Tales of Herding Gods

Qin Mu tried to sense the sacrificial altar outside of the ancestral court time and time again. Yet, he failed time and time again. There was a force disrupting his consciousness in the void.

Cold sweat came from his forehead. The disruption came from the mine. Da Hong was clearly destroying his reverse summoning.

Suddenly, he felt that the disturbance was gone. He became rejuvenated instantly as his consciousness finally established a connection with the sacrificial altar outside of the ancestral court!

Qin Mu was pleased, and he immediately utilized the reverse summoning divine art. His vital qi and consciousness mixed together to utilize the sacrificial altar outside.

At the same time, he vaguely heard melodious yet pitiful singing. It was as if an abandoned lady was singing by the river while walking into it before slowly disappearing into the ice-cold water.

He looked back and saw a splendid-looking empress holding Da Hong while walking towards them.

Qin Mu felt absent-minded as the ancestral court disappeared, and he heard the sound of flowing water.

The view in front of him changed, and a river stream appeared in front of him. Plain fog covered the river. A sad lady was walking into the center of the river, and her body was slowly absorbed by the river.

She was humming a melancholic song in which one couldn’t understand the lyrics.

‘Illusion!’

Qin Mu immediately utilized his consciousness, and he furiously shouted, “Consciousness illusion! Who dares to trick me? I am the grandmaster of consciousness illusions!”

He heard a lady’s voice gently whispering, “I am its ancestor.”

Qin Mu clenched his teeth and used the Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, Great Overarching Supreme Consciousness, Boundless Calamity Sutra, and all of his consciousness divine arts in an attempt to break the sudden illusion.

Yet, he felt that his body and primordial spirit were out of his control, continuing to perform the reverse summoning divine art. He grew closer and closer to forming a connection with the sacrificial altar outside.

Qin Mu’s forehead was covered with cold sweat. Divine King Gong Yun’s consciousness illusion had invaded his corporeal body, forcing him to leave there together with them.

He attempted to break it, but Divine King Gong Yun’s consciousness was above him. She had a secure advantage over him.

The reverse summoning activated, and the void swayed. Another sacrificial altar came from deep within the void.

Light flashed!

Qin Mu clenched his teeth and fought against Divine King Gong Yun’s consciousness divine art. The river and the lady in it disappeared and reappeared again and again. In one moment, they were clear, while in another, they became blurry.

The pitiful singing went away, then got closer again as it crushed Qin Mu’s consciousness again and again.

Suddenly, the lady’s voice sounded in Qin Mu’s ear. “Are you Mu Qing? The consciousness divine arts of the later generation truly are powerful. Perhaps we will meet again in the future, if you aren’t dead…”

The voice grew further away as the illusion disappeared. The lantern light became clear around him as the carriage appeared on the sacrificial altar outside the ancestral court.

The lantern light was the type found on the Celestial River Navy’s ships!

Innumerable ships surrounded the place, their flags fluttering, and countless soldiers and generals of the celestial heavens stood on the sacrificial altar. Next to the Celestial River Navy was the Southern Sect Army.

After they entered the ancestral court, the armies entered the place too to hunt them down. They stationed themselves outside the sacrificial altar to try and trap them!

Luo Xiao drove the void beast towards the siege to try and break out. He hollered, “Brother Mu, follow me! We shall kill our way out of here!”

Countless troops activated their formations to trap them, while countless divine weapons and divine arts flew from the ships and bombarded them.

Even more divine soldiers and generals sieged the sacrificial altar, rushing towards it.

Qin Mu looked around and failed to find Divine King Gong Yun and Da Hong.

To that primordial divine king, no amount of soldiers could keep her down. After all, even Qin Mu’s consciousness couldn’t break her consciousness illusion.

She could enter and exit the Celestial River Navy and Southern Sect Army freely.

Now that the female divine king had left with Da Hong, Da Hong would face endless torture and humiliation.

‘Will Gong Yun be Celestial Venerable Gong in the future?’ Qin Mu thought.

His gaze looked at the countless gods and devils rushing towards them before falling on Luo Xiao, who was trying his best to break free. Luo Xiao was trapped. The Celestial River Navy and Southern Sect Army had already set an inescapable trap. Even Qin Mu would find it hard to escape.

