Tales of Herding Gods

Lang Wo and Shu Jun looked at each other, suppressing the shock in their hearts. As they were in a hurry, they didn’t bother to think too much and entered the Gate of Heaven Influence.

Qin Mu allowed Dutian, Yan’er, the dragon qilin, and the rest to enter the Gate of Heaven Influence with the Heavenly Dragon Treasure Carriage before him, planning to follow them after. Suddenly, a paper boat sailed over. The Elder Messenger of Death on the boat said, “Celestial Venerable Mu, please stay.”

Qin Mu stopped his footsteps and said, “Celestial Venerable You, how can I help you?”

The Elder Messenger of Death said, “Earth Count has instructed me to ask you—why are you mingling with the masters of creation? He mentioned they are vicious and wicked people and have performed many evil deeds. During the earlier years, they brought woe to the universe, committing all sorts of atrocities. Colluding with them is like helping a tiger pounce on its victims. You will lose the support of the ancient gods.”

Qin Mu nodded meekly as he said, “Celestial Venerable You, please inform Earth Count that it was completely due to his utmost support that I managed to achieve the title of Invincible Great Wizard. Naturally, I will never act without restraint. Regarding the masters of creation, I’m borrowing their power to deal with the Grand Emperor. Hence, we are just using each other. I have no intention of using their power to go against the ancient gods. I humbly prostrate before Earth Count, with profound respect and humility.”

The Elder Messenger of Death stared at him. After some time, he said, “Wasn’t your last sentence a little overboard? Earth Count isn’t Celestial Emperor, there’s no need to talk about respect and humility.”

Qin Mu said plainly, “I was brought up by Earth Count. Being a junior, I have to treat him with profound respect and humility.”

The Elder Messenger of Death remained staring at him. He couldn’t help but shake his head as he said, “Go, I will speak to Earth Count.”

Qin Mu thanked him and asked, “How is Celestial Venerable Yu getting along?”

He was fine until Qin Mu mentioned Celestial Venerable Yu. The Elder Messenger of Death unleashed his accumulated anger and said furiously, “He has been stolen!”

Qin Mu got a fright. He cried, “Celestial Venerable Yu was stolen by someone? Who is so daring to infiltrate Youdu and steal Celestial Venerable Yu? Did you not watch over him carefully?”

“I need to go around reaping souls, guiding the dead. There are a billion things that require my attention. Where would I have the time to watch over him?”

The Elder Messenger of Death said unpleasantly, “He’s my elder brother, not my son. I could only watch over him when I had time. I allowed him to roam around in Youdu and didn’t expect that a wretch would infiltrate this place to abduct him.”

Qin Mu asked suspiciously, “Where did that wretch who stole Celestial Venerable Yu come from?”

“Where did he come from? Of course, he’s from your family!”

The Elder Messenger of Death laughed coldly and said, “You better manage the elders of your family well! This is truly audacious, coming to Youdu to commit evil! However, I won’t be pursuing the matter. If Celestial Venerable Yu was to stay in Youdu, it would indeed inhibit his growth. But the elders of your family are bringing him around to pilfer. That, after all, isn’t a good thing. Be careful about getting caught by the celestial heavens.”

Qin Mu agreed and said, “I will definitely discipline Grandpa Cripple and won’t let him create mischief. Celestial Venerable You, please put your heart at ease.”

The Elder Messenger of Death sent him off. After which, he sailed his boat back to the area close to Earth Count’s third eye at the heart of his brows, recounting to him what Qin Mu said.

Earth Count said puzzledly, “Humbly prostrating before Earth Count, with profound respect and humility. Did he really say that?”

The Elder Messenger of Death nodded. “He looked very sincere.”

“It’s rare I receive such courtesy. I won’t pursue what happened today. Go ahead and make a record for him.”

The Elder Messenger of Death acknowledged and said, “Now that Celestial Venerable Mu is separated from Son of Youdu, do I have to record that down individually?”

Earth Count said, “In the past, he and the Son of Youdu were one body, and the evil that Son of Youdu committed would be the evil he committed. We have to be fair. Just because they are now separated doesn’t mean that his past crimes will be erased.”

The Elder Messenger of Death agreed and said, “Earth Count is indeed impartial.”

