Tales of Herding Gods

Qin Mu’s heart shuddered as he cried, “If his mother isn’t an ancient god, what race is she then? And for this father, which ancient god is he?”

After he arrived at the celestial heavens, this was what Qi Jiuyi and the granny of the Yun family said. God Emperor Lang Xuan was the number one half-god in the world, and both of his parents were ancient gods. He didn’t realize there was more to it.

East Deity glanced at him and said, “Why is Great Wizard so interested in the private matters of others?”

Qin Mu had an odd expression. He asked, “If East Deity isn’t willing to say, could God Emperor Lang Xuan be your…”

East Deity shook his head. “God Emperor Lang Xuan isn’t my descendant. If he was, there would be no need to be so secretive about his parents’ identities. Even though I’m loose and amorous and have countless descendants, there would be no need to hide if he was indeed my descendant.”

He had a bit of a headache and held his forehead. “Truth be told, there are countless individuals who come here every day to recognize me as their father. I’m also pretty helpless. I have to recognize them since they are of the dragon race. However, the numbers are too great. There are even hen dragons who came here to look for their father!”

Qin Mu widened his eyes as he thought of those hen dragons who took over the Disabled Elderly Village. He probed, “In that case, those hen dragons…”

East Deity didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he shook his head. “They have the bloodline of the flood dragons, nothing to do with me. Maybe I have descendants among the flood dragons. But for hen dragons, I have absolutely nothing to do with them!”

He paused for a moment and felt that it wasn’t a good thing to always be talking about his own matters. He then said, “The mother of God Emperor Lang Xuan is a master of creation. Since Great Wizard has been to the Great Void, you should be familiar with the masters of creation. When you headed out to the Great Void, I also sent a crown prince of mine to follow along. A pity that he didn’t manage to return alive.”

Qin Mu was shocked. “Dao Brother actually sent a crown prince to follow along?”

During his journey to the Great Void, there were indeed those of the dragon race on that ship. However, he didn’t know when they died. He and Luo Wushuang were the only two survivors of that ship.

It was to be expected. Out of the 300 people on that ship, about 200 of them were full of enmity towards him. Hence, Qin Mu couldn’t differentiate between friend and foe.

“The mother of God Emperor Lang Xuan is a divine king of the masters of creation, one called Divine King Gong Yun. Back then, she dominated the ancient primordial world, her power peerless. And his father is by no means insignificant.”

East Deity sighed and grunted, “It’s Celestial Emperor.”

“Celestial Emperor again!”

Qin Mu’s heart trembled, but he felt that it was logical. Only Celestial Emperor could have a secret affair with a divine king from the masters of creation, giving birth to God Emperor Lang Xuan!

As East Deity was promiscuous and not picky, he developed a bad reputation. However, Celestial Emperor had good taste, he was promiscuous but not despicable. The women he was interested in all had unrivaled talent and beauty!

“Gong Yun and Shu Jun both had the character ‘Jun’ in their names. Could this be a tradition of the masters of creation?” Qin Mu pondered and said.

East Deity walked forward and said, “The character ‘Shu’ denotes the seniority in the family. It means the uncle of the Grand Emperor. Shu Jun was born before the Grand Emperor. According to family seniority, the Grand Emperor should call him Uncle. The character ‘Gong’ denotes identity. It means the wife of the Grand Emperor.”

Qin Mu cried, “Hold on a moment! You’re saying that Divine King Gong Yun was the wife of the Grand Emperor? Celestial Emperor and the wife of the Grand Emperor had a secret affair, giving birth to God Emperor Lang Xuan?”

East Deity blinked and narrowed his eyes. He smiled and said, “I didn’t say that. You did.”

Qin Mu’s head was dizzy. He felt that he needed some time to digest this shocking piece of news.

“God Emperor Lang Xuan is the big brother of Celestial Venerable Hao. However, only Lang Xuan knows, Celestial Venerable Hao does not.”

East Deity said faintly, “In the present-day world, there aren’t many ancient gods left who know about this. I’m one of them. Many people suspect that God Emperor Lang Xuan is my descendant. Actually, he has nothing to do with me. I’m simply taking the blame for Celestial Emperor.”

He sighed and said, “I have helped people take the blame too many times and thus didn’t care about this. However, God Emperor Lang Xuan has intentions to kill me, this convenient father of his…”

He wore an angry expression as he laughed coldly. “Unless he’s not afraid of me revealing this matter to the whole world?”

The dragon qilin, who was beside Qin Mu, was curious. “Why hasn’t East Deity revealed this matter all this time?”

