Yama Rising

It was very difficult to describe that type of feeling.

It was like sheer awe and inspiration felt by the very first time astronauts to have reached outer space as they looked back at Earth. The peaceful night acted as the perfect backdrop, and in the face of such an almighty spectacle, one could only be struck by the urge to revere and worship. 

Above him were the combined radiance of the sun and the moon, making him appear like a small raft drifting over a boundless sea.

Below him was the entire nation beneath his feet, making him feel like a god of creation looking down at his masterpiece.

It was a very complex feeling that was enough to broaden anyone's horizons and make them more open-minded and tolerant.

Only after a long while did Qin Ye lower his head. "This is truly an unimaginable sight."

"Don't you feel like there's something missing, my Lord?" Zhao Yun suddenly asked.

Qin Ye faltered slightly upon hearing this, and several seconds later, a smile appeared on his face as he asked, "You mean the stars?"

"That's right," Zhao Yun replied with a respectful salute. "The sun and the moon have both been restored to their rightful places, all that's missing now are the stars. The stars represent the Judgment Pen, and only upon its return can the Cathayan Underworld be considered to be whole again. On top of that, without the Judgment Pen, even if we rebuild the six paths of reincarnation, it won't be able to operate as there won't be anything capable of judging the virtuosity of Yin souls. Unfortunately, it seems like something has most likely happened to the Judgment Pen, but as long as it's still within the Cathayan Underworld, news of it will be sure to arise within these next couple of years."

Qin Ye nodded in response before asking, "Then... should we begin now?"

He was referring to activating the Yellow Springs.

From this vantage point, it was the perfect place to witness the return of the Yellow Springs to the Cathayan Underworld's waterways. It would be just like the Yangtze River and Yellow River of the mortal realm, both of which were clearly visible even from outer space.

"Please go ahead, my Lord."

Qin Ye took a deep breath as he braced himself for what was to come next. The method to unleash the power of King Yanluo's Seal was a vital part of the King Yanluo's inheritance, and he had committed it to memory long ago. Thus, he immediately began to make a string of hand seals, and the giant seal that was hovering in the sky began to tremble in response.

…………………………………………………..

In the city of Wuwei, there was also a pair of giant King Yanluo statues identical to the ones located at 17 other sites. Aside from the Yin soldiers guarding the area, the 10 city gods and lords of the land of Wuwei City were also all present.

The black hole had already taken shape, and black Yin winds visible to the naked eye were sweeping through the sky, causing their robes to flap vigorously. Everyone remained completely silent as they witnessed this once-in-1,000-years spectacle.

Following the first true night that had descended upon the new Cathayan Underworld, the light of the sun had returned again. However, it could be said that in the entire Cathayan Underworld, they were the least astonished by the transition between day and night. After all, the scene that they were witnessing now was no less breathtaking than the cycle of day and night!

"It's about to begin..." The city god was unconsciously holding his own beard in a vice-like grip as he looked on with a tense expression. The Yin energy around the area became denser and denser, and it was like a giant hand gripping tightly onto everyone's hearts.

Everyone was waiting with bated breath as countless specks of netherfire appeared on both riverbanks. The deathly silence was accompanied by scorching anticipation. It was like fire and ice intertwining with one another, producing an indescribable sense of tension.

Five minutes passed by, then seven minutes... 10 minutes later, an earth-shattering boom rang out as if some type of barrier had just been broken, and enormous waves began to gush out of the black hole!

The yellow waves covered a distance of kilometers in the blink of an eye before gushing into the waterway, surging toward the entire Cathayan Underworld like an unstoppable army.

It was impossible to describe this astonishing spectacle. The breathtaking waves had inundated everything, and the riverbed was quickly filled. Immediately thereafter, the water level began to climb rapidly, and the surface of the river was also becoming wider and wider. Four kilometers... five kilometers... seven kilometers... eight kilometers!

