Tales of Herding Gods

Sang Hua was extremely nervous. The black tiger god had brought them into the enemy’s nest, so could he have turned sides?

‘However, he is a god. There would have been no need to lie to us. If he wanted to kill us, he could have just taken us down or eaten us.’

Even though logic said that, she still felt nervous in her heart.

After all, they were in the enemy’s camp!

The devil race had existed in Supreme Emperor Heaven for some twenty thousand years, and in her memory, they were all fiendish and utterly evil. If anyone landed in their hands, it would be fortunate for them to find death!

And now, they were in their camp.

She looked around and saw countless devils staring at them. The heavenly devils sent chills down her back. They looked like hungry beasts hiding in the darkness, ready to pounce and tear them into pieces!

Sang Hua’s palms were covered in cold sweat. Her gaze landed on one devil god, and she couldn’t shift it away.

That man was topless, but his face didn’t look like that of a normal human. There were only groups of flame markings that covered his whole body.

His eyes were extremely strange, flickering in his eye sockets like two balls of fire. When he saw them, he smiled. “Young lady, I’ve seen you before. Your family has died under my hands, right?”

Sang Hua’s hands formed into tight fists, but she didn’t say anything.

Qin Mu took a look at that devil god, and his pupils contracted. He remembered that the first time he met Sang Hua, heavenly devils had attacked that city, and Sang Hua’s father had gone to defend when he was encircled. A devil god had then pushed his way toward Sang Hua’s family and killed most of the people.

Back then, the sight had been terrifying. Even though he couldn’t see Sang Hua’s face, he could feel her fear and anger.

Qin Mu had run everywhere with her, and only then did she survive unscathed.

Back then, Qin Mu and Sang Hua had been in two different worlds, so he couldn’t see the face of that devil god clearly, but judging from Sang Hua’s current expression, he could confirm that this topless devil god was the one that had massacre her family.

“The style of construction here is quite similar to that of our Great Ruins. I’ve seen numerous ruins of Founding Emperor Era, and they are similar to the palaces here.” Qin Mu suddenly smiled. “Sister Sang Hua, your Supreme Emperor Heaven might just be related to our Great Ruins.”

He wanted to divert her attention, but she was plagued with matters of the heart and couldn’t pay him much attention.

The black tiger god answered instead. “Supreme Emperor Heaven belonged to Founding Emperor. It was part of the first heaven of the thirty-three heavens, so it’s not strange that the buildings look similar.”

“Supreme Emperor Heaven is from Founding Emperor Era?” Qin Mu’s heart trembled violently, and he cried out, “What kind of place is thirty-three heavens? Hasn’t Founding Emperor Era ended?”

The black tiger god was bewildered. “Founding Emperor Era has ended? When did that happen? How could it have ended when Founding Emperor is still alive? As long as Founding Emperor is still alive, Founding Emperor Era will never end!”

Qin Mu was flustered, and his heart pounded crazily. Founding Emperor Era had yet to end!

This news was too shocking!

He immediately thought of his encounters in Great Ruins and Fengdu, how the heavenly king’s god statue had acted on Founding Emperor’s orders and rode the dragon qilin to kill the dragon king and how King Yama of Fengdu had mentioned Founding Emperor going to Carefree Village.

These two matters were clear signs that Founding Emperor Era had not yet ended!

However, when the black tiger god said this personally, it still gave Qin Mu a great shock.

“Your frame of mind is unstable, so it will be bad for your fight later.” The black tiger god was stern, and his voice loud. “Your attainments in frame of mind aren’t great to begin with, so won’t you at least stabilize your mind?”

Qin Mu was muddle-headed. He asked in puzzlement, “What fight?”

“We’re here!”

The black tiger god suddenly stopped,. and his body trembled, pushing Qin Mu and Sang Hua off. When the two of them landed on the ground, the black tiger god shook and transformed back into a tiger-headed god. He looked down and frowned at the two people.

