Yama Rising

Qin Ye rushed back to his room, not uttering even a single word along the way, and Zhao Yun and Qin Changxin seemed to have a tacit understanding with him as they also followed him into his room as opposed to returning to their own living quarters.

The sliding doors were shut, and Qin Ye poured two cups of tea that he pushed toward Zhao Yun and Qin Changxin, then heaved a long sigh of relief as he said with a serious expression, "We worked together very well back there."

"I'm glad we were all on the same page." Zhao Yun also heaved a faint sigh of relief as he raised his cup before downing its contents in one go. "Having said that, the fact that you were able to understand my intentions right away is a clear indication of your unmatched wisdom, my Lord."

Qin Ye gave a slight nod in response. That situation just now was like dancing on a tightrope with heaven on one side and hell on the other.

Even the slightest misstep would've resulted in a completely different outcome.

At this point, it was already clear to Qin Ye that the opposition wanted to comprehensively oppress the Cathayan Underworld. They were no longer just aiming to dethrone the Cathayan Underworld from its position as one of the four pillars. In addition to that, they wanted to completely crush the Cathayan Underworld so that it would fall into obscurity for a century or two, during which time the world would completely forget about it.

They wanted to stamp the dignity of the Cathayan Underworld deep into the dirt.

Qin Ye gently combed through his own hair with his fingers, and at the same time, he was thinking back on what had just happened. He didn't know how many similar situations were going to unfold during the next few days. 

As his thoughts gradually became clearer and clearer, he finally broke his silence. "The Nipponese Underworld is begging us to punish it."

"In order to sanction an underworld, there are only two feasible routes: the economic route or the military route," Qin Changxin mused as he stared absentmindedly at the teacup in hand. "We've been isolated for over a century, thereby completely severing all of our ties with the rest of the world, rendering us unable to enforce economic sanctions upon them. As a result, we can only take the military route."

"If we implement that, regardless of whether it's in the form of naval drills or some other measures, the masterminds lurking in the shadows will undoubtedly be watching," Zhao Yun said in a grim voice. "They're forcing our hand in the most vicious way possible."

Qin Ye nodded in response. "That's why I didn't accept that inconclusive verdict, but at the same time, I didn't exactly know how to respond."

He cast a calm gaze out the window at the night sky as a cold smile appeared on his face. "The fact that Izanami has mentioned this matter at the welcome banquet is already a public display of provocation, so we must take decisive action. Otherwise, their provocation will only become more and more blatant."

Qin Changxin's brows furrowed slightly as he said, "Is that why you chose to threaten economic sanctions on the Nipponese Underworld? I'm afraid that won't be severe enough, my Lord."

Qin Ye nodded in response and gestured for him to continue, and Qin Changxin was happy to oblige. "This is a sign that we want to avoid direct conflict, and it'll most likely embolden the Nipponese Underworld and the other underworlds choosing to stand against us."

Qin Ye picked up his teacup and gently stroked it as he heaved a faint sigh. "I'm well aware of that myself. It looks like I took swift and decisive action back there, but in reality, we're avoiding the crux of the matter. However, I had no other choice in that situation."

He raised his head with an intense gaze as he continued, "Once I realized that they were seeking to do more than just dethrone the Cathayan Underworld as one of the four pillars, I knew that we had to put on an act. We had to cut this subject of conversation short and intimidate those indecisive underworlds through a display of power, telling them that the Cathayan Underworld is still the same Cathayan Underworld of old, thereby re-establishing our dominance to a certain extent. Admittedly, doing this will show Izanami that we're only putting on a tough facade, but everything has its drawbacks. What we need now is votes!"

His voice had already become extremely grim as he spoke.

"The Nipponese Underworld is determined to stand against us, so we don't need to care what they think, what we need to do is sway the votes of as many indecisive underworlds as possible! That's why I chose to depart abruptly following that display of power from General Zhao. I'm sure news of what happened during the banquet will spread quickly, and perhaps that will change the mindsets of some of the underworlds."

It was indeed true that the Nipponese Underworld had obtained some things that they wanted from this welcome banquet, thereby allowing them to answer to their masters. For example, why had the Cathayan Underworld avoided enforcing military sanctions upon the Nipponese Underworld? The Cathayan Underworld clearly knew that in its current state, the threats of economic sanctions that it had made were completely empty, so why hadn't he even mentioned something like a naval drill in the Strait of Tsushima?

It was clearly because the Cathayan Underworld wasn't powerful enough to press those sanctions.

This type of direct provocation had allowed the Nipponese Underworld to gather some information, but at the same time, it had made the Cathayan Underworld a sworn enemy of theirs.

As for the way that Qin Ye had addressed the situation, it was indeed the best choice at the time. If he had threatened a military drill, only to be unable to back up the threat, then the Cathayan Underworld would be instantly made an international laughing stock.

Thus, he had to put on an act with Zhao Yun, aggressively flipping the tables to forcibly cut this conversation short. At the same time, they were also showing the other underworlds the power of the Cathayan Underworld.

Thankfully, the two of them had been completely on the same page.

However, their actions had also revealed some weaknesses present in the Cathayan Underworld, such as a regression in its military power.

