Tales of Herding Gods

Even though the dragon qilin had merely said a single word, “right”, Qin Mu still felt as though he had received great encouragement; he was quickly in high spirits again.

Yan’er watched this scene and couldn’t help but click her tongue in awe, shoving a spirit pill towards the dragon qilin.

Upon seeing this, the water qilin was very envious, thinking to himself, ‘When my lord is lost and perplexed, I must say the word ‘right’ too. This way, I will be able to obtain more food rations. However, it seems like my lord has always been very lost…’

Goddess of Heavenly Yin sent the group out of Heavenly Yin World solicitously. Before taking her leave, the goddess whispered, “Great Wizard, you won’t be angry with what I did, right? Celestial Emperor is, after all, His Majesty of us ancient gods. Even though he has done a lot of bad things to the other ancient gods, at the end of everything, he is still not considered evil. When Dao Ancestor sought me out to request the runes of Heavenly Yin World to gather his majesty’s soul, I couldn’t reject him.”

“Goddess, you don’t have to say anything, I fully understand.”

Qin Mu smiled. “Goddess is mindful of old ties, so it’s only natural to make the choice that you did. However, Goddess, you are no longer an ancient god born from heaven and earth. As an ancient god, you are already dead. You are now a whole new life, you are the same as us—we are all lifeforms after the beginning of the world.”

Goddess of Heavenly Yin was at a loss of words.

“Goddess, you are naive, so naive that you don’t guard against outsiders, that you don’t know why you died, and so naive that you returned to devote yourself to Ancient God Celestial Emperor. But did you not think about it before? When you died, a single piece of Ancient God Celestial Emperor’s soul had already assumed a high position within the Heaven Alliance.”

Qin Mu bowed as a parting, and with great sincerity, he continued, “He didn’t stop Son of Heaven Yin from laying his hands on you. Similarly, he also didn’t stop the Heaven Alliance from attacking Mother Earth. Goddess, your corporeal body was destroyed. When I revived you, you only had your skin left. After your revival, you are still different from Celestial Emperor. He still has his ancient god corporeal body, he can still become an ancient god. You and him are no longer the same kind of lifeforms.”

Goddess of Heavenly Yin revealed a dazed expression as she watched them leave. Qin Mu’s voice still echoed in her ear. “Goddess, you cannot be so naive anymore.”

The dragon qilin used his vital qi to hold on to a huge mirror, carrying the mirror on his back while continuing on the journey. Qin Mu wasn’t on his head this time, and the water qilin followed closely by. Celestial Venerable Yu was also missing. Only Yan’er was leaping about, busily feeding them spirit pills.

This girl would occasionally grab some spirit pills and stick her hand into the mirror. Inside the mirror, Celestial Venerable Yu would open his mouth to receive the spirit pills.

Qin Mu was also in the mirror world. He took out a small mirror, and, turning his back on the jade scrolls within the mirror, lifted it to see the runes on the jade scrolls.

Immediately after, he took out multiple calculation spirit weapons, forming a huge calculation tool and performing calculations relentlessly. He was attempting to fuse Dao Master Lin Xuan’s perfected Computational Canon of Supreme Molecule into it in order to perfect the runes.

Celestial Venerable Yu, on the other hand, was lost in thought beside him. His cultivation had reached a bottleneck; he was already at the peak of the Spirit Embryo Realm, and he intended to advance further.

Qin Mu hadn’t imparted the techniques to open the Five Elements Divine Treasure to him, and he hadn’t taught him how to cultivate. Celestial Venerable Yu hadn’t asked him to either, because Qin Mu had told him before that Overlord Bodies like his would create their own techniques and figure out their own path.

Because of this, Celestial Venerable Yu had stubbornly decided that he would seek out his own path.

The dragon qilin followed the surface of the Surging River, traveling to the east. There were many sand ships following the river course on the Surging River that were also sailing towards the east. Beneath these huge ships, Dragon Rearing Sovereign and a few Dragon Kings revealed their true bodies, swimming through the celestial river and using their power to help speed up the flow of the water and thus the traveling speed of the ships.

The Metal of Heavenly Yin wasn’t uncommon in the Heavenly Yin World, yet it was a rare item in the outside world; there were quite a few robberies along the way. Since the celestial river connected multiple heavens, there were devil gods that came from the heavens to rob the ships; they were fought off by Dragon Rearing Sovereign and the Dragon Kings.

Qin Mu hadn’t asked the dragon qilin to use his full strength for the journey, so his speed was almost on par with the sand ships beneath them. In addition, the dragon qilin was content to be able to enjoy spirit pills along the way.

Occasionally, Dragon Kings would fly out from beneath the river surface, and upon realizing that the dragon qilin was the mount of Qin Mu, they would offer underwater treasures and delicacies. The dragon qilin rarely ate meat, so he only accepted artifacts like dragon beads, while Yan’er and the water qilin were open to offerings of all varieties.

