Tales of Herding Gods

The sound of the coffin breaking through water could be heard, and following it was the sound of chains coiling. The coffin came to a still instantly.

Within the coffin, Qin Mu’s heart stirred. He knew immediately that the coffin had left the ancient well and was locked down by the chains.

The coffin was about to open.

Yan’er instantly put away her red lantern and looked around her. Suddenly, an opening in the shape of a square appeared above them. Rays of light poured in from above, and the surroundings could now be seen faintly.

“I see you!” Dragon King Tian’s big head waved his green dragon beard and chased after Xing An with great happiness.

Qin Mu also looked around, trying to find the dragon qilin. He felt a slight sense of uneasiness. “The dragon qilin couldn’t really have been eaten by Dragon King Tian, right?”

At this instant, Yan’er found the dragon qilin. “Over there!” With that, she transformed into a green sparrow and flew over.

Qin Mu looked in the direction she flew, and indeed, he saw the dragon qilin lying in a corner, asleep.

Yan’er grabbed the dragon qilin and rushed to the entrance of the coffin, and Qin Mu followed closely behind.

Outside the coffin, Qin Mu landed on solid ground. Suddenly, he saw the multicolored rays within Fallen God Valley retreating with great speed—the seals here were now all becoming ineffective!

“Crap, the blind elder intends to completely destroy this place!”

Qin Mu immediately made a decision to fly off with Yan’er. The dragon qilin had also woken up and quickly revealed his true form; carrying Qin Mu on him, he hastened his steps and rushed off.

The multicolored rays that originally filled every space of the Fallen God Valley had now shrunk almost instantaneously into a very small circular dot. Xing An, Yan Qiling, and Dragon King Tian’s huge head dashed out from the coffin, attempting to escape out of the valley. Only Dragon King Tian’s head wasn’t escaping, but it was pursuing them with a wide-opened mouth filled with blood.

Hmmm—

Brilliant rays of light exploded, and the ancient well and coffin were destroyed in that split second. The chains that locked up the coffin were now breaking chain by chain with a loud rattling noise. The chains that were breaking off bit by bit were hit by the terrifying waves of annihilation, flying off in all directions and past Qin Mu and the others.

Qin Mu stood on the dragon qilin’s back and looked behind him. The mountains that had encircled the ancient well and coffin had already been razed to the ground, and the bottomless abyss filled into level ground. The wave had also triggered Founding Emperor’s sword skills mark, and rays of brilliant sword light emerged, crossing each other narrowly—it was a frightful sight.

The dragon qilin roared, unleashing a furious cry as he increased his speed to the maximum. He quickly reached the floating bridge, leaping across it and sprinting out of the ruins.

He was about to reduce his speed when Qin Mu cried out and said, “Keep running!”

The dragon qilin continued running with all his might as Qin Mu turned his head around to look back, only to see that the floating sword at the bridge left behind by Founding Emperor had been struck by the waves of annihilation—the rays of the sword burst out.

The multicolored rays outside the valley had already shrunk into a circular dot, and as the sword ray burst out, so did the circular dot.

As the saying goes, one raises a dragon for a thousand years to use in a crucial moment. Qin Mu had never realized that the dragon qilin could run that fast, he was very comforted. ‘It wasn’t in vain that I spent most of my daily expenses on him…’

Qin Mu didn’t usually spend much on a daily basis; no matter where he went in Eternal Peace, he generally didn’t have to pay for any basic necessities. Almost ninety-nine percent of his money was used on feeding the dragon qilin.

“You can stop now!”

Qin Mu called out for the dragon qilin to stop. Turning around to look, he saw that the destructive rays in Fallen God Valley were still moving, but their power was shrinking.

“Xing An probably won’t die, he has many tricks up his sleeve. It’s hard to say for Yan Qiling and Dragon King Tian though.”

Xing An’s injuries were almost all healed. While taking away the corporeal body of ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ that was created by the celestial heavens spelled trouble for him, it wasn’t all that bad.

The corporeal body of ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ contained many runes of the ancient gods. Structurally, the body had an almost perfect system of divine treasures and system of celestial palaces and celestial heavens; it was able to master all the powers of the ancient gods.

