Tales of Herding Gods

After Celestial Venerable Yue and the rest had sent the Heaven Han Celestial Heavens into the air, they bustled around the celestial heavens for a while before leaving. Everyone carried their luggage and headed towards the human tribes to impart the path.

Qin Mu hesitated a while, letting Yan’er carry the lantern before joining the rest.

“Yun, you seem a little strange.”

Celestial Venerable Yue looked at him and shook her head. “You’re still carrying your lantern in broad daylight.”

Celestial Venerable Ling wasn’t interested in ordinary folks. She hid in the Heaven Han Celestial Heavens, only caring about her research. This trip only consisted of Celestial Venerable Yue, Dao Ancestor, and some other gods of the human race.

The place that they built to impart the path was simple and crude and was located in the center of the tribe. When Qin Mu, Celestial Venerable Yue, and the rest arrived, they saw Dao Ancestor in the midst of imparting the path.

“We can’t even survive, what use is this rubbish algebra!”

An adult turned and left with his children, cursing under his breath, “This can’t be eaten!”

The clothes of the tribal people were ragged and ruined, and they looked hungry and malnourished. The place where Dao Ancestor was teaching was a rundown straw hut. There were ten or so youths sitting inside, listening attentively to Dao Ancestor’s lesson on algebra.

Qin Mu examined his surroundings. There weren’t many people in the tribe, numbering around a thousand. They got by from hunting and growing crops. They were hard-working people who toiled endlessly in the fields. The village also worshiped idols, though he didn’t know which particular half-gods they were.

This place wasn’t far from the Heaven Han Celestial Heavens. If one was to raise their head, they could see the Heaven Han Celestial Heavens in the sky. However, the gods worshiped here were all half-gods. One could see that, at this point in time, the gods of the human race didn’t have much status.

Dao Ancestor taught for quite a while, talking about using algebra to calculate the heavenly cycles and determining the body’s five elements stars, hence opening up the Five Elements Divine Treasure. However, at this moment, a few parents came forward, taking away the remaining few children, sending them into the fields to work. There were only a few people left in the class.

Dao Ancestor had finished his lesson, so he sighed and got up quietly, packing his luggage.

Qin Mu, Celestial Venerable Yue, and the rest were waiting outside. Dao Ancestor bowed and greeted them as he walked out. “It’s most difficult to impart wisdom to the ignorant. At present, I can only do this. I’ll impart the method of opening up the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure and the Five Elements Divine Treasure and hope that some of them can become divine arts practitioners. As long as one child can master the divine arts, the villagers will see that the human race is able to possess greater powers, never having to fear the gods again.”

‘This is precisely breaking the gods in one’s heart.’ Qin Mu had the same feeling. This particular step was the most difficult.

Since a million years ago, the righteous and ambitious people of the human race had tried to break the gods in their hearts. However, now that a million years had passed, the people in Eternal Peace were sometimes troubled by the gods in their hearts.

Celestial Venerable Yue consoled him, saying, “Old Daoist, don’t be disheartened. Sooner or later, people won’t fear gods or hold them in awe.”

Dao Ancestor hesitated but still revealed what was in his heart. “Celestial Venerable Yue, I believe we shouldn’t have the god realm. The realms are determined by us. Why does the Celestial Palace Realm have to be called the god realm? By calling it that, it will give our descendants the wrong impression that once their primordial spirits reach the Southern Heavenly Gate, they have become gods.”

“Regarding this…” Celestial Venerable Yue hadn’t thought of this problem before. She turned and looked at Qin Mu.

Qin Mu said, “Old Daoist may not know this, but it’s called the god realm because one has broken the gods in their heart. God is what we call the ancient gods. The ancient gods were born from the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. In the eyes of mortals, they possess incredible power. They are immortal and have become one with heaven and earth. Through cultivation, mortals can also possess incredible powers, be immortal, and become one with heaven and earth. In this way, people’s fear of the ancient gods can be broken.”

“I see.” Dao Ancestor had a sudden realization.

