, "If the actions of any nation or any underworld have threatened the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts, you may report them here. We will have a day of discussion, followed by some time for an overall assessment, and the final day will be when the signing ceremony is held."

Complete silence followed.

After waiting for a full 30 seconds, Borfis nodded and said, "I hereby officially announce the commencement of the discussion. According to the rules, the discussion will be split up into five groups, namely the Asia Group, the Alkebulan Group, the Central Asia Group, the Europa Group, and the temporary addition, the new continent group. The host for the Asia Group will still be Death God Yamaraja. The conference halls have already been prepared, you may go whenever you're ready."

The second-generation forbidden arts startup module had only just emerged, and strictly speaking, the module could be passed in any conference aside from the conference to re-sign the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts.

At the very least, it should've been a topic of discussion, yet everyone had turned a blind eye to this.

Qin Ye was very pleased to see this, and he was even more pleased by the fact that he wouldn't have to participate in the group discussions. He didn't even have political nous and experience, and venturing into these types of in-depth discussions without sufficient preparation would expose these weaknesses. As things were at the moment, he could simply act as a spectator, and it was the ideal opportunity for him to learn how death gods all over the world addressed international affairs, as well as how small nations managed to survive within the cracks and maximize the benefits they could secure without incurring backlash from major nations.

He couldn't wait to watch these discussions unfold.

The death gods departed one after another, yet just as Qin Ye rounded a corner, a voice suddenly called out to him. "Yanluo Qin."

Qin Ye turned around, and to his surprise, it was Yamaraja who had called out to him.

There were other death gods who clearly also wanted to approach Qin Ye, but with Yamaraja present, there was naturally no place for them to speak with Qin Ye, so they could only sheepishly depart.

The two death gods strode along side by side, and Yamaraja was hovering above the ground like a wraith, while Qin Ye was walking with his hands clasped behind his back. After walking in silence for a few seconds, Yamaraja finally spoke.

"You've done a spectacular job here. It's no wonder the second King Yanluo chose you as his successor, it looks like the political style of the Cathayan Underworld is undergoing a change."

He seemed to almost be talking to himself as he continued, "The second King Yanluo is far more domineering and self-centered. If he doesn't want to hear the contents of an agreement, he would simply get up and leave, and in the past, this has enraged many underworlds. Perhaps these holes require a more capable and shrewd King Yanluo like you to patch up."

Qin Ye merely smiled in response, treating this as if he were listening to the ramblings of a senile old man.

"I think there may have been some type of misunderstanding between us," Yamaraja said in a friendly tone. "I'm sure you're aware that I have nothing against you personally. There are no individual differences on the world stage, only nations and underworlds that don't see eye to eye. It's true that some underworlds believe that following your nation's century-long absence, you are no longer fit to continue supervising the development of forbidden arts across the world, but you've truly given all of us a massive surprise, hehehe."

Qin Ye maintained a polite smile as he strolled slowly alongside Yamaraja, and soon, they arrived in the garden. The renowned dry gardens of Nippon were quite the sight to behold, giving off a sense of desolate beauty.

"Indeed," Qin Ye murmured as he casually plucked a leaf off a nearby tree. "There are always unforeseen circumstances taking place."

He then turned to Yamaraja as he asked, "Do you think this chapter is over, Mr. Yamaraja?"

Yamaraja gave a friendly nod in response. "Of course it is."

"Are you sure?" Qin Ye asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"I'm certain," Yamaraja replied as he looked straight into Qin Ye's eyes.

"That's good to hear." Qin Ye cast his gaze toward a pond, where a group of kappa were blowing out one huge bubble after another. "I would hate for there to be any further misunderstandings between us. After all, we're all members of the four pillars, and if there's too much unrest between us, it'll be an area of concern for the rest of the world."

Yamaraja was silent for a moment before chuckling in response. "Of course."

He had made a mistake, so he had to take Qin Ye's subtle criticism in silence.

"Your nation has been cut off from the rest of the world for over a century, and the world's economy is currently not in a very good state. Now that such a massive consumer nation has reopened its doors to the world, I'm sure the world's GDP will experience an appreciable rise, and that's certainly something to look forward to."

Qin Ye stopped beside the pond, and a Nipponese servant immediately rushed over in a respectful manner before offering him a bag of fish food. Qin Ye casually grabbed a handful of fish food, then nonchalantly tossed it onto the surface of the pond as he said, "I don't recall stating that the Cathayan Underworld will be opening itself back up to the rest of the world."

