Tales of Herding Gods

Within the palace, Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu invited Yu Chen’zi, Dao Master Lin Xuan, Wang Muran, Si Yunxiang, and many others. Many of them were members of the Heaven Alliance from back then, and they were all youths. They were all here to discuss how Eternal Peace Empire should function following these drastic events.

When the Heaven Alliance was first founded, there were only four members—Qin Mu, Lin Xuan, Wang Muran, and Xu Shenghua.

After that, Qin Mu and the rest were roasting fish in the Imperial College, and Ling Yuxiu, Si Yunxiang, Hu Ling’er, Monk Ming Xin, Mu Qingdai, and Long Yu joined them. Qin Mu had also then asked Devil Ape Zhan Kong to join the Heaven Alliance.

As for Hu Ling’er, she liked crowds and had joined the Heaven Alliance to make up the numbers. She didn’t take it seriously, and Qin Mu and the others didn’t take it seriously either.

At that time, Xing An and Emperor Yanfeng were present as well, but they viewed the Heaven Alliance with some disdain and thus didn’t join.

In this palace meeting, Xu Shenghua and Hu Ling’er were absent, while Ming Xin and the devil ape didn’t make it there in time. However, there was the addition of Yu Chen’zi.

Yu Chen’zi said, “The new sky map is extremely vast, and it will be very difficult to forge it. Even with the Dao Sect of the celestial heavens forging it, it will take at least thirty to fifty years to be completed. In addition, Clear Sky Heaven is the designer of the new sky map, so naturally, we can leave some loopholes. Although the new sky map may be very dangerous, it’s not without the possibility of survival. At present, the eight rules of the celestial heavens’ imperial decree are the most problematic.”

Ling Yuxiu replied, “Actually, there are only seven rules. My father and Imperial Preceptor Jiang are imprisoned, so we don’t have to consider them for now and can just focus on the first seven rules and possible countermeasures. We should consider whether Eternal Peace will continue the reforms from today onwards. And, if we are to continue the reforms, how we will overcome these seven rules.”

Yu Chen’zi looked towards Qin Mu, and Qin Mu replied, “Of course we will continue on the path. If we don’t continue, just the annual Emperor sacrificial offerings will be enough to destroy the foundations of Eternal Peace’s survival.”

Everyone was confused.

Yu Chen’zi explained, “The powerful half-gods of the celestial heavens feed on meat, and the annual Emperor offerings to the celestial heavens are comprised of virgin males and females. Offering virgin males and females to the celestial heavens as food is sufficient to destroy the support of the people. After all, the people dare not be angry at the heavens and would thus direct their rage at Eternal Peace.”

“That’s too ruthless.”

Wang Muran frowned. “Just this rule alone is enough to destroy Eternal Peace.”

Ling Yuxiu said, “That’s why it’s necessary to come up with countermeasures. The celestial heavens want to take away Eternal Peace’s authority to issue coins. Saintess Xiang, how would you counter this?”

Si Yunxiang thought about it and smiled. “Will the currency of the celestial heavens only be circulated within the borders of Eternal Peace, or will it be circulated amongst the entire Primordial Realm?”

Qin Mu replied, “The celestial heavens won’t create a currency specifically for Eternal Peace. Now that they have taken over the entirety of the Primordial Realm, naturally, the same currency will be used throughout.”

Si Yunxiang clapped her hands together and smiled. “If the currency was uniquely designed for Eternal Peace and the authority to issue coins was in the celestial heavens’ hands, then the economy would cease to exist, and Eternal Peace would be unsavable. However, if the entire Primordial Realm is using the same currency, then it won’t actually be a bad thing!”

The rest didn’t have much of an understanding in this area, so they asked her to explain further.

“If the entire Primordial Realm uses the same currency, the celestial heavens can just leech off of the Primordial Realm. They just have to create the currency, and then they can plunder all the wealth of the Primordial Realm. However, the celestial heavens must also ensure that the currency can be used to buy and sell things.”

Si Yunxiang smiled. “The people of Eternal Peace are most proficient in doing business. Through doing business, they can earn more money from the other areas of the Primordial Realm so as to ensure the livelihood of their own people. The celestial heavens leech off of the entire Primordial Realm and take the resources of the Primordial Realm for their own, but we can absorb resources from the other powers within the Primordial Realm through doing business. Emperor Yanfeng once said that the great abundance coins should be circulated to the other countries, and he fought for this goal for many years. With the standardization of currency in the Primordial Realm, his dream has been fulfilled. It’s just that there’s an extra heavenly master above our heads now.”

Qin Mu replied, “You shall be in charge of trade, commerce, and doing business.”

Si Yunxiang said, “I will need the help of your fox demon.”

Qin Mu nodded. “The authority to issue coins is the third rule. This shall be handed to Si Yunxiang to settle and plan for so as to stabilize the lives of the people. The first rule is to burn the books and records on reform and to stop the reforms. There are spare copies of all of the records, so we can ignore this rule. The second rule is to reinstate the system set by the ancestors, where the sects govern the country and where all people and sects worship the gods. Using the sects and the people to control Eternal Peace—this is a strategy to tire and fool the people. How should it be countered?”

