Yama Rising

Izanami merely watched the proceedings unfold with a faint smile on her face.

Everything was progressing in the anticipated direction. No one dared to accept the olive branch being extended by the Cathayan Underworld, and that was only to be expected.

It was far more difficult to return to the world stage than it was to maintain one's position. The effort that would have to be expended would be severalfold because during the Cathayan Underworld's absence, its influence had faded significantly, and none of its powerful adversaries wished to see it rise up once again.

She gently clapped her hands together, and a line of young female Nipponese Yin spirits in red kimonos immediately entered the room, carrying bowls that they placed down silently in front of all of the guests.

"In order to express our reverence toward the Cathayan Underworld, we are serving kaiseki-ryōri," Izanami said with a smile. "It'll be different from the kaiseki-ryōri of the mortal realm, but it's quite delicious nonetheless. All of the ingredients used are special local produce from Amano-Iwato, I hope you'll enjoy it."

A national banquet of this caliber was naturally completely impeccable. The decor in the room was lavish yet not overly extravagant, all of the guests' needs were attended to, and all of the finer details were also flawless.

All of the tableware was made from intricate lacquerware, which was a Nipponese specialty, and the flowers inscribed upon them were extremely life-like. As the host, Izanami smiled and explained, "Kaiseki-ryōri is a type of traditional Nipponese cuisine, and in the mortal realm, the most renowned kaiseki-ryōri restaurants include Kitcho of Korai Bridge in Osaka and Shofukuro Honten of Higashiomi in Shiga Prefecture."

The courses were brought on one after another. Qin Ye had some understanding of kaiseki-ryōri, and he knew that it stemmed from Zen Buddhism. The cuisine consisted of around a dozen traditional dishes, and the interval between the presentation of each dish was five to ten minutes. It was one of the top-tier cuisine of the world.

In the past, he had dreamed of becoming rich and traveling to Nippon to taste true kaiseki-ryōri and now, the world's most authentic kaiseki-ryōri had been placed in front of him, yet he felt as if he were eating candle wax.

The banquet had already begun, and it should've been a lively and bustling affair with everything welcoming the return of one of the four pillars to the world stage, yet everyone was extremely quiet.

All of the underworld emissaries present were carefully tasting the dishes and occasionally extending a few compliments, which Izanami accepted graciously as the host. However, not a single underworld emissary dared to mention the Cathayan Underworld.

It was as if the representatives of the Cathayan Underworld were completely superfluous here.

Qin Ye took a sip of miso soup before sweeping a nonchalant glace around the room, only to discover that everyone was avoiding his gaze, and no one dared to meet eyes with him. He heaved a faint internal sigh as he set down his cup.

It seemed that these votes were going to be very difficult to sway.

Right at this moment, a servant made their way into the room before whispering into Izanami's ear, to which she displayed a surprised expression before waving a hand to dismiss the servant.

She then turned to Qin Ye and said in a voice that was filled with genuine apology, "Yanluo Qin, an outcome has been reached in the investigation into the assassination attempt made on you yesterday."

Everyone instantly fell silent upon hearing this, and all of them turned their attention toward Izanami with apprehensive looks in their eyes.

Under normal circumstances, there should've been no way for a subject like this to have been raised in a banquet of this caliber. To put it frankly, this was a private subject, and this was not the place to be discussing it!

However, it had appeared nonetheless, and it served as a warning, informing all of the other underworlds that someone had already attacked the Cathayan Underworld, thereby urging everyone to reaffirm their stances lest they be left to rue their indecision.

Furthermore, it was also a display of public defamation against the Cathayan Underworld. She was essentially telling everyone that anyone dared to attack the Cathayan Underworld right now, and that it had fallen from grace and was no longer fit to be regarded as one of the four pillars.

No nation had been able to build up its influence overnight, all of this had been facilitated through repeated displays of power.

Having been absent for over a century, the Cathayan Underworld had to re-establish its influence, but Izanami was seizing the initiative and not giving the Cathayan Underworld a chance to do that.

