Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 207: Clever As The Devil

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

Now Qin Mu really felt a bone-chilling cold.

When Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had a huge battle at Daxiang City, he stood at the mountain peak to observe the battle, but he was unable to see the moves of the strong practitioners. Dutian Devil King then borrowed his eyes to observe the battle which allowed him to see the moves of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Teacher Poor, and the rest clearly. He could even comprehend the marvel of their terrifying moves!

However, Qin Mu had thought he had concealed it pretty well and didn't alert this devil king.

Yet now it showed up that his little thoughts had been completely useless. Dutian Devil King had long detected the turbulence in his heart and guessed what he was thinking!

"Foolish devil summoner, it's completely useless to play those tricks that you think are clever in front of the great ruler of Dutian."

Dutian Devil King's voice rang in his mind, leaving his ears buzzing from the vibration. "It's best for a weakling like you to not play tricks in front of me. You can't imagine how strong I am! Serve me, worship me, that's your only way to survive."

Qin Mu composed himself and suddenly smiled. "Great leader of Dutian, I'm the only person left in this world that still understands Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command. I'm also the only one who can still execute this spell."

Dutian Devil King fell silent.

After a moment, his voice rang out again, "Interesting brat, you actually dared to haggle with me. Very well, very well…"

Qin Mu felt uneasy, uncertain if he would succeed in this haggle. If he didn't succeed and this devil fell out with him, he was most likely going to be in trouble.

If he succeeded and kept himself alive, he could ask Village Chief and the rest to slowly kill Dutian Devil King when he returned to the village.

From Dutian Devil King's actions, it was clearly still possible to kill him. After all, when Qin Mu and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had gone on a journey together, Dutian Devil King hadn't made a move and hid quietly in Qin Mu's body.

Only when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was fighting with the cult master level existences like Teacher Poor did Dutian Devil King dared to borrow Qin Mu's eyes to observe the situation of the battle. He did that to find out Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's true power and also to look for his weakness.

However Qin Mu was surrounded with experts of Heavenly Devil Cult back then, so he didn't make a sound. After that, when Qin Mu was treating Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Dutian Devil King had also been silent.

Once Qin Mu parted ways with Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, he had met Cripple and Old Ma in Imperial College, so Dutian Devil King also didn't come out.

Now that Old Ma and Cripple were no longer around and Qin Mu was alone, he had finally appeared.

If Imperial Preceptor, Old Ma, and Cripple couldn't threaten him, there would have been no need for him to be so careful.

In other words, he made a blunder.

This meant that he could be vanquished, unlike Li Tianxing in Granny Si's Dao heart which couldn't be killed at all. As long as one was strong enough, the devil could still be eliminated.

"Dutian is already finished, with only endless darkness left. That's why I need to find a new world for the people of my Dutian, a place where they can live and flourish."

Dutian Devil King's voice traveled over. "I took great pains to pass Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command to this world and now, you are the only one left who knows this spell. You should know I won't let you go so easily."

Qin Mu was now completely at ease and let out a sigh of relief. "So you want me to summon the devil again, to summon you over?"

Dutian Devil King explained patiently, "I had this idea in the past, but I see that there are powerful beings in this world as well, so I would only like to borrow your hand to send some people here. I don't want to raise a war between the strong practitioners of both worlds, it isn't good for you nor is it good for us. My Dutian is already finished, and I just don't want my race to be exterminated, I have no notion to take over this world."

"Believe? Ghost!" Qin Mu thought to himself.

However, he couldn't say it out loud. If he said it, it would be easy for Dutian Devil King to kill him.

With his consciousness leeching off Qin Mu's body, he has some magic power. This power of the devil was far superior to Qin Mu's own. If Dutian Devil King was to fall out with him, this consciousness and magic power would probably not find it a chore to get rid of him.

The devil king had a use for him, so he wouldn't lay his hands on him, but if he discovered that Qin Mu had no intention of summoning him, he would probably fall out with him.

"You don't need to summon me, just summon my subjects," Dutian Devil King said. "After that, I will leave you and you can live your life carefreely. You just need to help me with this little thing and I'll explain to you the words on the gate."

Qin Mu smiled. "My elder will most likely recognize the words on the gate, so there's no need to trouble the devil king…"

"Keke, recognize? Those are the words of Youdu, even if he recognizes them, will you be able to read them?" Dutian Devil King then added unhurriedly, "There's no use if you can't read the words of Youdu. The scroll also records the spells of Youdu, don't you want to know them?"

Qin Mu's gaze wavered. "What use is there to learn the words of Youdu when I can't even read the words on the scroll or the gate? Furthermore, it doesn't affect me much even if I don't learn them. Devil king, I have no need to make a deal with you."

"Hahaha!"

Dutian Devil King laughed. "It seems like you still haven't comprehend the true marvel of the realm you're in! As long as you learn the words of Youdu, you will be stronger than Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor! Didn't Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor say that others were a triangle while he's a straight line? As long as you learn the words on the gate, your straight line will be even longer than his!"

His voice reverberated all around Qin Mu's mind, without any fixed position. It sometimes came from the left and sometimes from the right, while at other times it rang out from the front and sometimes from the back of the head, making Qin Mu unable to discern where it was coming from.

