Yama Rising

He repressed this terrifying thought, and he realized that he had still underestimated Xu Fu, even though he was already placing Xu Fu on a very high pedestal. This was an immortal who had lived for over 2,000 years, and there was no reason why he had to stay in Cathay throughout his entire life, perhaps his impact could be felt all over the world.

Qin Ye took a deep breath before turning to Qi Nü. "Let's begin."

Let me know exactly what kind of monster has been hiding in the cracks of history for over 2,000 years!

Qi Nü nodded in response before crawling to the back of the statue. She then seemed to have pressed something, and a brick in front of the round futon fell away, following which a small box with side lengths of around a foot slowly emerged.

The box was entirely black and completely unremarkable. Qin Ye immediately opened the box, discovering its contents to be a stack of handwritten notes around half a foot thick.

The paper was already extremely old, and he blew away some of the dust on its surface before eagerly reading the notes.

"September 7th, 1503." The notes were written in clear Cathayan text. It was in ancient Cathayan text, but that wasn't an issue for Qin Ye.

"I've finally found a suitable experimental subject. For over 1,000 years prior to this, Cathay has always stood at the pinnacle of the entire world. In Cathay, there was no end to the knowledge that I could learn, and that knowledge will be enough for me to perfect my modification of Gui Xu. When that time comes, no one in this world will be able to stop me. However, I feel as if my research has reached a bottleneck, and I'm in desperate need of a breakthrough. I've already learned everything there is to be learned in Cathay. Those pitiful mortals are always of the opinion that they know everything, but they're all ignorant fools."

Xu Fu's handwriting was very elegant, and his writing had clear logic and sequence. It was no exaggeration to say that it was a joy to read his notes.

"There may be more advanced knowledge in the underworld, but that's not a place that I should be going to. None of the scouts that I've sent to the underworld disguised as Emissaries of Hell have returned, and I've heard that the second King Yanluo has already ascended to the throne. During these past few years, I can't shake the feeling that someone's gaze has been sweeping over the rough location of the Peach Blossom Spring from time to time. That gaze is absolutely terrifying, I've never felt such terrifying and unadulterated power. I can't stay here any longer, and it just so happens to be the case that I've reached a bottleneck in my learning, so I've taken this opportunity to make a journey to the west. Through my interactions with western merchants, I can clearly sense that the west is currently on a rapid resurgence, so perhaps I'll be able to encounter some different stimulus here. Thus, I sailed all the way here to Tuscany, Italia. This is a very peaceful town, and it's a very suitable place for me to experiment with my reincarnation secret technique. Borrowing the physical body of an infant, I was able to reincarnate myself into this world again, and even I've lost count of how many times I've reincarnated myself. As expected, this is a place that very much fits my tastes. Of course, in terms of the level of knowledge and expertise in different fields, this place is a far cry from Cathay. However, they have completely different standards here when it comes to things like aesthetics and architecture, and that has been very inspiring for me. I have a feeling that perhaps the final spark of inspiration required for me to perfect the modification of Gui Xu will be found here in the west."

There was a lot of text on this page, but nothing of use was recorded. Below this passage, the writing became very smudged, and there were also some signs of tearing, perhaps due to how old these records were.

Qin Ye flipped over this page to discover a drawing of Leonardo da Vinci's vastly renowned anatomical man, beside which was a list of various figures and statistics.

This image was far too familiar to Qin Ye, and it was featured in all major biology textbooks. Theoretically speaking, this should've been something created by Leonardo da Vinci during his time in Edinburgh, and its name was the "Vitruvian Man".

"The fact that he was able to make such an excellent imitation of the piece is an indication that his artistic ability was top-notch," Qin Ye praised after inspecting the image for a full minute. Just as he was about to set the piece of paper down, his gaze suddenly wandered to the corner of the page, where there was a line of small text.

The entire diary was recorded in Cathayan characters, so a line of English words was naturally very eye-catching, despite the diminutive font. Qin Ye's English was not bad at all, and he took a quick glance at the line of small text.

"Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, 1503.9.7 record."

"So this piece was recorded September 7th, 1503, and the accompanying name must be the name of the artist. In that case, it looks like Xu Fu has once used an English name. As expected, he really has been to all parts of the world."

Qin Ye's eyes narrowed slightly, and he was just about to move on to the next piece of paper when his entire body suddenly stiffened.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci...

This name... His hands began to tremble as he held onto the piece of paper, and he cast his gaze toward the line of small text on the bottom corner once again with an incredulous expression.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci...

This was the name that Xu Fu had used during his time in Italia!

If there were any time travelers in history, then Leonardo da Vinci would be the likeliest candidate. He was an artist, yet he had dabbled in countless fields outside of the arts, and his story was a prevailing enigma in history!

"Wait a minute, Leonardo da Vinci's birthplace is none other than the town of Tuscany, is it not?" He stared at the piece of paper with an astonished expression and mused to himself, "So that means... Leonardo da Vinci is Xu Fu? But that's absurd!"

That was his initial reaction, but upon calming down and considering the notion again, he discovered that it made a lot of sense.

This page of his diary denoted why Xu Fu had gone to the west. The possibility that Xu Fu had written this diary entry just to fool someone who would eventually stumble upon it in the future was so slim that it was completely negligible, so Qin Ye was sure that it was authentic, and as for Leonardo da Vinci himself...

Prior to Leonardo da Vinci, Archimedes was referred to as a sample of a walking transmigrated encyclopedia, and in contrast, Leonardo da Vinci was the full version of said encyclopedia.

What were the fields that he had dabbled in?

Astrology, physics, optical science, meteorology, medicine, mathematics, architecture, hydraulic engineering, military engineering, geography and geology, biology and paleontology, philosophy, music, art, sculpting, and literature were all fields in which he had made outstanding achievements, with his most significant contributions coming in the field of anatomy.

He discovered the flow of blood and the function of the metabolism. He created a model of the heart's four chambers and managed to create diagrams of the human skeletal structure. It was unfathomable to think that he had achieved all of this as far back as 500 years ago!

In addition to that, he invented the wheellock, cluster munition, three-barrel cannons, tanks, flotation snowshoes, wetsuits and submarines, dual-level warships, gliders, ornithopters, helicopters, pontoon bridges, and the list goes on! All of this was also invented 500 years ago!

And you thought that was all?

No! In the handwritten notes that he left behind, there was even a model for a robot, the internal core of which was a set of gear-operated parts. He even constructed a basic model of a car and designed a braking device for it. Many of his inventions were full of modern elements, and they were simply impossible to conceptualize in the 15th century!

Qin Ye had seen the movie, "The da Vinci Code" before, and many people were of the opinion that the movie was completely fictional. Indeed, the plot of the movie may have been fictional, but the da Vinci code truly existed because he was an excellent code expert!

This was a man who had transcended well beyond the 15th century in which he had lived, and he was so far ahead of his time that it was almost impossible to explain his achievements other than to suggest that he was a transmigrater. However, if Xu Fu were Leonardo da Vinci's true identity, then everything would make sense.

During the process in which he had modified Gui Xu, he had already accumulated sufficient knowledge. With the stimulus that he had received from coming into contact with western culture, it was no surprise at all that he was able to invent all of these things.

Qin Ye was staring at the statue of Emperor Jimmu in an almost entranced manner, and he suddenly said, "Qi Nü, I want to ask you a question. You should be very familiar with Gui Xu at this point, what exactly is Gui Xu?"

Qi Nü wiggled her cicada body from side to side, seemingly unable to comprehend Qin Ye's question.

"What I'm saying is, Gui Xu perished over 2,000 years ago, yet it's still able to move now. What is it being powered by? Mechanical parts? Is it a mechanical beast that was said to have faded into the annals of time long ago?"

Qi Nü's body bobbed up and down in a nod.

