Tales of Herding Gods

When Qin Mu and Bai Qu’er flew back from the outer skies, the sun had already extinguished.

The sun in the sky map was very punctual. Although there was no one controlling it, every twelve hours, the formation would automatically stop its operations.

By the time Qin Mu and Bai Qu’er returned, the moon had extinguished too. Even the hundreds and thousands of stars that formed the galaxy in the sky map had all extinguished at this time.

These stars and the moon were like the sun, every day, they would follow the cycle of lighting up and extinguishing once a day.

Qin Mu and Bai Qu’er had opened the sun formation carelessly, resulting in the simultaneous emergence of the sun and the moon and thus messing up its cycle of lighting up and extinguishing. Right now, the sun and moon were both extinguished.

Bai Qu’er brought Qin Mu and flew by the galaxy with rapid speed, her robes fluttering as they swept towards the galaxy and lit it all up.

The citizens of Eternal Peace, as well as the gods, devils, and half-gods of Yuandu, once again witnessed an incomparably peculiar sight.

The sky was filled with darkness. It was supposed to be day time now, and the sun was supposed to rise and shine brilliantly on them. However, the sun was missing, and there wasn’t even a single star.

Yet, at this very moment, in the dark sky, there were suddenly countless dots of starlight emerging from the galaxy in the south. The starlight seemed to bear peculiar magical power, and the stars lit up consecutively from the south to the north. It was truly a mesmerizing sight.

“The stars in the skies have gone mad.”

Everyone shook their heads. “First it was the sun emerging in the middle of the night, now it’s complete darkness in the day. When unnatural events happen, there must be demons around. It’s probably the result of demons making trouble up in the sky.”

Qin Mu and Bai Qu’er fiddled with the galaxy along the sky map, activating the formations. The two of them joyfully flew rapidly, lighting up the galaxy all the way from south to north.

Normally, the gods who guarded the sky map would never have completely lit up the whole galaxy, at most lighting up a few thousand starlight formations.

Yet right now, Qin Mu and Bai Qu’er had lit up the entire galaxy in one go. It was inexplicably extravagant.

After the entire galaxy was lit up, the strip of brilliant light was like a vast stream or river that could radiate light, stretching from south to north. Although it was a fake astronomical phenomenon, it still had a magnificent beauty that was out of this world.

Suddenly, the moon in the sky was lit up again, and the moonlight shone radiantly.

It was the fifteenth of the month, and the moon was perfectly round.

The citizens and half-gods of Eternal Peace wore expressions of puzzlement. The god in charge of the moon up in the sky seemed to be muddle-headed. The moon had only just lit up and then there seemed to be someone tugging on a curtain on the moon, slowly covering up half of the moon.

The god in charge of the moon seemed to then recall that it was the fifteenth today, and he slowly pulled off the curtain again. The full moon once again appeared before the eyes of the countless astonished citizens.

In Eternal Peace, there were some people enjoying the cool air and drinking wine out in their yards. At this sight, the wine spilled out of the corners of their mouths. Similarly, biscuits fell out of the mouths of those who had been eating them. The biscuits still had imprints of their teeth.

“Weurgh—”

A young child opened his mouth and wailed. Immediately after, his mother covered up his mouth. The young mother looked towards the strange moon that had suddenly emerged in the sky with caution, mumbling a string of things in her mouth.

Sky map, moon palace.

Qin Mu and Bai Qu’er sat before the palace, both hands supporting them on the ground as they dangled their feet freely and kept talking nonsense.

The dragon qilin rolled his eyes quietly behind them, finding their conversation meaningless. However, this pair was very happy, feeling that every sentence that they said was very meaningful and caused ripples in their hearts.

‘Just like Patriarch was at West Earth back then.’

The dragon qilin’s big head laid on the ground, and he stuck out a dragon claw to draw on the ground, drawing two little matchstick people holding hands. He thought to himself, ‘In that period, Patriarch also suddenly seemed to have lost his brain. Even though the conversation was very dry, he acted like it was as sweet as honey.’

Actually, regardless of Qin Mu or Bai Qu’er, the fate between the two of them was already sufficiently strange. However, their thoughts were also sufficiently strange.

In Bai Qu’er’s heart, Qin Mu was the big brother who had protected her and gave her hope on that night when calamity fell upon her. Even forty thousand years after Qin Mu left, she was still unable to forget his sturdy shoulders, unable to forget his powerful voice, and unable to forget his words and actions.

However, in Qin Mu’s heart, Bai Qu’er was the peerless female Sword God of the High Emperor Era. She wasn’t only the sword washing woman who had saved him at the source of the Surging River, but she was also the one who had passed on the philosophy that human lives were greater than heaven to the Founding Emperor Era.

She was sufficiently resilient with exceptional wisdom.

There were budding feelings between the two of them, yet they considered each other to be shoulders to lean on.

