Tales of Herding Gods

Yan Qiling’s heart turned cold. She had forgotten about Celestial Emperor’s blessing at the back of her head and carelessly spoke her true feelings.

Although the second soul of Celestial Emperor was rushing back to the celestial heavens to merge with its souls and wouldn’t have time to monitor her, nothing was certain. If her true feelings were heard by the ancient Celestial Emperor, she would be in trouble.

Qin Mu retracted his finger. Previously, he had spent a lot of effort removing Celestial Venerable Yu’s blessings of the ancient gods. He invited many experts to Eternal Peace’s capital city and finally broke the blessings. Hence, Celestial Emperor’s blessing wasn’t something unfamiliar to him.

Also, the Guardian Pavilion possessed runes of the Great Dao of Celestial Emperor, which deepened his knowledge of Celestial Emperor’s blessing.

He didn’t remove Celestial Emperor’s blessing from Yan Qiling. Rather, he corrupted it, which prevented Celestial Emperor from eavesdropping on their conversation.

This was similar to how Woodcutter broke Mother Earth’s blessing for Qin Mu at Eternal Peace’s capital city.

“Thank you.”

Yan Qiling revealed a smile. “At times, you are gentle, but at other times, you are detestable.”

Qin Mu smiled faintly and took her words as a compliment.

Yan Qiling continued, “I realized my master is heartless. I believe that my relationship with him isn’t important to him. That is why I spoke for you at Heavenly Yin World. Helping you is also helping myself.”

Qin Mu took a moment of silence before saying, “In that case, your master’s wife…”

Yan Qiling shuddered. After some time, she said, “The temporary imperial residence of my master’s wife is right ahead.”

Yan’er retracted her wings and landed. As soon as they landed, Yan Qiling leaped off and said, “Celestial Venerable Mu, would you like to go in with me?”

Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before nodding, leaving the dragon qilin and Yan’er behind.

As this was Eternal Peace’s only chance, he had to be involved in order to prevent any missteps.

The two walked towards the new Mother Earth’s temporary imperial residence, which should have been built recently. It was guarded by many half-gods. Presumably, they had been recruited by the new Mother Earth.

The effects of the unsealing of the Primordial Realm had been severe.

The real Mother Earth didn’t dare to reveal herself. She had been withered down to one remaining earth soul, and her body, the Primordial Tree, had been taken by the Heaven Alliance to develop the new Mother Earth.

Since Mother Earth was without her body, her influence over the half-gods wasn’t as strong as the new Mother Earth. Although she still had her loyal supporters, in terms of momentum, she was incomparable to the new Mother Earth.

The half-gods, upon seeing Yan Qiling and Qin Mu, looked surprised but kept silent.

Upon reaching Mother Earth’s imperial residence, Yan Qiling kneeled in front of her and said, “My master’s wife.”

Although the new Mother Earth looked exactly the same as Mother Earth, she lacked her overbearing aggressiveness. Instead, she was gentle. “Quick, stand up. Why are you greeting me in such a grand manner? Your master may have such rules, but I don’t.”

She was surprised to see Qin Mu. “Celestial Venerable Mu? Why are you two together? The last I heard, you said you were defeated by him and planned to seek revenge.”

Qin Mu bowed and said, “Qin Mu greets Mother Earth.”

The new Mother Earth laughed. “You are Celestial Venerable Mu. There is no need to stand on ceremony. You made a fool of my husband by giving his blessing to a wild black boar. He was furious and cursed you for a long time.”

She was unable to contain her laughter. When she realized that Yan Qiling was still kneeling, she said, “Yanzi, quickly stand up. Celestial Venerable Mu is here. Seeing this, he might think that I’m mistreating you.”

Yan Qiling lowered her head, both hands holding out the mirror Celestial Emperor gave her. “Master has returned back to the celestial heavens. This gift is from him.”

“He has gone back?”

The new Mother Earth accepted the mirror. “Has Celestial Venerable Mu helped him reconstruct his souls? It looks like they have reconciled. This is good…”

Her gaze fell upon the mirror, and she was unable to pull away.

Yan Qiling collapsed to the ground crying. “Master wanted me to give you this mirror. I knew the consequences, but I did it anyway. My master’s wife, please put me to death…”

The new Mother Earth raised her head, her eyes flustered, and her face drained of color.

“This isn’t your fault, Yanzi. This isn’t your fault…”

She gently stroked Yan Qiling’s head, her hands turning into green smoke. “This isn’t your fault. You had no choice.”

She then turned to Qin Mu and smiled. “Celestial Venerable Mu, please take good care of her…”

Her body dissolved into green smoke and was sucked into the mirror.

The mirror then fell onto the ground, spun twice, and stopped at Qin Mu’s feet.

Qin Mu picked up the mirror. Within it was a lush Primordial Tree.

This Primordial Tree was the new Mother Earth’s underlying body, and also Mother Earth’s true body.

During the final years of the High Emperor Era, the Heaven Alliance eliminated Mother Earth and brought the Primordial Tree to the celestial heavens. Celestial Emperor used the Primordial Tree to cultivate another living being. That living being was the new Mother Earth. He then took her as his wife.

As Celestial Emperor was able to create her, he could also destroy her.

Now, the new Mother Earth was destroyed, and the Primordial Tree was returned.

“Don’t worry.”

Qin Mu muttered, “Don’t worry. I can’t promise you anything, but I promise to take care of her to the best of my abilities.”

Yan Qiling remained on the ground crying while Qin Mu tried to lift her up. “I have matters to attend to. Do you want to come with me?”

Yan Qiling didn’t get up, so Qin Mu headed outside. He was in a hurry and had no time to waste.