“Luo Xiao!”

Qin Mu used his consciousness and rushed towards him. Yet, his consciousness was breaking under the power of countless divine arts and divine weapons. “Don’t take the void beast back to the Great Void! The void beast wasn’t tamed by you but by the Grand Emperor. He purposely handed it to you! Don’t take it back!”

Countless divine weapons rose, and complete darkness blocked the sacrificial altar entirely.

Yan’er looked at the scene with a pale expression after she hurriedly raised her lantern. She hastily said, “Master! We won’t make it if we don’t leave now!”

Qin Mu’s consciousness was hit again. He still couldn’t reach Luo Xiao’s side with his consciousness.

“Yan’er.”

Qin Mu didn’t try again. He closed his eyes and gently said, “Extinguish the light.”

Yan’er blew out the lantern. Yet, the divine weapons and divine arts’ light made the sacrificial altar bright. They still couldn’t leave and return to the ghost ship.

Yan’er, the dragon qilin, and the six heavenly dragons looked at the divine weapons and divine arts bombarding them with despair. They couldn’t help but close their eyes.

“Wherever I am, Youdu is here,” Qin Mu said gently.

Swoosh.

Endless darkness dispersed from him. It soon shrouded the sacrificial altar.

The darkness disappeared as quickly as it came. Soon, the darkness was dispersed by the divine weapons and divine arts. The carriage on the sacrificial altar, and Qin Mu, the dragon qilin, and Yan’er, who were on it, disappeared one by one.

The waves of the celestial river rumbled. Water faintly went through the heavens and years. Then, a ghost ship appeared suddenly and leaped down from the water and onto the celestial river.

The flag fluttered, and it had the words “Feathered Forest” sewn on it.

Wei Suifeng stood on the front of the boat. He looked at the heavy mist ahead, turned around, and said, “Brother, you were gone for a long time. What did you experience?”

Qin Mu walked out and quietly looked at the mist on the water. He thought about his experiences for quite a long time before he spoke. “I experienced history.”

“That’s the way it is.”

Wei Suifeng understood him and leisurely said, “History won’t change just because of your interferences and experiences. All of your hard work is a part of history. I experienced it myself.”

Qin Mu went to his side, and they looked out while holding onto the side of the ship, seeming as if they wanted to see through the fog of history.

Wei Suifeng experienced more. A plain feeling of control fell in his Dao heart that prevented him from being as unrestrained as before.

“Brother, where do you want to go next?” he asked.

“Next stop?”

Qin Mu’s gaze was faint. He said while being visibly calm, “I want to find South Deity Vermillion Bird. I haven’t met her yet, but I still have to find her. Can this ship go back to an even more ancient era? I want to see her in the first year of the Dragon Han Era.”

“No.”

Wei Suifeng said, “Unchanging substance can only allow the ship to go as far back as the era in which it was built. It can’t go to eras before that. That’s because there was no such boat then. It’s the same for Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art. The celestial river mist can only take you to the era after Celestial Venerable Ling was born. She can’t do anything about prior eras. The ship was built around a thousand years after the first year of the Dragon Han Era. The oldest era you can go to is the one you just went to.”

Qin Mu lightly nodded and said, “Thus, let’s stay in the Dragon Han Era.”

Wei Suifeng looked at him and asked, “I see that you’re slightly depressed. What’s wrong?”

“I met a brother. He was honest and sincere, yet I couldn’t save him.”

Qin Mu said quietly, “I knew his end, and I tried to change his fate again and again. However, again and again, I found out that his end was destined. I’m wondering where he is now and what dangers he’ll face. I’m still thinking about whether he’ll go mad when he meets me again. Maybe he’ll hate me for lying to him…”

The ship floated on the river and was about to leave the mist behind.

Wei Suifeng hastened him, saying, “You should move now. Lift your spirits. You are Celestial Venerable Mu!”

Qin Mu rejuvenated himself and got on the carriage.

