Hell Emperor.

Chapter 468 Ye Jie - Thunder Drum Warrior
After visiting the three elders, Ye Jie returned to Tian Ming's residence and soon received good news.

"Palace Master Ziwei, I have already made the Kui Pi war drum you requested."

Tian Ming wiped the hot sweat from his head and smiled at Ye Jie. Following the direction he pointed, Ye Jie also saw a row of neatly arranged majestic war drums.

The drum body is made of thousand-year-old ironwood, which is hard yet tough, making it the perfect material choice. The drumhead is made of Kui leather, which has natural thunder patterns. If you listen carefully, you can hear the muffled thunder coming from inside. The drumstick has a metallic luster and looks ordinary, but it is heavy, which complements the patterns on the drumhead.

Under Tian Ming's craftsmanship, the quality of the Kuipi War Drum was even better than Ye Jie had expected.

All that was required for the position of an immortal official was a sixth-grade Kuipi war drum, but those crafted by Tian Ming were all of fifth grade level. Among them, there was even a fourth-grade Kuipi war drum. Just by swinging it in front of him, one could sense the thunderous sound produced when the drum was struck.

"...Eight, nine, ten."

After counting, Ye Jie was stunned. He only needed nine Kuipi war drums, but there were ten war drums in front of him. He was confused for a moment and asked:
"I see there are ten war drums. Did you beat one extra one?"

Tian Ming smiled and said, "Palace Master Ziwei may not know that I have a second-grade talent that increases by one every nine times. After forging the same magic weapon nine times, the next time I forge it, the grade of the magic weapon will definitely be improved. In addition, I have a fourth-grade talent of thriftiness, which can save some materials when forging, about 10% of the total materials. After completing nine forgings, the saved materials are just enough to forge another one. So I took the initiative to forge this tenth Kui skin war drum for Palace Master Ziwei. I hope Palace Master Ziwei likes it."

Ye Jie's gaze also fell on the tenth war drum. This Kui skin war drum was a fourth-grade magical weapon. There were lightning flashes and arcs on its surface. Its power was second only to a real divine weapon. It was truly a rare magic weapon.

Realizing the power of the Kui Pi War Drum, Ye Jie said gratefully, "I see... I'd be grateful for your kindness."

Tian Ming waved his hand and said, "Any forging master can come to forge magic tools, but not everyone can get the help of Ziwei Palace Master. Ziwei Palace Master has been running around for my future election as the Sect Master, and I am very grateful to him."

Coming to the war drum, Ye Jie also took out eight stitched pages. As his mind moved, a series of flamboyantly written words quickly appeared on them.

[Bookkeeping of life and death:]

[In the spring of the 640th year of the Moro calendar, Ye Jie spent nine Kui skin war drums to modify the rank files]

[The mid-term of the second-turn demon-slayer has been changed to the peak of the second-turn thunder drum warrior. 】

As the news on the suture page came to light, a powerful immortal energy burst out from Ye Jie's body, and endless power surged out from his limbs and bones. An unimaginable sense of fullness occupied Ye Jie's heart.

When the words in the Book of Life and Death fell, Ye Jie's realm also climbed from the middle stage of the second transformation to the peak of the second transformation. Although it was only an improvement of two small realms, the change in strength was incomparable.

Ye Jie clenched his fist tightly, and a layer of azure electric arcs covered the outside of his fist, which was exactly the same as the electric arcs outside the Kuipi war drum before. Even if he just stood there, there was an invisible power bursting out, which made the others afraid.

"This power...what happened?"

There seemed to be some confusion in Ye Jie's eyes. In his memory, the rank file modified through the eight-sided stitching pages should only be able to improve the realm, but the layer of electric arc covering the outside of his fist was more like the effect brought by the innate magical power.

All these changes must be related to the stitching pages in Ye Jie's hand. After checking them, he found the problem.

[Records in the Book of Life and Death:]

[The quality of the Kui Pi War Drum exceeds the minimum promotion requirements, and the power of the Immortal Official has been unlocked. ]

[Thunder Drum Warrior: Thunder roars and lightning strikes, and drums are beaten to show power. The power of thunder magic is increased by 20%. When playing battle music, the effect is increased by 30%. Thunder can be attached to drumsticks to cause additional damage. In each battle, the first time you are hit by a thunder spell, you will not be affected in any way.]

"Is this... the power of an immortal official?"

Looking at the records in the Book of Life and Death, Ye Jie's eyes trembled, and then he seemed to remember something and felt excited.

With the help of the eight-sided stitching pages, he modified his cultivation realm by upgrading his position as an immortal official. Since he was an immortal official, he certainly had unique powers beyond those of ordinary immortals and wielded even more powerful forces.

