Tales of Herding Gods

There were, in total, two eggshells. When Celestial Emperor’s true corporeal body was around, the Heaven Alliance was even messier internally. One only needed to control Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body to enter the ancestral land and steal the eggshells.

Except that, at that time, none of them wanted anyone to possess the eggshells. The strongest objection came from Celestial Venerable Hao. The other Celestial Venerables and other members of the Heaven Alliance also objected to taking away the eggshells based on their own reasons.

Later, the Heaven Alliance was unified internally. Celestial Venerable Ling, Celestial Venerable Yue, and the rest of the elders dropped out of the picture, leaving only Celestial Venerable Hao, Celestial Venerable Hong, and their forces. Although their detractors were now gone, Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body wasn’t around anymore. Hence, they were unable to take the eggshells.

Despite the fact that everybody incessantly coveted the treasure in Celestial Emperor’s ancestral land, no one had the power to take away the eggshells, so they gave up.

Celestial Venerable Hao also made several attempts, even driving the divine weapon version of Celestial Venerable Yu into the ancestral land. In the end, he still wasn’t able to get close to the sacrificial altar.

All along, he had considered the two pieces of eggshells as something he could retrieve easily.

Moreover, since Celestial Emperor was born from the egg and was his father, he felt that anything belonging to Celestial Emperor would naturally be his to inherit.

Little did he expect that, while they were guarding against each other, someone would actually take the opportunity to infiltrate the ancestral land and steal one of the eggshells!

Celestial Venerable Hao looked around his surroundings as he suppressed the anger in his heart. He lowered his voice and said, “Dao friends, it wasn’t an easy journey to achieve what we have today and to gain the status we are currently enjoying. As long as you return the treasure, we are still Dao friends. If not, I’m afraid the ten Celestial Venerables might become nine.”

The various Celestial Venerables around him were quiet.

They also coveted the two eggshells of the egg that Celestial Emperor was born from.

In the eggshells were the complete imprints of Celestial Emperor’s Great Dao runes. However, that wasn’t the most important thing. Its greatest use was actually to seal the ancient Celestial Emperor!

Even if the other Celestial Venerables had the ancient Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body, as long as one had the eggshells, he could seal the ancient Celestial Emperor in it, suppressing him!

If it could seal the ancient Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body, it could seal the divine weapon Celestial Venerable Yu as well!

With this treasure, one would have the upper hand among the ten Celestial Venerables. Pity that there was only one half of it left.

Who stole the other half? This was what the ten Celestial Venerables were most concerned about.

Celestial Venerable Hao surveyed his surroundings. Suddenly, he got so angry that he laughed. As he swept his sleeves and left, he said, “It looks like the ten Celestial Venerables aren’t going to be reduced to nine but eight!”

He left in a rage, leaving behind the rest of the seven Celestial Venerables, who remained silent.

Suddenly, Heavenly Lady Qiang broke the silence. “When I got here, things were already the way they are now. The treasure wasn’t taken by me. I suspect a Dao friend controlled Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body and came here with Crown Prince Ming Ya.”

Celestial Venerable Xiao said insipidly, “After Crown Prince Ming Ya left this place, he left the celestial heavens in a rush. We don’t know where he is now. Most likely, he knows something. Why don’t we capture him for interrogation?”

Heavenly Lady Yan stroked her white cat’s head and chuckled. “Crown Prince Ming Ya has deserted the celestial heavens? That is interesting.”

Lang Xuan God Emperor coughed and said, “Whichever Dao brother has taken the treasure, it’s best to return it, or else it will put us in danger.”

No one responded.

Celestial Venerable Hong held his white beard and solemnly said, “To be able to enter this forbidden area, apart from Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body, I suppose only the Grand Emperor would have such capability. Ancestral God King, you have seen the abilities of the Grand Emperor and should be familiar with his methods.”

Ancestral God King said indifferently, “The Grand Emperor indeed has such capability. If he really has infiltrated the celestial heavens and the Heaven Alliance, there’s no one who can uncover him.”

The seven Celestial Venerables fell silent again and were expressionless.

Who was the Grand Emperor?

Could it be that the Grand Emperor was really hidden among them?

The seven who were present, could one of them be the Grand Emperor?

The seven Celestial Venerables looked at each other, but at the same time, they avoided each other’s gazes. At this moment, any of them could be the Grand Emperor. Even Celestial Venerable Hao, who just left, was one of the suspects.

Suddenly, Heavenly Lady Yan took her white cat and left, smiling as she said, “Celestial Venerable Huo and Celestial Venerable Xu are back.”

The other six Celestial Venerables hid.

