Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 671: The Skeletons’ Debt of Gratitude

Chapter 671: The Skeletons’ Debt of Gratitude

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

On the journey ahead, they walked fifty to sixty thousand miles without any danger. They had already walked around Luofu Heaven. Even though Luofu Heaven was vast and stood upright in the center of Supreme Emperor Heaven, they couldn’t see it. Layers of huge lava waves and black wind hid it from sight. Only Qin Mu’s compass carriage could still determine the direction.

Everyone was exhausted, and even the gods were starting to tire out. They were fine if they were just to protect themselves, the crux was that they still had to protect tens of thousands of divine arts practitioners. As a result, they were overly exhausted, and their vital qi was depleting continuously.

Their stomachs were hungry, and their bodies gradually lost strength.

Xing An opened up his chest and took out some jerky to hand to Qin Mu. “You are the leader, and you shall hand them out.”

The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched, and he placed the jerky into his taotie sack. “Village Chief, Grandpa Butcher, come over here.”

He let the people of Disabled Elderly Village surround Butcher, causing him to hesitate for a moment. He cut into the meat and said, “The children might not be able to stomach this kind of meat.”

Qin Mu said, “Dice them into small cubes, everyone just needs a meat cube the size of a fingernail, gods can have slightly more. Can Grandpa Butcher dice them into tens of thousands of portions?”

“This is difficult; I’m afraid they won’t eat.”

Butcher’s knife skill was exquisite, and he quickly separated the jerky evenly. Qin Mu placed them onto a plate. A plate of diced meat was terrifyingly heavy. They shone with various colors, and even with his remarkable strength, he found it hard to lift them. Some of the diced meat even contained incomparably thick devil qi.

“Those who cultivate the god path can take diced meat that is giving off god rays, and everyone can have a small piece. Those who cultivate the devil path can take diced meat that is giving off devil rays, don’t take more.”

He gave out the dried meats. Xu Shenghua hesitated for a moment, and took two cubes, giving one to Jing Yan.

Jing Yan was slightly hesitant and asked with a low voice, “Cult Master, what meat is this?”

“Not human meat.”

Qin Mu hesitated and whispered back, “But it isn’t any good either. Numerous arms and legs are hanging in Xing An’s chest; there are even heads. This is the flesh of gods that don’t belong to the human race, and there isn’t much of it.”

After he had handed out the diced meat, Apothecary summoned him again. The two of them hurried to and fro, making spirit pills continuously. Granny Si used creation divine arts to grow spirit herbs and created cauldrons of spirit pills for the gods and divine arts practitioners to recover.

Even so, they had nothing to eat. Spirit pills alone weren’t enough to fill their stomach or quench their thirst.

“Can creation divine arts create water?” someone asked with a low voice.

Someone replied, “Stop talking and wasting the water in your body.”

Qin Mu flipped through his taotie sack and took out his remaining water to give everyone, but they could only get a few drops.

He prepared for an emergency under normal circumstances, but he didn’t have too much water in his taotie sack.

The corporeal body of divine arts practitioners was strong, and one could still live for quite a time even when dehydrated. He just needed to let everyone maintain a certain level of moisture in their body and survive until they reach Supreme Brightness Heaven.

“The water created by creation divine art is trying to change the most basic structure of a substance, this requires heaven-defying knowledge in creation divine arts. The one who probably has this level of attainment is First Ancestor Human Emperor, but he is severely injured...”

Qin Mu pouted his dry lips and looked in front. Everyone, including the gods, was dehydrated. Only the dragon qilin pulling the carriage was still full of vigor, running ahead with light footsteps.

Even his nemesis the big deer had depleted energy levels, becoming so skinny that only bones were left.

Only the dragon qilin was full of energy. He could control fire naturally, so he was literally in his natural habitat. Even the high heat was like taking a hot bath to him.

“Without water, we probably won’t reach Supreme Brightness Heaven...” Qin Mu’s throat was steaming, and he swallowed his saliva with difficulty. However, he had no more saliva, so there was only dry rubbing sound.

