Tales of Herding Gods

“A change in the art of war is imminent!” Duke Wei suddenly sighed ruefully.

Grand General of Heavenly Strategies and the rest nodded when they heard his words.

Qin Mu and the ten thousand scholars as well as the divine arts practitioners of the sacred grounds had messed around and made a primordial spirit assembly. They were having fun and felt that it was something interesting, but the shock it brought to the generals that led the army was incomparably huge.

Since ancient times, the battlefield changed in a matter of seconds. The communications between the army, its reinforcements, supply train, and the emperor posed a huge problem. In the past, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had forged flying ships to soar through the sky. He also forged land ships and paved roads everywhere to make traveling faster.

Besides making it more convenient for people to meet, it allowed for news to travel faster. And because of using both the land and sky, more places were covered.

Yet as the territory of Eternal Peace Empire expanded, the time taken for news to travel from one place to another kept on growing. The time taken for the army to move to the border also increased.

Even though the pill furnace that Qin Mu had improved could increase the speed, the number of medicinal stones burned in just one trip was extremely great.

If a flying ship set off from the capital and headed for True Heaven Palace in West Earth, it would take several days, and the medicinal stones burned would be enough to fight a small-scale battle.

If it was a large scale operation to move soldiers, they would require strange beasts as a mode of transport to help the foot soldiers advance. Relying on flying ships to transport soldiers was too costly.

But with the primordial spirit assembly, they would be able to send news and be in control of a battle that was even two hundred miles away.

In the hands of a general, something like that could literally decide the fate of the battle!

“Your Majesty, Chancellor Qin used the word assembly. He has the heart to rebel!” An old minister knelt onto the floor and said loudly, “Assembly is always a court assembly, and this so-called assembly is meant to collect the civil and military officials in court. Chancellor Qin’s usage of the word assembly shows his ambitious heart! May Your Majesty order his execution!”

Emperor Yanfeng was speechless, and the generals scolded that old minister angrily. The old minister then kowtowed and banged his head against the ground loudly to show his loyalty.

After a moment, Emperor Yanfeng waved his hand and said calmly. “Assembly isn’t just used by the imperial court. Elder Yu Ge is lacking in knowledge. Attending the court can mean entering a court assembly, but it can also be used in other ways.

“Back in the day, Heaven Knife had written a poem which he started with words assembly with friends at Wei River. Heaven Knife is a literary hero, and his knowledge surpasses yours by a hundred times, his writings eulogized even until now. He isn’t the emperor, but I don’t see anyone saying he’s trying to rebel by using the word assembly.”

The emperor helped Elder Yu Ge up and told him with a pleasant expression. “Elder Yu Ge, you are old, so I won’t execute you. I permit you to return to your hometown.”

The other ministers were puzzled. ‘His Majesty seems to be in a good mood today. He actually didn’t behead him. Elder Yu Ge only lost his official position but not his head; he’s so fortunate!”

“Everyone, stop talking, be quiet now!” Qin Mu’s voice rang loudly. “Let me first ensure that we can communicate between primordial spirits! Can you guys hear me talking?”

In Hall of Supreme Learning, countless people spoke up. “Can! We can hear you clearly!”

“Execute your techniques, and see if you feel discomfort in your primordial spirit?” he then ordered them.

Numerous primordial spirits made a racket in Hall of Supreme Learning. Suddenly, one person’s primordial spirit vanished with a pop before reappearing after a moment. It was pretty scary.

There were also some primordial spirits that were fading out from time to time while another group of people was floating around. Laughter echoed through the Hall of Supreme Learning that was in turmoil. Everyone was getting headaches from that noise.

Qin Mu recorded everything that happened and clapped. “Alright, dismissed!”

Everyone pulled their primordial spirits back and vanished from Hall of Supreme Learning. The first ever primordial spirit assembly had ended like that.

Emperor Yanfeng turned his head and looked at the scribe behind him. “Have you noted it down?”

That scribe carrying a thick scroll hesitated. “Your Majesty, this primordial spirit assembly was only Lord Qin fooling around with a bunch of scholars. They only said a few sentences in total and most of them were nonsense. Do I have to write them down as well?”

Emperor Yanfeng sighed and tapped heavily on the scroll he used to record all the huge incidents in the imperial court. He then said sincerely and earnestly, “If thousands of years later the future generation of Eternal Peace searches through all the historical records and doesn’t find the record of the first primordial spirit assembly, they are going to jab at your spine and scold you! Not only must you record it, you even have to paint it, this primordial spirit assembly!”