The Thunder Drum Warrior is a gong and drum player in the battle formation of the heavenly soldiers, responsible for beating the drums to show their power. The power of the Thunder Drum Warrior is to enhance the power of thunder magic and battle music, and to attach thunder to weapons and reduce the damage of thunder magic.

At this time, Ye Jie couldn't help but feel a little confused. Since every immortal official has his own unique power, why didn't he unlock the immortal official power when he was promoted to the immortal official position before?
After some thought, Ye Jie also had the answer. The unlocking of the power of the immortal official was probably related to the Kuipi war drum just now.

The minimum promotion requirement for the Thunder Drum Warrior is nine sixth-grade Kui Pi war drums, but what Ye Jie provided is nine fifth-grade Kui Pi war drums.

Don’t think that the level of the magic weapon is only one level higher, but there is a huge difference in power between the sixth grade and the fifth grade, and they are not on the same level at all.

It can be said that it was because Ye Jie provided the higher-grade Kuipi War Drum that the power of the Immortal Official was unlocked. Otherwise, he would not have known about it.

“Speaking of which, I originally asked Tianming to forge a sixth-grade war drum, but he did not slack off at all. Instead, he used his best craftsmanship to forge a fifth-grade war drum, which helped me unlock the power of the Immortal Official…”

Thinking of this, Ye Jie also felt a bit of emotion, and along with it, a bit of gratitude towards Tian Ming. If he hadn't put in all his strength in forging it, Ye Jie might still not have known about the power of an immortal official.

"I just don't know if I can still retain the power of Thunder Drum Warrior after I am promoted to another immortal official..."

Ye Jie had a thoughtful look on his face. If the power of the Immortal Official could be retained all the way, then as he continued to be promoted, he would have more and more power. With the accumulation of power, by then, the power alone would be enough to crush the enemy.

But if it cannot be retained, no matter what kind of immortal official it is, one can only use the power of the corresponding immortal official, then the effect will be much smaller and can only be regarded as a temporary blessing effect.

He shook his head. He could not come to a conclusion just by thinking about it. He decided to wait until Yao Yin returned. Yao Yin's trip to Xuannv Sect would not only bring meteorite iron, but also the Liangyi Alchemy Furnace that would help Ye Jie get promoted to the next immortal official position. He would know the answer after trying it out.

When closing the stitching page, Ye Jie's gaze also fell on the subsequent promotion to the position of immortal official.

[The positions that can be promoted to Immortal Officials are as follows:]

[Alchemy Boy: Control the fire and adjust the temperature, and the elixir will be made according to the method. The lowest level is limited to the early stage of the third revolution, and one hundred and three revolutions of merit or a tripod of Liangyi elixir furnace is required for promotion. ]

【Green Lantern Patrol: Unavailable.】

[Palace Guardian Spirit Officer: Guard the Holy Envoy, suppress evil in the palace. The lowest rank is the late third turn, and promotion requires 5,000 third turn merits or five basalt shields.] "Unusable? What does that mean?"

Noticing the unusable words on the eight-sided stitched page, Ye Jie was dumbfounded for a moment. This was the first time such a situation had occurred. How come this Qingdeng Patrolman, who was in the middle stage of the third turn, couldn't be promoted?

Unable to figure it out, Ye Jie had to find other companions. Before he could say anything, he heard Xie Xinyu exclaim, "This aura... have you reached the peak of the second level?"

As Xie Xinyu spoke, everyone turned their eyes to Ye Jie, with different expressions. Seeing Ye Jie nod in agreement, some were happy, some were surprised, and some were happy for him from the bottom of their hearts.

Hua Xiaomei sighed, "Ever since Xia Wei rewrote the Investiture of the Gods, we have finally reached the same level of immortal realm. I didn't expect that after such a short period of time, Brother Jie's cultivation has far surpassed us. I'm afraid that before long, even his shadow will be gone."

Shen Qingge also praised: "When the Book of Life and Death is combined with the List of Conferred Gods, the potential shown is truly extraordinary. However, this is also inseparable from Ajie's own efforts. Even if an ordinary person obtains such a rare item, I am afraid that he will not be able to reach a higher realm so quickly."

Ye Jie smiled and responded: "Well, if you keep praising me, I will be very proud. I want to ask, have you ever heard of the position of Green Lantern Patrol Envoy?"

After hearing the title of Green Lantern Patrolman, everyone looked at each other with confusion on their faces. It was obvious that the Green Lantern Patrolman was a rather unfamiliar title to them.

Among the crowd, only Su Miao raised her eyebrows, as if she knew something, and said, "Green Lantern Patrol Envoy? I have heard of him, why are you asking this?"

Seeing this, Ye Jie's eyes lit up and he said repeatedly: "It may be related to my future promotion. If Fairy Miaorou knows something, I hope you can enlighten me."

The word "unusable" on the stitched page deeply touched Ye Jie's heart. He didn't know what had happened, but he knew that if he didn't figure out the cause of this incident, similar situations might occur in the future.

