This was a conference being held for the re-signing of the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts, and prior to this, there were underworlds vying for the Cathayan Underworld's exclusion as a forbidden arts supervision nation, citing doubts of whether the Cathayan Underworld had the ability to fulfill this duty.

In response, the Cathayan Underworld had brought out second-generation forbidden arts, and included in the underworlds that would benefit from the second generation forbidden arts was none other than the new continent, which the rest of the world was desperately trying to keep out of the forbidden arts conversation!

What would the world become if those two deranged geezers were to get their hands on second-generation forbidden arts?

Countless thoughts flashed through the minds of all of the death gods present at once, and many underworld emissaries had risen to their feet, all of whom were at least at the Abyssal Prefect level, but not even a single one of them dared to utter a single word.

What could they say? They simply didn't have sufficient influence to say anything here.

The only ones who could speak up here were the rulers of the three pillars, and with that in mind, all eyes immediately turned to them.

The collective gaze of the death gods and journalists was like a weight bearing down on the three of them, and no matter how reluctant they were to ask questions, regardless of how much they wanted to discuss this with Qin Ye in private, they had no choice but to ask.

You're the ones trying to bring them down and accusing them of breach of duty, aren't you? In that case, you should be the one to ask them questions!

The prospect of second-generation forbidden arts was far too terrifying a topic to be ignored.

An extremely oppressive silence settled over the entire venue, and finally, Anubis worked up the courage to break the silence.

"Yan..."

As soon as he opened his mouth, he immediately realized how hoarse his own voice sounded, and he immediately cleared his throat before putting on a forced smile as he began again. "Yanluo Qin, I have a question..."

Before he had a chance to finish, a burst of light flashed behind Qin Ye, immediately following which a large light screen that was around a meter in size appeared.

Everyone instantly fell silent upon seeing this.

All of the death gods, including Archimedes, were looking on with rapt attention.

The screen was filled with countless Yin runes, as many as there were stars in the sky, but it could be seen that this was still only a small portion of the entire thing. It was probably only around one-twentieth... no, one-thirtieth of the whole image!

However, even such a relatively small section held countless Yin runes to the tune of hundreds of thousands in just a few inches!

"I know that if I don't bring out any evidence, everyone will think that I'm joking," Qin Ye said in a calm voice. "The Cathayan Underworld never jokes around, especially not about such important events during such significant occasions."

No one was listening to what he was saying.

The death gods of the three pillars were frantically scanning their eyes across the Yin runes, as was Archimedes, and the more they saw, the paler their faces became.

After only a few seconds of inspection, they were already stunned by the incredible ingenuity and innovation that was on display!

Was this the sequence of Yin runes that would give rise to second-generation forbidden arts?

Using Darkless [1] Number 3,214 Yin Rune in conjunction with Faint Light Number 5,748 Yin Rune could indeed produce enormous power, but no successful experiment with this combination had ever been made. However, the inclusion of the Light Star Number 5,430 Yin Rune had made everything mesh together perfectly!

Archimedes's lips were beginning to tremble, and the scientist that was residing deep in his heart had been awakened. After looking at the displayed content on the screen for only a few minutes, he knew that this startup module was definitely legitimate!

If it were to continue to pile up, there really was a chance that it would be able to create a monstrosity that would be close to 20 times as powerful as first-generation forbidden arts!

The gates to greater knowledge were wide open in front of him, and countless Yin runes were revolving around him. The more he saw, the more entranced and excited he became. His breathing had become extremely ragged, and his face was completely flushed. His body was trembling violently, and he was grasping with his hands with all his might, as if he were trying to latch onto something.

All of the journalists and other death gods were staring intently at the rulers of the three pillars, only to discover that their faces were becoming paler and paler. All of a sudden, Yamaraja stumbled back unsteadily, and if it weren't for Durga catching him in time, he would've most likely sat directly back down onto his seat.

"Is... Is this real?" A death god of the utopia alliance was staring at Hypnos with a horrified expression, yet Hypnos's expression was even more aghast than his. "Has the Cathayan Underworld really managed to develop second-generation forbidden arts?"

"It's... It's only a startup module..." The death god beside him gulped nervously as he countered in a feeble voice, "It's still not a complete forbidden art..."

