Tales of Herding Gods

Ling Yuxiu ran out from the ship’s hold. She had found something strange with the ship. She said with a soft voice, “The one that herds cows, the dragon bones of this ship are truly the bones of a dragon!”

Qin Mu was stunned. He followed her into the ship’s hold and saw that the dragon bones of the ship were the huge skeletal frame of a dragon. That means when the ship flew, the dragon bones would move left and right like a snake.

Not only that, he even saw the enormous ribs of the dragon forming the main body of this ship!

When he touched the body of the ship, he found that it was moist and the skin wrapped around it was from the skins of gods and devils.

“They used the flesh and blood of gods to make this ship, and the heads of gods to make treasures. Crimson Light Era is indeed a bit too barbaric.”

Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu shuddered. At that moment, the flying ship had already set sail towards Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge. When Qin Mu came to the deck, he saw Pangong Tso studying the deck. Qin Mu also examined the deck in detail. He raised his head to look at Pangong Tso, and Pangong Tso did the same thing. They both knew what each other was thinking as they cried out in unison, “Skin-wrapped bone plates!”

The entire deck on the ship was made with skin-wrapped bone plates. Countless gods had been killed just to make this ship!

“Mister Chi Xi, isn’t the way your Crimson Light Era handled things a little too overbearing and terrifying?”

First Ancestor Human Emperor had examined the ship as well, and he shook his head. “To make such a ship, several thousand gods must have died.”

Chi Xi smiled. “Your Founding Emperor Era only lasted twenty thousand years, right?

First Ancestor Human Emperor was slightly stunned. He nodded his head. “Not even twenty thousand years.”

Chi Xi said, “You won’t know what Crimson Light Era has experienced when you guys haven’t even gone through twenty thousand years. There is no limit to the lifespan of a god and twenty thousand years is enough to give birth to millions of gods. These gods are immortal, and therefore, as the dynasty thrives, there would be more and more gods. Crimson Light God Dynasty has a history of a hundred thousand years, so the number of gods had already reached an extent that it was hard for heaven and earth to withstand any longer. The universe and land that your Founding Emperor Era had ruled over were far inferior to the level that Crimson Light Era has reached. Also, your territory was two to three times smaller than Crimson Light God Dynasty and yet, even with such a large territory, it was still unable to provide for so many gods. When the talents of the later generations had no more space to improve, they started rebelling and creating havoc. When they created havoc…”

His expression was calm, and his voice held boundless murderous intent. “We killed them naturally! Hehe! Killing several thousand gods to create such a valuable treasure was, of course, value for money.”

First Ancestor Human Emperor frowned. “Isn’t that against ethics?”

“Against ethics? When your Founding Emperor Era had been wiped out, how many people died? Isn’t that against ethics too?”

Chi Xi scoffed and said, “For example, those taotie sacks on your body, aren’t they treasures made from killing taotie beasts?

Qin Mu shook his head. “My two taotie sacks were made by Grandmaster. Grandmaster gave them to me.”

Pangong Tso’s face turned black.

Chi Xi said, “Killing a god to make a treasure is something that happens in every era. The destruction of my Crimson Light God Dynasty happened three hundred and fifty thousand years ago, and after that, it was the rise of High Emperor Era. High Emperor Era lasted three hundred thousand years and was the longest lasting era in history. It was also the most flourishing era. The reason why the remaining survivors of Crimson Light Era hid so long in the floating world, and didn’t come searching for the ancestral land was mainly because we were afraid of being captured by High Emperor Celestial Heavens and be made into treasures!”

Qin Mu recalled his previous time travel. Bai Po’er and her brother didn’t look like anyone who would kill people and turn them into treasures. However, from his encounter in Bent Mountain Shrine, Bent Mountain God must have killed a taotie divine beast, and turned it into treasures and a shrine.

His heart stirred slightly. He took out Sun Jade Eye and Moon Jade Eye from his taotie sack and asked, “Senior Chi Xi, these two treasures should also be treasures from High Emperor Era, am I right?”

Chi Xi looked at them. “They should be. If they are truly treasures of High Emperor Era, then these two eyes aren’t made from jade. Instead, they are real eyes of a god, the eyes of a taotie.”

Qin Mu jumped in shock. When he touched the jade eyes, he clearly felt the texture of jade. He couldn’t see that they were made of blood and flesh at all. ‘Could High Emperor Era be as vicious as Crimson Light Era? But, from how Bai Po’er and the rest handled matters, they didn’t look vicious at all. In that case, how did High Emperor Era deal with the problem of having too many gods?’

At that time, the flying ship had passed through Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge, and they came to Supreme Emperor Heaven. When they reached Li City, Qin Mu disembarked the ship to make inquiries. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had not yet returned.

‘Imperial Preceptor must be cultivating alongside Saint Woodcutter in the devil race’s Luofu Heaven.”

They then came to Luofu Heaven. There were no people in this world in destruction. On the sacrificial altars, gods were guarding there without resting at all.

