Tales of Herding Gods

Celestial Venerable Yu’s coffin was well-guarded, and there were Youdu runes flashing on the outside. They surrounded the coffin and gave off a mysterious feeling in their silence.

When Qin Mu reached here, his heart actually had no more excitement. Instead, he surveyed the runes with a calm expression and deduced the marvels in the runes.

These runes were left behind by Earth Count, and they were used to protect Celestial Venerable Yu’s corporeal body.

Actually, even if Earth Count didn’t use his runes to protect him, Celestial Venerable Yu’s corporeal body wouldn’t age or die.

That was because Celestial Venerable Yu was the only one that had received the blessings from all of the ancient gods!

The Seven Celestial Venerables from the past had all received the blessings from the ancient gods.

Celestial Venerable Hao, who opened up the Five Elements Divine Treasure, received the blessings from Five Elements Star Sovereigns and Heaven Duke. His corporeal body couldn’t age, and five fortunes shone down on him.

Celestial Venerable Ling, who opened up the Six Directions Realm, received the blessing of Mother Earth, having endless good fortune and being unable to age or die.

Celestial Venerable Yue, who opened up the Seven Stars Divine Treasures, received the blessings from Great Sun Sovereign, Great Moon Sovereign, and Heaven Duke. Her corporeal body also couldn’t age or die, and she also wouldn’t get sick.

Celestial Venerable Huo, who opened up the Celestial Being Divine Treasure, received the blessings from the Four Deities. He could grow old with unfailing eyes and ears, turning dangers into fortunes.

Celestial Venerable You, who opened up the Life and Death Realm, received the blessing from Earth Count. He was immortal and couldn’t die, and his primordial spirit was forever strong.

Celestial Venerable Yun, who opened up the Divine Bridge Realm, received the blessing from Heaven Duke. He was immortal and couldn’t age, and his primordial spirit was clear and bright.

Even though these six celestial venerables had received blessings and received immortality, the content of every blessing was different.

For example, Celestial Venerable You received Earth Count’s blessing to be immortal, to not die and have a primordial spirit that remained forever strong. However, being immortal and not dying didn’t mean he wouldn’t age; thus Celestial Venerable You would still age. This was because Earth Count didn’t control the rule of the corporeal body not aging. He could give Celestial Venerable You an eternal lifespan, but he couldn’t stop Celestial Venerable You from aging.

On the other hand, Heaven Duke could bless Celestial Venerable Yun with immortality and allow him to never age. However, Heaven Duke didn’t possess the method to allow one’s primordial spirit to be forever strong, so he couldn’t give Celestial Venerable Yun a blessing in this area. He could only bless him with a bright and clear primordial spirit, having the eye of heaven.

However, Celestial Venerable Yu was a person who was blessed by all of the ancient gods.

The blessings of the ancient gods were blessings of law, and among them, there were still Celestial Emperor and Celestial Empress’ blessings.

Celestial Venerable Yu originally should have had a primordial spirit that was forever strong, and he was supposed to be immortal and undying. Yet Celestial Venerable Yu’s corporeal body had died in the Slow Winding Pavilion, and his primordial spirit got shattered, so he was unable to enter Youdu. When the shattered pieces didn’t enter Youdu, the blessing was rendered useless. The loophole in this really couldn’t help making people think in-depth about it.

Celestial Venerable Hao and Son of Heaven Yin killing Celestial Venerable Yu was only what was shown. There might be an even deeper conflict behind this. Whether Celestial Emperor and the sister of Celestial Empress had done anything, no one would know.

Qin Mu thought about the deeper reason behind this, and he couldn’t help shuddering. Back then, the Jade Pool Meeting looked peaceful. Even after Celestial Venerable Hao assassinated Celestial Venerable Yu, everyone had just fallen into sorrow, and there wasn’t much movement. Everything was calm and tranquil.

But who would know that under this calm surface, there was actually so much terrifying killing intent?

Now when he looked at Earth Count’s blessing, he was enlightened and felt the terror!

