The Land Forsaken by Gods, Tales of Herding Gods Realm Exposed!

When she heard the words "altering a new jacket," and then thought of the miserable fate of Liu Dao, that earlier level thirty-five Soul Elder, Hu Liena froze where she stood, scared stiff.

She desperately tried to shrink back, but her back was pressed hard against the big bluestone, leaving her nowhere to retreat.

"No, don't..."

Hu Liena's pretty foxlike eyes brimmed with tears, and her delicate body trembled beyond her control.

Seeing her frightened like this, Granny Si not only did not get angry, but instead chuckled.

She turned to look at Qin Mu, who was standing off to the side, and began instructing him very seriously, in the tone of someone who had been through it all.

"Mu'er, remember this. Village Chief used to say the world outside the Great Ruins was dangerous, but the most dangerous things aren't actually those big bugs."

Holding the bone needle, Granny Si tapped it through the air a few times.

"The prettier a woman is, the more dangerous she is."

"With that vixen face of hers, you can tell at a glance she's a disaster who knows how to seduce men."

"Listen to Granny. Let Granny peel off that layer of skin early and be done with it, so she won't stay around and bring you harm later."

The moment these words came out, the entire Douluo Continent outside the light screen instantly seemed like a powder keg that had been set alight, with curses erupting everywhere.

The soul masters of Spirit Hall in particular all had bloodshot eyes.

In Spirit Hall, Hu Liena was the lofty and exalted Holy Maiden, a goddess who could not be profaned in the hearts of countless young soul masters.

Now they were watching an ugly old crone, one who looked like dried-up old tree bark, actually holding a bone needle and trying to peel off their Holy Maiden's skin.

She had even publicly humiliated their Holy Maiden by calling her a vixen who brought harm to others. Who could possibly endure that?

On the streets of Spirit City, a fanatical soul master loyal to Spirit Hall spat on the spot, pointed at the Sky Screen, and burst into curses.

"Pah! That damned old hag! She looks like a ghost, and she still has the nerve to call Her Highness the Holy Maiden a disaster?!"

"She's obviously just too ugly herself, full of envy, jealousy, and hatred, deliberately picking a fight here!"

Another soul master beside him was also flushed red with anger and loudly echoed him.

"Exactly! Her Highness the Holy Maiden is a natural beauty, her looks unmatched across the continent!"

"That old woman's face is covered in wrinkles, like a zombie that crawled out of a coffin. Who knows how ugly she was when she was young?"

"She wants to peel off the skin of any pretty girl she sees. Her mind is definitely twisted!"

It was not only Spirit Hall. At this moment, many young soul masters from Heaven Dou Imperial City and the Star Luo Empire also joined the chorus of condemnation.

After all, everyone loved beauty, and Hu Liena's fiery figure and alluring appearance were indeed a rare beauty across the entire continent.

Seeing a famous flower about to be ruined by an ugly old witch, everyone naturally shared the same hatred.

"That old thing is too vicious. If she can't have it, she destroys it. She's an ugly freak herself, so she can't stand seeing other people look good."

"Just watch. Once the experts of our Spirit Hall descend, they'll definitely knock every tooth out of that old hag's mouth!"

Countless curses rose and fell in every corner of Douluo Continent, everyone venting the anger and unwillingness in their hearts with the most vicious words they could muster.

However, Granny Si in the scene on the Sky Screen naturally could not hear these curses from across planes.

She held that bone needle flashing with a cold glint and slowly gestured around Hu Liena's fair neck, as though searching for the perfect place to make the cut.

Hu Liena had completely given up resisting. She closed her eyes in despair, and two streams of clear tears slid down her somewhat dirty cheeks.

Just as that bone needle was about to pierce Hu Liena's skin, at that critical moment—

Qin Mu, who had been standing off to the side watching the commotion, suddenly stretched out a small hand and grabbed Granny Si's wrist.

"Granny, don't be in such a hurry to peel her skin."

Qin Mu scratched his ear and smiled at Granny Si somewhat sheepishly.

"When this big sister was outside the village earlier and saw a big bug pouncing over, she even shouted for me to run."

"She seems pretty kind. She isn't quite the same as the kind of bad woman Grandpa Village Chief talked about."

"How about... we don't sew clothes tonight, and keep her to help Grandpa Pharmacist wash medicinal herbs instead?"

Hearing Qin Mu plead for her, Hu Liena, who had her eyes shut, suddenly opened them and looked at this little cowherd in disbelief.

As for Granny Si, with Qin Mu holding her wrist, her brow also lifted slightly.

She lowered her head to look at Qin Mu's clear, wide eyes, then looked at Hu Liena, whose face had turned blue with fright, and an unreadable depth flashed through her gaze.

At the village entrance.

