Tales of Herding Gods

Although both of Celestial Venerable Yue’s legs were completely disabled, she was still, nevertheless, the oldest Celestial Venerable.

Even if she did live in seclusion for many years, she was still not to be looked down upon.

The space around the Jade Pool was almost completely shattered by these horrifying beings. Only the island where the Slow Winding Pavilion sat was considered a safe shelter.

Looking out from the island, space was shattered into countless fragments, creating a terrifying space storm that rotated frantically. Those terrifying beings sat motionless inside the turbulence of shattered space.

The scene was truly terrifying, which made Qin Mu and the others feel that the outside world had already been annihilated and that their island was all that was left.

“If a battle between the Celestial Venerables breaks out, it’s likely that the celestial heavens will be completely annihilated.”

Qin Mu kicked the still sleeping dragon qilin and said, “Unfortunately, no battles will be fought.”

The dragon qilin woke up and looked around him before asking, “It’s still not over, Cult Master?”

Qin Mu nodded, and the dragon qilin went back to sleep while lying on the ground.

Yun Jianli laughed. “This guy is blessed to be able to sleep in such a situation.”

The dragon qilin opened his sleepy eyes and, in a muffled voice, said, “If the sky falls, Cult Master will help to hold it up. If he dies, so will I, so why not go to sleep?”

The masses laughed involuntarily.

However, the dragon qilin’s words made sense upon greater analysis.

The situation at hand was definitely out of their control. Even if they destroyed the culprit who fractured the celestial heavens, Qin Mu, the situation would remain unchanged.

They couldn’t alter the course that the situation was heading into regardless of how much they cared, so it was pointless to worry about it.

In contrast, the dragon qilin’s ability to fall asleep at such a critical moment of life and death was in itself impressive.

“Ten beings at the Celestial Venerable level have arrived, six of which belong to the celestial heavens.”

Yun Jianli analyzed the situation. “This means that there are still four Celestial Venerables left in the celestial heavens, and they still have an overwhelming advantage. Celestial Venerable Mu, the situation hasn’t really turned in our favor. If a couple more Celestial Venerables appear, do you still have reinforcements? Will Celestial Venerable Qin appear?”

Qin Mu smiled. “Founding Emperor is still keeping watch at Carefree Village. He hasn’t appeared in the past, and he won’t appear now. Besides, who is to say that the remaining four Celestial Venerables won’t help me?”

Yun Chuxiu, who was standing nearby, looked slightly stunned as she turned her gaze towards him, seemingly in deep thought.

Amongst the ten Celestial Venerables of the celestial heavens—Wu, Huo, Xiao, Zu, Lang, Qiang, Yan, Hong, Xu, and Gong—only Ancestral God King had revealed his identity. The others hadn’t done so in order to avoid becoming a political enemy after killing Celestial Venerable Mu.

And also, Celestial Empress, who was on Qin Mu’s side, was secretly among them.

Celestial Empress was forced to help Qin Mu because the body of Mistress Yuanmu was in Qin Mu’s hands, and she feared the resurrection of her sister.

Qin Mu confidently swore that someone else would help him. Among the ten Celestial Venerables, who would that be?

The ten Celestial Venerable were never one complete unit.

In the past, everyone kept causing trouble and arguing with one another. Not long ago, Celestial Venerable Hao went to the lower bounds with the most powerful divine weapon but was forced back to the celestial heavens. Was that move to prevent the Primordial Realm from falling into the hands of others?

Another Celestial Venerable approached them. The island where the Slow Winding Pavilion sat could no longer take it, and the edges of it began to crumble. The rocks of the island were constantly being shattered into powder.

The palace maids on the island screamed as they backed off, rushing towards the Slow Winding Pavilion to prevent themselves from being annihilated by the terrifying aura of the Celestial Venerables.

Although the Slow Winding Pavilion that Qin Mu was in was by the sea, it was secretly protected by Heaven Duke, Earth Count, Celestial Empress, and others, so they wouldn’t be affected for at least an hour and a half.

However, the arrival of this Celestial Venerable once again tilted the scales. The island they were on couldn’t hold out for much longer, and it, along with them, would soon be ground into dust, their souls being dispersed.

At this moment, another Celestial Venerable arrived at the Jade Sea.

His arrival rebalanced the situation and prevented the shattering of the island.

“Amongst the ten Celestial Venerables, how dare people still stand on the opposing side of the celestial heavens!”

A Celestial Venerable masked in dense light laughed and said, “It’s in vain that we call each other Dao friends, as unexpectedly, some people here are hiding things from others. Nevertheless, you lot are the minority!”

