Tales of Herding Gods

“Apart from the undying god consciousness, there’s still divine arts like the Sword Dao and creation.”

Mahakala continued to inspect the sword picture with a smile of rumination on his face.

Black aura entered and exited the black sun on the back of his head. The black aura was the source of the darkness that stretched for thousands of miles around Mahakala’s surroundings.

“Yet what’s peculiar is that beings of the god realm cannot trigger his undying god consciousness, nor sense his Sword Dao and creation’s level of cultivation. His divine art was only targeted at divine arts practitioners. We are unable to sense his paths, skills, and divine arts, and only looking at it with the naked eye would make it difficult for us to be able to comprehend the essence of his divine art.”

Mahakala revealed a smile that wasn’t quite a smile and praised, “This Overlord Body of Eternal Peace definitely has some ability. Destroying his letter of challenge is easy, but to break through his divine art is very difficult.”

Within the palace of Mahakala, the gods of the northern heavens looked from one to another.

At River Tomb Academy, Qin Mu had used his sword as a brush and the air as paper to draw his sword picture and make his letter of challenge.

Qin Mu drew it in a relaxed and leisurely manner, yet now that the sword picture was sent here, it made even the high and mighty gods feel extremely troubled.

“Go back to your own heavens and select the most outstanding divine arts practitioners. Their level of cultivation doesn’t matter.”

Mahakala closed the letter of challenge, continuing, “Gather these people and send them here. The one and only condition for them to be sent here is that they have to have entered the path. If the young divine arts practitioners have yet to enter the path, sending them here will only result in their death.”

The gods of the northern heavens looked at each other uneasily, and one devil god exclaimed boldly, “It’s extremely difficult to enter the path. We have over 300 heavens in the north, and each heaven has a population of over a billion. Yet, asking us to pick even one divine arts practitioner who has entered the path is truly making things difficult for us.”

Mahakala replied indifferently, “Why are there so many divine arts practitioners who have entered the path in Eternal Peace?”

“This…”

“War!”

Mahakala stood up, and it was as though numerous threads had flown out of the black sun behind his head to connect to the darkness. As he walked, the black aura that surged out of the sun had a silk-like texture, tugging on the darkness to follow behind him and move as he moved.

“Eternal Peace has experienced 800 years of war, and those who live on that small land have had no other choice but to attempt all methods to advance themselves. Their divine bridge was severed so they wouldn’t be able to ascend to the celestial palace. Thus, they could only seek breakthroughs from alternate avenues.”

Mahakala continued solemnly, “And war became the best melting pot for their breakthroughs! The heavens of the north have been peaceful and stable for far too long—it has made all these little fellows lead a befuddled existence, and resultantly, divine arts practitioners who have entered the path are few and far between. Let them fight and kill. As though rearing poisonous insects, put them inside a basin and let them kill each other until there’s only one or two left. The last one standing would then be the most poisonous.”

The gods of the northern heavens felt chills down their spines.

The devil god with the bull head spoke carefully, “Under Mahakala, there are many strong and powerful disciples…”

Mahakala gave him one look and seemed to laugh. “You all went behind my back and laid down the Pact of Little Earth Count with Wen Tiange, that crafty heavenly master. Now that you cannot defeat him, you still want me to clean up after your mess. The ruler of the northern heavens, is it you all or me? Get lost and make an honest selection. One month later, I want to see the strongest poisonous insect that you have reared!”

The gods took their leave and returned to their own heavens.

In Hoar Frost Heaven, there was an expanse of ice and snow, and within an enormous basin, there were numerous divine arts practitioners moving about stealthily, in hiding and engaging in fierce combat in this snow-covered world. What was initially a pleasing sight of snow was now a snowy sight riddled with plum blossoms-like bloodstains.

Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, gradually covering up the bloodstains.

Apart from this ice valley, there were numerous others that similarly had divine arts practitioners in fierce combat. The divine arts practitioners within the same ice valley were all of the same realm.

In an attempt to select the most outstanding divine arts practitioner, the gods of Hoar Frost Heaven had gathered tens of thousands of them together, letting them engage in internecine combat. It was similar to rearing poisonous insects and was solely for the goal of picking the strongest and most powerful divine arts practitioner and forcing them to enter the path through this life and death battle.

This was merely a single heaven of the north.

In the north of the Primordial Realm, there were over 300 heavens of varying sizes. Some had a huge population, and some had a small population—the smallest still had a few billion, whereas the bigger ones could reach over a few hundred billion in population size.