The boundless darkness was still continuously crashing against the pale golden light barrier, producing dull sounds that made one's heart panic.

Granny Si stared at Hu Liena for a long while. In the end, she sighed somewhat helplessly and casually stuck that gleaming bone needle back into the bun on her head.

"Fine. Since my grandson has spoken, this old woman will spare your little life for now."

Granny Si glanced sidelong at Hu Liena and gave a cold snort.

"But you'd better be smart about it. If you dare harbor any crooked thoughts, don't blame this old woman's craft for showing no mercy."

Hearing that she did not have to be skinned for the time being, Hu Liena seemed to lose all the water in her body at once. She collapsed limply onto the ground, unable to say a single word, only gasping desperately for breath.

"All right, Mu'er. Lead the cow back inside. The food's going to get cold."

Granny Si patted her sleeves and turned to walk into the village.

Qin Mu gave an "oh," hurriedly took the rope of the big Azure Ox, then after two steps turned back and waved to Hu Liena, who was still sprawled on the ground.

"Big sister, let's go. Grandpa Pharmacist stewed wild mushrooms from the mountains tonight. They smell amazing."

Hu Liena gritted her teeth and could only force herself up from the ground on her weak, aching legs, following Qin Mu and that big Azure Ox with some trepidation as they walked step by step into the depths of Crippled Old Village, a place filled with the unknown and terror.

Hu Liena followed behind Qin Mu in fear and trembling, her hands somewhat awkwardly clutching the hem of her already tattered clothes.

The old woman ahead walked with a limp, still muttering under her breath that tonight's firewood was not dry enough, grumbling that she would have the cripple at the village entrance pick up some dry firewood tomorrow.

The village seemed somewhat peaceful beneath the pale golden light barrier, but as they walked along the way, Hu Liena's heart rose higher and higher into her throat.

Beside the path stood a blacksmith's shop.

A bare-chested middle-aged man was standing by the furnace, carrying in his hand a massive iron hammer that looked heavier than his entire body.

Hu Liena glanced over instinctively and discovered that this man actually had no tongue. With his mouth open, he could only make sounds of "ah ba, ah ba."

"Ah ba!"

Mute smiled at Qin Mu, then the iron hammer in his hand smashed down hard onto the anvil.

A dull, thunderous boom rang out, and even the muddy ground beneath their feet shook twice. The blackened chunk of iron on the anvil, after that single hammer blow, was actually struck into a spray of dense golden sparks.

Hu Liena only took one look before her eyelids began twitching wildly.

She could sense that the strange fluctuations coming from that piece of iron were absolutely from an exceedingly rare material that even divine smiths on the Douluo Continent would yearn for and fail to obtain, yet in Mute's hands, it was no different from hammering a lump of rotten mud.

"Grandpa Mute, rest early!" Qin Mu waved toward the blacksmith's shop, smiling brilliantly.

They had not gone far when a sudden rush of wind came from the rooftop ahead.

A man with only one leg was already sitting on the low wall by the road at some unknown moment.

He held a small knife in his hand and was idly whittling a piece of wood, one stroke after another.

Hu Liena had not even seen how he had appeared.

That speed was too fast, so fast that the eyes of a level-fifty Soul King like her could not keep up at all.

"Mu'er, when you went to the riverside today, you didn't ruin the straw sandals I just fixed, did you?" The cripple raised his brows, his lone leg swaying in the air.

"Nope, Grandpa Cripple. I walked very steadily," Qin Mu answered loudly.

After walking all this way and seeing these strange people whose bodies were incomplete yet whose methods were all heaven-defying, Hu Liena had gone somewhat numb.

In the end, they stopped at an open space in the center of the village.

A large bamboo bed had been placed in the open space, and on it lay an old man without limbs.

The old man wore a clean white robe. Though both his hands and feet were gone, his aged face looked extremely refined, and his eyes were so clear they seemed capable of seeing through everything in the world.

"Village Chief, we're having wild mushroom stewed meat tonight. Fresh goods Pharmacist picked." Granny Si put down the bamboo basket and called out at the top of her voice.

Village Chief, lying on the bamboo bed, turned his head slightly. His gaze paused on Qin Mu for a moment before landing on Hu Liena behind him.

Under the stare of those eyes, Hu Liena felt every hair on her body stand on end in that instant.

She felt as though her martial soul, and even all her secrets, had nowhere to hide beneath the old man's gaze.

"A new face from outside?" Village Chief spoke slowly, his voice extremely gentle, giving no hint of joy or anger.

"That's right. She nearly got eaten by a Scale Monster at the village entrance. Mu'er saved her in passing," Granny Si replied casually while taking wooden bowls out of the basket.

Village Chief nodded and did not say much more, merely called for everyone to sit and eat.

A small pot of steaming wild mushroom stewed meat was brought out, and a rich fragrance instantly spread through the air.

