Tales of Herding Gods

The farther Qin Mu walked, the more spirit weapons for everyday use he could see. There were also scholars near Surging River Academy that were testing flying carts which could carry passengers into the sky. The pill furnace was slightly smaller and didn’t exhaust as many medicinal stones as flying ships, perfect for short distance flights.

He could still see some scholars forging Ice Dragon Fridge and selling the spirit weapons to the big families nearby. Ice Dragon Fridge was square like a big cauldron, but there was also a cover. Four bronze dragon sculptures were occupying the four corners. With medicinal stones, the green dragons would breathe out icy breaths.

During summertime, it would cool the air in the house and also store food by making it harder for food to rot.

There were mines beside the river, and numerous machines were mining while scholars were supervising and recording at the side.

He even saw numerous scholars designing a floating city. They were constructing a small-scale city and planned to let the city float in the sky.

“The formation divine art of Eternal Peace has already become proficient to such an extent?”

He went forward to check on the formation skills, and the scholars were from Heavenly Saint Academy. They recognized him as the grand chancellor and immediately took out the blueprints for him to look through.

Qin Mu couldn’t help being astonished. The blueprint design for the floating city used formation structures similar to Little Jade Capital and Saint Arrival Mountain of Heavenly Saint Cult. Those formations borrowed the power from heaven and earth, and the formation structures had already surpassed his attainments in formation skills.

“If I didn’t research them out, who could it be?”

Qin Mu was stunned. “Could Grandpa Blind have run over to Saint Arrival Mountain and Little Jade Capital to dig out their formation skills?”

The divine arts of Eternal Peace were seeing new changes, and it truly astonished him. From the time he left Eternal Peace to find Yan Jingjing and met Saint Woodcutter, Elder Angler, and the incident in Heavenly Yin World to finally returning to Eternal Peace, it was probably just four months’ time. The paths, skills, and divine arts had actually developed to that extent—it was truly powerful!

However, wasn’t it a little too powerful?

“This shouldn’t be just Grandpa Mute and Grandpa Blind’s work; Saint Woodcutter is probably pushing the reform along too! He has a lot of knowledge about everything, and from Elder Angler’s words, the reform of Founding Emperor was pushed by Teacher Woodcutter,” Qin Mu muttered to himself.

Woodcutter and the people of Disabled Elderly Village pushing forward the paths, skills, and divine arts could indeed strengthen Eternal Peace in a short time—everyone’s quality of accommodation and food would rise drastically. It could also save more time for divine arts practitioners to cultivate and to research even more profound techniques.

However, the most crucial point was still medicinal stones.

The spirit weapons for everyday use required far more medicinal stones, and even though spirit stones could be dug from mining, it was still slightly hard to grow the herbs.

He came to Surging River Academy and was stunned. He saw tens of thousands of fertile fields and herbs were being grown everywhere. Numerous scholars of Surging River Academy and Heavenly Saint Academy were executing creation divine art in the medicinal fields.

The scholars were executing Earth Aeon Creation Technique, but it was also different from the Earth Aeon Creation Technique of the past. There seemed to be some creation divine art from Crimson Light Era mixed in.

Qin Mu got the dragon qilin to stop and looked at the fields. He saw those scholars of the academy using Earth Aeon Creation Technique to assist the herbs to grow and cultivated their medicinal energy. Herbs that required dozens of years to grow could be harvest in just a few hours.

“These medicinal herbs are growing very well and can be harvested in just a short while… Mu’er!”

Qin Mu heard Apothecary’s voice and hurriedly took a look. He saw Apothecary surveying the fields, and Deaf was also there. Beside them was High Official Su Yunzhi, a first rank high official who had long opened access through her divine bridge, cultivating into a god.

When Qin Mu had met her in the capital city, she was an old woman, but she had reversed her growth and turned herself into a beautiful woman around the age of thirty. Every action and movement from her was radiating with magnificence.

Deaf had already grown his ears out while Apothecary wore a bronze mask as usual.

Qin Mu looked at numerous scholars of Heavenly Saint Cult. They must have been brought over by them. They intended to give pointers regarding the art of creation to Surging River Academy.

Qin Mu walked forward with a smile. “Grandpa Apothecary, how is your creation divine art? Why are you still wearing a mask?”

Apothecary touched his mask and shook his head. “I’m already old; it’s better for me not to show my true face. Otherwise… Haiz.”

He gave another sigh.

Deaf sneered and said, “So it’s remarkable when you are good-looking? How tacky.”

Apothecary said with a smile, “Yes, it is remarkable.”

Deaf pretended not to hear anything.

Both of them liked to squabble, and Qin Mu was long used to the sight; thus, he didn’t put it to heart. Deaf looked at Qin Mu and asked puzzledly, “Why didn’t you go to Heavenly Saint Academy and come here instead?”

Qin Mu’s gaze flickered, and he said with a smile, “I was passing by this place, so I had come to take a look at Dragon Rearing Sovereign and visit Grand Chancellor Su.”

