Tales of Herding Gods

in Mu stayed within the palace of Mahakala at ease. He spent the days either cultivating or wandering around leisurely, it was very relaxing. He didn’t seem to have any guardedness against Mahakala or the terrifying and sinister palace.

The lights were brightly lit within the palace of Mahakala, but outside of it was entirely dark. It was as though all light had been devoured by the darkness, one couldn’t see much beyond.

Qin Mu had walked out of the palace several times, and no one had stopped him. However, after walking into the middle of the darkness, Qin Mu would quickly turn around to return on his own, all smiles, seeming to be very happy.

Only the dragon qilin was very unhappy. He was very stern with the demoness who refined his spirit pills, criticizing the spirit pills’ taste and flavor, the purity of the spirit medicine, and the methods she used to refine—he was very picky.

Finally, after being scolded to tears more than a dozen times, the demoness could no longer bear it, and she ran away crying with her face in her hands.

“Cult Master, this girl has a bad attitude.”

The dragon qilin ate the spirit pills and continued, “She will do anything, but she can’t do anything. She can’t even refine spirit pills well.”

Qin Mu pinched a spirit pill over and tasted it, nodding in reply. “Her method of refining pills isn’t right, she didn’t purify the spirit medicine. Even areas like control of fire, timing, and portioning have some small problems. This resulted in the marginal differences in taste, flavor, and medicinal effects.”

The dragon qilin felt very well-understood, replying, “She made a mistake, yet she still has the face to cry. How shameless.”

At this very moment, a voice came from outside, yelling in rage, “Who dares to bully my cousin? Don’t cry cousin, I’ll go beat the fellow to death to avenge you!”

Qin Mu smiled. “Trouble is here.”

The dragon qilin was puzzled. “Cult Master, what do you mean?”

The demoness who had been chided till she cried came towards them, bringing a youth from the demon race with her. She pointed towards Qin Mu, and, with a choked voice, she said, “It’s him!”

The youth from the demon race looked to Qin Mu. Laughing coldly, he said, “You bullied my cousin? Even if you’re the guest of my master, Mahakala, I cannot tolerate you. I must bring you to justice today!”

Qin Mu ignored him, turning to the dragon qilin to explain. “Mahakala hasn’t done anything in the past few days. He made me stay in the palace, wanting to gamble with me. However, he really doesn’t have the confidence that he can beat me. Even with the disciples that he groomed and promoted personally, he has no certainty that they will be able to defeat me. Thus, he needs to stir up some trouble.”

The dragon qilin still didn’t fully understand.

Qin Mu laughed. “If a disciple takes the initiative, finding an excuse to challenge me, then this challenge won’t be counted in the gamble. Even if his disciple dies in my hands, it won’t count as a loss for him in our gamble. Furthermore, his other disciples will be able to take the opportunity and view the fight, observing my paths, skills, and divine arts from afar so as to find a way to counter me.”

The dragon qilin suddenly came to a realization, and the demon race youth who had rushed in with a formidable presence was also astonished.

The dragon qilin glanced at the youth, replying, “Then, Cult Master, the first of Mahakala’s disciples who comes to stir up trouble, what will be his fate?”

Qin Mu sighed. “He will be made to come and receive death by his senior and junior brothers.”

The expression on the demon race youth’s face changed dramatically, and he clenched his fists tightly.

Qin Mu continued indifferently, “When he’s dead, his senior and junior brothers will have observed some of my divine arts, and after studying it, they will send out the next one to die. He will use the techniques they have researched to continue to challenge me.”

The dragon qilin asked curiously, “Cult Master, what happens after?”

Qin Mu continued leisurely, “Then the second one will die. He will be killed easily using the flaws that were left behind purposely when I killed the first challenger. When I kill the first challenger, I will purposely leave some loopholes behind. They will study my loopholes, and thus the second one will be killed in a much simpler manner.”

The youth was pale now, and he looked lost. He turned around to look behind him helplessly, unsure if he should still follow the plan and continue challenging Qin Mu.

The dragon qilin ate his spirit pills and replied, “So, will Cult Master really kill the disciples of Mahakala within the palace of Mahakala?”

“Some people always imagine me to be too merciful. They see me as the Cult Master of the Heavenly Saint Cult, yet they don’t realize that the Heavenly Saint Cult is also the Heavenly Devil Cult.”