Within the period of a month, the divine arts practitioners of the few hundred heavens had suffered great casualties, but the results were striking as well. There were numerous powerful divine arts practitioners who had been selected from the process.

Amongst them, there were about a dozen practitioners who had entered the path, and their abilities were formidable.

The gods of the northern heavens brought their selected divine arts practitioners to Mahakala’s celestial palace to see Mahakala as scheduled.

The over 300 divine arts practitioners stood outside the palace in an orderly manner. They were all the elite of the elites, filled with murderous intent and fighting spirit, and they had incomparable confidence.

“There are still too many who have yet to enter the path.”

Mahakala didn’t let them into the palace, he issued a decree instead, “If we let these fellows view the letter of challenge from the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace, we will just make a fool of ourselves. Is it your intention to let the country-bumpkins of Eternal Peace mock me? Let them continue to battle it out until only the ones who have entered the path remain. Even if we can only produce one more practitioner who has entered the path, it will be sufficient.”

The command was laid out outside the palace, and the 300 plus divine arts practitioners instantly burst into motion, their divine arts exploding as they lit up the surrounding darkness!

With every bright ray of light that tore through the darkness, a divine arts practitioner collapsed and died.

After a long while, Mahakala issued another decree from within the palace, “Stop!”

The remaining divine arts practitioners stopped fighting and looked towards the brightly-lit palace of Mahakala.

There were only 17 people left now. They were the half-gods of half-gods, with incomparably formidable power from their bloodlines. They were also all experts who had entered the path, and they had unrivaled drive and a raging desire for battle!

“Mahakala!”

A devil god bowed and exclaimed out loud, “Out of the 316 heavens of the north, and the thousands of billions of divine arts practitioners, we have selected 17 practitioners who have entered the path! A single selection process has resulted in millions of corpses! All this just to view the letter of challenge from the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace, is it worth it? The millions of divine arts practitioners would have been able to raze Eternal Peace Empire to the ground countless times!”

“Ignorant fool!”

Mahakala’s voice came from within the palace as he replied coldly, “I am saving your lives! If you hadn’t laid down the Pact of Little Earth Count with Wen Tiange, obliterating Eternal Peace could be done with a snap of my fingers! However, now that you have laid down the Pact of Little Earth Count with him, even if it were tens of millions of people, much less millions, they would still have to die!”

Within the palace, the darkness surged, and Mahakala walked towards them as the black sun on the back of his head tugged at the darkness. It swallowed up the flames of the furnaces that lined the two sides of the palace, and the furnaces could no longer emit any light.

“Earth Count was formed of the Great Dao, and Little Earth Count is the Son of Youdu, he has the power of the ancient gods and the capabilities of the lifeforms after the beginning. I am the first devil god born of Youdu who achieved the Dao, and I know very well how powerful the Son of Youdu is. To make an oath to Little Earth Count, you are all incredibly audacious!”

Mahakala took out Qin Mu’s letter of challenge, and with a hard tug, he hung the letter in the air and yelled, “Look at it!”

The 17 half-god divine arts practitioners all looked towards Qin Mu’s letter of challenge. In the letter, Qin Mu wore a sword on his back, smiling at them silently.

After a short period, the eyes of one of the divine arts practitioners who had entered the path bulged out, his body trembling vigorously. Suddenly, he cried out loud—his body tore into several pieces, and he died from the unnatural cause!

After another short while, another divine arts practitioner unsheathed his sword and waved it around. His sword techniques were like light and lightning, and he seemed almost berserk.

“Great sword technique—”

He suddenly retracted his sword and stood still, a ray of sword light shooting out from between his brows. There was a sword wound on the heart of his brows, and blood flowed out of it steadily.

Another one had a steady aura that revolved around him fervently, while the strange sounds of a huge bell rang out incessantly. The runes around him transformed into an enormous bell, and the bell tremored continuously. His divine art was exquisite.

Suddenly, blood rays emerged from within the bell, dyeing the entire bell that was formed of the runes red with blood.

The bell dissipated, and the runes collapsed, leaving behind a corpse that was filled with thousands of holes.

There were fewer and fewer practitioners left, and very soon, there were only six remaining from the seventeen.

These six half-god divine arts practitioners had managed to block the undying god consciousness within Qin Mu’s letter of challenge, and as though having just undergone great training and achieving realization, the six of them felt their spirits refreshed and full of vigor. Their abilities had undergone another huge advancement!

Upon seeing this, the gods and devils of the various heavens all let out a sigh of relief.

“From our northern heavens, there are six who are able to rival this Overlord Body of Eternal Peace. At least we can still salvage some of our dignity.”

