Tales of Herding Gods

Earth Count without any restraints.

Elder Messenger of Death knew that Earth Count was a god born by heaven and earth. Much of his actions had to be restrained by the rules of Youdu, rules that couldn’t be exceeded. Even his growth had to be included in the system of Youdu, and he couldn’t break away from the rules of the Great Dao of Youdu.

He was the image of Youdu’s Dao, and even though he had his own consciousness and thoughts, his actions couldn’t break away from the categories from the Great Dao of Youdu.

“However, that little fellow that was born in Youdu is different. He is the first lifeform in Youdu that was born from the womb. He is different from Earth Count and also different from the imps, monsters, and Youdu devil gods that were naturally formed in Youdu.”

Earth Count’s voice came from the sacred hall, and Elder Messenger of Death turned back to take a look. Celestial Venerable Yu sat at the entrance of the hall and gnawed on his other half of the chicken.

“He is like me, blessed by the law of the Great Dao of Youdu when he was born. At that time, I even thought I was going to have a younger brother.”

“I only knew it wasn’t so afterward.”

The third eye of Earth Count was shining brightly and sealed their words inside the eye so it wouldn’t travel outside.

“The growth of that little fellow is astonishing, and because he is a lifeform after the beginning of heaven and earth, he is not under the control of the Great Dao of Youdu. He just eats whoever he wants, he just beats whoever he wants.”

Even though Qin Fengqing stopped at no evil, Earth Count seemed to be enjoying it for some reason.

Qin Fengqing was like a small Earth Count. If he grew up, he would be a big Earth Count that would commit a whole lot of evil, thus Earth Count had no choice but to seal and suppress him, exiling him to the outside world.

“What’s even stranger is that Qin Fengqing, who got suppressed and exiled, turned into Qin Mu. Qin Fengqing was initially not under the control of the Great Dao of Youdu, and when it comes to Qin Mu’s side, he has completely broken away from the law of the Great Dao of Youdu, cultivating paths, skills, and divine arts that are outside of Youdu!”

Celestial Venerable Yu, who was currently eating chicken, looked out of the hall and saw that the god with bull horns and tiger head was revealing a weird expression. He was obviously puzzled at how Qin Mu was able to break away from the law of the Great Dao of Youdu.

“My seal turned him into an ordinary person who couldn’t cultivate, yet a second consciousness was born from that body. He went through challenging experiences and somehow got by my seal and cultivated quite the achievements with a corporeal body that was impossible to cultivate with.”

Earth Count said with a weird expression, “The first consciousness is Qin Fengqing was born from the devil nature of Youdu. He is like an ancient god, a half-god, and also a lifeform after the beginning. The second consciousness was Qin Mu, a lifeform after the beginning from the start to the end, yet he surprises me the most.”

Under Qin Mu’s ruckus, Qin Fengqing had also almost broken through Earth Count’s seal several times. As a result, Earth Count had to come and fix things two to three times.

And because he understood, that was why the person with the greatest hope for Qin Mu Qin Fengqing was actually Earth Count.

He wanted to find a way to break out of his restraints from Qin Mu.

Him saying Qin Mu was an unrestrained Earth Count wasn’t an over-exaggeration.

In Earth Count’s eyes, Qin Fengqing and Qin Mu were the same person. They weren’t brothers, even though to them they were older and younger brothers.

The younger brother felt that the older brother was full of evil, and the older brother felt the younger brother was full of naughty tricks.

“To break out of my restraint, I tried many ways, but they had all failed. This is my chance.”

Earth Count’s gaze was deep, and when Celestial Venerable Yu looked over, he felt that his three eyes were three abysses that couldn’t be measured. Ripples would occasionally be formed.

Jade Lock Pass.

That devil god general led the three-headed and six-armed Qin Mu into the pass as beads of cold sweat kept dripping down his forehead. That was because he felt very uncomfortable from Qin Fengqing, who kept staring at his head and neck.

An image kept appearing in his mind, and that was the sight of this huge baby gnawing on his head.

“How do I call Dao brother?” One of Qin Mu’s heads surveyed the surroundings, and the other head talked to him pleasantly.

“Youdu’s Jade Lock Pass Left Soul Guardian Mo Qimi.”

The eyes of that devil god general twitched, and he thought to himself, ‘In the past, Son of Youdu didn’t have this habit. In the past, he would just eat without saying anything. Now he has become polite, he would ask the name before he eats…’

“What is over there?” Qin Mu pointed at a black stone tablet and asked politely.

