Tales of Herding Gods

Qin Mu and the old farmer walked into the village while the dragon qilin and the water qilin followed behind. That water qilin kept examining the dragon qilin from the side, and he suddenly sneered. “You are also a breed of qilin, a half-god. However, you are too spineless, you throw the face of our qilin god race! To meekly be someone’s mount, to even plow the land and to even whimper like a baby!”

The dragon qilin gave him a glance and said with a muffled voice, “What’s that on your back?”

Celestial Venerable Yu sat on the water qilin’s back and looked around curiously.

The water qilin was choked up and snorted. “I’m different. I was seized by your master, and if I don’t surrender, I’ll die, thus I compromised and became Master Lan’s mount. You are different, you were even whimpering and crying. Do you know how powerful our qilin god race was in the past? The dragon race, the phoenix race, they all had to admit that they were juniors when they meet us…”

The dragon qilin said calmly, “Have you eaten spirit pills before?”

The water qilin scolded angrily, “Eat what spirit pills? Eat humans, eat half-gods, eat monsters, eat dragons, eat phoenixes, as long as it’s alive, we can eat! What do we need spirit pills for?”

The dragon qilin looked around and noticed that no one was watching him, and only then did he take out a sack. He carefully pinched out one spirit pill and said, “This is a spirit pill of the lightning and fire attributes. Cult Master has made it especially for me, so it’s most likely not suitable for you. I don’t have much so here’s one for you to have a taste.”

The water qilin tasted one, and he was instantly stunned.

“You are spouting nonsense, your master clearly gave you a whole basin filled to the brim, it was even piled up like a mountain!”

The water qilin beamed and said repeatedly, “Give me two more, just two more!”

The dragon qilin shook his head. “This is a spirit pill of the fire and light attributes, you are a water qilin and not a dragon qilin, you can’t eat this. If you eat too much, it will harm your body. You also have a master, get your master to make some for you.”

The water qilin hesitated for a moment, and his heart was in knots. “The pride of my qilin god race…”

The dragon qilin ignored him and followed after Qin Mu.

Qin Mu started to talk about his intention for coming and said, “The current Great Ruins is incomparably vast, and there are dangers everywhere. Little nephew was thinking of borrowing the power of Bullfighting World to protect the people of the Great Ruins.”

The old farmer’s bark-like face had even more wrinkles as they scrunched up together. “Every village has stone statues for protection, and even those cities have stone statues as well. King Yama of Fengdu has passed down the order to allow the stone statues in the Great Ruins to revive anytime. King Yama also dispatched Bird God Chi Xiu to ask me if I need more gods of Founding Emperor to come forward and protect Bullfighting World, but I rejected his goodwill. The Primordial Realm resurfacing this time is merely dropping a grain in the ocean. The true danger has yet to surface.”

Qin Mu’s heart stirred, and he asked, “In that case, where does senior uncle think the danger will come from?”

“The true danger is not in the Great Ruins, it’s in Eternal Peace.”

The old farmer heard the term senior uncle and felt comfortable. He no longer threw him cold glances and said with a smile, “Compared to half-gods, Eternal Peace is still too weak. Have you heard of the strategy of driving the tiger to swallow the wolf?”

Qin Mu was stunned, and he dug deeper. “What senior uncle means is?”

“The Great Ruins is the Primordial Realm that is sealed, and the Primordial Realm is the Great Ruins that is unsealed. The Primordial Realm breaking through the seal this time and resurfacing to the world was something no one could have expected. Even Woodcutter was caught off-guard.”

The old farmer said calmly, “There are remaining subjects of Founding Emperor in the Great Ruins, and there are not many people in the Great Ruins. The population is at most tens of millions. As long as we gather all of the people of the Great Ruins together and build several god cities, with the protection of the remaining subjects of Founding Emperor, we can ensure the safety of these people. But what about Eternal Peace? Two to three billion population, right? These people are spread throughout all cities, and now the distance between every city is a hundred times more than before!”

Qin Mu’s heart gradually sank.

The old farmer continued to say, “The transportation between each and every city is broken, and primitive forests of the Primordial Realm are all around the cities. There are also the appearances of half-gods, as well as all kinds of dangerous ruins and battlefields. Eternal Peace Emperor’s rule to all parts of the land has dropped to the freezing point, and every place is going to start to rule itself. Not long after, the reform of Eternal Peace Empire will be completely destroyed. Without people, there will be no reform, the empire will also collapse! Even if the emperor has a great drive to immigrate all the people to the vicinity of the capital city and rebuild, that will take dozens to hundreds of years!”