Countless cries of shock and awe rang out from the riverbanks, but their voices were completely drowned out by the crashing waves. With each surge of the Yellow Springs’ water, specks of inky-black Yin energy would vanish into the nearby space, and one could clearly sense that the Yin energy within the Cathayan Underworld was becoming more and more concentrated! If an analogy had to be made, then it could be said that the current Cathayan Underworld was like a major plane in a fantasy story. The more concentrated and abundant the Yin energy became, the faster Yin spirits would be able to progress up the ranks, and this was something that was impossible for those minor planes to replicate.

Standing in the heavens above, Qin Ye was also watching with an excited expression.

The water of the Yellow Springs was gushing out of the 17 dragon gates, and from up close, one could only marvel at the incomparable beauty and unforgiving power of nature, while high up in the heavens, Qin Ye had a completely different perspective, one of an omniscient god.

The 17 rivers were like the blood vessels of the Cathayan Underworld, and they were quickly being filled. The rivers were also like branches of a tree, and the water flowing through these 17 branches converged in a frenzy toward a massive trunk, then continued on toward the inlets that led to the sea.

"How about we take a closer look, my Lord?"

"Sure." Qin Ye certainly wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to witness such a rare spectacle up close, and thus, Zhao Yun grabbed ahold of his arm before speeding through the air like a shooting star. The image down below rapidly expanded, and he discovered that they had already caught up to the forefront of the crashing waves!

"OHHHH!!" Countless Yin spirits were jumping up and down and screaming with excitement on either side of the crashing waves as they rushed along the riverbank, trying to pursue the waves. The water flowing out of the 17 dragon gates had all converged here, stacking on top of one another, and at this point, it had already formed a giant wave over 20 meters tall!

Furthermore, this was only Yuzhou.

More giant waves could be seen gushing forth from the distance like one massive hand after another, pushing the flow of water forward. The huge wave at the forefront came crashing down, sending water splashing in all directions. Before that wave had even subsided, another giant wave had already come up from behind to take its place, and by the time it passed by Yuzhou, the wave had already reached 25 meters in height!

Regardless of where one went, as long as it was a city inhabited by Yin spirits, they would definitely be able to see countless, extremely excited netherworldly citizens rushing along the riverbanks. The sun, the moon, and now, the Yellow Springs! The entire world had been transformed in the span of just a single day. All of the things that they didn't even dare to yearn for had appeared one after the other.

How could they not be proud of a nation like this?

How could they not express their joy and elation with all their might?

Of course, one could grow accustomed to a life without these things, but it simply wasn't the same.

Even though they were already dead, they still wanted to live like humans in the afterlife.

Rumble! One wave crashed after another as if they were racing to get to the inlets. The flow of water was astonishingly fast, and after just a few hours, the gushing water had already reached Ashmound and the City of Salvation.

Someone had already spread news of the Yellow Springs’ arrival, and currently, countless netherworldly citizens were gathered on the shore of Ashmound. As the enormous wave appeared on the horizon, thunderous cheers had already begun to ring out!

"Ohhh! It's coming! It's coming!!"

"They weren't lying after all! The water really did come! We have flowing water now!"

"This is incredible... If Hell can even create a Yellow River, then I don't see anything they wouldn't be capable of doing!"

"To be honest, I've never been so confident in our administration as I am right now!"

"Everything is going to get better... When I first arrived in the underworld, I never thought that I would see this day."

Hundreds of thousands of netherworldly citizens had gathered together to welcome the Yellow Springs.

Everyone was waiting for the waves, but the waves certainly weren't going to wait for anyone. Each successive wave was taller than the previous one, and at this point, the wave had already reached in excess of 50 meters in height, closing in on 60 meters!

Boom!! It surged past the crowd, drowning out everyone's cries of elation and excitement.

Up ahead of the wave was a stone wall that kept out the seawater. On one side of the wall was a scene of peace and serenity, while on the other side, an all-encompassing wave was crashing through the land like a giant dragon, and in the next instant, the two sides clashed.

Boom!! 

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and all sound seemed to have disappeared from the world. All of the netherworldly citizens wore extremely excited expressions, and their mouths were wide open as they let loose yells of exaltation, but their voices were completely inaudible. The dam that kept the sea at bay was instantly shattered by the violent waves, and the seawater and freshwater were finally able to intertwine with one another.