Left Soul Guardian Mo Qimi looked at the black stone tablet and said, “This is the Soul Suppression Monument, also known as Hellfire Virtue Monument. They are made from the teeth that fall off of Earth Count, and they are used to suppress the evil here. People with great virtues wouldn’t be suppressed, but those with grave sins would suffer from the hellfire here. They can’t release their magic power either, and the pain would multiply.”

Qin Mu looked into the distance and saw that the Hellfire Virtue Monuments here were like a forest. There was one every three hundred yards, and there were many of them.

“Earth Count has so many teeth?”

He was stunned and whispered under his breath, “Could Earth Count’s teeth have been broken off by someone?”

Qin Fengqing said excitedly, “Earth Count’s teeth are black, my teeth are white! Look, look!”

He opened his mouth and revealed his mouth full of razor-sharp teeth that were gleaming with a cold glint. His gaze sparkled as he said, “Mo Qimi, come to me and take a closer look.”

Left Soul Guardian Mo Qimi stumbled, and he brought him towards the forest formed by Hellfire Virtue Monuments. The number of stone tablets here was beyond Qin Mu’s imagination, and he still hadn’t walked to the end after so long.

‘The stone tablets are in the tens of thousands, how many teeth must Earth Count have to forge so many stone tablets?’

Left Soul Guardian took a glance at Qin Mu and was astonished. He had originally thought that once this extremely evil existence entered the monument forest, he would be suppressed by Earth Count’s Hellfire Virtue Monument. With hellfire on his body, he would be in excruciating pain.

Yet Qin Mu walked into the forest without anything happening at all. Furthermore, that big-headed baby was still sucking in the hellfire excitedly, and the hellfire came swooping over like noodles into his mouth. He smacked his lips in content.

‘Does this guy have any weakness at all?’ Fear crept up in his heart.

Suddenly, there was someone walking with difficulty in the monument forest in front, and it was a soul surrounded by hellfire. His face was distorted in the flames, and his mouth, eye sockets, and ears had all become black holes. He seemed to be crying out in pain.

“This is Heavenly King Yu An.”

Left Soul Guardian said, “Heavenly King Yu An was a god from a million years ago. He was the general of the Dragon Han Celestial Heavens’ Feathered Forest Guards, he was a god in charge of flight. He was originally a huge peacock born from heaven and earth, but because he liked to swallow half-gods and weak lifeforms, he could eat a million people with one mouth and thus, he committed a grave sin. That is why he is suppressed in Jade Lock Pass after his death, and why he has to walk in the monument forest day and night. He has already suffered the burn of the hellfire for a million years. He keeps walking in the forest, but no matter how many years he walks, he can never get out until the day his sins are completely exhausted. What will welcome him then shall be the engulf of Earth Count.” After he said that, he took a glance at Qin Mu.

Qin Mu said respectfully, “Earth Count is fair in his rewards and punishments, he is impartial. This matter is settled beautifully!”

Left Soul Guardian thought to himself, ‘You have done so much evil, so aren’t you scared?’

Of course, he didn’t dare to say this out directly.

He continued to walk forward, and they met another person. It was the primordial spirit of a half-god. He was carrying a mountain and walking in the hellfire. He got burned until he kept crying out in pain.

“This is Xie Wuqi, Crown Prince of the Dragon Han Celestial Heavens. He is a strong practitioner that has the bloodline of Celestial Emperor and Celestial Empress. When he grew to adulthood, his abilities were equivalent to a strong practitioner on Emperor’s Throne, thus he rebelled and tried to usurp the throne. After he died, he was suppressed here,” said Left Soul Guardian.

“Half-god, Emperor’s Throne?”

The big-headed baby instantly drooled like a waterfall and rubbed his hands in excitement. Qin Mu suddenly felt his body becoming shorter, and he saw himself crawling over towards Xie Wuqi as he planned to eat him.

“Brother, don’t be reckless! It’s more important to meet mother!”

The big baby sighed in pity and only then did Qin Mu recover control of his body.

They continued forward, and Left Guardian Mo Qimi said, “The deeper the gods are being suppressed at, the greater their sins are. From the past to the present, all great criminals are being suppressed here. No matter how evil or powerful they were when they were alive, they will still have to suffer here once they die!” After saying that, he took another glance at Qin Mu.

