Tales of Herding Gods

Qin Mu gave a slight smile and had the dragon qilin and water qilin remain outside. “Brother, let’s go in.”

Gongsun Yan led the way while Celestial Venerable Yu followed Qin Mu into this earthly palace in a daze.

Outside the hall, the water qilin lowered his head in fear and didn’t dare look at that old dragon. He didn’t even dare to raise his head to examine the phoenix.

The phoenix stood in front of them and pruned her feathers calmly in the midst of this chaos. The old dragon’s body was coiled around the pillar, and he hung his head down to stare at them with his blurred vision as though he was guarding against thieves. His head was much bigger than the dragon qilin and the water qilin’s heads combined.

The water qilin’s heartbeat became even faster. On the other hand, the dragon qilin was rummaging around and took out a few spirit pills from somewhere. He asked that old dragon, “Do you eat this?”

The water qilin cried bitterly to himself, yet he saw the old dragon relaxing his body as he came down from the pillar. He transformed into an elder with a dragon head and took the spirit pills to try one. He praised, “How refreshing! Young one, why haven’t you transformed into a human form yet? You are still walking down the path of the primitive half-gods, relying on food to grow. This path has already been proven to not work. Only by transforming into the form of a human can you have divine treasures and celestial palaces, only then can you cultivate.”

The dragon qilin sought knowledge earnestly. “Cult Master has taught me the Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique, and he said that it was a technique on Emperor’s Throne. However, when I cultivate it, I always feel something is wrong. Cult Master said I have the qilin bloodline, making the technique not too suitable for me.”

That old dragon said, “So I see. Dragons are born from dragon veins, and I was also born from a dragon vein. Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique is already the best technique. However, you have the blood of qilin in your veins, so it’s indeed difficult for you to cultivate the Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique. I don’t have the technique of the qilin race, but there are many qilins here. We can still find them and ask for some top-notch techniques. Follow me!”

The dragon qilin followed him.

The water qilin stared with his eyes wide open. ‘So easygoing?’

That old dragon led him to the front of an imperial tomb, and he called out loudly, “Guardian Lu, Guardian Lu!”

A stone qilin gradually shed off its stone characteristics and transformed into an awe-inspiring fire qilin. “Why has Dragon King called me?”

“There’s a young one here with the bloodline of my dragon race and your qilin race. However, he doesn’t have cultivation techniques for the qilin race, you can teach him some.”

That old dragon said, “I ate his spirit pills, so I have to give him some benefits.”

That fire qilin looked at the dragon qilin and said, “So you are that kid from just now, do you still have spirit pills?”

The dragon qilin hurriedly took out some spirit pills and said, “I saw brother was rather bold and powerful just now, so I didn’t dare to come forward and talk.”

That fire qilin was quite pleased. “We are ordered to guard the imperial tomb, so we naturally have to be more bold and powerful.”

Suddenly, the qilin in front of the other imperial tombs came to life, and they rode on auspicious clouds to land around the dragon qilin. They were all full of smiles. “How fragrant, how fragrant!”

The dragon qilin took out even more spirit pills to give them. “When I passed by here earlier, I almost peed myself when I saw how terrifying big brothers were.”

Those qilins seemed to enjoy his praises and laughed. “We are there to scare you, this is to prevent any thief from trying to slip in.”

The dragon qilin took out all of his spirit pills and even gave some to the old dragon as well. Everyone became brothers with the dragon qilin, and they were very lively.

The dragon qilin was rather touched. ‘Luckily, Cult Master created a spirit pill that caters to the taste of both races because I have the bloodline of the dragon and the qilin. Only because of that am I able to get to know them.’

“Brother, your bloodline consists of both the dragon and the qilin race, now this is a little troublesome. It’s no wonder you find it hard to morph.”

One of the qilin half-gods said, “If you cultivate two kinds of techniques at the same time, it’s hard for you to train both. Let us change the technique for you.”

In front of the palace, the water qilin couldn’t help being envious when he saw those big shots among the half-gods surrounding the dragon qilin and teaching him how to cultivate. ‘We are both mounts, so why could he manage to mingle into the upper society of the half-gods in an instant while I have to stay here and get stared at by this phoenix…’

The phoenix continued to stare at him, and she suddenly asked delicately, “Do you have spirit pills?”

The water qilin replied honestly, “I don’t.”

The phoenix ignored him and continued to stare at him.

The water qilin felt sorrowful. ‘When can Master Lan learn how to make spirit pills?’

The earthly palace was too huge, and some time was required to walk through the gate. This made Qin Mu feel as though he had returned back to the barbaric and wild era of Dragon Han.

Celestial Venerable Yu looked at the palace in a daze and muttered, “I seem to have come here before, this place seems familiar…”

Qin Mu slowed down his footsteps and asked in anticipation, “Could brother have remembered something?”

Celestial Venerable Yu was more and more at a loss. He knocked on his head and shook his head. “I can’t remember anything… Big brother, I don’t think I’m your biological brother!”

His face was serious.

Qin Mu burst into laughter and said, “What are you talking about? Your surname is Lan, and my surname is Qin, of course we aren’t biological brothers.”

He quickly followed after Gongsun Yan and examined the layout of the hall. The decorations in the hall were simple, and no murals could be seen on the walls. There were only some paintings on the flat ground.

The primordial spirit behind Qin Mu appeared and looked down from high above. Only then was he able to see the paintings clearly.

These paintings were very huge, and one of the paintings was the birth of heaven and earth. One huge tree was planted in the ancient land, and it froze the land, water, fire, and wind that was surging among heaven and earth.

Under the tree laid a woman who had woken up from a dream, and beside her was a man stretching out his hand as though he wanted to pull her up.

