Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 245: Sea Suppression Heavenly King

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

Qin Mu, Old Ma, and Blind nodded in agreement. Even though Granny Si was beautiful, she wouldn't use her beauty as a weapon. On the contrary, she knew her beauty was too deadly and took the initiative to cover up, dressing up ugly when meeting people.

However, Cult Master Li was different.

The heart of Heavenly Devil Cult's previous cult master was twisted. He loved Granny Si too much and was envious of her beauty which was why he wanted to become her. Furthermore, he had a different comprehension of Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures than Qin Mu. Even though Qin Mu had also received the same book, the same teachings from Woodcutter's Rock, and comprehended the same Unity Technique, he was influenced by everyone in the village since he was young. Even though his actions might be slightly recalcitrant, he still stood upright.

Qin Mu's Unity Technique had Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique as a foundation, which was very orthodox. Many spells and divine arts that many people viewed as from the devil path were executed righteously by him.

Cult Master Li's Unity Technique was, however, pretty evil and had the impression of the devil path.

Cult Master Li would also not let 'herself' suffer from grievances by dressing ugly to meet people. On the contrary, 'she' would flaunt her beauty and cause devastation to all living beings.

The old cult master didn't care at all about the so-called overturning a city with a smile and overturning a country with another.

Qin Mu went to back into Granny Si's room and fetched all the beast skins that she had collected. He put them in his taotie sack, preparing for emergencies.

Old Ma and Blind also packed their luggage. Blind's luggage was simple, a bamboo cane and a copper eight-divinatory symbol hanging from a fortune-telling banner. Old Ma, on the other hand, brought the memorial tablets of his wife and children. After kissing them, he placed them safely in his bundle.

He wore a green buddhist robe and looked like a traveling monk that had gone through great hardships.

Granny Si's Dao heart was still slightly unstable at times, acting up frequently. Old Ma could help her suppress Cult Master Li while Blind was there in case the suppression wasn't enough. He will then injure Cult Master Li, and Qin Mu would be in charge of treating the old woman.

They walked out of the village, and Granny Si laughed at herself. "I still need you guys to protect me, and even Mu'er has to help. However, with me being the previous saintess of the devil cult and Old Rulai being the Buddha, will he lend a helping hand?"

Old Ma didn't show any emotions on his face. "Old Rulai will help you. Cult Master Li is the previous cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult and is of the same seniority as Old Rulai. Old Rulai will gain merit from subduing devils, and subduing a great devil such as Cult Master Li can aid him in his cultivation. Furthermore, Buddhas giving up their lives to rear devils is a common event."

Qin Mu said worriedly, "I'm afraid that when they subdue Cult Master Li, they will subdue granny as well."

"Old Rulai won't do so." Old Ma shook his head. "He has his own principles, and they are his path, his practices. Upon reaching a cultivation like his, he doesn't even have to keep his practices in mind; his actions will never step over his practice, that is what practice is."

Qin Mu couldn't help being curious. Old Ma had such a deep grudge against Old Rulai, but from his words, he still held great respect for Old Rulai.

This was not merely because Old Rulai was once Old Ma's master. There had to be something about that old monk that made people respect him.

"What I'm doubting is Old Rulai's ability." Blind raised his head. "Does Old Rulai have the ability to suppress Cult Master Li? This old devil was once an existence on par with him."

No one said anything after this.

Among the three sacred grounds of the martial world, there was Dao Sect, Great Thunderclap Monastery, and Heavenly Devil Cult. As the previous cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, Cult Master Li was a top figure in the martial world and on par with Old Rulai.

If Old Rulai wanted to refine him, it would be quite difficult.

"Great Thunderclap Monastery lies at the borders of Great Ruins and Eternal Peace Empire," Old Ma said. "Legend says that God Broken Mountain Range was the mountain range sliced apart by a god, creating a natural chasm between Great Ruins and Eternal Peace.

"Great Thunderclap Monastery has a similar legend, but it has something extra. When the god slashed and his attack came near Mount Meru, there were monks sitting on the mountain. They filled the entire mountain and pledged to die and live with Mount Meru. The god saw their sincerity and took a detour around Mount Meru. All other mountain ranges were sliced apart, with only Mount Meru saved from damage."

Blind smiled. "I feel that there was someone above Mount Meru, or else the god wouldn't have cared one whit about the lives of the monks on the mountain."

Mount Meru lay at the border of Great Ruins and Eternal Peace Empire. One side was to the empire, and the other to Great Ruins. The sacred mountain was quite a distance away from Eternal Border and Secret Waters. It was, however, not very far from Qingmen Pass of the northern borders. It was only a journey of four to five thousand miles.