Hu Liena was truly starving, but before this group of terrifying elders, she sat on a small wooden stool and did not even dare reach out, only watching eagerly.

Qin Mu, however, was not polite at all. He filled a large bowl with meat soup, squatted beside the bamboo bed, and ate with relish, one bite of meat and one mouthful of soup.

"Mu'er, have you fallen behind in your lessons these past two days?" Village Chief looked at Qin Mu, whose mouth was shiny with oil, and asked warmly.

Qin Mu quickly swallowed the meat in his mouth and wiped his chin. "No, Grandpa Village Chief. Every day, just like you said, I guide the vital qi in my body to temper the spirit embryo."

"Mm. In cultivation, the foundation is the most important."

Village Chief's clear gaze looked up at the night sky as he said slowly, "You were born with the Tyrant Body, so in this first realm, the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasury, no matter what, you will temper it more firmly than others."

"Only by opening the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasury to its limit will you have sufficient foundation later when you open the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury and break through the Six Harmonies Divine Treasury."

Listening to the conversation between the old man and the youth, Hu Liena, slumped beside them, immediately pricked up both ears as well, firmly committing these terms to memory.

Spirit Embryo Divine Treasury? Five Luminaries Divine Treasury? Six Harmonies Divine Treasury?

These strange terms were clearly the cultivation realm divisions of this world!

At the same time, outside the Sky Screen, the people of Douluo, who had originally breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that Hu Liena was temporarily safe, began speculating again after hearing Village Chief's words.

On the drill ground of Shrek Academy.

Yu Xiaogang had already taken out a thick little notebook and was rapidly writing in it with a quill.

"Spirit Embryo, Five Luminaries, Six Directions..."

Yu Xiaogang's brows were tightly furrowed as he wrote and muttered under his breath.

"Judging from the literal meaning, these should be the first few cultivation realms of their world."

"For the soul masters of our Douluo Continent, the first step is awakening the martial soul, then advancing step by step from soul scholar to soul master to great soul master, relying on absorbing soul rings and meditating to cultivate soul power."

"But they sound as if they open some kind of treasury inside their bodies called a divine treasury?"

Tang San, beside him, was also looking at the Sky Screen with concern and cut in.

"Teacher, that Village Chief mentioned just now that Qin Mu is actually some kind of Tyrant Body!"

"A Tyrant Body, while still in the first realm, the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasury, can already possess the strength to casually cleave open a thousand-zhang barren mountain."

"Then if he opens the later Five Luminaries and Six Directions, just how powerful would he become?"

Tang San's words made everyone on the drill ground unable to stop themselves from shivering.

According to what they said, that little cowherd was only around ten years old, and was probably still hovering within the first major realm right now.

Yet his strength was already enough to pin a Titled Douluo of Douluo Continent to the ground and toy with them.

"This shows that the span of their divine treasury system at the initial stage far surpasses our soul master system."

At this thought, Yu Xiaogang's eyes grew even more burning, and even the hand gripping his notebook tightened.

"The first major realm can already rival or even surpass our Titled Douluo."

"The foundation of this world is simply too terrifying."

At the same time, in the world of Tales of Herding Gods.

The Great Ruins, Crippled Old Village.

After dinner, Granny Si cleared away the bowls and chopsticks.

Hu Liena sat to the side, looking at the thick black night outside that kept crashing against the golden light barrier, her heart still pounding uneasily.

To keep herself from seeming useless, she hurriedly stood up and said softly to Qin Mu, "Little brother, is there anything I can help with? I can help you wipe the table, or sweep the floor."

Qin Mu was sitting on a small stool, holding an old book that had already yellowed somewhat as he read.

Hearing Hu Liena's words, he raised his head and grinned.

"Big sister, no need. Granny and Grandpa Cripple and the others take care of all the work in the village."

"If you're bored, you can come over and read with me."

Hu Liena was just worrying that she had no way to learn more about this world, so when she heard this, she quickly walked over and sat down on a small stool beside Qin Mu.

Her beautiful fox eyes glanced slightly at the pages.

On that yellowed ancient text, many records had been written in a somewhat archaic and complicated script.

Although Hu Liena could not understand all the characters, a few of the pages had strange illustrations drawn on them.

In one picture, there was an enormous stone statue towering between heaven and earth, wreathed in endless lightning, locked in battle with some vast shadows in the sky whose faces could not be seen clearly.

Below the page, some fragmentary annotations were written in small characters.

"Great Ruins, land abandoned by the gods..."

"Darkness is coming, the gods have fallen, only the stone statue protects the bloodline of our race..."

Looking at these lines, Hu Liena's heart suddenly skipped.

Land abandoned by the gods?

Could it be that this vast wasteland filled with monsters had once, long ago, been a place where gods lived?