Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 242: Once More

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

'The next generation's human emperor?'

Qin Mu was bewildered. This title was slightly weird. There was obviously an emperor in this world as well as cult and sect masters of all the various big sects. Everything was being managed and governed, so what would the human emperor do?

There seemed to be no free space in this world that the human emperor could rule.

"Human emperor is not high above, and he doesn't have any power, only responsibility," Village Chief explained. "Human emperor is not a position from which you will rule over all living things nor will it let you give you supremacy to recklessly wage wars to kill those that don't submit to you. Human emperor is a state of mind, a kind of righteousness and justice. Every human emperor has a treasured seal which was has been handed down since the first generation human emperor. I've thrown in under the bed, so go and fetch it."

Qin Mu went to Village Chief's room, and there was indeed a black lump under the bed. Once he took it out, he saw that it was a palm-sized black iron seal and with bird-worm seal script carved onto it.

Qin Mu passed the black iron seal to Village Chief, who said, "This is the Human Emperor's Seal, the supreme sacred artifact of our bloodline."

Qin Mu looked at the seal and mumbled, "Village Chief, does our bloodline have any other sacred artifacts?"

Angered, Village Chief smashed the Human Emperor's Seal onto Qin Mu's head, causing a big swelling on his forehead. This iron lump was then placed into Qin Mu's hands.

Village Chief said, "The Human Emperor's Seal has been passed to you, so you are now the next generation's human emperor."

'So simple?' Qin Mu was stunned.

Apothecary was also shocked. Village Chief had always said that his responsibility was too huge, his burden was too heavy, and the title of human emperor was too powerful and shocking. Because of that, he always thought that a grand ceremony would have to be held for Qin Mu to inherit the position of human emperor.

Never did he expect Village Chief to just throw a black lump at Qin Mu and be done.

"There are not many who know about the title of human emperor anymore. We are not a sect nor are we emperors of a country; it's just an inheritance. It's passed down from generation to generation, so there will only be one in each generation, and usually the smartest person with the best comprehension will be found to inherit the title. The smartest one in this generation is Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, but I don't think he would be interested. He has also already gone down his own path, so it would be hard for him to accept my inheritance and responsibility."

Village Chief sighed. "I'm also too lazy to go out, so after thinking for quite some you, I decided that you barely make the cut."

Qin Mu consoled, "Village Chief, don't force yourself, I think you can still find someone better."

Apothecary had a weird expression while Village Chief almost died from holding back. The brat was obviously finding it troublesome, and since there were no benefits, he really wasn't willing.

"Your guts have grown quite a lot since you went out; how dare you be sarcastic!" Village Chief sneered. "Are you going to be the human emperor or not?"

Qin Mu begrudgingly said, "Sure, sure, just give me all the dirty work. There's already plenty of it I have to do, so an extra human emperor won't make a difference."

Village Chief was speechless from anger. He wished he could grow out an arm just to knock the youth on the head as he scolded, "Countless people begged me to teach them my sword techniques, but I didn't teach them. They begged me to leave behind my inheritance to them, but I didn't give it to them. How dare you reject it like that?"

Qin Mu lowered his head and kicked away a pebble as he said resentfully, "I'm not rejecting, it's just that this title doesn't have any use. Village Chief, why don't you just teach me your sword skills and pass this title of human emperor to someone else?"

Village Chief smiled with anger and looked at Apothecary. "You say, is he rejecting it or not? Is it that embarrassing to be the human emperor? You're getting more and more ballsy!"

Apothecary coughed and said, "You two shall slowly talk this out, I will go take a look at my worms so that they don't freeze to death."

Village Chief was filled with anger, but then he suddenly came to the realization and broke out laughing. "Other people begged me to teach them, but I didn't, and now you're making me change my way to beg you to learn, is that right? You're becoming more and more mischievous. Honestly, you're really not fit to be the human emperor. I'm just really too lazy to go out, else I would definitely find an even more outstanding youth than you."

Qin Mu muttered softly with a pout, "I have an Overlord Body, who can be better than me?"

Village Chief almost choked to death. Qin Mu immediately went forward to massage the old man's back, and Village Chief regained his breath. So when Qin Mu was about to say something, the old man said, "Stop talking and let me relax, it's too much for my brain to handle…"

The corners of the old man's eyes twitched. As the initiator of the lie, he had finally received his comeuppance.

After some time, he managed to recompose himself. It had been just a white lie which everyone took for a truth, for which he felt secretly proud since everyone believed in it. Yet now he had chosen Qin Mu as his successor, so could he have also come to believe that the youth had an Overlord Body?

'Too many lies make me have no choice but to believe them even when I clearly know they're not the truth. Oh well, oh well.'

Village Chief relaxed and smiled. "We, as the human emperors, only have one responsibility"—light burst forth from his eyes as though countless sword lights were coming, dazzling Qin Mu's eyes—"to cut down gods, devils, and Heaven itself!

"What belongs to the gods is managed by gods, what belongs to the devils is managed by devils, what belongs to the humans is managed by humans! If gods or devils dabble with this, we'll cut off their hands!

"If gods or devils stick their necks out, we'll cut off their heads! This is the most basic responsibility of the human emperor.

