Tales of Herding Gods

Actually, Qin Mu had never blamed Martial Arts Heavenly Teacher or King Yama and the rest.

The knot in his heart had always been that decree of Founding Emperor. However, after meeting Founding Emperor and seeing the current situation of Carefree Village, the knot in his heart was undone.

However, even though the knot in his heart had been undone, the knots in the hearts of the old subordinates of Founding Emperor residing in Fengdu had yet to be undone.

These people were all heroes but they were not allowed to follow their hearts and save Eternal Peace. They had been suppressed and their Dao hearts were damaged.

Qin Mu had come to see them this time was also to untie the knot in their hearts.

He bade farewell to Martial Arts Heavenly Teacher and arrived at Qing Huang’s Dragon Village. When Qing Ya saw him coming, she couldn’t help being surprised and delighted. She wanted to call out, but she held herself back.

Qin Mu revealed a smile and nodded at her and the other people of Dragon Village.

Elder Qing Huang also sensed his arrival and welcomed him out of the village. He greeted, “Son of Qin…”

Qin Mu returned the greeting and said with a smile, “I’m no longer the Son of Qin, I’m Celestial Venerable Mu.”

Elder Qing Huang was stunned. He sighed and greeted, “Celestial Venerable Mu.”

Qin Mu returned the greeting. “Green Emperor[1], the Dragon Vein of Founding Emperor Dynasty, the creator of Eternal Peace’s Dragon Vein, you are also one of the founders of Eternal Peace. It was you who imparted Ancestral Dragon Supreme Mystery Technique and the Emperor’s Disk to Ling Family’s ancestor who paved the way to the future Eternal Peace Empire. Why do you have to blame yourself?”

Elder Qing Huang shook his head. “I didn’t protect Eternal Peace.”

Qin Mu said with a smile, “No one has ever blamed you. It’s just that you can’t get over it. Your relationship with Eternal Peace is deeper than anyone else, so you don’t have to blame yourself.”

Elder Qing Huang bowed and said, “I dare not disobey Celestial Venerable’s teachings.”

Qin Mu left and followed God Chi Xiu to the depths of Fengdu. He heard a vast voice and the chanting of buddhist sutras. When he walked towards the sound, he saw Sakra Li Youran sitting barefoot in the middle of the evil spirits of Fengdu. Chains coiled around his body, and his eyes were tightly shut.

He was comprehending the Boundless Calamity Sutra and entering his dreams time and time again. His dreams transformed into a Supreme Buddha Kingdom and the Pure Land of Paradise. However, the Pure Land of the Buddha Kingdom was disturbed by evil spirits and infiltrated his dreams. In his dreams, Li Youran was assimilated by the evil spirits and the pure land was also corrupted, causing him to have nightmares continuously.

Sakra shouted, “If hell isn’t empty, then my enlightenment is false!”

Qin Mu signalled for God Chi Xiu to stop while he stood opposite to Sakra. He sat in a lotus position and closed his eyes to enter the dream realm.

Their dreams merged, and Sakra was no longer in the Supreme Buddhist Kingdom of the Pure Land of Paradise. Instead, he was in a world where everyone worked hard and fought bravely. Even though the evil spirits were still lingering around, it was hard for them to invade him anymore.

After a long time, Sakra woke up and had a sudden realization. He bowed to Qin Mu.

Qin Mu returned the greeting and floated away.

Sakra saw him off and muttered to himself for a moment before leaving this place where evil spirits roamed. He said in a low voice, “Evil sprits arise from the human world. As long as there are evil people in this world, hell will never be empty.”

“Celestial Venerable Mu and Sakra didn’t say a word just now, so how did Sakra become enlightened?” God Chi Xiu was puzzled and asked.

Qin Mu said with a smile, “It is more appropriate to say that I have already told him in the dream realm, so why is there a need to speak?”

God Chi Xiu was puzzled.

Suddenly, Qin Mu stopped. He saw the black tiger god.

A big black tiger lay weakly on the ground with two straw huts beside it. Woodcutter had changed into the clothes of a woodcutter and was chopping an old tree.

With every swing of his axe, a piece of the old tree would be chopped off. However, another piece would grow to replace it in a never-ending cycle.

Qin Mu walked forward and looked at it for a moment. Suddenly, he pulled out his sword and cut down the old tree.

Qin Mu sheathed his sword and was about to leave.

“Your big senior brother watched me chop wood for hundreds of years.”

Behind him, Saint Woodcutter’s voice rang out, “You couldn’t even watch for an incense stick worth of time before you chopped my tree down.”

Qin Mu turned around and said with a smile, “Teacher, what I’m learning from you is your character, not your divine arts. I’m no longer interested in your things for I have already comprehended better!”