The same thought had appeared in the hearts of all of the underworld emissaries present, and some of them had already picked up their napkins to dab at their own mouths. It was clear that regardless of how delicious the kaiseki-ryōri was, it paled into insignificance in the face of what could potentially be an event that altered the state of the entire world.

Was the Cathayan Underworld going to stamp its authority here or display signs of weakness?

The room had fallen so silent that even the lightest of pin drops could be heard, and only after close to 20 seconds had passed did Izanami heave a resigned sigh. "Please forgive me for my incompetence. There are no Yama-Kings in the Nipponese Underworld, and we're not sure whether a Yama-King has arrived or not. The outcome of this exhaustive investigation..."

She paused momentarily as she bit down onto her own lower lip in a hesitant display before concluding, "Is inconclusive."

A cold light flashed through Qin Ye's eyes upon hearing this. She was forcing him and the Cathayan Underworld to display weakness in front of all of these underworld emissaries.

If he didn't want to accept this outcome, then he would have to respond, and that would allow everyone to see whether he was an aggressive or passive ruler, as well as to indirectly determine the Cathayan Underworld's current level of power.

This was truly a complex plot. An assassination attempt on the ruler of one of the four pillars was already an astounding event, yet it was only the beginning, and the true kill-shot was still to come.

If Qin Ye couldn't handle this situation appropriately, then the Cathayan Underworld would be crushed under the weight of public opinion, thereby completely ruining its attempt to make a resurgence.

He picked up his wine cup before taking a sip, then cast a calm gaze toward Izanami. "So you're saying I lied to you?"

"No, it's just that we couldn't find anything in our investigation, and that can only be attributed to my own incompetence," Izanami sighed. "We're willing to face all of the consequences of this incident."

Somehow, the room had become even more silent.

Qin Ye looked straight at Izanami with a piercing gaze, and only after a long while did he reply, "Even if the perpetrator has escaped, they'll only be able to hide from me for a time. Ghost King Zhao has already recorded their Yin energy, and when we encounter them next, we will make sure that they're killed regardless of the occasion."

As the third King Yanluo, Qin Ye had inherited the ruthless nature of both of his predecessors.

This was the might of the Cathayan Underworld, and anyone who dared to provoke it would be hunted to the corners of the world!

Zhao Yun heaved an internal sigh of relief upon hearing this. Things had already reached a small climax here, and with the complexity of the situation and so many parties present, he could only count on Qin Ye to make the right response, but he was extremely concerned that Qin Ye would make an error here.

That was a great response… Zhao Yun thought to himself. If he hadn't responded like that, others would begin to suspect whether he was actually the rightful heir to the position of King Yanluo. There's no way that the Cathayan Underworld would select a coward as its ruler. However, there is still an important decision that has to be made, which is how to punish the Nipponese Underworld. Should we be placing economic sanctions upon them or perhaps even considering instigating a war? 

Right as Zhao Yun was contemplating all of this, Qin Ye continued, "As for the Nipponese Underworld..."

He paused momentarily before delivering his verdict. "Before the truth emerges, all contracts and agreements signed between our two underworlds will be put on hold."

"But Your Excellency," Susanoo-no-Mikoto couldn't help but interject. "Our nation is not to blame for this!"

"Oh?" As soon as his voice trailed off, a cold cloud of Yin energy instantly spread over the entire room, and Zhao Yun's indifferent voice rang out in response. "Whose fault is it then?"

Even though Izanami and Susanoo-no-Mikoto were already prepared for this, they still couldn't help but shudder in the face of Zhao Yun's immensely powerful Yin energy. As for all of the other underworld emissaries present, they had turned toward Zhao Yun in unison with shock and horror in their eyes.

Zhao Yun rose to his feet as he swept his gaze around the room and said, "The leader of one of the four pillars has suffered an assassination attempt in the Nipponese Underworld, yet you deny culpability for this incident? You're telling me that you don't even know if a Yama-King has arrived on your territory or not?"

His eyes narrowed slightly as a dangerous gleam appeared within them. "In that case, how are you fit to even continue as the leaders of this nation?"

His voice abruptly spiked up a few octaves, and the entire room trembled slightly.

The expressions of all of the underworld emissaries present changed slightly, and it was clear that they had all been reminded of some bad memories, such as the international conferences that had taken place back when the second King Yanluo had been in power.

