Tales of Herding Gods

Finally, Qin Mu brought everyone out of Southern Heavenly Gate. The pressure suddenly vanished, and everyone seemed to be relieved from their burden.

“Where’s senior brother from?” the man who looked the closest to a human walked up and asked.

“I am Hu Bugui of the Three-Eyed God Race. I’ve never met senior brother in Bullfighting World before. I saw senior brother talking to Heavenly Teacher earlier, so I didn’t dare to walk up.”

“Qin Mu, Qin Fengqing.”

Qin Mu examined the man of the Three-Eyed God Race. He saw that he had big hands and feet, his shoulders were very broad, and the muscles on his shoulders were shrunk into lumps. Yet his upper arms were very slender and disproportionate. When it came to his arms, they were very muscular again, but when it came to his wrist, they became slender again without many muscles.

It was the same for his waist. He had a wide back and a slim waist which formed a triangular shape. Meanwhile, his thigh muscles were very thick, but when it came to the knees, they became slender again. The upper portion of his lower thighs was thick, but when they reached the ankles, they became slender again.

He had trained his muscles to present a kind of terrifying explosive force that was different from Qin Mu.

Qin Mu’s body shape was proportionate while Hu Bugui had trained his muscles into lumps. The power of his corporeal body was able to explode forth in an instant and give off a sudden terrifying burst of strength.

On the other hand, Qin Mu’s muscles were contoured, and that increased their tenacity. He didn’t have those outrageous looking muscles, and every time Qin Mu wanted to exert force, he would have to be like a bent bow. He would accumulate his strength to the maximum before exploding forth in an instant.

From the mobilization of strength, Hu Bugui was faster, and his attacks would definitely be a flurry of lightning fast strikes which could hit an opponent countless times in a short period of time. Yet from the perspective of power, the power accumulated by Qin Mu’s contoured muscles would be much greater after accumulating the strength; however, he would be slower in reaction speed.

“I’m from the Great Ruins, and it’s my first time meeting senior brothers and senior sisters.”

Qin Mu asked puzzledly, “The meaning of Hu Bugui is why not go home, does Senior Brother Hu’s name have a story?”

Hu Bugui followed everyone to continue forward and was silent for a period of time. “My parents left Bullfighting World and gave birth to me outside. They tried to find ways to achieve a breakthrough outside to solve the clansmen’s problem of having no divine bridge. However, they never succeeded. When they wanted to come back, they realized they couldn’t come back anymore. Even if they came back, their hearts wouldn’t stay here anymore, so they gave me the name Hu Bugui.”

He revealed a smile. “Why not go home? The reason why my parents gave me this name is actually to let them have a sense of belonging in their hearts. The senior brothers and senior sisters of Bullfighting World always laughed at my name, but now they all call me big senior brother.”

Qin Mu nodded his head. He had also seen it earlier. Hu Bugui was the one with the highest cultivation among the martial arts practitioners on Life and Death Realm. Under Southern Heavenly Gate, his height was higher than everyone else.

When Qin Mu caused everyone’s will to unite into an impregnable stronghold to defend against the pressure of Southern Heavenly Gate, he was the fastest to recover as well.

Even if you cultivated late in Bullfighting World, it was fine as everyone would be trapped at Life and Death Realm in the end. It was like Eternal Peace in the past; all of the divine arts practitioners would be trapped on Divine Bridge Realm and couldn’t break through.

For Hu Bugui to become the big senior brother after coming in late showed his talent and hard work.

In front of them, the people had already come to a palace. The path to Bullfighting Celestial Palace was very unique. The path there passed through the celestial palace and reached straight to Jade Pool, God Execution Stage, Jade Capital, and Numinous Sky.

Qin Mu and Hu Bugui lagged behind as Qin Mu consulted Hu Bugui about the cultivation method of the martial soul.

Qin Mu’s understanding of the martial soul was limited, and he only heard from the old farmer that cultivating primordial spirit with martial arts was the martial soul. When the martial soul entered the path, it would be the martial path. As for how the martial soul was formed, he had no idea.

“Martial soul is actually the martial path primordial spirit.”

Hu Bugui hesitated and looked around first before saying in a low voice, “I used outside methods to cultivate my martial soul. There’s an unspoken rule in Bullfighting World, and that is that we are strictly prohibited from learning the divine arts, paths, and skills of the outside world. However, I learned some divine arts, paths, and skills from my parents when I was in the outside world, so my understanding of primordial spirit is slightly different from the people of Bullfighting World.”

Qin Mu was even more curious and asked, “What’s the difference between the martial path primordial spirit and ordinary primordial spirit?”

“They don’t awaken the spirit embryo, and they cultivate the martial soul first.”

Hu Bugui said, “Don’t awaken the spirit embryo, cultivate one’s own soul until it’s like iron, like metal. When they are young, they would fight fierce tigers, slay horned pythons, kill flood dragons! Not many youths can pass this kind of test in Bullfighting World, so many of them died young.”