Qin Mu continued, “Back then, Celestial Venerable Yu was actually unwilling to refer to it as the god realm. The seven realms of the celestial palace are just realms, no different from the seven realms of the divine treasures. In his eyes and mine, the celestial palace is just one big divine treasure and should be considered the eighth realm of the divine treasures. Mortals who have cultivated to become gods are simply divine arts practitioners. However, in order to break the belief in gods in the hearts of the people, we kept the name god realm.”

Celestial Venerable Yue was shocked. “Dao Friend Yun, I have never heard you mention this before!”

Qin Mu hesitated and said, “However, I have a concern. I worry that in the future, divine arts practitioners who have cultivated celestial palaces will become existences like the ancient gods. Hence, all along, I have had reservations about calling the Celestial Palace Realm the god realm.”

Celestial Venerable Yue fell into deep thought.

Dao Ancestor grunted. “This kind of matter requires careful thought. I’ll leave the discussion to you and move on to teach the next tribe.” He walked off after saying that.

Qin Mu also entered into a daze.

It was actually him, Celestial Venerable Yu, and Celestial Venerable Hao that had established the god realm. However, the nature of the seven realms of the celestial palace was basically one giant celestial palace divine treasure. The so-called gods were just immortal divine arts practitioners and not ancient gods in the traditional sense.

The reason they simultaneously agreed without prior discussion to refer to it as the god realm was because they wanted to get rid of the worship of ancient gods.

However, when Qin Mu looked at the half-gods statues in this tribe, he couldn’t help but fall into a trance. The people in the Dragon Han Era didn’t get rid of the worship of ancient gods. Conversely, they worshipped half-gods that were more powerful than themselves.

Just as Celestial Venerable Yue entered the straw hut to teach, the tribal people started running around frantically, crying and shouting, “The Great King of Spirit Mountain is here!”

“Quick, submit our offerings!”

The people rounded up their cows, sheep, pigs, and dogs and sent them up a wooden sacrificial altar at the center of the tribe. These animals shivered as they stood on the altar.

Everyone in the tribe prostrated in front of the half-god statue, kowtowing non-stop as they mumbled phrases.

Suddenly, the sky darkened, and a half-god descended from it, riding on wind and thunder. Two thick gigantic bird claws landed in front of the sacrificial altar. As he retracted his wings, a celestial palace materialized, covering half of the tribe.

The Great King of Spirit Mountain looked at the sacrificial altar and was dissatisfied with the cows and sheep on it. His voice was shrill and ear-piercing. “Today, Great King wants a change and doesn’t want to eat livestock. Bring up some boys and girls for me to consume!”

The old tribal chief said in a trembling voice, “Great King, these animals are for you. If they aren’t enough, we can try to cough up a little more…”

Boom!

Lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled around the Great King of Spirit Mountain as the earth shook endlessly. “Shut up! Cows and sheep are livestock, but aren’t you as well? You are just livestock I reared that happens to have intelligence. You worship me, and I have granted you good weather so that you can enjoy good harvests. When you go up the mountain to hunt and collect herbs, you are able to avoid tigers and snakes. Is it not enough for animals like yourselves? Yet you grumble when I just want to eat a few of your children!”

Qin Mu frowned. As he reached out with his finger, a ray of sword light flew out. The Great King of Spirit Mountain felt something and immediately turned his head. He smiled. “You bunch of animals have invited the gods of the human race…”

His head suddenly fell to the ground. He, together with his primordial spirit, was killed by a single sword slash.

Celestial Venerable Yue came out of the straw hut and couldn’t help but frown when she saw the situation.

The tribal people were stunned. Suddenly, an elder cried bitterly as he pointed at Qin Mu, scolding ceaselessly in anger. “You have doomed us!”

Another old woman stood up and spat a glob of thick sputum at Qin Mu. “The Great King of Spirit Mountain is a god under the god emperor. Now that you have killed him, the god emperor will annihilate our families and us!”