He then said loudly, “Mu lord, these two people are useless; their minds are all flustered! They will probably lose miserably if you send them to fight!”

Sang Hua had seen the devil god that had almost wiped out her whole family and her mind was agitated, making it hard for her to restrain herself. Qin Mu’s mind was also shaken, but his by the information the black tiger god had told him. He was still in a daze, so neither of them was in a good state now.

However, after hearing the black tiger god’s words, the two of them came back to their senses and looked ahead of themselves. The sight astonished them.

The palaces up ahead laid out in a picturesque disorder were extremely strange. Some of them were bathed in fire, but not destroyed. The flames seemed to be emanated by the palaces themselves, even though it left them almost transparent from the scorching heat. The youths could see the interior of the palaces from the outside.

The flames lighted up the whole city like it was daytime!

In the sky above the palaces, gods and devils were facing each other, and Qin Mu immediately saw Saint Woodcutter. He also saw numerous gods standing behind him. Among them was Sang Hua’s father.

Opposite them was a devil god that did not look like a devil, but was even somewhat refined and graceful. The only problem was that he didn’t have ears.

In the place of his left ear, there was a face, and it was the same where his right ear was supposed to be.

Qin Mu couldn’t see his back so he didn’t know if there was a face on the back of his head too.

Suddenly, a black pillar rose that was several yards thick. It was like a black pagoda that stabbed diagonally the vast courtyard.

An unbelievably huge ax was also sent into the plaza. That ax was almost as thick as the black pillar.

Only now did Qin Mu notice that it wasn’t a black pillar nor was it a black pagoda, but a huge spear.

It crossed with Saint Woodcutter’s ax and stood upright in the plaza

The two spirit weapons were too large, and cracks formed on the ground from the pressure.

“Enter the plaza.” The black tiger god hurried them. “Once the people in front die, it will be your turn.”

Qin Mu and Sang Hua walked forward to the borders of the plaza. There were several divine arts practitioners inside, all covered in blood. They were all adjusting their breaths while standing with armor; they should have come from the battlefield.

On the other side, there were also other young divine arts practitioners, but they were devils. They should have also come from the battlefield, since a few had injuries. They all looked fierce and brave.

“My lord, they are here.” The black tiger god bowed to Saint Woodcutter in the sky above.

“Why are their minds not peaceful?”

The black tiger god immediately answered. “The cultivation of his frame of mind is simply too weak. When he heard it was still Founding Emperor Era now, his soul wandered off.”

Saint Woodcutter gave him a stare, and the two long ears moved back and stuck to the back of the tiger god’s head. He became submissive and didn’t dare to talk.

Saint Woodcutter looked at Qin Mu who was flipped through his taotie sack before taking out a chunk of black iron. He then poked at the fire emanating from the palace.

“Mind not at ease and a bouncy temper. I wonder if he’s useful? Could I have been wrong in my judgment? He clearly wasn’t that curious and lively in the battlefield…”

The black iron in Qin Mu’s hand was immediately affected by the heat and got scorching to the touch. Qin Mu threw it down without any hesitation. The flames on the chunk of black iron had yet to extinguish when it became a pile of molten iron.

It kept burning though, and in not even a breath’s time, it changed into ashes.

“No wonder this place is called Li City, this is actually Li Fire!”

Saint Woodcutter frowned slightly while a junior behind him cried out in astonishment, breaking the silence.

“Not only is there Li Fire, but there’s even devil fire!” Qin Mu stated.

The black tiger god couldn’t help explaining, “This place was conquered by the devils and their fire is hidden inside Li Fire, which is their scheme! Don’t touch it and be careful of burning yourself to death. That’s right, how did you know there’s devil fire in Li Fire?”

“Li Fire has high heat and is good for forging since it can easily melt black iron, but it won’t burn it cleanly,” Qin Mu explained. “Devil fire has a very terrifying corrosive characteristic, but its temperature isn’t high. What melted black iron was Li Fire while what burned it cleanly away was devil fire.”

