Tales of Herding Gods

After quite some time, a bull-headed, human-bodied devil god from the northern heavens spoke in a solemn voice, “Is the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace a god? That old fox Wen Tiange didn’t mention that the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace has already cultivated to the god realm! If you’re a god, then we will naturally choose an expert of the god realm to challenge you!”

Qin Mu’s aura was overwhelming. He opened his divine treasures for everyone to look at clearly, and he shook his head in reply. “I’ve only just opened my seventh divine treasure recently.”

A formless aura shrouded River Tomb Academy like a suppressive dark cloud over a city, and at this moment, everyone felt a sense of breathlessness.

It was as though a god had unrestrainedly released his imposing aura, and it was likely that even beyond thousands of miles, the terrifying pressure of his aura could still be felt!

Luckily, Qin Mu didn’t overdo it—after releasing some of his aura, he exercised restraint.

Village Chief and the others in the village had always reminded him to keep a low profile. If there was no special situation, he would normally not reveal his full abilities at the first moment.

‘This time, I’ve only revealed 40 percent of my cultivation, it should be considered low key enough.’

Qin Mu looked around his surroundings and was all smiles, thinking to himself, ‘I’ve not laid out all my cards. I haven’t taken off the willow leaf on the heart of my brows, and I haven’t revealed my divine treasures of the devil path.’

The many devils and gods of the northern heavens frowned at this. Looking at the divine treasure apparitions floating behind Qin Mu, the corners of their eyes twitched.

This person was truly too powerful, so powerful that he was almost inhuman, and unlike a divine arts practitioner!

This sort of overbearing power wasn’t the power of the path, skills, and divine arts, it was solely that of strong magic power.

Qin Mu’s magic power was on par with the gods who ascended the celestial palace and stood before the Southern Heavenly Gates, and it was possibly even more powerful than theirs!

Such formidable magic power led one to believe that if he walked through the Southern Heavenly Gates, he would most likely be able to endure the pressure of it and become a real god directly!

Of course, the higher the level of cultivation, the greater the pressure to be endured when entering the Southern Heavenly Gates. Therefore, they also felt it likely that when Qin Mu walked through the Southern Heavenly Gates, it was possible that he would be crushed into pieces instead.

What was more frightening was that Qin Mu’s divine treasures were unique and were actually connected as one, there were no barriers between the divine treasures!

They were unable to make out his seventh divine treasure, they couldn’t tell if it was the huge towering tree of the Six Directions Land or the celestial river that flowed out of the celestial palace.

‘What kind of freak is this?’

A few of the gods and devils looked at each other, thinking in unison, ‘So this is the Overlord Body?’

The young experts from the northern heavens, despite being the cream of the crop who had been selected carefully, were still no match against such a terrifying fellow!

However, Duke Wei understood Qin Mu’s intentions. When Qin Mu arrived at River Tomb Academy, he had directly demonstrated his power by levitating over the Gold River, revealing his superb abilities.

Based on Duke Wei’s understanding of Qin Mu, Qin Mu wasn’t solely trying to show off his might as the Overlord Body, he was also trying to scare off a portion of the challengers—he didn’t want to battle those of lesser ability.

Although Qin Mu had always been kind and pleasant in his treatment of others, he was actually very arrogant. If one had a low level of cultivation and was of lesser ability, he wouldn’t be interested in fighting them.

‘However, looking at this situation, Cult Master isn’t scaring off a portion of the challengers, he’s scaring off all the young experts from the northern heavens.’

Duke Wei looked around his surroundings, thinking to himself, ‘The young experts of the northern heavens may be strong, but they aren’t strong beyond reasonable levels. Even if they all attacked at the same time, I fear it wouldn’t take much time for them to be slaughtered by Cult Master.’

“Hahaha! The Overlord Body of Eternal Peace truly lives up to its reputation!”

The devil god with the bull head suddenly laughed out loud, saying in a loud voice, “Overlord Body Qin is truly exceptionally powerful. We, the envoys, have already seen what you can do. You have the right to compete with the northern heavens. We aren’t here to challenge Overlord Body Qin, but instead, are here to deliver the letter of challenge.”

Having said that, the other gods and devils of the northern heavens revealed expressions of incomprehension.

They had clearly thought of Eternal Peace as an easy target and had come forth to bully it and this Overlord Body of Eternal Peace, wanting to seize Eternal Peace as well while they were at it.

Without changing his expression, the devil god with the bull head said with awe-inspiring righteousness, “We previously witnessed the abilities of Eternal Peace’s divine arts practitioners and were worried that the Overlord Body would merely be of such standards. But now that we have seen what you can do, we feel that you are qualified to accept the letter of challenge from the northern heavens!”

