The sound of leather boots clicking along a hard floor rang out across the entire hall. This was an extremely antiquated hall with walls that were riddled with murals and vines.
An underworld emissary wearing a suit was quickly walking through the hall with a grim expression, and he soon emerged from the hall onto the cliff outside.
This was a bottomless cliff that was filled with inky-black Yin energy, and he quickly made his way over to the edge of the cliff before reporting with a respectful bow, “Lord Jörmungandr, a letter has come from the Cathayan Underworld!”
Silence.
Despite the lack of a response, the underworld emissary didn’t move a single muscle, and after a full five seconds, a burst of violent rumbling erupted from the bottom of the abyss. Close to a minute later, a gigantic skeletal snake’s head suddenly rose up from within the rift, emerging through the inky-black Yin energy.
On top of the head stood a woman in a long dress woven from black swan feathers.
Half of her face belonged to a beautiful woman, while the other half was a mass of mangled blood and flesh so rotten and hideous that it was enough to make the beholder’s skin crawl. She took a glance at the underworld emissary before waving a dismissive hand as she said, “You can go now.”
The letter that the underworld emissary was holding flew up into the air before drifting toward Hela.
Right as the underworld emissary disappeared, Hela immediately opened the letter before quickly reading through it.
This letter of invitation was clearly different from the other ones that had been sent out. As the Cathayan Underworld’s first and most resolute ally, Qin Ye knew that the five Northern Europa nations deserved differential treatment, and this letter of invitation was over half a centimeter thick.
With each sentence that she read through, Hela’s expression would change slightly. Initially, she was concerned and anxious, but that soon gave way to relief, then excitement. At the end, her cheeks had become flushed with excitement, and she was gently weeping into her own hand as she held the letter between her trembling fingers.
“What does it say? Hurry up and tell me!” Jörmungandr urged in a disgruntled voice.
Over a decade ago, the Cathayan Underworld had finally emerged from its century-long slumber and weathered the storm that was the conference for the re-signing of the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts. At the time, they had chosen to stand with the Cathayan Underworld, and that had been a massive gamble.
Hela pursed her lips tightly as she fought to compose herself, then said in a trembling voice, “They’ve managed to fool the entire world! They already developed their new energy resource five and a half years ago, and during the five years after that, they’ve laid down a nationwide network for the new energy resource! At this point, the network has already been operating for over a year, and there have been no issues whatsoever!”
She was clenching her fists so tightly that her joints were cracking audibly. “They did it! They succeeded! Once their new energy resource is released to the rest of the world, the state of the entire world will be transformed! I’m confident that the Cathayan Underworld’s panel of advisors has the ability to make this count! Jörmungandr, we have to attend this international trade conference!”
Those outside of the five Northern Europa nations weren’t aware of just how terrible their situation had been.
The Argosian Underworld had already conquered most of Europa, and only Northern Europa had remained untouched. However, it was like a tasty morsel that the Argosian Underworld had constantly been plotting to devour. Due to their strained relationship with the Argosian Underworld, no other underworlds dared to trade with the five Northern Europa nations.
This caused their economy to suffer tremendously, and it could be said that unspoken sanctions had been placed upon them.
In the past, they wouldn’t even dare to attend a conference where the Argosian Underworld would be present, but this situation was completely different!
They had to go and see how the Cathayan Underworld was going to change the world!
They had to go and see the reactions of the three pillars once they finally discovered that they had been kept in the dark all along!
They also wanted to see the reactions of all of the underworlds who had relied on the Argosian Underworld and lashed out at the five Northern Europa nations in the past!
This was their prize for choosing the right side, and it was a well-deserved one!
After a moment of stunned silence, Jörmungandr roared with excitement, “Is that true?!”
“Of course! I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this!”
Jörmungandr’s gigantic serpentine body was trembling uncontrollably, and several seconds later, his voice rang out like rumbling thunder throughout his entire palace. “All officials, get ready! Prepare the best possible representative team for the upcoming international trade conference! In half a year’s time, we set off for the Cathayan Underworld!”