Celestial Venerable Huo and Celestial Venerable Xu had rushed back to the celestial heavens. They spent quite a bit of time on their journey, so they were later than Qin Mu by a few days.

The Celestial Venerables gathered to listen to Celestial Venerable Huo and Celestial Venerable Xu. They were shocked by their encounters in the Great Void.

The encounters described by Celestial Venerable Huo and Celestial Venerable Xu were similar to that of Qin Mu. They consisted of many bizarre encounters like the walking corpses, the city of the masters of creation, the crazy Heavenly Master Yue, the supreme consciousness realm, and the Void Bridge.

Qin Mu unexpectedly didn’t lie, truthfully sharing what he had heard and seen in the Great Void!

Celestial Venerable Mu had been a rebel all along. Since when did he become a fiercely loyal and faithful subject?

However, according to Celestial Venerable Huo and Celestial Venerable Xu, the Grand Emperor could indeed be hiding among them!

Celestial Venerable Huo and Celestial Venerable Xu could immediately sense something strange among the Celestial Venerables. They were guarding against each other, even revealing some animosity!

Although the ten Celestial Venerables weren’t very close to each other, they usually guarded against each other secretly. Since when did they start doing so openly?

Celestial Venerable Huo frowned slightly as he thought to himself, ‘Ever since Celestial Venerable Mu returned to the celestial heavens, the gulf between the ten Celestial Venerables has grown. It seems that the Heaven Alliance breaking up is almost inevitable. However, the ancient gods aren’t eradicated yet. The reason the Heaven Alliance was originally established was to eliminate the rule of the ancient gods…’

“In that case, I suppose you didn’t manage to find Carefree Village at the end of the Void Bridge?” Ancestral God King asked.

Celestial Venerable Huo and Celestial Venerable Xu nodded at the same time. Celestial Venerable Huo said, “We were trapped in the middle room. By the time we got out, half a year had passed.”

“At that time, where was Celestial Venerable Mu?” Celestial Venerable Gong inquired.

“Right outside.”

Celestial Venerable Xu said indifferently, “After he saw us, he shut the room’s door. When we got out, he was already missing.”

Celestial Venerable Hao asked the most crucial question, “In that case, did Celestial Venerable Mu manage to find Carefree Village?”

Celestial Venerable Xu shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Celestial Venerable Huo glanced at her. Celestial Venerable Xu didn’t mention that there were two more people with Qin Mu. This puzzled him slightly. He didn’t know what this lady was thinking.

However, since Celestial Venerable Xu didn’t mention it, he didn’t either.

The ten Celestial Venerables became quiet, a heavy air around them. Logically, since traces of Carefree Village had been discovered, they should immediately mobilize their troops to attack. Even if they had to suffer terrible losses, the elimination of Carefree Village and Founding Emperor made it necessary.

But now, they didn’t have such thoughts.

By comparison, Carefree Village was just a slight ailment. The issue of the Grand Emperor hiding among them was the major disease.

Any Celestial Venerable who used their own power to suppress the Great Void would face the resistance of the masters of creation and Carefree Village. They would lose their troops, weakening their power.

The present-day ten Celestial Venerables of the celestial heavens weren’t like before. If one’s power was weakened and they still embroiled themselves in a life-and-death struggle with Founding Emperor Qin Ye, it was more likely that they would perish under a sneak attack from their own men rather than at the hands of their enemies.

After all, this was the lesson learned from Great Sun Sovereign.

“We need to attack Carefree Village.”

The amiable-looking Celestial Venerable Hong sighed ruefully. “I originally thought that the Carefree Village that Celestial Venerable Qin resided in was a land of happiness with no worries. I didn’t realize it was such a dangerous place. It’s a joke that such a lousy place was named Carefree Village. To attack that place, we need to get past the various dangers of the Great Void. Why not send in the kids to pave the way first? Once the dangers of the outside world have been cleared, we can go forth to meet Qin Ye and those masters of creation.”

The rest of the Celestial Venerables nodded their heads, agreeing. “Let the kids from the various great heavens clear a path first before we bother ourselves with Qin Ye.”

Celestial Venerable Huo frowned and said, “Everyone, ordinary gods and devils are useless in the Great Void. You are only sending them to their deaths!”

The rest of the Celestial Venerables smiled. “Celestial Venerable Huo has plenty of disciples and experts under him. Why don’t you personally lead your troops to the Great Void to subdue Qin Ye?”

Celestial Venerable Huo was enraged. He flicked his sleeves as he got up and left angrily. “I have been to the Great Void and placed myself in harm’s way to get all of this information while all of you were bickering here. Fools, I’m ashamed of being associated with you!”