“However, in just a few months, numerous places will announce their break away from Eternal Peace, they will become their own emperor! The rebel forces will be uncountable, and the only place Eternal Peace can preserve will be the surroundings of the capital city!”

He sneered and said, “And to fight back against these new forces that have emerged, let’s not consider if Eternal Peace has this ability to or not. Just the journey itself requires a hundred years! Moreover, Eternal Peace Empire doesn’t have the ability to fight head to head with the half-gods!”

The old farmer let out a shaky breath and said, “When I mentioned driving the tiger to swallow the wolf earlier, Eternal Peace Empire is this wolf, and the tiger is the half-gods in the Primordial Realm. Other than half-gods, there are also other hungry tigers, raise your head up to have a look.”

Qin Mu raised his head up to look at the sky. In the sky, various worlds shone with all kinds of colors. Clouds and mist shrouded the land while the stars orbited in the sky. Those worlds were all so bright and brilliant.

“These worlds have lifeforms residing in them.”

The old farmer said, “When it’s nighttime in the Great Ruins, devil gods would frequently appear, and those devil gods are from these worlds. When the Primordial Realm was sealed, they would still have to spend quite some effort to come in. They would need to think of ways like blood sacrifice. However, it will be much easier for them to enter now. Eternal Peace has to face the half-gods in the day and these gods from the other worlds at night. How can they survive under such circumstances?”

Qin Mu felt apprehensive.

He had indeed met devil gods of the other worlds in the Great Ruins numerous times. For example, when he and Village Chief were searching for Carefree Village at night, they encountered a devil goddess and the Heavenly Devil Horde.

The first time when he went to the Sun Well to visit Yan Jingjing, he encountered the Heavenly Feather Race being controlled by a devil god that forced them to attack the Sun Well.

And at the Moon Well, he saw devil gods attacking the Moon Well and wiping out every one of the moon herders.

In the past, the Great Ruins had this natural barrier, and Eternal Peace was very safe. Now that the worlds had broken free from the seal, would Eternal Peace still be as safe after the Great Ruins transformed back into the Primordial Realm?

“The eradication of Eternal Peace Empire is definite. Eternal Peace will first crumble into pieces as various regions break away from Eternal Peace to erect their own emperor. The remaining survivors of Crimson Light will then stop knowing their place. With Fu Riluo, the northern borders, the prairie, West Earth, every one of them will break apart.”

The old farmer took a look at him and said with a heavy tone. “The territory and people that Eternal Peace can rule will not even be ten percent. Half-gods will also make their moves on Eternal Peace Empire, so forget about Eternal Peace Empire. Think for the people of the Great Ruins, I will inform King Yama to revive the stone statues and let them bring the people of the Great Ruins here. With here as the center, we will build a country. You are the descendant of Founding Emperor, you shall be the emperor of this new country. Eternal Peace cannot be saved anymore.”

Qin Mu composed himself.

Martial Arts Heavenly Teacher had indeed thought far ahead, and he was very accurate.

Now that the Primordial Realm was unsealed, Eternal Peace Empire was faced with the greatest danger yet. It was even more dangerous than the snow disaster.

Eternal Peace Empire’s reform would also be broken and even regress back to the situation where all countries ruled over themselves with sects everywhere!

Emperor Yanfeng, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, and even Saint Woodcutter must be worried sick now and be at a loss.

“Senior uncle, I don’t have the same drive as Emperor Yanfeng, nor the ability to push and execute the reform like Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. If I’m the emperor of the Great Ruins, I would be plagued by mundane matters and be too stressed out to carry out any reform. Compared to Emperor Yanfeng, I don’t think I can do it.”

Qin Mu said with a smile, “There aren’t many people with the same drive as Emperor Yanfeng, and there aren’t many people with the ability of execution like Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. I even feel Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor are doing even better than Founding Emperor and Saint Woodcutter. Furthermore, this is also a test for Emperor Yanfeng to see if Eternal Peace Empire can hold on. If we hold on, everything is possible.”

The old farmer stared at him and sneered. “What can Eternal Peace Empire use to deal with the half-gods? How can they fight with those worlds? The collapse of Eternal Peace Empire is in a matter of months!”

Qin Mu said with a smile, “There’s always a solution. Senior uncle, now that the Primordial Realm is suddenly unsealed and the half-gods are going forth to pay their respects to Mother Earth, what do you see from this?”

The old farmer said with a cold tone, “What do I see? I go prone and see, I lie down and see! I see all of you sending yourself to death one by one!”

Qin Mu laughed playfully. “Senior uncle, you are throwing a tantrum again. We are talking about important matters.”

