The entire sea of fire churned incessantly amid a resounding howl, and the gigantic hand remained in front of Zhao Yun. The shadows cast by its five fingers had already encompassed Zhao Yun's entire body, but it was unable to close its grip around him.

Zhao Yun's inky black face remained completely expressionless, and in the instant he reached out to touch the giant hand, it instantly disintegrated into dust that scattered through the air.

It was as if his touch had physically wounded Yu Kiang, and an explosive roar erupted from within the Karmic flames. "I'll remember you! You had better pray that I never come out. Otherwise, I'll be sure to raze this place to the ground!!"

The vortex rapidly revolved, drowning out Yu Kiang's furious voice in the end.

At the same time, something shuddered violently in Qin Ye's chest, as if his soul had just stirred.

This was a feeling that he had never experienced before.

Right as he was struck by this feeling, Su Daji, Qin Hui, and Arthis turned in unison with stunned expressions to stare intently at Qin Ye.

Complete silence descended upon the scene.

In the next instant, everyone gasped in unison as they quickly departed from the golden pillar. As soon as Su Daji and Qin Hui landed, they immediately knelt down and kowtowed to the ground, and their voices were trembling as they said, "C, c, c, congratulations, my Lord! "

Arthis opened her mouth as if to say something, but she couldn't muster up the words in the end. She felt as if she were currently in a dream.

From meeting amid the rubble of the previous Hell, to revealing his true form in Clear Creek County, to escaping to the City of Salvation, to the founding of the new Hell... All the way until today.

These events had taken place over a span of seven years, and now, after all this time, he was about to climb to the Yama-King rank right before her very eyes!

He was about to ascend to the pinnacle of the three realms!

"Guards..." She raised her hand in a slightly dazed manner. She already knew that Qin Ye would progress to the Yama-King level once the six paths of reincarnation were rebuilt, but that didn't make her any less stunned.

"Guards! I want everyone on high alert! Do you hear me?!" Arthis screeched as she adopted her true form and her Infernal Judge level Yin energy erupted from her body. At a time like this, she didn't care about maintaining her image in Zhao Yun's heart.

Boom! 

Her Infernal Judge level Yin energy erupted in all directions as her hair completely enveloped the golden pillar that Qin Ye was situated on. Her head was hanging in mid-air as she roared in a furious voice, "Where are the soldiers of the Hell Guardian Legion? Are you deaf or are you blind? Surround this place at once, and if anyone dares to so much as set foot in this place, they are to be killed with no exceptions!"

Not only had they sensed something, all of the Yin soldiers present could detect a burst of extremely powerful and profound Yin energy exploding at the center of Lotus City.

Outside the city, the entire Hungry Ghost Legion fell to their knees, and their bodies were trembling uncontrollably.

Inside the city, the Asura skeletal dogs slouched down onto the ground with the netherfire in their eyes flickering violently, not even daring to make a single sound.

At the foot of the golden pillar, outside of the turbulent dark clouds, all 50,000 soldiers of the Hell Guardian Legion turned around in a robotic manner to look behind them with stunned expression at the six-tier mountain of fire. The terrifying aura from the top-tier Yin energy was giving off such immense pressure that their legs were on the verge of giving out from under them.

However, they didn't succumb to the urge to kneel as they had to follow their orders.

Right as they were about to fall to their knees, countless messenger birds rushed out of the dark clouds, carrying an authoritative voice transmission from Arthis. "By the decree of the King Yanluo, surround this area and bar anyone from entry! Those who come within 100 meters of this area are to be killed without exceptions! There's no need to report in advance or worry about the status and identity of the intruders! If anything happens, I'll take full responsibility!"

"Yes!!"

With that thunderous collective reply, the Hell Guardian Legion immediately sprang into action, splitting up into several groups that rushed away in different directions before surrounding the area in a watertight barrier. The shiny tips of their spears were uniformly aimed outward, while below the spears were tightly packed shields, behind which were countless crossbows that were ready to fire at a moment's notice.

Even if a rat dared to approach the area, it would be met by a torrential storm of attacks.

The true ruler of Hell was about to complete his final breakthrough, and no one dared to disrupt him.

The only one who wasn't moved by this scene was Qin Ye himself.

