Tales of Herding Gods
Page 402Chapter 402: Xing An
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Other than Granny Si, everyone else in Disabled Elder Village had one thing they were great at, which could also be said to be their unique point. All of them had cultivated it to the god realm.
Since their path to the divine bridge was broken and they couldn't advance into an even higher realm, they spent all their efforts in one area of research. This had made their abilities able to match those of the gods of High Heavens, and they weren't weak like Dragon Rearing Sovereign, that kind of fake god.
Reaching god realm in one area alone allowed them to fight against the strong practitioners of High Heavens, so what would happen if one could reach god realm in all areas?
Wouldn't they become a real god?
It was obvious that the strong practitioner called Xing An walked such a path, but the strategy he took was not of researching things himself. Instead, he wanted to take what was already from other people's bodies.
After all, a person's energy was limited, and without repairing the divine bridge, their lifespan was also limited. They could only live to eight hundred years. If Xing An focused on cultivating and researching diligently, he could at most reach the god realm in two areas. On the other hand, by taking them off other people's bodies, he could gather a body on the god realm, making him like a true god!
He was a strong practitioner that was on par with Village Chief, so accordingly to logic, he should be as old as Village Chief, yet he was still a youth. It meant that he had taken more than just Cripple's legs and Blind's eyes. There were definitely other strong practitioners that had suffered at his lethal hands!
No one could clearly say which step his abilities had reached.
Blind's eyes were the strongest divine eyes, and Cripple's legs were the strongest divine legs. Just these two things could allow him to rise to the top among the strong practitioners in their world.
Yet he had definitely taken more god realm body parts from other people.
With such a strong practitioner aiming for Old Ma's arms, Old Ma might not be his opponent even though he was Rulai.
Butcher stood up and said, "I shall go find Old Ma."
"Butcher, are your knives the strongest thing about you?" Village Chief suddenly asked.
Butcher stopped in his footsteps. "No. The strongest part of me is actually my heart."
Rumbles came from his body like the vibrations of heavenly thunder. It sounded like a giant beating drum on the battlefield, but it was just his heartbeat's rumble that made everyone's eardrum rang.
He roused his qi and blood, and the sound of his heartbeat gave everyone a feeling that the thickest and heaviest heavenly knife had come out of its sheath. That knife was copious, sharp, and able to conquer every obstacle!
Heaven Knife's knife wasn't the Pig Slaughtering Knives in his hands, but he himself.
The Heaven Knife required a strong energy source to execute it, and that energy source was his heart.
Qin Mu opened his Cinnabar Heaven's Eyes and looked at Butcher. What he saw wasn't a person, but a knife!
With every beat, the heart sent matchless qi and blood to all parts of Heaven Knife!
Butcher had cultivated his heart into a divine heart.
Village Chief said, "He needs your heart, a divine heart."
Butcher shook his head and said, "I'm not afraid of him."
"He's also not afraid of you. Even if you fight him, your chances of victory are slim. If you go to find Old Ma by yourself, you will definitely be intercepted midway. Mute, what's your strongest part?"
Mute was sitting while smoking his water pipe. When he heard Village Chief's words, he knocked the water paper out and put the pipe back on his waist.
The furnace on his back suddenly ignited without fire, but everyone soon noticed that what had ignited it wasn't vital qi. What was overflowing with heat wasn't his furnace either, but his body.
His vital qi became incomparably scorching as though there was a furnace burning furiously in his abdominal cavity. It was like a small sun spinning frantically as it grew more powerful!
It looked like a sun was continuously accumulating power for a world-shaking explosion!
"Mute, your dantian has been refined into a divine furnace, so Xing An will also need it." Village Chief then looked at Deaf and shook his head. "Deaf, even though your painting path has reached its extreme, Xing An won't need what's on your body. He can't take away your skill."
Deaf raised his head and took a glance at Apothecary. "The quack shouldn't be in his eyes as well. His cultivation is too low; he's only at Celestia Being Realm.
