Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 340: Dao Sect’s Methods of Calculation

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor put away Bian Zhenyun's head properly while looking at the corpses on the floor, his heart trembling. He saw that Bian Zhenyun had placed the corpses of the soldiers of Qingmen Pass in an orderly manner during the ten days of heavy rain. The old general had to have braved the storm to place the corpses of his soldiers together.

There was even a wooden tablet beside each and every body. On the tablet were the names of the fallen.

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked forward, the corpses of the soldiers of Qingmen Pass on both his sides. On every corpse, there was a wooden tablet, and each one had a name written on it.

Bian Zhenyun could recognize each and every soldier under him, able to name every single one of them!

"You're a qualified general."

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stopped, no longer going forward. He turned around, and his gown fluttered as countless of corpses flew up, following him back to Eternal Peace.

Back in the country, the soldiers' families were still longing for their return. Some of the fallen were young sons, some old fathers, some were husbands who had come out for war, and there were also some who were daughters, wives, and mothers who had people waiting for them at home.

He wanted to send them home.

"Rolan's Golden Palace."

Imperial Preceptor looked to the east before turning his head away and walking back to Eternal Peace.

The night descended, and another world overlapped with this world. An ancient boat with ghostly lights sailed over, and elders appeared under numerous dots of light, folding paper men and paper boats. The souls on the battlefield quietly boarded the boats, without a single person making a sound.

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor passed by their sides, not disturbing the envoys of Youdu.

The heroes who had died in battle and the herdsmen of the prairie that had died to poison would be guided to the mysterious Youdu. No one knew who were the ones that were receiving them.

In the meantime, Qin Mu scaled up Kunlun Jade Void Mountain.

This place was known as Jade Void Paradise and didn't seem like the real world. Everywhere one looked there was a feeling of an immortal sacred ground. Even the huge snow disaster that had shrouded Eternal Peace Empire hadn't affected this place in the slightest.

It was unlike Great Thunderclap Monastery's Mount Meru, which was located high at the top and had tens of thousands of monasteries. It resulted in a dazzling sight which people could see from far away. Their hearts would shake from the vastness of buddhism.

Jade Void Paradise was located between two mountains and hidden in the depths. If one wanted to go there, they would have to flip through thousands of mountains and rivers and even then they might not be able to find this sacred ground.

Dao Sect had people of cultivation who didn't like others to disturb their peace. These Daoists rarely left for the outside.

The dragon qilin came to the bottom of the mountain. There weren't any strange beasts guarding the gate of Jade Void Mountain, only a straw hut within which lived an old Daoist. When the group approached the place, he was cooking his meal.

Qin Mu leaped down from the dragon qilin and greeted that old Daoist. "Heavenly Saint Cult Master is here to meet Dao Master. May senior brother please notify him."

The old Daoist was astonished and took a good look at him. He then took a glance at the herb basket on his back and the crippled man that was full of smiles. "So it's Heavenly Devil Cult Master. You have killed quite a lot of Old Dao's senior brothers in that battle at the capital city." The old Daoist then sized Cripple up and revealed a suspicious look.

Qin Mu smiled and said, "Daoists are most afraid of people disturbing their peace yet they came to disturb the peace of other people. They deserved to be killed."

The old Daoist shook his head and said, "For the people of the world, Daoists sometimes have to make a move. Heavenly Devil Cult Master, I won't argue with you. You guys shall go up the mountain yourselves. Don't disturb my cultivation."

Cripple smiled. "Dao Sect's people are lazy, so they don't restrict anyone from scaling their mountain. There aren't that many rules here."

The old Daoist looked at Cripple again, and his expression suddenly changed drastically. "You guys can go up the mountain, but this old man can't go up. He must stay here!"

Qin Mu was puzzled.

Angered, the old Daoist said, "I didn't recognize him at first! I only remembered after hearing his voice. Back when the Thief God ran up Jade Void Mountain and wrecked havoc, he stole nearly everything we had!"