Hell's Record quickly flew out of his chest, and he flipped rapidly through the pages until finally, lines of free-flowing golden text appeared before his eyes.

Name: Qin Ye (Nickname - Dogballs)

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

Family Members: Grandfather (deceased), Parents (deceased)

Date of Birth: 1 October 1938

Current merit points: 150,000,000/150,000,000.

Rank: Ruler of Hell: King Yanluo (the third).

Capital city: Everburn.

Area of territory:

11,600,000

square kilometers.

Civilian population: 185 million.

Allegiance: Cathayan Underworld, Qin Dynasty.

Whoosh! 

A streak of golden light pierced through the dark clouds before shining down upon him, and his body slowly began to rise up into the air. However, this was an involuntary process, as if he were passively heeding the call of the Heavenly Dao.

Qin Ye looked up at the sky with a slightly dazed expression, and he felt as if he were in a dream.

I really have reached the Yama-King level... 

Back then, even Granny Meng had been on the verge of giving up on him, yet now, he was the ruler of an entire realm...

Alright, I'll admit that I've changed a lot over the course of this journey. In the beginning, all I cared about was doing the bare minimum to keep my head above the water. Now, I'm taking on as much responsibility as possible. In the beginning, I ran away at the first sight of any ghost, yet now, I can face them with courage and kill them with ease... 

From a dazed and confused noob to a ruler of a nation with a population in excess of 100 million...

From a fearful coward to a confident and courageous leader...

Many changes had taken place, including in his personality and the way in which he did things. In the past, he had just about vowed to never accept this accursed position that had been thrust upon him. However, after experiencing so much during the course of his time in the underworld, he felt like the position that he was in wasn't so bad after all.

He wasn't reveling in the sense of power and achievement of ruling over such a massive nation. Instead, what appealed to him was the sense of responsibility and belonging that came with his role.

This responsibility seemed to be more intriguing than he had first imagined it to be...

He closed his eyes.

He could sense that all of the Yin energy in the entire underworld was currently churning because of him. Come to think of it, he was the first person to have made a breakthrough to the Yama-King level in the third coming of Hell, and the entire underworld was cheering for him.

…………………………………………………..

Everburn.

The netherworldly citizens on the streets were casually chatting with one another when all of a sudden, everyone stopped what they were doing.

An elderly netherworldly citizen narrowed his eyes as he cast his gaze toward the ground, and the netherworldly citizens around him also did the same. Wisps of Yin energy were emerging from the ground beneath their feet like countless Yin snakes before rising up into the sky.

As the netherworldly citizens raised their heads again, they discovered that Yin energy was rising up from the ground all around them throughout the countless streets in the entirety of Everburn! The Yin energy took on the form of black shadows, each of which was only around a foot in length, before surging toward the west in a frenzy!

The sheer quantity of Yin energy was utterly astounding! Yin energy was rising up from under literally every single tile that paved the streets of the enormous Everburn City before rising up into the sky like a reverse waterfall, then traveling toward the west.

"What on earth is going on?" Atop the city walls, a Yin soldier cast his gaze in the direction that all of the streaks of Yin energy were traveling toward. "Why is this happening? Is this being caused by a Yin beast? Wait... Holy shit!"

All of a sudden, the spear in his hand clattered onto the ground. He wasn't the only one, all of the Yin soldiers around him were also completely stunned as they looked up at the sky.

The crossbow-wielding Yin soldiers lowered their weapons and looked up into the heavens with a slack-jawed expression. All of the commanders of the Yin soldiers were also looking up with their eyes and mouths gaped wide open. Meanwhile, their superiors and the superiors of their superiors were rushing out of the buildings in the city to stare up at the sky with incredulity in their eyes as well.

Day had transitioned into night.

However, this wasn't a true night. Instead, it was a veil of darkness formed by the countless black shadows that were the streaks of Yin energy. It was a sea of darkness that concealed the clouds, devoured the light, and was flying toward the west like an unstoppable force of nature.

They had thought that the amount of Yin energy that had emerged from Everburn was already extremely staggering, but only when they looked up did they realize that what they had thought was a river was nothing more than a small stream, making up only a small part of the sea of Yin energy in the sky.

