Tales of Herding Gods

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The round egg still wasn’t cracked open. Qin Mu attended to Wei Suifeng’s injuries and set his broken bones. Wei Suifeng shook his arm and looked at the large round egg, solemnly saying, “You saw it? What Great Dao is it?”

Qin Mu nodded with a solemnity never before seen and said, “I saw it, and I heard it. This is indeed an ancient god egg with an extremely unique ancient god inside. Once he matures, he won’t pale in comparison to the ancient Celestial Emperor. The Great Dao inside seems to be a formless energy of both the living and the dead. It exerts great pressure on Celestial Venerable Ling’s unchanging substance! Have you heard of such a Great Dao, Big Brother?”

Unchanging substance met its bane for the first time. It was a divine art on the state of substance. Meanwhile, Yin and Yang’s combination was a formless energy with no substance. It was the opposite of Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art.

Wei Suifeng shook his head and said, “I’ve seen most of the ancient gods’ Great Dao. I’ve even been to Dao Ancestor’s Guardian Pavilion. There were no records of such a Great Dao that can pressure Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art. I’ve never heard of it.”

They walked around the egg several times, feeling troubled. However, Wei Suifeng and the warriors of the Feathered Forest Guards were excited. If they could use it to break the unchanging substance divine art, they could get out of the state of being an unchanging substance of the ghost ship and be free!

Qin Mu’s gaze flashed as he said, “Perhaps this ancient god may be the key to rescuing you all and saving Celestial Venerable Ling… The ancient Celestial Emperor’s name is Tai Chu, a name given by the Grand Emperor. Since I’m fated with the ancient god in the egg, I shall name it Tai Shi.”

Wei Suifeng couldn’t help but warn him, saying, “Brother, if this ancient god gets out of its egg, it might become another ancient Celestial Emperor!”

Qin Mu put away the egg and said, “Tai Chu was a saint born from the Grand Primordium Divine Stone mine, and he harnessed the power there to mature. This Tai Shi egg likely needs another special power to mature, such as the mine in the ancestral court. If we keep it, it can’t be born, but I can study its Great Dao.”

Wei Suifeng was slightly unnerved as he said, “Then, you must remember, Brother, to never take it to the ancestral court. Or else…”

Qin Mu nodded solemnly and soon took out all sorts of treasures that he looted from Clear Sun Hall. They were all over the deck. There were things like divine mountains and treasure mountains, which were heavenly treasures!

Wei Suifeng was shocked, and he cried out, “Brother, did you raid Celestial Emperor’s vault? So many treasures!”

“Yep!” Qin Mu said in a gleeful and loud voice.

Wei Suifeng looked at the treasures and was moved. Such treasures were rare even with the ancient gods, yet they were all on the ship!

“So many treasures…”

He inhaled the cold air and moved to touch a dragon blood treasure tree. As soon as he touched it, it glowed.

Wei Suifeng felt that it had a strange intimacy with vital qi besides the closeness one felt from being under the tree. One seemed to be able to stay in a state of comprehension at any time!

What was more peculiar was that if vital qi imprinted runes on the leaves of the tree, the process would be extraordinarily likely to succeed!

“You can definitely forge this tree into a great treasure!”

Wei Suifeng was astounded as he mumbled, “You can forge impressive treasures even with one branch, enough for a strong practitioner of the Emperor’s Throne to use! I went to the Dragon Han Era a long time ago and even became the general of the Feathered Forest Guards, so I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen many treasures, but none as grand as these. I’ve only seen one that was better than what you looted from Celestial Emperor’s vault.”

Qin Mu took out the remaining fragments of the Grand Primordium Origin Stone and searched them. He felt relaxed after making sure that there was no residue of the Grand Emperor’s consciousness on them. He curiously asked, “Whose treasure could be above the collection of Celestial Emperor’s family?”

The Grand Emperor’s Grand Primordium Origin Stone was shattered into many pieces. He gave one of the larger pieces to Celestial Venerable Yun, while he planned to forge the remaining pieces into his third eye.

He tried to piece it together, but he failed to make a complete one. He was likely still missing a couple of pieces.

“North Deity Xuan Wu’s family had a treasure that was otherworldly!”

