Yama Rising

"So is that who you serve now?" On the top floor of the Golden Temple, a thin man was waving his hand fan as he looked at the extravagant welcoming ceremony taking place down below with his eyes narrowed in derision.

He was making no attempt at all to hide the mockery in his voice, and standing right beside him were Tokugawa Ieyasu, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Hōjō Tokimune, and Honda Tadakatsu.

There were around 10 Yin spirits in their group in total, but there was a clear divide between them.

"What are you talking about, General Ashikaga? I'm afraid I don't understand." Hōjō Tokimune was also a thin man, and he was wearing a kampaku robe. He spread open his hand fan and used it to cover his own mouth as he said, "Only by working together as a unified force can we take the Nipponese Underworld to greater heights. Do you think our situation isn't already terrible enough?"

Ashikaga Yoshiaki gave the three kampakus a cold look, skipping over Honda Tadakatsu entirely, then turned his head to disguise the scorching resentment in his eyes.

Those robes were a blatant insult to him, yet the three kampakus were all wearing the same thing!

After a brief silence, he said, "If you think we should work together as a unified force, then we should all follow Mistress Izanami's orders."

He turned to look the three kampakus straight in the eye as he continued, "Why do I not recall seeing your names on the list of representatives? What are you supposed to be? You don't have any official status in the Nipponese Underworld, so what right do you have to attend this international conference? Are you here as mascots?"

A hint of killing intent surfaced in Honda Tadakatsu's eyes, only to immediately vanish, but his hand was already resting on the decorative dagger that was strapped to his waist.

A cold smile appeared on Toyotomi Hideyoshi's face as he countered, "Aren't you the more experienced one when it comes to acting as a mascot, General Ashikaga? In the past, you were our mascots, and now, you're Mistress Izanami's mascot. As soon as she waves her little bell, you immediately go rushing to her like an obedient dog. Would you mind sharing your mascot experience with us so we can learn from you?"

"How dare you?!"

"What gives you the right to speak to General Ashikaga in such an uncouth manner?!"

"You bring shame to the Nipponese Underworld!"

Several underworld emissaries behind Ashikaga Yoshiaki immediately expressed their fury as they drew their daggers, but right at this moment, a calm female voice rang out. "Do you think you still haven't made enough of a fool out of yourselves already?"

A burst of Prefect-level Yin energy erupted forth violently, and everyone instantly fell silent.

"Mistress Izanami!"

Izanami was wearing a red and white robe, and she slowly made her way over to the group, accompanied by several servants and Daitengu, who had a bright red face and a head of white hair.

All of the underworld emissaries quickly parted, and Izanami strode over to the railing before looking down.

She continued watching in silence for about five minutes, and she only stepped back from the railing once Qin Ye entered the Golden Temple. As she departed, she took an indifferent glance at the three kampakus, but didn't say anything.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki immediately followed along behind her, and only after they had left the hall did Izanami instruct, "Make sure to keep a close eye on them. Report to me immediately if they have any interaction with the Cathayan Underworld, but don't take any aggressive measures."

Ashikaga Yoshiaki looked up with a surprised expression upon hearing this. "But Mistress Izanami..."

"Do as I say!" Izanami said in an implacable voice.

"Yes..." Ashikaga Yoshiaki stepped away to the side with a slightly indignant expression.

Izanami didn't even take a glance at him, leaving him behind as she entered the corridor.

Regardless of whether she wanted to greet Qin Ye or not, she had to welcome him as a gesture of respect.

"Idiot," Izanami murmured to herself as she massaged her own glabella. As she walked along, she continued, "Our Nipponese Underworld is in a very awkward position in the underworld. When the three pillars tried to lash out against the Cathayan Underworld, we had to act as the spearhead, but who could've predicted that the Cathayan Underworld would develop the new energy resource to completely turn the tables on the three pillars? Now that the three pillars have backed down, we've been left out to dry. Our top priority now is to repair our relationship with the Cathayan Underworld. Regardless of whether Yanluo Qin wants to strike up conflict between the demons and gods and the daimyos, or if he has other plans for inviting the daimyos to the conference, it's imperative that we take advantage of this opportunity to mend our relationship with the Cathayan Underworld."

To the east of the Nipponese Underworld was the Atlantic Ocean, but it was surrounded by the Cathayan Underworld in all three other directions. Thus, the Nipponese Underworld has no foreign aid whatsoever, and if the Cathayan Underworld were to make a resurgence, it would loom over the Nipponese Underworld like an all-encompassing shadow.

Thus, they had no choice.

"To think that Ashikaga Yoshiaki is still trying to take advantage of this opportunity to take the daimyos down a peg? Is he blind? Just how stupid can he be?!"

In her eyes, the presence of the three kampakus at this conference would exacerbate the internal conflict within the Nipponese Underworld, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. In an underworld without any other advanced Abyssal Prefects, she was the undisputed ruler!

Daitengu said, "You haven't even said anything, yet he's making a move in your stead, so he's completely overstepping the boundaries of his authority. It seems that he doesn't know exactly who it was that gave him the power that he enjoys now. If it isn't for you, there's no way he would've been able to suppress those daimyos. We're only using him as a puppet, yet he's deluded himself into thinking that he's someone important. What a hopeless fool he is!"

