Tales of Herding Gods

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Outside Youdu Jade Lock Pass, a tattered flag rustled as it fluttered in the cold wind. This flag was too old and seemed to have been used in battle before. On it were traces of divine arts and burn marks left behind by flames.

On the flag, there were even rust-like bloodstains.

The one holding this flag was a four-armed devil god that was three hundred yards tall. The four incomparably thick arms held onto the pole of the flag, and his gaze was sharp and firm. He stared relentlessly at the gate of Jade Lock Pass.

Whoosh.

The huge flag split apart from the fierce and cold winds. Long strips of cloth fluttered backward in the sinister wind.

Where the strips of cloth floated by, majestic gods stood neatly in ranks. There wore tattered armor on their bodies and held broken god weapons and devil god weapons in their hands. They all stood quietly behind the huge flag.

The number of gods was simply too much. They stretched all the way into the horizon.

And in the center of the army, there was an imperial canopy with several huge holes. The canopy covered an area of dozens of miles, and under the canopy was a pole that was as thick as a pillar. Beside it was the throne formed from coiling dragon bones.

The wind was too harsh.

The gigantic existence sitting on the throne shook his scarlet red cape to prevent it from getting blown away by the cold wind. His face was pale, and he coughed heavily a few times.

“After Red Deity got injured by Son of Youdu then, you still have yet to recover?” A woman with the head of a snake and the body of a human slithered over to him, but she spoke with a manly voice.

The expression of that Red Deity didn’t look too good, and he said indifferently, “Red Deity? I’m already dead, I don’t deserve the title of Red Deity. This current Red Deity is Qi Xiayu, that girl. Just call me Yan Qianzhong.”

Lu Li smiled tenderly. “During the end period of the High Emperor Era, Red Deity fought with Qi Xiayu, it was honorable even in defeat. Even though Red Deity died, Qi Xiayu also had no choice but to surrender…”

Yan Qianzhong was very unhappy. “Scram.”

“Understood.”

Lu Li was full of smiles, and she walked over to another camp. That army of gods with boundless soldiers wasn’t the full military power that had come this time. They were merely the army of gods under Yan Qianzhong.

Yan Qianzhong was originally the Red Deity of the old celestial heavens. During the end of the High Emperor Era, the old celestial heavens wanted to wipe out the High Emperor Celestial Heavens. Red Deity Yan Qianzhong faced off Qi Xiayu, and even though both of these Emperor’s Throne were incomparably powerful, Qi Xiayu was still a little more skilled, and she managed to kill Yan Qianzhong.

However, Qi Xiayu was also severely injured because of this and got seized by the old celestial heavens. She was forced to surrender and become the new Southern Heaven Red Deity.

This was the story that Lu Li had brought up earlier.

Yan Qianzhong was originally Red Deity, and after he died, he landed in Youdu to be a Ghost Deity. However, he was far from the world of sensual pleasures. After becoming a ghost, he had lost all of his senses. Whatever he ate had no taste, and he couldn’t smell the fragrance of the flowers. Even though he was riding roughshod over people, he still had to take orders from the celestial heavens; therefore, he was naturally unhappy.

Lu Li reminding him of that made him even more unhappy.

Lu Li came to the camp beside his, and she saw an incomparably gigantic god standing over there. His body was like boulders. She said with a smile, “Crown Prince Jiuxi, Son of Mother Earth, how are your injuries recovering?”

“Over the years, I have swallowed countless souls and have finally recovered.”

That Boulder Giant Yan Jiuxi grinned and said, “Today’s battle, I will definitely take Son of Youdu’s head!”

The gods under him were all half-gods, and it was obvious he was a half-god overlord during the Dragon Han Era!

Lu Li said with a smile, “Crown Prince Jiuxi, we aren’t trying to kill Son of Youdu this time, we are just seizing his fate and seizing his corporeal body.”

Yan Jiuxi snorted, and his voice boomed like thunder. “Lu Li, don’t think I don’t know what you are planning. Back then, when you invited all of the gods in Youdu to campaign against Son of Youdu, you ended up losing our people and even suffering heavy injuries. Later, you gathered our power to create the divine weapon called God Suppression Heavenly Web and said you wanted to seize Son of Youdu for us to deal with him. However, after creating God Suppression Heavenly Web, you delayed making your move. Your ambition is high, and you are thinking of becoming another Earth Count!”

Lu Li nodded her head and agreed with everything he said. “I never got a chance in the world of the living, and God Suppression Heavenly Web might not be able to get rid of him.”

