Tales of Herding Gods

Early in the morning, Thunder Mountain City was already emanating with medicinal fragrance. Qin Mu sniffed the air and knew that it was poisonous fog given off by numerous toxic substances. He immediately refined a few Poison Avoiding Pills for dragon qilin and Xiong Qi’er to hold in their mouths.

Poison Master Mu Yingxue’s city was different from the ordinary cities. All kinds of poisonous grass and flowers, as well as venomous insects, could be seen everywhere. They were raised by the people of Thunder Mountain City in their gardens while the insects crawled everywhere on the ground. Some of the people even reared venomous birds and beasts which roamed everywhere. The houses were covered with poisonous vines from which green snakes would pop their heads out at times to hiss at passers-by.

A bunch of big-eared opossums with scales ran past the dragon chilling, chasing a couple big centipedes that were roughly three feet long.

The morning time in Thunder Mountain City was very bustling, and shouting could be heard coming from the streets from time to time.

“God damn it, whose venomous wasp is this? My face is all swollen, bring the antidote quickly!”

“Which utterly heartless person poured the medicinal dregs on the street? My leg is numb and black… It’s almost rotting! Who poured those medicinal dregs? Son of a b*tch, I’ll poison you to death!”

…

Qin Mu walked through the street of Thunder Mountain City, and there were quite a number of merchants selling the poison they had refined in the open. Their clamoring voices filled the air endlessly.

“Sister Mu’s Thunder Mountain City is pretty flourishing.”

When Qin Mu examined his surroundings, he saw numerous precious herbs, some which he bought. A number of the poison pills that the peddlers sold were also of good quality and could be used as basic poisons to refine even stronger toxins so he also got some.

Without paying attention to it, he came to the center of Thunder Mountain City which was the most bustling place. There were numerous circular arenas, and divine arts practitioners who refined poison were fighting in them.

Qin Mu stopped to look for a moment and saw that the divine arts practitioners were fighting differently from how it was normally done. There were numerous jars around them and also all kinds of green leaves, flowers, and grass.

The two divine arts practitioners would execute their spells and force the venomous insects or other creatures to kill each other in the jars. The winner would then crawl out of the jar to nibble on the green leaves and evolve. The two divine arts practitioners would then quickly plant seeds within it and catalyze them with strange spells so they would grow quickly and bear fruit.

The divine arts practitioners on both sides used rhizomes or fruits to feed venomous insects and the divine arts of all things having spirit to make them grow rapidly, spewing poisonous fog or poisonous fire at the opponent. The two venomous insects would then fight fiercely while the divine arts practitioners would avoid each other’s attacks and prepare antidotes.

‘Fighting in arena forces them to refine poison on the spot, and the same goes for the venomous insect and poisonous herb growing, but that is only fair. However, the abilities of these divine arts practitioners are poor and there’s not much to see.’

Qin Mu continued to head forward until he suddenly heard a loud explosion when an arena split apart. A huge creature popped out and took up almost half of the arena. It was a huge spider whose upper body was that of a beautiful woman. It shrieked and shook its body, swallowing clouds and spitting out fog to force all the people who were standing around and watching to move back.

Qin Mu looked at it with astonishment. “To be able to use of the numerous poisonous grass, flowers, and venomous insect to raise such a venomous creature, the ability of this divine arts practitioner is no small matter!”

A woman in black rose from the body of the venomous spider, but a black veil covered her face. However, from the skin that could be seen, she definitely had poisonous warts like a toad all over her face. She shouted sternly, “Mu Yingxue, I’m back once more! Get your ass out here, for I want to settle who’s truly better!”

Qin Mu instantly became excited and came to the bottom of the arena to spectate the battle. The other divine arts practitioners of Thunder Mountain City also flooded over and created an impenetrable crowd around the arena.

A woman said excitedly, “Poison Master is going to make a move!”

Another woman was also in high spirits. “It’s been a long time since Poison Master made a move! Rumors say that ever since Poison Master met Middle Earth’s Heavenly Devil Cult Master who is also a great expert on the poison path, the two of them had their first awakening of love, catching the eyes of each other. They even had an indescribable love affair. After Poison Master came back, her abilities in the poison path increased tremendously and advanced even further on the poison path, entering the realm that was so mysterious that even gods and spirits could not predict it! Who would dare to challenge her?”

“You don’t recognize this woman? She’s none other than the poison expert of True Heaven Palace with the name Yu Qingchan. She’s also one of the top-notch figures of the poison path. She had once fought with our Poison Master for the title and lost. Her face was then ruined by Poison Master!”

…

Qin Mu blinked. When had he and Mu Yingxue had an indescribable love affair?

He had clearly fought against her with poison, and both of them had sent one another all they had, changing one another into ugly and deformed beings. That wasn’t romantic, but it could be seen as an appreciation of one another’s talents.

‘She did give me a kiss though.’

When the youth remembered this, his heart pounded violently, and a different kind of feeling and emotion rose within him. He suddenly woke up with a start. ‘Crap! My heartbeat is increasing and blood is rushing to my face. My breathing is also becoming ragged and there’s a warm feeling in my heart when I think of her. Could it be the Yearning Poison that Sister Mu had placed on me that’s acting up? However, this poison doesn’t seem to be dangerous, yea, there’s no need to worry…’

He moved his thoughts to Ling Yuxiu, Si Yunxiang, He Yiyi, and the other girls, and that warm feeling instantly vanished.

‘Seems like Yearning Poison isn’t hard to deal with.’ The youth composed himself.