"Oh, I must've misheard then," Yamaraja replied. "I thought that the Cathayan Underworld was going to conclude its seclusion early, and that was why the Zhu Rong plan was revealed to the world. That's quite a pity, a world without the Cathayan Underworld feels like it's missing something."

A deathly pale hand that looked as if it belonged to a corpse extended out from underneath his black robe, then grabbed a handful of fish food before tossing it into the pond, and an awkward silence immediately ensued.

However, the silence was broken shortly thereafter. Right as Yamaraja was grabbing his second handful of fish food, a gentle voice rang out. "Please pardon my intrusion, esteemed death gods."

A woman who appeared to be no different from a living person and was wearing a luxurious kimono was standing not far away from them, wearing a smile that was gorgeous as a peony in full bloom. She wasn't exceptionally beautiful, but she gave off quite a refreshing disposition.

"Kana Fujii pays her respects." She made a subtle gesture as she spoke, and two servants immediately walked out from behind her, offering up a pair of hollow golden boxes with both hands. Extremely life-like designs of elegant cranes and beautiful flowers were etched on the surface of the boxes, and she extended a deep bow as she said, "This is a small gift from me, I hope you'll do me the honor of accepting it."

She then turned to Yamaraja and extended a deep bow as she asked, "Lord Yamaraja, would you be able to give me a moment alone with Lord Qin?"

The fact that this woman was essentially openly asking Yamaraja to leave indicated that she was clearly no ordinary figure. Qin Ye's eyes narrowed slightly as he cast his gaze toward the woman. He couldn't recall any Nipponese death goddess by the name of Kana Fujii.

"Ah, greetings, Kana." The dozens of red eyes beneath Yamaraja's cloak faded in unison, and he turned to Qin Ye with a parting nod. "You're most likely going to be very busy from now on. The line of people who want to see you could easily stretch from Osaka to Tokyo, so I won't keep you any longer. If you have some spare time, please feel free to visit the Mahabodhi Temple. The Hindustani Underworld has always shared a close friendship with the Cathayan Underworld, and I project that to remain the case for a very long time to come."

He extended a hand toward Qin Ye, and Qin Ye calmly shook his hand as he said, "Indeed, I look forward to working with you in the future."

"I'm sure we'll meet again very soon, Yanluo Qin."

With that parting sentence, Yamaraja released Qin Ye's hand and departed.

Only then did Qin Ye cast his gaze toward Kana Fujii again. "May I ask who you are?"

"I am the chief executive of the Nipponese Sacred Treasure Consortium, one of the world's 15 major consortiums. It's an honor for me to make your acquaintance, Lord Qin."

Kana Fujii extended another deep bow as she continued, "Thank you for taking some time out of what is undoubtedly an extremely busy schedule to see me. I just so happen to know of a great teahouse nearby, would you be so kind as to go there with me now?"

As soon as Qin Ye heard the word "consortium", he knew that this was no ordinary woman.

It was clear that she was interested in his new energy resource project.

These were the people who Yamaraja was referring to, the people who wanted to see him.

In response to Qin Ye's nod, Kana Fujii's smile widened even further, and she led the way past a small hill, upon which a winding path was revealed.

"You seem to be very familiar with this place," Qin Ye said in a casual manner.

The scenery was exceptional here with beautiful hills and creeks alongside lush yet well-pruned greenergy. Clusters of some type of unknown flower were growing between the bushes, and they were quite elegant and refined. The melodious tolls of a large bell could be heard in the distance, and it was truly as if they had stumbled upon a peaceful paradise away from the prying eyes of the world.

"Of course," Kana Fujii replied with an amused smile. "70% of Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo were constructed by our Sacred Treasure Consortium."

Qin Ye instantly understood what her intentions were upon hearing this.

As an internationally renowned consortium that had perhaps arisen from the real estate industry, what else could this consortium want from the Zhu Rong project?

Qin Ye chuckled, "Are you not afraid that Izanami will be irked by your decision to join us?"

A meaningful smile appeared on Kana Fujii's face as she replied, "Even though I'm only a Soul Hunter, she wouldn't dare to touch me unless she wants to see the collapse of the Nipponese Underworld's economy. On top of that, one of the Nipponese Underworld's three divine artifacts, the Yasakani no Magatama, has always been in the possession of our Fujii Clan."

Qin Ye was finally intrigued upon hearing this.

This meant that Izanami didn't have the power to use the three divine artifacts to summon Minakanushi at will!