Su Yunzhi pouted her lips and said, “You rarely come to my Surging River Academy. On the other hand, I frequently went to Heavenly Saint Academy to consult on some questions I have in teaching, but I could never find you.”

Qin Mu yawned and stared at a flower silently.

Apothecary and Deaf instantly understood him when they saw him acting like that, and Apothecary said with a smile, “High Official Su, I’m slightly tired, so I’ll be going back to take a rest. High Official Su just needs to wait two hours, and you can let the scholars harvest the herbs. Remember to preserve some seeds.”

Su Yunzhi nodded.

Apothecary and Deaf turned to walk towards Heavenly Saint Academy. Qin Mu followed after quickly, and Deaf said, “Looking at your expression, there’s definitely nothing good this time. Say it, what is it this time?”

“I suspect Lou Yunqu is about to use the Life and Death Book on this place, to wipe out all of the lifeforms in Lizhou Prefecture,” said Qin Mu.

“What?”

Apothecary and Deaf gave out cries of astonishment, and Qin Mu hurriedly said, “Softer, don’t alarm the enemies.”

Apothecary started nagging and hastened his footsteps. “Quickly tidy up our valuables and leave this place immediately, let us hurry back to Ba Zhou… No, back to Disabled Elderly Village! Bazhou isn’t safe either!”

Qin Mu grabbed his hand, and Apothecary struggled to no avail. He was currently on the Life and Death Realm, but since his cultivation was slow, his corporeal body was far inferior to Qin Mu’s.

“Grandpa Apothecary, you can stay here as long as you like.”

Qin Mu said with a smile, “As long as Lou Yunqu doesn’t kill personally, I can still handle the situation if only the Life and Death Book is used.”

“How are you going to handle it?”

“When you guys are dead, I will revive you guys.”

Qin Mu said with a smile, “Don’t worry, as long as the corporeal body doesn’t rot, it isn’t too troublesome to summon your souls back.”

Apothecary hesitated for a moment and looked at Deaf. Deaf said, “What’s the use of summoning our souls back? Can you defeat Lou Yunqu and the rest?”

“I can’t.”

Qin Mu shook his head and said, “Before Supreme Emperor Heaven was destroyed, Lou Yunqu and the rest met with First Ancestor Human Emperor. The four of them headed towards Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge, and First Ancestor Human Emperor never made a move on them, this shows that he is very wary of them. On the other hand, they also didn’t dare to make a move on First Ancestor right away, and it shows that First Ancestor’s abilities are above theirs. The cultivation of the three senior and junior brothers should be between God Execution Stage Realm and Jade Pool Realm.”

Apothecary asked, “They are even stronger than Fu Riluo?”

Qin Mu nodded. “Much stronger than Fu Riluo. Fu Riluo is most likely on Jade Pool Realm, but his abilities are inferior. They are the disciples of Mingdu Black Deity after all and what they cultivated is an Emperor’s Throne technique.”

Apothecary composed himself and said, “We are far from being their opponents, so why don’t we leave and go back to the Great Ruins? We can’t save everyone, but we can save ourselves.”

Qin Mu broke into a smile. “But ever since I was young, Grandpa Apothecary has been teaching me that all healers treat patients like their children, and also human lives are greater than heaven. Didn’t we learn medical knowledge to be able to save even more people? Is Grandpa Apothecary planning to go against your original aspiration?”

Apothecary smiled from extreme anger. “Now you are starting to lecture me instead! Let me teach you another sentence: learning medicine can’t save Eternal Peace! Are you listening to me or not? Deaf, your abilities are higher than mine, seal him in a painting, we shall return to Heavenly Saint Academy this instant, we shall bring granny and the rest back!”

Deaf covered his ears and said, “I can’t hear, I’m a deaf man.”

Apothecary was furious and was about to fall out when Deaf hurriedly said, “Since Mu’er is here, he must have some kind of plan, why don’t you make a decision after listening to him?”

Apothecary held himself back and said, “If there’s no chance of coming out alive, we will have to leave immediately! Even if I have to use poison to knock you out, we will still return to Disabled Elderly Village!”

Qin Mu said with a smile, “Even though we aren’t Lou Yunqu’s opponent, we still have other helpers. If I’m not wrong, Saint Woodcutter, First Ancestor Human Emperor, Fu Riluo, and Elder Angler should all be in Lizhou at this moment, waiting for Lou Yunqu and the rest to appear.”

He said calmly, “If I can guess their target is Lizhou, they would too.”

Apothecary sucked in a cold breath and muttered, “If they can guess it, why aren’t they moving the people of Lizhou? Why are they letting the people of Lizhou bear the fate of being killed?”

“Because we can’t find Lou Yunqu, so we can only sacrifice the people of Lizhou.”

Qin Mu said, “Furthermore, I’ve already spread Soul Guide out, and there are quite a number of people who cultivated the divine art in Eternal Peace. With the divine art, we can bring back those who died because of the Life and Death Book. Thus, the risk is worth taking, and we must take it!”

