Tales of Herding Gods
chapter-4

"Since Grandpa Cripple’s leg technique is so fast that he is able to run through the sky, who was it that chopped his leg off? Grandpa Ma’s fists are so powerful, but who severed his right arm from his body? And who could have gotten past Grandpa Butcher’s knives and cut him in half?

Having witnessed the true abilities of Butcher, Old Ma, and Cripple, Qin Mu was both awestruck and confused.

Upon completion of his leg training session with Cripple, Qin Mu’s body finally finished digesting the energy in the blood of the four spirits, improving his constitution. By that time, exhaustion threatened to overwhelm him, and he desperately wanted to just lay down and sleep.

However, this was only the start of his suffering.

Almost every day, the elderly in the village would capture vicious beasts, refine blood of the four spirits from them, and have Qin Mu to drink all of it. Once he did, the insane series of training sessions would commence, tormenting him over and over until he was thoroughly worn out.

Besides learning leg, fist, and knife techniques from Cripple, Old Ma, and Butcher respectively, Qin Mu also learned blacksmithing from Mute, painting and calligraphy from Deaf. He even learned how to use echolocation and staff techniques from Blind, all while wearing a blindfold.

Whenever Qin Mu became dead tired, Village Chief would call him over and have him practice breathing techniques. The breathing technique that Village Chief taught him was the powerful, specialized Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.

Although Qin Mu wasn’t aware of how powerful the so-called Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique was, the fatigue in his body, which had accumulated over the course of multiple training sessions, would fade whenever he trained with Village Chief. Qin Mu would feel lively and refreshed after a short while, so he considered the breathing technique miraculous.

Apothecary’s gaze wavered as he waited for Qin Mu to walk away, then spoke up in a soft voice. "Village chief, you only taught him the most ordinary Daoyin Technique, right?"

"That’s correct. It’s just the Daoyin Technique," Village Chief said, not bothering to deny it. "The Four Great Spirit Bodies all have techniques of their own. The Green Dragon Spirit Body uses the Qi of the Green Dragon to cultivate, and the White Tiger Spirit Body uses the Qi of the White Tiger to cultivate. The Vermillion Bird and Black Tortoise Spirit Bodies use Qi of the Vermillion Bird and Qi of the Black Tortoise to cultivate respectively. However, Qin Mu’s body does not contain any of these four vital qi attributes, preventing him from using any of the Four Great Spirit Bodies techniques to cultivate. Since he can’t cultivate any of the techniques we use, I could only teach him the simplest technique. Even ordinary people can learn the Daoyin Technique and use it to cultivate as it’s the only technique that does not require attributes.

This explanation left Apothecary puzzled. "But the Daoyin Technique is too simple… too normal! One would certainly be able to become a martial arts practitioner by using it, but they would have fewer accomplishments as a result!"

"I originally thought that as well," Village Chief said. Then a strange expression appeared on his face. "However, I think that we may have been underestimating the Daoyin Technique. I have had Qin Mu cultivate with it since childhood, and now his vital qi is extremely formidable. The only way he could unleash its full power, however, is if his vital qi possessed an attribute.

Apothecary trembled. "Just how formidable is his vital qi?"

"If his vital qi were the same attribute as your Green Dragon vital qi, Qin Mu’s strength would be equal to half the power of your Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure."

Village Chief’s words caused Apothecary to jump in shock.

"I’ve already broken the Celestial Being Wall and awakened the Celestial Being Divine Treasure," he cried. "I spent years fully awakening the Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, and Six Directions Divine Treasures! Half the power of my Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure is equivalent to that of a peak martial arts practitioner! For Qin Mu’s strength to be on par with a peak martial arts practitioner without awakening his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure... If he manages to awaken his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, won’t he be several times stronger than if he had one of the Four Great Spirit Bodies? How is this still the Daoyin Technique?"

Village Chief was just as confused as Apothecary was. "The Daoyin Technique is indeed mysterious. Although it’s a simple breathing technique, the foundation it establishes is solid beyond belief. Mu’er has been cultivating for ten years which definitely isn’t a short time. The Daoyin Technique might have been slow when he first started using it to cultivate, but I’ve recently noticed that Mu’er’s strength has been increasing by leaps and bounds. His improvement is especially terrifying on days that he consumes the blood of the four spirits! If the Daoyin Technique weren’t so common, I would have thought that it was some godly technique…"

Both them wore strange expressions.