At this moment, another Celestial Venerable arrived and tilted the scales once more, causing the island to continue collapsing.

Yet, as this Celestial Venerable stopped, another Celestial Venerable approached, and balance was restored. The island’s collapse was thus stopped.

The ten Celestial Venerables of the celestial heavens had all arrived one after another!

Adding Heaven Duke, Earth Count, Celestial Venerable You, and Celestial Venerable Yue, there were 14 extremely strong practitioners present!

Yun Jianli was extremely grateful as he remarked, “What a rare scene to witness, something that has never been seen before—the combined presence of 14 beings who have attained the level of Celestial Venerable. If they were to fight, it would be an unprecedented and magnificent sight to behold!”

“Magnificent my a**!”

Qi Jiuyi was angry and furiously said, with saliva spraying everywhere, “Now should be the time where we go around and beg them not to fight! If they do, we’ll definitely die! Second Brother, you a**, you’re still sleeping! Now, the question should be on how to clean up the mess!”

Qin Mu suddenly said, “Well, maybe only Celestial Emperor, who rules the entire celestial heavens, can stop this conflict. Maybe the imperial decree from Celestial Emperor will arrive here shortly.”

The masses shivered. After all, Celestial Emperor was the lord of the celestial heavens. All of the gods, regardless of whether they were ancient gods or Celestial Venerables, were his subjects.

Celestial Emperor had stopped dealing with politics, allowing the ten Celestial Venerables to manage the Imperial Court. In addition, Earth Count, Heaven Duke, and others rarely listened to the orders of Celestial Emperor. Nevertheless, he was still, in the name of the celestial heavens, the common lord of everyone.

If he were to show up, he could definitely stop this conflict.

Nevertheless, Qin Mu and Celestial Empress both knew that the common lord, the ancient Celestial Emperor, who was the ruler of the celestial heavens in name, had died a long time ago during the Dragon Han Era. The reason that the celestial heavens still kept him as the ruler in name was because of the conflict of interest between the ten Celestial Venerables.

If there were no ancient Celestial Emperor, who amongst them should take his place?

They had to maintain the identity of the ancient Celestial Emperor and weaken the power of the ancient gods whilst trying to strengthen their own. It was only when one’s power and authority overrode that of the other nine Celestial Venerables that they could destroy the ancient Celestial Emperor and claim the throne for themselves.

If they couldn’t do that, none of them would actively expose the fact that the ancient Celestial Emperor had already died and would continue to recognize the ancient Celestial Emperor as their common lord.

As for Yun Jianli, he didn’t know that the ancient Celestial Emperor had died, as the Yun family didn’t pass on that fact.

Due to how big the relation between the Yun family and the ancient Celestial Emperor was, if they were to pass on that fact, the Yun family would have been eliminated. It wouldn’t have become a large and influential family of the celestial heavens.

Sometimes, ignorance was required for one to survive. This became one of the unwritten rules of the celestial heavens.

Suddenly, a voice came to break the stalemate at the Jade Sea. “An imperial decree has arrived! Celestial Venerable Mu has contributed greatly. Coming up from the lower bounds without any grievances over the hard work he has done. To reward Celestial Venerable Mu, I gift upon him fine wine and beautiful ladies!”

Yun Chuxiu glanced at Qin Mu, and Qin Mu revealed a smile.

Yun Chuxiu snorted.

On the Jade Pool, a Celestial Venerable also snorted as he retreated into the darkness without a trail. The thousand-mile peach forest also vanished at an astonishing rate. Ultimately, the peach forest disappeared with the palace within it, leaving behind a single peach flower floating in the sky that disappeared after rotating.

The other Celestial Venerables followed. Heaven Duke became a beam of light that rose into the sky, while Earth Count sunk into the darkness. At the same time, Celestial Venerable You’s paper boat went into Youdu. Soon, the place became empty, and all that was left was the broken Jade Sea. The space that was rippling couldn’t settle down within the moment.

Countless divine soldiers and divine generals lined up, escorting a god official who opened a shattered space whirlpool, taking a lot of effort to descend upon the island. He held an imperial edict in his hands and proclaimed, “Celestial Venerable Mu shall receive the decree!”

Behind him were palace maids of great beauty, and in their hands were various precious artifacts, fine wine, and all sorts of peculiar treasures gifted to Qin Mu by Celestial Emperor.

Qin Mu bowed and submissively said, “This subject shall receive the decree.”

That god official placed it into his hands and swiftly told him, “Please rise, Celestial Venerable. You are a Celestial Venerable and should act like one. No one can accept your respects. People, please tidy up the residence of the Celestial Venerable!”

