Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 329: Sea of Blood

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

Sea of Blood

In Great Thunderclap Monastery, the bell rang non stop. It was the bell to welcome visitors.

While Qin Mu carrying Village Chief up the mountain, he saw a dignified Rulai leading all the monks to welcome them. At this moment, the youth was slightly depressed. The cold-faced yet heartwarming Ma Wangshen had still become the Rulai of Great Thunderclap Monastery, a buddha.

Old ma couldn't let go of the place he had grown up in even if the monks from there had killed his wife and children. It was not Old Rulai's intention, after all, just what the monks under him had done.

He was Old Rulai's disciple, so the two of them knew each other very well. Old Rulai was old and couldn't control the monks under him anymore. The arhats of Arhat Cloister had gone down the mountains with monks from other cloisters, and so Old Ma's wife and children had lost their lives.

Old Rulai severed his arm and gave it to him. Even though this wouldn't resolve the hatred in his heart, he still had to succeed his master's cassock and alms bowl; he couldn't let Great Thunderclap Monastery disappear just like this.

When he returned to his homeland and sat on the throne of Rulai, the wind swept azure clouds past his body. When that wind dispersed, he suddenly achieved true enlightenment, breaking through the last realm of Rulai's Mahayana Sutra and succeeding in cultivating Brahma.

From Sakra to Brahma was a moment of enlightenment, a kind of perfect awakening.

On the golden peak of Great Thunderclap Monastery, Qin Mu looked at Old Ma who had educated him on how to be an adult and had all kinds of emotions in his heart. In the end, he called him senior brother.

This Rulai of Great Thunderclap Monastery had cultivated to the highest realm, the realm of Brahma. His corporeal body, spiritual sense, and tathata were perfected and had twenty heavens behind him, with Brahma sitting in the lotus position while gods and buddhas of all sizes surrounded him, giving off radiance like perpetual daytime, looking sacred and merciful.

"Senior brother," Old Ma greeted him in return.

Qin Mu face turned dim. Now that Old Ma was sitting in this position, he was no longer the Old Ma from the past—he was Rulai. He had to put down his worldly affairs and let the four elements be vanity.

Cripple was nearby. Even though he had said he would just go to attend the ceremony, he had actually been worried about Old Ma's safety. He was afraid that the monks of Great Thunderclap Monastery would harm him.

However, now that Old Ma had cultivated to the highest realm in Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, there was no need for protection, so Cripple was also itching to move. There were treasures everywhere in this Great Thunderclap Monastery, and they made this old rogue unable to sit still. He wanted to steal, but he wouldn't be able to face his conscience then, so when he saw Qin Mu and Village Chief, he couldn't resist suggesting to leave as soon as possible.

Qin Mu wanted to stay for a few days, but when night came, he saw bright lights coming from the north, the Qingmen Pass. With such glorious lights lighting the sky, one thing was certain—the battle at Qingmen Pass was very intense.

Beside Qingmen Pass was Ghost Valley where the two white bats lived. It wasn't considered too far from Great Thunderclap Monastery.

Early next morning, Qin Mu bade farewell and brought Village Chief, Xiong Xiyu, Cripple, and the rest to leave.

"When I met Old Ma, he was the most famous constable in the world known as Divine Constable Ma. He almost caught me."

Cripple looked back at the golden peak of Mount Meru, which was shining brilliantly as resonating buddha voices rang in the air. They materialized into words, into a lotus, and into apparitions of buddhas surrounding the sacred ground.

Cripple fell into a daze and said in a low voice, "He caught me many times, and we fought many times. The one I was afraid of and respected the most was him. When I was young, I was an orphan with nothing at all, begging for food everywhere. When I couldn't endure my hunger, I would steal. I didn't dare to snatch cause I was thin and frail.

"Sometime later, I was caught by an old constable who didn't send me to see the official and only made me stop stealing. He taught me crafts and was like a father to me. I followed him and fantasized about being a constable like him one day. Old Ma reminds me of him, I feel like Old Ma looks especially like him when he's stern…"

Qin Mu sat on the dragon qilin's back, not saying anything as he listened to Cripple talking about his past with Village Chief and the rest.

"I didn't have a dad, so I always felt that the old constable was my dad. During the years I followed him, I was especially hard working and happy. But one day, the old constable died."

Cripple's eyes relaxed, and his tone became calmer. "At midnight, his enemies came to find him. I was asleep then, but shouts from outside woke me up. He barged into my room and sent me out of the house with his life. He told me, 'Child, be a good man… Run!' I wasn't wearing any clothes then, so I just ran butt-naked. I ran and ran until my speed became faster and faster, faster and faster. I cried for help but no one came, no one…"

A thin, frail, and butt-naked boy had been helplessly running, crying for help, yet no one came to help him.

Cripple ran from night until day and covered over ten thousand miles. When he came to his sense, he returned to the residence of the old constable, but it had already been razed to the ground. He could only dig out the charred bones of the old constable.

"He wanted me to be a good man like he'd been throughout his life, but how had he ended up? I don't want to be a good man! He didn't want me to steal so I shall steal."

In a lonely voice, Cripple continued, "I stole while I ran, and as I did that, my reputation rang louder and louder, until I was referred to as Thief God by the people. All the bullshit seals and forbidden arts were nothing in my eyes. I ran past the wind, past the clouds, past the lightning, and stole throughout the whole world. Whatever sect, whatever sacred ground, I stole from all of them.

"At one point, I found his enemies and stole their heads. When I paid my respects to the old constable again and wanted to become a good man, I had already caught the bad habit of stealing and no matter what I did, I couldn't quit. After that, I met Old Ma. He reminded me of the old constable, so I feared him a bit, and I respected him. Now that he has become Rulai, his merciful look reminds me if the old constable had become a buddha…"

Village Chief popped his head out from the herb basket. "Old Ma won't become buddha. When a new rulai comes one day, he will take down his cassock and become the Old Ma from the past."