Apothecary let out a ragged breath and shook his head. "It’s still useless. Regardless of how strong he gets, vital qi devoid of attributes can’t unleash much power. How far do you think he’ll be able to use the Daoyin Technique to cultivate?"

The look on Village Chief’s face became even stranger. "I have no idea."

Apothecary nodded in understanding.

The Daoyin Technique was the most basic technique that children would normally use to build their foundations. Once a child became ten years old, that foundation would have developed enough to withstand the impacts of spirit blood. After confirming the type of spirit body a child possessed, they would no longer need to cultivate using the Daoyin Technique.

Better techniques would be available once a person broke any of the Walls, so further progress with the Daoyin Technique wouldn’t be necessary.

As for ordinary people who used the Daoyin Technique to cultivate... they would never have the chance to drink spirit blood daily as Qin Mu did.

Only powerful, influential families would be able to provide such a luxury, but none would waste a huge amount of resources on an ordinary heir. No such family would do what the elderly in Disabled Elderly Village did and constantly catch exceptional spirits beasts just to aid in the cultivation of an ordinary person like Qin Mu.

Village Chief had never heard of anyone cultivating the Daoyin Technique to its maximum potential, let alone to the level that Qin Mu was currently at.

As a result, he had no idea what level Qin Mu would be able to reach in the future.

What ended up shocking Apothecary and Village Chief the most was, in the days to come, Qin Mu’s cultivation became increasingly profound. The supposedly common Daoyin Technique caused an extraordinary change in his body, making his foundation to be extremely solid!

In just a month’s time, Qin Mu became able to endure consuming even more blood of the four spirits, and his vital qi became even denser than it would have been if he had just awakened his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure!

However, even though his vital qi was so dense, its lack of attributes prevented him from unleashing any power. This made Qin Mu unable to show the true abilities of his cultivation.

Yet the density of his vital qi also came with positive effects! Qin Mu became very good at enduring hits and could also recover extremely fast. He eventually got to a point in his training where he could properly face each of his teachers. He could properly clash with Butcher’s knives, withstand Old Ma’s fists, trade staff blows with Blind while wearing a blindfold, endure leg training with Cripple, and finish off the series of training sessions by going to Mute the Blacksmith and forging iron equipment with a hundred pound hammer. Even with such high-intensity training, Qin Mu only needed to cultivate with the "Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique," inhaling and exhaling accordingly, and he would be completely refreshed.

The wondrous effect of the "Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique" left even Village Chief in shock. He got Apothecary to secretly check on Qin Mu’s physical condition, find out if there was any hidden damage caused by Qin Mu overworking himself, and prevent it from becoming permanent.

After checking on Qin Mu, Apothecary returned to Village Chief with a weird look on his face. "I didn’t find any hidden damage caused by overwork or exhaustion. In fact, since his vital qi is so dense, it’s already starting to improve his constitution."

Village Chief was stumped. Despite him being extremely knowledgeable, he had never seen a situation like Qin Mu’s. To cultivate the most common Daoyin Technique to this extent had already surpassed everybody’s understanding of the breathing technique.

"Qin Mu, you will learn to tailor from granny today. No more fist training." Granny Si called out to Qin Mu.

The hunchbacked old woman walked over carrying a small basket filled with needles and thread. As her small steps took her out of the village, Qin Mu rushed forward and took the basket from her arm, asking, "Granny, aren’t we supposed to learn to tailor in the village? Why are we going outside?"

"We are going outside today to teach you how to really tailor and make... real clothes."

Granny Si chuckled. "Old Ma, Cripple, and the rest of those old fogeys have recently gotten around to teaching you some actual skills. In light of that, Granny can’t be stingy. Today, I’ll be teaching you what a tailor does best."

What a tailor does best? Qin Mu thought in confusion. Doesn’t a tailor just make clothes?

In spite of his confusion, Qin Mu followed Granny Si out of the village and down to the river. Even though Granny Si was a hunchback, her footsteps were surprisingly quick. Qin Mu had to make full use of the leg technique that Cripple taught him just to keep up with her. After dozens of miles, they reached an area of grassy knolls at the foot of a mountain. Around two hundred paces ahead of them, a herd of elks was grazing and frolicking about.

