Tales of Herding Gods

“We shall just follow from afar and hide properly.” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor saw Qin Mu’s women army off and said leisurely, “Wait for Ba Gou and that god to make their move. Cult Master Qin will help us settle everything.”

Xiong Xiyu was deeply moved. Back then when she had asked for Qin Mu’s help in Great Ruins, she hadn’t thought that the big boy that saved them actually had such terrifying capabilities. He was able to stir up such a huge storm in West Earth.

She had thought that he was only a disciple of an influential family who had some abilities. However, the more she understood him, the more she was moved by his extraordinariness.

The huge Bamboo City sprinted through the vast land while Qin Mu and the heads of West Earth’s influential families stood at the top of the city tower, managing their army to prevent the situation of the groups trampling over one another.

The disciples of all the influential families in West Earth were not troops that were trained so they had to spend quite some effort in managing them.

Luckily there was He Yiyi, the formation expert who used formation skills to manage the disciples of the influential families. With her assistance, everything gradually became smooth and simple.

“West Earth’s Sword Master Luo Yinyu pays his respects to Middle Earth’s Cult Master Qin.”

Qin Mu looked at the long-haired girl that was walking over to him, and astonishment appeared on his face. He returned the greeting in a hurry.

West Earth had three masters: Poison Master Mu Yingxue, Formation Master He Yiyi, and Sword Master Luo Yinyu. Qin Mu was very familiar with Mu Yingxue and He Yiyi, so only the Sword Master Luo Yinyu was a new face to him.

She was different from the other women of West Earth. They liked to wear gold and silver, like crowns, necklaces, and numerous bracelets on their hands and legs, but there was not an accessory to be found on Sword Master.

Her clothes were also extremely simple. She wore only an ordinary robe that was simple yet elegant. It had no extra colors.

Her hair was also unadorned. A simple string was used to tie it, ensuring that it wouldn’t become messed up.

Her black hair was reached her waist, like that of other women, and created a great contrast to her white clothing.

The reason why she dressed so simply was because she was like a sword that couldn’t contain any impurities. Any accessories would be impurities to her.

She was a woman who had no other joys but for her sword, to which she was probably already married.

When Qin Mu saw her, he felt as if there was a sword aimed at him. When she bowed, sword light shone intensely. It was incomparably sharp and stab straight at his Dao heart!

Qin Mu bowed to return the greeting while easily blocking her sword will.

Sword Master Luo Yinyu rose with a strange look in her eyes. “Cult Master Qin is also a sword skill expert?”

Qin Mu inclined his head in a humble manner. “I dare not say so. How many sword skill experts are there in the world? In terms of ability, there are countless that surpass me. However, in terms of attainments in sword skills, I can most likely be ranked as well.”

Sword Master Luo Yinyu grew even more curious and said, “I had long wanted to go to Middle Earth to see the degree of swords there. Since Cult Master Qin is a sword expert from Middle Earth, can you introduce me to who are the ones that surpass you in sword skill?”

Qin Mu gave it some thought and shook his head. “There should be no more people that surpass me in sword skills, but there are some who have already entered the realm of sword path and I don’t dare say how many of them there are. However, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is definitely above me. There’s also my family’s Village Chief. He taught me three sword skills and his attainments on the sword path are extraordinary. As for the other experts on the sword path, I don’t know much about them so I dare not speak of them.”

“Sword path of sword skills?” Luo Yinyu’s face fell in disappointment as she muttered, “Is there really someone who entered the sword path? I’ve concentrated on chasing after the end of sword skills for so many years yet I never reached the sword path. There are actually people able to enter that kind of marvelous realm?”

Qin Mu could understand her disappointment. Luo Yinyu was at the stage of pursuing knowledge to the end, seeking the extreme comprehension of the sword skill. She most likely had already achieved the extremes in it, but she didn’t have any idea about the sword path, which made her unable to enter it.

Qin Mu telling her that there were numerous experts on the sword path in Middle Earth was a huge setback to her.

Sword skills and sword path might only differ by a single word, but the difference between them was that of heaven and earth.

No matter how good one’s sword skill was, they would be insignificant in front of sword path experts.

Qin Mu’s curiosity was stirred and he said, “I’ve not seen the sword skills of your West Earth before, so I wonder how they differ from those of my Middle Earth. We had fourteen forms before, but then Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor added three more forms, making the count reach seventeen forms. Not long ago, I also added another form, making pushing the number to eighteen forms of basic sword skills. How many forms does West Earth’s sword skills have?”

Luo Yinyu’s eyes went wide in astonishment. “There are already eighteen forms in Middle Earth’s sword skills? My West Earth only has fourteen forms; however, our sword skills rely on the sword spirit and emphasize on power. What we use might be different from your sword skills.”

Qin Mu instantly became excited. He had been researching about sword spirits the last few days, but he hadn’t advanced by much. He kept on feeling that there was a lot to learn and not enough time. It was rare for him to meet a sword skill expert like Luo Yinyu from West Earth, so he naturally had to ask her for advice.

The two of them discussed his problems in detail, and both of them reaped great benefits.

West Earth’s sword skills used spirits to wield their swords, which increased their power drastically, nearly doubling it. In Qin Mu’s eyes, the sword skills of West Earth were somewhat lacking in excitement and far less intricate compared to those of Eternal Peace Empire. Even Luo Yinyu, the sword skill expert, was inferior when compared to the attainments of sword skills of numerous sects in Middle Earth.