"When you get stronger, you will have even more responsibilities. To cut down gods, to cut down devils, to cut down Heaven! Slay your way up to Heaven… Ey, come back!"

Qin Mu threw the Human Emperor's Seal back into Village Chief's hand and turned around to walk away.

Village Chief blew up, and his vital qi transformed into a huge hand to grab him back by his collar. With a pleasant countenance, he said, "You are the human emperor of this generation so how can you not know the aim of our bloodline? I haven't finish— Still trying to run? Apothecary, Apothecary, help me grab him!"

Apothecary didn't come, but Qin Mu still couldn't break free and was forced to give up.

Village Chief continued, "There aren't many rules for our bloodline bearers, and the aims are only these. I will impart my sword skills to you, but how much you will be able to comprehend will be up to you. That's right, we also have the Hall of Human Emperors, so you can drop by when you are free to witness the meritorious exploits of the past human emperors. Also, even if my sword skills are not bad, but if a god or devil saw you using them, they will definitely make a move to kill you— Stop running, you can't escape my grasp! I didn't run back then and succeeded this inheritance without thinking it through."

"Granny, save me!" Qin Mu called out for help.

Granny Si was full of smiles as she told Blind beside her, "Village Chief that old fellow is finally willing to teach Mu'er his legacy. Look, Mu'er is so happy that's he going to cry."

Blind turned his head and said in suspicion, "I heard him calling for help."

"He's elated." Granny Si beamed. "Village Chief's legacy has made countless people envious. He was the number one man in the world back then, the famous Sword God, so Mu'er is naturally speaking incoherently from being overjoyed."

Qin Mu simply couldn't break free, so he had to accept his fate and throw the Human Emperor's Seal into his taotie sack.

Village Chief was very pleased. "You have already learned the first move of Sword Picture, Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, now show me if you improved any after this while."

Qin Mu acknowledged this and executed Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers.

His execution was different from what Village Chief had taught him since he had incorporated Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's Spiral Sword Form, Drill Sword Form, and Swim Sword Form into it and added numerous variations.

After executing the move, Qin Mu retracted his sword qi back and looked at Village Chief nervously.

Village Chief was astonished and seemed to be thinking as he said, "This is the basic sword form Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor taught you?"

Qin Mu nodded. "Village Chief, I changed the Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers that you taught me, disrespecting you. Do you want to fire me and find another human emperor?"

"Not bad, not bad," Village Chief praised. "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is not bad, to be able to be original and create new moves on top of the fourteen basic sword forms. He is indeed more suitable to be the human emperor… However, you aren't bad as well, to not stick by the rules and even dare to execute the Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers you changed in front of me, very well, very well. Your vital qi thread has also changed, did you use Spiral Sword Form to refine your qi into a thread?"

Qin Mu nodded.

Village Chief said, "I shall use my Five Elements Realm's cultivation while you will use your new Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, and we will exchange a blow."

Qin Mu's eyes lighted up and he smiled. "Village Chief, if I defeat you with my move, can I not be the human emperor?"

Village Chief revealed a smile and refined his qi into a sword while saying leisurely, "Alright. If you can defeat me, I'll bring the Human Emperor's Seal to the grave."

Qin Mu took a deep breath, and his body suddenly changed. He transformed into the form of Venus Sovereign that had the head of a white tiger and stood on two dragons. His vital qi transformed into gold qi, and he gathered his qi into a sword whose sword lights instantly exploded forth!

Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers!

Under his sword, the mountains and rivers appeared like a painting being unscrolled to cover the entire village, sending Village Chief inside it!

Not only had he incorporated Imperial Preceptor's basic sword form, he had also incorporated the path of painting that Deaf had taught him. With thousands of mountains and rivers bombarding the opponent's face, it was as if the attack was a real world.

This kind of profound sword skill could no longer be described as a sword skill. It was a path, the path of a sword.

His Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers unleashed its full power, and at that moment, Village Chief's sword light flickered. It was Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers as well, so it was like two worlds colliding with each other. No sword light could be seen as a terrifying power burst forth!

Chi, chi, chi, chi!

Dozens of blood lights appeared around Qin Mu's body as he got injured in numerous places and flew backward. When he crashed into the wall of Butcher's shop, sword lights appeared and carved a pattern of mountains and rivers around him.

These were the traces left behind by Village Chief's sword lights.

"Once more!" Qin Mu shouted out and sealed the wounds on his body as he rushed towards Village Chief to execute Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers again. The next moment, a human figure flew out and crashed into Old Ma's house.

There was another pattern of mountains and rivers around the youth.

Qin Mu was stunned as he slid down from the wall. Applying the dragon's saliva on himself, he pondered hard and continued improving his Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers. After some time, he rushed towards Village Chief once again, "Once more!"

Boom.

The wall of the smithy gained the imprint of a human and around it was the pattern of mountains and rivers. This pattern was poles apart from the pattern on the other walls.

Every time Village Chief made a move, the patterns of the mountains and rivers were different.

Mute popped his head out of from the smithy and took a look at Qin Mu before laughing silently.

Qin Mu's face turned black as he applied the medicine before continuing to rack his brains. Getting rid of all the weakness in his move, he improved the sword skill.

"Once more!"

A human figure flew through majestic mountains and rivers before crashing into Deaf's wall.