This was what the beings of the lower bound lacked.

However, it was missing the most crucial Celestial River Divine Treasure, and the power of Heaven Duke and Earth Count were also not complete.

Furthermore, ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’s’ corporeal body was created based on Dao Master’s macroscopic algebra, so it lacked microscopic algebra and thus ultimately couldn’t be considered perfect.

Most crucially, Qin Mu had already copied down the runes kept in the top of the celestial heavens’ Guardian Pavilion. When Dao Master Lin Xuan and the Eternal Peace Dao Sect perfected the Computational Canon of Supreme Molecule, Qin Mu would be able to use these runes to complete the microscopic algebra structure—it would only then be at its most perfect.

Xing An had only obtained ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’s’ corporeal body. At most, he would be able to learn about it partially. He would still be very far from being able to cultivate the most perfect corporeal body and primordial spirit.

Suddenly, Dragon King Tian’s enormous head rolled out of Fallen God Valley. It wanted to leap into the air, but it was unable to fly; evidently, it was greatly damaged.

The reanimated brain suddenly stretched its dragon beard out to push against the ground, the strands of the long dragon beard acting like thick and big legs. They held up the big head and started to walk out.

“I saw you…”

The huge head stood tall in the air, it was like a moving mountain. He revealed a fatuous smile, sweeping his gaze around his surroundings.

As Dragon King Tian moved, the ground and mountains shook. He was looking for something to eat.

Qin Mu frowned. If the reanimated Dragon King Tian escaped from this place, it would likely be disastrous when he went around eating people. He had to be eradicated.

However, Dragon King Tian wasn’t killed in that wave of annihilation, showing that his power was truly terrifying.

“Dragon King Tian is like Feng Qiuyun, they are both beings of the Numinous Sky Realm, how can I get rid of him?”

Qin Mu took out the geographical map that Xing An had given him. He found where he marked the Fallen God Valley and searched around the area.

When the Primordial Realm broke its seal, Xing An had visited many places and thus was able to create this geographical map.

Qin Mu’s eyes brightened as he found a nearby ancient ruins. He thought to himself, ‘Luring Dragon King Tian to this ancient ruins and letting the ruins trap him seems to be a good choice.’

Just as he thought about it, a brilliant light flickered in the far distance. A swallow with a black back and a white belly flew out of the lights, landing on the ground and transforming into Yan Qiling as she stumbled for a bit.

Yan Qiling immediately noticed him, and she increased her alertness.

Qin Mu revealed a peaceful smile, yet at the same time, his sword pellet silently flew out of his taotie sack and tunneled underground.

Yan Qiling hurriedly took out a bare looking tree branch, which was only three inches tall, and stuck it into the ground. The branch immediately rooted itself into the ground, and countless roots started growing furiously and covering the whole underground.

The bit aboveground continued to branch out, and in no time, it grew into an enormous tree, towering at a few hundred yards in height.

“The Primordial Tree’s branch?”

Qin Mu was surprised. He put away the sword pellet and smiled. “Sister Yan Qiling, I really want to meet Celestial Emperor.”

Yan Qiling was at a loss for words. She raised her hand and uprooted the giant tree, which transformed back into a three-inch tall small branch.

“Celestial Venerable Mu…”

Qin Mu quickly waved his hand, signaling the dragon qilin to chase after Dragon King Tian. Turning back, he smiled. “Sister Yan, you don’t have to be so ceremonious. You can just call me Cult Master Qin. The title Celestial Venerable Mu is just a joke, Celestial Emperor may not take it seriously, and neither do I. The people of Eternal Peace, regardless of friend or foe, address me as Cult Master Qin.”

Yan Qiling hesitated for a moment. Striding forward to catch up with him, she said, “Cult Master Qin, you originally viewed Celestial Emperor as an enemy, even giving his imperial edict to a black demon boar. You avoided him like the plague, so why are you proactively requesting an audience from his majesty this time?”

The dragon qilin ran in front of Dragon King Tian, and the eyes of this reanimated head immediately shone green. Drooling corpse liquid from his mouth, Dragon King Tian chased after them.

