Tales of Herding Gods

1127 I Was Once Human

If this ancient god was born, it could transform into any of the ancient gods at will, even becoming Heaven Duke, Mother Earth, or Earth Count. It would even possess their powers. That was extremely terrifying!

What was even more terrifying was that the ancient god was adept at manipulating the hearts of others!

Originally, Qin Mu felt strange that whether it was the dragon qilin, Wei Suifeng, or himself, whoever interacted with the Glassy Sky Pagoda would be mesmerized by it.

It was understandable if the dragon qilin was mesmerized. But both Qin Mu and Wei Suifeng had experienced the turbulent times of the Dragon Han Era, and their Dao hearts were incomparably strong. Even so, they were also mesmerized by the ancient god egg, unconsciously getting infatuated by the treasure.

Earlier, when a thread of Qin Mu’s consciousness burrowed into the ancient god egg, the weakest part of his Dao heart was exposed in an instant. He almost got mesmerized inside the egg, unable to pull himself away!

Moreover, Qin Mu didn’t break the blissful and mesmerizing dream state that was created by the ancient god egg to counter the flaws of his Dao heart. He merely wiped out his own thread of consciousness.

Meaning to say, the weakness in Qin Mu’s Dao heart remained.

As long as he had that weakness, he would continue to be mesmerized by the ancient god egg.

That was what terrified him the most!

Qin Mu put away the Glassy Sky Pagoda, looking visibly unnerved.

“Senior Uncle, that little girl is already dead.” Yu Chudu’s voice traveled over.

Qin Mu composed himself and put aside the matter of the ancient god egg for the moment. He looked forward and saw that all of the little girl’s bones had been crushed by the first pillar ancient god. Her internal organs were completely shattered, and she had already lost her breath for some time.

Her hand continued to hold onto the animal bone with little pieces of meat on it.

Yu Chudu had a sorrowful expression as he said, “This kind of thing happens all the time across the thousands of worlds. Senior Uncle, even if you are Celestial Venerable Mu, you can’t change this. Teacher himself didn’t change all of this either…”

“She can still be saved.”

Qin Mu stepped forward and squatted down. The creation runes at the tips of his fingers gave off a delicate and faint flickering light, which burrowed into the girl’s body.

His path of creation had reached a profound level and was at the peak of this era. Soon, the injuries on the girl’s corporeal body healed.

Qin Mu extended a finger and pressed it gently on her chest. Her heart started beating again as her tiny chest rose and fell.

Yu Chudu couldn’t help but say, “Senior Uncle, how terrifying is the divine might of the ancient gods! Her soul has already been scattered, she can’t be saved!”

Qin Mu stood up. The body of this little girl floated in the air as his vital qi surged. He said solemnly, “It can be done. I’m not just the Invincible Great Wizard for ancient gods.”

He executed the Soul Guide, helping guide the little girl’s broken soul sand as the Heavenly Door of Heaven and Earth appeared behind him. He began to borrow the powers of Heaven Duke and Earth Count to help this girl reconstruct her soul.

This was the improved version of the divine art of soul reconstruction after another round of modification. The difference was that he replaced the Gate of Heaven Influence with the Heavenly Door of Heaven and Earth.

Actually, he could revive the little girl solely by his own power, without relying on Heaven Duke and Earth Count.

However, he decided he wanted to alert Heaven Duke and Earth Count.

It was because he wanted to make his stand clear!

“Celestial Venerable Mu—”

Heaven Duke’s voice traveled over from a high and far away place, entering his mind, making him the only one who could hear him. Along with his voice, he could even “see” Heaven Duke situated high up in Xuandu, with his white eyebrows, long beard, and his eyes full of white brilliance.

“You want to use my power to revive a mortal?”

Heaven Duke didn’t reveal any obvious expression as he let out a long voice. “You’ve killed the ancient gods of the nine prefectures and three pillar heavens. And now, you’re using our powers to revive a mortal. Are you still the Invincible Great Wizard?”

“Heaven Duke, I can’t hide what happened here from you. You saw me killing the ancient gods of the nine prefectures and three pillar heavens, but you didn’t try to stop me.”

Qin Mu’s consciousness rippled as he spoke to this high and mighty presence. “Today, I want to use your power to reconstruct the soul of this mortal. Will you lend it to me? It’s very easy to resurrect her. The power I borrow from you is insignificant. To you, it’s just a drop of water in the ocean.”