The distance from Disabled Elderly Village to Mount Meru was thirty thousand miles. Qin Mu was much slower than Granny Si, Old Ma, and Blind, so they had to take six to seven days to reach there.

The nights at Great Ruins were extremely dangerous, so they could only hurry throughout the day, because of which they took a bit longer than they would have done elsewhere.

If they flew through the air, they could reach the place in two days, but Qin Mu's cultivation wasn't high enough for that. They would have to stop to rest and recover his vital qi after every hundred miles if he ran at full strength, so it was better to travel on land instead.

Qin Mu brought the dragon qilin as a mode of transport. The dragon qilin could barely match the speed of Old Ma and the rest, so they didn't have to slow down because of him.

When first evening came, they reached an ancient temple which was desolate and uninhabited. There were some strange beasts inside, but they ignored them, continuing to lie lazily beside a statue of the heavenly king.

"Mu'er, come and pay your respect." Blind took out a few sticks of incense and waved for Qin Mu to come over.

The two people, one young and one old, immediately to the front of the heavenly king's statue and stabbed a couple sticks of incense in the broken censer before taking three steps back. They then prayed in one voice. "This little one is from Disabled Elderly Village which is located near the river. I have come across your temple and would like to rest my legs here for the time being. If I have alarmed the owner of this land, I am deeply sorry. Since he was young, this little one had weak kidneys and a frail body. My primordial yang has long since dispersed…"

"Ugh!" Granny Si groaned. In anger, she then added, "Blind, you have taught Mu'er bad!"

Blind laughed. "Granny Si, you might not be afraid of being plucked, but we are. If you don't believe, you can ask Mu'er if the prayers I taught him worked."

Qin Mu nodded repeatedly. "They work. When Xian Qing'er heard my prayers, she didn't pluck me."

Granny Si didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She called Mu'er over. "Come and help me cook." After Qin Mu walked over, she said secretly, "Blind is full of bad ideas, don't always learn from him."

When night descended, the surroundings of the heavenly king's temple were very silent. There was no sound around, besides the dragon qilin's snores.

Old Ma sat upright like a buddha, while Blind leaned on his bamboo cane as he sat against a wall, his head lowered in sleep. Unlike them, Qin Mu had used dried grass to prepare two beds, and Granny Si slept beside him.

In the dead of the night, the beating of gongs and drums suddenly resounded from outside. Everyone in the temple immediately became alert, and Qin Mu sat up to look around, but only saw darkness. The candles in the temple were still giving off a dim light, but the beatings of gongs and drums were very clear, coming closer and closer.

Blind and Old Ma immediately came to Qin Mu and Granny Si's side, and Old Ma motioned them to stay quiet.

The beating of gongs and drums grew closer and closer until they came to the front of the temple. A few deep voices then called out.

"Silence!"

"Challenge!"

A couple of god statues came walking into the temple while wearing worn out armor. Even though the stone statues were dilapidated, they were like living gods, and Qin Mu even smelled the stench of rot from them.

These stone statues were majestic, and the hundred white skeletons behind them were soldiers holding onto broken weapons, lining up in a perfect manner. A few of the soldiers held gongs and drums in their bony hands, while a few others were carrying banners with words 'silence' and 'challenge'.

The stone statues walked into the temple while the white skeletons remained outside.

Qin Mu stared wide-eyed at such an absurd scene in front of him. The dragon qilin had also woken up and was yawning.

A human voice actually came from a god statue which said to the heavenly king's god statue in the temple, "Reporting to Sea Suppression Heavenly King, East Sea Dragon King Ao Zhen is using the natural disaster to rebel. His Majesty sent me orders from Carefree Village to come forth and assist Sea Suppression Heavenly King to slay the rebel!"

The dragon qilin was lying under the feet of the heavenly king's god statue, but he was still in a daze and didn't know what was happening.

At that moment, the tall and sturdy heavenly king's god statue moved. The eight flags behind it fluttered, and the stone statue trembled before standing up. With an abnormal awe-inspiring authority, it shouted out, "For twenty thousand years has this disaster plagued us, and this fellow still dares to rebel! Bring me my sword!"

The resounding sound of a sword coming out of its sheath came from the back of the heavenly king's temple. A Green Dragon Crescent Blade that was thirty yards long broke out from the dirt behind the temple and came whooshing over. The heavenly king's god statue grabbed onto the blade with his hand, and the sword hummed.

"Where's my steed?" that heavenly king's god statue shouted.