Qin Changxin said in a low voice, "I've heard that aside from the other members of the four pillars, the rest of the underworlds will be arriving during the next four days, and that includes the Northern Europa Alliance, which has several death gods among its ranks, as well as the Coalition of Alkebulan Underworlds, which we've already met once in the past. Unfortunately, according to the rules of the Coalition of Underworlds, once coalitions and alliances like this are formed, each of these entities will only have a single vote. Otherwise, we would be in a far better position. At the very least, we would've had several dozen votes from the Alkebulan Underworlds alone!"

Qin Ye's eyes narrowed slightly as he swept a hand through the air, and a world map formed by Yin energy materialized in mid-air. He carefully inspected the map as he said, "There are still six days and 18 hours until the official commencement of the conference. In four days, we'll know who's possibly going to give us their vote. In the meantime, I want news of what had happened today to spread to as many parties as possible."

Regardless of what the opposition was going to do, they could only unveil their plan on the day of the conference.

These were the final days that they had left, so they couldn't waste even a single minute!

He peered into the dark night, and he felt as if there were countless starving wolves lurking in the darkness, but despite this, a smile appeared on his face.

Do you really think you have me cornered in this situation? 

"Inform the panel of advisors to gather in my room for a meeting."

"Yes!"

Soon, all of the Emissaries of Hell arrived in Qin Ye's room, and the room had already been examined by Zhao Yun to ensure that there were no surveillance measures present. It would simply be far too unscrupulous to set up surveillance measures in the room of the leader of a nation. The Nipponese Underworld had stood for over 1,000 years, and they were still above those types of underhanded tactics.

"My Lord," Zu Chongzhi and the others immediately prepared to extend a bow as they entered the room, but Qin Ye waved a dismissive hand as he said, "No need for formalities. Take a seat, everyone."

Everyone knew that this was going to be a very important meeting. It was clear that the calm before the storm was quickly passing, and they had to find a way out before the storm struck. Thus, no one wasted any further time and cupped their fists in brief salutes before sitting down on the surrounding chairs.

Qin Ye waved a hand through the air to shut all of the doors and windows in the room, following which a series of Yin runes appeared upon them. Immediately thereafter, the Dusk Legionnaire was released, and Chu Renmei, Huang Jiansen, Otakemaru, and the other evil ghosts spread across all of the entrances. Anyone who dared to enter this place would immediately be discovered.

Only then did Qin Ye stand in front of the giant map with his hands clasped behind his back as he said, "Everyone, the situation is looking very grim."

He gave everyone a quick recount of what had just happened, then continued, "If the Nipponese Underworld is all on its own, then there's no way it would dare to bare its fangs at us like this. It's situated right next to our Cathayan Underworld, and the fact that it's done this tells me that there are at least two of the other three pillars planning to strike at us in seven days."

He swept a grim yet authoritative gaze across everyone present as he continued, "Hence, I have a question: which plan should we adopt?"

"C3 is my suggestion, Your Excellency." Qian Duolai was present in the room, and for some reason, he didn't have any presence at all, but he was always able to appear at the most critical junctures.

As soon as his voice trailed off, he extended a deep bow with an apologetic expression. "My sincerest apologies for my incompetence, Your Excellency. I had conducted thorough reconnaissance and determined that there was no danger, yet..."

Qin Ye waved a hand in response. This had nothing to do with him.

The education system in the Cathayan Underworld still hadn't been established, so there was no avenue for Yin spirits to improve themselves through cultivation. Hence, it would've been completely unreasonable to expect a Netherworld Operative like Qian Duolai to look out for Yama-Kings.

"This isn't the time to be discussing that. Explain what you mean."

Qian Duolai took a step back in a respectful manner as he replied, "I think it would be best for the scholars of the panel of advisors to explain this in my stead. After all, they're more familiar than I am with underworld affairs, and they also took part in devising the plan."

"Allow me," Lu Ban said as he stepped forward before cupping his fist in a respectful salute. He then made his way over to the map and stroked his own long beard as he said, "The situation is even more perilous than we anticipated. Thankfully, we've already planned for the worst, and this situation is perfect for the implementation of plan C3."

Qin Ye was listening intently.

This was the strategy that they were going to adopt against the opposition!

The panel of advisors consisted of several dozen high-ranking officials that had been active on the international stage in the mortal realm, as well as scholars from the underworld. All of them were extremely capable individuals, and they had all participated in devising the strategies that the Cathayan Underworld could choose from depending on the situation that they encountered here in Nara.

In short, the Cathayan Underworld was far from unprepared!

They hadn't adopted any of the plans earlier as they didn't know what the nature of the situation was going to be like. After all, this was the first time the Cathayan Underworld had returned to the international stage in over a century. However, there were more than enough capable individuals sharing the load with Qin Ye.

In preparation for this trip, six plans had been devised in advance, and each one was far more effective and productive than any plan that Qin Ye could come up with on his own.

"Please begin."

"Yes, Your Excellency," Lu Ban replied with a respectful bow.

As he stood up straight again, he had already adopted a grim expression as he said, "Our main disadvantage right now is that we don't know the state of international affairs. We have no idea about the objectives of the underworlds opposing us, so we had no choice but to spend these first few precious hours for Yanluo Qin to test the waters in person. At the end of the day, there is a massive mountain standing in front of us, but the situation is not completely hopeless! As long as we play our cards right, we'll be able to pull through relatively unscathed."

After that brief introduction, he pointed at a spot on the map and continued, "This is where our strategy begins!"