Tales of Herding Gods

The divine weapon Celestial Venerable Yu was incredibly strong. Behind him were lights of bright colors that resembled sashes.

He pinched his fingers into an orchid-shape, looking as if he was smiling while pinching a flower. One of his feet was on the ground while one was raised to the kneecap of the other leg. This was why Qin Mu called him charming.

The difference between this Celestial Venerable Yu and the one at the East Pole was how this Celestial Venerable Yu had landmasses orbiting and floating around him. Fog and mist surrounded the landmasses, and on them were beautiful mountains and rivers. Gods and devils rested on them, organized themselves into armies on them, and conducted drills on them.

Qin Mu looked into the distance and found the North Pole somewhat gloomy and cold. It was only there that he felt warm.

In the mountain range far away, the peaks were like pillars that a couple of vines climbed on in a slithering fashion, giving the peaks a green color.

Divine King Lang Wo looked at those vines and was shocked.

“Sister, do you want to go look at this divine weapon Celestial Venerable Yu?” Qin Mu asked.

Divine King Lang Wo hesitated, then slowly nodded and said, “Those vines should be from the ancestral court.”

In the next moment, she disappeared from the carriage.

Qin Mu looked at those vines and thought, ‘Things from the masters of creation’s ancestral court are really large.’

The carriage continued on towards the vines. After a while, they were in front of them. Qin Mu looked up and saw that the vines were gourd vines with large leaves that covered the entire peak.

There were green gourds on the mountain that were like green jade that was five or six feet tall.

There weren’t many gourds. Some ladies were flying around in the vines to catch worms.

The worms on the gourds were strange and ferocious. They were two to three feet long with spiky fur on them. They had sharp teeth and spat out lightning and fire. They could even shake their bodies and shoot out the spiky fur like sharp bronze spears!

Those ladies went through the vines and worked hard to catch the worms. However, they kept encountering danger. Every time they encountered danger, they would become snakes to hide in a swift fashion.Read more chapter at vipnovel

‘Could the Five Thunder Pot that can contain five great thunderclouds and forge the fire bell divine weapons be a treasure that came from this gourd vine?’

Qin Mu was amazed and said, “Such large worms! Could these be worms from the ancestral court?”

Suddenly, a mountain peak moved about 100 miles, which shocked Qin Mu. He set eyes on it and saw an old turtle beneath it.

It was extremely large, and it walked while carrying a landmass. However, he was slow and could only move a single step in half a day. However, a step of his was about 100 miles!

He carried the mountains on the landmass through the bleak lake, huffing and puffing, suggesting that it was hard on him.

The carriage went to its head, and it slowly moved its dragon head to look at the carriage with a gaze that was as bright as the sun.

Qin Mu walked out and greeted him, “Elder.”

The dragon head of the turtle had a snow-white beard. He was so old, in fact, that his eyebrows were snow-white too. He said, “Please forgive me for being unable to return the greeting, Celestial Venerable Mu.”

His voice was as loud as rolling thunder.

Qin Mu said with shock, “You recognize me?”

“Celestial Venerable Mu of the Heaven Alliance. Who doesn’t?”

The old turtle continued, “Are you here to meet Dark Warrior Great Deity, Celestial Venerable Mu?”

Qin Mu nodded and asked, “May I ask, where is he?”

The turtle smiled. “There is no North Deity Xuan Wu in this world, only Deity Xuan and Deity Wu. Who are you looking to meet, Celestial Venerable Mu?”

Qin Mu blinked and was visibly perplexed. He probed, “North Deity Xuan Wu is two people?”

The turtle smiled. “Two saints. One of them is in the nations of boys, called Xuan. The other is in the nation of girls, called Wu. Going to Xuan will allow you to see Deity Xuan. Going to Wu will allow you to see Deity Wu. It is only when they combine that they become Dark Warrior Great Deity.”

Qin Mu nodded and asked, “Elder, how do I address you?”

“The title of elder doesn’t suit me. I’m the son of Deity Wu and Deity Xuan, called You Ming, and I’m being punished for my mistake.”

The turtle continued, “My parents punished me, sentencing me to walk in the North Pole with this mountain until the Five Thunder Pot on the gourd vines matures. I have walked for 600,000 years.”