Wang Muran questioned, “In these seven rules, is there one that forbids the establishment of primary schools, colleges, and an Imperial College?”

Ling Yuxiu replied, “There’s no such rule. However, the Imperial College, as well as the primary schools and colleges across Eternal Peace, have been destroyed by those gods. Even the books were burned.”

Wang Muran laughed. “Then we’ll just rebuild them! But we won’t call them primary schools, colleges, and the Imperial College anymore. We can just change the names, for example, Jade Capital Sect, Heavenly Saint Clan, Dao Sect Side Palace, and so on. They can just be named to sound like sects. The primary schools, colleges, and Imperial College were originally no different from sects in essence.”

Qin Mu replied, “Let’s do it that way then. The fourth rule regarding the forging of heavy-duty divine weapons, we can just temporarily not forge any, so we can ignore this rule as well. The fifth rule states that we cannot tamper with the paths, skills, and divine arts. Since there are very few who have the ability to change the paths, skills, and divine arts, we can also ignore this rule. The sixth rule is regarding sacrificial offerings to the heavens. This rule is too heart-crushing, how should we counter it?”

Yu Chen’zi pondered over it and replied, “I have some connections in the Dao Sect of the celestial heavens. Perhaps I can ask for some individuals with authority within the celestial heavens’ Dao Sect to come out and change the requirements for the sacrifices. At the very least, we cannot let the Emperor treat the human race as livestock to be offered to the heavens.”

Qin Mu said, “Thanks for the trouble, Senior Brother Yu Chen. The seventh rule is regarding the destruction of any artifacts that are able to perform strange tricks. This rule isn’t really of much significance. After this calamity, the good stuff that the people owned is basically already gone.”

He looked around and revealed a smile. “Now, let’s start to think about how we are going to retaliate.”

Everyone was astonished.

Retaliate?

What kind of big talk was this?

How would they be able to retaliate?

Qin Mu continued, “These few days, I have been toying with an immature idea. I wandered about the capital city and saw that there were many celestial troops and generals that had barged into the homes of rich families to take away those so-called fancy and ingenious artifacts. The gods of the celestial heavens seem to fancy these things quite a lot. In that case, we will create them for free and only accept the coins of the celestial heavens, the lower the price the better. There’s an abundance of skilled workmen in Eternal Peace, and by letting them create useful things for the people, we can maintain the abilities of these skilled workmen.”

The rest still didn’t quite understand.

Qin Mu continued, “Senior Brother Yu Chen, could you arrange for Eternal Peace to forge some of the divine weapons of the celestial heavens through the use of your connections within the celestial heavens’ Dao Sect?”

Yu Chen’zi furrowed his brows. “You want to have Eternal Peace forge the new sky map? That’s impossible! The celestial heavens would never let Eternal Peace forge the new sky map! This sort of divine weapon can only be personally forged by the celestial heavens’ Patriarch Creation Palace! The Patriarch Creation Palace of the celestial heavens is the place where the most important divine weapons are forged! Almost all heavy-duty weapons of the celestial heavens are forged there, and it’s heavily guarded! Working there, one must affirm their identity using the Life and Death Book daily!”

Qin Mu laughed. “What I meant was that Eternal Peace would first create some daily necessities for the celestial heavens. For example, things like the ice fridge and windmill. After that, we can create the divine armor, divine weapons, ships, and formation diagrams that the army of the celestial heavens requires. The celestial heavens can use the currency that they created to purchase the treasures that we created directly from Eternal Peace.”

Yu Chen’zi was stumped.

The rest frowned, still not quite understanding.

“This sort of good deal, the celestial heavens will naturally be willing to accept. It’s just that…”

Yu Chen’zi was in a dilemma. “The workmen of Eternal Peace will have to painstakingly forge these treasures, yet they will only be able to trade for the coins from the celestial heavens. This is a little…”

Qin Mu replied, “As long as the currency can be circulated within the Primordial Realm, it will be good enough. We don’t have to bother with how much can be earned. Can you do it?”

Yu Chen’zi replied resolutely, “Yes!”

Qin Mu sighed in relief. “Then, how long will the manufacturing factories of Eternal Peace need to squeeze out the manufacturing factories of the celestial heavens such that the celestial heavens will only be left with the Patriarch Creation Palace that forges the heavy-duty divine weapons?”

Yu Chen’zi was startled, and then he laughed. “What you’re suggesting is dealing with the problem at the roots by destroying the foundation of economic livelihood for the celestial heavens! The forces of the celestial heavens are multifarious. With divine weapons that are practically free being readily available, the manufacturing factories of the celestial heavens won’t be able to hold on for long and will ultimately be replaced by Eternal Peace! By then, across all of Eternal Peace, there will be manufacturing factories capable of forging divine weapons, while the celestial heavens will no longer have any manufacturing factories they can make use of!”