Cold sweat broke out of the forehead of that scribe. He hurriedly recorded the event of the first primordial spirit meeting and the few sentences that Qin Mu and the rest had said. He felt extremely grieved in his heart as he did so. ‘These words are clearly nonsense, so why would the future generations scold me because of this little thing? However, if I don’t record them, His Majesty is going to behead me…’

Two more hours passed, and Qin Mu returned from a thousand miles away. The other scholars also came back to Imperial College. They started a racket as they did so, making the place incomparably lively. Qin Mu gathered experts skilled in algebra and calculated the lacking points in the technique from the abnormal sights he had recorded.

Not long later, the technique approached perfection, and there were no more signs of primordial spirits bouncing all over the place.

Qin Mu climbed onto the Hall of Supreme Learning to fix the wrong rune markings, and after half a day of work, they quickly ran out again to make another test. This time, there were no more abnormal sights from the primordial spirits.

Emperor Yanfeng never left, quietly watching the proceedings until nightfall. With the emperor not moving, the civil and military officials didn’t dare to leave as well, so they all stood there.

After Qin Mu was done, he let the secretaries of Floor of Heavenly Records to record the technique and the rune markings. Only then did Emperor Yanfeng went forward and said, “Chancellor Qin has done merit to the country, so how should I reward you?”

Qin Mu stretched his back and said with a smile, “If Your Majesty wants to reward me, then reward everyone in Imperial College with a dinner. This technique wasn’t founded by me, but by gathering the wisdom of everyone here.”

“Alright!” Emperor Yanfeng then instructed, “Invite all the chefs from the imperial kitchen and let them bring the ingredients as well. I want to reward all the scholars as well as these Daoists and monks that are in Imperial College with food and drinks! If there’s a lack of manpower, officials, invite all the chefs in your respective families as well! I’m going to dine here and eat with them too!”

The lamps in Imperial College shone so bright that it seemed like day, and all the chefs in the capital were probably invited to Imperial College to cook up their best dishes. All kinds of culinary techniques were executed and it was a dazzling sight like all the different kinds of divine arts coming together.

The fragrance of the food drew out the glutton in everyone, and the emperor ordered people to bring over fine wine from the palace.

“Does this technique of yours have a name?” Emperor Yanfeng turned to ask in the banquet.

Qin Mu shook his head, and Emperor Yanfeng smiled. “The path produces one, one produces two, two produce three, and three produce all things. Why don’t we call it Secrets of Three Primordial Spirit Assembly? What’s Minister Qin’s opinion?”

Before Qin Mu could even reply, Gu Linuan brought a bunch of ministers to praise the idea. “Your Majesty is of great talent, and this small official prostrates himself in admiration!”

Emperor Yanfeng laughed loudly, now certain about the name of the technique. He then asked, “Minister Qin, what are those runes that you marked inside Hall of Supreme Learning for?”

“Your Majesty, the runes are a guide for the primordial spirits. Their speed is too fast, able to travel ten thousand miles in an instant. With these runes, we are able to guide the primordial spirit to an exact location.”

Emperor Yanfeng frowned. “Wouldn’t these kinds of runes that can attract primordial spirits be used by the enemy? If they use them and guide the primordial spirits of my Eternal Peace’s generals to catch them in one fell swoop, wouldn’t my Eternal Peace be completely wiped out?”

The civil and military officials felt fear in their hearts and nodded together.

Xu Shenghua came over and said, “Your Majesty, you might not know this, but the runes we designed can be interchangeable. There are different ways to line up the runes for them to remain compatible with Secrets of Three Primordial Spirit Assembly. There are a billion more combinations than there are people, so this kind of complicated rune arrangement is impossible to solve.”

Emperor Yanfeng sighed ruefully.

A Daoist ran over and took a glance at Qin Mu, then braved himself to say, “Your Majesty, there’s a fox with a huge pig and a large chest down near the lake. They’ve caught two red dragon carp kings and are currently roasting them. How maddening!”

“This style is familiar to my ears.” Emperor Yanfeng looked at Qin Mu and said with a smile, “Minister Qin, yours?”

Qin Mu’s face turned slightly red, and he hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, let me hurry over and punish them severely! Truly fooling around!” After he said that, he got up and left.

When he came to the lake, Hu Ling’er was scolding the chest. “You see, the waves you churned were too big and alarmed the Daoist guarding the lake! You’ll eat the fish bones later! Fatty Dragon, lower the fire, don’t burn it…”

Qin Mu walked over and said with a smile, “Leave some for me.”