The countless divine soldiers and divine generals retrieved their precious artifacts and took all of the shattered space fragments before fusing them together to repair the Jade Pool. The rest of them took out an artifact of creation to create land and the island. They went about their ways, busy yet silent.

The rest of them found many bodies from the shattered Jade Pool and ordered people to load them onto ships to be shipped off and buried.

It wasn’t the first time that the celestial heavens had experienced something like this. They were prepared, so when they executed their plan, it was in an orderly manner.

In the sky, there were heavenly ladies that danced and performed gracefully. The sounds of the drum were pleasing, and their dance was enthralling. It was a sight of prosperous peacefulness.

That god official was refined and courteous to Qin Mu as he said, “It has been a long time since Celestial Venerable Mu returned to the celestial heavens. Are you used to it? Celestial Emperor was worried that you wouldn’t be able to get used to the surroundings, so he sent these ladies to be enjoyed by you. If Celestial Venerable still has other requirements, please tell me. Although I can’t play host, I can inform Celestial Emperor, and he will be fast in granting your request.”

Qin Mu observed the palace maids and joked, saying, “There are already enough palace maids in the Jade Pool, so why bother with more maids?”

That god official seemed to not understand him as he asked, “Palace maids at the Jade Pool? Since when were there palace maids at the Jade Pool? It’s because there’s nobody serving you in the Jade Pool that Celestial Emperor sent me to bring people to serve you.”

Qin Mu was stunned as cries of agony filled his ears. He quickly turned around.

The divine soldiers and divine generals that followed the god official were capturing the Jade Pool’s palace maids. After handcuffing them, they beheaded them, obliterated their primordial spirits, and dispersed their souls.

The divine soldiers and divine generals were swift, massacring the palace maids before dragging the many bodies onto a boat and ordering them to be shipped off.

There were still divine ladies dancing in the sky, and divine music melodiously surrounded them. They sang and danced as if they couldn’t see the river of blood beneath them.

Cold air flooded out of Qin Mu’s heart as he turned to look at the god official.

That official was full of smiles as he informed him, “They heard what shouldn’t have been heard, saw what shouldn’t have been seen. Therefore, they had to be eliminated. Please don’t make my job difficult. These are the customs.”

Qin Mu stayed silent.

The thing that was frightening wasn’t what the god official said, it was the fact that these were the customs.

He looked at Qi Jiuyi and Yun Jianli, who remained motionless. Clearly, they were used to such things in the celestial heavens, which was the most frightening thing.

‘The reform shouldn’t only reform the paths, skills, and divine arts, it should also change this disgusting way of thinking. If we only reform paths, skills, and divine arts and not this way of thinking, even if we do overthrow the corrupt celestial heavens, all we’ll be doing is building a more corrupt one!’

His heart was filled with sorrow.

During the High Emperor Era, the philosophy at hand was that human lives were greater than heaven. During the Founding Emperor Era, the philosophy promoted was that humans were important and that gods should serve humans. Eternal Peace’s philosophy became that of the path of the saint, destruction of the god within one’s heart, which was used by the everyday people. During all of these eras, generation after generation fought and sacrificed with their blood.

Yet, such philosophies were never spread to the celestial heavens.

Reform, if only applied to the paths, skills, and divine arts, wouldn’t be a proper one!

“What are you thinking?” that god official asked.

“I am thinking…”

Beneath the calm appearance shown on Qin Mu’s face, there was magma gushing up, as if he were a volcano that was about to erupt. He said, “I will one day smash this corrupt world.”

That god official was stunned as he said, “Well thought out, Celestial Venerable. However, the trend is already set in motion, and it can’t be stopped by anyone. Faster!”

He hollered at the divine soldiers and divine generals, “Clean this place up! Don’t disrupt the Celestial Venerable’s rest!”

Soon, the darkness that shrouded the Jade Pool dissipated. The Jade Pool was restored, and it resembled a sea. As vast as it was, the divine turtles who carried the divine mountains and islands all died during the battle that night. At this moment, from who knows where, another batch of divine turtles appeared, along with some divine mountains and islands, allowing them to bear these mountains and islands in the Jade Sea while roaming.

Some of the divine ladies planted some giant lotuses, and they bloomed. Many little ladies who were flower spirits lived in these flowers. They sat beside the sea and rinsed themselves, singing and playing their instruments. It was a sight of utmost beauty.

That god official bowed to Qin Mu. “Celestial Venerable, this place is essentially back to normal. Are you satisfied?”