Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 266: Killing The Emperor!

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

As they got closer and closer to the capital city, the scouts on the way also gradually increased in number. Even though there was a natural disaster outside, the places closer to the capital were still celebrating peace with songs and dance. Numerous trees were tied with red silk and there were many envoys from numerous countries hurrying to the capital.

The ascension of a new emperor was naturally no small matter. It was especially so when the new emperor had shown himself to be different from the previous ruler before he even ascended the throne. He was kind to foreign countries and was willing to form alliances with them.

During the previous dynasty, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor liked to mobilize his army to swallow surrounding countries. He would press the other big countries against the ground to beat them and seize their territories. Either that or he would force the other side to submit to him and offer tribute; he was truly rampant.

Before Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had mobilized his army to enter Great Ruins, that was when Eternal Peace Empire had been at its strongest. It could battle against five big countries at the same time, but after Imperial Preceptor got injured by assassins, the momentum of Eternal Peace Empire expansion started to slow down.

The new emperor, however, was cultured and refined, very polite and treated all sects of Eternal Peace kindly. He was also courteous to the envoys of the foreign countries. Not only did he return the lands that the fiendish Imperial Preceptor had conquered back to their respective owners, but even promised to pay reparations and was willing to repair the relations with those countries.

The rule of foreign countries having to submit to Eternal Peace was also abolished by the new emperor, so they were all very happy and praised him endlessly. They said that the new emperor Ling Yuxia was a wise ruler that was rare to see in the past one thousand and five hundred years.

Other than that, the new emperor that had yet to ascend the throne invited members of various sects to attend the ascension ceremony. There were rumors saying that the new emperor planned to write down a decree of his crimes and would take on the wrath of Heaven for the past years of reform. He would seek forgiveness from Heaven and pray it would punish him and let off the people of Eternal Peace Empire.

"This move is the most ruthless." Qin Mu was exclaiming endlessly in admiration. He told Imperial Preceptor and the emperor, "You guys tried to painstakingly reform for two hundred years in order to change the profane notions, to push paths, skills, and divine arts to develop. You guys brought upon yourselves countless black names and spent endless blood and sweat. In your days, many people bled for the cause and finally formed Eternal Peace Empire to what it is today. Yet the new emperor pleading guilty will just wipe away all those two hundred years of your hard work, those two hundred years of soldiers sacrificing their lives again and again. This move is ruthless, truly ruthless!"

Emperor Yanfeng gave a dull grunt and a tearing pain seared his chest. He wanted to cry, but there were no tears as he said astringently, "Yuxia, my good son, consider this a knife stabbed in my heart…"

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor remained expressionless when he said, "After entering the capital, I can contact our old troops. Most of the ministers of the imperial court will also support Your Majesty. With the Dragon Guards Forbidden Army hidden in the nine dragon veins, we can attack the capital city anytime! The only problem is that Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect had left so many monks and Daoists in the houses of kings, dukes, and ministers to supervise them under the cover of begging. Cult Master Qin, I will have to use the power of Heavenly Devil Cult to send us into the city to meet them."

Qin Mu shook his head and said, "There's no need for so much trouble."

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was slightly stunned.

"The forces of Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect are too spread apart. They want to control the entire situation, but this leaves flaws everywhere."

Qin Mu stopped. They were currently in Marquis Town, just a few hundred miles away from the capital and in front of a fried pancake stall. Qin Mu went to buy breakfast while he said, "It's like this fried pancake, once it's too spread out, it will collapse at the first blow. The bigger their pancake is, the thinner it will get. When the crown prince ascends to the throne, there won't be enough power to guard him. The monks and Daoists that were left in the houses of kings, dukes, and ministers will then be controlled by those kings, dukes and minister instead. Those people won't be able to go to the Imperial City to provide support."

The fried pancake was done, and the stall owner used oil paper to roll it up. Qin Mu took it from him and gave it to Imperial Preceptor's wife first.

She took a bite and looked around with bright eyes. She asked in a low voice, "Aren't you afraid that walls have ears? There were quite a lot of scouts of the crown prince on the way here!"

"I'm not." Qin Mu smiled lightly.

Suddenly, the passers-by, merchants, vegetable sellers and buyers, butchers, and hawkers in the market all quietened down and turned their heads over in unison. Their gazes all landed on the group.

"Cult master!" those people said in unison.

Qin Mu waved his hand and smiled. "Continue doing what you were doing, don't disturb us."

Imperial Preceptor's wife jumped in shock and Emperor Yanfeng sighed. "Strict enforcement of rules and prohibitions leads to the rise of a king. Cult Master Qin, you have scared me, your Heavenly Saint Cult has scared me."