If one could view the history of the forty-thousand years as one image, then the two of them would definitely be pictured leaning on each other. It was just that one would be from forty-thousand years ago and the other would be from forty-thousand years later.

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had brought the scholars of Eternal Peace here, planning to take control over the sky map. There were also numerous half-god leaders who resided in Eternal Peace that had flown up into the skies, along with several powers of the heavens who had flown there to search for the origin of the apparitions. Amongst them were also Daoists of Clear Sky Heaven.

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s expression was very dark. This Imperial Preceptor had very strict standards for algebra. The sun and moon in the sky were originally already crooked and slanted, giving him a huge urge to shoot the sun down from the sky.

It was just that he was occupied with Eternal Peace, and thus, he didn’t have the luxury of time to think about the sky map.

Now, the day and night were actually in disorder as well, making him truly unable to bear with it.

The sky map was originally created by the Daoists of Clear Sky Heaven, so now that the astronomical phenomena were in chaos, these Daoists also flew up into the skies, intending to fix the problem.

There were more and more people in the sky map, though Yu Chen’zi was the first to run into the moon palace. Qin Mu and Bai Qu’er hurriedly stood up. Bai Qu’er still had the identity of the High Emperor Sword God, representing North High Emperor, and even the likes of Founding Emperor, Woodcutter, and Di Yiyue were all her juniors.

She was too embarrassed to face anyone, hurriedly leaving Qin Mu behind as she walked into the moon palace.

Yu Chen’zi didn’t see her clearly, only noticing that it was a girl, and thus, he stuck his head into the palace to look around.

Qin Mu stopped him, laughing. “Yu Chen’zi, how have you been at the Imperial Preceptor’s? Did you give my letter of recommendation to him?”

Before Yu Chen’zi could reply, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor walked over. “What letter of recommendation?”

Qin Mu turned around and laughed. “I felt that Yu Chen’zi was outstandingly intelligent, that he was a great talent. Therefore, I wrote a letter and asked him to give it to you. It was to recommend him for work in Eternal Peace so that he may achieve great things there.”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was astonished. “Dao Friend Yu Chen, since you have a letter from my senior brother, why did you not take it out?”

Yu Chen’zi laughed. “To be able to get the admiration of the Imperial Preceptor and hence be placed in an important position, why would I still need Cult Master Qin’s letter of recommendation?”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned to Qin Mu. “He came to find me, and we discussed the Dao for several days. I found him a great talent and thus let him be in charge of the foreign affairs of Eternal Peace. He’s in charge of negotiating with the various powers within the borders of Eternal Peace.”

Qin Mu was very happy for Yu Chen’zi, and he smiled and said, “With Yu Chen’zi around, Imperial Preceptor can be more relaxed.”

Yu Chen’zi looked around the moon palace, and Qin Mu’s gaze wavered. “Yu Chen’zi, did the celestial heavens send someone here again to create the new sky map? I see that there are quite a few Clear Sky Heaven Daoists here, why don’t you go and make some inquiries?”

Yu Chen’zi glanced at him and left resentfully.

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, “Senior Brother, the astronomical phenomena within the sky map was in chaos with day and night reversing. Would you know why this happened?”

He inspected the moon palace and continued, “It looks like someone lives here.”

Qin Mu coughed. “I only just escaped from Mahakala and came here. I don’t know what happened.”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor replied, “A few days ago, upon hearing that you were trapped within the palace of Mahakala, the High Emperor Sword God was very concerned about you and came to find you. Did she manage to seek you out?”

Qin Mu was about to reply when suddenly, he saw Bai Qu’er walking over from another direction. She said, “Little Buddy Jiang, I intended to sneak into the palace of Mahakala from the sky map to save Cult Master Qin. The gods of this sky map were eradicated by me. It’s just that the formations here are a little complex, so perhaps I unintentionally touched some formation that caused the chaos in the astrological phenomena. Now that I see that Cult Master Qin has returned unscathed, I am relieved.”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor held her in high esteem, and he replied to her solemnly, “It has been hard on senior. I originally intended to clear the sky map as well, it was just that I lacked the time and energy to do so.”

He poked Qin Mu secretly, whispering, “Senior Brother, pay your respects! This is the High Emperor Sword God senior!”

Qin Mu was stunned.

“In the early years, she guided Teacher Woodcutter and the other heavenly teachers. I heard from teacher that she told Founding Emperor of High Emperor’s philosophy that human lives are greater than heaven, and also that she was a great help to the Founding Emperor Era!”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor continued whispering, “Such a predecessor, having heard that you were in trouble and then taking the initiative to come to your rescue, must be greeted respectfully!”

Qin Mu had no choice but to earnestly greet Bai Qu’er with the respect given to a senior, though Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor still felt that Qin Mu hadn’t paid enough respects to her for a first greeting.

Bai Qu’er quickly said, “You don’t have to be so ceremonious. I don’t really take etiquette very seriously. Even Wen Tiange doesn’t pay his respects to me when he sees me.”