“These six divine arts practitioners have aptitudes that surpass most, and their ability in comprehension is extraordinary. They were able to make use of the sword picture to advance themselves and can finally face the challenge from the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace!”

“After this battle, our northern heavens will have six more geniuses who will shock the world. The future achievements of these six will most definitely set the heavens on fire!”

…

At this very moment, Mahakala opened his mouth and spoke, “This is the first stage of the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace’s letter of challenge’s test. You have passed the first stage of the test.”

The gods and devils of the northern heavens were astonished, and Mahakala continued, “When the sword picture within the letter of challenge has been destroyed, only then is it considered accepting the letter of challenge. This Overlord Body of Eternal Peace is considerably fair, the letter of challenge hides his consciousness, and whichever level of cultivation you are at, the sword god within the sword picture will then execute the corresponding level of cultivation to fight with you. Thus, you don’t have to worry that he might bully you with a difference in realm. Now…”

Mahakala looked around, his gaze sweeping past the six divine arts practitioners who had entered the path, and he said coldly, “Come up one by one and use your own vital qi to trigger the letter of challenge!”

One of the divine arts practitioners came forward, triggering the sword picture with his vital qi. The Qin Mu within the sword picture unsheathed his sword, and in an instant, sword rays filled the sky, and he pierced out of the picture!

The divine arts practitioner roared out loud and executed his own divine art of the path.

The two divine arts of the path crashed into each other, and the forces swept outwards in all directions, causing a violent wave that only subsided after a long time.

Before the palace of Mahakala, the gods hurriedly came forward to look, only to see that divine arts practitioner standing there with an awe-inspiring presence, not moving at all.

Suddenly, he fell backwards and took his last breath on the spot!

The gods of the northern heavens felt the hairs on their backs stand up as they looked to the sword picture. The figure of Qin Mu within the sword picture was still incredibly distinct, looking vivid and realistic, and his sword was still in its sheath.

Mahakala said coldly, “Next!”

Another divine arts practitioner who had entered the path came forward—this was a powerful individual who had entered the path with knife skills. He didn’t use his vital qi to trigger the sword picture and had directly pulled out his knife. He executed his ultimate skill of entering the path with the knife, cleaving down at the sword picture.

There were knife lights and sword shadows that flashed by instantaneously, leaving behind only thin black lines in the air—they were the wounds of space caused by the sword skills and knife skills that had ripped into it.

These thin black lines only disappeared after awhile.

The corners of the eyes of the half-god who had entered the path with knife skills trembled. He lowered his head to look down at his waist, and blood flowed out of his mouth.

An extremely thin line of blood appeared at his waist – his upper body and lower body were gradually separating from each other.

“You’re quite good. You didn’t die under his sword, you can be groomed further.”

Mahakala continued indifferently, “Next!”

A god hurriedly came forward and carried the divine arts practitioner, helping him stop the bleeding. His legs and bottom fell to the ground, and the god quickly carried his lower body away as well, sending him for medical treatment.

Another divine arts practitioner came up and faced Qin Mu’s sword picture directly.

His divine arts burst out with terrifying might!

…

There were two more corpses on the ground, and another one was crippled. However, out of these six divine arts practitioners who had entered the path, there was a half-god youth who remained unscathed. He had warded off the attacks from Qin Mu’s sword picture, and even managed to obliterate the sword picture with force!

“What’s your name?” Mahakala looked at the youth, revealing an expectant expression.

The youth bowed and replied, “Disciple is a divine arts practitioner from Splendid Bloom Heavens. My surname is Feng, and my name is Huayu. My ancestor is the Hundred Flora ancient god.”

Mahakala nodded approvingly. “Your bloodline is extremely noble, your level of comprehension is also excellent, and your aptitude is outstanding. You could use the divine art of the path to go up against the attacks of his sword picture and then obliterate the sword picture. This is no small matter. You entering the path through divine arts already means that you have abilities that are extremely rare to find in the Primordial Realm. However, to compete against the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace, you are still lacking in some areas.”

Feng Huayu’s gaze flickered. He seemed to be reluctant to accept this opinion.

“However, there is a way to make up for it.”

Mahakala turned around and walked into the palace. “Follow me. The letter of challenge from the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace has been destroyed by you. He has already sensed it and, at this moment, has probably started to make his journey here. For him to reach this palace will take him at least three months. In these three months, I will impart to you my Emperor’s Throne ultimate technique, the Dark Mo Jia Sutra. I will teach you personally, and within three months, it will allow your cultivation to improve tremendously!”