……………………………………

"Yanluo Qin!" Yamaraja's attitude toward Qin Ye had taken a complete 180-degree turn compared with 10 years ago. As soon as Qin Ye made his way into the temple, he immediately rushed over and grabbed Qin Ye's hand with both of his own. Even the three glowing red eyes under his black hood were curved up at the corners as if they were smiling.

"Long time no see! I've really missed you." He was shaking Qin Ye's hand as if they were the closest of friends, and countless cameras immediately began to flash around them.

"Indeed, I've also missed you greatly. Come to think of it, this is my first time here at the Hindustani Underworld, and it's far more beautiful than I imagined." Qin Ye was also playing along, acting as if they were old friends who had been reunited after a long separation.

"That sure is a glowing compliment coming from you, Yanluo Qin." Yamaraja was holding onto Qin Ye's hand, and it was as if he had completely forgotten how he had treated Qin Ye during the conference in Nara and the Great Revelation Debate. Even as he began to move through the hall, he was still holding onto Qin Ye's hand and dragging him along.

Goosebumps were being raised all over Qin Ye's body from the excessive display of affection.

"This is all thanks to the Cathayan Underworld." He smiled as he waved at the sea of cameras while walking along beside Qin Ye. "If it isn't for the invention of the new energy resource, the entire underworld would still be in the dark ages."

"Long time no see, Yanluo Qin."

"Have you been well, Yanluo Qin?"

All of a sudden, Anubis popped up, seemingly out of nowhere, wearing a whole host of gold, jade, and diamond accessories as he grabbed onto Qin Ye's other hand with a wide smile.

Meanwhile, Thanatos withdrew his hand in an awkward manner, cursing the human anatomy for only having two hands.

Instead, he held onto Anubis's other hand so that the ruler death gods of the four pillars formed a line in order to not make himself look so awkward.

It had been over 100 years since the rulers of the four pillars had come together in peace and harmony, and all of the surrounding cameras were flashing incessantly.

The flashing lights of the cameras formed a sea of radiance, and Qin Ye's eyes narrowed slightly. He couldn't help but feel intoxicated by this feeling of standing at the pinnacle of the world.

Only after a full minute had passed did the flashing lights gradually subside, and Yamaraja cleared his throat as he said, "Everyone, there is still half an hour until the commencement of the conference. Why don't we enter the venue now to see if everyone is satisfied with the location. If there are any complaints, we can make adjustments right away."

Everyone was in agreement with the idea, and the Qin Ye nodded at the three death gods before entering the venue first. Thanatos was the last one in the line, and his smile slowly faded as he watched Qin Ye's departing figure.

"What do you think of this?" he asked.

Yamaraja's eyes narrowed slightly in response. "What do you mean?"

"The Asia-Pacific Economic Development Conference is imperative to the direction that the world's economy takes, and it's always been hosted by the Hindustani Underworld and the Cathayan Underworld together. However, on this occasion, the Hindustani Underworld is only hosting two minor conferences, while the Cathayan Underworld is holding three major conferences and five minor conferences. Why did you make such a big concession?"

Yamaraja didn't reply.

The power balance of the world was slowly shifting. Ever since the Cathayan Underworld's aggressive resurgence, the entire world had become reliant on its new energy resource, so there was no longer any way for them to suppress the Cathayan Underworld.

Economic sanctions simply wouldn't work, and as for military sanctions, the Cathayan Underworld seemed to have never feared sanctions of that nature.

Asia had already been split up into two major sections, with the Hindustani Underworld controlling the Indonesian Islands, the Maluku Islands, and the world's gate in the Australis Underworld, as well as the Strait of Tsushima. As for the rest, including Southern Asia, and the Nipponese Underworld, that was all in the Cathayan Underworld's sphere of influence.

Continuing the conflict wouldn't help the situation at all, and after the past decade of developments, Yamaraja no longer had much confidence that other underworlds would continue to stand by him. After all, national power outages were no joke and could easily spark mass Yin spirit protests and riots.

Thus, under these circumstances, the three pillars chose to back down and allow the Cathayan Underworld to recover its influence and speaking rights in the world. Thanatos was well aware of this, but he was rather reluctant to accept it.

After all, the three pillars had reigned supreme for over 100 years, and it hurt him greatly to relinquish the power that he had accumulated during that time.

"The times are constantly changing," Yamaraja said as he slowly made his way into the venue. "Sometimes, the pendulum swings to one side, and at other times, it swings to the other side. It's clear that we won't be blessed by the times for at least the next century. Rather than trying to fight the natural order, it's much wiser for us to wait until the pendulum naturally swings in our favor. There are no eternal empires in this world, that's something everyone knows, is it not?"

Thanatos didn't say anything, and only after a long while did he heave a faint sigh before entering the venue as well.

In any case, the Argosian Underworld was the furthest of the three pillars from the Cathayan Underworld. The first of the three pillars that would have to face the pressure of the Cathayan Underworld's resurgence would be the Hindustani Underworld, followed by the Aegyptian Underworld, while the Argosian Underworld would be the last to be affected.

Prior to the development of internet technology, the Cathayan Underworld wouldn't be able to impact them.

"So be it." With that in mind, his gloomy mood was lightened a little. "Let me see what surprises the Cathayan Underworld has in store for this international conference."