The letters of invitation sent out by the Cathayan Underworld had stirred the entire world up into a frenzy.
The Cathayan Underworld had switched from a passive stance to seizing the initiative, and all of the underworlds were extremely wary of this development.
“Is the dragon about to awaken?” Anko was seated in her palace of snow and ice, looking at the letter of invitation in front of her as she bit down onto her bottom lip.
Her Celtic Underworld didn’t possess a small landmass, but in terms of population, it was very much a small underworld.
As the death god of a small underworld, she had to possess extremely sharp and sensitive political instincts, and it was exactly because of this that her soul was trembling with fear.
She knew that this upcoming conference was going to change the course of history, and at the very least, she had to attend it to witness the making of history!
She reflexively stroked the goosebumps that had appeared over her arms as she gritted her teeth and declared, “Prepare a representative team! In half a year, we will be attending the international trade conference in the Cathayan Underworld!”
Hindustani Underworld, Kailasa Temple.
This was one of the Hindustani Underworld’s 10 major temples. Just like the mortal realm, there was still a caste system present in the Hindustani Underworld. Furthermore, all important conference venues were located in renowned temples, such as the Mahabodhi Temple where Death God Yamaraja was situated.
Theoretically speaking, all of the temples could only fall under the Brahmin surname, but the Kailasa Temple was an exception because it had been rented to the top 10 consortiums at an annual rental fee in excess of a billion.
There were once 15 top consortiums in the world, but five of them had declined significantly, so there were only 10 left, and they were the dominant forces in the world’s economy.
Under normal circumstances, underworld emissaries were rarely ever sighted here, but during the past month, countless Yin spirits had gathered here from all over the world.
“What on earth is the ruler of the Cathayan Underworld thinking? Why would he put us in such a difficult predicament?”
In the Lotus Hall of the Kailasa Temple, Manager Khilok of the Abbasid Consortium slammed the letter of invitation heavily onto the table, then dug his fingers into his hair and clawed at his own scalp in frustration.
Around him were the current managers of all of the top 10 consortiums, and they knew that the chairmen of their respective consortiums were all on the way as well.
This conference was going to decide the direction that the world took for the next few centuries, and the chairmen had to be present in-person to ensure that they didn’t end up on the wrong side of history.
Kana Fujii was also clearly very frustrated. The three pillars had already sprung their trap during the last conference in Nara, and if it weren’t for the Cathayan Underworld turning the tables at the very last moment, they would most likely already be out of the four pillars by now.
The intention of the three pillars had been very clear: to strip the Cathayan Underworld of its forbidden arts supervision rights.
If that were to happen, then the other three pillars would need to supervise the nations around the Cathayan Underworld. That would give them sufficient reason to send their troops into those underworlds to surround the Cathayan Underworld from all sides.
However, their plan had failed in a spectacular fashion, but they didn’t give up there. Instead, they had forced the responsibility of holding the next international trade conference onto the Cathayan Underworld.
A conference of this caliber naturally had to be held in the host nation’s territory, and that would give the entire world the opportunity to see the current state of the Cathayan Underworld! If it were discovered that the Cathayan Underworld’s power didn’t match its status, then the proposal to add another nation to the four pillars would most likely instantly be raised during the international trade conference!
Of course, that would only be applicable if the Cathayan Underworld really had suffered a severe dip in power, and the entire world thought that to be the case. Otherwise, why was the Cathayan Underworld refusing to open up to the rest of the world?
However, not only had the Cathayan Underworld agreed to this, it had also sent out its letters of invitation early!
This was a sign that they were extremely confident, but if they really did have the power to back up their confidence, then why did they wait until they had been forced to the edge of a cliff during the conference in Nara before finally turning the tables?
These decisions were extremely difficult to understand!
“What did Perkins say?” Kana Fujii asked with gritted teeth as she turned toward another representative.