Qin Mu smiled slightly. “A single letter of challenge of mine was sent to the northern heavens. To solve the letter, I’m not sure how many divine arts practitioners of the northern heavens have died, but surely the disciples of Mahakala should be aware. So many divine arts practitioners have already died because of my single letter of challenge. Thus, if I personally kill a few of Mahakala’s disciples, can I still be considered vicious?”

The devil race youth turned ashen, and he looked at Qin Mu as though he was looking at a horrifying devil king that was choosing his prey.

The youth had come with great aggression, yet at this instant, he no longer had any desire to battle.

To be able to become a disciple of Mahakala, one would naturally have to be a youth with the most outstanding aptitude selected from the hundreds and thousands of others within the northern heavens. He would have to go through numerous life and death trials and tribulations, stepping on the innumerous corpses of his peers. Only then could he be highly regarded by Mahakala.

Thus, the abilities of every disciple of Mahakala were even more formidable than that of Feng Huayu!

They were all extraordinary and outstanding in their own way, and they were extremely confident and arrogant.

Yet, at this moment, the arrogance and confidence of this demon race youth had vanished, leaving behind only fear, loss, and helplessness.

He felt that he was like a newly-born little lamb and that Qin Mu was a menacing and vicious black dragon preying on him. In the dark, thunder and lightning crossed as heavy rain poured down, drenching the youth with penetrating coldness.

At any time, he could possibly become the appetizer of this vicious dragon!

Qin Mu spoke in a leisurely manner, “This senior brother, aren’t you here to lead the way?”

The face of the youth was now twisted, his body trembling.

Qin Mu gave him a look. “How indecisive, you’re making it difficult for me.”

The youth was drenched in perspiration. He suddenly raised his head and gritted his teeth. “If I leave, my Dao heart will be finished. My teacher Mahakala will also kick me out of the sect. I will never be able to raise my head again in the northern heavens, and my entire life will be destroyed!”

His voice was hoarse, and he hissed, “So I must fight. Even if I’ll die, I must fight! Only through this can I stabilize my Dao heart and stabilize my position within the northern heavens, and not be ridiculed by others. Only if I can withstand your attacks can I continue to move forward with determination!”

Qin Mu revealed an expression of admiration. “What’s your name?”

The devil race youth replied, “Mo Santong!”

Qin Mu nodded and asked, “Mo Santong, what are you most competent in? What did you use to enter the path?”

Mo Santong was stumped for a while, replying, “I followed Teacher Mahakala in cultivating the Dark Mo Jia Sutra, comprehending Mahakala’s fighting techniques, and entered the path with divine arts. Then I followed Senior Brother Ruandi in researching the results of the reforms of Eternal Peace, so I have some understanding of the Eternal Peace reforms.”

“Dark Mo Jia Sutra, Mahakala’s fighting techniques, entering the path with divine arts.”

Qin Mu laughed. “It’s already not too bad. I didn’t enter the path with divine arts myself. It’s very difficult to accomplish. At the moment, I have only succeeded in entering the path with sword skills and martial arts. However, the Eternal Peace reforms that Khan Ruandi learned are far too old, the reform results that he guided you with are long obsolete. Execute everything that you have learned and attack me. I will block them with divine arts. I admire you greatly. After you survive, go back and answer to your senior and junior brothers.”

Mo Santong’s eyes lit up, his aura bursting out.

Behind him, numerous demonic wheels emerged, floating upright. His primordial spirit appeared at the front of the enormous demon wheel, gradually standing up, becoming more and more imposing.

This was a primordial spirit with the form of a fat devil god. He had four arms, with four pairs of eyes across his forehead in one straight line. Numerous ribbons formed of Youdu runes fluttered about in all directions.

Using his primordial spirit to execute his divine arts while still being able to unleash the power of the divine arts to the extreme—it seemed that on entering the path through divine arts and unleashing his primordial spirit, the youth had extraordinary levels of attainments!

Mo Santong gave a loud roar, and the four-armed and eight-eyed devil god primordial spirit executed Mahakala’s fighting technique and attacked Qin Mu!

At this instant, the power of the Dark Mo Jia Sutra was demonstrated without restraint!

The devil path divine art was already unpredictably strange, yet the Dark Mo Jia Sutra actually had a powerful and magnificent side!

The four-armed eight-eyed devil god primordial spirit utilized his divine art. It was numerous demonic wheels rolling at Qin Mu following the movements of his four arms. In addition to that, within the eight eyes of the devil god primordial spirit, there were also numerous demon wheels that flew at Qin Mu.