A portion of the sand ships sailed to Surging River Academy and started to unload so that the Metal of Heavenly Yin could be refined there. Another portion of the sand ships continued sailing east, going all the way to the sea.

The surface of the sea was a lot wider and vaster today as compared to the past. The dragon qilin looked towards the east; the sky picture was unable to cover the surface of the sea, and the sun was actually rising from mid-air instead of the water’s surface.

Even more peculiar, there were gigantic planets on the surface of the sea. Some had smashed into the sea, revealing half a circular body, while some hung from the sky barrier, looking even more huge in scale.

These planets had torn the sky apart, revealing alarming cracks that streaked across the sky.

The god who guarded the sky picture had long given up, completely disregarding the damaged sky picture and not bothering to patch it up.

Suddenly, Qin Mu stuck his head out of the mirror. Looking around his surroundings, he was stunned by the sight in front of him. “This is the estuary of the Surging River? The god guarding the sky picture is really slacking off, this is unbearable to look at.”

The dragon qilin said, “We have reached the estuary.”

On the other side of the mirror, Celestial Venerable Yu stuck out his head, looking about curiously.

“In ancient times, the celestial river would keep flowing and eventually enter the Ruins of Ends. Now the celestial river flows into the sea, missing a huge portion. To find the Ruins of Ends, I’m afraid it will be extremely difficult.”

Qin Mu suddenly adjusted the mirror, letting it stand upright. He looked downwards with his body parallel to the surface of the sea, only to see the sand ship forming a fleet and sailing along the coastline in the northern direction. Qin Mu commented, “Without the protection of the Dragon Kings, isn’t it dangerous for these sand ships?”

As he spoke, enormous green backs emerged from the surface of the sea, looking like islands—they were actually gigantic fish swimming over, protecting the sand ships from all four sides.

Enormous black tortoises swam over in the sea as well, accompanying the sand ships as they continued on their way.

At this moment, another ship sailed over from a harbor by the shore of the sea. Atop the ship were apparitions that rose into the air, transforming into a long river dam that was constructed from earth, wood, and water.

Vertically and horizontally across, the long river dam was almost 800 yards in length. The river spanned several hundred miles, it was a truly grand sight.

Several green-backed fish swam towards the apparition, suddenly leaping out of the water and transforming into men and women before boarding the ship.

A few enormous black tortoises swam over too, also transforming into human form to board the ship.

“This level of apparition of water conservancy, earth, and wood is likely the work of Eternal Peace Empire’s Great Sikong Wei Pingbo. It looks like Eternal Peace’s god of water conservancy has assumed personal command to protect the sand ships.”

Qin Mu took a quick look and said, “The green-backed fish on the sea’s surface are of the Kun race, and the black tortoises are of the Black Tortoise god race. Back then, in the battle of God Broken Mountain Range, they were ordained by Human Emperor’s Seal to come forth and assist in battle, and they suffered great casualties. With the help of the god of water conservancy and the god races of the sea, the sand ships won’t be in much danger.”

He felt at ease now, retreating back into the mirror to continue his research.

Celestial Venerable Yu crawled out of the mirror. Sitting very convincingly on the water qilin’s head, he turned to Yan’er and said, “Sister, don’t feed me anymore, I will be cultivating in seclusion for the next few days.”

Yan’er felt uneasy and replied, “Will you starve? Do you want to fill your stomach first?”

Celestial Venerable Yu thought about it for a moment. “I should probably fill my stomach first.”

The dragon qilin started to speed up, following closely along the coastline and traveling in the northern direction. After almost 20 days of traveling, they finally reached the estuary of the Gold River.

During this period, an apparition suddenly occurred one night; the aspect of the celestial bodies in the sky was thrown into disorder, and star power converged into a stream that was visible to the naked eye and tunneled frantically into Celestial Venerable Yu’s body.

This event continued for several days and nights before it finally came to a stop.

Yan’er and the water qilin decided to wake Celestial Venerable Yu and ask him why this was happening. The dragon qilin hurriedly stopped them. “Blue Fatty is in the stage of comprehending his path, he must not be disturbed. Cult Master said that the state of comprehension is very hard to come by, if one can experience it one or two times in their lifetime, it is already considered a remarkable feat.”

The water qilin asked with suspicion, “Really? I remember that when my lord opened the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, he had already comprehended his path. It seemed very easy for him.”

The dragon qilin was also a little perplexed. “That is what Cult Master said.”

The dragon qilin traveled against the estuary, reaching River Tomb, and only then did he put down the mirror from his back. Knocking on the surface of the mirror, he said, “Cult Master, we have arrived at River Tomb.”

Qin Mu jumped out of the mirror and waved his sleeves, putting the mirror in his taotie sack.

Celestial Venerable Yu awoke and said excitedly, “Brother, I’ve opened the second divine treasure!”

Qin Mu leaped down from the dragon qilin’s head, signaling that they would be walking, and laughed. “Which divine treasure did you open?”