That representative was a red-haired woman, and she replied, “He said that the Cathayan Underworld hasn’t undergone any changes. He didn’t get to go to the mainland. Instead, he was only invited to an island off the coast of the Cathayan Underworld. Our chairman spoke to him in person, which is already a great honor for him, so unless he has a death wish, there’s no way he would lie about this.”
“Shit!” Kana Fujii couldn’t help but swear out loud upon hearing this. She then took a deep breath before turning to everyone else. “Everyone, my guess is that either Perkins really did fail to discover anything, and the city known as the Heavenly Pillar City really hasn’t undergone any changes, or the Cathayan Underworld is keeping whatever changes that have taken place a secret from him. The three pillars have always employed a follow-up tactic to their strategies, and they’ll be sure to bring up the issue of the Cathayan Underworld’s forbidden arts supervision rights again during this upcoming conference. We all know that they arranged for the Cathayan Underworld to host this international trade conference so that they could see the true state of the Cathayan Underworld. If they see even the slightest opportunity for them to strike, they’ll be sure to pounce on it!”
She picked up her coffee cup and took a sip in a frustrated manner, then continued, “According to our sources, the second King Yanluo has gone to a place that cannot be spoken about, and he won’t return for several centuries. In his absence, is the third King Yanluo going to be able to handle the pressure from the three pillars? He should be even more aware than we are of just how troublesome the three pillars are to deal with, yet he still sent out these letters of invitation so early. Is this a show of confidence? If it isn’t, then there must be something else that they’re relying on. It means that the Cathayan Underworld has a trump card up its sleeve that all of us are completely oblivious to.”
Khilok gritted his teeth as he said, “I can’t shake the feeling that the Cathayan Underworld has done this not just to display their confidence, but also… to end the struggle between the four pillars once and for all!”
“That’s impossible!”
All of the consortium representatives present were astonished to hear this.
“Their opponents are the three pillars, underworlds that are just as ancient as the Cathayan Underworld!”
“The four pillars have already stood for thousands of years, there’s no way that stalemate can be broken so easily!”
Khilok’s eyes narrowed slightly as he asked, “Then what if they’ve already developed their new energy resource?”
“That’s even more impossible!”
“Think about how much pressure the Prometheus plan has exerted upon them! If they’ve already developed the new energy resource, there’s no way that they wouldn’t have already released it!”
“Upon releasing the new energy resource, the Cathayan Underworld would be able to immediately win back all of the political power it’s lost with interest! There’s no way they would keep it a secret!”
“Also, don’t forget that Perkins hasn’t seen anything even after staying in the Cathayan Underworld for a year! There’s no way he would lie to us.”
Khilok massaged his own temples with a hint of weariness in his eyes.
He also felt this to be impossible.
No one would develop a new energy resource, yet keep it a secret, particularly the Cathayan Underworld, which had to be desperate to reclaim its lost political power.
If that really were the case, then the implications were downright terrifying!
That would mean that the Cathayan Underworld was aiming for a much loftier goal than simply reclaiming its lost influence and political power!
Even though everyone was vehemently rebuking Khilok’s idea, they also couldn’t shake the suspicion that maybe, just maybe, the Cathayan Underworld could’ve already developed their new energy resource, but was keeping it a secret! Otherwise, they would be sitting at home, drinking coffee, rather than gathering here like a bunch of cats on a hot tin roof!
Everyone could smell the scent of an approaching storm from these letters of invitation, but none of them could be sure of what was to come.
“The chairmen will be arriving soon,” Khilok said as he lowered his head. “They will decide on what we do next. However, the chairmen are all quite advanced in age, so we will be the ones who attend the conference in their stead. Let me issue all of you a warning to be careful, more careful than you’ve ever been before! This conference is definitely not going to be your average international conference, so keep your wits about you and constantly be looking to adapt to change! I don’t want to see another five of our consortiums fall from grace in the aftermath of this conference!”
