Liu Yu stared at Qin Ye with great disbelief.

How long has it been since I’ve last been to Hell?

Eastmount Province is hundreds of miles away from Insignia Province, and yet… they’ve actually been able to construct an entire city in such a short span of time?

At once, his mind was filled with a multitude of thoughts.

Do they even have sufficient manpower? Or did they manage to link up with someone powerful? Could it be the Second King Yanluo’s aides? Or did the Third King Yanluo finally dig deep into the treasuries of his predecessors?

Regardless of what reason it might have been, the weight of these implications were still unbearably heavy.

Their short meeting over the banquet had given them much food for thought.

“Yes.” Rumyantsev agreed with little hesitation.

“One final thing, and you can consider this an extension of mercy to one of our former twelve envoys.” Qin Ye glanced at Liu Yu, before explaining, “Hell is prepared to receive all of the living dead here in Daehan, together with the means of manipulating and controlling the living dead. Besides, they’d only be a nuisance to Judge Liu if they remained here, wouldn’t they?”

“No problem.” Rumyantsev immediately agreed on Liu Yu’s behalf, before giving him a knowing look.

Liu Yu sighed softly in his heart, and clapped his hands authoritatively. Moments later, the sound of chimes and guzheng rang out throughout the hall, and palace maids walked up the table with elegance and poise and removed the barely-touched dishes, before replacing them with exquisite tea sets.

Within moments, the warm fragrance of the tea wafted up and soothed their senses. Each of them took a few sips of the tea and nodded in approbation. Without missing a beat, Qin Ye cleared his throat and raised his teacup, “Well, then, the business is done, and I’m glad we were able to come to a consensus. Now, shouldn’t we move on to the main course of business?”

Rumyantsev’s eyes gleamed brightly, and he licked his lips, “Naturally.”

“So, shall we begin?” Qin Ye’s heart pumped with passion.

Genghis Khan’s soul… It’s actually Genghis Khan’s elite soul!

He’s practically unparalleled in terms of war strategies and tactics. Who can compare with this warlord who almost conquered half of the world?!

It was a name that put everyone at the table to shame. Rumyantsev took a deep breath, gently ran his finger around the edge of the teacup and then went on with a trace of unconcealed fervor, “Now, let me start with what happened 70 years ago. Ah, but before we begin, let me first caveat that by no means do we in any way guarantee the existence of his soul. ”

“After all, the situation there is beyond what anybody could possibly fathom. In fact, the Tsar had even personally made an attempt to verify our suspicions at the site, but to no avail!”

Qin Ye retracted his smile at once.

This was the reason why he didn’t bring the returning Yin spirits along. He wanted to keep such earth-shattering news to his closest aides!

He’d already guessed that the grave of the Great Khan would be anything but simple. Otherwise, Fengdu would already have reclaimed his soul by now. That said, what took Qin Ye by surprise was just how difficult it was. After all, he would never have imagined that even a Yama-class Yin spirit would be unable to overcome the obstacles involved.

Rumyantsev casually waved his hand, and both Qin Ye and Rumyantsev were instantly isolated from the rest of the world. Not even Liu Yu was allowed to hear what they were going to talk about next. It was only then that Rumyantsev took out a blue crystal and set it on the table.

“Marquis Zhong should be no stranger to this.”

Qin Ye turned to the crystal on the table. It was irregularly shaped, and it seemed to contain flowing Yin energy that was interlaced with innumerable specks of light, just like the constellations in the sky. It was almost as though it held a miniature world within.

There was barely any Yin energy dissipating from the crystal. Nevertheless, Qin Ye activated his Judge’s Glance. At once, a completely different world appeared before his very eyes!

It was a world of countless runic symbols drifting about in the darkness. Each speck of light represented a single rune. There was an entire sea of symbols contained within the single blue crystal!

“Are these… the runes of Yin Talismans?” Qin Ye gasped in his heart. Then, just as he was about to take a closer look, he realized that each rune appeared to contain an entire universe within, and the mere touch of the symbol dazzled his mind.