She came to another camp and said with a smile, “Goddess Xuan Wuji!”

Goddess Wuji took a glance at her and said insipidly, “There’s no need to talk anymore. Son of Youdu and I have a deep grudge, we can’t coexist under the same heaven. However, Lu Li, you aren’t a good person either. If it wasn’t you who couldn’t defeat Son of Youdu and called my son to help, would my son have been eaten by him?”

Lu Li said righteously, “Son of Youdu’s sins are overflowing, and he is the supreme evil in Youdu. As His Majesty’s martial concubine, you are known for your methods of martial battle. Wiping out the celestial heavens until death puts an end. Lu Li is always respectful to you, so why would I purposely let His Highness send himself to death?”

She came to another camp and bowed. “Great Sun Sovereign.”

That was the three souls primordial spirit of a natural-born sacred god. Ancient gods had no seven spirits, they only had three souls.

Great Sun Sovereign of the current celestial heavens was a strong practitioner of the High Emperor Era. Meanwhile, this primordial spirit in Youdu was the real Great Sun Sovereign.

Great Sun Sovereign was like a huge bird that stood on three legs. His feathers were smooth along his body and weren’t messy at all. “Provincial Governor, don’t worry, we won’t let Son of Youdu escape in this battle.”

“Great Sun Sovereign’s speed is unmatched in this world, you definitely can make him run out of places to escape to.”

Lu Li continued to walk forward and paid her respects to the big shots of Youdu. Some of the big shots even transformed their corporeal bodies into celestial palaces while they sat on the Emperor’s Thrones in the celestial palaces, looking awe-inspiring and impressive.

These big shots were strong practitioners on Emperor’s Throne Realm and Numinous Sky Realm that had died in the past million years. There were some half-gods that had died even earlier and had died from old age before the cultivation of divine treasures and celestial palaces had even come out.

However, their battle power was also astonishing high. Even though they had no realm, their cultivation was no weaker than the strong practitioners on Numinous Sky and Emperor’s Throne Realm.

Lu Li paid her respects all the way down and met a hundred big shots before coming to her own camp.

In this camp, there were only a hundred Youdu devil gods left and a few thousand monsters.

Attacking Fengdu the previous time, Elder Messenger of Death suddenly slipped away and caused her to have to throw down her army to escape back to Youdu. The rest were mostly slaughtered.

Jue Huang, Xuan Ming, and Han Lei came up. These hundred devil gods and thousands of monsters were the entire military power of the four great provincial governors.

Xuan Ming was full of worries, and he frowned. “There were also so many strong practitioners the last time, didn’t they all get slaughtered miserably by him? Could we seize him this time?”

Lu Li was full of confidence, and she smiled. “It’s different this time, those big shots were all full of confidence the previous time, and they thought they could defeat him. Solo fights were more common, and no one really ganged up on him, so they all suffered a disadvantage. Son of Youdu fought and escape, so it made it easier for him to execute his moves.”

She couldn’t resist smiling and said, “Now, those old things are more shameless. As long as we are stationed here and block Youdu Jade Lock Pass, he won’t be able to escape. With so many strong practitioners on Numinous Sky and Emperor’s Throne, his life is no longer in his hands! Furthermore…”

She looked towards the camp, the center of the camp. Numerous devil gods and monsters were guarding a huge divine weapon.

The shape of that divine weapon was like a huge cauldron, and its walls were imprinted with all kinds of runes, forming images of earth, water, wind, fire, mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas. There were also images of half-gods, dragon-headed humans, phoenix-headed humans, tiger-headed humans, et cetera.

On the walls inside of the cauldron were the sun, moon, and stars, while on the bottom of the cauldron were countless seals.

Lu Li said with a smile, “This cauldron will be the treasure to refine him. When Earth Count reincarnated, he refined this Slaughter Cauldron. He killed countless ancient gods and half-gods back then and managed to refine the strongest devil god weapon in Youdu! Youdu Slaughter Cauldron can trap him, but the most crucial thing is still this.”

She took out a squarish lid, and the lid was imprinted with all kinds of round heaven and square earth.

In the round heaven was Xuandu and in the square earth was Youdu.

“As long as we take the chance when Son of Youdu starts to fight them and absorb him into the Youdu Slaughter Cauldron, he will be helpless once we cover it with God Suppression Heavenly Net!”

Right at this moment, the gates of Jade Lock Pass opened, and sounds of horns blared out. It was followed by the beating of drums that reverberated in their chests.

Countless gazes turned to look at the open gate, and they saw a god with three heads and six arms walking down calmly.