"How many years ago was that? I've already washed my heart and renewed my face, turning over a new leaf," Cripple muttered.

"Peh, peh, peh!" That old Daoist ignored him and called over his dog. A huge yellow creature shakily lumbered over from the toilet while wagging its tail. The old Daoist then shouted, "A dog can't stop himself from eating shit!"

Cripple was angered. "This old Daoist scolded me in a roundabout way!" Even though he was furious, he was still full of smiles, making people feel as though they were bathing in the spring wind.

Qin Mu's heart jumped a beat, and he secretly prayed for the old Daoist.

He carried Village Chief while the dragon qilin followed after them up the mountain. Cripple then suddenly flashed like a phantom, and his body vanished. He laughed. "If you don't let me up the mountain, try stopping me!"

The old Daoist hurriedly gave chase, and the two of them disappeared into Jade Void Mountain.

After a moment, Qin Mu saw the old Daoist halfway up the mountain, stripped naked. He squatted on the cliff with no care. When he saw Qin Mu riding the dragon qilin, the old Daoist immediately hugged his shoulders.

Qin Mu pretended not to see anything and walked past him.

The old Daoist let out a sigh of relief, and Qin Mu suddenly turned back to ask, "How can I meet Dao Master?"

The old man was embarrassed and angered. "Dao Master Lin is at the Jade Void Monastery at the mountain peak!"

Qin Mu gave his thanks and took out a piece of clothing to throw at him. The old Daoist immediately caught it and wanted to give his thanks, but Qin Mu had already walked away.

Once they came to the mountain peak, they could see waterfalls and springs. Many disciples of Dao Sect were currently practicing their sword moves under one waterfall beside which were the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword. It was placed there for everyone to observe.

The disciples of Dao Sect practiced their swords in weird ways. They first calculated with all kinds of tools. Qin Mu could see that they actually forged the tools of calculation—like Wuji Diagram, Taiji Diagram, Four Symbols Diagram, Five Elements Diagram, and Eight Trigrams—into treasures, forming the structure of three-dimensional space to continue performing calculations.

'These Daoists look like geomancers.' Qin Mu thought to himself.

When they came to a conclusion, the disciples of Dao Sect would leap up, their flying swords swaying. Their sword skills were extraordinary.

Qin Mu couldn't help watching for a moment before exclaiming in his heart, 'Dao Sect is truly a sacred ground, they are very serious in their learningĄ'

A young Daoist nun was seeking to solve an equation without any result, making her so urgent she scratched her ears. Once she saw Qin Mu, she immediately came over to greet him. "This senior brother, who are you looking for?"

Qin Mu jumped down and said, "Is Dao Master Lin Xuan around? My name is Qin Mu, I need to find him."

"Dao Master is at Jade Void Monastery. He just came back from Little Jade Capital two days ago," said the young Daoist nun while pointing at a Daoist monastery to the side.

Qin Mu looked at her tools of calculation and stretched out a finger to pluck two times at her eight trigrams plate with a smile. "The sixty-four hexagram astronomical phenomenon can be solved like this."

The young Daoist nun immediately looked at her eight trigrams plate and was stunned for a moment before becoming delighted.

When the group left, an old Daoist nun asked, "Who was that person?"

"He said his name is Qin Mu and he has come to find Dao Master Lin." The young Daoist nun smiled. "He helped me solve this hard astronomical phenomenon question conveniently so I could go through with solving the numbers of Milky Way's stars!"

The old Daoist nun was astonished. "Qin Mu? That's the Heavenly Devil Cult Master! This old devil killed god knows how many of our senior brothers and he still dares to barge into our Dao Sect!"

The young Daoist nun jumped in shock. "Heavenly Devil Cult Master? Is he here to kill Dao Master? What should we do?"

The old Daoist nun smiled. "Our Jade Void Monastery has all the experts of our Dao Sect. If he tries anything, Heavenly Devil Cult will have to choose another cult master. Let us practice our sword. There's no need to bother with him."

