Tales of Herding Gods

There were numerous divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven gathered in Without Embroiling City, some of which had come from Eternal Peace. Among them, there were scholars of Heavenly Saint Academy. When they saw Qin Mu, Granny Si, and the rest coming to the sentry tower, they were both surprised and delighted. They came forward to greet them. “Chancellor! Teacher Si, Teacher Blind!”

There were also some that were scholars of Li River Academy, so they greeted Chancellor Ba Shan. The place became very lively.

Ba Shan chuckled. “You brats sure run fast, to have actually come here faster than me.”

He was the Grand Chancellor of Li River Academy, and he hadn’t come to find Butcher, but in search of the path for a breakthrough in Supreme Emperor Heaven. Only when he passed by Heavenly Saint Academy and saw Butcher and the rest preparing to leave that he gave chase in a hurry.

The affairs regarding Li River Academy had been handed over to Grand General who Crowns the Army Ma Dingshan. He was a great expert that was no inferior to him, and after quelling the rebellion, Emperor Yanfeng had kept his title and even conferred him as chancellor of Li River Academy to assist Ba Shan.

There were also disciples of River Tomb Academy and Surging River Academy in the area. The grand chancellor of River Tomb Academy was Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor while the grand chancellor of Surging River Academy was High Official Su Yunzhi, with the assistance of Yuyuan Chuyun and Yuyuan Chuyu.

Su Yunzhi had even sent Yuyuan Chuyu to find Qin Mu to borrow Surging River Dragon King Dragon Rearing Sovereign and Hundred Years Mountain God Bai Xi so they would give lectures at Surging River Academy.

Qin Mu wasn’t at Heavenly Saint Academy, so it was Hu Ling’er and Si Yunxiang who had received Yuyuan Chuyu and secured lesson fees for Dragon Rearing Sovereign and God Bai Xi. They gave permission for scholars of Surging River Academy to frequently head to Surging River and Hundred Years Mountain and offer sacrifices, which moved God Bai Xi to tears.

Everyone caught up for a moment, and Qin Mu asked Butcher, “Grandpa, what was the Emperor’s Throne technique you mentioned earlier? God techniques still have a classification of levels?”

“After I crossed the divine bridge and entered the celestial palaces, I could only stand outside Southern Heavenly Gate. However, from there, I could see all the celestial palaces and some sacred grounds that had boundless ambiance and looked extraordinarily sacred. Because of that, I guessed that there are several realms within god realm, and they should be separated into those sacred grounds. The highest and most sacred of them was the Emperor’s Throne in Celestial Palace Hall of Numinous Sky!”

Everyone crowded up, and Butcher felt pressured. “I totally don’t understand the realm of god, so I ain’t clear how they’re separated. Mute, Mute, come over, they are all staring at me like a bunch of silly roe deers! You know the most so tell them!”

Mute placed his chest on the ground and took out a pipe to take two puffs. He said leisurely, “Ah, ah, aba…”

The numerous scholars of Imperial College obviously knew the rules and immediately looked toward Deaf. He stared at Mute, and Mute let out a puff of smoke which transformed into a gate.

“The first realm of god is Outside Southern Heavenly Gate. People who reach it are known as honored gods, and this is only the first step after crossing the divine bridge. Entering Southern Heavenly Gate is the second realm, and such people are called true gods. However, only after all aspects of the body are cultivated to god realm could one endure the pressure of Southern Heavenly Gate and walk through it.”

“Mute still knows the most. What happens then?” Blind said with praises.

Mute puffed out a smoke ring which transformed into Jasper Pool. Deaf then continued, “The third realm is called Jasper Pool, also known as Heavenly Pool, Jasper Terrace. People that reach it are called heavenly gods.”

Mute’s smoke transformed into a stage for killing. It was a sacred ground as well, but the aura of murder was extremely heavy. The crowd shivered from just a look.

“The fourth realm is called God Execution Stage, and there’s great danger to it. If one cannot cross it, they will die.”

Mute’s smoke transformed into the fifth picture, and it was of a cluster of palaces.

“This sacred ground is called Jade Capital, the imperial city in which Celestial Emperor resides. Jade Capital is the fifth realm.”

Mute puffed out another smoke ring which transformed into Numinous Sky Hall. “This is Numinous Sky Hall which Butcher had seen. The sixth realm is most likely called Numinous Sky,” Deaf explained.

While everyone looked, Mute blew a puff of smoke into Numinous Sky Hall and transformed it into the Emperor’s Throne. It was the seventh realm.

Ba Shan looked at Deaf, then at Mute. Full of doubt, he asked in a low voice, “Junior brother, what did Senior Uncle Mute say exactly?”

“Exactly what Grandpa Deaf said,” Qin Mu whispered back.

Ba Shan scratched his head, still full of doubt. “How does Senior Uncle Mute know so much? Even the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven don’t seem to know much about the later god realms. How then does he know about them in such detail?”

Qin Mu looked at him with a helpless expression. “In our village, Grandpa Mute knows the most but speaks the least. He usually doesn’t like to talk. I guess the secrets he knows mostly come from Paramita Ark since he’s a descendant of Heavenly Works Race…”

When the night descended, all the various divine arts practitioners went to rest. Qin Mu followed Granny Si, Blind, and the rest out of the sentry post to check on the ruins of Without Embroiling City.

The battle there had to have been very bitter. Supreme Emperor Heaven had a total of sixty-four god cities in which there had been brutal battles, but most of them remained standing. There weren’t many god cities that were completely destroyed by the war, but Without Embroiling City was one of such cities.

