Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 1019: Growing More Timid as One Gets Closer to Home

It was as if Qin Mu went back to the old days at Disabled Elderly Village as Village Chief personally gave him tricks and taught him to comprehend the true essence of Sword Dao.

It was extremely difficult to learn the twentieth sword form despite Qin Mu being an expert in Sword Dao and how he had the personal guidance of a master like Village Chief. This was because he had to comprehend it from the start.

He was like a kid who just started learning it from the old Village Chief. They held long swords and performed every move and skill clearly and simply. Sword skills were the most basic sword forms. It was simple and rudimentary.

“After you went to the celestial heavens, your Sword Dao ground to a halt, and your sword heart decreased as you got distracted.”

Village Chief put all his effort into teaching as he said, “The celestial heavens is a world of sensual pleasures. Although it broadened your horizons, it also clouded your sword heart, causing your Sword Dao to stagnate.”

They eased their minds by leading a simple life for the dozens of days that they trained. Outside of studying the blade, Qin Mu and Village Chief would sit together and practice their breathing techniques to their own divine swords.

They didn’t utilize any techniques. All they did was feel the spirit inside their sword and resonate with it.

On this day, Qin Mu felt his own sword pellet breathing with him. When he breathed in, the sword pellet seemed to breathe in too as it expanded. When he breathed out, the sword pellet seemed to do the same as it contracted.

While he breathed, he felt his own essence and blood flowing into the sword pellet.

On top of that, his consciousness and sword pellet seemed inseparable.

His soul also seemed to treat the sword pellet as a part of his body.

Village Chief was satisfied. “You can now learn the twentieth sword form.”

Qin Mu thus learned the twentieth sword form.

It was an extremely powerful basic sword form that more resembled a cultivation technique. One had to inject one’s essence, blood, consciousness, and soul into the sword to elevate its power so it could be used in any sword skill.

In other words, this move could be used in rudimentary sword forms like the nineteenth sword form!

However, even if one learned the twentieth sword form, one might not be able to use it, for it was harsh to do so. One had to comprehend the sword realm!

Despite learning this move with Village Chief, he never cultivated the sword realm, so he still couldn’t deploy it.

“The sword realm is the realm of the Sword Dao. To comprehend it, you must have a deeper understanding of Sword Dao. You cannot force it now.”

Village Chief said, “Keep your sword heart pure, and you will comprehend it. Currently, I have only reached the gate to the realm. Your foundation in Sword Dao is steady, and you know how to research, so your aptitude is better than mine. In the future, your accomplishments will supersede mine. It’s just that you are too jumpy now.”

Over these days, Qin Mu benefited a lot and was extremely grateful. However, after that, he put away Village Chief’s teachings and went to the capital to work with Blind and Mute on microscopic forging.

Village Chief couldn’t do anything, so he let him.

Qin Mu, as the holy infant of the masters of creation, was very knowledgeable despite not being a top expert in comprehending consciousnesses. Thus, his attainment in consciousness made him a rare strong practitioner. As such, he was able to quickly solve the problem of microscopic forging that troubled Mute and Blind.

Under the leadership of Mute and Blind, Eternal Peace’s forging had reached its peak. It was almost impossible for them to improve.

However, microscopic forging required changing physical structures, which was impossible given Eternal Peace’s current technology.

Physics referred to the principles hidden in physical objects that determined their properties.

Studying such underlying principles would allow one to understand physics.

Microscopic forging meant changing physics.

This required consciousness to pinpoint the order of every microscopic crystal in black gold. One could use the knowledge of others to make up for their weaknesses. The masters of creation’s attainment in consciousness could be used in microscopic forging to make up for Eternal Peace’s weakness in it.

Qin Mu, Blind, and Mute put their hearts into research, ignoring everything else. After a dozen days, they were excited when they saw how they personally made divine gold out of black gold.

“Microscopic forging has greater use than just the superficial use of changing physical structures!”

Qin Mu excitedly said, “One can imprint rune formations on microscopic crystals. A drop of water has trillions of microscopic crystals, and a sword has even more than that. If one could push microscopic forging to the extreme, it could be used on divine weapons. We could sculpt microscopic imprints on divine weapons to push their power beyond gods and devils on the same realm!”

Mute was excited too, and he rubbed his hands, saying, “Founding Emperor mentioned this before. This will be the era of the forging path, the era where powerful treasures will rule the world!”

Qin Mu egged him on with some alluring words, saying, “And Grandpa Mute will be the pioneer of this era!”

Mute laughed. His voice was bright as the furnace’s flames rose into the air behind him.

However, Blind was slightly unhappy as he shook his head and said, “If we push microscopic forging to the extreme, what do people like us need to do? If treasures become too powerful, it will be a battle of treasures during wars. With weapons flying around, do divine arts practitioners like us still need to cultivate?”

Qin Mu whispered to Blind, “Microscopic forging can be used in cultivation too. This will require your wisdom. You see, if one uses it to sculpt microscopic runes on things such as the structures of vital qi, the order of formations, the strengthening of the corporeal body and divine treasures, and the forging of celestial palaces, then divine arts practitioners, gods, and devils can become stronger. One can even use it on the cultivation of primordial spirits!”