It was completely beyond his comprehension.

Suppressing the palpitations in his heart, he decided not to ask what this was. Instead, he simply nodded.

Rumyantsev explained in a deep voice, “Its appearance tells us that there’s a massive vein of Crystallized Resentment around. Furthermore, we know for a fact that veins of Crystallized Resentment are never naturally formed. Each of them is formed through the transformative radiation of a divine Yin artifact that transforms Resentment Stones into Crystallized Resentment. And to that end, we first located this crystal near Khuree, the capital of the Mongol Empire.

[1]

“Khuree belongs to the demilitarized zone that the First King Yanluo and Tsar Arturo had agreed upon, so we didn’t send troops marching into it immediately. Instead, we simply sent darkfeathers to scout out the vicinity. The results left us completely flabbergasted.” Rumyantsev sighed, almost as though he could still vividly recall the day it occurred, “Khuree had experienced a tectonic shift, the impact of which tore a tiny rift between the mortal realm and the netherworld. It was only then that we incidentally discovered a massive seal hidden in the subterranean reaches of the earth!”

“The darkfeathers didn’t dare to venture any deeper to ascertain the source of the seal. The matter was escalated, and Empress Catherine sent her personal guards down into the depths to investigate the seal further. It was only then that we discovered that the source of the seal… has its roots in Tantra.”

[2]

Tantra…

Qin Ye’s eyes flickered slightly. He could vaguely recall some connections there.

After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, Mongke Khan ordered Kublai Khan to organize a great debate on Buddhism and Taoism. This was one of the largest, most high-profile, and significant debates on Buddhism and Taoism that ever took place in the history of Cathay. It was also one of the last few great debates on Buddhism and Taoism. Both factions sent their greatest leaders to fight for the future of their beliefs in the nation.

The Buddhist faction was led by Master Namo; Drogon Chogyal Phagpa of the Sakya Sect; Karma Pakshi, second Karmapa Lama of the Kagyu Sect; Hexi State Preceptor; five foreign monks; Dali State Preceptor; elders of Shaolin Temple; elders of Mount Wutai; elders of Yuanfu Temple; and about 300 others. On the other hand, the Taoist faction was led by the elite Quanzhen School, otherwise known as the School of Complete Perfection, and a team of more than 200 equally illustrious experts and scholars.

More than 200 people serving as strategists under Kublai Khan were hired as judges, and 17 people from each side were allowed to participate in the debates. Unfortunately, the Taoist faction lost, and their claims were officially declared refuted. Kublai Khan ordered 17 Taoist priests to become monks in a Buddhist Temple, and proceeded to forcibly convert their 237 temples to Buddhism and destroyed all copies of the texts so declared fraudulent.

From then on, the Yuan Dynasty declared that their state religion was to be Buddhism.

That was how Buddhism flourished. That said, the top nobles of the Yuan Dynasty didn’t believe in what is now the conventional Mahayana Buddhism. Rather, they believed in what is known as Tantric Buddhism!

Historically, Buddhism had faced four occasions of persecution, the first three of which were known as the Three Disasters of Wu, namely ordered by the Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, and Emperor Wuzong of Tang. Tantric Buddhism had no place to flourish back in the Central Plains. Therefore, its continuity must have been due to its spread and influence to foreign lands. This was entirely consistent with the sighting of traces of Tantric Buddhism in the tomb of Genghis Khan. The great seal that can conceal its presence from the prying eyes of a Yama-class Yin spirit must have been set in place by the masters of an orthodox Tantric Sect, quite possibly even one who might be hailed as a living Buddha. It wouldn’t be surprising if someone like that had appeared in the lands of the Mongol Empire.

Qin Ye’s heart burned with excitement. That said, he still had his reservations about what Rumyantsev was saying. Sure, the leaders of the Yuan Dynasty may all have been believers in Tantric Buddhism, but Genghis Khan himself still believed in Shamanism and Tengrism.