The rest of the gods and devils came to a sudden realization. ‘So this is what he meant. The divine arts practitioners that we brought are of no match for this fierce fellow. If we say we were actually only here to deliver the letter of challenge, we can still redeem our faces.’

The devil god with the bull head had a solemn expression as he continued with a deep voice, “The northern heavens are unified under the name of Mahakala. Since Overlord Body Qin has the capabilities, then we invite Overlord Body Qin to head to the northern heavens, we will be waiting for your arrival there!”

The other gods and devils nodded their heads, exclaiming, “We await your arrival!”

Duke Wei asked curiously, “Where is your letter of challenge?”

With his expression unchanged, the devil god with the bull head replied, “Eternal Peace is just a small country, there is no need for an actual letter of challenge. We are just delivering a message.”

Duke Wei smiled scornfully.

The devil god was extremely thick-skinned, and he continued, “The letter of challenge has been delivered. We shall now return to the northern heavens, we hope that Overlord Body Qin comes soon. Let’s go—”

He turned around, intending to lead the divine arts practitioners of the northern heavens to make their exit.

“Hold on.” Qin Mu’s voice rang out from behind them.

The back muscles of the devil god with the bull head tensed up, and he hurriedly turned around just in case Qin Mu sneaked up on him.

Qin Mu smiled pleasantly. “The seniors of the northern heavens have no etiquette. You say you are here to deliver a letter of challenge, yet you didn’t deliver it. However, Eternal Peace cannot be as rude, I will have to reply with a letter of challenge. When you go back, let the heroes of the northern heavens take a look at it.”

The devil god was relieved, smiling. “Overlord Body Qin, please go ahead!”

Zhnng—

From within Qin Mu’s taotie sack flew out Carefree Sword. Qin Mu pressed his fingers together and pointed outwards, and Carefree Sword pierced into the sky with a “Chi” sound.

Qin Mu moved his feet around, and his sword fingers changed in position, pointing about continuously. Carefree Sword moved about continuously as well, drawing in the air the figure of a high spirited youth with a long sword on his back.

Very soon, Qin Mu had finished drawing this image with Carefree Sword.

He had copied Deaf’s painting of the Sword God; however, the person drawn within wasn’t Village Chief in his youth, it was Qin Mu himself.

“This is my letter of challenge.”

Qin Mu gripped Carefree Sword. Gently shaking his hand, he cut out the image from the air. He pressed on it, and the image was now half a foot long.

Duke Wei ordered someone to bring an invitation card over; Qin Mu placed the sword picture inside the card and said, “When you return, select young experts, and then open my letter of challenge. Also, those of low levels of cultivation must not look at the letter of challenge. When I sense that the sword picture within the letter of challenge has been destroyed, I will personally head to the northern heavens and pay each and every one a visit.”

He hesitated for a moment, then continued with great sincerity, “For the sake of your lives, you must not open this letter of challenge. Only when you have selected the strongest divine arts practitioners of each realm can you open it. In addition, outsiders must not see the contents of the letter of challenge, as it is very dangerous! Bear this in mind, bear this in mind! Everyone, you may go now.”

The devil god with the bull head had a grave expression; taking the letter of challenge, he shouted, “Let’s go!”

The gods and devils, along with the divine arts practitioners of the northern heavens, quickly took their leave.

When they were far away from the River Tomb Academy, one of the divine arts practitioners asked, “Teacher, is this letter of challenge really so powerful? Could you open it to let us take a look?”

The devil god with the bull head shook his head. “It must not be opened so lightly. The sword picture within the letter of challenge contains his divine arts. Once it’s opened, it will trigger his divine arts.”

Another devil god laughed. “You’re overstating it. The sword picture he drew, although it hides his divine arts within, if the divine arts burst out when it’s merely opened once, won’t the letter of challenge be destroyed? In my opinion, as long as we don’t utilize our vital qi, then we won’t trigger his divine arts. Opening it up to take a look wouldn’t be much of an issue.”

The other gods and devils laughed in reply. “Know yourself and know your enemy so that you will be victorious in every battle!”

The devil god with the bull head hesitated for a while. Taking out the letter of challenge, he said, “You can take a look at it then. But there must not be any fluctuation of the vital qi so as to not trigger his divine arts. I still need to take this letter of challenge to see Mahakala. Amongst our heavens, we don’t have such a terrifying expert, only under Mahakala are there powerful individuals who can be his match.”

He opened the letter of challenge carefully, and indeed, Qin Mu’s divine arts didn’t burst out. With a sigh of relief, he said, “You can come forward to look at it now.”

Everyone came forward, looking at the sword picture within the letter of challenge.

