Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 868: The Son of Heaven Duke

In the split second that the killing intent of these gods and devils emerged, the first devil god had already collapsed. His eyes were initially bursting with life, but in a split second, his eyes became empty and hollow. All the life in his eyes had vanished.

His corporeal body was still undamaged, yet his breathing had stopped instantly. It was as though some terrifying force had emptied out his primordial spirit in that instant, letting him die incomparably quickly!

It was just that the other gods and devils were still pouncing towards Qin Mu, so no one had noticed yet.

However, in the next instant, the eyes of the second devil god dulled, his sprinting figure having collapsed. In another instant, it was a third devil god, and then a fourth devil god…

When the devil god who had reached Qin Mu first burst out his divine art, behind him came the sounds of the gods and devils collapsing.

He turned his head to look behind him with a blank gaze.

The rulers of each northern heavens resembled a series of figures that he left behind from leaping into mid-air. These figures collapsed one after the other—their palms reaching forwards, their eyes turning ghastly white, and their faces wearing incredibly horrifying expressions.

“Little Earth Count…”

The sole remaining devil god had only just spoken that line when darkness loomed over his eyes. In the dark, a flame resembling the shape of a butterfly appeared, flying out to the sides, looking extremely beautiful.

It was an eye that radiated shocking beauty, yet it was filled with a demonic aura. The eye glanced at him, and he lost his consciousness.

Thump.

The last corpse fell to the ground.

The rest of the rulers of the heavens revealed looks of terrors, all retreating, yet it was already too late.

One of the rulers of the heavens was suddenly drained of his soul. He pinched at his neck with both hands and opened his wide mouth. His tongue then rolled out as he kneeled downwards without any breath left.

Following, it was the second ruler of the heavens, and then the third.

The rest of them fell into a state of extreme fear, trying to escape in all directions. Yet death followed them like a shadow, sticking to them like a maggot in their bodies, taking away their lives one by one.

“Mahakala, save me—” one of the rulers cried out shrilly in the dark, but his cry was abruptly cut off—he became a corpse and fell from the sky, crashing into the ground limply.

Mahakala didn’t open his eye. Regarding what was happening in the darkness, he had long predicted it. The defeat of ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ this time made him determined to sacrifice these old subordinates, and he was adamant about not interfering.

Not every ruler of the heavens had killing intent towards Qin Mu, yet death didn’t seem to care whether or not they did. The devil king that controlled death was stubbornly following the Pact of Little Earth Count that they had set and was here to reap the souls.

As long as the Pact of Little Earth Count was set, if they didn’t follow the bet they had agreed on with Saint Woodcutter to annex the northern heavens to Eternal Peace, then, they would all be left to his mercy!

In the pool of blood, Qin Mu’s skeleton was still growing flesh and blood. He raised a palm weakly, wanting to save some of the rulers of the heavens to be the battle power of Eternal Peace Empire. However, he was really too frail.

In the battle against ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’, ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’ had already executed up to the twenty-eighth level of heavens in the great divine arts of entering the path.

This was an existence who had almost mastered all of the ancient gods Great Dao with a Dao Realm of twenty-eight heavens. Qin Mu could fight him to the death only because he relied on combining all of the results of the reforms of Eternal Peace within himself, and also because he relied on his magic power being much stronger than ‘Celestial Venerable Yu’s’.

Even then, Qin Mu was still almost beaten until his form and spirit were completely destroyed.

Now, he no longer had the strength to stop his other self.

At that moment, his brother Qin Fengqing must have been shivering with agitation as he excitedly reaped the souls of the rulers of the northern heavens as per the Pact of Little Earth Count, saving them in his Slaughter Cauldron to feed on them slowly.

Rationality didn’t exist for Qin Fengqing. Inside his brain, other than his mother, all the beings and living things in the world were differentiated only by what could or couldn’t be eaten.

Even his father Qin Hanzhen and brother Qin Mu were in the category of what could be eaten. It was only because his mother didn’t want him to eat Qin Mu that he reluctantly kept his brother alive.

“If these rulers of heavens of the Jade Capital Realm came to Eternal Peace, the ability of Eternal Peace would be able to improve immeasurably…” Blood surged out from the corners of Qin Mu’s mouth, and he was incredibly pained in his heart.

Finally, the last devil god collapsed in the darkness.

Mahakala opened his eye, looking towards Qin Mu with an indifferent gaze. “I thought you would have kept them, I didn’t realize you would be so vicious.”