Yet even with only ruins and dilapidated walls everywhere, one could still see how extraordinary this god city had once been.

There were many remnants of divine arts left behind from the war between gods and devils lying dormant. They were like floating bubbles of multicolored sunlight, giving off a faint glow in the darkness. The remnant divine arts were very eye-catching, like lotuses gleaming in the darkness. They were growing in the debris of the battle.

The silent lotuses bloomed and attracted people who had entered the area by mistake to gather them. If anyone touched them though, the power of the divine arts left behind by the gods and devils would activate!

If it was to burst forth, it would definitely be extremely terrifying. They could shatter the bones of strong practitioners of Celestial Being Realm or Life and Death Realm without any difficulty!

The divine arts left behind in the ruins were not only in the shapes of lotuses, but everything that could come to one’s mind. Their sizes weren’t uniform either. There were pieces of forest, lush grasslands, ground beasts like white foxes and flyers like vermillion birds. Some even looked like treasures of gods and devils. There were things like flying swords, pagodas, and cauldron.

If anyone touched them though, they’d die a miserable death.

Qin Mu looked around. The rune markings of gods and devils formed the remnants of the divine arts, so it was difficult for them to dissipate even through the passage of time. This led to the area becoming abnormally dangerous.

Qin Mu had seen similar things in the ominous land, but he had luckily avoided all of them.

When he thought about it, God Sang Ye had to have spent quite some effort to clear out a safe zone in such a place so he could build a sentry post. It now provided a place for the divine arts practitioners of Supreme Emperor Heaven to rest their feet.

Granny Si, Blind, and the rest studied the divine arts in detail, looking pretty entranced. Blind’s divine eyes could break down the marvel of all the divine arts, and he explained them to everyone.

Their path of cultivation was very different from divine arts practitioners like Qin Mu and Xu Shenghua. To Granny Si, Butcher, Deaf, and the rest, there was no need to witness divine arts in fights. They just needed to examine their remnants, and they would see their marvel without trouble. They could then absorb the essence of the divine arts to make up for what they were lacking.

“The divine arts of these gods and devils are still rough and require improvement.” Granny Si checked the one before her carefully and shook her head. “Because the divine arts practitioners of Eternal Peace had no way to become gods for twenty thousand years, we instead used that time to improve all kinds of divine arts until they were incomparably exquisite. We created new ones all the time, so our divine arts are much more exquisite than those of Supreme Emperor Heaven.”

“Yet their cultivation methods are more powerful than ours, and their techniques can train all aspects of their corporeal body,” Blind said after another examination. “For gods and devils to execute such rough divine arts and be able to unleash such inconceivable power, their corporeal bodies, primordial spirits, and the density of their vital qi have to be much stronger than those of people from Eternal Peace. Mu’er, don’t underestimate them just because you are the overlord body.”

Qin Mu nodded solemnly and said respectfully, “Don’t worry, Grandpa Blind. I won’t underestimate anybody.”

Hu Ling’er hesitated for a moment, but didn’t make a sound.

Blind and the rest had just come to Supreme Emperor Heaven, so they still didn’t know what Qin Mu had done. After the battle in Li City, he was already the strongest divine arts practitioner of Seven Stars Realm in Supreme Emperor Heaven. He had even experienced running a hundred thousand miles while killing almost all of the devil god disciples of Seven Stars and Six Directions Realm. No random strong devil practitioner of Celestial Being Realm would dare to fight with him recklessly.

As long as one went to ask around, they would know about Qin Mu’s fame.

Suddenly, he went still as he looked at a shadow in the ruins. It moved around in the ruins as though the divine arts there had no effect on him.

“Mu’er, what are you looking at?” Deaf asked curiously.

Qin Mu’s body trembled slightly, and he suddenly left everyone to run toward the shadow. The elders of Disabled Elderly Village were shocked as there were divine arts left behind by gods everywhere. If he was to touch any one of them by accident, he wouldn’t be able to handle the consequences.

If a chain reaction was invoked and all of the divine arts in Without Embroiling City exploded, then even they might not barge in recklessly.

Blind hurriedly gave chase while shouting, “You guys stay here, I’ll find him!”

Qin Mu activated Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill all the way to avoid the remnant divine arts while getting closer and closer to the shadow.

It appeared faintly discernible in the restricted area as though it was flowing sand, scattering and gathering from time to time. However, the shadow also seemed to have noticed him, for it suddenly stopped.

Qin Mu avoided the last remnant of the divine arts between them and stopped in front of the black shadow, looking at the other party with his eyes bright and face full of excitement.

The black shadow was also staring at him with curiosity.

Neither of them could see the other’s appearance, only the body which was like black sand.

Qin Mu stretched out his hand, and the shadow did the same. The two palms touched, then without any resistance passed through each other.

Qin Mu’s body trembled, and he froze as he looked at the figure silently.

Blind quickly came to his side and pulled him away while saying solemnly, “Mu’er, this shadow should be a remnant of a divine art by some god or devil. Why are you so careless? Why did you barge into this restricted area?”

Rustling sounds that sounded like a monster whispering in the darkness reached them, and the two of them looked at the shadow in astonishment.

It was the shadow’s voice!

“Grandpa Blind, he isn’t a remnant of a divine art, but a person.” The astonishment hadn’t dispersed from Qin Mu’s face when he muttered, “Like me, he can travel in the darkness of Great Ruins. He is like me… only a devil blending with the darkness can be seen by a person in Supreme Emperor Heaven! I think I might have encountered the overlord body of the devil race! Strange, why did it appear in Great Ruins…”