Hu Ling’er cheered at him and immediately lowered her voice. “Young master, I know you like to eat this kind of fish so I got Fatty Dragon to catch two more. However, the chest was a disappointment. When it was about to hide the fish in its stomach, it was discovered by the Daoist who guards the lake.”

Qin Mu rubbed his hands and said with a smile, “I had long wanted to eat a few more, but I didn’t have the face to steal.”

When the fish was cooked, Hu Ling’er controlled her wind blades to slice the meat. She gave the dragon qilin one portion, Qin Mu another, and one more for herself. The chest lay on the side and waited for them to finish eating so it could collect the fish bones.

Suddenly, laughter rang out. “How fragrant! This is much more fragrant than the imperial cooking! Cult Master Qin is truly a professional in the eating path. Leave some for me!”

Qin Mu turned back to look and saw a devil ape and a young monk. That monk was none other than Monk Ming Xin whose appetite had been wetted when he smelled the fragrance.

Hu Ling’er gave him a chunk of fish, and Qin Mu asked in bewilderment when he saw Ming Xin wolfing it down, “Monk also eats fish?”

Ming Xin didn’t raise his head. “After leaving Cult Master then, in the natural and man-made disaster, I have even gnawed on tree bark, much less fish. I even grabbed worms to eat. When I was starving, I even sliced my own flesh to feed myself…”

He lifted up his robes and showed a scar on his chest. He smiled then. “From then on, I comprehended my own scripture. All living things don’t mean human and demons only, but also includes plants and worms. However, all living things are just a reincarnation. I eat them and after I die, they will eat me—it’s merely that. When a person is struggling in the sea of bitterness, what they seek isn’t buddha but the other shore in one’s heart, and I have already seen the other shore.”

Qin Mu nodded to his words and said with a smile, “Excellent, your frame of mind is very brilliant now.”

Hu Ling’er sliced another chunk of fish for the devil ape who shook its head. “Vegetarian, strong!”

“He doesn’t want it, but I’ll take it.” A hand stretched out from the side and took the fish.

Dao Master Lin Xuan sat down beside the devil ape and said with a smile, “This fish is even more fragrant than the imperial cooking!”

Qin Mu smiled. “You are also a Daoist monk yet you can eat non-vegetarian food too?”

Dao Master Lin Xuan ate the fish in big mouthfuls while saying in a muffled voice, “Even the sky is fake so how is a monk real?”

“The one that herds cows, you are eating my father’s fish again!”

A gust of fragrance assaulted their nostrils as Ling Yuxiu squeezed past Hu Ling’er who was beside Qin Mu and sat down. She patted her hands and tore a chunk of fish before biting into it without a care for scalding her mouth. She sucked in a few quick breaths and praised, “Delicious, truly delicious!”

“Princess Xiu, wait for me!”

Si Yunxiang also ran over and sat down beside the bonfire. She wanted to push Hu Ling’er to the side too, but the fox transformed into a six to seven years old girl with a puff and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She sat angrily between the two girls and didn’t get up no matter what. Si Yunxiang was too embarrassed to push her away and could only let her sit there.

Everyone was talking and laughing while sharing the red dragon carp king. Not long later, Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, Long Yu, and Xu Shenghua also found their way over. Wang Muran said with a smile, “You guys won’t be able to finish two carp kings of this size so let us help you. No need to thank me!”

Qin Mu looked around and said with a smile, “It’s rare for the heads of Heaven Alliance to meet up so let’s not go home until we are drunk!”

“What Heaven Alliance?” Ling Yuxiu was puzzled and hurriedly asked, “Is it an alliance to overthrow my father? If it is, count me in!”

Xu Shenghua, Lin Xuan, and Wang Muran hesitated for a moment, not knowing if they should explain it.

Qin Mu then said, “There are no outsiders here so let’s just speak the truth. However, once we say it, you will all become members of my Heaven Alliance. Is there anyone who doesn’t want to listen?”

The dragon qilin immediately got up and bit the chest, dragging it away before it could pick up the fish bones.

“The less we know, the longer we will live!” Fatty Dragon taught the chest.

Suddenly the bonfire flickered, and opposite Qin Mu a youth stretched out his hand to tear a chunk of fish. He then said leisurely, “I would like to know about this Heaven Alliance as well. May Great Divine Physician Qin enlighten me?”

Qin Mu’s blood ran cold, and he hurriedly looked toward the mountaintop of Imperial College.

“The whole imperial court can be a match for me. Your emperor isn’t weak and I reckon he has already cultivated his divine bridge,” the youth said indifferently. “However, before they could hurry over, you guys would all be corpses. Great Divine Physician Qin, don’t be reckless. Come, tell me about Heaven Alliance.”