Tales of Herding Gods

At the Surging River, the treasure carriage pulled by six heavenly dragons flew on the surface of the river. Qin Mu was inside, and he took out Celestial Venerable Ling’s hairpin to utilize its power. Instantly, the water surged as if there was a large beast beneath the surface.

Suddenly, the sky dimmed and grew darker. There seemed to be a monster below that was devouring everything.

The six dragons pulling the carriage got spooked as they sped on the dark river surface. At the same time, masts with sails appeared to cut the river in half to form two large waves!

The six dragons sped on towards the mast as the dragon qilin hit the air with his whip to force them to run even faster.

The mast downstream also became faster, and more of its masts appeared at a further distance.

The boat speeding downstream was extremely large!

Suddenly, a loud rumble was heard as the ancient battleship leaped out from the bottom of the river. Water flowed from its deck and onto the river as if it was a waterfall.

Countless rays of black light and qi crisscrossed like chains, using the boat as their center point, and terrifying roars came from the boat!

Pak—

The dragon qilin used his whip to scare the heavenly dragons into rushing into the boat’s surrounding black light and qi.

The moment that the carriage entered, the ghost ship sunk back into the river. With a dazzling display of light, it disappeared from the Surging River.

The heavenly dragons stopped immediately, skidding on the wide deck for dozens of miles before stopping.

Qin Mu stood up and opened the curtains. It was pure darkness outside. Large black coffins stood erected around the carriage silently.

There were numerous coffins, so it took a lot of dodging for the heavenly dragons to dodge them.

“You’re late, Brother!”

A voice came, but he saw no one. “I became one with this ship, so now I’m invisible. If you can’t break Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art, you can’t rescue us.”

The heavenly dragons, Yan’er, and the dragon qilin looked towards the voice but saw no one. It was as if someone invisible was hiding.

Yet, when they closed their eyes, they felt that there were people everywhere. Thousands of them!

Qin Mu walked down and swiped with the hairpin. The surrounding darkness was broken apart, and light flooded in. He saw countless imposing figures on the ghost ship’s deck!

Their cultivation was powerful. They were the Feathered Forest Guards of the primordial era!

They had a middle-aged man among them. It was Wei Suifeng, the general of the Feathered Forest Guards and the controller of the commander’s seal. He was the Emperor of Endless Clouds of the Endless Clouds Palace!

They cheered after they found out they could see each other and themselves.

Wei Suifeng looked at the warriors around him after looking at his own hands. He was surprised. “Brother, you broke Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art?”

Qin Mu shook his head. “I just temporarily helped liberate you from being invisible. I still can’t break Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art to free you all from symbiosis with the ghost ship.”

Suddenly, a phoenix cry sounded out, and a flaming phoenix rose from the rear of the ship with a large stone coffin. It flew to the deck and became a lady, then put down the coffin. She was Feng Qiuyun, the maid of Mother Earth and the leader of the phoenixes in the Primordial Realm.

She followed Mother Earth’s order to carry the High Emperor corpse in the stone coffin to the ghost ship. She got stuck there afterward. Her, a Numinous Sky Realm expert, as well as the High Emperor corpse demon within the coffin, were assimilated by the ghost ship.

“Celestial Venerable Mu!”

Feng Qiuyun looked at Qin Mu and at his carriage. She hurriedly asked, “How much time has passed? Where is Mother Earth?”

“Mother Earth is dead.”

Qin Mu said, “The Primordial Realm is in Celestial Venerable Xiao’s hands.”

Feng Qiuyun was extremely sad, looking as if she had lost her parents. It was to the point that she fell into a daze.

Wei Suifeng sighed. “Have you been to the places on the map I left behind? If you can’t break Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art now, you can research some notes on Celestial Venerable Ling’s unchanging divine art in one of her old residences, which I marked down in the map I gave you. I stole it from the celestial heavens. If you found it, you might be able to use her notes to break her unchanging divine art.”

Qin Mu’s heart fluttered as he retrieved some maps and asked, “Which map?”

Wei Suifeng walked over and picked one, saying, “This one. However, this is useless now. You will be trapped here too and be assimilated by the ship…”

Qin Mu smiled. “Although I can’t break her divine art, I can comprehend a part of it and control part of the unchanging substance.”