East Deity Qing Long glanced at him and saw that he was also of the dragon race. He couldn’t help but felt a trembling headache as he probed, “You aren’t my son, and you aren’t here to look for your father. Correct?”

The dragon qilin hesitated and said, “I only remember my mother. She is a qilin. I don’t know who my father is. Did East Deity go to the Great Ruins in the Primordial Realm 200 years ago?”

East Deity could finally put his heart at ease. He chuckled and said, “No, I didn’t… As to why I haven’t revealed the matter, it’s because I fear for my life.”

He sighed and glanced at the divine weapon Celestial Venerable Yu over the horizon. He said, “Heaven Duke and Earth Count may have the ability to resist the divine weapon Celestial Venerable Yu, but I’m not confident of my own abilities. Actually, even without the divine weapon Celestial Venerable Yu, I reckon that if I’m to battle a Celestial Venerable, most likely I would lose, except that they would take great effort to kill me.”

His gaze blazed like a torch as he looked at Qin Mu. He then said solemnly, “Even if Great Wizard hadn’t come to look for me, I would still have looked for you. I have something troubling me and need Great Wizard to solve it.”

Qin Mu said with a serious expression, “East Deity, please speak.”

“Are you still the Great Wizard if Heaven Duke and Earth Count are dead?”

East Deity stared directly into his eyes and said solemnly, “Truth be told, I have already prepared for two outcomes. If you have the ability to revive the ancient gods, I will battle until death, protecting you with my life! If you don’t have that ability if Heaven Duke and Earth Count are dead, I will then surrender myself to the ten Celestial Venerables, killing you and taking your head to the celestial heavens to claim my reward!”

Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently. At this moment, he could really feel the killing intent of East Deity!

East Deity Qing Long said plainly, “Although killing Celestial Venerable Mu is a huge crime, I’m one of the four deities of the ancient gods and was appointed by the ancient Celestial Emperor as one of the four deities to guard the Four Extreme Heavens. Hence, I won’t be executed for killing you. At most, I will be suppressed, but I will live. When the celestial heavens want to get rid of Earth Count and Heaven Duke, they will need my power and will release me.”

Yan’er was furious. “East Deity, how can you be so shameless?”

East Deity Qing Long glanced at her, shaking his head as he laughed. “Little girl, everyone works for their own interests. This is the way of doing business. Celestial Venerable Mu and I are also driven by our self-interests. There is no friendship between us. I will cooperate if it’s in my best interest to do so. If not, Celestial Venerable Mu’s life and death don’t concern me. Conversely, at that point in time, if I kill Celestial Venerable Mu for a reward, it would be fulfilling my interests.”

Yan’er felt a chill in her heart.

All along, she had treated East Deity, her father, with the highest respect. Although he was cold towards her, he was still a great hero in her heart.

After interacting with East Deity in person, the image of her father in her heart crumbled, leaving her with panic and fear. She found it a little hard to accept this.

Qin Mu was admiring the scenery of the Green Dragon Celestial Palace, his gaze landing on the celestial palace’s Jade Pool. He smiled faintly and said, “East Deity, do you remember the incident on the ghost ship?”

The Green Dragon Celestial Palace also has a Jade Pool. Its water looked as though it was more sacred than that of the Jade Pool in the celestial heavens.

This Jade Pool was teeming with life. Qin Mu was proficient in the art of healing, so with just one look, he was able to tell that the sacred water of this Jade Pool was something special, able to heal people back to life. Its healing properties were even higher than the saliva of the dragon qilin.

The water also contained other strange and marvelous powers. It was able to heal souls and primordial spirits.

Clearly, East Deity Qing Long wasn’t a simple man. The talents and treasures he had here were much more than Mother Earth. Be it this Jade Pool or the Numinous Treasure Mountain, these were rare treasures!

East Deity Qing Long nodded and said, “Of course, I remember. Celestial Venerable Mu helped us, the four deities, escape. However, if we didn’t lend you our powers, you would have been unable to escape as well. Hence, we were just using each other and don’t owe each other anything. Speaking of gratitude, don’t forget when you entered the celestial heavens by yourself, it was us, the ancient gods, who protected you. I also had a part in this.”

Qin Mu retracted his gaze from the Jade Pool, frowning as he said, “How does East Deity want to test me?”

“Without Heaven Duke and Earth Count giving you power, how would you be able to revive others? This is the test I have for you.”

East Deity Qing Long said, “Apart from that, I want to know if most of the ancient gods died in battle, whether you would have the power to protect yourself. These are the two tests. The first is to test your abilities. Powers that are borrowed are ultimately not yours. If you are still the Great Wizard even when there are no powers to borrow, the ancient gods will support you unreservedly.”

