Tales of Herding Gods

Dragon King Tian’s head was incomparably huge, and it was suspended in midair between the two of them. The dragon king’s head had already become a zombie; it was lush green, and even the strands of his dragon beard were now a green color and covered in corpse liquid.

The divine arts of Qin Mu and ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ exploded on either side of Dragon King Tian’s head. Qin Mu raised his hand and grabbed a flying sword that was circling him, stabbing forward. The numerous flying swords that had been encircling him followed the movements of this sword and flew towards Dragon King Tian’s head. Every single flying sword was tainted by corpse poison.

When Qin Mu’s flying sword reached the other side of Dragon King Tian’s head, the group of green swords had transformed into a sword formation and engulfed ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ within.

At this very same instant, ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ directly executed the divine arts of heaven’s path—the Forty-Nine Heavenly Dao. He cultivated the 49 paths, transforming them into 49 different forms of divine arts.

Xuandu’s Heaven Duke had countless devil gods living on his body, and through observation and measurement day and night, the heaven’s path divine arts had already been thoroughly studied by the celestial heavens. Heaven Duke’s body had been constructed by the celestial heavens, and the heaven’s path divine arts had also been derived.

Qin Mu had only been able to deduce the Great Dao of Heavenly Fire from the crystals of the prism of heavenly fire, yet the celestial heavens had already long been able to derive the other Heavenly Daos. The only deficiency was that the Heavenly Dao of the celestial heavens was constructed solely from macroscopic algebra, and it lacked a microscopic level of construction.

The Heavenly Dao divine arts of ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ had split into different forms. There was a heavenly web, a crystallized tower of divine fire, a celestial boat, a divine monument, a dome of heaven, a sun-like day, a moon-like night, and a celestial abyss. The various Heavenly Dao divine arts suddenly gathered together, transforming into a single mudra. The intricate runes that formed the divine arts actually went straight through Dragon King Tian’s head, as if there was no obstacle in front of them, and aimed straight at Qin Mu!

The divine arts of the two didn’t meet; instead, they had aimed to attack the true body of their opponent at the first chance, aiming to finish off the opponent in the first strike.

Dragon King Tian’s head was still between the two of them, and though he was now muddle headed after the reanimation, his level of cultivation still remained.

If he had made a move on them, neither would be able to fend it off, so it was the best strategy to finish off the opponent first in order to be able to retreat safely.

The Heavenly Dao mudra was as though Heaven Duke had made a personal appearance—it gave off an aura of magnificence and unparalleled heavenly might.

On the other side of Dragon King Tian’s head, Qin Mu faced the Great Heavenly Dao divine arts head-on. He tore the willow leaf off the heart of his brows, opening his third eye. Its gaze was as deep as the abyss.

“Where I am, it’s Youdu!”

The savage devil qi of Youdu surged forth, and in that instant, Qin Mu felt as though he was sinking amidst the darkness of Youdu. Blazing flames raged on top of Qin Mu’s head, it was the devil horns formed by the Yellow Springs.

He was like Earth Count emerging from Youdu, raising the Great Dao of Youdu. The rules of the Great Dao of Youdu transformed into countless chains that coiled around his body.

With the chains around him, Qin Mu stretched his hands and took on the mudra of the Heavenly Dao.

On the other side, the power of sword formations burst out. Countless flying swords leaped around with peculiar frequency, and every technique executed was the second form of Calamity Sword, Raising Calamity. Furthermore, the flying swords vanished and reappeared unpredictably, grouping into different formations.

Qin Mu’s Sword Dao had two parts, Opening Calamity and Raising Calamity, and his comprehension of Sword Dao principles contained within differed vastly.

Initially, the Opening Calamity Sword and Raising Calamity Sword were very easy—the principles within were very complex, but the sword moves were incredibly simple.

Now, the Raising Calamity Sword form executed by any of the flying swords remained simple, yet when the Raising Calamity sword move was grouped together with it, it became an incredibly complicated sword formation.

It wasn’t just that. Every sword formation that emerged after every sword movement differed from the others!

This was the result of Qin Mu’s study of Eternal Peace’s reforms under the guidance of Blind.

The reforms of Eternal Peace had attained many achievements on the path of formations, and this was built on the foundations of the formation skill attainments of the Founding Emperor Era.

Blind epitomized the success of Eternal Peace’s formation skills. He led the reforms of Eternal Peace’s path of formations, gathering the righteous and using it to improve the people’s welfare.

On the contrary, Qin Mu used the path of formations on his own moves and divine arts, adding transformations to the formation of the Raising Calamity Sword.

Caught in the ever-changing Raising Calamity sword formation, the aura of ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ changed suddenly. A divine bridge stretched across the sky behind him, and his primordial spirit towered at the end of the divine bridge, standing before the Southern Heavenly Gates.