Apothecary smiled and said, "At least I won't starve to death no matter where I walk to in the martial world, unlike a certain painter."
Deaf did not care about his words, feeling proud about himself. "The earnings from one painting of mine can buy a couple of mansions in the capital, while you can swiftly go bankrupt if you cause someone to die from your treatment."
"Xing An needs Apothecary," Village Chief suddenly said. Everyone was slightly stunned, so he continued, "He needs Apothecary's skill to help him change his body."
Apothecary shuddered.
"You guys don't need to worry. Butcher, Mute, Apothecary, follow me, we shall head to Great Thunderclap Monastery together. Deaf, Cripple, Blind, you guys shall stay. Xing An's target is us so he won't come for you guys. We shall be on our way then. Mu'er, you shall also stay and celebrate New Years here. We'll go to Great Thunderclap Monastery to eat vegetarian meals. Let's go!"
Blind's expression was calm when he said, "My Long Tuo would like to meet him again. The divine spear was defeated under his hand, and the long-awaited revenge is due."
Village Chief shook his head and said, "This isn't just about you. An expert is also needed here, since Cripple won't do. When he had one leg, he could still run, but now both are gone. It's best if you stay."
Blind frowned, but didn't say anything.
Apothecary fetched a herb basket and placed Village Chief in it. They left with Butcher and Mute. Numerous women came, planning to leave with Apothecary, but he begged for mercy. "Good sisters, I will be back in a few days. I won't run away, don't worry!"
When only Cripple, Blind, Deaf, and Qin Mu were left in the hall, Cripple started to bawl again. "Mu'er is now the fastest in our village, I couldn't run even if I wanted to…"
Qin Mu immediately consoled him, and Cripple's emotions gradually stabilized. But then he saw that there was nothing below his waist again, and sorrow couldn't help flooding out from his heart. He cried again, "I could still hop around on one leg in the past, I could still run extremely fast, but now I can't hop even if I wanted to!"
"Grandpa Cripple, I can attach two deer legs for you. I see that there are quite a number of deer demons in the mountains. With my skill, it won't be hard to make the change." Qin Mu suggested.
"Deer's legs are crooked, I will have to kneel down after just walking a few steps. Don't want!"
Qin Mu could only leave it. Deaf found Cripple too noisy and went back to his own hall.
Cripple was full of tears as he muttered about how Deaf was avoiding him. Blind also planned to go, but Qin Mu stopped him. "Grandpa Blind, I met the number one divine eyes of Founding Emperor Era, the eyes of Zi Qing. They had imprinted some runes in my eyes, but there's only the imprints, no technique, so I don't understand how to activate them."
"When you came in, I saw that your eyes were very peculiar. I can feel a strange energy brewing in your eyes, but it's unstable." Blind put away his thoughts to find Xing An, full of interest in regards to Founding Emperor Era's number one divine eyes. "Can you light up those runes again. I would like to check their pattern."
Cripple whined, "My legs…"
Blind frowned and said, "Cripple keeps whining, so let's go discuss this elsewhere until he runs out of words."
Qin Mu immediately took leave from Cripple, and the two of them came to the lake beside the hall. Some mermaids with fish heads and human bodies ran over with fruits plucked from the mountains. "Old Master, eat some fruits."
Qin Mu picked up a red fruit, but it screamed, "Don't eat me!"
Qin Mu immediately placed the fruit down and saw over a dozen fruits rolling around in the plate. "Ow, ow! I'm bleeding!"
"Stop looking. When the god's blood was scattered on the mountain, all the fruits and trees became strange." Blind shook his head and said, "All of the fruits have become demons."
As they were talking, a bright red fruit grew arms and touched the red juice that had leaked out from its body. "I'm bleeding, I'm dying!" After saying that, it fainted.
The other fruits immediately rolled over and cried miserably.