Wei Suifeng talked about it and praised it. He said, “They are said to have collected many primordial treasures, forging them into a great treasure called the Glassy Sky Pagoda. I saw it once. Prince You Ming allowed me to see it. It was the best treasure in the world. No other treasure can compete with it. You stole many treasures from Celestial Emperor, but none can compare to the Glassy Sky Pagoda.”

Qin Mu picked up a piece of the Grand Primordium Origin Stone and sent it to the heart of his brows. Suddenly, power surged forth and captured it.

It entered the heart of his brows and fused with the Grand Primordium Origin Stone in his third eye!

Qin Mu was satisfied and grabbed another piece of it.

“The Glassy Sky Pagoda? The one that was stolen away from Prince You Ming? Is the pagoda really so powerful that even Celestial Emperor’s treasures can’t compete with it?”

He thought about it. North Deity Xuan Wu was made up of two ancient gods visualized by the Yushi Clan, which was the Grand Emperor’s clan, the strongest of the primordial era. They had a lot of resources.

They probably raided Ju Yushi’s vault during the battle between the ancient gods and the masters of creation.

Wei Suifeng recalled when he saw the pagoda and praised it again, “Truly the number one treasure beneath the heavens! If you see it, you’ll be shocked too. It was extremely exceptional. Once you bow to it and worship it, it becomes the 24 Glassy Heavens, which makes it invincible!”

Qin Mu put the rest of the Grand Primordium Origin Stone into the heart of his brows, and it fused with his third eye to become one.

He blinked and found nothing different, but when he utilized the Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, his consciousness improved by leaps and bounds, several times faster than before, in fact!

He sighed. ‘The Grand Emperor was able to become the Grand Emperor for a reason. If my consciousness can be elevated so quickly with what is, at best, half of the Grand Primordium Origin Stone, I can hardly imagine how fast one’s consciousness would be elevated if they had the complete Grand Primordium Origin Stone!’

Wei Suifeng was still thinking about the Glassy Sky Pagoda as he said to himself with fascination, “There are more treasures on the pagoda than the ones you stole from Celestial Emperor’s vault…”

“Brother, most of these treasures come from the ancestral court. Pick one.” Qin Mu invited him to take one.

Wei Suifeng snapped out of his thoughts and walked between the treasures to check their quality. However, the more he inspected them, the harder it was for him to choose.

The treasures were carefully chosen by the masters of creation over a long period of time. They were exceptional. Even if one were to search the entire universe, it would be hard to find even one of them, much less in the Primordial Realm!

Those left were probably in the hands of powerful ancient gods or half-god leaders!

Wei Suifeng took a long time to pick, as he wanted everything. In the end, he chose a divine mountain, explaining, “The brothers on the ghost ship followed me for so many years. When we’re free, we’ll probably be outdated. The Jade Capital Realm and Numinous Sky Realm from back then are probably more similar to the Jade Pool Realm of today. I’ll refine it to become a treasure that everyone can use to boost their power. Can you give these palace lanterns to me as well?”

Qin Mu nodded, for they were the guardians of the treasures in the vault. They were useless to him, only occupying space in the Qin word land.

Wei Suifeng took them and said, “They were forged with heavy treasure too. With so many of them, I can modify them to form a grand thousand-lantern formation to protect the ship.”

Qin Mu put away the other treasures and looked at the Feathered Forest Guards on the ship. “They were the most exceptional talents chosen from each race. If they could cultivate in Eternal Peace for several years, their power would grow immensely. Their future accomplishments wouldn’t be limited!”

Wei Suifeng glanced at him and said, “That’s determined by your ability to save us.”

Qin Mu frowned. He wasn’t confident about breaking Celestial Venerable Ling’s unchanging substance unless he could research the Great Dao of the ancient god Tai Shi.

“I stayed for some time under each Celestial Venerable of the celestial heavens. Although I didn’t learn their true capabilities, I saw many Emperor’s Throne techniques.”

Wei Suifeng refurbished the Heavenly Dragon Treasure Carriage for him, then blinked and said, “I couldn’t learn many of them, but I copied them down. Follow my map, and you shall find them.”

Qin Mu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he said, “Why wouldn’t you just impart them to me? Why make a map?”

Wei Suifeng shook his head and said, “It was hard for me to hide from the Celestial Venerables while being in the celestial heavens. I didn’t know when I would die, so I hid the Emperor’s Throne techniques that I collected in places I traveled to. Brother, Celestial Venerable Ling’s letter is also at one of those places. After you’ve saved South Deity, you must head there.”