The sound of the hushed conversations were growing louder and louder, and in no more than a minute, it had culminated into a raucous commotion!

"Lord Qin! Your Excellency!!" The journalists were rushing forward and screaming as if they were deranged. "When did the Cathayan Underworld manage to develop second-generation forbidden arts startup modules?!"

"Your Excellency, how long will it take for this startup module to transform into an actual second-generation forbidden art?"

"Lord Qin, is that the next goal for the Cathayan Underworld?"

"Lord Qin, what gave your nation's Yin rune research team the inspiration to create this startup module?"

"Your Excellency, is this real? Is this really a second-generation forbidden arts startup module?!"

However, before the journalists had a chance to write down any notes, all of their pens flew out of their hands before flying directly toward Archimedes.

He was still wearing a pristine white robe, giving him the appearance of a saint as depicted on ancient Argosian cave artworks. Indeed, in a sense, he really was a saint of Argosia.

However, at this moment, this "saint" was completely entranced, and he got down on all fours on the tiled ground. The parts of his robe that came into contact with the ground were instantly blackened, but he paid no heed to that. Instead, he grabbed a pen and began to quickly perform a series of calculations, completely ignoring everyone and everything around him.

"Right, so this is what they did! I can't believe this combination is possible! What kind of genius could've possibly devised such an incredible combination? Ah! Darkness Number 549 Yin Rune can be used here?! It creates a perfect bridge! What an incredible mind! It works... It definitely does! This area is plausible for sure! Let me see which part is the activation algorithm for the forbidden art... Damn it, I don't know what material is going to act as a vessel for this startup module, how am I supposed to make any calculations?!"

Initially, his voice was very quiet, but it gradually became louder and louder, spiking to a desperate roar at the end.

Hypnos and Erinys looked as if they were about to throw up.

They were doing everything in their power to stall for time and not have to confirm the authenticity of the startup module, but Archimedes had completely defected over to the enemy camp!

Hypnos had half a mind to banish him from the nation!

"My apologies." Hypnos put on an extremely forced smile, and with a wave of his hand, Archimedes instantly vanished on the spot.

In the wake of his disappearance, the venue was silent for a few seconds, immediately following which came an even more thunderous commotion!

"Your Excellency, was Mr. Archimedes speaking the truth there? Has the Father of Yin Runes acknowledged this starter module to be genuine?!"

"Does the Cathayan Underworld really need second-generation forbidden arts? What impact do you think this will have on the entire world?"

"How much of the second generation forbidden arts startup module has been completed? Surely this is a question that can be answered!"

"What is the estimated number of Yin runes involved? Has it reached in excess of a hundred million? Please spare me a reply!"

The journalists had gone completely insane!

The emergence of second-generation forbidden arts was undoubtedly going to drastically change the entire world again!

This was the final kill shot that the Cathayan Underworld up its sleeve!

The leaders of the three pillars exchanged a few glances with one another. They had prepared as well as they could for this conference, even going as far as to break the rules to intercept the Cathayan Underworld's allies. However, the Cathayan Underworld's final trump card had captured the attention of the entire world, and it was still unknown whether Death God Osiris of the Aegyptian Underworld was dead or alive.

None of them had anticipated this.

The second-generation forbidden arts startup module had been introduced to the world during a forbidden arts conference...

Hypnos lowered his head in a dejected manner, but he then abruptly looked up again, and there was still some hope in his eyes.

We still have a chance! Yanluo Qin, you calculated everything, but you've failed to take into account one thing!

Forbidden arts were only available to major nations, small nations didn't have access to such things! Leaking forbidden arts codes was a major international crime! Perhaps they could sway a few votes by doing this, but as long as they didn't sway more than 17 votes to their side, the three pillars would still emerge as the final winners!

Furthermore, this project hasn't gone through the international arbitration process! Regardless of what type of new energy resource this was, it was being released at the conference for the re-signing of the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts. The fact that the Cathayan Underworld was planning to build forbidden arts base stations all over the world directly contradicted the purpose of this conference! As such, the Coalition of Underworlds had sufficient reason to rebuke this proposal and categorize it as an unofficial agreement! In that case, it would be a non-official agreement concerning forbidden arts, and no nation would dare to participate in it then!