Qin Mu replied with a serious expression, “I’m not requesting an audience, this is a meeting between equals. If Celestial Emperor still thinks so highly of himself, then there’s no need to meet anymore.”

Yan Qiling frowned slightly.

Qin Mu laughed. “In the past, Celestial Emperor wanted to control me and dominate me, how could I let him have what he wanted? That’s why I avoided him like the plague. If his majesty could be a cooperator, an ally, then we can meet and have a chat.”

Yan Qiling sneered. “Cult Master Qin, what is your level of cultivation? How dare you try to negotiate with Celestial Emperor? Not to mention you, even if the whole of Eternal Peace was tied together, they are still not qualified enough to negotiate with his majesty!”

Qin Mu smiled slightly. “I am Celestial Venerable Mu, and I am the Son of Youdu. In my hands, I hold enough power to revive ancient gods, so why can’t I negotiate with him? Furthermore, he is dead, and I am alive. Without me acting as a go-between, Earth Count wouldn’t have tolerated him. I fear the first one who wants him dead is likely to be Earth Count! With me as the middleman, perhaps Earth Count might even let him go. Since you can’t make the decision, you can just ask his majesty directly then.”

Yan Qiling hesitated. Gritting her teeth, she replied, “I will go back and report this matter to his majesty…”

“There’s no need.”

Qin Mu’s gaze fell onto the halo at the back of her head, and he smiled. “Why do you need to go back? Isn’t Celestial Emperor constantly surveilling this place through his blessing? Am I right, your majesty?”

Yan Qiling was astonished, and the halo at the back of her head suddenly flickered. A face emerged in the halo, and it spoke calmly, “Celestial Venerable Mu, we finally meet.”

Qin Mu asked the dragon qilin to continue luring Dragon King Tian’s head, and then he replied, smiling, “Dare I ask your majesty, are you willing to have a chat with me?”

The face in the halo was silent for a while. “Heavenly Yin World, we will talk it out.”

Qin Mu’s heart jolted slightly, then he nodded and replied, “Two months later, we will meet in Heavenly Yin World.”

The face in the halo at the back of Yan Qiling’s head dissipated like smoke.

Yan Qiling sighed in relief, though her gaze was vigilant.

Qin Mu smiled gently. “Don’t guard against him too much, be careful you may die inexplicably.”

Yan Qiling composed herself and bowed towards him sincerely. “Thank you for your advice.”

Straightening up, she transformed into a swallow and flew off quickly, disappearing without a trace.

Qin Mu looked forwards. Another ruin appeared before him, and it was barren and desolate to the point that not even a half-god could be found—evidently, they were fearful of this place.

“Hopefully, this place can trap Dragon King Tian.”

In the Guardian Pavilion of the celestial heavens, Dao Master of the Dao Sect came to the top level, slashing off a piece of fine jade. Within the jade was the figure of Celestial Venerable Yu that was formed by countless runes.

“Didn’t the celestial heavens just create a few Celestial Venerable Yus previously?”

Celestial Heaven Dao Master shook his head in puzzlement. As he took the fine jade down from the Guardian Pavilion, he said in a low voice, “Why do they want to create another one now?”

Celestial Venerable Huo was waiting downstairs. Upon hearing what he said, he asked, “Created a few Celestial Venerable Yus? When did this happen?”

Dao Master hurriedly laughed in reply, saying, “The last time Celestial Venerable came, after you asked me to send Celestial Venerable Yu’s runes to the creation divine weapon, a few ancient beings came here saying that they wanted to create a few Celestial Venerable Yus to play with.”

Celestial Venerable Huo was taken aback, he laughed coldly. “These old things are all so erratic!”

Celestial Heaven Dao Master didn’t dare to continue further. He smiled and said, “Do I send this jade to the place with the creation divine weapon too?”

Celestial Venerable Huo nodded, his gaze flickering. “Who came to ask this from you?”

Dao Master replied hurriedly, “Celestial Venerable, give this old man a way out.”

Celestial Venerable Huo frowned but didn’t push further. “After it’s created, send it to my palace… How many have they created in total?”

“Nine. If you add the one that was created originally, it’s a total of ten.”

Dao Master laughed. “If Celestial Venerable’s one is added in, then there will be eleven.”