Tales of Herding Gods

Zhe Huali looked at Qin Mu walking over and tried his best to stand up straight. He raised his hand and said, “Cult Master Qin, please!”

Qin Mu was puzzled. “What?”

Zhe Huali had a serious expression. “To be able to die under Cult Master’s sword is way better than dying at the hands of Prince Qiu Ming. I have no complaints if I die by your hands.”

Qin Mu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He shook his head and said, “Zhe Huali, you are mistaken.”

Zhe Huali had a blank look on his face.

“I’m not here to kill you. In fact, it would be very troublesome for me if you die here.”

Qin Mu walked up and pulled him out from the debris while explaining. “There’s a poem on this pillar, and it’s the crux to solving the divine art of the ghost ship. If you stand there, you will become one with the pillar after the ghost ship reconstructs itself. If I slash you to death, your blood will smudge the words. Wouldn’t that mean I would have to wait for another reset? If you want to die, die further away.”

Zhe Huali grunted and stared at his hands. He saw Qin Mu holding a bottle of dragon saliva in his hand, and he was currently applying the dragon saliva on his wounds.

“Cult Master Qin, you are currently treating my injuries,” reminded Zhe Huali.

Only then did Qin Mu come back to his senses and throw him onto the ground. He mumbled, “Healers treat their patients like their parents would. I was just moving out of habit.”

Zhe Huali’s wounds hurt as he got thrown onto the ground, but he realized that all his wounds had already been treated by Qin Mu. His wounds were currently healing, and they were no longer bleeding.

“You still saved me.”

He had a complicated feeling in his heart. “Cult Master Qin, you should know that we are enemies. You and I were both born peasants, and what we have today was fought for with our bare hands. Therefore, I would definitely have no grudge dying at Cult Master’s hands. Let us have a battle of Dao, let me truly be defeated in your hands, let me die in your hands!”

Qin Mu shook his head and said, “Zhe Huali, you are really mistaken. How were you and I born peasants? Compared to Prince Qiu Ming, we can be considered peasants, but if we are compared to ordinary people, we are people who were born with a silver spoon in our mouths. You are the descendant of a god and have an outstanding aptitude. You have Luo Wushuang teaching you, as well as a devil god such as Fu Riluo teaching you. Which ordinary person could have the conditions you have?”

Zhe Huali was slightly stunned.

Qin Mu said, “Even though I’m an abandoned baby from the Great Ruins, I have the nine elders of Disabled Elderly Village teaching me, nine outstanding teachers. Furthermore, I’m also the Son of Youdu and the descendant of Founding Emperor. There’s also my background and status, even though they don’t help much. In addition, I’m also the overlord body.”

He shook his head. “How can we be considered peasants? The true peasants are those ordinary people whose parents slog day and night yet still couldn’t fill their stomachs. Living in such a family, three meals a day is a problem, and trying to survive is also a problem. Some places are covered with tigers and wolves, so the parents might not even live to return at night after searching for food in the morning. The people born here are still trying to work hard in the struggle, trying their best to climb and scale upwards—these people are the peasants.”

He said calmly, “Such a person doesn’t have our conditions and doesn’t have our opportunities and background. They will experience many pits, many traps, and life and death struggles before finally achieving success. We aren’t considered heroes among the peasants, they are.”

Zhe Huali stood up and lowered his head to think. He nodded his head and said, “Cult Master Qin is extremely right. Compared to them, we are the ones that look like the disgusting Prince Qiu Ming.”

“Eternal Peace’s reform is trying to change this situation.”

Qin Mu had a fervent gaze, and he said, “The goal of Eternal Peace’s reform is to employ everyone’s talent to the fullest and make the best use of everything! Everyone can receive sufficient education with the popularization of primary schools and colleges. By imparting the paths, skills, and divine arts, it allows peasants to encounter fewer bumps in the road during their journey to become a hero, allowing everyone to unleash their potential and talent!”

He was slightly excited. “This reform is so that the gods won’t remain high above. Instead, they will have their own professions, working to the best of their abilities! Thinking about it, the future Eternal Peace will have flying ships in the sky with supplies coming to and fro, and it will be extremely sumptuous. Everyone will be able to talk to one another from tens of thousands of miles away. They will be able to reach for the stars and dive into the deep seas to catch turtles, unleashing their talent to their heart’s content! They will even be able to build luxurious buildings and communicate with the different heavens, the different worlds. There will be gorgeous art and countless people to contribute their own intelligence to improve the life of the people! Zhe Huali…”

Zhe Huali stared at him dumbfoundedly, and Qin Mu said fervently, “Have you heard of the Heavenly Saint Cult?”