Qin Mu jumped in shock. Even he didn’t have to go through such cruel training when he was young!

Even though the elders’ training for him was also very cruel, they didn’t go so far to put his life on the line. The people of Bullfighting World actually let their children fight fierce strange beasts like the fierce tigers, horned pythons, and flood dragons. They truly didn’t value the lives of the children!

Fierce sounds of collisions suddenly came from the hall ahead, and the sounds were like the rumblings of thunder. That was the thunder produced by the movement of the martial arts practitioners. Even though they had not stepped into the hall, Qin Mu could already imagine the muscular body that had gone through hundreds and thousands of beatings. In the instant where they collided, sweat scattered like rain!

Hu Bugui felt that it was normal and continued to walk forward. He said, “After cultivating to a certain extent, the soul fuses with the corporeal body. By cultivating the spirit of the martial path into flesh, blood, and bone marrow, one’s movements will be like rolling thunder and stationary lightning. The divine arts of the martial path bring along one’s will and spirit, that is the possession of the martial soul. Then, one will break through their spirit embryo. With spirit embryo being secondary, one will use vital qi to nourish the corporeal body. Because I was living with my parents outside, when I returned to Bullfighting Palace, my spirit embryo was already awakened. It would be much more difficult to cultivate the martial soul again, so I had to put in more hard work than all of my senior and junior brothers.”

Even though he had described it nonchalantly, the difficulty within was beyond what outsiders could imagine.

Qin Mu gave it some thought. Back then, he had also walked that path when he cultivated, but ever since his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique had success and helped him break through Spirit Embryo Realm, he didn’t continue to walk down that path.

Never did he expect that Bullfighting World had continued to walk down that path until they cultivated their martial soul. They had completely taken a different form compared to the outside world.

“The divine arts of the martial path bring along one’s own spirit and will, that’s the possession of the martial soul.”

Qin Mu thought back to the time he had learned battle techniques from Butcher, Old Ma, Blind and the rest. He was only a step away from cultivating his martial soul, and he thought to himself, ‘Martial Arts Heavenly Teacher said my fists have essence but no spirit, it’s indeed the case. Back then, I couldn’t cultivate to the possession of the martial soul. When I became a divine arts practitioner, I had neglected that area. I may be able to fuse my primordial spirit with my corporeal body now, but I have not comprehended the essence of a martial arts practitioner.’

They walked into the hall, and a human figure suddenly came flying over. Qin Mu and Hu Bugui tilted their bodies. That person tumbled out from the hall and crashed onto the lintel of Southern Heavenly Gate before dropping down.

Southern Heavenly was a hundred feet tall, and the person fell for quite a long time before crashing on the ground without moving.

‘He shouldn’t die with such a strong corporeal body.’

Qin Mu looked into the hall and saw a farmer standing in front of the throne in the hall. His qi and blood were like the tides and around him were figures formed by qi and blood.

That was the spirit of his fists that was forming figures that were practicing techniques and ultimate arts!

He stood there without moving and closed his eyes, not looking at the surroundings. The spirit of his fists was currently attacking the martial arts practitioners that were trying to enter the hall!

That was the attack of the willpower. It was sharp and overbearing, having a power that was unmatched in the spirit of his fists.

‘Cultivating the spirit of the fists to a level where it turns real, this should be entering the path with martial arts, right?’

Qin Mu exclaimed, “If he opens his eyes, the spirit of his fists would fuse with his body. One strike and the world will shatter!”

The farmer was a farmer that didn’t look significant in the small mountain village. He was so ordinary that no one would probably give him a second look if he walked on the streets of Eternal Peace.

Yet right then, he was like a great general in an army of gods. He was a god that controlled the martial path, and he had a bearing that others couldn’t look up to. It was obvious he had experienced the struggles on the battlefield, and that countless gods had died to his bare hands.

Strong practitioners that had walked out from the demise of Founding Emperor Era had an aura that no ordinary gods could possess!

If he were to truly make his move, everyone present would be turned into dust as they got shattered by the will of his fists.

However, he was only testing everyone, so the spirit of his fists had transformed into pictures of people currently cultivating martial arts in murals. However, they were three-dimensional and alive.

That kind of fists could unleash the marvel of corporeal body divine art without any restraint. Every strike felt like they were being hit out by strong practitioners of Life and Death Realm that had entered the martial path!

It was still the first time Qin Mu had encountered such a testing method.

Even so, the fifty and more people that had walked out of Southern Heavenly Gate also found it hard to defend against the attacks of his fists. Many people had their flesh split open.

Another loud explosion rang out as a human tumbled out of the hall. He couldn’t move, and soon after, a woman got smashed and hung on the wall of the hall. The hall trembled continuously.

Those fifty or so martial arts practitioners of Bullfighting World were on Life and Death Realm. Everyone’s abilities were extremely powerful, and they had been immersed in the martial path for a very long time. The abilities of every one of them couldn’t be underestimated, and even Qin Mu was very impressed by their cultivation.