Wei Suifeng frowned and asked, “What do you mean?”

Qin Mu stored the map and said, “I want to work with you and use this boat to summon Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art to return to the past with the boat!”

Wei Suifeng frowned and said, “Although I know a part of the unchanging divine art too, I only know a part of it. I comprehended less than you.”

“Isn’t there another ghost ship?”

Qin Mu’s eyes lit up as he said, “The ship is her divine art too. However, it’s an incomplete one and is just its fledgling state. If you and I can make up for it, we can make the ship an unchanging substance that can go to any era. We will no longer be limited by reincarnation.”

Wei Suifeng’s eyes lit up as well, and he walked around, saying, “It’s possible. This ship is going through 36 reincarnations right now. There are in total 36 eras. Every great reincarnation means a reset of matter. If we can make up for the parts missing from Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art, we can make it complete.”

He lifted his head as his gaze flashed, asking, “So, Brother, why are you here this time?”

Qin Mu said, “I want to return to the past.”

Wei Suifeng smiled. “Isn’t it simple for you? Celestial Venerable Ling already became an unchanging substance at the source of the Surging River. She can let you return by turning into mist. Return to the source of the river, wait for the mist, and you can return.”

He couldn’t help but sigh. “Celestial Venerable Ling is the mist of the river. When they strike, Celestial Venerable Ling comes to your side, you just can’t see her. She takes you back and then brings the history you witnessed back. Thus, you become a part of history too.”

Qin Mu shook his head. “The eras that she took me back to are the eras she wants me to go to. This time, I want to choose the era.”

Wei Suifeng looked at him and spoke solemnly. “You want to change history? Brother, I advise that you don’t do useless things like this. When you attempt to change history, you will realize that what you have done is history. You are but a figure of history, a fact that has been confirmed. On this point, I know more than you.”

Qin Mu smiled. “You took my opportunity to stay for a few thousand years in the Dragon Han Era. Shouldn’t you help me since you owe me?”

“I will, but…”

Wei Suifeng hesitated and said, “If I make up the ghost ship’s divine art, I may never be able to leave this ship, because…”

He smiled bitterly and said, “I’m already a part of it.”

Qin Mu understood him. After someone went through an entire great reincarnation with the ship, they would fuse with it and become a part of it. They would become invisible. This was the case for the Feathered Forest Guards on board.

Wei Suifeng had boarded the ship for a long time and experienced countless reincarnations. Thus, he fused with the ghost ship.

The ghost ship fused with Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art and became a part of it. In other words, everyone on board, except Qin Mu and his entourage, was now a part of Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art!

The divine art that Celestial Venerable Ling deployed while stuck on the boat was incomplete, so it was easy to break.

If Qin Mu and Wei Suifeng fixed it to perfection, Wei Suifeng and the others would become a part of it and become unchanging substance flowing in the Surging River!

It would be nearly impossible to break a perfect version of Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art!

The ancient Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body was still stuck in Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art!

Thus, Wei Suifeng was worried that they might never be able to leave the ship ever again.

“So, are you helping me, Brother?” Qin Mu asked.

Wei Suifeng looked into Qin Mu’s eyes, which were bright and clear.

“Are you the overlord body, Brother?”

“Yep.”

“Have you experienced the Eternal Peace Calamity?”

“Yep.”

“Are you Celestial Venerable Mu of the celestial heavens yet?”

“Yep.”

“Have you been to the Great Void?”

“Yep.”

“Have you seen the Grand Emperor’s corpse?”

“Yep.”

“Have you retrieved Celestial Venerable Yun’s corporeal body?”

“Yep.”

“Have you seen Founding Emperor and found Carefree Village yet?”

“Yep.”

“I’ll help you!”

Wei Suifeng laughed and extended his palm. “These things are things that I’ve experienced but not done! You did it! You are more capable! I might not be able to break Celestial Venerable Ling’s divine art, but you certainly can!”

Qin Mu extended his palm as they clasped together.

“As long as we work together, we can do anything!”

Qin Mu took out the peachwood hairpin and left it in his open palm. It started to spin. He retracted his hand, and the hairpin floated between them.