Feng Huayu was surprised and elated, he hurriedly followed Mahakala into the palace.

“Send someone to invite Khan Ruandi over!”

Mahakala spoke in a low voice, “Khan Ruandi once surrendered to Eternal Peace and learned the results of Eternal Peace’s reforms. When he imparts the results of Eternal Peace’s reforms to you, you will then be able to compete against the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace! Ruandi is my disciple now, and his abilities are already quite strong. He can definitely allow you to advance even further after you have cultivated my ultimate technique!”

…

At River Tomb Academy.

Qin Mu had been studying in the academy all along, learning the reform results of River Tomb Academy diligently.

Unknowingly, a month had since gone by. Qin Mu had finished his studies and was sparring with Duke Wei when all of a sudden, he sensed something in his heart. Qin Mu stopped what he was doing and smiled. “There’s already a figure from the northern heavens who has accepted my letter of challenge. Heavenly King Wei, based on the agreement, I shall head there now.”

Duke Wei’s heart jolted, and he hurriedly said, “Cult Master, the heavens of the north are of the enemy’s forces, and Mahakala is the ancestor of the devil path. Even Martial Arts Heavenly Teacher is no match for him! For your journey there, how many experts does Cult Master need to accompany you?”

Qin Mu smiled. “Just the dragon qilin is sufficient.”

Duke Wei’s eyes widened, and his heart was full of anxiety. “How can you only bring along that glutton? Cult Master, please wait for a few days, I will get the cult disciples to look for the four great heavenly teachers and the four great heavenly kings to accompany and guard you!”

Qin Mu shook his head and laughed. “Why would the Overlord Body of Eternal Peace require the guardianship of the heavenly teachers and heavenly kings of Founding Emperor? Wouldn’t this destroy the name of Eternal Peace? Take care of Brother Yu first, let him study well, I shall go now!” At this, Qin Mu ordered Yan’er to stay behind to take care of Celestial Venerable Yu’s daily needs. He called for the dragon qilin and headed towards the north.

Duke Wei was uneasy and immediately took out a mirror to contact Si Yunxiang. “Cult Master is headed to the heavens of the north for his appointment. Quickly ask the four great heavenly kings and the four great heavenly teachers of Founding Emperor to head towards the northern heavens too!”

Si Yunxiang knew that this was of great urgency, and she immediately informed all the hall masters of Heavenly Saint Cult to look for the whereabouts of the four great heavenly teachers and the four great heavenly kings.

The dragon qilin sprinted in the direction of the north while Qin Mu hid within the mirror to continue researching the ancient gods’ runes and the imprints of the Great Dao that Dao Ancestor had given him in the Guardian Pavilion.

Unknowingly, more than two months had gone by, and they arrived at the north of the Primordial Realm. In the sky, there were multi-colored rays of light pulsating gently. These were the apparitions that were formed by the northern heavens that hung above the Primordial Realm.

The dragon qilin continued forwards. On this day, a huge mountain that was thousands of yards in height suddenly rumbled noisily, transforming into a mountain divine being. He questioned out loud, with a voice that sounded like rolling thunder and lightning, “Is the one who comes forth Qin Mu of Eternal Peace, Overlord Body Qin?”

The dragon qilin stopped in his tracks and said, “Cult Master, a mountain god is calling for you.”

Qin Mu crawled out of the mirror, raising his head to look over. He bowed to pay his respects and smiled. “I am Qin Mu of Eternal Peace.”

The mountain god returned his respects, speaking in a muffled voice, “Overlord Body of Eternal Peace, Mahakala has issued an order. Overlord Body need not visit the heavens of the north, you may just head straight to the palace of Mahakala. The powerful individual of the northern heavens is awaiting your arrival in the palace!”

He raised an arm and pointed in the direction of the palace of Mahakala. “Overlord Body, please head in that direction!”

Qin Mu nodded gently. “Thanks for the trouble. Fatty Dragon, change your course for the palace of Mahakala.”

The dragon qilin hurriedly changed his course of direction.

After walking for two days, they saw that up ahead, darkness had enshrouded the whole area, even sunlight was unable to shine in.

In the darkness, on the peak of an enormous mountain, a devil god of ten thousand yards spread his wings like a huge bird, shouting out, “Is the one who comes forth Qin Mu of Eternal Peace, Overlord Body Qin?”

The dragon qilin stopped walking, and Qin Mu raised his head with a smile. “It is I.”

“This is the territory of the palace of Mahakala.”