Behind him, layers of Heavenly Palaces emerged, forming a boundless Celestial Heavens—brilliant golden rays permeated the skies.

Of the Thirty-Six Heavens and Seventy-Two Halls of the Celestial Heavens, the highest hall was the Numinous Sky Hall.

There were layers of light radiating from it, with innumerous phenomena spinning around it. They transformed into a display of an indomitable ancient Celestial Emperor sitting in a lotus position.

“The Supreme of Ten Thousand Paths, The Convergence of Ten Thousand Paths into One!”

‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ raised his hand, his mudra meeting with Qin Mu’s Raising Calamity sword formation. The sword formation was bursting with power, yet when confronted with his divine art, the sword formation became stuck, with countless flying swords coming to a still. The sword formation was instantly thrown into chaos.

The divine arts of ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ burst out, breaking and shattering numerous flying swords from the sword formation.

After breaking through the formation, ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ leaped into the air, only to see Dragon King Tian’s lush green dragon beard curling in his direction and flying past him by a narrow margin.

On the other side, Qin Mu had managed to shatter his Great Heavenly Dao divine art. Immediately turning on his side, Qin Mu flattened his body, standing there like a black line, merging with the darkness.

Dragon King Tian’s thick dragon beard passed by without touching him.

The eyeballs of the dragon king’s huge head rolled about, stopping before this black line yet still unable to see where Qin Mu was.

Qin Mu had learned this move from Pangong Tso; on the path of escaping and disguise, Pangong Tso was peerless in his skills.

“Oh yes, you are still the Son of Youdu.”

On top of Dragon King Tian’s head, ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ had quickly dashed over, laughing. “Using the Great Dao of Youdu to combat the Heavenly Dao is child’s play to you.”

Dragon King Tian’s beard stopped pursuing Qin Mu, piercing towards the ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ atop his head instead.

‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ moved like a phantom, avoiding the attacks of the dragon beard. The dragon beard was able to interchange between being soft and hard, and it managed to pierce through the dragon scales, revealing the rotting flesh beneath the scales.

At the same moment, the scattered flying sword came whooshing over, and a single palm reached out from the black line, striking hard on the sword. The corpse poison flew off the sword’s surface, revealing the gleaming true body of the flying sword.

The clattering noise continued, the flying sword reformed into the sword pellet, and Qin Mu grabbed it in his hand.

Dragon King Tian’s head charged towards him, mouth opened wide. Fishy-smelling corpse air spewed out, and he went to swallow Qin Mu in one bit. However, in the split-second that Qin Mu entered his mouth, teleportation runes broke out.

When Dragon King Tian closed his mouth, the teleportation light appeared, and Qin Mu had vanished.

In the next moment, a bright light suddenly appeared behind ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’, who was still running atop Dragon King Tian’s head, and Qin Mu stabbed towards the back of his heart.

The body of ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ transformed quickly—he had the head of a bird and the body of a human, and a huge sun halo appeared behind his head. The huge sun descended, and Qin Mu’s sword stabbed into the sun’s glow. The divine sword was instantly scorched red hot, and metal liquid dripped off of it.

Qin Mu exerted strength in both legs and stabbed straight forward with his sword. At this, ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ sprinted forwards strenuously.

The both of them were running across the dragon king’s reanimated head, and every step was incomparable heavy for them.

Qin Mu’s body shook, and two heads and four arms rapidly grew out. His palms were ever-changing, finally transforming into sword fingers as each touched the heart of his brows.

The first form of Calamity Sword—Opening Calamity.

He pointed out his sword fingers, and three of them touched the divine sword. The power of the divine sword immediately burst out.

‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ grunted, as the sun halo had been penetrated. He suddenly transformed his body again, this time taking the form of a goddess.

His back was initially facing Qin Mu, but the instant he transformed into the goddess, his head, body, and limbs actually transformed backwards, and he was now facing Qin Mu head-on in this strange form.

“Her” hands grabbed the divine sword that had pierced into his chest, and the space between both hands turned into a bottomless abyss.

The Abyss of the Ruins of End.

It was a huge vortex that revolved wildly in the darkness, its depths beyond measure. Qin Mu’s Opening Calamity Sword was sucked into the abyss with a screech, and with it, Qin Mu was swallowed as well!

Qin Mu was devoured by ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’s’ Ruins of End divine art. Countless runes revolved around him, and again he executed the teleportation divine art to escape.

‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ pushed his hand to the sky, and numerous bits of starlight in the sky exploded. Countless stars gathered into a galaxy, transforming into an inescapable net.

Qin Mu’s figure had just emerged from the teleportation light, and he was immediately caught by the inescapable net, unable to break free at that moment.