Five elements composed the divine arts in the world, but water attribute divine arts used the water vapor roaming in the surroundings to combine with their water vital qi, creating an apparition of water flooding everywhere. They weren’t truly water, and when the vital qi dispersed, water vapor would quickly scatter away.

Using creation divine arts to change the basic structure of a substance required extremely high attainments. It meant creating something from nothing.

Such abilities were something they couldn’t achieve.

They walked forward with difficulty, and nobody still had spirit beneath the scorching heat. They could only rely on their willpower to drag their tired bodies forward.

First Ancestor Human Emperor had already woken up, but his injuries were still very heavy. He needed True God Pang Yu to carry him, and Qin Mu could only hope Apothecary could help him. Only then could First Ancestor execute the methods of creation to create water from nothing.

Suddenly, a light came from the sky, and the gods that were defending against the impact looked up to see an unscrolled Life and Death Book flying over quickly. The book shone with a bright light over the sea of lava.

The Life and Death Book was bright like a mirror and showed names which moved quickly!

‘Life and Death Book!’

Qin Mu was astonished. The thing flying in the sky was a Life and Death Book, or to be exact, it was the Life and Death Book that was in the hands of Lou Yunqu and the rest!

Lou Yunqu relied on the power of the Life and Death Book to invade the sacrificial altars of Luofu Heaven, sacrificing it to cause the two worlds to collide!

The Life and Death Book has appeared again, shining at the sea of lava in Supreme Emperor Heaven. What were they going to do?

‘If it’s to seize me, he doesn’t need to activate the Life and Death Book. In that case, he must be trying to capture all of us in one go!’

When Qin Mu looked around, he could only see tired soldiers. The people couldn’t fight at all, and even the gods were completely exhausted.

‘Supreme Emperor Heaven is being destroyed and has a horrible environment. Lou Yunqu should only be able to awaken some god skeletons. Luckily, there aren’t too many...’

The moment he thought to that point, huge god skeletons suddenly rose from the sea of lava. The bones were still flowing within the lava. The lava and flames on the skeletons extinguished, and their skulls were empty, leaving nothing but ghostly flames floating in their eye sockets.

More and more god skeletons rose from the sea of lava. One, two, ten, a hundred... the number kept increasing!

The corners of Qin Mu’s eyes twitched. He wanted to say something, but his voice was hoarse. “True God Pang Yu, can you guys still fight?”

True God Pang Yu, God Sang Ye and the rest had withered complexions. Their lips were dry, causing blood to flow out from cracked places. The people from Disabled Elderly Village weren’t doing well either. To protect the tens of thousands of people, they had been dealing with disasters from all directions, and they were exhausted.

Qin Mu looked at Xing An who was currently opening his chest and taking out several arms and legs. He replaced his legs and arms with new ones.

He changed his body, taking out some god’s blood to replace his own.

“I can fight.”

After Xing An changed his blood, he said indifferently, “There are too many god skeletons, so I can’t protect you guys for too long. The body parts in my chest are limited. Also, I have a term.”

He looked at Apothecary and said solemnly, “Have Jade Face Poison King completely solve the hidden symptoms in my body! If you guys don’t agree I will turn and leave!”

Apothecary frowned. “If I don’t agree, where else can you go? You can’t leave Supreme Emperor Heaven, and you can’t go back to Eternal Peace!”

Qin Mu sighed and said, “He can leave. The compass carriage has already pointed out the way to Supreme Brightness Heaven for him. Xing An is intelligent, so he would definitely realize that.”

Xing An revealed a smile. “Only I can save you guys now. In that case, Poison King, will you agree to my terms?”

“Alright.”

Apothecary spoke without hesitation, “I will write down the prescription for you, but you have to fight until you die!”

Xing An shook his head. “I can’t. If my life is in any danger, I will leave immediately and not sacrifice myself here.”

Apothecary sneered. “If you aren’t fighting to your death, what’s the point of having you!”