‘Could Celestial Venerable Hao really beat such a Celestial Emperor? Who exactly was the winner among the three heavens of Dragon Han?’

He took a glance at Celestial Venerable You beside him. Celestial Venerable You had never talked about this, so he didn’t know if he wasn’t willing to talk about it.

‘After reviving Celestial Venerable Yu, I must ask Celestial Venerable Yu down to the very last detail!’

Qin Mu raised his hand, and the coffin made of Buddha Vitality Crimson Chromium instantly opened up. The coffin lid flew a distance away before landing on the ground gently. Not much sound was made.

This place was the manor of Benevolent Saintly King Equal to Heaven. There was the soul of Elder Messenger of Death’s mother, and Qin Mu didn’t want to disturb her.

Under his magic power, Celestial Venerable Yu floated in the air. After a million years, he was still like how he was in the past. There was no trace of time left behind on his body.

He was like Qin Mu had met him in the Jade Pool. This young Celestial Venerable was like jasper flowers and trees, gentle and calm.

It had been a million years, but to Qin Mu, it was something that had only happened a few months ago. To him, it was the same as well.

“I can summon his soul in Youdu and guide the shattered pieces over, but I can’t borrow Heaven Duke’s power from Youdu, so I still have to return to the world of the living. Only in the world of the living can I borrow both Earth Count and Heaven Duke’s power to reconstruct his three souls and seven spirits,” Qin Mu said solemnly.

Elder Messenger of Death was slightly nervous. “Can you really do it? His soul has been shattered for a million years, so much time has passed…”

Qin Mu smiled warmly. “Goddess of Heavenly Yin had also been dead for at least four to five hundred thousand years, didn’t I still bring her back? Goddess of Heavenly Yin is an ancient god, it’s extremely difficult to summon her soul, and I even vomited blood from exhaustion. However, Celestial Venerable Yu was at most a god when he died, so it will be much simpler to summon his soul.”

He lifted the willow leaf on the heart of his brows and instantly, his god and devil divine treasures fused into one. With his cultivation on the god path and the devil path fusing together, his magic power was rising in chunks!

Qin Mu executed the Soul Guide that he had improved and instantly, a fifty-yard-tall primordial spirit appeared behind him. The size of his primordial spirit was extraordinary now, and with god and devil as one, he was like a tiny ancient god.

Cryptic Youdu devil language came from the mouth of his primordial spirit, and the devil language was even mixed with god language. It was so complicated that even Elder Messenger of Death couldn’t completely understand it.

Celestial Venerable You, as Elder Messenger of Death, had extremely profound attainments in Youdu devil language and Youdu divine arts. However, he was lacking in the god language.

The god language from the ancient celestial heavens was from Xuandu, and they came from the path of Heaven Duke. Every profession had its specialties, and because he studied Youdu divine arts way too much, his understanding of Xuandu divine arts was inferior to Qin Mu.

“Soul Guide?”

Elder Messenger of Death listened for a moment and only then came to a realization. He cried out, “You, this is Soul Guide, but it has been completely changed by you!”

Qin Mu’s primordial spirit was still executing Soul Guide, and he continuously walked around Celestial Venerable Yu. His poses were weird, and when he walked in the air, it was like he was walking on flat land.

His hands moved quickly and struck with mudras that transformed into all kinds of runes to mark Celestial Venerable Yu’s corporeal body. Compared to the danger when he had tried to gather the soul of Goddess of Heavenly Yin, he was much familiar and unruffled this time. He still had the energy to turn his head back and smile. “That’s right, it’s Soul Guide, I taught you before.”

Elder Messenger of Death gave him a stare. “Even if you don’t teach me, I can comprehend it myself.”

Qin Mu laughed loudly.

His mudra skills and Soul Guide gradually gave off unknown ripples as though it was touching some kind of law of heaven and earth. The throbbing slowly spread out from Youdu and stretched out to every single world.