Heaven Duke fell silent for some time before saying, “Will you revive the ancient gods of the nine prefectures and three pillar heavens?”

“No, I won’t.”

Qin Mu’s tone was unusually calm as he slowly said, “Heaven Duke, you already knew my answer. I won’t revive them. Ancient gods aren’t more privileged than mortals. If ancient gods commit evil, I’ll also kill them.”

“Whether one is good or bad, who determines that?”

Heaven Duke said, “Isn’t the lamb innocent when it’s eaten by the wolf? Isn’t the grass innocent when it’s eaten by the lamb? Ancient gods treating humans as sacrificial offerings, isn’t that the same as wolves eating lambs? Celestial Venerable Mu, when one stands high up on the Heavenly Dao and looks down, the good and evil which you just mentioned are often mingled together, difficult to discern one from the other. The Heavenly Dao is impartial. It won’t determine the wolf as guilty just because it ate the lamb. Likewise, it won’t determine the lamb as guilty simply because it ate the grass.”

Qin Mu said, “That’s why you’re Heaven Duke, and I’m not. I’ll stand with the humans and only view matters from their perspective. Heaven Duke, you’re also not truly impartial. You stand with the ancient gods and view the world from their perspective. You could sit by and watch the ancient gods oppress the world, making all living beings their sacrificial offerings. Moreover, there was some unpleasantness in your heart when I killed these ancient gods.”

Heaven Duke was silent.

“Will you lend me your power to revive this little girl?” Qin Mu asked again.

Heaven Duke again pondered for some time before saying, “Celestial Venerable Mu, son of the Qin family, have you ever thought that you can’t change everything? The ancient gods are no longer the rulers of heaven and earth and have been replaced by the half-gods, yet the people are still being oppressed. Even if you kill the ancient gods, you’re just letting half-gods take over. When they take over, the living beings in the thousands of worlds and heavens may not be living a better life than now.”

Qin Mu persisted in his question. “Heaven Duke, will you lend me your power to revive this tiny little mortal?”

Heaven Duke was silent for a long time before he said, “I’ll lend you my power. However, you can’t continue your current way of doing things. You can’t continue killing the ancient gods. If news of you killing the nine prefectures and three pillar heavens ancient gods gets out, it’ll result in other ancient gods standing against you, becoming your enemies.”

Qin Mu said, “Should I be smiling and chatting with them, watching idly as they take my people as sacrificial offerings? Heaven Duke, please tell me what I should do.”

Heaven Duke said, “You could stand high up on the Heavenly Dao as you look at the living beings, treating everyone the same. There’s no need for intervention.”

“That’s why I’m not Heaven Duke.”

Qin Mu laughed. “I’m just a human, an ordinary human. If I became Heaven Duke, I’d be leaving behind my race and not be human anymore. Heaven Duke, actually, you could restrain the ancient gods and prevent them from enjoying the blood sacrifices and lusting after the offerings.”

Heaven Duke sighed and said, “I’ll try to restrain them and tell them to give you and your people the respect you deserve. However, I won’t force them to do so, as this is contrary to the Heavenly Dao.”

Qin Mu nodded.

He continued to execute the Heavenly Door of Heaven and Earth, feeling out Earth Count’s power.

Earth Count also felt his divine art and gave him his power.

“Earth Count, why did you not prevent me from using your power to revive this little mortal?”

Qin Mu asked, “I have killed the ancient gods of the nine prefectures and three pillar heavens, scattering their souls. Being the Invincible Great Wizard of the ancient gods, I haven’t revived them. Instead, I’m going to revive an insignificant mortal. Is Earth Count not angry about this? Doesn’t Earth Count have any hesitation?”

“Maybe because I was once a human as well.”

Earth Count said plainly, “I was once Ah Chou and a human, a child of an elderly mother and a husband of a wife. They didn’t despise me. After that, I felt that my consciousness that was born from the Dao developed a different type of feeling.”

His voice was loud and clear, but his tone didn’t seem to have any emotions in it. “I believe that I was polluted by human nature and am no longer a pure god born from the Dao. Therefore, I can understand you. However, this human nature is also why I can’t match up to Heaven Duke.”

“I understand.”

Qin Mu bowed and continued to execute his divine art, helping the little girl reconstruct her soul.

At that moment, Earth Count felt that he lost a tiny amount of power, while Heaven Duke felt that his power remained the same.

And that girl had already woken up, slowly opening her eyes.