Qin Mu was shocked and exclaimed, “The vines really create the Five Thunder Pots. However, it shouldn’t take 600,000 years for these gourds to mature, right?”

That old turtle said, “It takes these gourds 3000 years to grow flowers, bear fruit, and mature. There have been 66 generations of people who have harvested them, which has resulted in nearly 600 gourds produced. However, this gourd only grows flowers and bears fruit. It never breaks and matures, which is why I’m still performing my punishment.”

The little green sparrow that was Yan’er jumped out of the carriage and landed on Qin Mu’s shoulder. She asked, “What did you do that you have to be punished in this way?”

That old turtle glanced at her and said, “I was framed by a guy and a girl. Six hundred thousand years ago, when the four deities split with the celestial heavens, I was ordered to escort the Black Tortoise Celestial Palace to the North Pole. I met a boy and a girl who talked to me, claiming they knew me. I instinctively felt good vibes from them. Yet, they entered the celestial heavens and stole the treasure Glassy Sky Pagoda that my parents forged.”

He clenched his teeth and said, “They got furious and suppressed me here, yet that boy and girl left without any consequences! The Glassy Sky Pagoda was forged from the treasures my parents collected from the primordial, and it was extremely powerful. Yet, it disappeared just like that even though they searched for it for a long time. If that couple was found by me, I would torture them and turn them into ashes!”

Qin Mu sighed and thought, ‘North Deity Xuan Wu is a wealthy person too, befitting of someone that has been alive since the primordial era. He has a lot of treasures. Thinking about it, many ancient gods are like this. They probably got them from the masters of creation’s ancestral court. This green vine might be a holy object visualized by the masters of creation…’

He examined it and tried to establish a connection with it via consciousness, but it didn’t respond.

That old turtle, You Ming, continued to scold them with all sorts of vulgarities. He shed all of his elegant demeanor, which showed his hatred for the couple who stole the Glassy Sky Pagoda.

At the same time, a buzzing came from the air. Many worms with wings flew from the mountain to lay eggs.

The ladies in the mountains were angry, and they flew up to chase them away. Yet, many of the eggs were laid and became large green worms that chewed on the vines.

Those ladies had to go and catch worms again.

Qin Mu looked at them and asked, “Where did these worms come from?”

“They are Son of Heaven Yin’s worms. He got a bag of primordial worm eggs from somewhere. He came to ask for gourds from my parents, and my parents refused. Thus, he caused trouble by spreading the eggs.”

The old turtle said, “After the worms are all captured, flying worms will come and lay their eggs. It has been this way for 40 to 50 thousand years. That fellow is relentless!”

Qin Mu paid his respects and left. Behind him, the old turtle shouted, “Celestial Venerable Mu, you are old and of great stature. Could you please say some good things to my parents so I can be free of this suffering? After all, we met before, 600,000 years ago!”

Qin Mu turned around and asked, “You met me 600,000 years ago?”

“Yes, we met before in the celestial river!”

Qin Mu groaned. He thought the old turtle knew about him because of his name.

He didn’t know that this old turtle had met him personally.

‘I went there 600,000 years ago? Why don’t I know about that?’

Qin Mu promised him, and the carriage continued on.

Deity Wu and Deity Xuan split the place into two nations. One was the nation of boys, and the other was the nation of girls. He went to the former and found many boys with dragon heads and turtle backs. They were weird but powerful. Unsurprisingly, there were no girls.

A celestial palace floated above Xuan. It was half of a celestial palace. The celestial palace of the Black Tortoise was split open in the middle evenly. Even the Numinous Sky Hall was neatly sliced in two!

Qin Mu looked up from the carriage. He could even see the throne sliced into two!

‘What happened between Deity Wu and Deity Xuan to cause such a fracture?’

He couldn’t help but shake his head. In the Jade Pool incident, North Deity Xuan Wu struck too, but they should’ve been united, which made them strong. These two ancient gods may not be united in everyday life, but they still faced enemies together in crucial moments.

The carriage flew up and into the half of a celestial palace, arriving at its half of the Southern Heavenly Gate. There, they saw its guards flirting with some ladies from Wu.

Despite the split between the two ancient gods, their citizens were quite interested in one another.