Qin Mu returned to the world of the living and saw the Heavenly Dragon Treasure Carriage nearby. Divine King Lang Wo and the rest were waiting inside. The faces of Divine King Lang Wo and Shu Jun were still a little pale.

“Divine King Sister, you’re not afraid of Celestial Venerable Qin or any other Celestial Venerable. Why do you fear only Earth Count?” Qin Mu asked puzzledly.

“Earth Count is the sworn enemy of the masters of creation.”

Divine King Lang Wo shook her head and said, “Just your brother, Little Earth Count, was able to make the masters of creation flee helter-skelter, not to mention Earth Count.”

Qin Mu was stunned. In the Paramita World, Carefree Village had always been in a position of receiving a beating. Things only changed when Qin Fengqing arrived.

Although the masters of creation of the Paramita World had peerless consciousness, they suffered terrible losses when faced with Son of Youdu Qin Fengqing. Many were eaten by this big-headed infant.

It seemed that the Great Dao of Youdu could suppress the masters of creation.

Shu Jun said, “Although we have strong consciousnesses, our primordial spirits are weak. Therefore, our souls are weak, making it easy for Qin Fengqing to directly strip our souls for him to consume. He’s Little Earth Count. When faced with the real Earth Count, the weakness of the masters of creation will be more apparent. It’s very easy for Earth Count to kill masters of creation. In the great battle during the ancient primordial era, the number of masters of creation that died at the hands of Earth Count was much more than Celestial Emperor, Heaven Duke, and Mother Earth combined!”

Divine King Lang Wo said, “I haven’t witnessed the great battle of the ancient primordial era, but I have heard of Earth Count’s fame from the ancestor spirits. As I led the reform of the masters of creation of the Paramita World, absorbing the system of divine treasures and celestial palaces and embarking on the cultivation of primordial spirits, I did try not to let the masters of creation have any weaknesses. However, when faced with Little Earth Count Qin Fengqing, there’s still a big gap.”

Qin Mu laughed and said, “You have learned the primordial spirit cultivation technique of Carefree Village, which is far more backward than that of Eternal Peace. Given the same realm, the primordial spirits of Eternal Peace’s divine arts practitioners, gods, and devils are much stronger. Using Founding Emperor and myself as an example, given the same realm, my primordial spirit is much stronger than his by several times over!”

He reached out his hands and gestured.

Lang Wo and Shu Jun were unconvinced.

Especially Shu Jun. He had seen the battle between Qin Mu and Founding Emperor. Although Qin Mu was stronger, it was just by a little, and he wasn’t significantly stronger than Founding Emperor.

However, they didn’t realize that Qin Mu wasn’t bragging.

What Founding Emperor was strong in was his fighting prowess. His twentieth sword form and 34 heavens of the sword path were so powerful that they concealed his lack of cultivation.

Qin Mu, on the other hand, was strong in primordial spirit and magic power. His primordial spirit cultivation was incomparably powerful. His Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, combined with the magic power of his primordial spirit, could rival a celestial god on the Jade Pavilion Realm. After he had cultivated to the god realm, his magic power could rival an expert of the God Execution Stage Realm.

Although they looked to be evenly-matched when he battled Founding Emperor, that was because the Sword Dao of Founding Emperor was too powerful, much stronger than his.

However, solely based on primordial spirits, Founding Emperor was far inferior to Qin Mu.

Qin Mu looked around and frowned. Originally, he wanted to head for River Tomb from Fallen God Valley. Now, after entering and exiting Youdu, the geography around them changed drastically. They were now much further away from River Tomb and were close to Bazhou.

‘Since that’s the case, we shall first make a trip to the Heavenly Saint Academy to visit Granny Si and the rest.’

He, Divine King Lang Wo, and Shu Jun took their seats as he instructed Dutian Devil King to make his way towards the Heavenly Saint Academy. In the carriage, Qin Mu took out the jade bottle that the consciousness of the Grand Emperor was sealed in. He said, “When refining the Grand Emperor’s consciousness, I don’t want his consciousness cultivation, I just want his memories in order to get a hold of his Great Overarching Supreme Consciousness. His consciousness belongs to the two of you.”