Granny Si plucked a silver sewing needle from a ball of thread inside the basket and gave it a flick. The needle disappeared in a flash of light. In the following instant, Qin Mu saw one of the elks collapsed to the ground, the other elks fleeing in fear.

Granny Si moved forward and Qin Mu followed her. As they approached the elk, he realized that it was still alive. However, Granny Si’s needle had penetrated the space between its brows, somehow preventing it from moving.

"Take a good look at this, Mu’er. The needle has pierced the elk’s Heaven Soul."

As Granny Si had Qin Mu remember the location where the needle protruded from, she took out another needle and stabbed it into the elk’s tailbone.

"This needle has stabbed into its Earth Soul," she said.

She then took out another sewing needle and stabbed it into the elk’s navel. "This needle has pierced the elk’s Life Soul. Aside from these three souls, seven spirits remain. The first spirit called the Canine Corpse, which is located at the top of the head."

Granny Si took another silver needle and stabbed it in between the elk’s brows near the first needle. "The second spirit is called the Concealed Arrow. The Concealed Arrow is located at the ajna, a part of the brain. But remember! It’s easy to confuse the Heaven Soul with the Concealed Arrow. Both needles may seem like they’re pierced at the same place, but one is deeper than the other. Do not mix them up."

"The third spirit, the Yin of Sparrow, is located in Adam's apple," she continued, pointing at Qin Mu’s neck. "Do you feel a small, triangular indentation when touching your own? That is where the Yin of Sparrow is hidden. This needle will pierce the elk’s Yin of Sparrow."

Granny Si moved quickly, taking out needle after needle and stabbing them into different parts of the elk.

"The fourth spirit, Seizing Thief, is located here, in the heart where all blood converges."

"The fifth spirit, Not Toxic, is located also in the navel. Do not mistake the Life Soul for the Not Toxic."

"The sixth spirit, Remove Filth, is located in the perineum, near where one disposes of their waste."

"The seventh spirit, Smelly Lung, is located in the lungs, where you cycle between fresh and stale air."

Granny Si finished stabbing needles into the three souls and seven spirits of the elk and said, "Binding the three souls and seven spirits is the most important step in tailoring proper clothing. It is called ‘Soul Bind.’ Do you understand, Mu’er? Once you do, we begin the tailoring process."

Qin Mu didn’t understand what did all of this had to do with tailoring, but he still diligently memorized every location by heart, then said, "I’m done."

Granny Si took a pair of scissors from her basket and set about skinning the elk, starting from its lips. Soon, all of the elkskins had been peeled away. Strangely enough, even though the elk had been stripped of its skin, not a single drop of blood flowed from its bare body.

"I have bounded the elk’s soul to its skin, trapping all of its blood, energy, and spirit within. The elk’s body may be dead, but it still lives within its skin. However, some techniques still need to be used to truly refine it into proper clothing. Watch closely, Mu’er. Remember where I point!"

Without warning, hunchbacked Granny Si threw the elkskin into the air. Using her finger in place of a needle, she poked the skin as it arced through the sky.

Qin Mu concentrated on committing the scene to memory and saw that Granny Si pointed out three hundred and sixteen spots before the elkskin even landed on the ground. Every spot was different, and each strike of her finger carried vital qi that entered the elkskin.

When the elkskin landed, it didn’t crumple on the floor. Instead, it stood up like a living elk! It shook its head and wagged its tail—one wouldn’t be able to tell it was actually just skin!

The bizarre sight caused Qin Mu to stare blankly.

Granny Si chuckled and opened the elkskin, wrapping it around Qin Mu. "This is the kind of clothing that we tailor should make."

Suddenly, the elkskin began to squeeze Qin Mu. It got tighter and tighter, making him feel as if it were becoming a part of his body, then forced him to fall on all fours.

He felt like he had actually become an elk! He could even feel his tiny elk tail!

Granny Si took a mirror out of her basket and placed in front of him, allowing Qin Mu to look at his own reflection. Upon doing so, he saw that he had really turned into an elk!

Qin Mu tried to speak, but he could only let out the bleatings of an elk.

Then, out of nowhere, a booming voice rang out.

"The Heavenly Devil Creation Technique! What sorcery! I would never have expected to find a rouge devil teaching a devil brat such sinister techniques in this desolate area of the Great Ruins!"