The dragon qilin finally came to his senses when he suddenly felt himself sinking down as the heavenly king's god statue sat down on him. The dragon's body rose uncontrollably and flew out of the temple.

The dragon qilin was indescribably appalled when it heard the booming voice of the heavenly king's god statue coming from his back. "You guys shall stay to guard this place, I'll return after I've slain him!"

After the orders were said, the dragon qilin turned into a trail of flames against his will and disappeared into the darkness while carrying the heavenly king's god statue.

Instead of saying he was carrying that god statue, it could be said that the heavenly king's god statue was bringing him along as he absolutely couldn't carry the heavenly king's god statue.

In the temple, Qin Mu, Granny Si, Blind, and Old Ma were dumbfounded, unable to speak a word for quite a while.

Later, they looked at one another in dismay. It was hard to say how much time had passed, but they reckoned that dawn was already coming. At that moment, a dragon's roar rang in the air. There was a huge crash, and a dragon's head fell down from the pitch black night sky, tumbling two rounds in the courtyard of the heavenly king's temple.

Qin Mu immediately looked over, but this dragon's head was sculpted from stone and not a real dragon's head.

The roars of dragons rang endlessly as the heavenly king's god statue flew back while riding on the dragon qilin. He jumped off and sat down on the lotus platform in the temple. After placing his Green Dragon Crescent Blade by his side, he said, "You guys can report back to His Majesty that by good luck this general was able to accomplish the mission and severed the head of the rebel."

Once the stone statues received their orders, they turned around to enter the darkness, bringing with them the army of white skeletons. As they disappeared into the darkness, the beating the gongs and drums also gradually faded away.

Some time later, the crowing of roosters could be heard, and the darkness retreated into the distance. The sun rose into the sky and shone into the heavenly king's temple.

Qin Mu shook his head. This night had been like an extremely weird dream.

He looked at the dragon qilin who was still in a daze and asked immediately, "Fatty Dragon, how are you?"

"I had a dream!" the muddle-headed dragon qilin said. "I dreamed that I carried a god king that gave off glorious flames. We slaughtered our way into a battlefield over a roaring sea as countless divine dragons attacked me. However, they were all slain by the blade of that god king on my back. I carried him into the sea, and we slaughtered our way through a bunch of dragon gods and severed the head of one of the dragon kings, then left after taking his head. This dream was so real…"

Qin Mu looked at Blind and Old Ma before asking softly, "Grandpa Blind, do you think what happened yesterday night was real?"

Blind and Old Ma shook their heads.

"Who can be sure about the incidents in Great Ruins? Let us hurry on our way, heading to Great Thunderclap Monastery is more important."

Qin Mu stared at the heavenly king's god statue in a daze, feeling something abnormal about everything here. He went forward and stretched his hand out to touch the stone statue, but it was ice cold and not made of flesh and blood.

"His Majesty sent his orders from Carefree Village, his orders from Carefree Village…" Qin Mu had a complicated expression as he muttered to himself, "Where exactly is Carefree Village…"

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Chapter 246: Seemed Real yet Resembled Fantasy

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

Qin Mu looked at that Green Dragon Crescent Blade in the hands of the heaven king's god statue and noticed that this blade was real and not made of stone.

When they had just come into the temple, Qin Mu had surveyed his surroundings. He clearly remembered that there was no blade in the hands of the heavenly king's god statue, let alone such a huge one as Green Dragon Crescent Blade.

What was even more astonishing, the blade actually had some blood stains.

When Qin Mu stretched his hand out to check if it was really fresh blood, Blind's cane lifted his wrist up, moving it to the side. With a bright smile on his face, Blind said, "Mu'er, don't be so curious, you'll die."

Qin Mu was frightened and suddenly remembered what he and Village Chief had encountered when walking in the darkness. A droplet of devil blood had caused all the plants within a radius of hundred yards to wither instantly.

If it was real blood on the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, then the weird things that had happened last night would have also been real. This would mean that the heavenly king's god statue had really slain East Sea Dragon King, and it would be his blood on the blade.

Blind seemed to know Qing Mu's thoughts and said softly, "Divine blades are psychic, don't provoke them recklessly."

Qin Mu smiled. "I'm not Grandpa Cripple and won't commit such an outrageous act like stealing the divine blade of the heavenly king. I only want to take the blood on the blade. This is the blood of the dragon king of divine dragons, so it can probably be used to refine medicine."

Blind praised, "Mu'er is still the thrifty one in the household, knowing how to accumulate wealth."

