Yama Rising

Whoosh… The female ghost’s slender body and red-and-white dress flew across the air with a graceful arc. Then, before the three men could even blink their eyes, they heard a deafening rumble on the ground!

The person who had just arrived had picked up the female ghost and sent her crashing straight into the ground from up on high, sending a cloud of dust and debris flying everywhere.

“Cocky?” Amidst the dense cloud of dust and debris, the three men could vaguely make out a figure grabbing tightly to the female ghost’s head and slamming her straight onto the ground.

“Still full of arrogance?!!”

They heard yet another slamming sound. The three men were astounded.

Ferocious.

Have you seen the relationship between a cat and a mouse?

Do you know how Jerry fancied teasing and beating up Tom?

That’s exactly how it was right now. The figure in the cloud of dust and debris was tossing the female ghost about and slamming her into the ground repeatedly, from left to right to left to right. The female ghost struggled feebly like a kite with a broken string amidst a powerful, domineering gale as she continued to flounder about helplessly. Meanwhile, the figure continued to berate her, “Do you think it’s so great pledging allegiance to that fool named ‘Cao’?”

Boom!!

The floor quaked.

“Sss!!!” The female ghost hissed in pain. She flailed her hands about the air, attempting to grab hold of something but to no avail.

“Still resisting?”

Boom!

“Running a clubhouse? Collecting protection fees? Delving into every other antisocial behaviour you can think of?”

Boom! Boom!

Cracks had begun to develop on the floor, and the female ghost was moaning madly.

“Do you think you’re part of a triad? Don’t you know that triads don’t end well in Cathay?!”

Boom! Boom boom!!

The three men continued to watch with jaw-dropping bewilderment as dust and debris continued to be kicked up and about for several minutes on end. Finally, the figure kicked the female ghost into a corner, “Were you there that night? I’ve never been looked down upon like that in my entire life! Since the head honcho isn’t here, there’s nothing stopping me from pummeling you to my heart’s content!”

“Sss!!!” As the female ghost crashed into the wall, she hissed miserably and scrambled like a spider to the ceiling once more. Her skull had almost been split open by the torturous beating earlier, and blood covered her entire head, causing her to look more terrifying than ever. Dark-red blood trickled down like a small stream as she gritted her teeth, “Who… are you?!!”

The eyes of the three men widened in shock.

Who in the world is that?

His power… is on par with an Operative-class expert! And his abilities are clearly far stronger than that of the female ghost! No…  in fact, it even looks akin to a qualitative suppression of abilities, almost as though he was a natural predator hunting his prey. Since when did such experts exist in the City of Salvation?

Swish… The mysterious man’s figure finally came into full view as the cloud of dust and debris finally settled. The three men were completely silent.

He wore a camouflage uniform just like they did.

The only difference was that the man wore a mask on his face.

That wouldn’t have been too peculiar if that was all there was to it.

However, what tipped the scales… the fact that this was the mask of Tiga Ultraman…

Do you think you’re here to defeat a monster?

“Who am I?” Ultraman chuckled coldly as he pulled apart his uniform.

A short sleeve t-shirt was hidden underneath his camouflage uniform. Three words were splashed across the t-shirt in white, flamboyant and cursive letterings.

“I’m Your Father!”

Their eyes twitched uncontrollably.

This was not all. Ultraman turned around and removed the rest of his camouflage uniform, revealing a line of text on the back of his t-shirt.

“Don’t mess with your master. It’s annoying!”

Even the female ghost was completely dumbfounded.

This image… Why does it seem so vastly different from Lord Cao’s noble and dignified appearance?

“That felt good.” Ultraman breathed a sigh of relief. The pent up frustration from his earlier confrontation with Arthis had finally been released. He glanced over at the trio on the side, “Leave. Don’t stay here and be a hindrance to me.”

The three men exchanged glances, and the man with the chiseled face represented the group and bowed deeply to Ultraman as they respectfully muttered, “May we know which senior it is who had rendered assistance to us? I’m--...”

“We’ll talk about that another time. Go!” Ultraman waved his hands at them impatiently. Don’t you guys have any discernment at all? My blood is already boiling for violence here, yet you’re still trying to bother with platitudes here?