“Son of Youdu!”

Gods and devils from the camps gave off noisy chatters, and the austere aura that was pressing down on everyone earlier had now turned into fear that was spreading among the gods.

Fear.

Once, no one had paid any attention to Son of Youdu, but after that fierce battle twenty-two years ago, fighting from the horns of nine bends to the battlefield behind them, way too many existences that were important had died. They got swallowed by Son of Youdu, and their souls were digested!

Son of Youdu had erased countless powerful beings from this world completely!

His viciousness made even the fiercest devil god not dare to mention his name even though he was exiled twenty-two years ago!

Qin Mu walked step by step out of the city gate. Behind his, the thick and heavy gates of Jade Lock Pass slowly closed. Suddenly, his gaze looked into the camp, and he saw a god that looked like a tree man.

Qin Mu was stunned and the door shut with a rumble. Air currently rushed out.

“Brother, I seem to have seen father,” he said softly.

“Father?”

The big-headed baby beside his neck was still sulking, and he snorted. “Father must like you more, right? If father sees me and then he sees you, he will definitely hug and kiss you, he won’t kiss me. Father, you are so biased.”

Qin Mu burst into laughter, and he looked at the god formation in front. It was boundless and without end. Only tattered flags and ships could still be seen in the sky.

“Big brother, that divine art that you call ah ah ah, how do execute it?” he asked with a smile.

The big-headed baby crossed his arms in front of him and sneered. “What ah ah ah?”

Qin Mu pondered for a moment and said, “It should be sss sss sss, like sucking in air to suck the souls and primordial spirits over, the divine art for swallowing. I saw tens of thousands of gods having only their shell left in one of Youdu’s celestial palaces, their primordial spirits must have been eaten by you.”

“You meant that?”

The big baby said with a smile, “You are so dumb, you can just suck in your breath.”

Qin Mu was stunned, and he cried out, “I can just suck in my breath? Have you never thought about the reason behind it? What paths do you use when you suck in a breath? What are the basic runes you use?”

The big-headed baby was in a daze.

Qin Mu sighed and said solemnly, “Big brother, your qualities are simply too good, as a result, raising your hands and legs is equivalent to divine arts. I’m inferior to you, so I have to figure out and comprehend any divine art. Thus, I like to figure out the reasons, figure out the paths, skills, and divine arts used, and also the basic runes. Youdu’s divine arts and the law of the Great Dao all lie in Youdu’s writing. You only know how to use, but don’t know the reason why.”

He walked forward, and his body grew taller and larger. He gave Qin Fengqing two arms to control while he controlled the other four arms.

He stretched his four arms out as though he was trying to hug heaven and earth. He said with a smile, “Big brother, take a look at the Youdu’s divine arts I’ve comprehended.”

On the most primitive land under Earth Count’s feet, the thickest and darkest devil qi poured forward to him furiously. Flashes of lightning and peals of thunder could be seen and heard from the moving darkness.

“Die!”

An angry roar that was like the rumble of thunder came from a camp on the opposite side, and the primordial spirits of countless gods instantly flooded out with weapons in their hands. Countless divine arts lit up Jade Lock Pass, and after the light from the divine arts, it was countless divine weapons that still preserved their powers even though they were broken!

The big-headed baby became excited and was about to make his move when Qin Mu turned around. The mouth of his first face opened up, and the mysterious Youdu god language came from his mouth.

Whoosh—

Countless gods that were sprinting over suddenly started to roll like snow-white ocean sprays. The things that were rolling on the ground were actually countless snow-white skeletons. These gods that were already dead had also moved their corpses to Youdu, and their primordial spirit would reside in the corpse. Yet at this moment, the bodies of countless gods were rotting at an astonishing speed!

Because they were rushing, the skeletons just tumbled forward, and as a result, they formed a wave of white bones that stretched for several thousand miles.

Qin Mu’s other face turned around, and he took in a deep breath. The previous face was still chanting, and countless primordial spirits from the white skeletons came flying back. Countless divine arts, god weapons, and devil god weapons lost control and kept exploding in midair. The broken weapons flew and landed down in all directions.

Those primordial spirits were in the tens of thousands, and they came pouring over without any control!

Qin Mu turned around. “Big brother, it’s your turn!”

The big-headed baby was ineffably excited. He opened his mouth wide like a whale and completely swallowed tens of thousands of primordial spirits from gods!

Qin Mu turned around once again and raised his palm. Countless god weapons and devil god weapons froze in the sky.

He took a step forward, and the countless weapons in the sky also followed him to pressure the other side.