Qin Mu utilized the incomplete unchanging divine art he comprehended. All of his magic power burst forth, and instantly, the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure expanded to cover the entire ship!

Feng Qiuyun’s gaze flashed as she rushed towards them, biting. At the same time, the stone coffin opened, and the corpse demons that High Emperor Celestial Emperor became flew out. They filled the skies as Feng Qiuyun worked with them to kill the two brothers.

“I knew it! Feng Qiuyun, it was obvious that you would try to stop us since you don’t want to be a part of a complete unchanging divine art.”

Wei Suifeng laughed and opened his fingers. He swatted towards the back, and with a bitter scream, Feng Qiuyun was fixed in the air. She unwillingly went back to her true form, a phoenix, after being immobilized.

The cape on Wei Suifeng spread out, and with a whoosh, it flew up. It covered the corpse demons that High Emperor Celestial Emperor morphed into with a howl and became a large dumpling before it flew into the stone coffin.

The stone coffin closed abruptly.

Wei Suifeng lifted his hand and waved. The stone coffin rose and flew out of the ship.

It reached the black qi surrounding the ship and disappeared. In the next moment, it reappeared on the deck with a teleportation gate at the place of the stone coffin’s appearance.

The stone coffin was sent into the gate and back into the black qi. It then appeared in the gate again. It appeared and disappeared, the cycle repeating itself.

“Brother, I can do this for a hundred years.” Wei Suifeng smiled.

Qin Mu solemnly said, “Let’s begin, Brother!”

Wei Suifeng’s divine art burst forth as he deployed the unchanging divine art he comprehended. Qin Mu’s vital qi and consciousness went into Celestial Venerable Ling’s peachwood hairpin.

At the same time, the light became brighter around the ghost ship as it began to transmigrate for reincarnation.

Their divine arts and the one within the peachwood hairpin burst forth simultaneously, fusing with the light. The ghost ship that Celestial Venerable Ling left behind absorbed their divine arts. With some violent rumbles, the dragon qilin, Yan’er, and the six heavenly dragons’ expressions changed greatly as they went prone to hold onto the cracks on the deck.

The vibration became more intense, and the light outside became stronger as well. Suddenly, a heavy thud was felt on the ship, as if it had smashed into the river from the air.

The light disappeared as heavy mist shrouded the river surface. The ghost ship sailed through it in so silent of a manner that one could hear the ripples.

“Brother, you went to the places on the maps I left behind, right?”

Wei Suifeng huffed and puffed while lying on the deck as he asked Qin Mu, who was beside him.

As Qin Mu laid beside him, he replied, “Most of them. Some were interesting, while some were very dangerous.”

“You should go to all of them. The places I went to aren’t bad.”

Wei Suifeng sat up and saw the mist dissipating. He smiled. “You should leave now.”

Qin Mu also sat up, then nodded.

Wei Suifeng scratched the air and saw a humongous hen dragon flying towards them with a lantern in its beak. Wei Suifeng took the lantern and said, “If you want to return here, extinguish the lantern.”

Qin Mu looked at the hen dragon and took the lantern. He placed it on the carriage, then solemnly said, “Fatty Dragon, Yan’er, we’re heading off!”

The dragon qilin adjusted the carriage as it drove off the ship. The celestial river surged forth outside, but as Qin Mu looked back, it disappeared, hidden by the mist.

“Brother!”

Qin Mu was about to return to the carriage, but a young travel-worn man appeared on the celestial river. He halted the carriage and asked, “Brother, how do I head to the celestial heavens?”

That young man had simple clothing with a smidgen of red on his eyebrows. He looked strong, and his body was filled with power.

Qin Mu examined it. He was suspicious. As he looked at his face again, he had an idea.

He looked around and saw mountain ranges around them. There was a verdant Primordial Tree far ahead that lifted a Primordial Realm heaven. He smiled and said, “This is the Primordial Realm. I just arrived here too, and I intend to head to the celestial heavens. If you don’t mind, I can take you there.”

“I’m sorry for troubling you!”

That young man was happy as he boarded the carriage. “My name is Luo Xiao. How do I address you?”