He paced back and forth. “Under the celestial heavens are the four extremes, Xuandu, the Primordial Realm, Youdu, Mingdu, Southern Heaven, Northern Heaven, Eastern Heaven, and Western Heaven. There are also thirty-six celestial palaces and seventy-two throne halls, as well as the tens of thousands of worlds and heavens! If Eternal Peace can supply all of the necessities, armaments, and military provisions for the celestial heavens, the properties of the tens of thousands of worlds and heavens will be gradually hollowed out, and they will no longer have any wealth. At that time, the lives of the people in the tens of thousands of worlds and heavens will be destitute, and they will definitely revolt.”

Qin Mu replied, “I only asked you how long would be needed.”

Yu Chen’zi replied earnestly, “At most, a hundred years!”

Qin Mu pondered. “A hundred years, it’s enough. Will you be able to use the free divine weapons to negotiate for the annual Emperor sacrificial offerings to not require virgin males and females as blood sacrifices?”

Yu Chen’zi thought about it for a while, then said, “I can try.”

“Regarding the other various details, you are all much more proficient than I am. With regards to how to settle down the citizens, how to revive the family businesses of the people, and how to cultivate farmland and plant crops to get through the current famine—there are many proficient civil officials in the imperial courts, so you can all ask them for advice. My elders are proficient in the various ultimate arts of Sword Dao, formations, forging skills, the art of healing, calligraphy, and painting. Feel free to ask them for help and advice.”

Qin Mu stood up and bowed. “Then, Eternal Peace shall be entrusted to you all!”

Everyone was astonished and hurriedly got up to return his bow. Dao Master Lin Xuan said, “Why did Cult Master say such a thing? Are you not going to stay in Eternal Peace? Now that you are the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and have the status of Celestial Venerable Mu, there are countless people who are watching you. You aren’t in the proper condition right now, so you probably shouldn’t go out and run around anymore.”

Qin Mu straightened up, and he felt a little dizzy as he smiled and said, “If I stay in Eternal Peace, the celestial heavens will never take their eyes off of it. What they are watching isn’t Eternal Peace but me, Celestial Venerable Mu. As the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, if I roam about the lands, Eternal Peace will have the opportunity and time to take a breather. You all need not convince me further.”

Si Yunxiang looked towards Ling Yuxiu, who had a complicated expression as she said, “The Imperial Preceptor is leaving the capital city, when will you return?”

Qin Mu replied, “After I return, I will come and find all of you. Regarding when I will return, I haven’t decided yet.”

“Return here on this day next year, how is that?”

Ling Yuxiu looked at him and continued in a gentle voice, “I know that your body isn’t in good condition. Come back at this time next year so that I know that you’re still alive.”

Qin Mu burst into laughter and nodded his head vigorously. “This day next year, I will return!”

He turned around and walked out. At the palace gate, he woke up the dragon qilin, and they walked towards the Imperial Preceptor’s manor together.

“Is Cult Master Qin’s situation dangerous?” Wang Muran watched him leave and then whispered.

“He no longer has a soul.”

Yu Chen’zi said in a low voice, “I have never met anyone without a soul who managed to stay alive.”

“Cult Master doesn’t intend to hide in a corner by himself to die quietly, right?”

Si Yunxiang was suddenly worried, and her eyes turned red as she said in a low voice, “I’m afraid that he’s worried that we will be sad, so he’s going to hide himself to die slowly. Even if his corpse is found, no one will know that he is Celestial Venerable Mu, Cult Master Qin, the Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace…”

Ling Yuxiu shook her head. “He will return. One year from today, he will return here to meet us again!”

There were two Imperial Preceptor’s manors within the capital city. One was the manor of the previous generation Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Jiang Baigui, while the other was Qin Mu’s side palace, which contained a verdant and lush Primordial Tree.

Qin Mu came to the foot of the Primordial Tree and touched its body. Suddenly, Gongsun Yan, who was in a green skirt and holding a little kettle, came around from behind the tree with a smile. “Younger Brother, you have returned? Yan’er, your young master has returned!”

From the nest in the crown of the tree, Yan’er stuck out her head, and following that, a chubby green sparrow flew down and landed on Qin Mu’s shoulder. She laughed and said, “The nest here is really comfortable, I don’t even want to get up anymore. Young Master, do you intend to leave?”

Qin Mu nodded and smiled. “Sister Yan’er, since the nest here is comfortable, you can remain here, and you can also look after Eternal Peace.”

Yan’er hesitated for a moment before she shook her head. “Goddess asked me to follow you around, so I cannot remain here. Also, Yan’er (Gongsun Yan) is even better at taking care of people than I am, and even I have been waited upon by her comfortably. There’s everything within the phoenix’s nest—she prepared all sorts of fruits for me, and there are even worms for me to eat! I haven’t met someone who is even more considerate than myself, and now I’m even fatter.”

The dragon qilin stuck his head out from behind Qin Mu and was about to speak when the round green sparrow glared at him and barked, “Fatty Dragon, shut up!”

The dragon qilin didn’t dare speak.

Gongsun Yan said in a troubled tone, “I also want to leave with all of you, it’s just that I’m rooted here…”

Qin Mu smiled warmly. “Then, just remain here. This is also where my roots are, so I’ll return.”