In the pool of blood, Qin Mu’s heart ached even more, and the blood in his mouth spurted out like a fountain.

Mahakala turned around and walked to the palace. “Leave. I will give you half a day’s time. If you cannot walk out of the boundaries of the palace of Mahakala alive, I will then kill you myself. If you escape from here, I’m willing to hold my rage and accept this, and I won’t do anything to Eternal Peace.”

The dragon qilin sprinted over hurriedly, putting Qin Mu, who was still restoring his corporeal body, onto his back. He then ran down the mountain without saying anything else.

Within the palace of Mahakala, the disciples of Mahakala exchanged glances, quietly observing the silent Mahakala.

This time, Mahakala had made a huge loss. The two heavenly teachers, Woodcutter and Zi Xi, had first stirred up trouble and started the fight between the northern heavens and Overlord Body of Eternal Peace. If Mahakala hadn’t stepped in, the northern heavens would have been taken by these rulers of the heavens and annexed to Eternal Peace in an attempt to save their own lives.

Yet, despite Mahakala stepping in, the three hundred and sixteen rulers of the northern heavens had all lost their lives!

These rulers could be said to be the most formidable battle power under him. In addition, in the selections for the strongest divine arts practitioners of each heaven, countless young practitioners had died. Mahakala was known to seek revenge for even the smallest grievances, much less now that he had suffered such a huge loss.

Yet, he had restrained himself, tolerating it quietly, even doing something that seemed so ridiculous and muddle-headed like leaving half a day’s time to allow Qin Mu to leave his territory.

‘Within the same realm, he managed to defeat the most formidable weapon of the celestial heavens. He truly lives up to his reputation as the Overlord Body. As long as he manages to stay alive, then perhaps the future won’t be all that bleak.’

Mahakala was lost in his thoughts for a while before he suddenly laughed out loud. “You all think that me letting him walk free is throwing away the face of the northern heavens, right?”

Mo Santong, Xue Taidou, and the others didn’t dare to say anything.

“As your teacher, let me tell you all a secret.”

Mahakala gave a mischievous laugh and said, “I was born before Dragon Han. Being able to survive from the ancient times until now, it’s exactly because I’m shameless.”

Mo Santong and the others wore odd expressions, and no one responded.

Mahakala stood up, the darkness flowing behind him, and smiled. “Back then, there were far too many existences that were more formidable than I was, smarter than I was, but those that survived were few. On the contrary, I was evergreen and was respected as the devil ancestor. If I wasn’t shameless, I would have long been dead.”

Mo Santong and the rest didn’t know where to look.

In truth, the behaviors and mannerisms of these disciples were fairly similar to those of Mahakala.

For instance, in the few days that Qin Mu had stayed in the palace, there were many disciples of Mahakala who used the excuse of challenging Qin Mu in an attempt to have Qin Mu guide them on where they lacked in their cultivation.

They weren’t fools. They were aware that their actions would expose Mahakala’s Dark Mo Jia Sutra to Qin Mu, yet to advance their own levels of cultivation, they did it anyway. This was what it meant to be in the same vein.

“The more chaotic the world is, the more beneficial it will be for the devil race.”

Mahakala continued in a leisurely tone, “Only with chaos can there be a possibility for devils like us to survive. If the celestial heavens created a completely stable future, then that will truly be the end of our devil race. My purpose for inviting that existence from the celestial heavens to come and fight was also to see if this weapon of the celestial heavens could really be unrivaled. Looking at it now, the celestial heavens cannot achieve that.”

He laughed with great happiness. “Suddenly, a weight was lifted off my chest. Purely because of this, I cannot kill the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace. Moreover, I don’t have the confidence that I can kill him.”

Mo Santong and the others were slightly puzzled, not understanding why Mahakala attached such importance to Qin Mu.

“Little Earth Count is the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace.”

Mahakala finally said the words that sent chills down their spines. With an odd expression, he continued, “As I was, he too was born in Youdu. I was born of Youdu’s grudges, demonic aura, and devil qi—the first devil god. On the other hand, he was the first lifeform of Youdu that was born from a womb. We both have our own prominent and extraordinary areas. However, innately, I am slightly inferior to him. What’s strange is that he seems to be unable to control his own power. His power seems to have its own consciousness…”

Celestial Heavens, Guardian Pavilion.

Dao Master of the celestial heaven Dao Sect sliced off a piece of fine jade from the top of the Guardian Pavilion. He watched as the jade pillar regenerated, quickly patching up the gap from the missing piece.