The three men fell silent for a moment, before bowing in unison, “We will remember our benefactor. Words cannot express our gratitude!”

As soon they finished speaking, they took their leave.

Everything was silent once more.

The only entities remaining at the rooftop were the female ghost and Ultraman. Unlike before, when she actively took the initiative against the trio, the female ghost didn’t move this time.

Instead, she kept changing her stances and positions while maintaining her distance from Ultraman. For some strange reason, she had a terrifying feeling about this opponent of hers.

She was a new ghost - one that had never experienced the mighty oppression of Hell’s authority. Nevertheless, they were still on different parts of the food chain. One was a predator, and one was a prey. Given that their abilities were on par, there was absolutely no way she was going to be able to overcome her predator’s qualitative suppression against her.

Ultraman finally removed his mask, revealing Qin Ye’s appearance.

The gentle wind swept through the dilapidated building, tousling Qin Ye’s bangs. He ran his fingers through his hair and heaved another sigh of relief, “That feels better.”

Having ventilated some of the frustrations weighing on his heart, he took out the soul sphere and placed it beside him as he confronted the female ghost once more, “Do you know something…”

“It’s precisely because of you bastards that I’ve been looked upon with such disdain!”

“That stupid old lady might have a venomous tongue, but there is still basis for what she’s saying. Well… since I can’t run anymore, why don’t I learn to adapt instead? For instance… why don’t I start with you, hmm?”

“No response? I’ll take silence as consent then…”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Yin energy around him surged with a bang. Qin Ye instantly entered his Hell’s Emissary state, and the demonhead saber in his hands began to glow with an eerie green light. His present appearance was far more demonic and devilish than the female ghost.

The female ghost’s pupils immediately constricted.

A sensation of fear coursed through her veins, sending her into a state of panic.

It was a feeling that she had never experienced before ever since turning into an evil ghost.

But even ghosts knew fear.

“Ssssss!!!” She hissed wildly as she scrambled to flee outside the building. Without taking a second look, Qin Ye ran his finger along the demonhead saber gently, “I’ll give you a thirty-nine meter headstart…”

“Thirty-nine… zero.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the muscles on his arm bulged, and a radiant beam of blade light surged forward like a powerful waterfall! This was done under Arthis’ watchful eyes. This was a result of being forced into a corner by Cao Youdao!

He was ventilating his stress.

He was releasing all of his pent up anger.

Boom!!

Everything in front of him shook and trembled. Cracks appeared in the air, causing the Yin energy in the surroundings to be sucked into the void. In an instant, the female ghost’s body was instantly reduced to nothing more than a cloud of Yin energy. With an unwilling dying hiss, what remained of her finally dissipated into nothingness in the surroundings.

Thirty-nine… zero…

What the hell happened to the numbers in between?!

Did a dog eat them?!

“I’d initially planned to countdown from thirty-nine to zero. But then I soon realized that it would be far better for my mental health if I’d simply unleashed all of my vexations rather than drag things out.” Qin Ye sheathed his saber as a wisp of Yin energy flew over and burrowed straight into his chest. His proof of identity as an Emissary of Hell flew out. Then, as though someone was writing on it, a string of pale words appeared, as though in ink.

“Purged one vengeful apparition: 20 merit points awarded.”

“Currently accumulated: 40 merit points. Total points required for promotion to the Soul Hunter rank: 160 merit points.”

As soon as the words were recorded, the proof of identity quivered slightly, and a powerful blast of Yin energy erupted and burrowed its way into the demonhead saber like a long, slithering snake. In the next moment, the skull on the hilt of the demonhead saber ignited, sending a meter long green flame bursting forth from the skull! Then, the flame slowly crept across the blade of the saber until the entire weapon was completely ignited.

“This is…” Qin Ye looked at the demonhead saber’s transformation with astonishment. He waved it in the air lightly, only to realize that the blade of the saber actually left a mark in the air that was visible to the naked eye.

This was something that it could never have done before!

“Yin energy can cause the demonhead saber to evolve?” Qin Ye waved the saber around in his arm proficiently, allowing his sword dance to blossom like a beautiful flower in the night sky.

“The appearance of the netherfire on the blade isn’t the only change that’s occurred… the weight of the blade has become even lighter as well… No. Perhaps it might be more accurate to say that the saber has evolved to suit my personal needs better. Is this the result of drawing closer to the Soul Hunter rank?”

