Tales of Herding Gods

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

The scenery in front of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s eyes suddenly changed. When the light came back, they had come to the celestial palaces. They were majestic, and sacred mountains extended far into the distance. Divine light shone upon the boundless world.

“Is this the world in the painting?”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was incomparably astonished. If they were in the world in the painting, wasn’t it a bit too vast?

He looked into the distance, but there was no end to the celestial palaces!

Gods filled the sky above. There were some that were imposing, some that were divine, and some that transcended worldliness. However, most of the gods were walking to and fro, searching and calling their friends while exchanging cups of wine and drinking together in a large group.

Qin Mu had brought Imperial Preceptor into the painting and the banquet of the celestial heavens. There were long corridors around them that were like bridges, flying rainbows, sun, and moon hanging above the pavilion, and lanterns with flaming divine birds inside that acted as candles and were giving off heat.

There were also goddesses playing strings and exotic wind instruments. Some women were dancing on the lotus leaves while a deluge of heavenly flowers fell around them.

Some of the gods that were drunk stumbled left and right, raising their wine jars while teasing goddesses that avoided them from shyness.

It was too much for Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s eyes to take in. They were located at the center of the banquet, with countless gods in their surroundings. In the distance, light from the sacred mountain shone.

Earth Count was not far from them, and on his head were the horns of the nine bends. He sat motionlessly with flames circling under his body like an abyss.

There were a few more extremely imposing existences high above. Their faces were blurry, but the awe-inspiring feeling they gave off was no inferior.

“Imperial Preceptor, you are now like a country bumpkin, similar to me when I first entered Border Dragon City!”

Qin Mu laughed loudly and suddenly took a pot of wine from a goddess beside him. He raised it to his mouth to take a hearty drink.

The goddess grew furious at him and shouted out, “Where is this brat from? This is the sacred wine for the high gods, so how can you touch it?”

“Pesky woman!”

Qin Mu raised a leg and kicked that goddess away. He grabbed another pot of wine that flew up from the plate and stuffed it into Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s hands. He then jumped onto a jade table in front of a god high above to drink heartily.

That god was furious and raised his palm to slap him, but Qin Mu raised his own hand and pulled out his sword, cutting off an arm.

He laughed loudly and flipped the jade table while shouting, “Poems of the sun and moon with wine of the immortals, hero of the land flying up the nine heavens!”

Chi!

The head of the god from high above was sliced off, and Qin Mu barged into another hall, creating a ruckus in the heavens. Countless gods were furious and attacked him. Sword lights flashed in Qin Mu’s hand, and he fought off all the high gods. He cut off their heads which rolled to Earth Count’s side.

Qin Mu hung them on Earth Count’s horn and laughed. “Banished from the highly respected registry of Penglai, adorning precious clothing in front of the jade hall of Fangzhang!”

Earth Count exploded with fury and his body shook, instantly changing into a divine body that was a hundred thousand feet tall. Sacred fire spread out beneath his feet.

Qin Mu executed his sword pellet, and eight thousand swords circled around Earth Count. They swirled to join into Spiral Sword Form and sliced the deity into countless pieces. Qin Mu rubbed his hands, and the flying swords swept out in all directions like long dragons. His excitement rose as he killed and recited loudly, “Meeting the dragon’s body of a thousand feet, yet still remaining in the layers of phoenix’s feathers!”

Countless gods swarmed toward him like a flood that threatened to drown him.

Divine light soared into the heavens, and Qin Mu rushed out from a sea of cut off limbs. He strummed on his swords and sang, abandoning all restraint. “A thousand men with nowhere to look, ten thousand gods won’t tolerate the force when looking back! Imperial Preceptor, let me break the gods in your heart!”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor laughed loudly, and his earlier dispiritedness was washed away. His spirit rose up once more, and he shouted loudly, “The gods in my heart, why should you be the one to destroy them?”

He walked over with sword light scattering from his hand. His battle power was higher than that of Qin Mu, and everywhere he passed gods fell.

In Numinous Sky Hall, countless gods and devils swarmed forward to attack them.

Qin Mu and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stood side by side, massacring everyone in front of the heavenly gate.

After a moment, the corpses of the gods and devils filled the entire mountain. Yet there were still endless gods rushing over at the two with shouts demanding slaughter.

“How many more of them do we have to kill?” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked in a shout. “Guard the gate, I’ll kill Celestial Emperor!”

“You go!” Qin Mu agreed.

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor rushed into Numinous Sky Hall where gods’ corpses lay strewn all over the ground.

Boom!

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor fell backward and smashed the wall of the hall beside Qin Mu, and the youth jumped in shock. The gods around them were clearly very weak, so the painter who had drawn them was clearly lacking in ability. It resulted in a reality where even Qin Mu was able to massacre the gods.

However, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had been sent back by the celestial emperor!

Qin Mu blinked and realized that their situation was pretty bad. ‘This painter must have also been a bootlicker. He used all his best techniques on the celestial emperor, so he is much more powerful than the rest of the gods.’

Qin Mu was very clear how powerful a painting could be, since he had learned from Deaf.

The power of the painting came not only from the painter’s technique, but also where it had been used to the greatest effect.

The greater the painting technique, the stronger the painting would be. Of course, this depended on the hard work of the painter.

The one who had done the mural had painted the other gods and devils carelessly, not spending a lot of effort on them, so they weren’t strong at all. Even an existence such as Earth Count was only so-so.

But it was even more important to know who was the target.

For example, when Deaf had painted the young Village Chief, that picture of Sword God carrying his sword had held astonishing power!