Qin Mu came to the sacrificial altar where Saint Woodcutter was, and First Ancestor also couldn’t help becoming excited. When Saint Woodcutter saw him from afar, he immediately turned around and avoided him.

First Ancestor Human Emperor became depressed.

Chi Xi looked at Saint Woodcutter and sneered.

Qin Mu walked up to the altar and expressed his reason for coming. Saint Woodcutter said, “Your junior brother is currently cultivating in seclusion, so he won’t be coming out for quite some time. You will need to wait a year and a half for him to come out from seclusion.”

Qin Mu shook his head. “We couldn’t wait that long. Since junior brother is in seclusion, can Teacher tell us what we need to take note for our trip.”

Saint Woodcutter took a deep look into his eyes, and he revealed a smile. “Follow the local customs and conditions, observe what others do, and follow what they do. If you can’t beat them, take down that willow leaf on your forehead.”

Qin Mu said with a smile, “The people of Crimson Light Era are all fierce and overbearing. I’m afraid I would need to kill if I follow their customs.”

“That’s why I told you to take down your willow leaf if you can’t beat them. Besides, even if you create a huge trouble, isn’t there still Earth Count?”

Qin Mu’s face became as black as charcoal.

Saint Woodcutter had his back facing First Ancestor Human Emperor. He said leisurely, “Also, you can’t trust an army deserter. An army deserter that has escaped once will escape again.”

Qin Mu turned his head and saw First Ancestor standing at the bow of the ship without saying anything.

Saint Woodcutter summoned Ling Yuxiu over and said with a smile, “Lass, you are much better than your father. When you become the empress in the future, treat your people well and treat my disciple well. Take his advice seriously.”

Ling Yuxiu took a glance at Qin Mu and said delightedly, “I will.”

“Good child. Your cultivation is the weakest, so let me gift a little something to you.”

Saint Woodcutter remained smiling as he suddenly swung his ax up to hack at the forehead of Ling Yuxiu.

Ling Yuxiu jumped in surprise, but she couldn’t feel any pain. Saint Woodcutter hacked several times, hitting Ling Yuxiu’s head over and over again. When he was finished, he stowed his huge ax and said, “Child of Ling family, remember today’s words. You may all go.”

Ling Yuxiu was rather puzzled. She turned around and returned to the flying ship with Qin Mu.

Chi Xi looked at Saint Woodcutter’s back and sneered. “Dao friend, let us challenge each other if we have the chance in the future!

Saint Woodcutter didn’t turn around, but he waved his hand in response. The flying ship rushed into outer space and quickly vanished.

In the starry sky, a flying ship flapped its three pairs of wings and streaked across the dark sky. Without any resistance in this vast sky, the flying ship flew faster and faster. The speed of the ship was actually raised to an unimaginable extent, moving as fast as a lightning bolt.

They quickly passed through an asteroid belt, and huge chunks of asteroid crashed on the ship. However, the runes on the ship flowed, and those mountain-sized stars were instantly reduced to powder.

Chi Xi took out a star compass to determine their bearing. The star compass shone brightly as it showed a gorgeous star atlas. He said, “Half a year later, we will reach Crimson Light Floating World. For the next half a year, you can move anywhere, but you cannot leave this ship.”

Qin Mu examined the projection of the star atlas and saw that the path of the stars was extremely strange. Star clusters were actually swirling around a certain place, but that place was completely empty—there was only dazzling light there.

“Senior Chi Xi, what is this place?” He pointed at a black hole-like place.

Chi Xi looked at it, and he raised his eyebrows, “Youth from the countryside, you have never even walked out of the ancestral land, so you naturally don’t know the marvel of the universe.”

First Ancestor took a look and said, “That’s the place that is the relative opposite of Youdu. It’s where Heaven Duke resides. It’s extremely mysterious.”

Ling Yuxiu also hadn’t heard of Heaven Duke before, and she listened together with Qin Mu. She asked, “Heaven Duke is the relative opposite of Youdu? Since Earth Count is in charge of reaping the souls, what does Heaven Duke do?”

Before First Ancestor Human Emperor could reply, Chi Xi explained, “Heaven Duke is the ancestor of gods, and he controls the operations of the astronomical phenomenons. He is fair and selfless. The stars you’re seeing in the sky all have Heaven Duke behind them. All the stars in every world are controlled by Heaven Duke. This god is no inferior to Earth Count, and with the aspect of the celestial bodies projecting millions and millions of bodies, he is truly powerful!”

First Ancestor Human Emperor said, “Heaven Duke can enter any world at will, but the sky of Eternal Peace is fake. Eternal Peace doesn’t have real astronomical phenomenons, so Heaven Duke can’t go there.”

Pangong Tso had never heard of this before, and he unknowingly became entranced. He suddenly said, “Does this mean that all the sun, moon, and stars we are seeing are all fake?”

“Not entirely.”