Qin Mu smiled and said, “Why don’t you impart them to me here? Why make me go searching for them via your map?”

He suddenly realized why and guessed, “Unless… you didn’t learn them?”

Wei Suifeng blushed as he resentfully said, “Why would I not be able to? I’m just not good at learning other people’s techniques. I just absorbed parts of their techniques and fused them into my Celestial Dipper Technique. I’ll walk my own path. If I’m going to become a saint, why would I not be able to learn them? Hehe…”

The smile on his face gradually became twisted.

Qin Mu stopped messing with him. Wei Suifeng was Saint Woodcutter’s most precious disciple. Amongst the three of them, Wei Suifeng followed Saint Woodcutter the longest, and he likely also took on his bad habit of biting off more than he could chew.

Wei Suifeng was still better than Woodcutter, for his cultivation path contained 360 professions and Postcelestial Great Daos. This was also the origin of the 360 halls of the Heavenly Saint Cult.

It was the reason that his realm was fixed in the Jade Stage Realm. He couldn’t enter the God Execution Stage for his entire life.

With 360 Postcelestial Great Daos, his primordial spirit would be cut 360 times if it was on the God Execution Stage!

With his bad habit, he would probably die and whine after one cleave.

Wei Suifeng was greedy too, but at least he reached the Emperor’s Throne Realm.

The ghost ship rose out of the water and sailed within the mist of the celestial river.

“Brother, you are left with only four chances.”

Wei Suifeng saw the treasure carriage drive out of the ship and reminded him, “Don’t waste your chances on saving South Deity. You can save some chances to do more meaningful things.”

Qin Mu peeked out from the window and waved at him. “I mostly succeeded the last time, I definitely can this time!”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Wei Suifeng was clearly nervous as he said, “I feel that you are a jinx. Every time you say that, you fail.”

Qin Mu laughed and returned to his carriage. Leisurely songs came from his mouth. In the mist, his singing sounded rich and leisurely, like warm old wine. It gave people a feeling of melancholy and boldness.

“Today, I’m at the Grand Overarching Heaven!

“In the depths of drunkenness, I see an ethereal jade capital mountain. I’ll sing until my steps are shaky. What year is it now?’

“Water and fields!”

Wei Suifeng listened to him as he watched the carriage disappearing into the mist. He shook his head and said, “Frivolous, who did he learn it from?”

The cult masters of the Heavenly Saint Cult were multi-talented ever since his generation. Back then, Wei Suifeng was a casual and dissolute degenerate. He knew that Qin Mu was using songs to boost his morale from his choice of lyrics.

What year is it now?

I’m at the Grand Overarching Heaven!

“Brother’s ambition is visible!” Wei Suifeng said, astounded.

The singing stopped as the carriage reached the celestial river and drove towards the Heaven Han Celestial Heavens.

“I left a letter telling South Deity to find Celestial Venerable Yue and give her a feather. I also asked her to secretly split part of her soul for reincarnation. All we need to do is find that feather, and we can complete the journey.”

Qin Mu was brimming with confidence as he looked at the Heaven Han Celestial Heavens. It was larger than before again, which made him feel estranged.

Far away, one could hear a lady singing on the celestial river. Her singing was melodious and calming. “Hundreds of rivers flow into the ocean, the stars coalesce around the North Star. They shine on the Heaven Han and create large ferries for merchants.”

“Sailing through heaven and earth, the kings save their people. While places are cleansed, heroes will gather.”

Qin Mu looked towards the singing and saw a red-clad lady flying with the wind from the front of a boat. She sang towards the Heaven Han Celestial Heavens with an unspeakable charisma.

Qin Mu couldn’t help but be attracted. He ordered the dragon qilin to stop so he could listen to her.

Yan’er smiled and said, “Surprisingly, this lady is somewhat similar to me, Master.”

Her voice alerted the lady. She came to look and was visibly displeased, as the one who said that was a fat green sparrow that was almost horizontal. She said, “Where am I similar to this silly sparrow?”

However, Yan’er’s words enlightened Qin Mu. He looked at her and found that she was indeed similar to Yan’er. He remarked, “Indeed!”

Her dress fluttered, and on the back of her head was a vermillion bird feather. She furiously said, “Where? She’s so fat!”