Wei Suifeng went forward and held the leash. He looked up and said, “You are tired after your travels. I should allow you to rest here, but I can’t. We became one with the ship. We became unchanging substances. The longer you stay here, the more likely you are to be assimilated. By then, you won’t be able to leave. In the end, you’ll be like us, wild ghosts of time and space.”

Qin Mu’s gaze fell on his face. He calmly asked, “How many more times can I use it?”

“No more than five.”

Wei Suifeng said, “You will be assimilated during the sixth time. By then, we’ll be doomed to eternal damnation! Brother, you must cherish these chances. After these chances, I’ll send you back to Eternal Peace!”

Qin Mu nodded.

The carriage drove off the ship and into the mist.

Outside of the sacrificial altar at the ancestral court, Luo Xiao experienced countless attacks. He escaped time and time again from the siege of the Celestial River Navy and Southern Sect Army.

‘I wonder how Brother Mu is.’

He escaped into the river, groggy-minded and about to die. He could barely hold on. His corporeal body was about to die. He had escaped there by relying on his conviction.

He wanted to go back to the Great Void to tell his people about the prophecies.

He crawled onto the void beast’s back and felt death approaching him, step by step.

‘I must return alive. This is our last hope…’

His gaze was blurry. The death of his corporeal body slowly made him blind. He could use his third eye to observe his surroundings, but it was blurry.

The young master of creation felt enemies coming again. He drove the void beast away with the last bit of his consciousness.

In the end, he faintly saw a ship approaching him on the celestial river. The void beast ran out of energy too, and it collapsed on the surface of the water.

The ship stopped, and a young man came from it.

“Who are you?” Luo Xiao heard his voice asking.

“I am Yun. Others call me Celestial Venerable Yun.”

The young man said, “Your injuries are too serious for me to save. What last wish do you have, Brother?”

“Celestial Venerable Yun!”

Luo Xiao felt himself grabbing onto his wrist with his ice-cold hand. Two lines of tears fell from his eyes. They were cold too.

His heart had stopped. His body was cold.

However, he remembered the first prophecy.

“Celestial Venerable Yun, I will tell you where the Great Void is. Bring me there and meet my people. My consciousness is about to die. It will be awakened there!”

Luo Xiao stared at him, yet his eyes were grayish-white. “I will dig out my third eye and give it to you. It’s an Origin Stone, a keepsake of my people. They will believe you when they see it!”

“What about your body?” Celestial Venerable Yun asked.

“The Celestial River Navy and Southern Sect Army are hunting me down. They won’t stop until they have my body.”

Luo Xiao stood up and raised his palm, coalescing his last bit of consciousness and digging out his eye. He held it in his hand and told him where the Great Void was, then bowed and said, “Please, Celestial Venerable Yun!”

He ran out of breath as he stood on the celestial river.

Celestial Venerable Yun looked at him, stunned. He received his Grand Primordium Divine Stone and said, “I promise you, warrior.”

Luo Xiao revealed a smile and fell on his side. His body was washed downstream by the celestial river’s water.

Celestial Venerable Yun returned to the ship with the divine stone. The void beast followed him onto the boat and squatted down quietly.

Celestial Venerable Yun glanced at him, shook his head, and treated it as Luo Xiao’s mount.

After a few years, Celestial Venerable Yun finally found the Great Void. He entered it and found some honest masters of creation.

He retrieved the Grand Primordium Divine Stone from Luo Xiao’s eyebrows and gave it to the chiefs.

The masters of creation received him politely. They held a large-scale worshipping ceremony to make Luo Xiao’s consciousness into a spirit ancestor.

“He’s a hero.”

Celestial Venerable Yun met a cute girl that was a master of creation too. She worshipped Luo Xiao and Celestial Venerable Yun greatly.

“Only a heroic master of creation can tame a large void beast like that!”

She was small, though she was taller than Celestial Venerable Yun. She watched the void beast that followed Celestial Venerable Yun into the Great Void. She delicately said, “When I grow up, I want to be a master of creation like Spirit Ancestor Luo Xiao.”

“What’s your name?” Celestial Venerable Yun looked at her pure smile and was caught off guard.

“Lang Wo!”

“You’re pretty.”

“Yep, everyone says that!”