First Ancestor Human Emperor said, “When it’s morning in Great Ruins, the sun you see is real. Sometimes, you can also see the moon and a few scattered stars in the morning, and those are real too.”

Pangong Tso was stunned. He muttered, “If the sun, moon, and stars seen from Great Ruins are real, and the ones outside are fake, what’s the seal in Great Ruins for?”

Qin Mu threw him a glance. “It’s sealing the people outside Great Ruins of course. Hasn’t Grandmaster ever been curious why there are only four great spirit bodies among the people outside Great Ruins, while the spirit bodies in Great Ruins are strange and varied?”

Pangong Tso was dejected. “Sealing us, hehe, it’s to seal us… What have we done wrong to be sealed?”

The people outside Great Ruins always looked down on the people of Great Ruins and called them abandoned people.

Pangong Tso was originally the grandmaster of the prairie and the founder of Rolan’s Golden Palace, so he held even more disdain for the people of Great Ruins. He frequently seized the strange beasts and the people of Great Ruins to cultivate his shaman spells. Listening to First Ancestor’s words now, they had completely shattered his belief and pride!

After living ten thousand years, it was only now that he realized he was one of the abandoned people!

The people abandoned by gods!

“Why do they still have to seal us after breaking our divine bridge? Why didn’t they allow us to become gods…”

He couldn’t believe Qin Mu, but he had no doubts for First Ancestor Human Emperor’s words. That was because this existence was the first generation human emperor, the man who had led the ancestors of all races out from that calamity!

Pangong Tso’s ancestor was also one of them!

Anyone could lie to him, only First Ancestor Human Emperor wouldn’t.

The flying ship was leaving a trail of light as it flew, and it remained in the starry sky for a long while. God Chi Xi turned back to look and frowned. “Even though this ship is fast, it isn’t unmatched in the world. Enemies would probably discover the traces left behind by the treasure ship. We need to borrow a path from Heaven Duke and head to the floating world as soon as possible. We can’t let the enemies discover the location of the floating world!”

Qin Mu’s spirit was roused. “Borrowing a path from Heaven Duke? Does this mean that we can see this majestic existence now?”

“It’s still early. The journey from here to where Heaven Duke is located will take more than a month!”

The flying ship moved like flickering light and passing shadows. Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu were currently dual cultivating their primordial spirits when, all of a sudden, the flying ship jolted and slowed down. The two of them pulled their primordial spirits back and walked up on the deck. They saw a large-scale god city floating alone in the starry sky, and there was still a sun orbiting around it.

This god city was dilapidated. It had gone through a terrifying battle, getting destroyed in the process.

The flying ship flew over this god city, and Qin Mu looked down. He saw numerous tall statues of gods that had fallen over in the city, and these god statues had three heads and six arms. They must have been sculptures of Crimson Light Era.

Not long after, they came to a shattered star, and there were also numerous structures on it. The structures had the style of Crimson Light Era.

As they walked, the dilapidated god city floated quietly in the starry star. They could still see countless corpses floating limply on this path they were taking.

To find a place for them to settle down, the strong practitioners of Crimson Light Era had left behind countless gods to protect their clansmen. Most of them had died in battle here.

‘No matter how barbaric Crimson Light Era’s customs were, they had still fought to death for the survival of their clan.’ Qin Mu sighed ruefully in his heart.

Finally, the flying ship sailed into an empty zone, a world formed by light.

The flying ship sailed into the light, and everyone actually couldn’t see their own shadows. This light was shining from all directions, and there was no shadow to be cast!

Qin Mu turned around to look at where they had come from, and his body trembled violently. He actually saw Great Ruins that was shrouded in darkness!

It was as though Great Ruins was right in front of him!

However, he couldn’t see Eternal Peace Empire that was outside of Great Ruins!

He couldn’t see Eternal Peace, he couldn’t see West Earth, and he couldn’t see South Sea, North Sea, and West Sea!

Those places were covered by the fake aspect of the celestial bodies, so they couldn’t be seen.

Other than Great Ruins, he also saw Supreme Emperor Heaven and Luofu Heaven!

He raised his head, and he suddenly felt like he had discovered a whole new world. Countless stars shone in the sky and worlds of all sizes were either bright or dark. They all appeared on the heavenly screen, and some of the worlds were even in destruction!

Looking from this angle, these worlds had all become very small and were very close to them. However, Qin Mu knew these worlds were actually very far—those fine starlights were actually huge suns!

“This is Xuandu, the place where Heaven Duke resides. It’s the relative opposite of Youdu,” First Ancestor Human Emperor said gently.

Qin Mu hurriedly swept his gaze around and asked, “Where is Heaven Duke?”

“Right beside us.”

Chi Xi turned his head around and saw that the trail of light behind the flying ship had been covered up by the light here. He let out a sigh of relief and said, “We are currently sailing past one of his eyes. After flying one to two more days, you will be able to see his entire eye.”