Qin Mu took out a jade bottle and carefully took that drop of dragon king's blood on the Green Dragon Crescent Blade into his bottle, then screwed it tightly shut.

In the courtyard of the heavenly king's temple, a huge dragon's head made out of stone had created a huge pit in the ground. On the shattered pieces, there were some bloodstains which shone bright red.

Qin Mu fetched a box and transformed his vital qi tread into sword qi. He then carefully controlled it to scrape the blood stains into the box.

When he came to the neck of the dragon's head, he saw that it had been cleanly cut off. It looked like it had been separated from its body by an incredibly sharp knife. From the cross-section, Qin Mu could imagine how overbearing and quick that sharp knife had been!

Even though the dragon's head was from a stone statue, he could still feel the abundant and matchless desire within the knife, its realm.

'If I sat here and observed this section of the dragon's head, I could comprehend an extremely overbearing knife skill that wouldn't be inferior to Grandpa Butcher's Pig Slaughtering Knife Skill. However, there's no time, we should be hurrying.'

Qin Mu felt that it was a pity. If he could comprehend the god realm contained in this knife skill, knife desire, and knife realm, just the aura alone could scare a bunch of people to death.

Old Ma hurried him, "Mu'er, it's time to go!"

Qin Mu caught up with the others and called the dragon qilin over to get on him. The dragon qilin had been used like a steed by the heavenly king the whole night, so its body was weak and aching all over. The moment Qin Mu jumped onto him, he squealed like a pig being slaughtered.

Qin Mu immediately jumped off, and the dragon qilin said, "I must have been possessed, having been ridden by a stone statue the entire night. Elder Blind, you know fortune telling, so can you do exorcism as well?"

Blind shook his head. "I'm not a professional in this field, I only do fortune telling and exorcisms once in a while. I can't exorcise you, but you don't have to worry, you'll be better after resting for a night."

The dragon qilin was only half-convinced.

After walking a few thousand miles north, the terrain became lower. Qin Mu turned his head back and saw that they had walked down from a few mountain ranges, which left him bewildered.

Granny Si said, "This place is like a basin, so it looks like there are huge mountains all around it. But in truth, out there are the plains from which we entered. This basic is actually quite large."

Everyone looked around, checking out the majestic mountains, thick forests, ravines, and chasms all over the basin. The geography here was quite different from the places in Great Ruins.

This basin was extremely vast, and when Qin Mu and the rest had walked past a foothill, they could see some red corals branching out. They were very mesmerizing, like rubies.

Granny Si plucked a red coral, planning to make it into a hairpin when a strange beast suddenly jumped out at them. It looked like a huge lobster, but its body was three yards long and had eight legs as well as pincers that it kept swinging at everyone.

"Lunch is settled!" Blind was elated.

During lunch, Qin Mu roasted the strange beast, and its fragrance assaulted their nostrils. Grease flowed out from golden yellow tomalley which heightened everyone's appetite. Old Ma had fasted for a long time, so this time he also ate to his heart's content, leaving only the lobster's shell on the ground.

Qin Mu was bewildered. "Why was this type of strange beast here? There is no water around here."

As he was saying that, the mooing of cows came from the distance, and the forest shook. A couple fish monsters had smelled the fragrance and walked out of the forest. They had fish-like upper bodies that were twenty yards long, while their lower half had six sturdy legs. This group of strange beasts then mooed like cows.

Qin Mu looked over in the direction of the noise and saw the fish monsters sprinting as if they were flying. Their legs seemed to have evolved from their fins and had huge scales which were incomparably hard. When they walked, the thousands of scales were like mirrors which reflected the sunlight that was shining on them.

"There's no need for unnecessary killing once we filled our stomachs." Old Ma released his aura and scared the fish monsters away.

His aura was astonishing. It not only scared away the cow-like fish monsters, but also the 'birds' in the forest. When Qin Mu raised his head, he saw a swarm of fish that had grown wings flying into the distance.

He opened his Green Heaven's Eyes to have a look and saw black figures moving around on the mountain peaks far away. A couple huge octopi with eight tentacles shrunk their huge heads and retreated into their own territory, not daring to provoke them.

One of the octopus was startled enough to spew out a puff of black smoke which shrouded an area of seven hectares, turning the air there pitch black.

The four people then continued on their way and met a few fishmen who had fish heads and human bodies and were holding onto pitchforks for hunting.

"What a strange place," Blind muttered.

Qin Mu had lived in Great Ruins ever since he was young. He had seen such strange living beings since he was young, so he thought that fish and prawns should be like this, running around everywhere. At first, he had been surprised a bit, but he didn't put it to heart.