“Stop right there!”

Saint Woodcutter was furious and said angrily, Looking down on what I have taught? The reason why I didn’t teach you is because you’re way too jumpy. I don’t even know what I should teach! I have taught your big senior brother the longest. I tried to teach him all the achievements of Founding Emperor Era but I didn’t expect him to be too extraordinary. The only one that wasn’t too extraordinary was your Third Brother; I taught him the most diligently. What I taught him was the method of using 36 Postcelestial Path to achieve the Dao and 72 Precelestial Dao to become a saint.”

Qin Mu blinked his eyes. “He can’t be compared to me.”

Saint Woodcutter suppressed the urge to rush up and chop him with his axe. He snorted coldly and said, “The ten Celestial Venerables of Celestial Heavens walk the road of constructing 36 Celestial Palaces in an attempt to cultivate Celestial Heavens. However, they only have the 36 Celestial Palaces but not the 72 Treasured Halls. Their understanding of the Celestial Heavens Realm might not be as deep as mine! As the number one Heavenly Master[2] of Founding Emperor, even though my aptitude isn’t good, I still have some thoughts regarding the Celestial Heavens Realm.”

Qin Mu listened.

Saint Woodcutter said, “Even if the ten Celestial Venerables were to cultivate 36 Celestial Palaces, they still wouldn’t be at the true Celestial Heavens Realm. They won’t have the 72 Throne Halls so their foundation wouldn’t be stable. The various Celestial Palaces will definitely restrict each other and limit their abilities. THey have taken the wrong road. If they want to quickly cultivate the Celestial Heavens Realm. there’s only one road, and that is to use 36 Postcelestial Path as the 36 Celestial Palaces and use 72 Precelestial Dao to supplement. This way, they can cultivate Celestial Heavens faster and have a even more stable foundation! I have already imparted this to your Third Brother.”

Qin Mu thought about it and said, “Teacher is biased.”

Saint Woodcutter was furious and suppressed his anger, “Your present abilities are a hundred times better than mine, but my experience is still higher than yours. If you want to walk the path of Celestial Heavens, I can help you organize your techniques and let you walk the path of complementing Celestial palaces and Throne Halls!”

Qin Mu thought about it again, then shook his head and left. “There’s no need. I’ve already comprehended something better. I only have this one realm, Spirit Embryo Realm, so no matter if it’s the Celestial Palace or the Celestial Heavens Realm, they are just icing on the cake.”

Saint Woodcutter couldn’t hold himself back anymore and chased after him with his axe.

Qin Mu waved his sleeves, and a gale swept Saint Woodcutter up, throwing him somewhere.

The black tiger god woke up and shouted, “Don’t worry, junior brother. With me around, the old man won’t be lost!” After saying that, he slipped away to find Saint Woodcutter.

Qin Mu laughed loudly and left with God Chi Xiu.

Saint Woodcutter was swept into a daze by this gale and only landed on the ground after a long time. He couldn’t help being astonished. “Could this brat really have walked his own road?”

God Chi Xiu couldn’t help being speechless. Qin Mu’s divine art was indeed powerful and marvellous.

Saint Woodcutter was the most knowledgeable person and was the best at solving divine arts. Even though his cultivation realm wasn’t high, he could solve any divine art in the world.

Yet Qin Mu’s sleeve had sent him flying. Saint Woodcutter didn’t break this divine art, which showed how powerful he was.

“The deepest part of Fengdu is where Heavenly King Di Yiyue resides.”

God Chi Xiu pointed forward, and Qin Mu looked over. He saw Mingdu Heavenly Gate standing quietly in the Ninth God City of Fengdu. There was also a Underworld Sea outside the city. It should have been built by Di Yiyue imitating Mingdu’s Underworld Sea, but it was different from Son of Heavenly Yin’s Underworld Sea.

“Sister Di Yiyue, Qin Mu is here to visit!” Qin Mu said loudly.

Di Yiyue’s voice came from afar, and she said faintly, “Can I not see you? I’ve let you down, and I always feel like I’m too ashamed to see you.”

Qin Mu smiled. “I’m here to solve Son of Heavenly Yin’s divine art.”

“Why didn’t little brother say so earlier?”

Di Yiyue laughed heartily. “Come in quickly!”

[1] I take back what I said about the typo regarding Qing Huang. He changed his to Qing Huang (a homophone of Green Emperor in Chinese) as he felt his title was too overbearing.(yes I dug through the previous translation. Chapter 570 mentioned this.)

[2] I think this was translated as Heavenly Teacher before. The reason why Heavenly Master is chosen instead is because the formation masters of Celestial Heavens are also know as Heavenly Masters (such as the formation master of the Celestial River Navy)