“Don’t go! We will take you to see the god emperor so that you can pay for your crime with your life!”

The people pounced forward one by one, grabbing Qin Mu as they shouted, “Don’t let him go. He has to pay with his life for what happened. We have nothing to do with it!”

“Capture him!”

The dragon qilin stood in front of Qin Mu and gave off a ferocious roar that shook the heaven and earth, causing the houses around them to crumble and collapse.

The dragon qilin shook his body, transforming into a giant creature that blocked the way of everybody. His head was much bigger than that Great King of Spirit Mountain.

The people were reeling left and right by the tremors. When they saw this giant creature, they were so shocked that they fell to the ground. Some even fainted.

Qin Mu frowned. “Pi, there’s no need to do this.”

The dragon qilin retracted his true body, becoming smaller.

Qin Mu looked at the mess around him and raised his hand, wiping the area around him. It looked as though the flow of time had been reversed. The collapsed houses quickly recovered and became exactly the same as before.

Qin Mu retracted his hand and saw that Celestial Venerable Yue was looking at him in shock, as though she had just met him for the first time.

Qin Mu walked to the front of the dragon qilin, looking at the people prostrating on the ground with a complicated gaze.

Celestial Venerable Yue stepped forward and said, “The Great King of Spirit Mountain is the subordinate of God Emperor Lang Xuan. God Emperor Lang Xuan controls half of the territories of the Primordial Realm, and his power is unfathomable. This time, you were a little too reckless…”

“I’ll go see God Emperor Lang Xuan.”

Qin Mu took a few steps and said, “The half-gods of God Emperor Lang Xuan rule many human races. Now that the human celestial heavens has been established, the human race shouldn’t be treated like animals by his half-gods.”

Celestial Venerable Yue hesitated a while. “God Emperor Lang Xuan is the world’s first half-god, and his power is immeasurable. He was a terrifying existence that was invited by Celestial Emperor to attend the Celestial Heavens Meeting. We aren’t his match…”

Qin Mu said plainly, “I’m not Celestial Venerable Yun but Celestial Venerable Mu, who has established the path through divine arts. I can do things that you and Celestial Venerable Yun can’t.”

Just as he was about to leave, an old woman fell to the ground and grabbed his leg, wailing, “You can’t leave. You have to stay so that you can pay with your life for the death of the Great King of Spirit Mountain!”

Celestial Venerable Yue stepped forward and helped that old lady up. “We will go and see God Emperor Lang Xuan. You don’t have to worry…”

“He can go, but you can’t!”

That old lady held onto her arm and shouted, “Leave this lady behind. She’ll pay with her life for the death of the Great King of Spirit Mountain!”

Celestial Venerable Yue wanted to break free but was afraid of hurting her. The rest of the villagers surrounded her, grabbing onto her in all directions, and cried, “You can’t go!”

Celestial Venerable Yue was anxious. She mobilized her vital qi a little and forced these people back. The old woman was so angry and anxious that she rolled her eyes and passed out.

“The education of people is all about improving their morals. Improving their knowledge only increases their power.”

Qin Mu continued walking, and his voice contained an anger that was difficult to suppress. He said solemnly, “I worry that even after a million years, it will still be the same stupid situation with no improvement in morals, knowledge, and power!”

Celestial Venerable Yue hurriedly followed behind him. “If we can’t change it in one generation, we will do it in two. If not, then three or four! There will be a day where we will be able to change that.”

Qin Mu smiled ambiguously. “If it’s the same after a million years, will you still have the fighting spirit of today?”

Celestial Venerable Yue was slightly stunned and kept quiet.

Qin Mu said resolutely, “Yue, where does God Emperor Lang Xuan stay? I’ll go find him!”

Celestial Venerable Yue was puzzled. “God Emperor Lang Xuan will naturally be staying in his Lang Xuan Divine Palace. It’s an extremely luxurious place. When we were planning to build the human celestial heavens, you even went there for a visit.”

“I have forgotten about that,” Qin Mu said insipidly.