His voice was filled with an alluring power again. “Grandpa Mute can pioneer an era of the path of forging, while Grandpa Blind can correct him to make divine arts practitioners equal to divine weapons, or even superior to prevent Mute from being more legendary than you!”

Blind touched his beard and laughed. “Although I feel that you have an ulterior motive in your passion, I think you still make sense.”

Qin Mu imparted all the consciousness cultivation techniques to them as he excitedly rubbed his hands together, thinking, ‘Another pair of Emperor’s Throne techniques done! When Grandpa Blind and Grandpa Mute create their own paths and open techniques on the Emperor’s Throne level, I can learn them to perfect my forging and formation celestial palaces! Now, all that’s left is Grandpa Cripple’s thief celestial palace and Old Ma’s Buddhist celestial palace!’

“Why don’t I see Grandpa Cripple and Old Ma?” Qin Mu asked.

“Cripple brought Lan Yutian all around the Primordial Realm to raid memorials and tombs. They even lingered around various heavens. Old Ma couldn’t take it and went to follow them, as he was concerned with their safety. He didn’t want Cripple to be too negligent and leave a trail behind.”

Blind said, “Old Ma was a divine constable and arrested Cripple a couple of times. With him at Cripple’s side, nothing will happen to Cripple. When the divine thief and divine constable work together, they are invincible. Even if they stole Celestial Emperor’s treasure vault, Celestial Emperor wouldn’t be able to find out that it was them.”

Qin Mu was stunned to silence.

This divine constable hooked up with the thief?

Blind and Mute drove him out, saying, “Emperor Yanxiu sent someone for you. She wants you back at the Imperial Preceptor Residence. You shall leave now so as not to hinder our pioneering of a new era. Return after a couple of years, and we are sure to be able to perfect our own celestial palaces!”

Qin Mu had to leave towards his own residence, thinking, ‘I do have to visit Sister Yuxiu. I promised to visit her after a year to report my safety. Later on, I got Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng to tell her that I went to the celestial heavens. As an imperial preceptor myself, I’m quite irresponsible.’

He returned to the Imperial Preceptor Residence, and before he entered, he saw a white cat squatting at the corner of the street.

Qin Mu stopped to look at the cat. The cat’s fur was pure white with no other color. It lazily licked its paws before glancing at him and walking into the shadows slowly.

Qin Mu frowned slightly and entered the Imperial Preceptor Residence.

The dragon qilin came forward quickly. He was visibly haggard as he cried, “You’re finally back, Cult Master!”

Qin Mu smiled. “Did Sister Yan’er give you spirit pills to eat, Fatty Dragon?”

The dragon qilin shook his head and whispered, “I’ve been eating fine. Cult Master, Yun Chuxiu and Lian Huahun are both here. They even became sworn sisters with Emperor Yanxiu, Divine King, and Gongsun Yan. They begged to die together despite not being born together.”

Qin Mu was shocked. ‘Yun Chuxiu is here again? She brought Lian Huahun with her too?’

He couldn’t help but feel dazed as he stopped to ask, “Did these two little witches cause any trouble these couple of days?”

“Not outside a couple of intrigues.”

The dragon qilin continued, “Yun Jianli came by once, but he left quickly after seeing the sight.”

“Where’s Yun Jianli’s loyalty! He should’ve at least pulled his sister away!”

Qin Mu calculated and said, “Lian Huahun is Celestial Empress, and Yun Chuxiu is Mistress Yuanmu. We have to kill these two little maidens. Yuxiu, Divine King, and Yan’er can’t die while these two sisters must! We could use Mother Earth for that last time, but who can we use now? It’s unfortunate that Luo Wushuang isn’t here. Also, that white cat outside looks like the cat named Xiao Qi in Heavenly Lady Yan’s embrace…”

He was thinking about it when Emperor Yanxiu’s voice came. “Imperial Preceptor is back!”

Qin Mu went forward and bowed. “I hereby greet you, Emperor.”

Emperor Yanxiu took his hands quickly and smiled. “It’s my fault that Imperial Preceptor ended up working so hard outside to the point that he lacks the time to return home and rest after returning to the capital.”

In her words, she was also secretly grumbling about how Qin Mu didn’t see her after being back for so long.

Qin Mu was dragged to the garden by her hand as he smiled. “Emperor, I just settled things in the celestial heavens, and it was quite tough for me. Therefore, I grew more timid as I got closer to home, not wanting to implicate people close to me. Thus, I’m late.”

Emperor Yanxiu looked at him. Her eyes were red as she replied, “I know.”

In the Imperial Preceptor Residence, Gongsun Yan walked forward with a water kettle. Emperor Yanxiu immediately let go of him. Gongsun Yan seriously watered Qin Mu’s head and observed it solemnly. She sighed when she saw how Qin Mu hadn’t sprouted.

Qin Mu was used to her antics and smiled. “Yan’er, I got you something good while I was out. It’s called primordial liquid, and I shall water you later.”

Gongsun Yan was delighted.

Emperor Yanxiu’s gaze landed on him as she smiled. “Did you bring me any treasures, Imperial Preceptor?”

“Thousands of universes and a grand empire is what I brought for you, Emperor.”