The god voice and devil voice that his primordial spirit was giving off couldn’t be heard by ordinary people’s ears, and even divine arts practitioners couldn’t hear his voice. Yet in the ears of certain ancient beings, it was like the low hum of the Great Dao, a throbbing that came from the soul.

The shock that was given to these ancient beings was also immense. It was as if there was an ancient god that controlled a major law executing his power that was deep and abstruse.

The soul particles that were scattered throughout the world were being guided over by him, and gradually, black sand-like particles came flying over and into Youdu.

Those were incomparably fine soul particles, and they shattered until they could no longer shatter under the long passage of time. The naked eye of a person couldn’t detect them, but they truly existed.

Because a million years had passed, he didn’t even know how the current celestial heavens and the celestial river had become. The passage of time had caused Celestial Venerable Yu’s soul particles to be scattered to most of the worlds. This had exceeded Qin Mu’s expectations, and he gradually found it exhausting. More and more magic power was used up by his primordial spirit, and the voice was becoming louder and louder.

“Why didn’t you just gather his soul back then?”

Elder Messenger of Death was puzzled. “Back then, his soul was scattered in the celestial heavens, so it would be easier to gather them then. You wouldn’t have to spend so much effort now.”

“Back then, I still didn’t know Earth Count and Heaven Duke. If I made a move to borrow Heaven Duke and Earth Count’s power, I would definitely be killed by them.”

More and more sweat broke out on Qin Mu’s forehead. His sweat evaporated to form clouds, and he said solemnly, “Now, my relationships with Heaven Duke and Earth Count are very good, they won’t say anything if I borrow their power. I couldn’t back then.”

Elder Messenger of Death had a weird expression, and it was like his mouth was stuffed with two eggs while his eyes stared like bronze bells. He thought to himself, ‘Does Celestial Venerable Mu have some misunderstanding about good relationships? I don’t know about Heaven Duke, but his relationship with Earth Count is definitely far from good. Earth Count is just annoyed at him running to Youdu to create trouble…’

Qin Mu found it more and more exhausting. As he raised his hands and feet to execute the runes, they became heavier and heavier. Mudra after mudra was marked on Celestial Venerable Yu’s body, and it was like raising a Mount Meru. His voice was slightly hoarse. “And also, the celestial heavens at that time was too dangerous. It wasn’t just Celestial Venerable Hao that wanted to kill him. The person that wanted to kill him was too strong, so strong that even Heaven Duke and Earth Count didn’t dare to provoke him. Even if I revived him then, he would still have to die. Even I would have to die. Therefore I only revived his corporeal body and got Celestial Venerable Ling to hand him to you. Only today do I dare to revive him!”

His body trembled violently. His primordial spirit and his corporeal body stopped at the same time. One stood on the ground, and the other stood at the heart of his brows. Each of them had wheels of lights spinning behind their heads. All kinds of runes on the wheel lit up as they swirled, shining on Celestial Venerable Yu’s body!

Countless soul particles came flying over, and they entered Celestial Venerable Yu’s body one after another. They tunneled into his organs, into the heart of his brows, into his throat, into his heart, into his dantian, and into his nether regions.

Qin Mu and his primordial spirit stood there motionlessly while the wheels of light swirled continuously.

Elder Messenger of Death was astonished, and he knew now was the crucial moment. He immediately became alert, and paper boats came sailing into Youdu to guard around the manor. The number was extremely huge, and outside was densely packed.

It wasn’t known how much later it was before Qin Mu gave off a fatigued look and the wheels of lights stopped swirling before fading away.

His primordial spirit moved forward and became smaller and smaller until it merged with his corporeal body.

Elder Messenger of Death only let out a sigh then, and he hurriedly went forward to ask. Qin Mu didn’t wait for him to speak and just said with a frown, “Celestial Venerable Yu’s soul, there’s one portion that wasn’t shattered. Instead, it’s being suppressed by someone, and I can’t summon it back.”

Elder Messenger of Death was stunned and hurriedly asked, “How much of it is suppressed?”

“Not even ten percent.”