Celestial Venerable Yue was growing puzzled. She led the way while the dragon qilin and Yan’er followed behind. Yan’er continued to carry the lantern, while Luo Xiao followed behind Qin Mu. He was secretly anxious. ‘This brute is reckless. No wonder he has so many enemies. Now that he intends to attack God Emperor Lang Xuan, do I have to go with him? God Emperor Lang Xuan, there seems to be such a character in the memories of my ancestors. He is someone who participated in the battle of the Blood Rust Zone…’

Lang Xuan Divine Palace was much bigger than the Heaven Han Celestial Heavens by several folds. It was grand and imposing, with an air of extravagance. From afar, it looked like a proper celestial heavens, while the human race’s Heaven Han Celestial Heavens was more like a shabby small city.

This celestial palace was different from the rest. Although it was also built in the sky, there were many ferocious-looking giant half-gods standing on the ground and carrying palace halls.

It was a majestic scene, one that would cause people to be dumbstruck and praise the power of the half-gods.

“When we are at the Lang Xuan Divine Palace, you have to hold your temper and talk to God Emperor Lang Xuan nicely.”

Celestial Venerable Yue said, “He admires you greatly. The last time you went to see him, he received you personally, giving you wine and calling you a Dao friend. This shows that he values ​​you… ”

“Lang Xuan—”

Qin Mu suddenly opened his mouth as his voice rumbled. Thick dark clouds covered the sky while thunder boomed. The dark clouds rolled and tumbled for thousands of miles, arriving swiftly above the Lang Xuan Divine Palace.

The dark clouds were tens of miles thick and extremely heavy. Countless thunderbolts were dashing wildly in them. Suddenly, the dark clouds transformed into a giant face, its mouth opening wide as it shouted at the thousands of palaces and throne halls in the Lang Xuan Divine Palace. “Get out!”

Ferocious winds surged forth with a whoosh, engulfing the Lang Xuan Divine Palace. The roofs of the throne halls were sent flying. There was also a celestial river here that was hauled and gathered into a Jade Pool. However, the water in that Jade Pool had now been scattered, flying in all directions!

Within the palace, countless gods raised their heads, watching this terrifying scene in fear.

Suddenly, within the Numinous Sky Hall in the palace, a blazing brilliance dazzled, rising slowly as it evaporated the dark clouds in the sky. It gave off waves of divine light, shining over the land.

The angry voice of God Emperor Lang Xuan traveled over. “So, it’s Celestial Venerable Mu! You lunatic, why are you here shouting? I’m the ancestor of the half-gods, do you really think I don’t dare to take you down?”

A celestial palace leaped out behind his body. His primordial spirit stood prominently in the Jade Pavilion of that palace.

In terms of realms, although he was a heavenly god of the Jade Pool Realm, his half-god bloodline was extremely strong. After he had come of age, his battle power wasn’t inferior to the ancient gods, almost not requiring any cultivation.

God Emperor Lang Xuan was the son of the ancient Celestial Emperor and one of the three divine kings of the masters of creation, Divine King Gong Yun. His bloodline was extremely powerful, and he was already fully grown.

When Qin Mu and the seven Celestial Venerables of the distant ancient era were establishing the realms of divine treasures and celestial palaces, the realms had never been the standard in measuring battle power.

Being the ancestor of the half-gods, he had a terrifying level of battle power!

Qin Mu walked forward towards the Lang Xuan Divine Palace as his vital qi exploded, charging towards the Southern Heavenly Gate of the Lang Xuan Divine Palace like a sword with unparalleled sharpness.

A crack suddenly appeared at the center of the gate, and it broke in two from his attack!

A deep sword scar appeared on the celestial street, and explosions rang as that crack grew longer, cutting forward swiftly. Wherever it went, great halls crumbled. Even the main gate of the Jade Capital City was unexpectedly cut open, and the entire city was neatly sliced in two!

That sword qi cut all the way to the Gate of Heaven Influence, coming before the Numinous Sky Hall!