“As for the second test, it’s a gauge of your growth potential. Under the worst-case scenario, if you don’t have the power to protect yourself, then all the celestial heavens have to do is kill you in order to extinguish our ancient gods’ path of retreat! Hence, I need to see if Celestial Venerable Mu is worthy of the title of Celestial Venerable, whether you are worth sacrificing my life for!”

Qin Mu nodded and said, “I understand.”

East Deity revealed a smile and gently snapped his fingers. In the Jade Pool, a pleasure boat sailed over. On the boat, a god with the body of a human but the head of a dragon bowed. “Father.”

East Deity invited Qin Mu, the dragon qilin, and Yan’er onto the ship, then they sailed towards the center of the Jade Pool.

Yan’er was dejected and weary. She was neither in her human form nor her dragon sparrow form, remaining as a little green sparrow standing on the top of the dragon qilin’s head.

East Deity summoned that dragon god on the ship. The dragon god asked, “Father, what do you need of me?”

With a flick of East Deity’s fingers, a thunderous explosion was heard from within the head of that dragon god, turning his primordial spirit into a fine powder. Instantly, his soul was scattered, and his black soul sand dissipated.

The eyes of that dragon god revealed a dazed expression, and his body shook and collapsed on the floor.

The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched, and Yan’er jumped. She was frightened and angry. “He’s your son, how could you kill him? Even a monster wouldn’t hurt its own children. You…”

East Deity glanced at her and frowned. He patiently said, “Celestial Venerable Mu, please discipline your sparrow. Although I hold you in great admiration, that doesn’t mean I’m able to condone your servants.”

Qin Mu shook his head and said, “This is Yan’er. She isn’t my servant but a disciple of Celestial Venerable Yue.”

East Deity’s expression softened as he said, “So she is the disciple of Celestial Venerable Yue. Oh well, I won’t hold it against you. However, even Celestial Venerable Yue has to show me some respect, addressing me as Your Majesty East Deity. You shouldn’t be too presumptuous.”

Yan’er wanted to speak further, but Qin Mu raised his hand. He laughed and said, “Sister Yan’er, there’s no need to speak further. East Deity, if you want to see my abilities, why not look for someone with a scattered soul from the Numinous Treasure Mountain? Over there, there are countless gods, devils, and divine arts practitioners who died while seeking treasure. Why did you have to kill your son?”

East Deity laughed coldly. “The gods, devils, and divine arts practitioners that died at the Numinous Treasure Mountain were the celestial heavens’ men. By bringing them back to life, you would be exposing your true abilities. I’m worried about this.”

Qin Mu frowned slightly and said, “We could kill them after we bring them back to life.”

East Deity put his hands behind him and said, “I don’t trust any outsiders. I don’t even trust my own children completely. Celestial Venerable Mu, there’s no need to speak further. Please proceed.”

Qin Mu frowned again.

East Deity was obstinate and headstrong and had a strong desire for control. Having to deal with such a man left Qin Mu very uncomfortable.

When he had arrived, he had a favorable impression of East Deity. However, as he got to know him better, that gradually disappeared.

Green Deity of the Eastern Sky was also extremely hostile towards East Deity Qing Long. This showed that East Deity wasn’t a good person.

Qin Mu composed himself and looked at the dragon god corpse on the boat.

The soul of this dragon god had scattered. Summoning his soul didn’t require Qin Mu to borrow the power of Heaven Duke and Earth Count. However, their powers were needed to reconstruct his soul.

Without the powers of Heaven Duke and Earth Count, he didn’t have full confidence.

‘I have spent all these years studying Heaven Duke’s 49 Heavenly Dao and Earth Count’s 64 Great Dao of Youdu. My Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure has sculptured the god forms of Heaven Duke, Earth Count, and even Mother Earth. Logically, I have already grasped their powers. Except…’

Qin Mu felt that the killing intent that was coming out of the body of East Deity was getting more and more intense.

East Deity was so obstinate and headstrong. If he was unable to revive this dragon god, East Deity would definitely kill him, carrying his head with his soul trapped towards the celestial heavens to claim credit and seek reward from the ten Celestial Venerables!

In the past, because of Earth Count and Heaven Duke, he had a good impression of the ancient gods. Now, that seemed a little like wishful thinking.

East Deity raised his long and slender eyebrows as he coughed to urge Qin Mu. However, Qin Mu had already executed the Soul Guide, summoning the black soul sand of that dragon god!