"A weakling like you probably doesn't know what Youdu is. Let me tell you!

"Youdu is the final destination after you mortals die. All souls will enter there, the land where the Great Earth Count resides, ruling over the world where all the living things go after they die!

"He's an incomparably ancient god, the primitive god who controls death. Even gods and buddhas become enslaved by him once they die."

"Youdu is not the hell the gods and buddhas had mentioned. Hell is used to scare you mortals, while Youdu is a hundred times crueler than hell!

"By mastering Youdu's words and Youdu's spells, you would strengthen your soul, and this is the stairs to becoming a god!"

Qin Mu was greatly moved and smiled. "There's no proof with just words, and what you said is too good to be true. Tell me a spell from Youdu and I'll believe you."

Dutian Devil King chuckled. "You should know."

Qin Mu was stunned for a moment and cried out, "Soul Guide? Soul Guide is a spell from Youdu?"

"Soul Guide isn't a complete spell from Youdu. Instead, it was a Youdu spell that was reconstructed by the mortals of your world using the language of mortals. It's far from the true power of a Youdu spell."

Dutian Devil King said, "The true Youdu spell uses the words of Youdu and those words are much more complicated than the runes of your world. Your runes are merely simplified words of Youdu."

Qin Mu's heart trembled as he looked at the apparition of the scroll. The words on this scroll were written using Youdu's language?

Soul Guide could allow the souls of the dead to return. But if one was proficient in Youdu's language and used it to execute the spell, how powerful would the spell become?

There was still one more point. Dutian Devil King said that the words of Youdu must be read to be able to master and execute them. This sentence was not a lie.

Back then on the surface of Surging River, the Daoist from Nine Spectres Sect had used Soul Guide and sung a cryptic folksong. This made the black fog pour forward, and a terrifying gate of darkness had appeared in the heart of the river.

Most of Dutian Devil King's words were lies, but there were still some truths in them.

"Devil king, I had once seen an elder beside the river at night guiding the dead. Someone told me that elder was a messenger of death. How is this messenger of death related to Youdu?" Qin Mu asked after recalling the incident.

Dutian Devil King answered, "Just a messenger god under Earth Count to maintain the order. Do you want to learn the language of Youdu or not?"

"Learn!" Qin Mu blinked his eyes innocently and said, "Teach me quickly!"

Dutian Devil King chuckled. "After you summon the devils and bring forth my subjects, I'll teach you."

Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. "If you don't keep your promise after I summon them, won't I be at a disadvantage? How about this, I shall create a wooden mechanism which you can enter. You can then summon your own devil and the others. You will be able to teach me Youdu's language and summon the subjects yourself. Wouldn't that be to everyone's delight and satisfaction?"

Dutian Devil King sneered. "It's a great suggestion. But after I leave your body, you will be able to call people to come and kill me the next moment. Do you think I'm that stupid? I'll remain in your body, and you shall hold the great sacrifice to summon the devils! After you summon them, I'll teach you the language of Youdu!"

Qin Mu sneered. "What happens if you don't teach me after I summon your subjects? If your subjects kill me in a flash, you'll be free. On the other hand, I'll drop dead and my soul will belong to Youdu! Don't forget, when I summoned you last time, you didn't even care if I died or not!"

Both of them became silent.

After a moment, Dutian Devil King smiled. "Little brat, clever like the devil, not that easy to fool, eh. How about this, I shall sign an oath of alliance with you. You will summon my subjects and I'll teach you the language of Youdu. Those who will go against the oath will have their souls taken away by the Earth Count! What do you think?"

Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "Alright! But don't try to fool me, I understand some devil language so don't try to play any tricks on the oath!"

Dutian Devil King smiled. "Filthy brat, clever as the devil. Alright, I'll be generous for once and not play any tricks."

Cryptic devil language rang out in Qin Mu's mind. The words he heard were hard to pronounce and difficult to understand. Qin Mu was only able to understand half of it and his heart thumped wildly. "Steady, steady, I can't let this devil king know that I'm half-baked…"

Not much later, Dutian Devil King read out the oath of alliance and the shape of half a gate gradually appeared in Qin Mu's mind. It seemed to be half of the Gate of Youdu.

"It's your turn," Dutian Devil King said.

Qin Mu composed himself and slowly worked on the meaning of the other half of the devil language that he hadn't understood at first. Yet Dutian Devil King grew impatient and urged him, "Quickly, or else the Gate of Youdu is going to vanish!"

Qin Mu sneered. "You are trying to trick me, I'm not agreeing to this oath."

Dutian Devil King smiled. "Little brat, you really understand some of the devil language."

Half of the Gate of Youdu dispersed and the devil language sounded out again. This time Qin Mu managed to understand most of it, but there were still some terms he was not sure of and had to work to figure out.

Dutian Devil King smiled. "Alright, alright, I see you have the ability." After this, the gate dispersed again, and he redid the oath using the devil language.

Qin Mu suddenly smiled. "Devil king, you're always trying to trick me. Why don't we use the language of the humans to conclude the oath, what do you think?"

Dutian Devil King kept quiet for a moment, then scolded him for being as clever as the devil. "Stinky brat, you only have a smattering of devil language and took this chance to learn something, didn't you?"