There were incredibly complicated Youdu runes within these demon wheels, and the power hidden within them were extremely horrifying!

Qin Mu raised his arm, the divine art he executed was the great divine art of magnetism that Granny Si had founded. Behind and in front of him, the galaxy surrounded him, and the magnetic force exploded, colliding into Qin Mu.

Qin Mu hadn’t entered the path with divine arts, but Granny Si was a great expert who had entered the path through the divine art. He merely learned the great divine art that Granny Si had used to enter the path, executing it with ease.

Storms brewed instantly within the courtyard of the palace of Mahakala. Within the storm, Mo Santong flew backwards, slamming hard into a thick and enormous pillar.

Following immediately was the sound of a loud crash. Mo Santong was crushed until he was lying flat on the ground, and a huge hole that spanned several yards in radius and depth suddenly emerged in the ground!

The power contained within the magnetism divine art could distort space. It stretched out and squashed flat his corporeal body and primordial spirit at random, the different forces interchanged about instantaneously countless times. It was unusually unbearable for Mo Santong, who was at the bottom of the pit, and he was almost torn apart.

Qin Mu dispersed his divine art, and the galaxy that surrounded him vanished as well. Striding towards the huge pit, he said, “My divine arts aren’t as exquisite as yours, I’m just many times stronger than you in terms of magic power. However, because you entered the path through divine arts, it’s difficult for me to kill you using a divine art. Now, you can go back and answer to your senior and junior brothers.”

Mo Santong stood up with great difficulty. Walking out of the pit, he bowed towards Qin Mu.

Qin Mu returned his respects slightly. “You lack a little in your Youdu runes, so you’re unable to fully execute the power of Youdu’s Great Dao runes.”

Mo Santong was initially about to take his leave, but upon hearing this, he jolted slightly and bowed towards Qin Mu. “Dare I invite the Overlord Body to enlighten me.”

Qin Mu replied gladly, “It’s not a big deal for me to guide you. Execute your devil god primordial spirit again and utilize Mahakala’s fighting techniques.”

Mo Santong did as he was told. Qin Mu came to the side of his primordial spirit, plucking out several dozen Great Dao runes from the demonic wheels. Qin Mu’s mind shifted, transforming his own vital qi into devil vital qi. Then, he tweaked the structure of these Great Dao runes. He turned to Mo Santong and said, “Try executing your great divine art again.”

Mo Santong executed Mahakala’s fighting techniques and instantly felt as though the power of his great divine art had actually increased by twenty to thirty percent. He was astonished and delighted, and he quickly sought guidance, asking, “Dare I ask, Overlord Body, why did you make such changes?”

Qin Mu looked around. Noticing that it was a mess, he smiled and said, “It’s too chaotic here, let’s find a cleaner place to talk it through slowly.”

Mo Santong walked with him into a pavilion within the palace. Mo Santong wanted to execute his Mahakala fighting techniques again, but due to his lack of cultivation, he was unable to do it.

Qin Mu refined a cauldron of demonic vitality pills for him and said, “After you take this, utilize the Dark Mo Jia Sutra, it will help you recover your cultivation quickly.”

Mo Santong did what he was told, and indeed, his cultivation was quickly restored. He was full of admiration for Qin Mu.

Qin Mu guided him on Youdu’s Great Dao runes, and Mo Santong felt that every word he said was as valuable as a pearl. His admiration for Qin Mu grew even more. He brought up all the problems he had faced in cultivation, and Qin Mu thought about them quickly and easily gave him solutions.

Mo Santong was completely in awe of him.

The two of them conversed for half a day, and Mo Santong was long won over. He stood up and bowed towards Qin Mu. “Your great reputation is truly justified. Overlord Body Qin is knowledgeable beyond measure, I’m completely convinced.”

Qin Mu quickly grabbed him up, smiling as he said, “I have to thank you as well. You can go back to see your senior and junior brothers now.”

Mo Santong was bewildered, but he felt that he shouldn’t probe, so he turned to take his leave.

Traveling through several long corridors, Mo Santong was quickly stopped by some of his senior and junior brothers. He quickly said, “He guided me for half a day, and my divine art is even more perfect now than it was before!”

After a short while, a voice filled with rage could be heard, and it yelled out, “Overlord Body Qin of Eternal Peace, you bullied my junior brother, I’m here to seek revenge for him!”

Qin Mu stood up, smiling as he said, “May I ask who you are?”