“Celestial Venerable Huo still has his fiery temper.” Everyone was shaking their heads.

At the residence of Celestial Venerable Mu.

Hu Ling’er had already gone to the lower bound while Qin Mu remained in the Celestial Venerable Residence. Every day, he spent his time studying the eggshell in front of him, comprehending the rune markings on it. Occasionally, he would banter and joke with Yun Chuxiu and Divine King Lang Wo.

Yun Chuxiu was staying in the Celestial Venerable Residence. She occupied a room and refused to leave. Periodically, Lian Huahun would come over and spend time with Divine King Lang Wo. Having these three ladies around was rather lively.

However, when the three were together, Qin Mu tried not to participate.

Soon, there was news that the celestial heavens had decided to use military force against the Great Void. They were recruiting gods and devils from the various great heavens. Hu Ling’er also sent men with news, informing him that the celestial heavens’ Patriarch Creation Palace had assigned Eternal Peace plenty of work building the required divine weapons.

“Celestial Venerable, there’s a poor relative from the lower bound. He said he is here to seek shelter with you,” a palace girl reported.

“Poor relative?”

Qin Mu was shocked. He cried, “Since when do I have a poor relative? Clearly, they are all rich. Please invite him in.”

After some time, a palace girl brought an eight-armed devil god in. That devil god looked imposing with eight arms, four faces, and twelve eyes. He bowed and said, “Dutian Devil King pays his respect to Celestial Venerable Mu!”

Qin Mu hurried forward, smiling as he said, “Old Brother Dutian, what brings you here?”

That devil god was the Dutian Devil King of the Dutian World. He said with shame, “Dutian World has been destroyed, leaving us to wander among the stars. After we left, Earth Count refined the Dutian World into a horn. Over this period, countless people of my race died of hunger and exhaustion. When we heard that the celestial heavens plan to wage war on the Great Void, we were left with no choice but to seek shelter with the celestial heavens. I heard that there was a Celestial Venerable Mu in the celestial heavens. Hence, I felt a little strange. When I asked around, I realized that it was indeed you.”

Qin Mu laughed as he said, “Isn’t it me?”

Dutian Devil King sighed ruefully. “Who would have thought that the young cult master from back in the day is today’s Celestial Venerable Mu? In order to meet you, I spent a large amount of money to bribe the guards of Jade Capital City to let me through. The people of the Dutian World are at their wits’ ends. On the basis of our past friendship, I implore Celestial Venerable Mu to give us a path of survival.”

Qin Mu examined him from head to toe as he laughed. “Are you thinking of leaving the Great Void to seek shelter with the celestial heavens?”

Dutian Devil King hesitated before whispering, “I think the celestial heavens have ill intentions. If the Great Void was so easy to conquer, the celestial heavens would have countless gods and devils coming forward to fight for glory. As to why the gods and devils are being recruited from the tens of thousands of other worlds and heavens, I’m afraid it’s because they are going to be sacrificed.”

Qin Mu laughed heartily. He raised his hand, wanting to pat him on his shoulder, but he wasn’t able to reach him.

Dutian Devil King hurriedly bent over. Qin Mu could finally pat him on the shoulder and was pretty satisfied. “That’s correct. Old Brother Dutian still possesses extraordinary intelligence and could tell what is wrong with one glance. For this war against the Great Void, the ten Celestial Venerables aren’t willing to expend their own forces, so they are intentionally sending these people to die.”

Dutian Devil King’s face was full of hardship, as though it had been slashed by knives and hacked by axes. Clearly, these few years were tough for him. He forcefully pushed up his wrinkles to form a smile and said timidly, “Celestial Venerable, in that case, can I ask you to protect my people of Dutian?”

Qin Mu’s gaze landed on his face as he kept quiet.

Dutian Devil King collapsed to his knees and lowered his head. “There aren’t many of us left. Celestial Venerable, please grant us a path of survival! I know I let you down and offended you in the past, and I’m willing to offer my head as punishment.”

Qin Mu shook his head and said, “Please get up. I already have difficulties protecting Eternal Peace, where would I have land to settle your people?”

Dutian Devil King hurriedly said, “Celestial Venerable could guard my people first while I go seek military glory in the Great Void. With that, I would be rewarded with land. After which, I would come back for my people!”

Qin Mu broke into laughter. “You’re just courting your death if you go to the Great Void. Not to mention you, even existences on the Numinous Sky Realm or Emperor’s Throne Realm can’t be sure whether they can get out alive. There’s no way you can achieve military glory there.”