Tales of Herding Gods

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Qin Mu emptied his thoughts and used his own vital qi to comprehend the power of heaven and earth, gathering the power of heaven and earth to open up the Celestial River Divine Treasure.

This was what he had learned from Celestial Venerable Yu. The most difficult part about opening the Celestial River Divine Treasure was on how to connect it to the celestial palace.

It was impossible to rely just on his own strength. Even someone as strong as Qin Mu didn’t have that dense vital qi, so other people who cultivated to the Life and Death Realm could forget about it.

Only with the power of heaven and earth could one create something from the void, to create a celestial river that stretched through the celestial palaces and the divine treasures!

A person’s power was limited, but the power of heaven and earth was beyond imagination. For example, when Celestial Venerable Yu was opening up his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, he had no cultivation realm. His vital qi was shallow, and he could only be considered a martial arts practitioner.

Yet after mobilizing the power of heaven and earth, he could open up the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure in his body from nothing, constructing his spirit platform and refining his spirit embryo.

If he relied purely on cultivation, the minimum requirement for one’s own cultivation had to reach the Celestial Being Realm. Furthermore, the art of creation also had to reach the peak in order for them to achieve such a step. Yet, it might not succeed even then.

Qin Mu mobilized more and more power from heaven and earth, causing the atmosphere to become more and more terrifying. Above the manor was a whirlpool swirling furiously, and under everyone’s feet was another huge whirlpool of darkness which was still expanding.

The people that were studying the blessing behind Celestial Venerable Yu’s head were all used to these phenomenon happening on Qin Mu’s body. Yet this time, they discovered something different.

In the past, Qin Mu frequently borrowed the power of heaven and earth to open up all kinds of divine treasures. They were shocked the first few times, but they gradually got used to it. They would at most scold him for being abnormal.

Yet this time, the whirlpool was expanding much faster than before. It quickly surpassed the huge manor and stretched outwards, shrouding several streets.

The guards of the capital city were alarmed, and they dispatched troops to investigate, thinking that there was some old demon hiding in the capital city and wreaking havoc.

Emperor Yanfeng dismissed them and said, “It’s Minister Qin Mu.”

Those guards immediately understood and fell back. They got the demon subjugation guards to withdraw and said, “It’s Cult Master Qin, that old demon.”

The whirlpool of darkness on the ground was still spreading, and the Imperial College was gradually shrouded as well. Even half of the capital city was invaded, and the people in the city were anxious.

When they walked in the darkness, they were afraid they would fall. Only when they didn’t fall were they slightly at ease.

There were children playing on the streets, and when they saw the darkness spreading under them, they immediately bawled from being frightened. Mothers ran over and hurriedly carried their children inside, shutting the doors tight and locking them.

Cries from children could be heard coming from many houses in the capital city, and there were even parents scolding, “If you continue to cry, the old green-faced devil with fangs will jump out and take you away!”

The whirlpool above the capital city wasn’t so terrifying as it was being formed by countless lights. It was also expanding furiously, and there were flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder from the whirlpool.

Finally, these two huge whirlpools sandwiched the capital city in the middle. Gales swept in the sky above, and lightning strikes rained down on Qin Mu’s manor.

Right at this moment, the two huge whirlpools suddenly shook, and a pillar of pitch-black light poured out from the ground. On the other side, an extremely bright pillar of light descended down from the sky to collide together!

Both huge whirlpools swirled furiously, and the pillars of light became more and more intense. The black became blacker, the bright became brighter!

In the center, where both pillars of light had collided, Qin Mu gathered the power of heaven and earth in his body. The power gathered in the heart of his brows, and his hands constantly changed to form mudra skills. Suddenly, more arms came out from his back, and they created mudra furiously to open up the Celestial River Divine Treasure.

Suddenly, he was slightly stunned. He could feel a strange power coming from far away.

This kind of power seemed to be from the real celestial river, it was boundless and deep, surging forward endlessly.