The old farmer stared ruthlessly at him and kept quiet.

The smile on Qin Mu’s face didn’t shrink, and he said, “I’ve thought of an idea that can forever solve the issue of the people in Bullfighting World having no Divine Bridge Divine Treasure. I plan to destroy my own Divine Bridge Divine Treasure after I open up the Life and Death Divine Treasure to reopen the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure. After I master the method, not only Bullfighting World, even the people who have their divine bridges broken in the Great Ruins and Eternal Peace, they can have hope of reopening their Divine Bridge Divine Treasure and cultivating into gods! Senior uncle, please assist me in going forth to Eternal Peace, assist Emperor Yanfeng and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor in tiding over this hurdle!”

The old farmer’s gaze was fierce, and he sneered. “You know that these people are the descendants of the soldiers of my Bullfighting Palace that died in battle, so you are using this term to entice me. But what if you can’t open up the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure?”

Qin Mu smiled and said, “I’m the overlord body, there’s none like me in the past and in the present.”

The old farmer sucked in a deep breath.

Qin Mu’s terms had indeed moved him.

The people of Bullfighting World were his restraint his whole life. After the Founding Emperor Era was wiped out, he buried these soldiers that had died in battle in their homeland, and as the leader and commander of these heroes, he harbored guilt to them; therefore, he had guarded their descendants for twenty thousand years.

When he saw the descendants of these soldiers dying from old age, and as he saw new ones being born before dying of old age, there was nothing he could do.

No one could be like him, relying just on the martial path to soar into the celestial palace under the circumstances of not having a Divine Bridge Divine Treasure.

Even Qin Mu and Hu Bugui would find it difficult to achieve such a step when they had entered the martial path.

He was the one and only great master of the martial path from the past to the present and to the future. He was the Great Emperor of the Martial Path!

If Qin Mu was really able to solve this problem, he would have to leave the mountain no matter what to help Qin Mu, to help Emperor Yanfeng, to help Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor!

Qin Mu looked at him with a fervent gaze, and he waited silently for his reply.

The old farmer calmed down, and his face that was like the dried earth below smiled. He punched at a location slightly above the heart of Qin Mu’s brows.

Qin Mu grunted, and he vomited out a mouthful of fresh blood. He was confused and alarmed.

Even though the old farmer’s punch seemed to be extremely overbearing, it was very strange. Even though it had hit the heart of his brows, it didn’t affect his corporeal body.

The power in this punch was boundless and could destroy anything in its way. When it poured into his body, he felt as though something had shattered in his body!

“I’ve already destroyed the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure that you had yet to awaken.”

The old farmer pulled back his thick fist and arm before saying with a smile, “Your other divine treasures are fine, so you don’t have to worry. However, your Divine Bridge Divine Treasure has been shattered by me, and nothing is left! Your injuries will also heal quickly, and no trauma will be left behind. However, even if you open up the Life and Death Divine Treasure, your lifespan is only left with six hundred years. You better hope you can find a way to open up the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, otherwise, you can wait for your death!”

Qin Mu wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth and said solemnly, “Senior uncle, I will definitely succeed!”

The old farmer came to the center of the village and shouted, “All soldiers hear me, I’ll be going forth to Eternal Peace while you will be staying to protect Bullfighting World! Bring me my armor!”

The villagers in the village were all surprised and delighted. They hurriedly got his suit of armor, and the old farmer looked awe-inspiring when he wore it. He took a glance at the dragon qilin, and the dragon qilin shuddered.

The old farmer shook his head. “My body is too heavy, you can’t carry me. Let’s find Sanduo first.”

The dragon qilin felt as though he was relieved of a huge burden.

Everyone bowed, and their auras overflowed into the sky as they said in unison, “Take care, Martial Arts Heavenly Teacher!”

Qin Mu bowed and said, “Take care, Great Emperor of the Martial Path!”

“Great Emperor of the Martial Path?”

The old farmer was slightly stunned. He laughed loudly, and light shone brightly from his body among his laughter. With a leap, he stepped on the air and vanished without a trace.

Qin Mu straightened his waist and came to the side of the smelly ditch. He said with a smile, “Buddha, you can come out now.”

Sakra Buddha rolled his eyes at him and said, “Is the farmer really gone? Are you lying to me again?”

Qin Mu came to the smelly ditch and helped him up. He said firmly, “In order to save buddha, I took a punch from Martial Arts Heavenly Teacher, and he shattered my Divine Bridge Divine Treasure.”

“I almost believed you.”

Sakra Buddha sneered and said, “Are you trying to trick me again? Wait, it’s really shattered! You… why did you have to do this?”