However, right at this moment, a thought occurred to him, and he felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck him on the head.

He suddenly recalled something that Qin Ye had said prior to revealing the forbidden arts startup modules.

"The base stations of the Zhu Rong plan will be built upon the basis of the second generation forbidden arts startup modules."

Despite having experienced so much during his existence that had spanned thousands of years, he couldn't help but be overcome by a sense of dread.

This essentially meant that the new energy resource was going to be the equivalent of nuclear energy in the mortal realm.

While it was true that establishing forbidden arts base stations, even forbidden arts research centers, all over the world, and anything else that had even the slightest thing to do with forbidden arts was vehemently opposed by the entire world, this didn't include the advent of a new energy resource...

A new energy resource hadn't existed before this point, so there were no international regulations against it, particularly not against connecting forbidden arts with nuclear energy!

Even if such pre-emptive policies did exist, they would be completely abolished in order to allow this new energy resource to spread through the world as quickly as possible.

"So this was his plan all along..." He stared blankly at the main stage, and everything in his mind was finally connected together, allowing him to see the entirety of the Cathayan Underworld's plan.

They had signed the Zhu Rong plan agreement with the five nations of Northern Europa, revealing their new energy resource in the process.

Then, they had established partnerships with the Alkebulan Underworlds, taking the opportunity to unveil the second generation forbidden arts startup module.

Finally, once the death gods of the new continent were swayed to his side, he revealed that this new energy resource was nuclear energy!

These were three bombshells being dropped one after another, and if they hadn't intercepted the Alkebulan Underworlds, those bombshells would've already been dropped on their head a few days ago!

Death God Sorenges was seated beside Hypnos in a tattered suit of armor, and he said in a defeated voice, "The only thing that we know right now is that this new energy resource is concealed within the Cathayan Underworld's second-generation forbidden arts startup module. If we want to overtake them, we'll have to reinvent their second-generation forbidden arts startup module, and that's most likely going to take an extremely long time."

Hypnos leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes as he heaved a long sigh.

"Have they already gone this far ahead in the past century?" His throat had run completely dry, and he was feeling utterly deflated.

The logic here wasn't very difficult to follow, and soon, everyone was arriving at the same conclusions that Hypnos had just reached.

"Did Yanluo Qin just say that the Zhu Rong plan's base stations will be built upon the basis of the second generation forbidden arts startup modules?"

"Does that mean those startup modules are essentially nuclear energy modules? Did they derive the inspiration for the new energy resource from those startup modules?"

"Hold on, doesn't that meant that the Cathayan Underworld is going to construct nuclear energy plants all over the Alkebulan Underworlds, the five nations of Northern Europa, and the new continent?"

Everyone quickly erupted into a raucous commotion once again.

"Your Excellency, are you sure this proposal will be approved through the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts?"

"Lord Qin, do you have the confidence to hold a hearing for this revolutionary piece of technology? According to my knowledge, there are still no regulations in the Coalition of Underworlds against the energy resources generated from forbidden arts!"

"Lord Qin, when will this new energy resource first enter practical usage? Are we able to ensure its safety?!"

All of the journalists had completely cast etiquette aside, and they were flocking toward Qin Ye in a frenzy. Soon, the entire main stage was completely surrounded by a watertight barrier of journalists, and countless image capture crystals were flashing incessantly. As for Qin Ye, he completely ignored all of the death gods present and really did begin to answer the journalists' questions!

Yamaraja raised his head to the heavens and heaved a long sigh. In this instant, he knew that he had already been completely and utterly defeated.

This had become the Cathayan Underworld's victory parade, and he didn't want to stay here any longer.

Who could've imagined that the Cathayan Underworld would bring out nuclear power plants as soon as it re-emerged on the world stage? They never had a chance in this power struggle from the very beginning!

He took one final glance at Qin Ye as if he were trying to brand Qin Ye's image into his mind, then spread his wings and departed.

All of the death gods of the three pillars began to depart one after another, retaining the final shreds of their dignity that were still intact.

If they were to stay here any longer, they would be blinded by the radiance of the Cathayan Underworld!

[1] This is not a typo. As you'll see later in the chapter, there is another category of Yin runes separate from this one with the name of Darkness.