Yama Rising

Why couldn’t the script of death be discovered by anyone?

All of the answers were contained in the single scroll hovering in front of his very eyes.

Qin Ye blinked vacantly for a moment, and then began to recount the events that had just passed - Wouldn’t it already have been over six minutes since I’d entered Room 402?

“Looks like I was right about something…” Seconds later, a smile crept up the corner of his lips, and he looked up above him, “If you haven’t arrived by now, then, chances are, you’re probably not coming.”

That said, closure wasn’t a simple thing. It included the harvest of faith, as well as… extraction from Daehan.

This was because… he was hedging his bet on something.

He took a deep breath and sorted out the thoughts in his mind before turning back to the scroll that was suspended in the air. This was the greatest reward in his trip to Daehan!

His fingers trembled slightly as he slowly reached for the scroll.

Instead, he had entered a pitch-black passageway, through which he was slowly ascending higher and higher! Meanwhile, the garments on his body slowly faded away and transformed into the garments of an official which he had never seen before!

Within moments, he was clad in lacquered black robes so masterfully embroidered with the Torch Dragon that it appeared almost life-like.

“This is my spiritual body… No, rather, I should say that it is my consciousness.” He touched his body in bewilderment, only to have his hand run straight through his chest. Then, he slowly ran his finger across the crown on his head, “Are these… my imperial garbs?”

Just then, he jerked his head up abruptly, only to realize that a glorious golden cathedral had appeared right before him!

However, the two massive candles lit at the entrance to the cathedral were clearly supported by a candlestick made out of human bones!

Whoosh… Qin Ye’s consciousness flew straight into the interior of the cathedral, where he finally saw for the very first time exactly whose consciousness his own had been linked to.

However, Qin Ye could hardly be bothered about such revelry at this moment. His eyes immediately looked beyond all of this, right to the back of the room where there was a throne located right underneath a sculpture of the crucifixion. That said… it was a reverse crucifixion. The statue was upside-down!

He appeared to be a human.

There was no other way to describe such an existence.

Needless to say, he already knew the man’s identity.

He was seated right in front of him, and yet he couldn’t even see his features. It was almost as though time and space appeared to warp around Tsar Arturo himself. That said… what he did see was Tsar Arturo’s real name!

Moreover, even though not a single other part of his body could be seen with any clarity, the one part that he could see was Tsar Arturo’s palms. And in that moment, his palms slowly began to turn black, decay, and then finally… reveal a cross shaped mark in each hand!

Arturo also paused in some measure of consternation and glanced at his own hand. Then, he abruptly snapped his head up and looked at Qin Ye, before rising to his feet with a loud bang!

Qin Ye glanced around. He was still at the substratum of Gonjiam Asylum. Rumyantsev and Liu Yu still hadn’t arrived. That said, his hand was now already wrapped tightly around the scroll. Even though the words on it were written in Russian, every bit of the contents had clearly already appeared in his mind.

He had now gained certain other pieces of information.

Severny Island? Isn’t that a site used by Rus for nuclear weapons testing? The Black Fortress sits underneath that? Russian Underworld’s KGB headquarters… Hang on a minute…

To think that I’ll actually learn of the location of their underworldly KGB’s headquarters by simply reading the script of death!

Cold sweat beaded up on his forehead.

These were potentially hidden trump cards that he could play in moments of crises! And even if he didn’t, the fact that such sensitive and crucial information was in the hands of a foreign underworld would undoubtedly still place a huge burden on the Russian Underworld!

If not, the uncertainty would be yet another source of leverage that I can capitalize on!

“Say… I hear that the Russian Underworld intends to form a strategic alliance with the forces of Hell?”

There’s no better opportunity than this!

Whoosh… A golden light flourished from his chest, and Hell’s Records flew out and began to write frantically.

Place of Origin: Liu Er Mound Village, Gazi Gully, Tang An County, Qingguang City

Date of Birth: 1 October 1938

Rumble… Just then, the entire ground trembled as if an invisible source of energy were rushing over from every corner of the Daehan Peninsula!

“Merit Points have been awarded as follows.”

One million?!

The international arena is truly far more rewarding than the domestic stage!

His mind stirred with great excitement. Moreover… Hell’s Record wasn’t quite done just yet!

600,000… Doesn’t this mean I have 2 million merit points now?! I’m almost halfway there!!! Qin Ye immediately felt goosebumps creeping up all over his skin, and he stared intently at Hell’s Records.

Although the Second King Yanluo had already briefly mentioned in passing that as soon as he successfully completed this “learning journey” of his, he would immediately break through the ranks of an Infernal Judge and become an Abyssal Prefect, hearsay was completely different from seeing it happen with his own two eyes! The joy and excitement of being part of such a process was absolutely indescribable!

Black words slowly began to surface on Hell’s Records once more. The third item - “Completion of the tests for the succession to the throne - Merit Points: 3,000,000.”

The impact of these words was like when a cataclysmic meteor struck the earth. At once, he completely obviated from his mind all considerations pertaining to what the so-called tests were all about. The numbers spelling out three million was simply too striking to his eyes.

In other words… I’m… going to be an Abyssal Prefect?

What was once nothing more than lofty ambition has now actually been attained? Doesn’t that mean that the last hurdle to cross in the realm of my cultivation is none other than the final rank of Yama-King?

“Abyssal Prefect, huh…”

“Who would’ve thought that I’d actually be able to come so far in just a short span of two years’ time…”

BOOM!!!

The living dead in the surroundings appeared to know what was going on, and every single one of them began to shrink back into the darkness of the shadows around, cowering in fear. Countless scarlet eyes stared intently at Qin Ye with awe and reverence.

They came through the walls of the room, and bubbled up from the surface of the ground. In fact, it was almost as though they were rushing over from every part of the Daehan Peninsula!

It was a family.

It was an image of a couple kneeling in front of a prayer tablet, offering an incense in prayer. A monochromatic photograph of the deceased was adhered to the prayer tablet, and a line of text was etched at the base below.

Qin Ye touched another ball of light. This time, it was the image of an elderly woman resting beside the photograph of a middle-aged man located on her bedside table.

“Bae Jae-jung, deceased victim of the shipwreck 12 years ago.” “Jung Sang-kyung, deceased victim of the mass poisoning incident 20 years ago.” “Shin Eun-chae, lost in the mass suicide incident 8 years ago.” “Im Jae-hwan, protester of the Choi Soon-sil debacle.” “Lee Rae-won, police superintendent of the Choi Soon-sil protests.” …

These were all victims of Choi Tae-min’s sins.

Whoosh! At once, the darkest depths of the Gonjiam Asylum substratum was filled with intense white light!

1. The math didn’t quite add up on the author’s works, so I tweaked it slightly.