Qin Mu tried to use the teleportation divine art again, but suddenly, there were lightning flashes and rolling thunder, and he was caught in the net again.

He continuously tried to dodge it, but he was repeatedly trapped.

‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ flipped his hands around, and the net grew tighter and tighter. The countless bits of starlight gathered into a tight bunch, and Qin Mu flashed brightly in the inescapable net as the space inside it grew smaller and smaller.

“Who can master all of the Great Dao divine arts of the ancient gods?”

‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ suddenly transformed into Wood Wolf of Kui Star Sovereign. He now had the head of a wolf on the body of a human. Leaping into the sky and avoiding the attacks of Dragon King Tian’s beard, he dashed towards Qin Mu, laughing. “Only me, only this corporeal body! Moon Howling Sirius!”

He let out a resonating screech, and the light in his mouth transformed into a current and smashed towards Qin Mu.

The divine sword in Qin Mu’s hands suddenly transformed into a golden brush. He swept the golden brush, drawing a door in the net and escaping through it.

The Moon Howling Sirius divine art poured into the door and vanished without a trace.

‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ was astonished. He flew quickly into the door and laughed. “The Great Dao divine art of the lower bound is truly getting more and more interesting.”

Just as he entered the door, the dragon beard of Dragon King Tian’s also pierced through it. Following this, the dragon beard gripped onto both sides of the door, and Dragon King Tian’s head attempted to squeeze through as he giggled. “I see the both of you!”

‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ leaped up and transformed into a vermillion bird. Spreading his wings out over a hundred yards, he flapped them and flew off, avoiding Dragon King Tian’s attacks. Ahead, Qin Mu gripped the golden brush; sweeping it, a heavenly palace emerged.

Qin Mu sprinted as though he was flying through the heavenly palace. He was twisting and turning the brush while dashing forward, and layers of space ceaselessly emerged ahead of him with the strokes of his brush.

Following this, a celestial river flowed out of his brush. A great flood descended from the skies, surging forward and heading straight towards the vermillion bird that ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ had transformed into.

The vermillion bird was flying too quickly and was unable to dodge it. ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ spun his body around suddenly. Just as the celestial river rushed in front of him, he transformed into a black tortoise. The black tortoise roared and stepped into the river. A flying serpent coiled around his body, and he flapped his wings, now speeding up even more.

Behind ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’, the reanimated head of Dragon King Tian was hit by the celestial river, and his face was drenched in water.

Furious, Dragon King Tian opened his huge mouth and sucked with all his might—the celestial river flowed out from his neck.

Dragon King Tian kept his mouth wide open and rushed forward along the river.

‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ was about to catch up with Qin Mu, only to see him draw a celestial shuttle and leap into it. The two ends of the celestial shuttle were pointed, and it flew up with a whistling sound.

Within the celestial shuttle, Qin Mu gripped the brush and drew with swift strokes, and an incomparably huge god appeared under his brush-strokes.

It was Celestial Emperor.

When Qin Mu drew on the eyes of Celestial Emperor, he peeled open the eyes and dashed in on his celestial shuttle.

‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ tried to rush in after him only to find himself banging into the eyes of Celestial Emperor.

“Where is everybody?”

‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ was startled. Behind him, the huge head of Dragon King Tian was rushing towards him.

Qin Mu’s figure appeared within the coffin, and he leaped off the celestial shuttle and turned around. Behind him was a picture of the celestial palace, erected upright in the darkness with a faint flickering glow.

Qin Mu shook the brush in his hand; the brush transformed into a sword pellet and then into a sea of swords, spreading out all around the celestial palace picture.

With a flash of his body, Qin Mu transformed into the form of the Son of Youdu, permeating darkness.

He stretched out a palm and gripped the celestial palace picture, shaking it hard; the space within the picture was immediately destroyed!

At the same time that the picture was destroyed, the power of the sword formation burst forth, and the roars of Dragon King Tian and ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ could be heard from the middle of the sword formation. The sword lights poured forth like a huge wave and flooded them, but the two of them faded in and out amidst the sword lights—they were about to break through the formation!

Suddenly, Dragon King Tian’s reanimated head burst out of the sword formation and rolled off in an unknown direction.

‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ followed closely, bursting out of the sword formation behind him. Just as he broke out of the sword formation, he froze upon sensing the murderous intent from behind.

He immediately turned around, only to see the celestial river gushing behind Qin Mu, the celestial palace now faintly discernible. Qin Mu’s primordial spirit stood on the celestial river, a treasure sword in his hand. He stepped on the celestial river and flew downwards from the sky, striking forward with his sword!

When ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ saw the flash of his sword, it had already reached the space between his eyebrows. By the time he saw it completely, Qin Mu’s primordial spirit had already pierced through his head with the sword, appearing behind him.