All this while, Qin Mu hadn’t taught Celestial Venerable Yu how to open the divine treasures, nor had he taught him any skills or divine arts. He merely let him learn on his own and not cultivate diligently.

The Eternal Peace of today was an era of abundant knowledge, and the skills and divine arts of every academy could be imparted to outsiders. Celestial Venerable Yu had already read the book collections of the Imperial College, Surging River Academy, Heavenly Saint Academy, Li River Academy, and Dao Sect Academy. His knowledge was already incredibly profound, his perspectives and experiences extraordinary—he was superior to the Celestial Venerable Yu of the ancient times by leaps and bounds.

Qin Mu had faith that even if Celestial Venerable Yu didn’t cultivate the techniques of another, he would still be able to walk out a path of his own.

“Galaxy Divine Treasure!”

Celestial Venerable Yu leaped into the air excitedly. “I found inspiration when I was viewing the astronomical phenomena. Thus, I opened the galaxy around the spirit embryo.”

Qin Mu stopped in his tracks, stunned. He probed, “Galaxy Divine Treasure? Not Five Elements Divine Treasure or Six Directions Divine Treasure?”

Celestial Venerable Yu shook his head.

Qin Mu was confounded and asked, “What does this Galaxy Divine Treasure look like?”

Celestial Venerable Yu thought for a moment, then opened up his Divine Treasure to demonstrate it to Qin Mu.

Qin Mu looked at his divine treasure, and his head was blank. Celestial Venerable Yu’s chubby spirit embryo sat atop the spirit platform and was surrounded by a boundless galaxy that revolved around him.

Most crucially, there was no wall between the divine treasures!

Qin Mu shook his head. Inspecting it carefully, he really didn’t see a wall between the divine treasures!

This meant that Celestial Venerable Yu’s Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure and Galaxy Divine Treasure were one!

“Cult Master, Blue Fatty fell into the state of comprehension again when he opened the Galaxy Divine Treasure.”

The dragon qilin continued carefully, “In addition, when he gets into the state, it goes on for ten days. Cult Master, actually, I feel that it’s not very important whether the Overlord Body is alpha or beta…”

Qin Mu couldn’t hold his expression together, and he nodded. “Fatty Dragon, what you said really makes a lot of sense… I don’t know why, but suddenly, I really feel like beating someone up!”

His expression was unpleasant as he walked towards the manufacturing factories of River Tomb.

River Tomb was where Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had started his work, the River Tomb Academy was also built here, and most of the manufacturing factories of Eternal Peace Empire were gathered here; there were even more factories here than those around Surging River Academy.

When the sand ships reached this place, they would unload at the manufacturing factories, where the Metal of Heavenly Yin would be refined.

Qin Mu saw that numerous gigantic Sunshot Divine Cannon components were already being constructed, though they weren’t assembled yet.

When he arrived at the manufacturing factory, someone from the Heavenly Saint Heavenly Works Hall came forward to welcome him. Qin Mu ordered them to bring forth the blueprints of the Sunshot Divine Cannon, and upon looking through it, he smiled. “It has really been improved on by Grandpa Blind. He added the formation from the Founding Emperor Era that borrowed the power of heaven and earth. This way, the Sunshot Divine Cannon can borrow power to float in the air, thus not requiring the consumption of too many medicinal stones.”

The disciple of Heavenly Works Hall said, “Cult Master, the Sunshot Divine Cannon needs to gather energy that is sufficient to kill devil gods in an instant, which will still require medicinal stones to activate the pill furnace so as to allow it to shoot quickly.”

Qin Mu nodded and smiled. “Is Imperial Preceptor in River Tomb?”

“Imperial Preceptor is not here, but there have been many guests from the different tribes here in River Tomb recently—they were heading there for a challenge.”

The disciple continued, “Apparently, they are young experts from the heavens of the north, and they are here to challenge…”

He glanced at Qin Mu, continuing carefully, “To challenge the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace. These experts have already blockaded the River Tomb Academy for over a dozen days.”

“Heavens of the north… challenge the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace?”

Qin Mu was astonished. “Since when was I so famous?”

The Heavenly Works Hall disciple was even more careful now. Small beads of sweat were even breaking out on his forehead. He replied, “I heard… I merely heard… so it must be taken with a grain of salt. I heard that Saint Woodcutter and Heavenly Teacher Zi Xi paid a visit to the heavens of the north and announced unrestrainedly that there was an Overlord Body in Eternal Peace who had fought across the realms unmatched. They even said that if one could defeat the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace in the same realm, the entire Eternal Peace Empire would surrender. I also heard that Saint Woodcutter made an unknown number of bets with the gods of the heavens of the north, making some Pact of Little Earth Count…”

Qin Mu was dumbstruck. It took him a while before he returned to his senses.

“Shifting the conflicts onto me? Teacher is really, is really… an old b*stard! However, I was just thinking of beating someone up!”