Qin Mu had used Carefree Sword as a brush, drawing in the air and imprinting his sword techniques on it.

To achieve this step, one would be required to have the abilities of a god. Only a god could imprint divine arts into space, letting it stay there for a very long time.

Everyone came to view the sword picture. The Qin Mu within the picture looked exactly like a real person, it was three-dimensional and looked realistic and vivid.

“This Overlord Body of Eternal Peace is really a man of many talents. If he went to the streets to sell his paintings, he would definitely be very successful!” Everyone laughed.

The devil god with the bull head hurriedly exclaimed, “I didn’t show you this to let you judge his drawing skills, it’s to let you all look at the path of his sword techniques, so as to see his true skill level! Who knows, we might even be able to find his divine arts from this painting so that we can find something to deal with him.”

Everyone was solemn now, looking to the picture carefully.

Suddenly, a half-god cried out loudly. His aura exploded, and the sound of divine treasures opening rang out from his body. Both of his arms were outstretched as though trying to shield himself, and he cried out, “He’s coming at me with his sword!”

The expression of the devil god with the bull head changed drastically. Just as he was about to block him to stop his vital qi’s fluctuation from striking the letter of challenge, suddenly the heart of the brows of the half-god split open—his primordial spirit was slaughtered by a formless power, instantly his soul dispersed and he died from this unnatural event.

The bull head devil god was taken aback by this. He went forward to inspect, only to see a wound the shape of a sword stab between the brows of the half-god. However, this force hadn’t come from an external source, it came from inside of him.

“What kind of divine art is this?”

The moment he thought about it, another few half-god divine arts practitioners went into a frenzy, utilizing their spirit weapons to attack their surroundings as they cried out, “He’s attacking me!”

Before they could finish what they wanted to say, there were sharp noises that rang out from the bodies of these half-gods—there were numerous blood arrows shooting out from all over their bodies. Their bodies shook violently, and following that, their primordial spirits were destroyed, and they all collapsed!

“Don’t look at the letter of challenge!”

The devil god with the bull head had a sudden realization, and he hurriedly closed the letter of challenge and put it away.

However, it was too late.

The divine arts practitioners that had followed them to Eternal Peace to challenge the Overlord Body had, one by one, as though falling into a state of insanity, started to attack their surroundings with divine arts and spirit weapons. It was like they were engaging in a deathmatch with an invisible enemy!

The other gods and devils quickly came forward and tried to control them, yet despite being suppressed, these half-gods were still filled with thousands of holes. All of them had their primordial spirit destroyed, and they were all dying one by one.

The devil god with the bull head, along with the rest of the gods and devils, all felt a chill in their spine. They looked around their surroundings in a daze, and at their feet was a ground covered with corpses.

“Sinister!”

A devil god cried out in a shrill voice, “This is goddamn sinister!”

The other gods and devils were pale. Qin Mu hadn’t fought these challengers from the start till the end. He merely demonstrated his powers before River Tomb Academy, intimidating the divine arts practitioners from the other heavens.

Yet, although Qin Mu hadn’t done anything, his letter of challenge had killed all of these divine arts practitioners!

“What’s the reason for this? What divine art is this?” One of the devil gods asked with a trembling voice.

“Sword skill.”

The devil god with the bull head replied in a hoarse voice, “The sword skill to enter the path! When you see the sword skill, you will imprint his sword skills in your heart. This kind of sword skill is too sinister, it attacks your spirit and will. When your spirit and will crumble, it will steal your powers, and using your own powers, it will unleash the powers of the sword skills within your body. The spirit and the will of these practitioners couldn’t defeat the will of the sword path hidden within the picture, and that is why they died. We are beings of the god realm, so the will of the sword path within the picture didn’t have any effect on us.”

A chill went down the spines of the many gods and devils.

The bull head devil god shouted out sternly, “Go! Let’s go see Mahakala!”

The others followed after him hurriedly. One of the gods couldn’t help himself, and he asked, “How could his sword picture hide such a terrifying will of the sword path? Could such a powerful will exist in this world?”

“This isn’t willpower, it’s undying god consciousness.”

At the Mahakala celestial palace, darkness seeped out of this legendary palace, enshrouding its surroundings. However, inside, it was brightly lit. The back of Mahakala’s head had a black sun, and he sat upon the throne and opened up Qin Mu’s letter of challenge. Looking at it closely, he said in a leisurely manner, “This type of undying god consciousness came from the Crimson Light Era. It’s the technique of the first fake emperor Crimson Emperor of the Crimson Light Era. If you all don’t recognize it, it’s only natural. Even the celestial heavens didn’t have the skills of Crimson Emperor. This sword picture isn’t sinister at all. On the contrary, it’s upright and magnificent.”