Zhe Huali opened his mouth and eyes wide.

“Let’s do it together!”

Qin Mu grabbed his shoulders and shook him forcefully. “Let’s carve out a cause together! No matter how much you struggle, how high can you climb in that corrupted celestial heavens? Even if you reach the top, you will merely be like Luo Wushuang, becoming the leader of the Spirit Elite Guards. There will still be countless nobility above you, and you will still have to lower your head when you meet someone like Prince Qiu Min. The future of Eternal Peace is different. You can have a higher responsibility and even more possibilities!”

Zhe Huali started to feel giddy from his shaking, and he tried to stabilize himself. It was also to stabilize his Dao heart. “Cult Master Qin, let me consider it for a moment…”

Qin Mu let go of him and gripped his fists tightly to cheer him on. He whispered beside his ear, “Think about your dream. Look into your inner heart and think about what you want to pursue!”

Zhe Huali’s head was muddled. He felt that what Qin Mu said was very good, and it had infected his heart, so he subconsciously nodded. “I also feel that the lower bound is much more interesting than the upper bound… However, we are trapped on this ghost ship now, and we probably can’t live to get out, so what’s the point of talking about this?”

Qin Mu said with a smile, “We can get out. Haven’t you noticed? I’m stronger than both you and Prince Qiu Ming, but I haven’t faded yet.”

Zhe Huali grunted and felt that he had agreed too early. ‘This rascal doesn’t know that thing called humility!’

“Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art turned this ship into a ghost ship, and even though the divine art looks powerful, it was still built on the basis of creation divine art. This divine art reverses the substance and causes the substance to remain in an unmoving state or to even reverse the flow of the substance! However, when she executed her divine art, her divine power wasn’t enough, and she didn’t truly accomplish this.”

Light burst forth once more and drowned them.

Qin Mu’s eyes sparkled, and he was very excited. He walked around in the light as he explained things to Zhe Huali. “The substance of the ghost ship is still changing, but when it reaches the limit, the divine art bursts forth from the ghost ship to readjust the substance of the ghost ship, returning it back to the most primitive state.”

The light faded, and the destroyed palaces returned back to normal. The pillar with the poem had also returned to its original state.

Qin Mu still had no signs of fading, and he was even walking around Zhe Huali in excitement. “This kind of adjustment brings about a shift in time and space, and only after time traveling thirty-six times does this divine art finish a full loop. The thirty-six resets are thirty-six small cycles. Therefore, after going through thirty-six small cycles, it would be a big cycle, returning us to the starting point! Do you understand if I simplify it like this?”

Zhe Huali stared with his eyes wide open. His gaze was blank, and he only came back to his senses after a moment. He hurriedly shook his head.

Qin Mu continued to explain, “I allowed myself to follow the frequency of a substance similar to the ghost ship so the divine art from Celestial Venerable Ling would think that I’m part of the ghost ship. That way, I won’t fade. Therefore, among those of us who boarded this ship, the ones who can stay will be you and me. Do you understand now?”

Zhe Huali stared with his eyes wide open again. The demon knife behind him also stared with a blank look.

“I understand.”

Zhe Huali’s expression returned to normal, and he said firmly, “Listening to one sentence from you surpasses studying for ten years. Cult Master Qin’s wisdom is truly supreme, impressive, impressive!”

Qin Mu was very gratified.

The demon knife behind Zhe Huali’s back was still in a daze. It hadn’t come back to its senses.

‘If I say I don’t understand, isn’t he going to underestimate me again?’

Zhe Huali thought to himself, ‘Facing these maniacs in research, I have to act like I know even if I don’t. Anyway, the fact that I have shallow knowledge won’t be revealed as long as I don’t interrupt.’

“And there’s one excellent chance to leave this ship!”

Qin Mu became more and more excited. “And that’s when the change in substance is at its most violent! Which is the most violent period? That would be the first time the ghost ship time travels. At that time, all of the Feathered Forest Guards on the ship faded into the void, and the ghost ship also faded into the void! If my guess is correct, I’m afraid that Black Tortoise, Vermillion Bird, Green Dragon, and White Tiger—these four ancient great deities—also boarded the ship at that time, leaving behind their seals!”