In Jade Void Monastery, Qin Mu saw a bunch of old Daoists and old Daoist nuns. Some of them were squatting in the garden and looking at a fresh flower with keen interest; some were sprawled on the floor looking at a bunch of ants fighting; while some were drinking tea leisurely while playing chess. A number were playing flutes beside the pavilion, while others were walking around in ragged shoes. The tips were already tattered, revealing a few charming toes.

Qin Mu retreated out of the place and raised his head to look at the horizontally inscribed board hanging on top of the Daoist monastery. He confirmed it was Jade Void Monastery before walking in again to ask an old Daoist, "Where is Dao Master Lin Xuan?"

"Dao Master!" The old Daoist turned his head and shouted, "Someone is looking for you!"

Dao Master Lin Xuan's voice came from the depths of Jade Void Monastery. "Got it, I'm coming out now! Please help me attend to them first, I'm at the crucial point of refining my pills!"

The old Daoist turned his head back and said, "Feel free."

Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief. After waiting for a moment, he heard a loud explosion, and a mushroom cloud rose into the sky from where Dao Master Lin Xuan's voice had come. A bunch of old Daoists and old Daoist nuns laughed. "Dao Master exploded the furnace again!"

Dao Master Lin Xuan came out with a sooty face and said, "Senior Uncle, if you hadn't shouted, I still wouldn't have exploded the furnace… Cult Master Qin!"

Daoist Lin Xuan saw Qin Mu and was astonished. He immediately wiped off the soot on his face and asked righteously, "How does Heavenly Devil Cult Master have the time to visit our Dao Sect?"

"Heavenly Devil Cult Master?"

Once he said that, all the old Daoists and Daoist nuns turned to look at Qin Mu, and he felt murderous intents coming from their gazes!

The grudges between Dao Sect and Heavenly Devil Cult could be traced all the way back to some ten-twenty thousand years ago. The conflict between the two sects was carved into their bones, and to top it, Qin Mu had killed almost half of the experts from Dao Sect in the capital to quell Ling Yuxia's rebellion. It was no wonder then that the strong practitioners around would radiate with murderous intent upon hearing his title.

Qin Mu's face didn't change, but a white head popped out from the herb basket on his back.

Village Chief looked around. Wherever his gaze went, the old Daoists and Daoist nuns averted their gazes. They didn't look into his eyes, but hurried off to do their own stuff.

Village Chief then slowly shrunk back into the basket.

Qin Mu took out the golden book and smiled. "Old Dao Master allowed me to read the Fourteen Writings of Dao Sword and I'm grateful for that. Now that Senior Brother Lin has become Dao Master, I've come to let you read a book. I shall give you three days."

Dao Master Lin Xuan smiled. "You had also let me see Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures so you don't owe my Dao Sect anything. This book…"

Once his gaze landed on the first page of the golden book that Qin Mu had flipped open, he found it hard to avert his gaze. He couldn't help taking out numerous rulers and measure the picture repeatedly.

As he measured, he also kept mumbling different rhymes for calculation.

When the old Daoists and Daoist nuns heard his rhymes, they paid no attention to it at first. But as Dao Master Lin Xuan's rhymes became more and more profound and his calculations became more and more complicated, they couldn't help becoming curious.

An old Daoist walked over, and his gaze was immediately captured by the picture in the golden book.

After a moment, more and more old Daoists and old Daoist nuns gathered around. All of them were measuring and calculating.

As they got entranced by the calculation, time passed without notice by them. Suddenly, a hand stretched out to take the golden book away, and Qin Mu's voice awakened them from their trance. "Dao Master, fellow senior brothers, three days are up."

"Has it been three days already?" Lin Xuan and the rest were astonished.

Qin Mu smiled. "Farewell." When he was done, he turned around, planning to leave.

"Hold your step!"

"Cult Master Qin, hold your step!"

Qin Mu turned around and revealed a smile.