Qin Mu got the dragon qilin to report their arrival. After a while, a loud laugh came. “You’re really here, Celestial Venerable Mu!”

A middle-aged deity came to welcome them. He had long dragon whiskers and seemed powerful. It was just that his back was bulging, which was peculiar. He probably covered his turtle shell with his clothes.

“This is our second meeting, right, Celestial Venerable Mu?” Deity Xuan laughed.

Qin Mu greeted him and said, “Before the Eternal Peace Calamity, there were meteorological calamities that involved your divine weapon. It was powerful, which greatly impressed me, Deity Xuan.”

Deity Xuan returned the favor and said, “Are you still unhappy about it, Celestial Venerable Mu? You don’t know about this, but that Five Thunder Pot was borrowed by that witch. It didn’t involve me. I even advised her and said that she was sinning and asking to be killed. She borrowed it to end the High Emperor Era and the Founding Emperor Era. Then, she wanted to use it to end the Eternal Peace Era. She’s eventually going to offend people that she can’t afford to offend and die because of it!”

Qin Mu’s expression grew to be milder as he said, “So, it didn’t involve you. I blamed you wrongly. I’m extremely impressed with a treasure like the Five Thunder Pot. It can store five great thunderclouds and forge fire bell divine weapons.”

Deity Xuan understood what he meant and said, “It seems that we are very compatible as good friends. We split the Five Thunder Pots amongst ourselves evenly. She has around a dozen, and so do I. When you leave, I’ll give you one as compensation!”

Qin Mu’s expression grew even milder as he said, “I just met your son, You Ming. I heard that he was suppressed under the mountain for 600,000 years, and in that time, there have been 600 of the Five Thunder Pots. Why did you only get around a dozen, Deity Xuan? Besides, since the primordial era, there have at least been billions. How could you only have around a dozen?”

Deity Xuan’s face became red as he hollered, “So many? That witch must’ve embezzled them!”

He sighed and said, “Truth be told, many of the Five Thunder Pots are damaged from the wars of this era. I don’t have many left. How about this, I’ll give you 16 of them.”

Qin Mu sighed. “Eternal Peace is weak and has no powerful divine weapons to protect it. The celestial heavens can annihilate it easily. If Eternal Peace is gone, I won’t survive either.”

Deity Xuan smiled. “Don’t say that, Celestial Venerable. Did you come from East Deity? He has always been straightforward and blunt. Did he trouble you?”

Qin Mu said, “He set two tests. The first was to revive a person without Heaven Duke or Earth Count’s power. The second tested my potential.”

Deity Xuan’s gaze flashed with clear respect as he asked, “So, did you pass them?”

Qin Mu plainly said, “After I revived someone, I wrecked his Green Dragon Celestial Palace and hurt his reincarnation, humiliating him in front of all of the heavenly dragons of the East Pole.”

Deity Xuan laughed and raised five of his fingers before saying, “I just thought about how I still have some spare treasures in a sealed treasure vault. I can give you 50 Five Thunder Pots so that you can assemble an army of them!”

Qin Mu raised a finger.

Deity Xuan shook his head and said, “Truth be told, many Five Thunder Pots were destroyed in wars. Add to that the Founding Emperor Era, where I gifted Founding Emperor 50 Five Thunder Pots. I can’t deal with everyone at once. If I give you more and Founding Emperor comes, how can I see him with dignity?”

Qin Mu solemnly said, “Founding Emperor isn’t the Invincible Great Wizard, though.”

Deity Xuan clenched his teeth and nodded. “Then, a hundred! No more!”

Qin Mu laughed, and Deity Xuan followed. The latter raised his hand and said, “Please, Celestial Venerable Mu!”

“Please!”

The two of them walked into his half of the Southern Heavenly Gate and into the Black Tortoise Celestial Palace. Qin Mu had a large smile on his face as he thought, ‘If I go and see Deity Wu after leaving Deity Xuan, I can get another hundred Five Thunder Pots from her!’

Deity Xuan said in a seemingly nonchalant fashion, “If you plan to see that witch, Celestial Venerable Mu, you can tell her that I gave you 200 Five Thunder Pots.”

Qin Mu’s heart shuddered as feelings of admiration rose from him.