The worst case scenario is that all three immortal official positions are shown as unavailable. This would directly cut off his hope of continuing to improve his cultivation. Of course, he couldn't just sit back and watch.

Seeing Ye Jie sincerely asking for advice, Su Miao snorted lightly, but did not embarrass him, and explained:
"This Green Lantern Patrolman is a special envoy sent by the Heavenly Court to be stationed in the underworld to supervise and report on Yama's actions. However, this position was abolished hundreds of years ago. I'm curious, where did you hear about this position?"

"Abolished?"

Ye Jie was stunned. Could this be the reason why the stitching page showed unavailable? He asked again, "Does Fairy Miaorou know why the Green Lantern Patrol Envoy was abolished?"

"Why? Of course it's because of the Underworld Emperor."

Su Miao rolled her eyes at him, looking as if she was blaming him for being so ignorant:

"Speaking of which, in the past, even the Lords of Yama Palace in each continent were appointed by the Heavenly Court. The Lord of Yama Palace was a legitimate immortal official position, but all this changed with the appearance of the Emperor of Hell."

“What…” Ye Jie’s eyes trembled, and he felt surprised in his heart. He didn’t expect that the Lord of Yama Palace was also an immortal official.

Su Miao continued, "Ever since the Underworld Emperor took sole control of the Underworld, he has made all ghost affairs managed by ghosts, and no immortals are allowed to interfere, making the Underworld completely independent from the Heavenly Court. The positions established by the Heavenly Court, such as the Green Lantern Patrolman, have also been abolished. Until now, many ghosts have never heard of the title of Green Lantern Patrolman, and they can only be seen once or twice in ancient books."

"I see……"

After listening to Su Miao's explanation, Ye Jie also understood the situation. It turned out that the unavailable display on the eight-sided stitched page was because the position had been abolished by the Emperor of the Underworld long ago.

After understanding the reason, Ye Jie no longer paid attention to the news about the Green Lantern Patrol Envoy. It seemed that for his future promotion, he could only choose between the Alchemy Boy and the Palace Guardian.

At this moment, Li Fei'e's eyes were suddenly attracted by something in the distance. He ran over to take a closer look, his eyes wide open:

"What is this thing? It can actually mobilize such a huge amount of thunder power. If it is used against the enemy, it will definitely bring about rolling thunder!"

Following Li Fei'e's line of sight, Ye Jie also saw the last remaining Kuipi war drum.

Ye Jie had used all of the fifth-grade Kuipi war drums for his promotion to immortal official status. The last one left was the highest-grade fourth-grade war drum, which was even more powerful.

The Kuipei War Drum is the exclusive magic weapon of the Thunder Drum Warrior. When combined with the power of the immortal official, it can display quite domineering strength.

Unfortunately, Ye Jie is not good at thunder-related magic, and has no intention of switching to the way of thunder. No matter how powerful the Kuipi War Drum is, it is not a handy magic weapon for him. On the contrary, Li Fei'e, who specializes in this way, can better unleash its power.

"Do you know how to use the war drum?" Ye Jie asked curiously.

Li Fei'e answered without hesitation: "Of course I know. Haven't you seen a pig run before? Isn't it enough to just hit it hard?"

"is it?"

Ye Jie was deeply skeptical that Lei Gu Lishi's power as an immortal official allowed him to understand basic battle music. There was a lot of knowledge involved in the art of drum music, and both rhythm and melody were indispensable. It was not the case that the louder the better as Li Fei'e said.

Seeing that everyone didn't believe him, Li Fei'e puffed out his lips, picked up the drumstick, and immediately hit the war drum hard. The drum sounded as chaotic as the roar of a wild beast, making everyone cover their ears. Even Ye Jie couldn't help but twitch his eyes.

After beating for a while, Li Fei'e put down the drumstick, looking confused: "Strange, I tried so hard, why didn't I even see a thundercloud? Is this drum broken?"

Ye Jie held his forehead helplessly: "That's not how you beat a drum."

As he spoke, Ye Jie reached out, took the drumstick from Li Fei'e, and began to beat it with a special rhythm.

At first, his beating was powerful and heavy, with a slow rhythm. Every drum beat was like a thunder exploding in the sky. As his hands beat the drum faster and faster, it left afterimages like a storm. The drum beats went from slow to fast, step by step. Everyone's heartbeats followed it, and their blood was stimulated by the drum beats. When the drum beats echoed in the sky, extremely solid thunderclouds also arrived, turning the entire earth into darkness.

With a deafening roar, Ye Jie's movements came to an abrupt halt. The drumstick drew an arc in the air and stopped steadily in his hand.

After the song ended, the lingering sound echoed, and everyone looked surprised, and there was a different look in their eyes when they looked at Ye Jie.

(End of this chapter)