Tales of Herding Gods

“There’s a visitor from Carefree Village?”

Blind and Mute looked at one another. They weren’t as passionate as Founding Emperor had expected.

Qin Mu had always wanted to find Carefree Village. If it wasn’t for him, nobody in the Disabled Elderly Village would care about the location of Carefree Village.

Especially Mute, who was a survivor of the Heavenly Works God Race, whose ancestors built the Paramita Ark. They were descendants of Sakra Buddha, Li Youran. At the end of the Founding Emperor Era, Founding Emperor brought a bunch of people to Carefree Village while the Heavenly Works God Race built another Paramita Ark to reunite with him. However, they were massacred by the army of the celestial heavens before they could get there.

The remaining members of the Heavenly Works God Race were trapped in the three-dimensional space seal. They suffered a lot, and many died. Now, there was only Mute, the single surviving member of the Heavenly Works God Race.

In the end, Mute’s parents sent the seal out before their death. As a result, he had to face the darkness and dangers of the Great Ruins alone as a child.

Mute disliked Carefree Village the most. The Paramita Ark had been in the Great Ruins for a long time, and not once did he think about recovering it in order to go to Carefree Village, no matter how much he suffered.

“You come from Carefree Village? That’s uncommon. There was a visitor from Carefree Village before the Eternal Peace Calamity, too, someone called Heavenly Teacher Zi Xi. She was a master of formations, and I learned quite a lot from her.”

Blind continued, “However, during the Eternal Peace Calamity, she left with all of the gods of the Founding Emperor Era under the order of Founding Emperor. We were left alone to handle the crisis. Are you here from Carefree Village to give us some order from Founding Emperor?”

Founding Emperor shook his head and said, “When Heavenly Teacher Zi Xi returned to Carefree Village, I heard her talk about the Eternal Peace reform, so I came here to broaden my horizons.”

Mute interrupted Blind and waved around, signaling something.

Blind said, “It’s not that bad.”

Founding Emperor curiously asked, “What’s this mute Daoist talking about?”

“He’s scolding Founding Emperor. He said that Mu’er helped the four great heavenly kings of Founding Emperor with a lot of things. He helped Sakra Buddha reduce the power that the 20 heavens of the Buddhist World had in the celestial heavens. He also became his scapegoat willingly on top of saving the Heavenly King of Mingdu, Tian Shu, and mediating his feud with Youdu. Additionally, he resurrected Heavenly King Di Yiyue.”

Blind continued to speak on behalf of Mute, “Mu’er is the second disciple of Founding Emperor’s Heavenly Teacher Woodcutter and had great relations with Heavenly Teacher Fisherman and Heavenly Teacher Zi Xi of the four great heavenly teachers. Mu’er even helped Martial Arts Heavenly Teacher solve the problem of martial arts practitioners of the Bullfighting World being unable to become gods without the divine bridge, which was a great favor on his part. Even Fengdu was saved because Mu’er had great relations with Celestial Venerable You and Earth Count. Yet, Founding Emperor didn’t return the favor. Instead, he ordered away all of the gods when the Eternal Peace Calamity occurred. This impotent emperor ran faster than a rabbit…”

Blind’s gaze was filled with vigor as he looked at the excited Mute, who continued to make hand signs and gestures. Blind saw it and was frustrated. He advised him, “He’s a guest from far away, stop scolding him… You can’t do that. After all, Founding Emperor is Mu’er’s ancestor. Doing so means you’re scolding Mu’er too. Don’t worry, don’t worry, he’s not scolding you, he’s scolding Founding Emperor. It’s rude, I know… Oh right, you come from Carefree Village, you aren’t related to Founding Emperor, right? How do I address you?”

Founding Emperor was thinking about retrieving his Carefree Sword so they could verify his identity, but he called off that idea after hearing them. Instead, he said, “I’m just an ordinary god of Carefree Village named Ye Kai. I do research in Carefree Village, and I saw that you guys were discussing microscopic crystal structures, so I came to seek guidance. I didn’t know that this Daoist Mute had such a big grudge against Carefree Village.”

Blind felt relieved and smiled. “As long as your surname isn’t Qin… Mute, stop scolding!”

Mute angrily stopped before gesturing some more. “Aba!”

“Yes, yes, he’s impotent,” Blind said, frustrated.

Founding Emperor coughed and asked, “Could the Mu’er you two are talking about be Qin Mu, Celestial Venerable Mu?”

The two elders instantly became energetic. Blind asked, “You know Mu’er too? We taught him!”

Founding Emperor said, “You two don’t know this, but Celestial Venerable Mu went to Carefree Village recently.”

Blind and Mute’s eyes lit up, and Blind hurriedly asked, “Did Mu’er see Founding Emperor? It was his lifelong wish to head to Carefree Village and meet his ancestors!”

Founding Emperor nodded.

“Did they fight?”

Blind hastily asked, “I meant, did Mu’er and Founding Emperor fight?”

Founding Emperor helplessly admitted it, “They fought.”

In an instant, the two elders smugly said, “Mu’er is like this. He would surely fight Founding Emperor upon meeting him. Ye Kai, did Mu’er beat up Founding Emperor?”

Founding Emperor didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he asked, “How do you two know that Celestial Venerable Mu beat up Founding Emperor and not the other way around?”

They were visibly smug as Mute put down his box and supported his waist with his hands. Blind shook his leg while holding a staff and smiled, saying, “If they fought on the same realm, Founding Emperor couldn’t possibly beat Mu’er. That’s the proper outcome! How was the fight? Was it brutal?”