If he let go of all restraint to fight and didn’t limit himself to the martial path, he still might not be able to defeat them. After all, he was still a realm lower.

Yet such strong martial arts practitioners could be beaten up by the spirit of the farmer’s fists.

The number that could truly pass through the stage was probably less than one in ten.

Qin Mu frowned. How should he pass the stage?

It was still the first stage; the stages behind were definitely even more difficult. Could he really just let Saint Woodcutter lie in the ditch to rot?

If he could let himself loose to fight and didn’t care about the martial soul or whatever, it wouldn’t be troublesome for him to pass the stage. He could even fight his way to Numinous Sky Hall without any problem. However, that would have meant that the test had lost its purpose.

“If Fatty Dragon is clever enough, he should have run out of Bullfighting Palace now and dragged Woodcutter out and ran.”

Qin Mu blinked his eyes. “Fatty Dragon is indeed clever, but with my knowledge of him, he should be taking a nap outside Southern Heavenly Gate.”

Hu Bugui suddenly stopped, and with a steady stance, his qi and blood suddenly surged forth. He actually burst forth with the spirit of fists as well!

His qi and blood transformed into a human figure to rush at the spirit of the farmer’s fists. The human figures transformed by the two qi and blood collided, and the fist will of both people was majestic. There was actually the momentum of returning to one’s true self!

Qin Mu was astonished. To be able to achieve that step, Hu Bugui was truly extraordinary!

However, he was still slightly inferior to the farmer, and soon, the spirit of his fists got blown apart by the farmer with one punch!

Hu Bugui moved, and his true body moved up the battlefield. With his corporeal body as a weapon, his punches and kicks were clear. Every muscle in his body would explode with a force that could move mountains, and even a twitch of a muscle could give off a loud rumble of thunder!

His fist struck out, and he was like a coiling dragon and a crouching tiger. His hair could even make up for the sharpest sword. Any part of his body could be transformed into an offensive weapon!

Qin Mu’s footsteps moved, but he didn’t step into the hall. Instead, his gaze locked on Hu Bugui. Layers of formation markings swirled in his eyes, and Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill was executed to the limits by him. He observed the movement of Hu Bugui’s muscles and analyzed his techniques of exerting force.

“That’s wrong, it’s not how he exerts his force, but that his soul is exerting force!”

The vertical eye on the heart of Qin Mu’s brows opened up, and he examined Hu Bugui’s divine treasures and his primordial spirit. He only saw his primordial spirit combining tightly with his corporeal body. Trails of vital qi were like dragons piercing into the sun and moon, penetrating into the five elements stars behind. They then radiated from the five elements to the galaxy coiling around. The vital qi in the galaxy was like a pillar crashing into the great land of the spirit platform, activating the power of the six directions!

His primordial spirit stood right on the land of six directions like the roots of heaven and earth, and his roots were planted deep into Youdu.

Just like that, his vital qi and primordial spirit fused into one.

His corporeal body was like an incomparably intricate spirit weapon which transformed that kind of overflowing spirit into the power of the corporeal body, bursting forth with power!

‘So that’s martial soul!’

Qin Mu’s eyes lit up, and he executed his punches and kicks in front of the hall. He executed out the past battle techniques he had learned, starting from Old Ma’s fist skills, to Butcher’s knife skills, to Blind’s spear skills, to the three-headed and six-armed divine arts, and finally the fighting techniques of Ancestral Dragon. He did every single one seriously.

He was tempering his spirit and strengthening his willpower.

Not long after, Qin Mu suddenly woke up and saw the hall empty. Other than him, there was no one else.

There were spots of blood everywhere, which must have been left behind by the martial arts practitioners of Bullfighting World.

The farmer was still standing in front of the throne, but his eyes were still shut. He didn’t look at him.

Suddenly, that farmer spoke, “Are you ready?”

Qin Mu nodded his head. “I am.”

He walked forward, and his qi and blood surged forth as though there was an explosion. In an instant, his qi and blood filled the entire hall!

The farmer opened his eyes, and his eyes were like lightning in the blood light. Next, the spirit of the farmer’s fists burst forth. Even though he stood on the spot without moving, there was a human figure that went straight for Qin Mu!

Qin Mu laughed loudly and just threw a punch. His fist skill was like the opening of the formless mass, opening up a huge gate!

“I use my blood to reflect my martial soul!”

A loud explosion came from the hall, and after a moment, everything was silent again.

Qin Mu walked out from the hall and looked up at the sky. A blood-colored rainbow stretched across the sky. That was his martial path primordial spirit.

“Body full of fighting spirit, he’s like the stars in the Big Dipper, so radiant that one couldn’t look directly.”

In the hall, the farmer still stood there and closed his eyes to cultivate his mind. “Founding Emperor’s descendant is a good child.”