"What on earth is that..."

The gargantuan black veil had been drawn over the entirety of the Cathayan Underworld.

From east to west, from south to north, hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, countless wisps of Yin energy had converged to form a turbulent sea!

It passed over the Yellow River, where the Yin spirits of Deadsend City looked on with awe and astonishment.

It passed over Longxi County, where the netherworldly citizens of Fleetglance City stared in flabbergasted shock.

With each place that the black veil passed over, the same sense of awe and shock was evoked within everyone.

This was by far the most significant natural phenomenon that had appeared in the underworld since the founding of the nation!

"What's going on?!"

"Does anyone know what's happening?"

"What is this thing? Is it some kind of monster?"

"The darkness has devoured the light... Are we about to return to eternal night again?"

"Why is this happening? Is there an issue with the divine artifacts?"

In Everburn, Oda Nobunaga looked up at the unfathomable mass of Yin energy in the sky with an awestruck expression. Only Emissaries of Hell at or above the Infernal Judge level could sense just how much power the black veil contained.

His voice was brimming with excitement as he murmured to himself, "Lord Qin is currently in the west, and that's where the Yin energy is going... Could it be that he's about to make a breakthrough to the Yama-King level? It looks like revenge against Nippon is imminent! Just you wait, Izanami, I'm eagerly awaiting the day where your head is going to be hanging from the walls of Amano-Iwato!"

Right at this moment, an authoritative voice rang out across the entire nation. "Don't be alarmed, citizens of the Cathayan Underworld. What you're currently witnessing is a phenomenon triggered by Yanluo Qin's breakthrough to the Yama-King level. This will be our first Yama-King level breakthrough since the founding of the nation, and from now on, Yanluo Qin's power will match his status. The phenomenon will continue for around a week, and during that time, all departments must be on high alert. If I discover netherworldly citizens or Emissaries of Hell attempting to sow dissension or rouse rabbles during this time, they will be executed with no mercy!"

North Yin Pavilion.

After making this declaration, the Harken sat down onto its chair as it panted heavily.

"These accursed injuries really are a pain..." It was panting more heavily than it ever had before, but several seconds later, it forced itself into a standing position as it cast an intense gaze toward the west. "After this, I'll finally be able to take a rest. With that, the King Yanluo has become the first new Yama-King of the Qin Dynasty. This is truly an occasion worthy of celebration..."

…………………………………………………..

Mortal realm, Yanjing, Special Investigations Department headquarters.

Inside a spacious room, an elderly man was currently reading a document that he was holding aloud. "According to the latest news, the six paths of reincarnation are about to be rebuilt. From this point onward, Cathay's new population will gradually begin to increase over time... During the past six months, everything has been quite peaceful in the underworld, and all of the Yin spirits across the nation have already been gathered. The next priority will be large-scale projects facilitating returns to the mortal realm and relaying dreams. Of course, the mortal realm's attitude must be taken into account. If the mortal realm would like to see widespread instances of relayed dreams, then the underworld will..."

All of a sudden, his voice drew to an abrupt halt.

The room was very large, with an area in excess of 100 square meters. The construction style was clean and professional with strong Cathayan influences present, as evidenced by the intricately embroidered screens, the elegant palatial lanterns, and the oval redwood table situated at the center of the room. Currently, the seats on either side of the table were fully occupied.

"Land Sun?" An investigator wearing a Mao suit tapped the table with his pen in a perplexed manner. "Why have you stopped? Could it be that there's a mistake in the biannual Yin Yang exchange report?"

The elderly man returned to his senses upon hearing this, and he abruptly gave a shocked yelp as he began to tremble violently.

All of the investigators seated around the table immediately rose to their feet as they appraised the elderly man with alarmed expressions.

The elderly man was trembling so violently that it seemed he was on the verge of spasms, but his eyes were growing brighter and brighter. Several seconds later, he left his seat and fell to his knees before kowtowing toward the west.

"What are you doing?"

"A new Yama-King has emerged!" Land Sun's voice was shaking as he spoke. "An Emissary of Hell is currently making a breakthrough to the Yama-King level!"

What?! 

This declaration instantly sent everyone in the room into a frenzy!