The aura emanating from Zhao Yun's body was becoming more and more fearsome, and his enormous Yin energy carried such crushing weight that the joints of all of the underworld emissaries present were creaking and groaning from the strain. Izanami had to resist this Yin energy with all her might, and she said through tightly gritted teeth, "Ghost King Zhao, this is the Nipponese Underworld!"

"So what?" Qin Ye rose to his feet as he held a wine cup in his hand with an indifferent look in his eyes.

He slowly took a sip of wine, then slammed the cup down onto the table. The entire cup was embedded into the table, and the table trembled violently.

Traces of light began to appear around his golden dragon robe as he began to fade out of existence. "This may be the Nipponese Underworld, but I am the ruler of the Cathayan Underworld! From this day forth, I won't be seeing any emissaries from the Nipponese Underworld, and all interactions between our two nations will cease. Regarding all matters concerning the Nipponese Underworld, I maintain my veto rights."

Seeing as Qin Ye had departed from the banquet, all of the Emissaries of Hell also rose to their feet before silently departing and soon, all of the Cathayan Underworld's representatives had left the banquet hall.

The newly-promoted Emissaries of Hell weren't saying anything, but the netherfire in their eyes was flickering erratically, and their faces were flushed with excitement as they frantically communicated with each other through their eyes. They felt no shame whatsoever; instead, they were extremely proud of the Cathayan Underworld's flair and authority.

As a nation that had stood at the pinnacle of the world a century ago, there was no way that the Cathayan Underworld would be willing to lay down its pride now.

The doors were closed with a dull thud, and all of the foreign underworld emissaries continued to remain seated in a stunned silence. Several seconds later, an underworld emissary gulped nervously before rising to his feet and extending a parting bow. "Death Goddess Izanami, I have to go and welcome the return of our nation's death god now. Please pardon me."

Izanami remained silent as she nodded to express her permission, and the underworld emissary immediately departed. Only after he had rushed out of the room did he turn to look behind himself with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes.

That man just now had to have been above the Yama-King level! The pressure that he was giving off exceeds that of any death god I've ever met! 

His underworld had only dared to not greet the Cathayan Underworld's representative team due to the absence of the second King Yanluo, but who could've anticipated that the Cathayan Underworld would have another being above the Yama-King level?

Could it be that the rumors weren't true and that the Cathayan Underworld hadn't actually become any weaker than it was in the past?

Could it be that their nation's death god hadn't dared to come here because they had already anticipated that this would be far from a peaceful banquet?

One underworld emissary took their leave after another, and soon, only Izanami and Susanoo-no-Mikoto were left in the banquet hall.

"Looks like we've shot ourselves in the foot," Susanoo-no-Mikoto heaved a faint sigh. He had shrunk down to a form that was only around two meters tall, and he gently drummed the surface of the table with his thick fingers as he mused, "We were trying to knock the Cathayan Underworld down a peg, but they've taken advantage of the situation to establish their dominance instead."

Izanami raised a hand, and an opium pipe was handed to her. She took a gentle draft from the pipe, then blew out a cloud of bluish-white smoke before rising to her feet, allowing the hem of her long red dress to drag along on the ground behind her.

"It isn't all bad," she said in an unhurried voice. "This was always going to be a difficult situation for us. Those sly old foxes all think that this is an opportunity just because the second King Yanluo isn't here, but Ghost King Zhao isn't going to be easy to deal with, either. The Nipponese Underworld doesn't even have a Yama-King, let alone a being above the Yama-King level, so there's no way we can oppose them if they decide to flip the tables on us like this. Having said that..."

A smile appeared on her face as she continued, "Don't you feel like they're working really hard to keep up a facade?"

Susanoo-no-Mikoto's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "You mean..."

"The overall trend is still on our side," Izanami said as several Yin spirits drifted over to lift up the hem of her dress, which was several meters tall, and she exited the banquet hall in an elegant manner. "If the ruler of Asia is dethroned, no one else will be able to take over the East Cathayan Sea aside from us. That is all we can wish for for now, excessive ambition will only lead to a quick downfall."