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Strict enforcement of rules and prohibitions, to move as one, this is the scene of the rise of a king, an emperor. Your Majesty should really worry. However, ever since Heavenly Saint Cult was founded twenty thousand years ago, there had never been a cult master who referred to themselves as an emperor. Your Majesty can be at ease."

Emperor Yanfeng said angrily, "You are all part of Heavenly Saint Cult, even you husband and wife are also part of Heavenly Saint Cult, a heavenly king and an incense master. Only I'm the outsider here; don't try to mislead me!"

Qin Mu immediately asked, "Does Your Majesty want to join our cult?"

…

"How do we enter the capital?"

When they came close to the city, Emperor Yanfeng looked at the city gates and saw that they were heavily guarded. There were thorough inspections, so it was going to be as difficult as to climb up to the sky for them to get in. Today was the ascension of the crown prince, the day he would become the new emperor. Today, the new emperor would seek punishment from Heaven at the Temple of Heaven. All the envoys, cult masters, sect masters, heads of influential families, as well as civil and military officials would have to go forward to attend the ceremony, so there was a tight security.

Qin Mu shook his head and said, "No problem, let's just go in directly."

Emperor Yanfeng was slightly stunned. Qin Mu brought them to the city gates, and the soldiers there treated them like air and let them walk into the city.

"They are also part of Heavenly Saint Cult?" Imperial Preceptor's wife was slightly stunned and said to Qin Mu in a low voice, "The emperor is around, so don't be too flamboyant; otherwise, you will cause His Majesty to be suspicious and jealous. The emperor wants to create a country that's above the sects and not a sect that's above the countries, be cautious Cult Master."

Qin Mu looked at Emperor Yanfeng, and he was indeed looking worried. This was very normal. If all the imperial guards guarding the city gates of the capital were people of Heavenly Devil Cult, how could he be at ease?

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, "Now that we have entered the city, what should we do?"

Qin Mu took out two medicinal pills and handed them to Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor respectively. He said, "We'll go to Imperial City and the Temple of Heaven to see the ascension of the crown prince."

In the Imperial City's throne room, a greeting could be heard.

"Long live Your Majesty!

Eternal Peace Crown Prince Ling Yuxia sat on the Dragon Throne while donning the dragon robe. On one side of him stood a monk while on his other side, there was a Daoist. Below him were the civil and military officials that were paying their respects to the new emperor, which created a powerful and dynamic scene. There was an extremely huge number of civil and military officials, so the entire imperial hall was filled with officials kneeling down. There were also others who were kneeling outside the hall, and some even at the steps.

In the hall, envoys from dozens of countries carried military banners from their countries to attend the ceremony. Near them, there were sect masters and cult masters from dozens of sects.

The ceremonial rites for the ascension of a new emperor were rather complicated, so when the ceremony ended, it was already close to the afternoon.

The sun of spring wasn't warm as Ling Yuxia walked in the front and led the civil and military officials out of the hall. The ceremonial weapon carriers followed him closely, and most of the people in the ceremonial weaponry were monks and Daoists who chanted buddhist and Daoist scriptures with resonating voices. Behind them was the crown prince's concubine leading a crowd of palace maids with the envoys following behind them. All the heads of the influential families and sects also followed them to Temple of Heaven, the scale of the crowd becoming greater and greater.

Behind Ling Yuxia were his Grand Protector, Grand Preceptor, and the rest of the first ranking high officials. They were the retainers of the imperial family, the arms of the crown prince, and had extremely high positions. Now that the emperor had 'died', Ling Yuxia naturally became the one to assume the throne. Since he knew that his foundation in the imperial court was still not stable, he had invited numerous monks and Daoists from Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect, making them officials while demoting those that weren't willing to heed his words.

Almost half of the civil and military officials of the imperial court were monks and Daoists, so the sight was rather peculiar as they chanted scriptures while heading to Temple of Heaven.

As for Duke Wei, King of Mount Tai, Pillars of State, General of Heavenly Strategies, and the rest, Ling Yuxia had permitted them to retire because of their 'old age'. They would be staying in the capital city for the moment and return to their hometowns after the ceremony.

In the imperial court, almost half of the officials had to return home due to old age even though some of them were still very young. It was quite a strange incident.

Ling Yuxia didn't feel certain about these officials that were told to retire, so he didn't dare to let them out of the capital in fear of them rebelling. Because of that, they were all held captive in their respective manors, with monks and Daoists guarding them. Meanwhile, King of Mount Tai, General of Heavenly Strategies. and the rest were locked up in the prison.

They reached Temple of Heaven and the officials flooded out. The monks and Daoists stood on the left and right sides of the steps respectively, while Ling Yuxia dragged his dragon robe and climbed up the steps by himself, acting reverent and respectful. Meanwhile, his concubine and those alongside her knelt down at the bottom of the stairs.