Yet the sword spirit could raise the power of her sword moves to a level that the experts of Middle Earth could only yearn for. When she executed basic sword skills, every move and every form overflowed with awe-inspiring power which had been raised drastically. There was a heroic air that made others not dare to face it directly.

Luo Yinyu saw the extraordinary points that the reform in Middle Earth had brought. The sword skills there were treacherous and had numerous variations. She was especially wary of them after seeing the four basic sword forms founded by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and the one by Qin Mu. They gave the sword skills even more changes and variation, providing them with countless possibilities!

Luo Yinyu tried using Spiral Sword Form, Coil Sword Form, Drill Sword Form, and the eighteenth form Qin Mu had founded. She pondered over them, then said, “Something is strange. The first fourteen basic sword forms of Middle Earth are no different from my West Earth; however, what concerns these four moves, even though they are also basic sword skills, the further one cultivates them, the more magic power they would require. It’s especially obvious with the basic sword form founded by Cult Master Qin, since executing it one time will nearly exhaust half of my cultivation! If the nineteenth form is founded, won’t it completely exhaust the cultivation of sword skill divine arts practitioners? When you reach the twentieth sword form, will anyone even be able to execute it?”

Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently, and he had the feeling of having found his soulmate. His gaze became fervent. “You can also feel the nineteenth sword form?”

Luo Yinyu looked at him with delight. “You too feel it?”

The two of them looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

“After I founded the eighteenth form, I felt a wish to continue.” Qin Mu became perturbed, and he said everything on his mind, “At that time, I could still feel that there was a nineteenth form. At that time, I felt that there could very well be a nineteenth sword form. However, I was fighting with Sister Yiyi then so I didn’t dare to be distracted, so I didn’t perform an in-depth investigation to the source of this feeling. However, the nineteenth sword form definitely exists. You also felt a nineteenth sword form, so that means that my feeling wasn’t wrong.”

Luo Yinyu nodded. “The nineteenth sword form could be the crux for us to enter the sword path directly!”

The two of them grew excited.

“That reminds me, Eternal Peace Empire is clearly close to the sea, so why do you refer to it as Middle Earth?” Qin Mu inquired.

Luo Yinyu shook her head. “I don’t understand much about the stuff outside since most of the time I’m concentrating on comprehending the sword.”

At the side, Chief Fang Caidie of Fang Family smiled and said, “Cult Master Qin, the name Middle Earth had always been around. It’s to address the land of Great Ruins and the east. The east sea near your Eternal Peace Empire is then called East Earth.”

The two youths stayed together to research sword skills and exchange ideas, attracting quite a number of people to observe. Qin Mu and Luo Yinyu were great masters in sword skills and even though there were people whose cultivation realm surpassed them, they could only exclaim in admiration on the side.

Qin Mu was quite puzzled by the words. “East Sea has no land so why is it addressed as East Earth?”

Fang Caidie hadn’t looked deep into this marvel and thus could only shake her head. “This I do not know.”

“East Sea was once land so it was addressed as East Earth,” Chief Fu Yunxi of Fu Family said. “In the Cloud Book of our Fu Family, we have recorded matters regarding East and Middle Earths. It was written there that Middle Earth and East Earth are not divided by the current geography, but accordingly to the geography of long long ago.”

Qin Mu’s heart beat an extra time, and he suddenly thought of Bent Mountain Shrine. It had been erected on a majestic mountain which had sunk into the bottom of East Sea. The shrine was five thousand yards below the sea surface.

The bottom of the mountain was even farther from the sea surface.

This meant that the East Sea had originally been a land that was known as East Earth!

However, Fu Yunxi said that East Earth and Middle Earth were divided by the geography from a long time ago. That should have been even before Founding Emperor Era, when it was High Emperor Era!

‘High Emperor Era should have belonged to East Earth, right? It is the East Sea now. The third move of Sword Picture is Calamity of High Emperor. It should probably be related to High Emperor Era.’

Qin Mu sunk into deep thoughts. Sword Picture had moves that Village Chief had founded and Calamity of High Emperor was the third move of Sword Picture. In that case, Village Chief should have understood a part of High Emperor Era’s history.

‘Village Chief, I will definitely go to Fengdu to save you!’ The youth secretly made a firm resolution.

Suddenly, He Yiyi’s loud voice reached him. “We are almost at True Heaven Palace! Everyone, on guard!”

Sword Master Luo Yinyu immediately got up and walked toward Luo Family. Fu Yuxi, Fang Caidie, Mu Yingxue, and Liu Ruyin all returned to the armies of their family.

Qin Mu stood at the city tower, looking ahead with a trembling heart. He saw magnificent mountains standing in great numbers like silent three thousand yards tall giants which existed between the heaven and earth.

The mountains were similar to the giant Qin Mu had encountered near Fragrant Bloom City, just even larger and even more dangerous. Beside them were also sword peaks that were mountain peaks like swords!

There were also bell peaks that resembled bells

Cauldron peaks that were shaped like cauldrons.

Pagoda peaks that were shaped like pagodas.

Building peaks that were like multi-storied buildings.

All those mountain peaks were spirit weapons of all kinds and forms!

Besides them, there was a long river under the mountain that surged at a great speed through nine bends and eighteen curves. There was also a rainbow waterfall pouring down ten thousand yards. A sea of clouds could be faintly discernible in the sky, in which thunder and lightning flashed together.

In the sea of clouds, a cluster of palaces seemed to be bathed in golden light.

They were West Earth’s True Heaven Palace!

The sacred ground of West Earth was much harder to deal with than Qin Mu had imagined.