Qin Mu still didn’t notice anything.

“My mother has never committed any evil, so why is she suppressed at the deepest part of the monument forest?”

The big-headed baby was rather indignant, and he said angrily, “It’s all my fault, mother is not involved. Earth Count isn’t fair, if I catch him, I’ll eat him after plucking off his head and legs!”

Left Soul Guardian shuddered, and he thought to himself, ‘This guy is unreasonably cruel.’

They continued forward and saw more and more primordial spirits of strong practitioners that were suppressed here. No matter how remarkable they were when they were alive, they still had to suffer hellfire like ordinary people.

And this kind of torture seemed to have no end, and they didn’t know when they would be released.

‘Is mother also going through such torture?’ Qin Mu felt a pang of sorrow.

After passing by god knows how many Hellfire Virtue Monuments, they finally came to the center of the monument forest.

Over here, the monuments were densely packed with one every three to five steps. However, not many primordial spirits could be seen.

Qin Mu was puzzled, and he suddenly saw the black stone tablets forming a huge circle. This circle was about three thousand yards in radius, and there were still stone tablets forming layers and layers of hoops in the circle.

Looking at the center of the circle, there was a god with bull horns and a tiger head being shackled by black chains. Hellfire burned continuously around his body.

Qin Mu’s expression changed drastically, and he looked at Left Soul Guardian. However, Mo Qimi didn’t seem to see the god that was being suppressed and walked around it.

Qin Mu stretched out his hand to lift him up before asking pleasantly, “Lord Left Guardian, what is up with the Earth Count in the monument forest? Why is there an Earth Count suppressed here?”

“Don’t be reckless!”

Left Soul Guardian cried out. “I would rather die and not say a word!”

Qin Mu threw him to the big-headed baby, and Qing Fengqing hugged him tightly. “Brother is so nice, I’m really going to eat, time to eat!”

“I’ll say!”

Qin Mu hurriedly grabbed him back, and Qin Fengqing was furious. He raised his two fists and smacked ruthlessly at Qin Mu’s head. “Bad brother! I’ll beat you to death!”

“That is Earth Count’s reincarnation.”

Left Soul Guardian still hadn’t recovered from his shock and quickly touched his head. He gave a sigh of relief when he realized his head was still attached. “During the early period of the Dragon Han Era, Earth Count reincarnated once, and this body was him who had reincarnated.”

Qin Mu’s face was all bruised, and he used creation divine arts to remove the bruises by improving his blood circulation. He asked curiously, “So why has Earth Count suppressed his reincarnation here?”

Left Soul Guardian said, “I was born during the High Emperor Era, how would I know these ancient matters?”

Qin Mu lifted him up again, and Left Soul Guardian hurriedly said, “I’ll say! I’ll just say everything, will that do?”

Qin Mu placed him down, and Left Soul Guardian hesitated for a moment. He looked around and said with a low voice, “So I’ve heard… I’ve heard rumors so it might not be real! Don’t spread it out and don’t say it’s me who told you this!”

Qin Mu nodded his head repeatedly.

“I’ve heard that Earth Count reincarnated then because he wanted to find a way to improve himself and also allow his bloodline to be passed down. After he reincarnated, he still looked the same, but he had a body of flesh and blood. He then discovered he had seven emotions and six desires. But because he was ugly…”

Left Soul Guardian hesitated for a moment and asked pitifully, “You really won’t spread it out?”

“Don’t worry!”

Qin Mu patted his chest heavily and said, “If I spread it, I will be erased by heaven and earth! Quickly tell me!”

Qin Fengqing also got curious and hurried him. “So what happened after he was ugly?”

“Because he was ugly, he wasn’t too welcome by people.”

Left Soul Guardian gulped his saliva and plucked up his courage. “Everyone started to shout at him and viewed him as a demonic monster. There were also some ancient beings that knew he had reincarnated, and they knew it was a good time to get rid of him, so they laid their hands on him. Because of his own identity, Earth Count didn’t retaliate. Then came the day when his wife and daughter were killed, and Earth Count’s devil nature went berserk. He actually wasn’t limited by the law of Youdu, and so he retaliated…”

He revealed a look of terror on his face, and his voice was hoarse. “I’ve heard many ancient gods died, and the half-gods that died were uncountable. After Earth Count returned, he suppressed his reincarnation and let his reincarnation suffer here…”