The stairs were very long, with nine hundred and ninety-nine stone steps. When Ling Yuxia reached the top of the Temple of Heaven and wanted to kneel down respectfully, a solemn voice suddenly rang out. "Buddha Rulai of Great Thunderclap Monastery has passed down his decree, may Your Majesty receive the decree."

A monk walked out with a solemn expression, and the buddha rays behind him formed a wheel. In his hand was Rulai's decree.

Ling Yuxia immediately knelt down to receive the decree and said respectfully, "This guilty subject will receive the decree of Revered One of the World."

Below, the ministers of the old dynasty frowned and lowered their heads without a word. The other officials that were monks chanted loudly in unison with their buddha voices, and buddha aura soared with ten thousand fathoms, resulting in a magnificent sight.

There was a deluge of heavenly flowers in mid-air, and and the apparitions of gods and buddha appeared. With the brilliant and varied visions, it seemed like gods and buddhas were blessing this ceremony.

The monk read out Rulai's decree and said mainly that Emperor Yanfeng was a tyrant, because of which the people had to suffer Heaven's wrath. Rulai encouraged the new emperor to be cautious and conscientious, to scrupulously abide by his duty, so the gods and buddhas would bless him with prosperity and longevity, and so on.

The crown prince received the decree.

A Daoist came out then, and in his hands was a decree from Dao Master. "Dao Master of Dao Sect has passed down his decree, may Your Majesty receive the decree."

Ling Yuxia knelt down once again. "This guilty subject will receive the decree of Dao Master."

The Daoists among the civil and military officials were not to be outdone. They played around with their vital qi and created auspicious visions of dragons and phoenixes dancing in the sky.

Dao Master's decree also contained nothing more than encouragement for the new emperor to treat his citizens sincerely, to look after the office, and to not to mess around with things like reforms and so on.

The crown prince received the decree and rose. After tidying his robe, he was about to kneel down and seek forgiveness from Heaven, but at that moment, a loud and clear voice came from afar. "The cult master sacred teacher of Heavenly Devil Cult passes down his decree personally, may Your Majesty receive the decree!"

When this sentence was heard by everyone, a commotion broke out under the Temple of Heaven as the people all looked towards the source of the voice.

With a couple of steps, Ling Yuxia came to the stairs of the Temple of Heaven and looked down. From his position high above, he saw a youth bringing along two monks and a Daoist nun towards the Temple of Heaven. The footsteps of the two monks seemed to be weak and unstable, while the Daoist nun seemed to be pregnant and so inconvenienced by her body.

Qin Mu smiled and walked towards Temple of Heaven while saying leisurely, "Great Thunderclap Monastery is a sacred ground, Dao Sect is a sacred ground, my Heavenly Devil Cult is also a sacred ground. Ling Yuxia, Rulai and Dao Master didn't come yet you still knelt down for their decree. Now that I have come personally, aren't you going to kneel to welcome me?"

"Heavenly Devil Cult Master!"

Suddenly, a sect master from an influential family sprung forward, wishing to land a killing blow on Qin Mu. At this moment, a huge flag appeared of out of thin air beside Qin Mu and rolled up to block an attack from that sect master. When that huge flag was unfolded, a formidable man carrying a sword case showed up. A sword light then flew out and severed the head of the rash sect master.

The man that was carrying the sword case swept up his huge flag and disappeared along with the head of his victim. Among the people attending the ceremony, a headless corpse swayed and collapsed to the ground.

Qin Mu acted as if nothing had happened and continued to walk forward. When there were guards who wanted to make a move, huge flags appeared at the very instant they moved, and hall masters, elders, supervisors, and heavenly kings of Heavenly Devil Cult appeared. As the huge flags fluttered in the air, they materialized and vanished all around the place. When they were finally gone, dozens of headless corpses were on the ground.

Qin Mu brought Imperial Preceptor and the emperor forward. Around them, flags kept materializing and vanishing from time to time. Those who tried to attack him were all assassinated in a violent manner.

A trail of corpses was left behind on the path Qin Mu took, and all the bodies were missing heads.

Qin Mu walked to the front of the Temple of Heaven and was about to walk up when the crown prince's concubine that was kneeling below suddenly made a move. The moment she did that, she became a corpse on the ground.

The hair of the envoys, sect masters, cult masters, and heads of the influential families stood up on ends, and they dared not make another move. Heavenly Devil Cul was the number one sacred cult of the devil path. The crowd had long heard of their reputation, but only now saw it for themselves.

"Wife, don't look," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor told his wife.

