Tales of Herding Gods

‘Xiao is Celestial Emperor, and Qiang is Grand Emperor. No wonder they are so close to Celestial Venerable Gong. Celestial Venerable Gong should be Gong Yun. These three identities are confirmed true.’

‘But then, what about Celestial Venerable Hong and Heavenly Lady Yan?’

He felt a severe migraine in his head. Is Celestial Venerable Yan Celestial Empress or Mistress Yuanmu?

She should be one of the Celestial Empress sisters. Noble and aloof, she is most likely to be Celestial Empress. In that case, who is Celestial Venerable Hong?

“Back then, when Grand Emperor was trapped and killed by Celestial Venerable Yun in the Great Void, Da Hong flew to Heavenly Han Celestial Heavens to take revenge. I blocked Da Hong and used the Supreme Divine Consciousness Domain that Celestial Venerable Yun and Celestial Venerable Ling researched to fight him.”

Qin Mu looked down and thought to himself, ‘At that time, I had almost completely died, but I forced Da Hong to be injured and he had no choice but to retreat. When I went to Dragon Han Celestial Heavens six hundred thousand years ago, it was when Celestial Venerable Yun plotted against ancient god Celestial Emperor and when Celestial Emperor lost his life. I went to find Celestial Venerable Gong to treat her injuries, and Celestial Venerable Gong told me Da Hong was dead. Someone must have taken advantage of Da Hong’s injuries to kill him and obliterate his divine consciousness.’

“It should have been at that time that someone borrowed Da Hong’s corpse to traverse the world. He replaced Grand Emperor to become Da Hong, becoming the future Celestial Venerable Hong.”

‘Grand Emperor must have borrowed his Divine Consciousness Grand Overarching Heaven[1] to descend into the world and become Heavenly Lady Qiang, becoming a member of Celestial Emperor’s harem.’

Qin Mu opened his eyes. “In that case, who is Da Hong? Why does he keep reminding me about my acknowledgement of debt? And where did Mistress Yuanmu go? Who did she become? She must be in Celestial Heavens. If she’s not among the ten Celestial Venerables, where is she hiding?”

“As one of the oldest ancient gods, Mistress Yuanmu should be heading towards Ancestral Court, right?”

Suddenly, the carriage stopped.

“Celestial Venerables, that huge crack is here!”, the heavenly dragon’s voice came from outside.

Everyone stood up and walked out of the carriage. Celestial Venerable Hao’s carriage had also arrived and stopped. Celestial Venerable Hao, God Sovereign Lang Xuan, and Divine King Zu looked towards the huge crack.

When they saw the crack, the width was surprisingly nearly as wide as the entire Celestial heavens, and it was dyed blood red. It was so shocking that words cannot describe it!

Looking into Ancestral Court from here, one could see numerous huge strange beasts lying on the cracks like spiders: trying to tear the cracks apart and break the seal.

They were void beasts, numbered many and packed densely.

At the same time, huge eggs kept falling from the void. When they landed, they immediately transformed into smaller void beasts.

Even though these void beasts had just broken out of their shells, they moved as fast as an adult void beast as soon as they were born. They grew as they encountered the wind, and they quickly climbed up the tall mountains. With a leap, they spread out their six limbs, and the membranes between their legs spread open with a whoosh. They flapped their wings and flew towards the crack.

It was easy for a one adult void beast to slaughter an army of hundreds of gods and devils. If so many void beasts rushed out from Ancestral Court, it would definitely be a calamity aimed at all the myriad realms!

Qin Mu looked at Heavenly Lady Qiang, who was still chatting and joking with Celestial Venerable Gong.

“They are both masters of creation. Grand Emperor wants to enter Ancestral Court and release all the void beasts while Celestial Venerable Gong has deep feelings for Ancestral Court. After all, Ancestral Court is the motherland of the masters of creation.”

Qin Mu thought to himself, “Those two want to break the seal of Ancestral Court, but their goals are different. As for the ancient gods, such as Celestial Emperor Xiao and the Celestial Empress sisters, their goal is to reseal Ancestral Court. Maybe Celestial Empress sisters think differently, but Celestial Venerable Xiao must think so. As for Celestial Venerable Hao, Celestial Venerable Lang, Divine King Zu, and the rest, they want to enter Ancestral Court and obtain various treasures of value. They even want to monopolize Ancestral Court!”

With a smile on his face, his gaze landed on Celestial Venerable Hong, and his smile froze.

He couldn’t understand what this old man wanted to do.

Thinking about it carefully, Celestial Venerable Hong seemed to have done everything he could, yet he also seemed to have done nothing.

