Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 905: When Nothingness Is Treated As Something, Something Becomes Nothing

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

It was as though Yan Shaoqing suddenly turned mad. He was laughing and crying at the same time. Several prison guards hurriedly put down what they were doing and ran over to hold him up.

Yan Shaoqing yelled and struggled out of their grips, shrilly crying out, “Fake, you’re all fake!”

He injured several guards and even killed a few in a row. Suddenly, his body stiffened like a wooden puppet, and he stood in place numbly as he looked at the bloodstains on both of his hands in a dazed manner.

After a long time, he turned his head around with difficulty and asked Qin Mu, “Celestial Venerable Mu, is it real or fake this time?”

Qin Mu sighed and said, “Left Assistant Minister, I intend to leave now, aren’t you going to send me off?”

The muscles on Yan Shaoqing’s face twitched violently, and his expression was distorted.

He followed behind Qin Mu and walked outside.

After a short while, he sent Qin Mu and the others out of the prison. Qin Mu then turned around and smiled, saying, “Left Assistant Minister, there’s no need to send me any further.”

Yan Shaoqing bowed and replied monotonously, “Farewell, Celestial Venerable.”

With a smile on his face, Qin Mu sat down slowly. Fiery clouds appeared beneath the dragon qilin’s feet, and he started to fly off with Qin Mu on his back.

“Celestial Venerable Mu, is it reality or an illusion right now?” Yan Shaoqing’s voice traveled from behind them.

Qin Mu patted the dragon qilin on the head, and the dragon qilin quickly stopped in his tracks.

Qin Mu laughed and said, “When what is real is passed off as fake, then what is fake is also real. When nothingness is treated as something, something becomes nothing. Left Assistant Minister, you are the top practitioner of consciousness divine arts in the celestial heavens. What is real and what is fake, nothingness or something, is it really that important? Please return.”

Yan Shaoqing’s body trembled slightly, and he raised his head to look at him.

The dragon qilin flew into the distance with Qin Mu.

The corners of Yan Shaoqing’s eyes jumped, and he saw that Qin Mu’s shadow on the dragon qilin’s head was squirming, and then the shadow split into three shadows!

He felt his head exploding, and he immediately sprinted back into the prison, running as though he was flying as he moved towards the cages that had imprisoned Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng.

He stood there blankly, looking at the two empty cages. Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor were both missing from their cages!

“I see, I see…”

Yan Shaoqing chuckled softly. “So it was me who taught you how to undo the seals on the cages. So it’s not a dream right now, and it’s also not an illusion of consciousness… When what is real is passed off as fake, then what is fake is also real. When nothingness is treated as something, something becomes nothing. Good move… good move…”

Suddenly, a prison guard passed by, and upon noticing the empty cages, he screamed out shrilly, “The criminals have escaped!”

Yan Shaoqing turned around to look at him and said with a slight smile, “The criminals are clearly still in their cages, how have they escaped?”

The guard was taken aback, and he turned to look at the cage again. Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor were really still within their cages.

The guard revealed a perplexed expression, and Yan Shaoqing said, “Don’t make a fuss out of nothing. Go and do your work… Wait, how long did Celestial Venerable Mu’s visit last?”

The prison guard replied, “No more than fifteen minutes.”

“No more than fifteen minutes?”

Yan Shaoqing felt his heart sank. To him, it felt as if it had been a few months. He waved his hand and let the guard leave.

Yan Shaoqing walked out slowly, his limbs were chilly, and he thought to himself, ‘You managed to help Emperor Yanfeng and Jiang Baigui escape, but I have no other choice but to help you cover your tracks. With my consciousness divine art, even if the celestial heavens send people down to inspect, as long as they aren’t existences at the Emperor’s Throne Realm, then they won’t be able to tell that the Jiang Baigui and Emperor Yanfeng within the cages are merely products of my spirit illusions. You are aware that I won’t chase you to get Emperor Yanfeng and Jiang Baigui back because you know I am unable to break through your divine art. Even if I manage to catch up with you, I will only fall into your illusions and dreams once again.’

‘You also know that I will help you cover it up because I have already been escorted up to the God Execution Stage once. To protect my own life, I have to help you cover it up. You even purposefully gave yourself away by transforming your shadow into three shadows. The other two shadows are Emperor Yanfeng and Jiang Baigui, right?’

‘Celestial Venerable Mu, ah Celestial Venerable Mu, you have become so terrifying…’

He went to the Judgment Throne Hall and opened up his official records, writing, “Nothing amiss occurred during Celestial Venerable Mu’s prison visit.” He put down his brush and sat lost in thought.

Suddenly, he gripped his fists tightly, his fingernails piercing into his palms until they started to bleed. Then, he released his grip weakly and laughed bitterly before continuing to do his official work.