Qin Mu’s heart stirred. This power was from the south, and it should be from the Surging River’s direction.

‘Could the Surging River really be the Celestial River?’

As he formed his mudra, he tried to detect the source of this power. His consciousness flowed in reverse and chased after this power to continue forward.

His consciousness was incomparably strong, and that was because he had received Crimson Emperor’s inheritance. This allowed him to cultivate an Undying God Consciousness, which was incomparably durable. It was able to stretch to faraway places.

Back when Crimson Emperor had died in Crimson Light Floating World, his consciousness was undying, and there was a portion lost in the universe which was discovered by Light Emperor; thus, the Crimson Light Floating World was found.

This showed how strong an Undying God Consciousness was.

Soon, Qin Mu’s consciousness traveled tens of thousands of miles and saw a huge river surging forward, and from the terrain and meanders, it was the Surging River.

‘The Surging River is the Celestial River. People who open up the Celestial River Divine Treasure after me will find it much easier.’

Qin Mu was delighted. He felt that the Celestial River Divine Treasure was the best seventh divine treasure, but purely borrowing the power of heaven and earth to open up the divine treasure would eliminate most of the divine arts practitioners. There wouldn’t be many that could open up the Celestial River Divine Treasure.

‘Luckily, the Surging River is the Celestial River, so they can go to the Surging River directly and borrow the power of the Celestial River to open up the Celestial River Divine Treasure. It won’t be as troublesome as what I had to do.’

Qin Mu was about to pull back his consciousness when he was slightly stunned. His Undying God Consciousness ‘saw’ fog surging on the river.

Qin Mu hurriedly stopped his consciousness and ‘looked’ over to see a woman swaying in the fog.

That woman was dressed in plain and simple clothes which looked very ancient. She wore a leopard skin skirt, a short gown, and grass shoes. On her head was a peachwood hairpin.

‘Celestial Venerable Ling…’

Qin Mu was stunned, and he immediately moved his Undying God Consciousness to chase that woman on the river.

His consciousness entered the fog and passed through the fog quickly. The woman in the fog seemed too far from him, and no matter how much his consciousness flew, he couldn’t close the distance!

When Qin Mu ‘saw’ the mountains on both sides of the Surging River changing, and the trees withering continuously, he came to a realization.

The mountains changing and the trees withering were actually the scenery of history. The Surging River didn’t change, but the surroundings were like the blue sea turned into mulberry fields. There were mountains sinking into the ground and mountains rising from the ground.

Trees grew from young to old before turning back into saplings, into seeds.

His consciousness wasn’t flying; instead, it had never moved.

This kind of marvelous divine art made him recall the kind of divine art where substance wouldn’t change, the one Celestial Venerable Ling had envisioned.

On both sides of the Surging River, the scenery became weirder and weirder. Numerous apparitions of gods could be seen transforming from skeletons to corpses, from collapsed on the ground to standing up and fighting.

Qin Mu ‘saw’ the history on both sides of the Surging River as it flickered past. His consciousness found it harder and harder to continue, and the scenery on both sides became more and more ancient.

“Celestial Venerable Ling!”

His consciousness surged forth, and he tried to catch the attention of the girl in the fog.

Yet that girl still couldn’t hear his voice.

The scenery on both sides of the Surging River became more and more ancient. Suddenly, a tall and sturdy gate rose from the ruins and stood tall.

That was a Southern Heavenly Gate.

Next, he saw the Southern Heavenly Gate rising, and an incomparably majestic celestial palace was also rising. The Surging River rose into midair with this celestial palace, and the torrential river also rose up to the nine heavens above.

Qin Mu’s consciousness reached the extreme, and he exerted all his force to shout, “Celestial Venerable Ling—”

Suddenly, the fog vanished, and everything became clear. Qin Mu’s consciousness was exhausted and faded into nothing.