The tall and sturdy being from the demon race that had rushed over with wide steps placed his hands on his hips, sneering. “Disciple of Mahakala, Xue Taidou!”

Qin Mu smiled slightly. “Brother Xue, what did you enter the path with?”

Xue Taidou replied coldly, “I entered the path with the demon knife.”

Qin Mu revealed a troubled expression. “I haven’t entered the path with knife skills. How about this, Brother Xue can execute the divine art you used to enter the path, and I will retaliate with knife techniques.”

Xue Taidou looked at him with widened eyes, suddenly breaking into a huge smile. “After you defeat me, will you also guide me a little?”

…

In the main hall of the palace of Mahakala, Mahakala sat in the main seat, drinking tea leisurely. The loud noises of divine arts bursting out intermittently could be heard by his ears. In front of him, an enormous black pool appeared. The pool was like a mirror, and it revealed the exact scene of Qin Mu fighting his disciple with absolute clarity. The viewing angle could also be adjusted such that he was able to observe every single side of Qin Mu’s divine arts.

“Mahakala, even though he’s guiding your disciples, in reality, he’s learning your Dark Mo Jia Sutra in secret.”

Suddenly, a young-sounding voice laughed out. “It can’t be that you really can’t tell?”

Mahakala put down his teacup, frowning slightly, the darkness in his eyes brewing. “We are trying to see his paths, skills, and divine arts, yet he’s trying to learn my ultimate art from my disciples. Can there really be an Overlord Body in the world?”

“Regarding the Overlord Body, it has long been spoken of.”

The youthful voice in the dark drew closer. “Back in the first year of Dragon Han, there were already rumors of the Overlord Body. This Overlord Body Qin is truly very formidable. These disciples of yours have gotten his guidance, but he will also quickly figure out your Dark Mo Jia Sutra!”

Mahakala gave a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, replying, “Yet, he thinks that I’m using my disciples to deal with him. He doesn’t realize that it is, in fact, you that I will be using to deal with him. His scheming against my Mo Jia Sutra is just a waste of his efforts. He has actually just helped me to guide my disciples.”

The young man walked out of the darkness completely and looked at the figure of Qin Mu within the black pool with interest, smiling. “You are old and scheming, that’s why you could survive from the ancient era until now.”

His face was lit up, and he looked exactly like Celestial Venerable Yu, Lan Yutian, just marginally thinner.

This Celestial Venerable Yu laughed. “If you let him continue to play, your Mo Jia Sutra will be completely revealed to him. If that happens, your Mo Jia Sutra will be worthless.”

Mahakala called for someone to come, giving his orders in a hushed tone, and the person hurriedly took his leave.

“You searched about for the Emperor’s Throne technique, didn’t you long want to obtain my Mo Jia Sutra?”

Mahakala smiled. “This is an opportunity for you. If you defeat him, I’ll give you my Mo Jia Sutra!”

That Celestial Venerable Yu stared at the Qin Mu within the black pool. There was no one around Qin Mu now. Within the black pool, Qin Mu was actually executing the Dark Mo Jia Sutra, and there were numerous black wheels spinning around behind him. Following that, the black wheels became more and more concentrated, and they actually transformed into a huge black sun, looking similar to Mahakala’s own black sun!

Even the skin on Mahakala’s face started to twitch uncontrollably as he stared straight at the Qin Mu within the pool.

At this very moment, the Qin Mu within the pool seemed to have sensed something. He suddenly raised his head and looked towards them, meeting their gaze.

The fake Celestial Venerable Yu was astonished. He watched as the black water rose up from the pool, gradually transforming into the form of Qin Mu before them!

That Qin Mu strode forwards, walking out of the black pool. The black water on his body retreated like black oil, and it quickly vanished.

“Mahakala, the helper that you have invited is here?”

The black oil on his body had completely disappeared, and he revealed a smile as he looked towards Mahakala and the fake Celestial Venerable Yu.

The two of them stared at him intensely, unable to tell if this Qin Mu who walked out of the black water was real or fake.

Suddenly, from outside the palace came Qin Mu’s voice. He laughed and said, “Since he has arrived, then, please!”

Both of them were shocked. They watched as the Qin Mu before them gave a weird smile before collapsing and transforming into a pool of black oil.

“The Overlord Body is unpredictability mysterious, you must be careful!”

Mahakala continued solemnly, “I have never seen such a sinister being! He’s even more sinister than the devil gods!”