Founding Emperor acknowledged it, “It was brutal.”

“Well fought!” Mute scared Founding Emperor with a booming voice.

Blind was extremely happy and smiled. “That’s expected out of Mu’er. He didn’t waste years of careful guidance from us! Founding Emperor and Carefree Village must fall now. He should be beaten up, brutally too!”

Founding Emperor couldn’t keep his expression and coughed. “Gentlemen, the microscopic structure of this divine gold…”

“Divine gold, black gold, and normal metal all have different microscopic structures, causing their flexibility and strength to be vastly different.”

Blind explained, “Thus, we planned on changing it, forging black gold into divine gold. We are currently working on it. Since you are from Carefree Village, what’s the point of this research?”

Founding Emperor shook his head in a daze.

Mute gestured in a way that signified his disdain.

Blind said, “It’s not his fault, it’s the incapable ruler’s.”

Founding Emperor blushed, and Blind continued, “We found out that divine gold, black gold, and normal gold are the same substance in essence. They only vary in attributes and performance due to differences in microscopic structures. Thus, we plan on using Mute’s forging to try and recreate black gold’s microscopic structure and forge it into divine gold. However, despite how marvelous Mute’s Heaven Aeon Furnace Forging technique is, we still can’t guarantee that the structure of the most microscopic crystals of black gold can be forged, nor can we hammer the crystals to face one direction.”

Mute gestured, and Blind spoke on his behalf. “It’s difficult to imprint runes and carve crystals on a microscopic scale. The forging master also has to have impeccable god eyes to be able to see every crystal on the microscopic scale.”

Founding Emperor groaned and probed them, “Have you two tried using consciousness to forge on a microscopic scale, such as using consciousness and vital qi to sculpt rune imprints on a microscopic scale?”

Mute and Blind’s eyes lit up as they looked at one another. Mute said, “That could work!”

Blind shook his head, however, and said, “There’s still difficulty in this. One has to have high attainments in consciousness. For one to be able to have consciousness that can see on a microscopic scale, one has to cultivate to an extremely high realm. Only those with the Three Primordial Spirit Undying God Consciousness have such power, and even then, one has to train the technique to a high level…”

Founding Emperor smiled. “Don’t worry, gentlemen. Celestial Venerable Mu’s consciousness is unrivaled in strength. When he returns, he will impart a consciousness technique stronger than the Three Primordial Spirit Undying God Consciousness. I believe it’s possible to perform such sculpting of imprints on a microscopic scale. The two of you have opened a new trick in forging. Both of you have a great future ahead of you, be it in divine gold resources or forging of divine weapons. This is because you two can raise the power of divine weapons by several times, to the point that they are more powerful than gods and devils! However, will the celestial heavens allow such a reform?”

Blind leisurely said, “We are out of the celestial heavens’ reach since we have Mu’er helping us. Anyways, such a reform won’t change the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, so the celestial heavens won’t know.”

Founding Emperor was startled as he compared his actions with Qin Mu. He felt grateful and asked, “What about the Eternal Peace Emperor? If he’s too strong, he will be monitored by the celestial heavens or even eliminated.”

“You mean Emperor Yanxiu?”

Blind laughed. “Emperor Yanxiu may be smart, but she’s not the strongest in cultivation in Eternal Peace. She only became a god a while ago. The celestial heavens don’t have the time to spy on her. Emperor Yanxiu even went to the celestial heavens a while ago to bargain with the gods and devils of the Patriarch Creation Palace so they would open more Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridges and send her resources from other heavens to build divine weapons.”

Founding Emperor’s eyes expanded. He only recovered after a while before excusing himself and leaving.

Blind and Mute tried to get him to stay. “Your brain is pretty active, and you have a talent for forging, which would be wasted if you follow Founding Emperor! Why don’t you stay here so we can research the technique of microscopic forging!”

Founding Emperor insisted on leaving as he said, “I still have to see the results of other reforms of Eternal Peace. Besides, Carefree Village is hastening me to return.”

Blind and Mute had to send him off. “Don’t hold too much hope for Carefree Village. If you don’t mind after returning, come to Eternal Peace. We have a lot of jobs to do. If you go back to Carefree Village, you are essentially waiting to die.”

Blind said, “Mute said that if you want to observe Eternal Peace’s reform, go to the major academies of each study. Although they are called sects now, they are essentially academies. It was the first line of the reform. Our village chief teaches sword skills at the Imperial College Clan. You should be a student of the blade, meet him there, and you can learn a lot.”

Founding Emperor left frantically.

Blind and Mute watched him leave, feeling grateful. “There are still talents in Carefree Village. Unfortunately, this Ye Kai guy follows Founding Emperor, who puts his talent to waste!”

At the Surging River Academy, the Heavenly Dragon Treasure Carriage stopped. Qin Mu summoned Dragon Rearing Sovereign to ask about the academy. Dragon Rearing Sovereign replied, “The Surging River Academy is no longer called an academy and is now called the Surging River Cult. Su Yunzhi is the cult master, and Zhe Huali is the vice cult master. I changed my title to Elder of the Surging River Cult. We have been pretty lively these past few days. Heaven Knife Grandpa Butcher came. Besides him, another divine knife came and sparred with Grandpa Butcher, which excited the disciples.”

‘Grandpa Butcher came? Another divine knife? Could it be Luo Wushuang?’

Qin Mu blinked. Luo Wushuang was kicked into the Primordial Tree celestial palace of the Primordial Realm by him. He probably had to massacre beings to escape. Unexpectedly, he was hiding there.