‘I was defeated, but your consciousness divine art isn’t invincible. Your level of cultivation is low, so it’s only too easy to break through your divine art. As long as an external party interferes with it, your divine art will unravel on its own. Also, your divine art can only last for less than a fraction of an hour.’

‘Aren’t you intending to go to the celestial heavens? If you execute this divine art in the celestial heavens, then without a doubt, you will die! However…’

He stopped writing, and an expression of fear crept onto his face as chills ran down his spine. ‘However, if you cultivate to the Emperor’s Throne Realm, merging consciousness divine arts, the Boundless Calamity Sutra, and the Great Dao of Youdu, then that would be too terrifying!’

He dared not imagine just how horrifying that would be!

He continued to write his official records when the tip of his brush suddenly froze in place, and the corners of his eyes trembled.

‘How do I know whether the current me has really escaped from his dream illusions?’

Yan Shaoqing’s pupils dilated. ‘What if, right now, I’m still in an illusion? Right now, am I in a dream, or am I in the real world?’

Helplessness was reflected in his eyes. ‘Could it be as he said, that I have to cripple my own Divine Bridge Divine Treasure and accept the reforms of Eternal Peace to completely be free from his dream illusions? If that’s the case, how would I be any different from those rebels of Eternal Peace…’

The look of fear on his face intensified.

Although Qin Mu was gone and the divine art had stopped, the aftereffects caused by the consciousness divine art had started to take root and grow inside his heart like a seed formed by devilish nature.

Yan Shaoqing knew that he had to walk out of this and that he had to cripple his Divine Bridge Divine Treasure and accept the reforms of Eternal Peace, cultivating the Celestial River Divine Treasure. Otherwise, he would be plagued forever, unable to distinguish between dreams, reality, and illusions. The flaws in his Dao heart would make it impossible for him to cultivate to the Emperor’s Throne!

However, the celestial heavens strictly forbade reforms. If he accepted the Celestial River Divine Treasure, then he would become one of the criminals of the reform.

‘Crippling the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, my celestial palace will come crashing down, and then I will die… Jiang Baigui told me before that he created a technique to seal the Southern Heavenly Gate. That way, I can cripple the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure and not die… Why did he tell me about this?’

Yan Shaoqing came to a sudden realization. ‘The senior brother and junior brother joined forces to set a huge trap for me! A huge trap that is greatly interlinked… I need to go and learn about the reforms of Eternal Peace, secretly go and learn about it. I won’t participate in the reforms of Eternal Peace, I’m only going to secretly learn about it…’

Far away from the prison, Qin Mu had the dragon qilin stop flying. He smiled and said, “Yan Shaoqing didn’t chase after us, so the rescue mission has concluded successfully. You guys can come out now. Yan Shaoqing is a smart man, he will use his consciousness divine art to help us cover everything up. No one will know that you have already escaped the prison.”

There were three shadows at his feet. Two of them wiggled and stood upright, and then gradually transformed into Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng.

Emperor Yanfeng breathed in the fresh air greedily. He still couldn’t believe it as he murmured, “I actually managed to come out alive. I had thought that I might just die in there…”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor bowed towards Qin Mu. “Thank you, Senior Brother, for saving us!”

Qin Mu hurriedly bowed back and smiled. “If you didn’t impart the Three Primordial Spirit Undying God Consciousness to him, I wouldn’t have been able to so easily find the flaws in his techniques and plant the devil seed within his Dao heart. In order to let this Three Primordial Spirit Undying God Consciousness Emperor’s Throne technique catch up with the times, we exhausted considerable manpower and brains researching the flaws of this technique.”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor replied solemnly, “But to restrain him to such an extent isn’t that easy a feat.”

“I entered the dreams using Brahma Buddha’s Boundless Calamity Sutra, and in a short span of time, I managed to consider the countless possibilities that may occur and find the easiest method to counter him. Then, I used the Great Dao of Youdu to plant the devil seed within his Dao heart. Within his Dao heart, the devil flower bloomed, and it caused him to fall into the dreams and illusions.”

Qin Mu continued, “My divine art invaded through his Dao heart and planted itself within his divine treasure. After that, escaping the dreamscape and illusions that I created for him became too difficult. Every time he tried to force his way out of the illusions, he was actually falling even deeper into the dreamscape. The more he broke through my consciousness divine art, the deeper he was actually falling into the boundless calamities, experiencing calamities again and again.”

Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor both exclaimed in admiration.

The Boundless Calamity Sutra was Brahma Buddha’s true scripture of the Emperor’s Throne, the Undying God Consciousness was Crimson Emperor’s Emperor’s Throne technique, and planting a devil seed in the Dao heart was a technique from Saint Woodcutter’s Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures.

Qin Mu had merged these three techniques, and using Eternal Peace’s reforms as a catalyst, he was actually able to trap a terrifying existence at the Numinous Sky Realm. His abilities were truly exceptional!