However, Blind and Granny Si hadn't always lived around here, so they knew what fish and prawns were like outside, so they found it strange.

Granny Si looked around and muttered, "This place should have been a huge sea that had magical creations. Once the sea disappeared, the living beings in it could only move onto the dry land and change their habits and abilities. However, aren't these changes a little too much…"

Blind also felt that it was outrageous, but the dragon qilin was the first to speak. He suddenly said, "I seemed to have come here before…"

Qin Mu was bewildered, but he still smiled. "You and Patriarch came here before?"

Dragon qilin shook his head. "No. What I meant was that the god had ridden me here last night."

In time, they saw a village full of the abandoned people of Great Ruins. They all looked as if they didn't know what to do next.

Qin Mu went forward to inquire about it, and an elder said, "Countless dragon king temples in the radius of hundreds of miles were destroyed last night. Many of the dragon kings that were worshiped in the temples actually had their heads cut off! We usually go to the dragon kings' temples to give our offerings and pray for good weather, but now that they've been destroyed, everyone is at a loss…"

Qin Mu was greatly shocked and immediately asked for more details.

"Yesterday, the storm was heavy and everyone in the village was rudely awoken. When we went outside, we saw that it was pitch black, and there was water above everyone's houses. That water just floated above, however, not landing down."

Qin Mu was stunned. Water floating above the roofs?

"The sound of waves was very loud, and there was light coming from the water above. Many people even saw dragons! It was like a huge sea was hanging in the sky, with slaughter happening within it. I saw bolts of lightning streaking through all the time, only stopping when dawn came.

"After daybreak, the water in the sky vanished. Only the trees looked like they had been rained on the whole night; the tree crowns filled with water. We then discovered that quite a number of temples had been destroyed, and the people that live in the temples said that they saw the stone statues of the divine dragons flying out."

Qin Mu stared with wide eyes. Stone statues of divine dragons flying out?

"A monk that lives in Divine Dragon Valley says that he saw a heavenly king carrying a blade and riding a plump monster. He barged in and slew the divine dragon king in Divine Dragon Valley, leaving with the head…"

After Qin Mu finished scouting out the information, he came back to tell Blind, Old Ma, and Granny Si. All of them looked at one another in dismay.

This incident was really too weird.

What happened yesterday night seemed real yet resembled fantasy—stone statues handing down decrees in the darkness, heavenly king's god statue wielding a blade to kill dragons kings, and the dragon qilin being a steed for the entire night. The abandoned people of Great Ruins even talked about a sea hanging in the sky and the heads of the dragon kings and dragon god being severed.

If one linked these incidents together, then what happened last night had to be real.

"That stone statue that handed out the decree last night said His Majesty had sent his decree from Carefree Village, the main problem lies here," an ancient voice said from Granny Si's mouth. "I think…"

"Amitabha!"

Old Ma transformed into a huge buddha to suppress Granny Si's heart. On the other side, Blind made a move to bind Granny Si in place. The two of them were nervous, but in the end they suppressed the devil nature of Granny Si.

Qin Mu also wiped away his cold sweat and hurried them, "Let's go, let's go. We should reach Great Thunderclap Monastery as soon as possible to prevent Cult Master Li from coming out to create havoc!"

As they hurried forward, they soon saw Divine Dragon Valley. There were countless sculptures of divine dragons that were surrounding a huge lake, and in the center of it was a sculpture of a dragon king.

Many of the divine dragon statues had collapsed, and all them seemed to have been severed by a single strike, from which they tumbled down to the ground. The divine dragon king's sculpture in the center of the lake also stood with a severed neck, but its head was nowhere to be seen.

"My god…" Granny Si gradually woke up and moaned when she saw this sight. "This part of Great Ruins is so mysterious. Are these stone statues just god statues or have they transformed living gods? I really don't understand…"

"Amitabha!"

Buddha rays shone brightly around Old Ma, and a white robe monk flew out from the heart of his brows and entered the heart of Granny Si's brows in a flash, suppressing her.

With a grim face, Old Ma said, "No time to delay, I won't be able to suppress him for much longer! Cult Master Li's primordial spirit is fusing at an incredible speed with Granny Si, and her cultivation has already broken through to Life and Death Realm! If we delay any longer, I'm afraid it won't be long before they will fuse completely and Cult Master Li will be able to finally take over the nest and become the owner of this body!"

Blind asked solemnly, "How long can you suppress him for?"

Old Ma shook his head. "I can still suppress him for now, but I might injure granny's mind if I exert too much force."

Blind said resolutely, "Hurry!"

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