“Senior is worthy of it.”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor continued solemnly, “When teacher meets senior, he must pay his respects too.”

Yu Chen’zi flew over, slowing down gradually and landing before the moon palace. He looked at Bai Qu’er curiously and then looked inside the moon palace with a puzzled expression. Qin Mu coughed. “Yu Chen’zi, what did those from Clear Sky Heaven say? Is the celestial heavens still investigating the cause of death of the emissaries from the celestial heavens? Are they still going to create the new sky map?”

Yu Chen’zi retracted his gaze, suppressing the questions in his heart. “The celestial heavens really did send an expert from the Divine Constable Camp to investigate the deaths of the emissaries of the celestial heavens. The earth dragon has already been arrested and escorted up to the God Execution Stage of the celestial heavens.”

Qin Mu’s heart jumped.

There was actually an expert in the celestial heavens Divine Constable Camp who could take down the earth dragon?

That earth dragon wasn’t inferior to the powerful individuals of the Jade Capital Realm and Numinous Sky Realm, yet he was actually arrested by the Divine Constable Camp and escorted to the God Execution Stage to receive death?

“How did the gods of the Divine Constable Camp come to the lower bound?” Qin Mu questioned.

“There are rumors that the Divine Constable Camp has a unique treasure that can allow them to travel through the various worlds and hunt down criminals.”

Yu Chen’zi continued, “There are people who have seen that treasure and say it looks like three golden crows. The Divine Constable Camp has sat on it to travel to the various worlds to investigate and handle cases.”

“Three golden crows? Could it be Great Sun Sovereign’s corporeal body?”

Qin Mu was taken aback. Great Sun Sovereign was originally the head of the star gods and controlled the inescapable net. He was also the commander of the Great Heavenly Cycle Stars Army of the celestial heavens, and he supervised the heavens. He was incredibly powerful.

Could it be that after Great Sun Sovereign’s death, his corporeal body was refined into a treasure and sent to the Divine Constable Camp?

Yu Chen’zi continued, “The celestial heavens also sent people down to supervise the forging of the new sky map. Clear Sky Heaven is in charge of designing the sky map while the forging is left to the Construction Heaven.”

Qin Mu frowned. “The Construction Heaven is?”

Yu Chen’zi replied, “Founding Objects and Construction are the two great heavens under the celestial heavens that are in charge of forging artifacts and treasures. Within, the gods refine precious artifacts. It has some connections to the Heavenly Works God Race of the Founding Emperor Era. It’s similar to the Heavenly Works Hall of Eternal Peace. The new sky map will definitely be forged to replace the old sky map, it cannot be avoided.”

Qin Mu’s heart flickered slightly. “What are the abilities of the Construction Heaven and Founding Objects Heaven like?”

“These two great heavens call themselves warring heavens. They have been forged into machines of war. Back then, Founding Emperor’s Supreme Brightness Heaven was where the Heavenly Works God Race resided. However, compared to these two great heavens, it’s still slightly inferior. Even with millions of gods and devils along with the Emperor’s Throne, it still may not be possible to destroy these heavens!”

Yu Chen’zi continued, “Clear Sky Heaven constantly helped these two warring heavens design precious treasures. After a million years of development, these two great heavens may possibly come alive and become apocalyptic divine weapons with terrifying power beyond measure!”

Qin Mu and the others were speechless.

The forces of the celestial heavens were too horrifying!

“Sakra Buddha was the Heavenly Worker of Founding Emperor, the god of war. However, it may not be possible for him alone to sneak into the Construction Heaven to damage the new sky map.”

Qin Mu couldn’t help but worry as he thought, ‘When the new sky map is created and hung up in the sky, Eternal Peace will be finished.’

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor suddenly spoke up, saying, “Eternal Peace won’t be the most worried about the creation of the new sky map. Instead, it will worry the two Mother Earths and the other powerful individuals of Yuandu like Mahakala most.”

Qin Mu’s heart flickered slightly as he nodded his head gently.

“The new sky map will only be hung in the sky when Mother Earth, Mahakala, and the likes surrender or die.”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor smiled. “Because of this, we don’t have to worry about the new sky map. Regarding this old sky map, Eternal Peace can still make use of it. It’s just that there are no powerful individuals here to guard this treasure…”

Bai Qu’er smiled. “I’m not used to the excitement of the lower bound, so I intend to stay in the moon palace in the sky map.”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor hurriedly gave his thanks.

Qin Mu showed a serious expression. “I would like to consult High Emperor Sword God on some problems regarding sword techniques, I wonder if it’s possible?”

Bai Qu’er was solemn as she said, “I dare not use the term consult, but Cult Master can stay here for a few days, and we can discuss then.”

Qin Mu was overjoyed, and he followed her into the moon palace.

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Yu Chen’zi watched the two of them walk into the moon palace, only to see that Qin Mu had intended to hold the hand of High Emperor Sword God, but Bai Qu’er had slapped his hand away.

Both of them exchanged glances.