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s gaze flickered. “Yan Shaoqing could possibly become our Dao friend in the future. I have already pointed out a path for him. Now, it’s up to him whether or not he will walk this path.”

“Even though the two of you are free now, you can’t reveal your original appearances to people. You both have to change your entire appearance,” Qin Mu reminded them.

Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded. The both of them had cultivated the two pinnacle creations of the technique of creation—Three Primordial Spirit Undying God Consciousness and Anasrava Creation Mysterious Scripture. Thus, changing their appearances and even changing the structure of their primordial spirits was child’s play to them.

Qin Mu took out a mirror and handed it over to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. “Within this mirror is the research results gathered by the celestial heavens over millions of years regarding the ancient gods. Dao Ancestor gave it to me. The celestial heavens also used the knowledge from this to create weapons like Celestial Venerable Yu. You should go and study it properly.”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor inspected it carefully. Within the mirror hid an entire world, and it was filled with countless jade scrolls that had all kinds of runes imprinted on them.

“If you hand this to us, what about yourself?” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked.

“I forged this mirror, so I can forge as many as I want to.”

Qin Mu flipped his palm and took out another mirror. He smiled and said, “When two identical mirrors reflect each other, the jade scrolls can be imprinted into the other mirror. I still have several mirrors on me, so you don’t have to worry about me. Let’s part ways here!”

He bowed towards them. “I’m going to head to the celestial heavens, and I don’t know when I will be able to return. I made an agreement with Emperor Yanxiu that I would return to meet her in one year’s time. If the two of you are going back to Eternal Peace, please help me inform her that I am safe and sound!”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked, “You aren’t going back? Are you really going to the celestial heavens?”

Qin Mu smiled. “I would like to see for myself if the celestial heavens have any weaknesses. If one knows himself and his enemy, he can win all of his battles. If I don’t go to the celestial heavens, I won’t know the true situation! Therefore, I must go!”

Emperor Yanfeng suddenly asked, “Have you married Yuxiu? Are you her Empress now?”

Qin Mu’s face turned red, and he hurriedly waved his hands. “Why is Your Majesty saying things like that? We are innocent!”

Emperor Yanfeng spat and sneered, saying, “I… as the old man of Emperor Yanxiu, don’t wish for the both of you to be innocent. You rascal, I’m just worried that you can’t get a wife. It’s not like I’m trying to sell my daughter to you, do you have to look so fearful? I won’t kill you! You are no different from Imperial Preceptor, as both of you remained single through your own abilities. If back then, I hadn’t rewarded Imperial Preceptor with a wife, he would still be a lonely old man…”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor coughed and reminded him, “Your Majesty, we should be on our way.”

Emperor Yanfeng sighed. “I am no longer the Emperor, Yuxiu is the Emperor. You are also no longer the Imperial Preceptor. I wonder which scumbag is now Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.”

Qin Mu said, “That scumbag is right in front of you, and that scumbag also just saved your lives.”

Emperor Yanfeng laughed out loud and waved his hands to bid farewell.

Qin Mu was in high spirits, and he yelled, “Fatty Dragon, let’s go!”

Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor watched as he left. After some time, Emperor Yanfeng had already transformed into a new physical appearance. He said, “Yuxiu becoming Emperor and him becoming Imperial Preceptor. Fate truly makes fools out of all of us. I had initially hoped for the two of them to get together.”

“Actually, didn’t Your Majesty already consider this outcome?”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also had a new face now. He walked towards the east and continued calmly, “We planned for this a long time ago, that if the reforms were to fail and the both of us were to die, there had to be someone to inherit our unfulfilled legacy. The ones that Your Majesty chose were exactly Emperor Yanxiu and Cult Master Qin.”

Emperor Yanfeng caught up with him. After a moment of silence, he replied, “Back then, I was the Emperor, I didn’t consider Yuxiu’s happiness. I only wanted her to inherit our work. Now, I’m not the Emperor but a father, so I no longer wish for her to carry this burden, I only hope that she can find an ideal husband and live out a peaceful and blissful life. Her becoming Emperor means that the possibility of her getting together with Qin Mu is close to zero. This brat would never be her Empress, and the Emperor definitely can’t be married off. The both of them…”

He shook his head and didn’t speak further.

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor understood the meaning behind his words.

Ling Yuxiu inheriting the throne to become Emperor Yanxiu and Qin Mu becoming the new Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor meant that the two of them no longer had a chance at getting together.

Ling Yuxiu should have been aware of this outcome when she inherited the position, but she still accepted the throne.

When Qin Mu agreed to be her Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, he too was aware of this outcome, but he still became her Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.

The two of them had given up some of the feelings within their hearts quietly, but neither of them had ever mentioned it.