The instant his consciousness was exhausted, he ‘saw’ that woman standing on the surface of the Celestial River hear something. She turned back to look at where his consciousness was and revealed a look of astonishment. “Celestial Venerable Mu? Is it you? Celestial Venerable Mu!”

Qin Mu’s consciousness broke down.

“So you aren’t in the High Emperor Era, wait for me to find you—” Celestial Venerable Ling’s voice rang out.

Boom!

Loud booms rang beside Qin Mu’s ears. When he opened his eyes, he was still in the manor in Eternal Peace. The power of heaven and earth was pouring over and molding the celestial river, which was passing through all divine treasures and celestial palaces.

The celestial river had taken shape, and it transformed from virtual to reality.

This divine treasure started from the celestial palace and descended down from the sky. It flowed down the Builder Tree Divine Bridge to pass through the galaxy, streaming down the sun, moon, and seven stars like a white-colored sash. It brought overflowing water to swirl around the Builder Tree and passed by the back of Qin Mu’s primordial spirit’s head to form a huge circle. It then flowed into the Six Directions Land and entered the Life and Death Divine Treasure, vanishing into the darkness.

As the power of heaven and earth was absorbed by him, the whirlpool of darkness and the whirlpool of light gradually became smaller.

After a moment, the instant both whirlpools vanished, a loud surging sound of tides rang out. Qin Mu instantly felt the Celestial River Divine Treasure forming a looping system in his body.

The celestial river that had vanished into Youdu reappeared in the celestial palaces, and the loop continued.

‘I saw Celestial Venerable Ling on the Surging River!’

Qin Mu was slightly in a daze, and his heart couldn’t calm down. ‘I saw the High Emperor Celestial Heavens! What is Celestial Venerable Ling doing in the High Emperor Celestial Heavens?’

Thump!

Qin Mu got punched in the head, and it immediately swelled up. Saint Woodcutter said with a displeased tone, “Rascal, you have scared all the kids in the capital city, and you are still in spacing out? If you weren’t my disciple and if I didn’t know you well, I would have already subjugated you as a demon!”

Qin Mu came back to his senses, and he saw himself being tightly surrounded. The heavenly teachers, the past human emperors, Granny Si, and the old and young Daoists and monks were all gathered here. Sakra Buddha had also arrived with a bruised face. Di Yiyue and Heavenly King Tian Shu were also here.

There was also a man cloaked in a cape of darkness, and it was King Yama of Fengdu.

King Yama, Di Yiyue, and Tian Shu must have arrived when he was opening the Celestial River Divine Treasure.

Qin Mu was rather moved, and he let out a sigh of relief. He smiled and said, “Luckily, I have not failed your expectations. The twenty-sixth seventh divine treasure has been opened up by me!”

“Let me shatter it!” The old farmer walked up with his fist tightly clenched.

Qin Mu hurriedly said, “Hold it!”

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

Several hands pressed down on the old farmer’s shoulders. Emperor Yanfeng, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, Granny Si, and Butcher were the first to press him down, and they got blown away.

Next, Woodcutter and Fisherman made their moves and got blown away as well. Sakra Buddha stretched out his hand, and the apparition of Mount Meru and the twenty heavens pressed down on the old farmer’s head.

Tian Shu pulled out his knife and held it at the old farmer’s throat, while Di Yiyue pressed down with Mingdu Heavenly Gate on his back.

Farmer sneered and said, “Let’s not talk about how the four heavenly kings aren’t here, but you might not be able to take me down even if you all work together! We, the Four Great Heavenly Teachers, have never been afraid of the Four Great Heavenly Kings!”

Scholar swayed her feathered fan gently and said with a smile, “Zhuo Cha, Mu’er said to hold it, so why are you in a hurry?”

“Alright. I’ll listen to second brother.”

Farmer said straightforwardly, “After he’s done, I’ll shatter his divine treasure.”

Qin Mu was finally at ease and said with a smile, “This Celestial River Divine Treasure is the best divine treasure I’ve found. It’s even much better than the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, as it is a unification of divine treasures!”