“Mu Yingxue, you don’t dare to show yourself?” the woman in black on the arena sneered. “You aren’t a man, tucking your tail between your legs isn’t how you do things!”

At that moment, a soft laugh could be heard, and green vines began to grow rapidly in the distance. They started at a mansion in the center of the city and were getting thicker and thicker, like green dragons. Large green leaves quickly shot out, and the vines grew even longer.

In just a short moment, the covered three to four miles and came to the top of the arena.

Pop.

A soft pop sounded out as a huge flower bud grew out from a green vine which hung above the arena. It bloomed and a maiden with snow white skin jumped out. Before she even landed on the ground, seeds on the arena sprouted and another huge flower bloomed.

Mu Yingxue stepped on its stamens with bare feet instead of landing on the ground. With a smile, she said, “Yu Qingchan, you lost to me the previous time and haven’t even undone the remnant of the poison I left in your body. The once charming face of yours is still filled with warts. Aren’t you just seeking death by coming this time?”

Yu Qingchan laughed softly. “Hehehe, do you think I didn’t improve at all during these years? After I lost to you and got disfigured, which man dared to look at my face? All of my visiting marriage partners were gone.”

Mu Yingxue felt some of her sorrow. “We who refine poison indeed do not have any men that would dare to come close to us. After all, at the slightest misstep, they would be poisoned to death. Sister Qingchan, we are fellow sufferers that empathize with each other. However…”

She smiled and her expression became cheerful once more. “I already have my one true love! And he is also a poison expert, the number three in the world! My one true love has already entered West Earth to look for me, so Sister Qingchan, do forgive this little sister for not being able to accompany you in singledom!”

Qin Mu couldn’t restrain his smile. Mu Yingxue was always this clever and queer. However, he hadn’t come to West Earth just to find her.

Yu Qingchan chuckled and said, “You have a close friend, and luckily, I also have one. My close friend is a hundred times better than yours, and he’s none other than the grandmaster of Rolan’s Golden Palace who has remarkable abilities in the poison path! With his guidance, I have cultivated my poison path to the realm of the soul. Mu Yingxue you little slut, I will not only make you give up the title of the poison master, but also make you die a miserable death!”

Mu Yingxue’s expression changed slightly. “Grandmaster of Rolan’s Golden Palace? That Grandmaster who is known for his shaman poison and soul poison? No wonder sister dared to come find me in Thunder Mountain City. That Grandmaster sure has some abilities.”

Yu Qingchan sneered at her. “Now you are scared? Little slut, I’ll gamble with you today!”

Mu Yingxue smiled and said, “Not to the extent of being scared. Ever since I fought with my little lover, my poison path has improved by leaps and bounds, and I’m no longer what I was before. Not to mention you, even if Grandmaster came to find me, I could still poison him to death with a flick of the finger. However, since you have come to challenge me, it wouldn’t be right not to take up the challenge. On what would you like to gamble?”

“We’ll gamble on your man!” Yu Qingchan suddenly raised her hand to point below the arena, straight at Qin Mu, while chuckling. “The life of your man!”

Qin Mu’s surroundings instantly emptied out as everyone scattered to prevent themselves from being implicated. He alone stood in his original place. Even Xiong Qi’er had been brought away by the dragon qilin.

Qin Mu was pretty surprised as he looked at the stage and smiled helplessly at the young woman on the stage while thinking to himself, ‘West Earth’s tracking is simply too masterful. I had never truly escape it.’

Mu Yingxue’s spirits rose and she wanted to jump down from the stage, but she suddenly stopped.

Since she was already standing on the arena, jumping down would mean that she admitted defeat and gave up on the title of poison master. It would be losing without a fight.

“Alright, we’ll bet on my man!” Excited, Mu Yingxue turned her head back to smile at her opponent. “You merged soul poison and our West Earth’s spell of awakening spirit, and used the poisonous substances on the arena to refine such a huge creature, which is truly extraordinary. Your abilities have improved a lot compared to before, but I can also use the poisonous substances on the arena to deal with it.”

Her bare feet gently touched the stamens, and poisonous flowers and grass bloomed along with the venomous insects and toads. “Sister Qingchan, you are only on poison technique while I’m already entering the path, understanding all kinds of inconceivable things of the poison path. You thought you had made your move one step earlier than me and achieved the upper hand, but you didn’t expect that you had never had the upper hand in the first place.”

Wonderful things happened, and the poisonous flowers and grass as well as venomous insects and toads started to change form, transforming from one object into another, evolving from one kind of toxin to another. Her spell of creation could be said to be strange and mysterious.

Qin Mu exclaimed endlessly in admiration. Ever since Mu Yingxue had lost to him, her attainments in all things having spirits had grown without end. Even her technique of creation had become mysterious and strange.

Yu Qingchan shouted out sternly, and the huge spider under her feet waved its claws. The arena wasn’t huge, so when the venomous spider that took up half of it started moving, there was little space for Mu Yingxue to dodge!

Venomous eggs under the venomous spider’s abdomen split open and transformed into tens of thousands of little spiders that covered the whole arena and swarmed toward Mu Yingxue.

Yet before the venomous creatures could reach her side, they suddenly froze and shattered. The huge spider also gave off a miserable shriek before shattering into pieces.

Yu Qingchan rose into the air in a hurry while shouting sternly, “I will still come back to find you!”

“Sister, in your next life.”

Mu Yingxue flicked her sleeve, and Yu Qingchan collapsed into a pile of blood water.