Divine King Lang Wo hesitated for a while. She then nodded and said, “A huge portion of the Grand Emperor’s consciousness isn’t from his own cultivation but from the sacrificial offerings of the masters of creation from the ancient primordial era. His consciousness isn’t pure, hence limiting his achievements. There was a rumor among the ancestor spirits of the masters of creation of the Great Void. It’s said that the reason the Grand Emperor was defeated during his battle with the ancient gods was that he relied on sacrificial offerings to raise his cultivation, hence resulting in him having a weakness. If his cultivation was due to his own efforts, he could easily defeat the ancient Celestial Emperor and the rest of the ancient gods.”

Shu Jun’s eyes brightened. He smiled as he said, “If you’re not keen on the Grand Emperor’s consciousness, I would be happy to take it. Divine King Lang Wo, do you want the Grand Emperor’s consciousness?”

Divine King Lang Wo hesitated for some time before saying, “I will share this equally with Divine King. With my current state of cultivation, it’s extremely difficult to raise it to the next level. Although the Grand Emperor’s consciousness isn’t pure, it’s still worth a try. However, I suggest we divide the consciousness into three parts, sharing it equally among the three of us, giving one-third to the holy infant.”

Qin Mu didn’t understand what she meant.

Divine King Lang Wo said gently, “In the future, if your cultivation hits a bottleneck and is unable to advance further, you could refine the Grand Emperor’s consciousness to raise your cultivation. My masters of creation could also come together to perform sacrificial offerings for you, helping you raise your power.”

Qin Mu pondered for a while and nodded his head in agreement.

The three of them executed the consciousness refining divine art, fully focused on refining as the Heavenly Dragon Treasure Carriage made its way to the Heavenly Saint Academy.

At Eternal Peace’s capital city, Founding Emperor bowed and asked Sword God Su Muzhe to stop walking. He said, “After seeking your guidance, Ye Kai has benefited greatly. Elder, there’s no need to send me further.”

Village Chief insisted on sending him. He said, “The things I learned from you are a hundred times more than what I have taught you. Given Brother Ye’s talents, you are one of the two Sword Dao geniuses I have seen so far. I have to send you off.”

Founding Emperor was puzzled. “Elder has seen someone whose Sword Dao is on par with mine? Can I ask if this person is Celestial Venerable Mu?”

Village Chief shook his head and laughed. “Although Mu’er’s Sword Dao is brilliant, he’s quite hyperactive and is unable to sit still to research Sword Dao. His sword heart isn’t pure. The expert who is able to match up to your Sword Dao is the former Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace, River Tomb Jiang Baigui.”

Founding Emperor’s expression changed as he said, “May I know where Imperial Preceptor is now?”

“He was captured and suppressed by the celestial heavens, jailed together with the Grand High Emperor in the great prison.”

Village Chief said, “The sword heart of Jiang Baigui is incomparably pure. His Sword Dao is as marvelous as the universe creating countless Dao. He has evolved his Sword Dao into tens of thousands of Dao, and his sword heart is the clearest and brightest I have ever seen. He’s also the founder of the fifteenth sword form, sixteenth sword form, and seventeenth sword form. If you ever meet him, you will definitely have a long and enjoyable chat with him.”

Founding Emperor was silent for a while before he sighed. “It’s a pity that he’s in the great prison. I don’t know when I’ll be able to meet him. I still need to visit other academies to experience the reform of Eternal Peace and don’t have time to visit him in the great prison. Depending on fate, I might meet him in the future! Let’s part ways here, farewell.”

Village Chief watched as he disappeared over the horizon, only returning to the Imperial Academy after a long time.

Blind and Mute came by, looking for him. The voice of Mute rang like a huge bell. “Village Chief, have you seen that man called Ye Kai? He’s indeed a prodigy! A talent like him is what Eternal Peace needs. Why did you not make him stay?”

Village Chief shook his head. “Founding Emperor is clearly a prodigy. How am I able to make him stay?”

Blind and Mute got a shock, and they looked at each other, speechless.

“When he came to see me, I didn’t look at him but felt him through his aura. I sensed he was a sovereign of the Sword Dao that stood above the 34 heavens. At that point, I knew the number one Sword Dao expert was here.”

Village Chief said indifferently, “For sword practitioners, after one has achieved a certain level of attainment on the sword path, they always feel that there’s a pinnacle in front of them that they are unable to scale and overcome. That pinnacle is Founding Emperor, forever standing by himself in front of others. The purpose of his trip here was to give the twentieth sword form to Eternal Peace.”