Theoretically speaking, the waves should've been getting smaller, but that wasn't the case. Massive volumes of water were still gushing out of the 17 dragon gates, and the waves passed through one waterway after another before combining to form terrifying waves!

"Is it always going to be like this?" Qin Ye murmured as he watched the water of the Yellow Springs flow incessantly into the inlets.

"It'll be like this for at least three months," Zhao Yun replied. "Tsunamis in the underworld are different from those in the mortal realm as Yin energy is omnipresent, and as a result, the tsunamis will last longer. In particular, this is the Yellow Springs, which possesses enormous kinetic energy, so it may even take as long as half a year before everything subsides."

As soon as his voice trailed off, a massive wave suddenly crashed into the sea! Murky yellow water intertwined with clear blue water, forming a clear divide as the two bodies of water pushed against one another. As a result of the clashing forces, a giant tsunami that was over 70 meters tall was swept up before crashing further into the sea!

It was clear that this tsunami was going to have a massive impact when it crashed down onto the sea, and that it was undoubtedly going to trigger even more massive waves.

"Those tsunamis are bound to crack into the Array of the Nine Gods..." Qin Ye mused before turning to Zhao Yun. "General Zhao, take me to the edge of the array. We can't stop the waves from crashing into the array, but we must assess how much of an impact the waves are going to have."

"Yes. Rest assured, the panel of scholars is already being led toward the edge of the array by the Harken."

Thus, Zhao Yun swept a hand through the air, and the distance between their current location and the edge of the Array of the Nine Gods seemed to have shrunk significantly, allowing them to reach their destination in a very short time.

There, they were greeted by the sight of the bright blue sea.

High up in the sky, the Harken was hovering in mid-air with several scholars situated on either side of it.

The Harken didn't even take a glance at Qin Ye and Zhao Yun. Its gaze was intently focused on the scenes transpiring down below, and it said, "Take a good look... The power of these tsunamis is comparable with that of a forbidden technique. This truly is an extremely rare sight..."

"Is the array going to be damaged by the tsunamis?" Qin Ye was rather concerned.

The Harken rolled its eyes at him in response. "Do you think the second King Yanluo is as useless as you? If there's any underworld leader in this world that can withstand a forbidden technique head-on and remain completely unscathed, then it has to be the second King Yanluo."

As soon as its voice trailed off, the thunderous rumbling of a tsunami rang out from the horizon, and an unimaginably gargantuan volume of water came tumbling through the air.

At this point, it was impossible to tell whether the wave was yellow or blue. It was a tsunami that was several kilometers wide and over 100 meters tall, and just the mere sight of it was enough to raise goosebumps on one's skin. In the face of the almighty power of nature, anyone would be struck by a sense of awe and veneration.

Everyone remained silent as the tsunami rose up higher and higher, and by the time it reached the array, it was already over 150 meters tall!

Immediately thereafter, it crashed heavily into the array!

Rumble!! 

There were no adjectives that could describe this incredible scene. This was a sight that the human mind could barely comprehend.

The entire Array of the Nine Gods swayed slightly, and in the next instant, all of the runes inscribed upon its surface lit up in unison.

The tsunamis faltered slightly at the edge of the array, then rushed out further into the sea, rapidly advancing into the distance.

At the same time, in the Mahabodhi Temple of the Hindustani Underworld, a pair of bright red eyes that were burning with infernal Karmic Flames abruptly sprang open.

"What is it, Your Excellency?" a monk standing off to the side immediately asked.

His question received no reply. The tall and broad figure with the fiery eyes rose to his feet and cast an astonished gaze toward the northeastern direction.

"Is that... the unsealing of a creation-grade divine artifact?"

He wasn't the only one to have sensed this. Soon, the Aegyptian Underworld, the Argosian Underworld, and all of the other underworlds also sensed these violent tremors. It could be said that ever since the establishment of the Cathayan Underworld all those years ago, it had been thousands of years since the international underworlds had felt tremors of this magnitude.

"What just happened?"

"Did the Cathayan Underworld just reactivate King Yanluo's Seal? Then that must mean... it was previously in a deactivated state! How is that possible?!"