Qin Mu let out a shaky breath and rested for a moment. “I don’t know if the portion that is lost is important or not. As for who took away the portion of his soul, I wouldn’t know that.”

Elder Messenger of Death was flustered. “What should we do?”

“Very simple, ask Earth Count.”

Qin Mu said solemnly, “I will bring him back to the world of the living immediately and reconstruct his souls and spirits! After his souls and spirits are reconstructed, Earth Count will be able to sense where it is from his souls and spirits. We just need to ask Earth Count to discern the location of the remaining soul.”

Both of them placed Celestial Venerable Yu’s body on the small boat. Elder Messenger of Death’s mother was busy cooking dishes, and she hurriedly said, “It’s almost done, are both of you not eating after being so busy?”

Elder Messenger of Death hurriedly said, “Mother, we have urgent matters to attend to!”

That woman smiled and said, “Then be safe on your journey, I will keep the dishes warm. That little brother, my You’er is still young and insensible, he doesn’t know how to interact with people either, so please look out for him more.”

Qin Mu held back his laughter and hurriedly said, “Auntie, don’t worry. I understand.”

He looked at Elder Messenger of Death, who had a black face with no emotion.

When the boat sailed far away, only then did Qin Mu laugh loudly. Elder Messenger of Death’s face turned blurry again, and he said indifferently, “What are you laughing at? I couldn’t beat you back then, but I sure can beat you now.”

Qin Mu immediately suppressed his laughter and said with a smile, “You can even beat Celestial Venerable Yu now. I wonder if he will still recognize us after he is revived.”

Elder Messenger of Death fell into a daze. He said after a moment, “He will forever be my elder brother.”

Qin Mu blinked his eyes. “What about me?”

“Hmph.”

Elder Messenger of Death turned his head over and revealed the devil mask on the back of his head. The devil mask suddenly stuck out its tongue at him.

Qin Mu jumped in shock and examined it carefully. The devil mask was no longer the one he had carved earlier. It should be the mask that Celestial Venerable You had worn back then. He didn’t know when Elder Messenger of Death had taken it out and worn it on the back of his head again.

‘He must have been worried that his appearance had changed and Celestial Venerable Yu wouldn’t be able to recognize him, so he found the mask to wear,’ Qin Mu thought to himself.

When they reached the world of the living, it was still the shore of the Surging River.

At this moment, it was nighttime in the Great Ruins, and there wasn’t as much black soul sand or as many starved ghosts in the darkness as before. Qin Mu stood on the paper boat floating on the Surging River and cast his spell once again. Gate of Heaven Influence appeared and flipped horizontally to borrow both Heaven Duke and Earth Count’s power. The power shone on the body of Celestial Venerable Yu, who was floating in the air.

Elder Messenger of Death looked nervously at him casting his spell, and he gripped his fist tightly.

After a long time, Qin Mu dispersed his magic power, and Celestial Venerable Yu landed gently on the river surface.

“Lan Yutian, long time no see.” Qin Mu smiled at the youth standing on the river surface.

That youth gradually opened his eyes and revealed a blank expression. Elder Messenger of Death became excited, and suddenly, a plop was heard. Celestial Venerable Yu sank into the river, and he stretched out his hands to flail around helplessly, gulping many mouthfuls of water as a result.

The rapid current quickly swept the youth that didn’t know how to swim downstream.

Qin Mu and Elder Messenger of Death were dumbfounded, and they suddenly came back to their senses. “Save him!”

After a moment, they dragged a drenched Celestial Venerable Yu ashore and placed him down.

Celestial Venerable Yu almost drown, and he kept retching to vomit out the water in his lungs. He gasped for air.

Qin Mu and Elder Messenger of Death looked at each other in dismay. “It’s fine if his cultivation is gone, he can still cultivate.”

Celestial Venerable Yu rested for a moment before getting up to greet both of them. “Many thanks to two benefactors for saving me. That’s right, benefactors, what did you call me earlier?”

This youth scratched his head and blushed. “I don’t remember my name.”