When the mural’s painter had painted Celestial Emperor, he had to have put in a lot of effort to capture the grace of Celestial Emperor, so it was so strong that it was even able to blow Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor back!

Qin Mu was slightly worried. He had brought Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor into the painting to break his fear, but if he couldn’t even defeat the celestial emperor in the painting, it might completely crush his confidence in himself!

But at that moment, when Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor slid down from the wall, he rushed to his feet blazing with fighting spirit that hadn’t diminished in the slightest!

After a moment, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor flew backward once more. Qin Mu sent his eight thousand swords to massacre the gods swarming over and looked at Imperial Preceptor who was on the wall. He saw that his face was all swollen and bloodied.

‘Ughh, this is troublesome, the power of this celestial emperor in the painting is probably even higher than that of a normal god…’

Just as he thought that, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor rushed back in again.

Bang.

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was sent back once more.

This happened over and over again.

In front of Numinous Sky Hall’s heavenly gate, the corpses of the gods and devils had already piled up, yet Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor still rushed at the celestial emperor at the top of Numinous Sky Hall time after time. He was beaten back again and again, his appearance growing more miserable with each time he was sent back.

Qin Mu’s gaze flickered as he prepared Five Thunder Pot while thinking to himself, ‘Even if I have to risk my life to blow up this place, I can’t let the celestial emperor in the painting to completely defeat Imperial Preceptor…’

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor rushed forward once more and all shouts of slaughter stopped. The expression of all the gods outside Numinous Sky Palace filled with terror, and they turned back to flee.

Qin Mu was stunned. He turned back to take a look and saw Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor standing behind him with Celestial Emperor’s head.

Even though Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was covered in injuries, his smile at that moment was very pure.

The two of them looked at each other and laughed loudly.

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor raised his arm and tossed Celestial Emperor’s head far out of Numinous Sky Hall. “Raising the knife against the forbidden, out with the emperor’s head in his hand. Heaven Knife is truly heroic; I have finally comprehended the concept of his knife skills and knife path!”

Qin Mu was sore all over, but walked out of the hall with a smile. “You are a big sicko, and your comprehension is too high. Grandpa Butcher had taught me for so many years before I comprehended the marvel of his knife skill. You walk the path of the sword yet you could grasp the concept of his knife path. My comprehension is inferior to yours.”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor turned around and said seriously, “A person’s comprehension will only increase as their horizons and experience grow. It’s the same for wisdom as well. Your cultivation is still not high enough. When you reach my realm, you will be able to see through all profundities. In the future, you will not lose to me, but will only grow stronger. You could think of using the banquet of the celestial heavens to break the gods in my heart so I would be able to think straight, but I couldn’t think of that. Why is Cult Master undervaluing himself?”

Qin Mu came to the throne of Celestial Emperor and pushed his headless corpse to the side before sitting down on the throne. He asked in astonishment, “Does Imperial Preceptor think I can surpass him, this straight line?”

“You are the younger generation. If you can’t surpass your seniors, wouldn’t be this world be too sad? On top of that, you are still the Overlord Body.”

Qin Mu grew full of confidence and nodded. “That’s right too, I’m the Overlord Body so I’m definitely stronger than you.”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s face blackened.

Qin Mu shifted his butt to free a portion of the seat. “Come, try this place where only the celestial emperor can sit.”

Imperial Preceptor hesitated. “This… isn’t good, is it?”

“Come, just sit. The sight from here is good!”

“Okay.” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor came to sit by his side, and the two of them looked at the scenery outside Numinous Sky Hall. After a moment, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said, “The boundless world is under our eyes. In this position, one possesses boundless authority. The death of any world and any life lies with a single thought. Cult Master, have you ever had a desire for this kind of power?”

Qin Mu looked at him and asked in a leisurely manner, “If I say yes, will you immediately get rid of me and save the emperor from future trouble?”

Their gazes me, then Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked away. “I won’t. I will simply be on guard against you.”

He stood up and regained his calm expression. It was indifferent to the point that it looked like nothing could change it. And Qin Mu knew it. After experiencing the banquet at the celestial palace, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor’s Dao heart had entered a realm where not even gods and demons could predict his moves.

His Dao heart had become indestructible.

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor no longer had any more flaw in his Dao heart.

Qin Mu stood up and walked out of the painting, seeming to have reaped his own gains. ‘Only by breaking the despair in one’s heart can one blaze with stronger hope and fighting spirit.’

The two of them walked out of the mural on the wall and stepped onto solid ground.

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked back at the mural and saw that the palace was still standing. However, there were countless corpses of gods and devils everywhere. There were even some gods and devils shivering and hiding in corners with expressions of terror.

Qin Mu went forward to erase the few brushes he had drawn, and the painting returned back to normal.

He scratched his headband said in puzzlement, “The painter that drew this painting had extremely high attainments and was not inferior to me. However, why is his painting missing a corner? With his attainments, he could have given life to the people in the painting and let everyone in the banquet move and interact. However, with the corner missing, the world inside is dead.”

“It should have been chipped off,” Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said while walking out of the hall. “The battle outside should have ended already, right? It’s time to let Xiong Xiyu reascend to her position of palace master and have West Earth come under Eternal Peace Empire.”

Qin Mu followed him out with a smile. “If you had the decree of the emperor and read it now, stating that Xiong Xiyu is the True Heaven Palace Master, the effect would be much better.”

Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor took out an imperial decree and said, “Before I left on this journey, I had asked the emperor to write the imperial decree.”

“The emperor is another old fox.” Qin Mu sighed ruefully.

After the two of them left the huge hall, a goddess suddenly moved in the painting. She looked around, and when she discovered that there was really no one around, she sneakily ran out of the painting.