He left the temporary imperial residence and got on Yan’er’s back. He was about to leave when he saw Yan Qiling walking out. She was back to her normal self. “Let me come with you.”

Qin Mu nodded lightly. “I need a flat place where it will be convenient to perform spells and summon Mother Earth from the ground.”

“I know of such a place.”

Yan Qiling showed no signs of sadness. “The flatlands where the celestial rivers gathered. Let me lead the way!”

A short time later, they reached the flatlands. Around them was nothing but lush forest.

Yan’er landed in the middle of the flatlands, and Qin Mu got off and told them to fall back. “The further, the better.”

They complied, leaving Qin Mu alone.

Qin Mu took out the mirror and placed it on the ground. Then, he unsheathed the Carefree Sword, raised it high, and stabbed the mirror with it.

Ding!

The Carefree Sword pierced the mirror’s surface, causing multiple cracks to appear.

Qin Mu quickly leaped back as the mirror shattered. From where the mirror was, the surrounding air vibrated as the Primordial Tree sprouted. It grew taller and larger, splitting the ground around it.

The Primordial Tree quickly grew to 10,000 feet without showing signs of stopping. The trunk of the gigantic tree was getting thicker as fissures of fire and thunder appeared. The scene was simply terrifying.

Qin Mu jumped back with his sword, escaping the fissures before they reached him.

Suddenly, a Gate of Heaven Influence appeared behind him, followed by a mysterious language being emitted from his mouth, calling the soul fragments of the Primordial Tree.

Black sand swirled and rushed towards the Primordial Tree as he used it to summon the soul of Mother Earth!

The Primordial Realm felt like it was boiling over. The ground shook, and the mountains swayed. The earth rose as though there were countless dragons burrowing towards the Primordial Tree.

Soon, gigantic black mountain ranges rose from the ground. They were the roots of Mother Earth!

Her roots looked like towering mountains. From afar, their movements seemed like dragons dancing, a frightening yet magnificent sight!

Qin Mu had alerted Mother Earth’s last remaining soul. She sensed Qin Mu and the Primordial Tree’s location and flew towards it.

Within the center of the Primordial Realm, Celestial Venerable Yu was alerted as well and flew towards the location.

Accompanying him were countless ships of the celestial armada filled with celestial soldiers and generals, banners fluttering in the air. The sounds of their war drums were deafening, like great floods covering the land!

“Mother Earth, if you wish to be resurrected to your peak condition, you have to pay the price!”

Qin Mu circled the Primordial Tree as it continued to grow. The tree crown was almost touching the sky.

Qin Mu transformed into his three-headed and six-armed form and quickened the pace of the spell. He shouted, “I can bring you back to life, but before that, you have to help me deal with Celestial Venerable Yu!”

Below the ground, the roots joined with the trunk, making the Primordial Tree even bigger and taller. The tree crown covered miles of ground. It felt as if the flatlands were unable to accommodate such a big tree.

Mother Earth’s voice roared from beneath the land, her tone one of infinite joy. It made the land resonate like behemoths roaring in unison. “Celestial Venerable Mu, you have finally come to fulfill your promise!”

“What Celestial Venerable Yu? The real Celestial Venerable Yu is beside you. This particular Celestial Venerable Yu is only a weapon created by the celestial heavens. How dare he attack me?”

“My children, now is the time for you to show yourselves.”

Boom, boom, boom!

All around the Primordial Tree, many gigantic emperor’s coffins broke through the earth. Rows of stone beasts appeared in front of them. These stone beasts then shed their stone skin, transforming into the flesh forms of qilins, lions, camels, horses, white elephants, and xiezhi half-gods. They roared with anger and rage.

These half-gods used to be important ministers in the celestial heavens during the time of North High Emperor. They were immensely powerful. One by one, they grabbed a coffin and frantically broke open its seal.

Eight emperor’s coffins had been opened. The awe of an emperor and decay surged forth and swept across the surroundings.

There were 14 celestial emperors in the North High Emperor Celestial Heavens, and all of them were Mother Earth’s offspring!

All of these celestial emperors were on the Emperor’s Throne Realm. Five were killed during the battle with the South High Emperor Celestial Heavens and their corpses destroyed. Another one was taken onto the ghost ship by Feng Qiuyun and went missing.

The High Emperor Era was a time of chaos but also a time where strong practitioners emerged.

During that era, North High Emperor and South High Emperor each had their celestial heavens and a powerful emperor.

During the battle between the two celestial heavens, countless divine beings had fought for their races, turning their enemies into hardened soldiers or their flesh into sacrificial offerings!

The North High Emperor Celestial Heavens was the most brutal. Crimson Light Son of God led his people to hide in the Crimson Light Floating World. During the High Emperor Era, he dared not make contact with the High Emperor Celestial Heavens, as he had seen the brutality of that era.

At this moment, the corpses of the remaining eight High Emperors awakened and transformed into corpse demons. They flew up into the sky and waited, preparing to meet the celestial heavens’ strongest weapon—Celestial Venerable Yu!

Toot toot.

There were plenty of flags fluttering in the sky. Countless gods of the celestial heavens were blowing their battle horns, which were made from the horns of giant beasts. They dropped down from the ships, roaring loudly.

There were gods at the bows of the ships beating their drums, which were made from dragon skin. The noise was ear-shattering, shaking the heavens and earth.

Celestial Venerable Yu approached, and the ships surrounding him seemed like tiny worms. In reality, these ships were the finest products of celestial workmanship. Each ship was humongous and measured over ten miles.

Except, compared to him, they were insignificant.

Likewise, the eight corpse demons were nothing compared to him.