Xing An’s eyes lit up and the skeletons of the gods seemed to have received orders, rushing over.

Xing An immediately left, but his voice sounded out from a distance. “The time where you guys have to beg me will come!”

He flew away and abandoned everyone.

Butcher pulled out his knife and shouted loudly, “Fight to the death!”

Knife light rushed into the sky, and the other gods also took out their divine weapons. They gritted their teeth and stared at the god skeletons that were rushing over.

Even though they were already exhausted, the lives of tens of thousands of divine arts practitioners laid in their hands. They had put aside the rights to decide their life and death.

More and more god skeletons appeared and drew closer and closer. The massive skeletons were stepping on the sea of lava, running so fast it looked as though they were flying. Their footsteps raised astonishing waves, and the atmosphere was terrifying.

God Sang Ye suddenly said with a smile, “Senior Brother Pang Yu, if these young fellows could survive, there would be many among them that could cultivate to the level of god, am I right?”

True God Pang Yu was carrying First Ancestor on his back, and he smiled. “That is natural. These bunch of youngsters is much smarter than us, and they also have a lot of abilities. Those that can cultivate to gods would be no inferior to our ancestors, and they might even reach a height we couldn’t.”

The gods smiled and said, “In that case, if we fight to the death for them, it’s worth it!”

Grandpa Butcher laughed loudly and shouted, “Village Chief, granny, you guys shall send them off first. I will cover the back and cut them off. Are both of you confident in facing the danger ahead?”

Granny Si became solemn and said firmly, “Until death puts an end!”

“Okay!”

The gods shouted as they rushed towards the god skeletons with world-shaking roars.

Village Chief sighed and solemnly said, “Let us go! I shall use all of my cultivation to open up a path for you guys!”

Just as his words fell in their ears, the sea of lava suddenly boiled as huge gas bubbles welled up. Village Chief was astonished and his vital qi transformed into his four limbs. Pressing down on his sword, he stared at the sudden transformation from the sea of lava.

Whoosh—

Lava rushed into the sky and a huge bone dragon clad in worn out armor rushed out. Behind the bone dragon, armor-clad god skeletons were sprinting furiously. There were close to a thousand of them leaping out from the sea!

Village Chief’s expression turned pale white, and the vital qi palm that was holding his sword started to tremble.

On the forehead of that huge bone dragon, a god skeleton that wore a worn-out cape stood with a worn-out battle-ax in his hand. Swinging his battle-ax, he laughed loudly and ordered, “Soldiers of Southern Heaven Southern Dipper Division, raze these monsters down for me!”

Whoosh. Countless god skeletons jumped over Village Chief and the rest and moved towards the skeletons that Butcher, Pang Yu and the others were fighting.

Village Chief had a dazed look as he turned his head back to see the skeleton army fighting with the skeleton army. Instantly, shattered bones began flying in random directions!

The skeletons that had rushed past them seemed to be a well-trained troop. The formation they laid out allowed them to rush ahead as though they were slicing melon, crushing the opponent’s army into nothingness!

Everyone was astonished by this sudden change of events. Village Chief turned his head back and suddenly saw that bone dragon lowering its head. The skeleton general on the skull put down his battle-ax and bowed. “Founding Emperor Celestial Heavens, Southern Heaven Southern Dipper Division, Supreme Emperor Heaven Provincial Governor, Wei Liao, pay my respects to benefactor! It’s rare to meet benefactor again, and I didn’t expect it to be under such a circumstance.”

Even though he was only a skeleton, he had an extraordinary presence and heroic spirit. Just by hearing his voice, one could imagine he was an awe-inspiring god general during his lifetime!

The tens of thousands of people were at a loss, and they didn’t know what to do.

Suddenly, they heard a voice from the crowd. “Provincial Governor Wei Liao is too courteous. Please rise.”

Everyone looked towards the source of the voice, and they saw Qin Mu walking out from the crowd. This young cult master bowed slightly and raised his hands.