The old Daoist shook his head, bringing the fine jade that held Celestial Venerable Yu’s mark down and handing it to the person below. “Ancestral God King, what happened to the last weapon?”

“Shattered.”

The person below was a handsome looking man. His entire body radiated a mixture of white light, and his pupils were a pure white color. The man shook his head and said, “This weapon is still lacking. Heaven Duke’s Great Dao is imperfect. I controlled this weapon to go to the lower bound, and it was shattered by the Overlord Body.”

The old Daoist questioned in astonishment, “Overlord Body?”

“Speaking of which, this Overlord Body is also a Celestial Venerable.”

Ancestral God King had an odd look on his face. “Back in the day, at the Jade Pool Meeting, while I was congratulating Celestial Emperor for his ascension to power, the Overlord Body was wreaking havoc at the Jade Pool. After that, I saw the wounds left behind by his sword techniques. This time, I recognized him from his sword techniques. I didn’t expect him to be the Overlord Body of Dragon Han from back then. He even beat up that existence until he was half dead…”

He stopped mentioning that existence and laughed. “I went down to the lower bound this time to test out the weapon, it was by that old scoundrel Mahakala’s invitation to go deal with him. I ended up losing my hand, and thus I can only make another weapon. Hahaha!”

He burst out laughing, patting the old Daoist on his shoulder. “Why am I telling you all this? If you weren’t the Dao Master who only seeks the Dao wholeheartedly without care for worldly affairs, purely based on what I just said, I would have had to silence you for good.”

The old Daoist lowered his gaze and gave a slight smile without replying to him.

Ancestral God King said, “Send this treasure to the place with the creation divine weapon and build another weapon, then send it to my palace. Also, have the runes of the Great Dao at Heaven Duke’s been sorted out?”

The old Daoist shook his head. “Xuandu’s Heaven Duke’s corporeal body is too huge, it’s hard to measure it completely. Furthermore, Heaven Duke is too powerful, the gods stationed there dare not step too far over the line.”

“The old man is truly very powerful, very strong. His body is also very sturdy.”

Ancestral God King took a step to leave, continuing in a leisurely manner, “However, it won’t be long before I replace him. I will personally make a trip to Xuandu and sort out the remaining Great Dao runes.”

The old Daoist watched him leave, and he heard the joyful voice of the Ancestral God King in his ear. “My father, very soon, I will replace you, become you, surpass you…”

In the darkness, the dragon qilin carried Qin Mu and sprinted. The surroundings were dim, making it hard to identify the routes or differentiate between north and south.

The dragon qilin gradually lost his sense of direction and started to feel a sense of panic. It was pure darkness there, and if he lost his sense of direction, he wouldn’t be able to carry Qin Mu and leave this place within half a day’s time.

Qin Mu was still trying his best to regenerate his corporeal body. He said weakly, “Fatty Dragon, fly upwards to the topmost part of the sky and follow the sky map.”

The dragon qilin came to a realization, and he gathered all his strength, flying upwards into the sky with his fastest speed.

The time limit of half a day was approaching as the dragon qilin ran as swift as wind and lightning. With qilin fire at his feet and thunder and lightning around his body, he increased his speed to the maximum.

Gradually, there was light in the sky.

The dragon qilin was overjoyed, and he neared the area with light. The sky was leaking, and the light was streaming down from where there was a leak in the sky.

At the area of the leak, a huge formation could be seen faintly—it was probably the moon in the sky map. The formation had moved to this place and was tugged until it was all crooked and slanted where the sky map had been damaged. This caused the moonlight to spill all over the surroundings.

Upon seeing this moon, Qin Mu suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

The dragon qilin’s heart jolted. “Cult Master, are you still alive?”

Qin Mu raised a hand shakily, pointing towards that crooked moon, and said in a trembling voice, “Ugly, change place…”

“Cult Master, be content!”

The dragon qilin carried him and sprinted towards the damaged part of the moon, continuing in an angry voice, “If we still don’t leave Mahakala’s territory, Mahakala will come out and kill you!”

Qin Mu still wanted to choose death over submission, but the dragon qilin had already carried him and dashed into the sky map, entering the formation that was radiating a bright moon-like glow.

“I wonder if there are still gods of the celestial heavens within this sky map?”

The dragon qilin looked around carefully, whispering, “The astrological phenomena are in disorder now, so the gods that were stationed here by the celestial heavens should have long escaped by now.”

“Who’s there?” suddenly, someone behind the moonlight asked.