This Celestial Venerable seemed to be a passer-by among the ten Celestial Venerables of Celestial Heavens. When the Celestial Emperor’s egg was stolen, he had appeared. When the Void Bridge in the Great Void was discovered, he ran over to take a look.

West Deity White Tiger planned to seize his Divine Weapon Celestial Venerable Yu by force, but he had also appeared. He asked Qin Mu for an acknowledgement of debt, and after some formality, he left happily.

Now that Ancestral Court had appeared, he also ran over as though it had nothing to do with him and he was just watching a show.

Qin Mu blinked, and Celestial Venerable Hong also noticed his gaze. He hurriedly came forward, holding an acknowledgement of debt in his hand.

Qin Mu’s face turned gloomy, and he muttered, “I know, I remember. Dao Friend Hong doesn’t have to take it out every time you see me.”

Celestial Venerable Hong put away the acknowledgement of debt and said with a smile, “I was just afraid you would forget.”

Qin Mu’s face was black, and he wanted to stay away from him. However, Celestial Venerable Hong went forward and examined Ancestral Court through the huge crack. He chuckled and said, “It’s really terrifying inside... When we split benefits later, it’s better for our territory to be close.”

Qin Mu took a look at him and nodded silently.

“Now that Ancestral Court has appeared, it’s probably impossible to seal it again.”

Celestial Venerable Hao clearly had some understanding of Ancestral Court. “Ancestral Court starred during the Primordial Era. All the ancient gods worked together, as well as numerous powerful half-gods, to seal it during the Darkness Era. Many of the ancient gods from back then have already died, and there are fewer half-gods compared to back then. Now that the seal has been broken, it can’t be sealed again.”

He looked at Divine King Zu and God Sovereign Lang Xuan and said, “Both of you are from that era, so you must know a lot more. My words are correct, right?”

God Sovereign Lang Xuan said politely, “Celestial Venerable Hao is correct.”

Divine King Zu said with a smile, “I was born a little later, so I haven’t experienced the Darkness Era. However, I’ve heard my father mention it before. He said that there’s a great terror in Ancestral Court, so Celestial Emperor led the gods and half-gods of the world to seal Ancestral Court for the sake of the living things in the world. The people of that time no longer exist, so it’s now impossible to repair the seal.”

Heavenly Lady Yan said, “The matter that Celestial Venerable Mu mentioned about splitting benefits equally is still feasible.”

Everyone’s gaze landed on Qin Mu.

Divine King Zu snorted coldly, “You want to split with us equally? What abilities do you have?”

Qin Mu said indifferently, “Son of Heaven Duke, you should at least call me Dao brother. I’m the sole existence that can enter Ancestral Court. Without me, you guys can only drool whilst staring at Ancestral Court!”

Divine King Zu was furious and gave him a murderous look. He then flew towards the crack in Ancestral Court and sneered, “What’s so difficult about entering?”

He barged into the crack.

Celestial Venerable Hong said quietly, “Dao Brother Mu, if he manages to barge in, we won’t split the benefits with you equally.”

The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched as he looked at Divine King Zu’s figure anxiously.

In the crack, Divine King Zu was getting further away from them. However, his steps were becoming slower, as though he was enduring boundless pressure. Furthermore, the pressure was becoming stronger and stronger!

Every step he took was difficult. He felt like the Primordial Realm, the Four Extreme Heavens, Xuandu, Youdu, Ruins of the End[1], and the Celestial River were all pressing down on him!

Not only that, numerous Great Dao markings appeared around him, transforming into the forms of ancient gods. As he went deeper, they became clearer and clearer!

One could even faintly see the huge backs of myriad worlds gradually appearing!

Divine King Zu roared furiously and retreated. After a moment, he appeared in front of everyone with an ashen face and said coldly, “I have no objections to splitting benefits equally!”

Qin Mu smiled, “Nephew Zu...”

“Bah!”

Divine King Zu almost spat on his face and said angrily, “You wanted me to call you Dao brother just now, and now you are calling me nephew? Your seniority is rising so quickly!”

[1] I have decided against changing this translation. I am going to change Soaring Heaven back to Numinous Sky to avoid confusion as Numinous Sky can still work in future translations.

TL: If anyone is bored waiting for the translation, consider reading his previous works (I haven’t read them yet as they’re not fully translated T.T). Apparently, his latest book 临渊行 (Journey on the Brink of Abyss) features a cameo from this book’s world. Journey on the Brink of Abyss actually ties in with his earlier works: 独步天下 (no translation), 人道至尊 (Rise of Humanity, got dropped so close to the end) and 牧神记 (Tales of Herding Gods, currently translated)...