Just as he was about to continue getting acquainted with his newly evolved weapon, he suddenly cocked his head to the side and gazed into the distance.

Operative-class…

In fact, it wasn’t only the aura of one, but two Operative-class entities!

That’s where the next hunting zone is located… He suppressed the desire to continue experimenting with his newly evolved weapon and shot off once more.

………………………………………..

Meanwhile at the Orchid Clubhouse, Cao Youdao opened his eyes once more.

The previously bustling Orchid Clubhouse was now left with only him and a humanoid paper effigy who was holding onto a silver tray with cut cigars and a glass of red wine on it.

Cao Youdao leaned back comfortably and sank into the soft sofa in his room. He picked up the glass of red wine and swirled its contents around. After some time, he muttered, “The first hunting zone has been broken.”

Notwithstanding his misshapen features, the humanoid paper effigy looked up in astonishment, “My lord… is it the cultivators from the mortal realm?”

“Who knows?” Cao Youdao rubbed his eyebrows, “Apart from searching for that dear colleague of mine, tonight is also a good opportunity for us to get a probative indication of the Special Investigations Department’s abilities. It’s the same for them as well - they’ll take this opportunity to remove some of the thorns in their side. But that said… things are happening a lot more quickly than I’d expected.”

“Zhang Chenghai wouldn’t personally make a move… Given my understanding of the City of Salvation’s defensive capabilities, the rest of the cultivators only possess abilities that are approximately on the same level as the apparition in the first hunting zone. Therefore…”

His fingers tapped gently against the sofa as he chuckled coldly, “Can’t I be sure that this is the result of a feeble last stand of that dear colleague of mine?”

“After all, only Emissaries of Hell possess the ability to qualitatively suppress ghosts of the same rank as them.”

The humanoid paper effigy chimed in respectfully, “My lord, could it be… that he’s attempting to break through to the Soul Hunter rank?”

“Dream on!” Cao Youdao snickered as he picked up a cigar and lit it up. Taking a light puff from it, he continued, “He’s just a maggot - an insignificant Emissary of Hell who doesn’t know any better. Doesn’t he know that he won’t be able to get promoted without Hell’s Records, even if he attains the requisite merit points?”

His eyes began to burn with passion as he glanced towards the large pit below, “I am the only person in the entire world who’s able to attain the ranks of Anitya Hellguard, Infernal Judge and even Yama-King right now!”

Meanwhile, underneath the city hall, Zhang Chenghai and everyone else were completely flabbergasted.

The first hunting zone had been broken!

Silence.

Not a single person was able to respond to the unexpected situation.

Seconds later, Zhang Chenghai turned his head around and bellowed, “Pronto! I want a report on when exactly the first hunting zone was broken, who broke it, and where that person is right now!”

“The report is already out.” A man in a white coat stood up and reported, “Ten minutes ago… just ten minutes ago, an Operative-class energy signature was detected at Shuncheng Street. The culprit had killed the vengeful apparition in the first hunting zone almost instantaneously. The probationary cultivators deployed to the first hunting zones are AC 4742 to AC 4744. Incidentally, they are also the three fastest-improving probationary cultivators in the entire City of Salvation.”

Zhang Chenghai’s gaze flickered, “They can’t possibly be a match for that apparition. It would already be amazing if they could come out of a head-on confrontation alive… what about Elder Mei?”

“Elder Mei is currently deployed at the fourth hunting zone located at the Fragrant Grass Street. Mr Zhang, with all due respect, Elder Mei isn’t a match for the vengeful apparition in the first hunting zone either. This culprit… we believe that he might be an Emissary of Hell on earth.”

His final statement was met with some measure of incredulity and disbelief.

An Emissary of Hell on earth…

All who walked the path of cultivation in modern day society knew exactly how difficult things were for them.

Even Zhang Chenghai, who was presently forty-five years-old, was only a Hunter-class expert. It would be a miracle if he was able to break through to the level of a Hellguard-class expert in his lifetime. Emissary of Hell on earth?

A living one?

Zhang Chenghao took a deep breath, “Contact the leader of AC 4742’s team immediately. I want to speak with them right away!”