A faint smile appeared on Qin Ye's face upon confirming this.

Gui Xu was a mechanical beast, a supermassive mechanical beast that was over 200 kilometers in size and was capable of destroying modern warships in mere seconds!

Its modification required knowledge in the fields of biology, architecture, mechanical engineering, physics... there had to be at least several dozen different fields involved, and one would have to be the undisputed number one master in those fields at the time in order to pull off such an incredible project!

Indeed, a span of over 2,000 years was sufficient for Xu Fu to learn all of these things and truly grasp and integrate all of the knowledge in several dozen different fields. In doing so, he was able to do what others perceived to be miracles. It could be said that he was the world's greatest biologist, architect, and physicist!

So Leonardo da Vinci and Xu Fu were one and the same...

"I still can't believe this is true..." Qin Ye stared at the piece of paper he was holding with an astonished expression. This was a massive bombshell! On top of that, this diary entry had exposed Xu Fu's first hiding place, which was the freemasonry!

Leonardo da Vinci was part of the freemasonry, which was the most mysterious organization in the mortal realm. It wasn't a mystery to all underworlds, but it certainly was to the Cathayan Underworld!

The underworlds of Usonia and Europa would definitely be aware of who the members of the freemasonry were. If possible, Qin Ye wanted to secure a list. As a living person, Xu Fu needed a prestigious identity that he could use in public. Once he secured this list and found out which soul had ties with Cathay, he would be able to determine that person as Xu Fu!

However, the freemasonry was truly a powerhouse organization. It was said that virtually all of the richest, most powerful, and most influential figures in the world were a part of this organization. Even in the underworld, these people's identities were most likely a secret.

If Xu Fu were smart, then he wouldn't place all of his eggs in one basket and store everything he had accumulated over the past 2,000 years in the Peach Blossom Spring. Instead, he would distribute everything to various parts of the world, and it was clear that the freemasonry was one of those places.

However, that was not something for Qin Ye to consider now.

He repressed the astonishment in his heart as he continued to examine the notes.

The rest of the notes were all handwritten, and there were even many blueprints among them, but they were arranged in no particular order. It seemed that Qi Nü had discovered that something was amiss with her memories as far back as several centuries ago. She didn't dare to collect large amounts of information to be used against Xu Fu, so she could only search carefully for the diary entries that he had discarded, and she had only managed to collect this box full of notes after several centuries of painstaking effort.

This was a massive help for Qin Ye!

After leafing through five or six pages, he finally discovered something different, something that didn't belong to Leonardo da Vinci.

"The Three Caves of the Cunning Rabbit? Is that another alias of his?" Qin Ye moved on to the contents of the page with rapt focus.

"I really didn't think that I would return to this place someday. After leaving the western world in 1700, I didn't think I would ever come back, but here I am, and it's only been just over 100 years. Cathay is beginning to shut itself off from the rest of the world. At this point, Cathay can no longer even be considered to be a developed nation in the world, but ignorant mortal citizens of Cathay still believe that their country is the premier powerhouse on the international stage. That place is going to become very chaotic very soon. Isolation and lack of interaction with the rest of the world has made Cathay completely complacent to the dangers lurking beneath the surface. This is no longer the Cathay that I once knew. In times of unrest and chaos, evil ghosts and underworld emissaries will always be a common sight. If I had stayed there any longer, I would've been courting death. It just so happens to be the case that the clash of western and eastern cultures has given me a lot of new inspiration. During my last trip to the west, there were some ideas and concepts that I didn't get to bring into reality. For example, why don't I find a new type of energy resource to power Gui Xu? In doing so, I would be able to reduce many of the mechanical parts currently required, and therefore open up a lot of space. Currently, it's clear that the western world views industrial engineering in far higher regard than the eastern world."

All of a sudden, an absurd thought occurred to Qin Ye.

Surely not... Could it be that he's about to reincarnate himself into another brilliant mind comparable with Leonardo da Vinci?