Cripple raised his head to gaze at the sky. "I hope so."

Qin Mu let out a shaky breath and said in a low voice, "Old Ma will definitely come back…"

Along this journey, he had gotten rid of the poison in Xiong Xiyu's body and even prescribed a few types of spirit pills to nourish her vital qi. After that, they finally came to Ghost Valley, and the two white bats flew into the ravines of Ghost Valley. They hung down on one tree and bade farewell to Qin Mu and the rest.

"Cult Master, come over and play when you're free, we won't eat you!" Fu Yuqiu said.

Qin Mu laughed loudly and waved goodbye. The two white bats immediately flew into Ghost Valley while shouting, "Let's wake the old ancestors up and make them give birth to a few girls so we can breed!"

"Even if they give birth to them, they'll be our great grandmas, so how are we going to breed? Furthermore, what if both of the old ancestors are male?"

"Shut up!"

…

The dragon qilin left Ghost Valley, and they soon came to a battlefield that unfolded before them on a magnificent scale. The forest in the Duck Tongue Zone had already been razed to the ground. Duck Tongue Zone stretched throughout close to a thousand miles, and the woodland and mountainous region had all been flattened by the two parties, becoming the battlefield of Barbarian Di Empire and Eternal Peace Empire!

When Qin Mu and the rest came to this place, a large-scale battle was on the way. Tens of thousands of soldiers in the mountain passes on both sides were rushing forward with their earth-shattering divine arts. Huge strange beasts stepped forth and brought countless divine arts practitioners with them, once they landed on their backs.

Below the mountain-sized strange beasts were martial arts practitioners wielding knives and swords. They rushed forward frantically and collided with the enemies on land. In a split second, flesh and blood filled the sky.

Above the heads of the strange beasts, flying ships filled the sky, their flags fluttering. Cannons fired for days on end, and lines of light that were as thick as water barrels bombarded the enemy army with destructive force, vaporizing everything they touched!

There were also countless knife and sword pellets spinning rapidly in midair, the lights from which pierced flesh.

There were also some great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace who had transformed into golden-colored bird-headed mutants. Once they flapped their wings and shook their hands, countless rays shot off in all directions.

On the ground, there were golden elephant-headed giants charging forward furiously.

On both sides of the mountain passes were huge mirrors that shone into the sky, on the souls of divine arts practitioners. Next to them were huge flags that swept to the side and changed the wind and clouds, causing lightning to rain down on the battlefield.

There were also huge cloud chariots being pulled by topless giants into the battlefield and causing blood and flesh to fly wherever they went. Upon reaching the frontline of the battlefield, the giants suddenly stopped the cloud chariots and opened them up. Countless bottle gourds were placed within them, and when the chariots were opened, venomous insects buzzed out and covered the sun and the sky. They entered the bodies of the enemy army to gnaw on them.

There were also sacrificial altars that got pushed out, and the golden great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace cast some kind of shaman spells to kill the generals of Eternal Peace Empire, causing the opposite side to have no leader.

Eternal Peace Empire, in the meantime, had sent out groups of divine arts practitioners that were proficient in sword techniques to cut their way through thistles and thorns into the battlefield to kill the golden great shamans on the sacrificial altars.

This sight was truly shocking. Both sides had obviously killed numerous people, for the flowing blood had turned into a river, turning Duck Tongue Zone into something like hell.

It was Qin Mu's first time seeing such a grand spectacle, and his heart palpitated. This was the battlefield of men, the place where men died.

While carrying Xiong Qi'er, Xiong Xiyu, whose face was pale, asked in a low voice, "How do we cross such a place? My cultivation has not yet recovered…"

She had only recovered to the standard of Celestial Being Realm, and in this kind of battlefield, the strength of a Celestial Being Realm was simply insignificant. In the battlefield, a strong practitioner of this realm could die at any moment under a killing formation formed by soldiers of Seven Stars Realm.

Even strong practitioners of Life and Death Realm would find it hard to protect their lives if they just barged through a battlefield like this.

Xiong Xiyu was an existence of cult master level, and upon looking over, she could see that whenever thirty to fifty people gathered together, formation markings would light up. These formations markings would either be on the ground or floating in the air, changing continuously. It showed that even though the battlefield was big, and there were many people, the formations were never messed up.

If someone barged in, they would be minced by a battle formation, and even if one didn't kill them, they would be killed by another one after taking a couple of steps.

Qin Mu tightened the herb basket on his back, and in the herb basket, Village Chief smiled. "Just walk over. Mu'er. You have mastered Sword of Founding Emperor Sea of Blood, right? Let me execute it once more for you to see."

Qin Mu's heart moved slightly, and boundless sword lights burst forth toward the fighting. In a split second, they shrouded the battlefield in front of the two mountain passes, bathing the countless soldiers in the sea of swords. Those sword lights circled and coiled around them, making them not dare to make the slightest movement!

Most of the soldiers standing on the two mountain passes felt their scalps crawl as they looked down. The place had become a sea of sword lights, and everyone was drowned within it!

"Beat the gong to recall the troops!" people shouted out from the city towers on both sides.

However, everyone in the battlefield stood still, not daring to move. None of the troops retreated, and even the flying ships in the sky froze in place.

If they moved, it would mean death.

If these sword lights moved, there would be a sea of blood!

"An expert has arrived!"

On the city tower of Qingmen Pass, a middle-aged man walked out and looked down to see a huge dragon qilin walking unhurriedly through the sea of sword lights.

"Imperial Preceptor!" all of the soldiers greeted the man in the tower.