The devil god with the head of a bird shouted out again, “Mahakala was afraid that you wouldn’t know the way and ordered me to wait here so as to point out the path for you.”

“Much thanks.”

Qin Mu bowed and ordered the dragon qilin to continue moving forward. They hadn’t walked far when they saw a divine glow piercing the heavens. There was a divine being standing tall in the darkness, and he called out, “Overlord Body Qin of Eternal Peace, Mahakala ordered me to point you the way from here!”

Qin Mu expressed his thanks.

After another few miles, there was another devil god with flames blazing around his body. He shouted out, “Overlord Body of Eternal Peace, please come this way!”

As the dragon qilin continued forwards, there were actually a hundred thousand devil gods welcoming them along the way. They lined from the edge of the darkness all the way to the front of the palace of Mahakala. This sight made the dragon qilin’s heart thump wildly.

Mahakala ruled the 316 heavens of the north, and the hundred thousand elite devil gods under him were now lined up along the path to welcome them. This scene frightened the dragon qilin, and he wanted nothing more than to take to his heels and escape.

Qin Mu remained indifferent, and he ordered the dragon qilin to continue moving forward.

When they reached the front of the palace of Mahakala, they saw innumerous gods and devils with their auras bursting out, and there were apparitions in the thousands. There were quite a few devil gods of the Jade Pavilion, Jade Capital, and Numinous Sky Realm. In the sky, their apparitions formed different celestial palaces that were towering above. The bodies of the various gods and devils stood tall atop the mountains while their primordial spirits sat in their respective celestial palaces. The skills of these gods and devils were unnaturally powerful. It was a spectacle of gods and devils dancing!

The palace of Mahakala sat in the midst of all the apparitions. There was a narrow laddered path that led straight to the palace and to the brightly-lit main hall!

The dragon qilin’s heart palpitated as he carried Qin Mu and climbed up the stone steps. He forced himself to make his way to the palace of Mahakala, and on both sides of the pathway were the menacing-looking gods and devils of the northern heavens.

Qin Mu stood on his forehead, his expression indifferent.

The dragon qilin finally reached the peak of the mountain and came before the palace of Mahakala.

At the front of the palace, the flames were like torches. At the back of the palace, in the darkness, one could actually faintly see the texture of the mountains of the giant stars. It was indescribably frightening.

Qin Mu paid no attention to the apparitions that surrounded him, speaking loudly, “Overlord Body of Eternal Peace, Qin Mu, is here to meet the hero of the northern heavens. Dare you enlighten me?”

The door of the palace opened widely, and a figure with a giant black sun floating behind his head could be indistinctly seen sitting within.

“Feng Huayu, the Overlord Body has arrived.”

The voice of the figure rang out, speaking at a normal pace. “After three months of cultivating, you are no longer what you were before. Now, are you confident?”

“I am!” The voice that came from within the palace was like thunder.

“Go forth!”

Qin Mu’s gaze landed on the figure that emerged from the palace, it was a youth that walked out of the palace of Mahakala, and the fragrance of flowers greeted Qin Mu’s nostrils.

“Divine arts practitioner of Splendid Bloom Heavens, Feng Huayu!” The youth bowed.

Qin Mu walked down from the dragon qilin’s head, smiling slightly. “Overlord Body of Eternal Peace, Qin Mu. Please.”

“Please!”

Feng Huayu’s aura exploded. Shifting his body, he leaped at Qin Mu, and rays that filled the sky surged around.

Qin Mu gripped his sword pellet, his body trembled, and he transformed into a three-headed, six-limbed form. His sword flashes were filled with magnificent rays in that instant!

The brilliant rays shifted, and the sword flashes moved while the fishes and dragons danced before the palace of Mahakala. The humming of the sword was incredibly crisp and clear. Suddenly, the sword flashes vanished. Various types of flourishing blossoms that surpassed brocades rained down from the sky.

All around the palace of Mahakala, the gods and devils raised their heads to look up. The flourishing blossoms were of poignant beauty as they descended from the darkness above, ever-increasing in number.

The flower petals drifted down, and as though it had just rained flowers, there was a deluge of heavenly flowers.

The flower petals descended, collecting more and more, burying the corpse of Feng Huayu within.

The youth from Splendid Bloom Heavens had already been buried halfway by the flower petals.

Qin Mu retracted his sword, bowing to pay his respects to that existence that sat unmoving in the palace of Mahakala. He then turned around and walked to the dragon qilin.

Qin Mu sat on the dragon qilin’s big head and said indifferently, “Fatty Dragon, we can go back now.”