A hero like this would definitely be buried in accordance with his religious beliefs.

Qin Ye listened intently. The Russian Underworld had definitely probed deeper than that.

“After the Empress’ returned and reported back, the Tsar was certain that the subterranean reaches of the Mongol plains hid a great secret. And to that end, there’s no secret greater than the existence of Temujin’s soul - that is, the soul of the Great Khan. Even if it turned out not to be Temujin’s tomb below, there should still be a vein of crystallized resentment hidden below. Thus, the Tsar personally took action.”

Rumyantsev’s voice grew ragged, and his breaths shallower, “But… can you believe it? As soon as the Tsar’s Yin energy penetrated the ground, a throng of undead cavalry suddenly appeared!”

“That scene was indescribable. The clouds parted, the waves stirred up even in the stillest of waters, and the entire lands trembled. This was the impact of the sudden charge of 100,000 undead cavalry. It was as crazy as a freak tsunami that appeared without any warning!”

His voice grew louder and more shrill, almost as though he could see the magnificent sight play out right before his very eyes. Meanwhile, Qin Ye gently ran his finger across the edge of his teacup. He, too, could vaguely imagine what the scene must have been like.

The resurgence of 100,000 undead cavalry thought to be lost to time, sweeping up a storm that consumed everything. If this were truly the tomb of Genghis Khan, then the Mongol cavalry that they had encountered were likely one and the same troupe that had ravaged the world centuries ago.

After several seconds of silence, Rumyantsev slowly peeled himself out from the depths of his memories and continued, “Their ferocity far exceeds that of Russian Yin soldiers. It… wouldn’t even be an overstatement to describe our forces as routed. The Tsar immediately took action, but… his attack was actually blocked by them!”

His voice trembled, “I’d never thought that I would one day see the Tsar take action, and yet fail! It was as if his Yin energy appeared, and then silently vanished in a plume of netherflames. And in the instant that it did, I detected an unusually powerful presence hidden beneath. I’ve thought about other possibilities… but… the only thing that could possibly match such power would be the divine Yin artifacts from the four major underworlds in the netherworld! But how could those things possibly be located in the Mongol plains?!”

No… it might just be possible…

Qin Ye maintained an appearance of calmness, but his heart was already surging with turmoil.

The Resentment Stone was exposed to intense transformative radiation of a divine Yin artifact in order to become Crystallized Resentment. Subsequently, a tectonic shift caused the Crystallized Resentment to be exposed to the ground, and was eventually discovered by the Russian Underworld. Investigations were conducted, and they discovered a sealing formation concealing something within Khuree.

That said, Rumyantsev had also mentioned that these were matters that they had discovered some 70 years ago. Could it be that… the Judgment Pen had washed up in those lands? And its intense energy must have triggered the earthquake? That would also explain the formation of the vein of Crystallized Resentment as well!

At once, he decided that he would have to make a trip down to the Mongol Empire to take a look for himself, whether or not it was truly the soul of Genghis Khan!

The great hall fell silent. After some time, Rumyantsev queried cautiously, “Prefect Zhong, what’s your assessment of the situation?”

“It’s possible.” Qin Ye responded directly and spoke with clear deliberation, “I’ll report this to the top. Does the Russian Underworld have a specific time frame within which they plan to take action?”

Rumyantsev responded hoarsely, “The Tsar says that… there’s no rush.”

“The Mongol Empire will always remain where it is. There’s no escaping that. On the other hand, haste makes waste. Ah, I forgot to mention that the reason why we were routed so badly last time was because their cavalry also employed a military formation, and it was one that had never been seen across the history of Cathay. In fact, it was so powerful that it even instantly dispersed the Empress’ Praetorian Guards. If not for the fact that Empress Catherine is a Duchess, I’m afraid she might have been crushed there and then.”

Duchess… A Yama-class entity?!

[3]