Deaf asked, “What if their target isn’t Lizhou? What if it’s the capital city?”

“I’m here; they will come.”

Qin Mu said resolutely, “I’m the bait that will attract them. I will make Lou Yunqu and the rest give up on the other targets and only focus on Lizhou! Millions of people already died in Yuzhi County, and it was the Life and Death Book that took their lives last night. I’ve already ordered everyone that had cultivated Soul Guide to hurry to Yuzhi County and save the people. Tonight should be the moment they will lay their hands on Lizhou!”

Apothecary asked, “In that case, how would they know you are in Lizhou?”

Qin Mu said, “They possess the Life and Death Book, so they will naturally know where I am. Using the Life and Death Book to shine, everyone’s name will appear. Tonight, I need a high ground to cast a spell. Right after they cast their spell to harm the people here, I shall revive everyone in Lizhou!”

Deaf said in a hurry, “There’s an observatory in Surging River Academy and the terrain there is very high. You can see everything in Lizhou by standing on the observatory.”

Qin Mu clapped his hands and said, “Good! I shall cast my spell there!”

On that very night, Qin Mu brought the dragon qilin to the observatory. Apothecary and Deaf stood on the edge and looked nervously up into the sky. The moon was round and bright.

The four corners of the observatory had the sculptures of the four divine beasts which were the green dragon, white tiger, vermillion bird, and black tortoise. They each represented the four celestial palaces of the east, west, south, and north. In the center was a huge armillary sphere carved with the stars.

Qin Mu lit up the lanterns in the surroundings and stood on the armillary sphere to wait quietly.

The moonlight was bright, and it gradually rose to the top of the sky. The night was silent, and at that moment, there was already no sounds from Surging River Academy. Only the torrential waters beside the seashore continued to flow day and night.

The night was slightly chilly.

Qin Mu revealed his three heads and six arms to stare at the surroundings. The moonlight was as calm as still water as it scattered down on the land, lighting up the mountains and terrains. The subtle fragrance of the plants nearby drifted in the air while the mottled mountain range was like ferocious beasts crouching.

Qin Mu waited for a long time, and even when the moon moved past culmination, he never saw the Life and Death Book flying over.

“Could they not be coming? That’s not possible… Fatty Dragon, Fatty Dragon!”

Qin Mu gave a shout and the dragon qilin laid on the observatory motionlessly. Qin Mu was bewildered and looked at Apothecary and Deaf. Deaf was sitting in a lotus position while staring at him. Apothecary stood beside the green dragon statue, and his face was hidden in the shade.

Qin Mu jumped down from the armillary sphere and came to both of their bodies to check if they were breathing. His mind was blown.

Apothecary and Deaf only had their bodies left. Their souls had actually vanished without a trace!

He flew quickly to the dragon qilin, and the dragon qilin’s soul had actually vanished as well!

Qin Mu’s blood ran cold, and he hurriedly ran down the observatory. He ran through Surging River Academy and saw lanterns lighting up the Floor of Heavenly Records. Numerous scholars were browsing through all kinds of divine arts and scriptures in the building, but everyone was frozen in place and not moving!

He sprinted down the corridors and even saw young scholars that hadn’t yet slept. The girls were in the arms of boys, and they should be whispering sweet nothings to each other. However, their bodies were already empty, and their souls had already vanished!

Qin Mu passed by Su Yunzhi’s hall, and she was currently meditating. However, her primordial spirit had also vanished!

“Impossible! Impossible! They couldn’t have activated the Life and Death Book without alarming me! Dragon Rearing Sovereign!”

Qin Mu shouted loudly, “Where is Dragon Rearing Sovereign?”

The river water flowed, but there was no reply. In Surging River, two huge dragons were floating on the water surface with their belly facing up. Their dragon horns were caught by the dam, and their bodies trembled like waves from the impact of the current.

On Hundred Years Mountain, God Bai Xi seemed to become a stone statue and stood on a gravestone without moving.

The entire Lizhou and all of the counties were deathly silent.

“How did they execute their spell? There couldn’t be no trace at all!”

Qin Mu’s body turned cold, and he paced to and fro. Beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead, and he suddenly raised his head to look at the bright moon in the sky.

The bright moon was perfectly round.

“Today is the first day of the lunar month, that’s right, today is the first day, so why is there a moon?”

Qin Mu’s body trembled and shouted, “They are hidden on the moon! Teacher Woodcutter, First Ancestor Human Emperor, do you guys hear me?”

Thump.

A person dropped down from a cloud in midair and crashed not far away from Qin Mu. Qin Mu looked at that person and saw that he was carrying an ax while his face was planted in the dirt.

The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes trembled, and he saw a second person falling from the sky. First Ancestor Human Emperor smashed a huge hole in the palace of Surging River Academy. Next, Fu Riluo, Chi Xi, Heavenly Teacher Fisherman, and the rest came falling from the clouds.

Qin Mu roared, and the Gate of Heaven Influence instantly opened up behind him!

At that moment, three figures walked down from the bright moon.