Zhe Huali rubbed his palms and praised, “Brother Qin is truly outstanding!”

The demon knife behind his back was still in a daze.

Qin Mu said in delight, “Senior Brother Zhe Huali is truly the one who understands me, you got it immediately. When the four deities came to investigate the Feathered Forest Guards traveling through time, they boarded this ship and invoked the huge change in the substance of this ship. The Feathered Forest Guards faded into the void completely and fell into a state where they couldn’t be observed. The divine art of Celestial Venerable Ling completely burst forth and clashed with the four deities. At that point in time, we will borrow the power of the four deities to solve Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art! As long as it’s solved, we will be able to rescue those people who faded into the void and return back to our own time!”

Zhe Huali only understood the last sentence, and he asked with a face full of smiles, “Cult Master Qin, what should we do?”

“Preserve our lives!”

Qin Mu’s expression was solemn, and he said faintly, “Preserve our lives in this period of time. Am I right, Lin Xiao?”

Zhe Huali felt astonished, and he looked around. Suddenly, his gaze fell onto a lantern hanging on the ship mast.

The door on the lantern opened up, and a tiny bird-headed human stood inside. Behind him was his bright sun.

That tiny human rubbed his palms together and praised, “As expected of Celestial Venerable Mu, one of the nine great celestial venerables! In just a few small cycles, you have thought of the solution. I’ve tried Prince Qiu Ming’s method of killing all of the unchanging constants, but it didn’t work. The only way to break free of this ship is probably your method.”

Qin Mu said with a smile, “Yet, as Celestial Empress’ trusted aide, you can’t let anyone escape this ship to prevent the secret from getting out.”

The tiny human sighed. “That is the reason. All of the unchanging constants have to die, they must die.”

Qin Mu suddenly asked, “In that case, Lin Xiao, do you still remember how many cycles you have been on this ship for?”

The tiny human in the lantern was slightly stunned, and he didn’t understand what Qin Mu was asking.

Qin Mu said with a smile, “Every time this ship goes through a small cycle, there will be a batch of people boarding the ship. This shows that the people on the ship won’t truly die. After they die or fade into the void, they will still come back to life after the next big cycle and board the ship again. The substance on this ship is constant, it won’t increase, decrease, change, or move—this is Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art. In that case, when you bring Jue Wuchen on board this ship again, would the you now still exist?”

The light in the lantern suddenly became incomparably intense, and the tiny bird-headed human became slightly impatient and uneasy.

Qin Mu smiled and said leisurely, “When that time comes, the you now will vanish and become the you who had just come on board. You will bring Jue Wuchen on board with your comrades and repeat everything you had done. How many times have you repeated that now?”

The tiny human in the lantern smiled. “I remember all of the cycles…”

“No, you don’t.”

Qin Mu revealed a look of disdain. “If you remember, I would remember how many big cycles I have been through. All of the unchanging constants would. Yet they were killed time and again by you, so you obviously don’t remember, and they obviously don’t remember either. The only one with some memory is Dragon Count, which is that crazy old dragon that has fused with this ship. However, even his memory isn’t complete.”

The pupils of the tiny human in the lantern contracted, and he suddenly laughed and clucked like a hen. “Yet you are about to die very soon. After thirty-six cycles, you will be revived and be killed by me once again!”

The light in the lantern shone brightly as the sun inside swirled. A terrifying wave swept over and shattered where Qin Mu stood into smithereens!

The tiny human in the lantern rushed over and saw that Qin Mu and Zhe Huali had vanished!

Qin Mu executed his teleportation divine art to teleport away with Zhe Huali. He said quickly, “This guy has severed his cultivation, but he is still as strong as a god. He could take one of Village Chief’s blows and not die. We need to find a safe place to hide until he resets! When that time comes, he won’t remember us anymore…”

Suddenly, a beam of light swept over and vaporized everything it passed by. The tiny human in the lantern chuckled. “Hide? I know this ship like the back of my hand, where can you hide?”

Zhe Huali shook his head and said, “Cult Master Qin, if we work together, can you not kill the hen dragon?”

Qin Mu was stunned and looked him carefully in the eyes before shaking his head. “If I work together with Xu Shenghua, I can fight a god. However, you aren’t Xu Shenghua.”

Zhe Huali grunted, and his fighting spirit was ignited. “I’m inferior to Xu Shenghua? Don’t underestimate me!”