Qin Mu began walking up the steps of the Temple of Heaven, and an eminent monk suddenly shouted out, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master, we have been waiting quite some time for you! Fellow Dao friends, encircle and annihilate Heavenly Devil Cult Master to subdue the devil!"

The monks ripped off their official robes while Daoists took out their sword pellets. In an instant, murderous aura rushed toward the sky in the Temple of Heaven.

Qin Mu continued to walk forward.

Woosh, woosh, woosh.

Over three hundred huge flags appeared, and three hundred and sixty hall master materialized together. The twelve cult protector elders, two great cult heavenly kings, and the eight great supervisors also showed up.

Sounds of slaughter rang out in the Temple of Heaven. The eight great supervisors didn't make their moves, but instead circled around Qin Mu.

Murderous spirit filled the heaven over the Temple of Heaven as cult master level existences, great experts of Life and Death Realm, and Celestial Being Realm waged, causing heaven to fall and earth to crack. The loud booms nearly crumbled all the palaces that surrounded the Temple of Heaven.

Imperial City was in a state of chaos, and the guards hurried over. The capital city was also alarmed, and influential families that were lying low exploded with world-shaking powers. The monks and Daoists that wanted to provide support to Imperial City were all trapped and killed on the spot by those influential families.

In the prison where General of Heavenly Strategies Qin Jian, High Official Su Yunzhi, and others were sitting, the gates suddenly opened. A prison head smiled and said, "His Majesty is back, he's at the Temple of Heaven."

General of Heavenly Strategies and the rest were surprised and delighted. They immediately rushed out of prison and toward Temple of Heaven.

"Where's Heavenly King Wei?" Heavenly King Yu shouted out loudly.

"Heavenly King Wei is right here!"

A thunderous voice spread through the entire capital, and Duke Wei leaped from Duke's Manor and crashed onto the Temple of Heaven. He was completely suited up and had a fierce expression. "Who wants to die?"

Qin Mu walked leisurely toward the top of the Temple of Heaven. The grand preceptor of the crown prince and the rest rushed forward to kill him but were stopped by Qin Jian and the rest who had rushed out of prison. No one could interrupt Qin Mu's footsteps.

On the top of the Temple of Heaven, Ling Yuxia revealed a look of panic and looked toward the monk and Daoist on his left and right. These two people immediately pounced forward, but before their feet could even touch the floor, they were slaughtered by the eight great supervisors, their blood spattering the ground.

"Civil and military officials, I'm the emperor!" Ling Yuxia shouted out sternly. "Do you plan on rebelling with these devil path practitioners and ignore my orders?"

"Emperor?" Emperor Yanfeng snorted and consumed the medicinal pill that Qin Mu had given him. His hair immediately grew out, and he wiped away the knife scar on his face. In a solemn voice, he said, "Take a look at who I am?"

Ling Yuxia's complexion changed drastically. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also consumed the medicinal pill, and his hair also grew back. Wiping away the green birthmark on his face, he turned around.

The civil and military officials had planned to make a move when they heard the new emperor's order, but when they saw Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, they all knelt down and worshiped them.

Ling Yuxia rushed towards Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor in a crazed state while shouting "I'm the Son of Heaven!"

The eight great supervisors moved and gave a blow each to Ling Yuxia. The man vomited blood, and his body suddenly transformed into a dragon, soaring into the sky to escape. The eight great supervisors lifted their clothes up and vanished. The next instant, Ling Yuxia was detained by the eight of them and knelt down at the center of the Temple of Heaven.

Emperor Yanfeng looked at the civil and military officials and shouted, "Why aren't you guys quelling the rebellion? Why aren't you guys killing all these Daoists and monks that have rebelled? Are you waiting for me to make a move myself?"

The civil and military officials immediately sprung into action and slaughtered the monks and Daoists of Great Thunderclap Monastery and Dao Sect. Even the imperial guards that were rushing over also landed killing blows on them.

When Qin Mu came to the top of the Temple of Heaven, Ling Yuxia was kneeling on the floor from the pressure, unable to break free.

Qin Mu stooped down and leaned into his ear to say in a low voice, "Your Highness, I didn't do this to help the emperor. This is all for Heavenly King Qian and Heavenly King Lu of my sacred cult."

Ling Yuxia was stunned and raised his head to look up, his eyes filled with disbelief. "You…"

Qin Mu pulled out Junior Protector Sword and beheaded him with a single strike!

Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came to the top of the Temple of Heaven the moment the sword sliced down and Ling Yuxia's head went flying high up into the sky.

Emperor Yanfeng's heart trembled violently when he looked at the back of the youth before him. The sight of that youth shaking off the blood on the sword and returning it to its sheath struck fear into his heart.