There was a giant formed from light in the sky, and underground, there was a weird man with bull horns and a tiger head.

Celestial Venerable Yu’s expression dimmed, and he said softly, “I knew I was picked up, where are my biological parents?”

Qin Mu looked at the painting under his feet, and he almost tripped when he heard what Celestial Venerable Yu said. He couldn’t help shaking his head. ‘What kind of nonsense is in Celestial Venerable Yu’s little brain?’

He looked at the second painting, and in this painting, the woman and the huge tree were able to support both heaven and earth. The leaves of the tree transformed into worlds of all sizes, and in these worlds, numerous half-gods and ancient gods were living happily. Under the tree, the roots of the huge tree were spreading out on the land, and it formed all kinds of mountain ranges, rivers, and dragon veins of all shapes and sizes.

Some of the dragon veins turned into spirits after a long time and transformed into divine dragons. They were in the midst of transformation.

“Biological parents?”

At this moment, Mother Earth’s consciousness traveled over and asked puzzledly, “Celestial Venerable Yu, your parents have long passed away, don’t you remember?”

Celestial Venerable Yu was stunned. He turned his head to the side and wiped his tears secretly.

Qin Mu couldn’t care about the paintings on the ground anymore, and he looked towards the source of the voice. He saw that the consciousness was emitting from light and that light was different from the light given off by the palace. The light given off by the palace was too bright, but this light was very warm and gentle. It was as if the power of life was contained inside.

The light had an ancient consciousness, just like the gleaming reflection of waves in sunlight. In the waves, there was a woman swimming to and fro.

On the woman’s back, there was a heart that was formed from light that had materialized. On the heart was an iron sword covered in rust.

Qin Mu examined it in detail, and he saw the face of the woman clearly. She looked exactly the same at the god statue in the temple. She also had a prosperous look.

He even saw numerous blood vessels stretching out from the heart like the roots of a tree.

‘Could these be the roots in this underground world? That heart is…’

His heart stirred slightly. That heart in the light was extremely huge. It was as though it was hidden in a vast space. Even though it looked like it was in the hall, it was actually incomparably far.

“You should be Celestial Venerable Yu, I can sense my blessing.”

That woman’s heart swam forward and looked at them across the layers of light screens. The ancient consciousness shook slightly, but when it came to the mind of Qin Mu and the rest, it was as loud as a bell. “When you opened up the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, the other ancient gods and I descended. I’ve also given you my blessing. You have the blessing on your body, so I can’t be wrong. However, why don’t you remember me or the past?”

Qin Mu said, “Mother Earth, his soul isn’t complete, so he has lost his memory.”

“I see.”

The woman in the light said sorrowfully, “When did Celestial Venerable Yu die? Was he assassinated in that Jade Pool Meeting a million years ago? I have heard about the incident regarding Celestial Venerable Yu, and thus, I went to take a look. Even though the Celestial Venerable Yu I saw had a magnificent style unmatched in his generation, it wasn’t the Celestial Venerable Yu in my memory. He didn’t have the blessing of the gods. Back then, I suspected if that Celestial Venerable Yu was really the true Celestial Venerable Yu.”

Qin Mu said, “Celestial Venerable Yu was indeed assassinated during the Jade Pool Meeting.”

The woman in the light said, “So I thought. How did you manage to preserve his body until now and reconstruct his soul?”

Qin Mu’s expression didn’t change, and he said with a smile, “Why does Mother Earth say that? It’s not me that preserved his body, it was Elder Messenger of Death who invited me to revive a person, so I revived Celestial Venerable Yu.”

The woman looked at him across the light, and she said with a smile, “I still thought you were there at the Jade Pool Meeting.”

Qin Mu was astonished, and he burst out in laughter. “Mother Earth is joking! The Jade Pool Meeting happened a million years ago, how could I have been there?”

That woman said, “When Celestial Venerable Yu was harmed in the Jade Pool Meeting, I saw a person, and I felt that his bearing was very similar to yours, but his face was different, that’s the reason why I said that. Goddess of Heavenly Yin mentioned you to me, you should know my intention for inviting you over, right?”

Qin Mu said solemnly, “Mother Earth saw how Goddess of Heavenly Yin revived from the dead, so you want me to cast a spell for you to revive you!”

That woman revealed a smile. “Goddess of Heavenly Yin is full of praises for you and said you are a great wizard that is unparalleled in this world.”

Qin Mu walked up, and he observed the woman in the light. After a moment, he shook his head and said, “Mother Earth, you don’t have a corporeal body, so even if I gather your three souls back for you, you can’t be revived. Where is your corporeal body?”

That woman in the light said, “It got chopped off by those bunch of rebels. This sword in my heart was also the doing of those rebels. Luckily, they underestimated me and don’t know how astonishing my lifeforce can be, and as a result, my earth soul was able to escape. However, my other two souls got dispersed by them. Don’t worry, once you help me gather my other two souls, I will have my method to revive.”

Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and said, “If it’s just gathering the two souls, I can probably still do it even if it’s strenuous. However, Mother Earth’s cultivation surpasses Goddess of Heavenly Yin, I’m not sure if I can succeed at my current cultivation.”

He took down the willow leaf on the heart of his brows and gradually executed his magic power to form a Gate of Heaven Influence behind him. “Who are the rebels that killed Mother Earth? Why do they have such terrifying powers to murder an existence such as you?”

The woman in the light gritted her teeth and hatred poured out from her. “Heaven Alliance!”

Qin Mu’s heart twitched violently.

The woman in the light had a gaze like lightning, and she looked at him puzzledly. “Great Wizard, why did your qi and blood suddenly surge violently and your heart beat faster when you heard Heaven Alliance?”