Qin Mu's scalp crawled, and he hurriedly poured the fruits on the plate away. They became delighted and even the fruit that had fainted also woke up. The demons rapidly rolled away, to the body of a tree demon that was passing by. They went to hang on the head of the tree demon and only then let out sighs of relief.
Suddenly, a deer demon that was beside the tree demon sneakily took a bite from a fruit. The fruit demons exclaimed and cried miserably again, cursing the deer demon. The tree demon was furious and fought with the deer demon.
Qin Mu was astonished. He looked at the two demons that were fighting with a blank gaze. The mermaids ran over and plucked the fruits off the tree demon again, sending them right to Qin Mu and Blind's face.
"I'm already used to the sight of strange things." Blind shook his head. "You haven't gone up the mountain, that's where the really weird stuff exists. The grass and vines there can really annoy one to death. Ignore them. Mu'er, activate the imprints in your divine eyes and show them to me!"
Qin Mu did as asked and executed Pleiades Sun Star Hoops that Yan Jingjing had imparted to him. Star hoops instantly lighted up in his eyes, and the sun that was in the center of the star hoops instantly exploded with dazzling sunlight. The demons that were creating a commotion were frightened into crouching on the ground and not daring to move.
Qin Mu executed Pleiades Sun Star Hoops again, and Blind smiled. "That's it, there's a pupil skill; however, the power of the runes was not activated. They are a little interesting, though. If my eyes were still around, I could take another step forward. What a pity… Mu'er, let me try to merge Nine Heavens Eyes Awakening Skill with these runes, though it might take a few days. After I finish, I'll teach it to you."
Qin Mu nodded.
Blind memorized the runes in his divine eyes while smiling. "Go spend some time with your lovely wives; there's no need to keep following an old geezer like me. I won't go and find Xing An, so you can be at ease.
Qin Mu was still worried he would go look for Xing An for revenge, so there was unease in his heart.
Ling Yuxiu shouted at him from afar, "The one who herds cows, we are going up the mountain to gather some fruits to prepare as New Year's goods! Are you coming?"
"Go ahead." Blind smiled.
Qin Mu could only run over and say to Ling Yuxiu, "The fruits on the mountain have become demons, so they will bite."
"Granny said that there are some fruits on the mountain that had not become demons yet and they can be eaten. It's just that those mermaids don't recognize the difference," Hu Ling'er said.
When they came up the mountain, they saw many fruit trees, but when the fruits heard that they had come up to gather them, they immediately pulled up their roots and ran away, making everyone stare after them blankly.
"You're stepping on me!" a small grass shouted angrily. "Where are my brothers?"
Everyone immediately escaped for their lives while chased by a bunch of grass men pursuing them relentlessly. After the commotion, they found the fruit garden mentioned by Granny Si, where the fruits had not turned into demons. Qin Mu took a bite, and the fruit was very sweet and fragrant.
Yan Jingjing, Ling Yuxiu, and Si Yunxiang carried baskets to pluck the fruits while Hu Ling'er sat on the branches of the tree to eat. Soon, her tummy bulged, and she laid down with her tails drooping.
"What a fragrant fruit!"
Suddenly, a voice spoke, and Qin Mu looked toward it. He saw a youth in white walking out from the mountains while carrying a huge chest.
Qin Mu took a couple fruits from a basket and smiled. "Where's brother from? Where are you going?"
The youth gave his thanks and praised the fruits endlessly after he tasted one. "There's the flavor of god's blood, so it's truly delicious. I don't have a fixed residence, so I'm usually wandering around. I'm here to meet Divine Physician Qin to ask him for help in curing my illness."
Qin Mu blinked and asked, "Divine Physician Qin? Cure illness? What illness has brother contracted?"
The youth let out a sigh and said, "Terminal illness."
Qin Mu's gaze flashed. "How can I address brother?"
The youth buried the fruit in the earth and carefully covered it with dirt. "Xing An."