Suddenly, his eyes shined, and the black tiger god jumped in shock.

“Devil fire can be used to smelt spirit weapons while Li Fire is an even better divine fire! This trip is great; my sword pellet can be improved even more!” Qin Mu cried out in excitement.

Mute had taught him the marvel of smelting, and he knew the use of every kind of fire. Now that he could see two of them, he couldn’t help becoming excited. He immediately took out an iron board and a frame before taking out a black iron hammer.

“Brother Tiger, you don’t know it, but my sword pellet has already been cultivated to the flexibility of wrapping around a finger. Another step forward would be like flowing water. All this time, I couldn’t find any high-quality flames, but now, I finally found some!”

Qin Mu took out his sword pellet and looked at the dumbfounded black tiger god. He said with a smile, “Devil fire can burn away black iron, but it can’t burn black gold essence. My swords are made out of black gold essence with divine metal mixed into it. By smelting them with the devil fire, I can remove the impurities.”

The gods and devils in the surroundings were stunned. They saw Qin Mu quickly constructing a smelting table before taking out a black felt apron to tie around his waist. He threw the flying swords onto the smelting table, then picked one to stuff into the flames.

Clang!

The sound of beating metal dispersed the solemn atmosphere. Qin Mu hammered each and every one of his spirit weapons seriously. Every strike of his was fully focused.

“The one who threshes grains!” Sang Hua called out softly. “How do you know how to forge treasures too?”

Qin Mu didn’t raise his head when he said humbly, “I’ve learned it for over ten years, so I’m slightly better at it than algebra.”

Sang Hua stuck out her tongue and looked at him forging. Her heart suddenly calmed down from its flustered state.

When her father had seen her having come as well, he frowned slightly and opened his mouth. However, he resisted speaking.

Clang, clang, clang.

Qin Mu forged continuously. Even though there were over a dozen gods and devils around, the only sound was that of him beating metal, and it was irritating everyone.

Suddenly, the devil god opposite of Saint Woodcutter turned his head to face him with another face. He said pleasantly, “Fu Riluo has finally met the heavenly master of the fake celestial heavens from back then. It’s true that your reputation can’t be compared to meeting you in person. This successor of yours is truly interesting, but are you sure you want him to fight for you?”

Saint Woodcutter had an indifferent expression. “Cultivating a heart is like forging ironware. His heart was uneasy earlier, so he’s merely using forging to calm his flustered emotions for his inner heart to calm down. This is a kind of profound cultivation method for the frame of mind, Fu Riluo. Can’t you see that?”

Clang, clang, clang.

Qin Mu swung his huge hammer up and smacked the blades non-stop. He didn’t look like he was cultivating his heart at all. Instead, he looked like he was really forging ironware.

The corners of Saint Woodcutter’s eyes twitched, and he almost couldn’t put up a straight face anymore. ‘Why is he still beating them?’

Below, Qin Mu put away the swords that were done and took out another huge batch to be calcined in the fire.

Veins popped out on Saint Woodcutter’s forehead, but they were forced down by him straight away.

Fu Riluo laughed loudly. “It’s hard for you to get rid of me, and I also can’t get rid of you. In that case, let these juniors fight for us! Heavenly Master, if my side wins, you shall scram back and continue envisioning your beautiful dream. If your side wins, I’ll leave Li City to you!”

Saint Woodcutter hesitated for a moment, and the clanging reached his ears once more. Qin Mu was still beating the iron seriously.

Nearby, Brilliance Injured City Lord said in a low voice, “Heavenly Master, don’t worry, my Supreme Emperor Heaven also has young talents. They are all youths with the aptitude of a true god, and they won’t be any weaker than Fu Riluo’s disciple.”

Saint Woodcutter looked at Qin Mu was still beating the iron, and he could only nod.