Tales of Herding Gods Chapter 1838

Chapter 1838: The first story of Milo, the woman who snatched away the god

Translator: 549690339

"Teacher..."

Xuanji experienced that dream once more.

Within the vision, a vast primal chaos enveloped everything. Purple radiance permeated the void. A fresh universe was on the verge of emerging from the dense primal chaos.

A figure advanced toward him from the heart of the primal chaos. Trailing that individual was the awe-inspiring spectacle of the universe's formation. At that instant, he existed merely as a swirling mass of primal chaos energy, devoid of any form.

"Teacher." The approaching silhouette drew near and addressed him.

Yet, he couldn't rouse himself from slumber.

The voice reached his ears, urging him to lift his eyelids and discern the person's features. But without a corporeal form, he remained a mere bundle of energy.

Ultimately, the radiant glow of the life creation tribulation surged from beyond that figure, overwhelming him completely.

Xuanji jolted awake, drenched in perspiration, gasping for breath.

He had dozed off against the tree trunk without realizing it. Cold sweat soaked his brow, torso, spine, and hands, while the whip lay discarded on the earth nearby.

A yellow sheep's bleat echoed from overhead. Xuanji retrieved the whip, rose to his feet, and gazed upward into the branches.

This colossal tree defied comprehension. Its surface roots sprawled like an endless mountain chain. Upon it sprawled peaks and oceans, with bark veins forming ridges and streams. Dew pooled in the foliage to create seas, and broad leaves hosted landmasses complete with waterways and woodlands. Nations great and small, along with towns and hamlets, dotted its expanse.

The tree sustained countless realms across the heavens.

Hierarchies ruled the societies atop the tree. Races dwelling higher up enjoyed elevated standing, shielded by deities as favored children of the divine.

Those residing at the tree's base endured lowly positions, forsaken by the gods.

Xuanji's people clung to the lowest levels of this immense world tree. Bottom-dwellers served as mere attendants to the elite above. Such servants possessed no rights; their identities and existences belonged not to themselves.

Xuanji rounded up the bipedal yellow sheep and tallied them. Finding none missing, he exhaled in relief.

These yellow sheep proved quite playful. The two-legged creatures navigated the world tree's rugged terrain with remarkable dexterity, scaling sheer inclines effortlessly. Yet, should they descend to the soil below, they transformed into helpless prey, vulnerable to the savage predators lurking there.

Xuanji's duty involved watching over these sheep, ensuring they stayed away from the ground.

One yellow sheep bounded restlessly, occasionally attempting to slip past him toward the tree's base.

Xuanji squinted, savoring the gentle wind with contentment. His thoughts drifted back to the dream.

This eerie vision had haunted him since birth. The identical sequence replayed endlessly. Xuanji remained puzzled by its significance.

Recalling the peculiar dream always triggered echoes of the cosmos shattering asunder. With that resonance, the world's hues intensified, bursting into vivid splendor before his eyes.

From childhood, he had always stood apart from others.

He absorbed the nearby vistas with eager fascination, and abruptly, a profound and enchanting sensation stirred within him.

He could "perceive" the currents of air and moisture, "perceive" the shifts of vital forces among diverse entities, and "perceive" myriad intricate laws silently governing the universe, encompassing even vitality and divinities!

This insight stemmed not from his physical sight, but from an inner intuition.

He embraced this arcane and wondrous perception.

The exhilarating sensation filled his heart with immense delight, bringing tears to his eyes.

"That marvelous essence courses through the World Tree!" An thrilled exclamation burst from deep inside.

He stretched out on the soil, immersing himself in that extraordinary phenomenon. It brimmed with infinite power and inexhaustible wisdom, drawing him into rapturous absorption.

He "listened" to the secrets embedded in every aspect of existence. The entire world appeared to converse with him, revealing the truths it held.

Excitement surged through him. He examined the earth, scrutinized blooms and foliage, probed the trunks, branches, and foliage, delved into the droplets of dew. From these commonplace elements, he uncovered vast stores of overlooked wisdom.

He attuned to that enigmatic and mystical force. Such insights merely scratched the surface of its depths.

Be it stones, flora, or fauna—even the tiniest dewdrops or any living being—each harbored nearly boundless lore. And this lore served as expressions of that enigmatic force!

He termed it "Dao".

Delving into the Dao inherent in all creation—this pursuit he named "Gewu".

Through Gewu comes comprehension, leading to attainment of the Dao.

This marked his supreme revelation!

Furthermore, he uncovered another astonishing truth: the world tree acted as a repository for the Dao.

The world tree teemed with diverse manifestations of Dao. He astutely noted how varied expressions branched into distinct limbs and root systems across the tree.

By harnessing the world tree to attune to the Dao, he might trace its origins, seize it, and command it.

The young man brimmed with fervor. Just then, the chime of camel bells sounded. Xuanji turned toward the noise, spotting a caravan of verdant camels approaching from the bark-formed slopes of the world tree, guided by men in black robes.

Astride those green camels rode maidens clad in vibrant attire.

"They hail from the Upper World, wizards they are." Xuanji identified the black-robed figures and hastily scattered the yellow sheep to clear a path.

The wizards maintained grave countenances as they directed the camels beyond him. The maidens atop the camels wore crimson veils obscuring their visages.

These elegantly attired girls resembled newlyweds, yet the oddity struck him: why such a multitude of brides?

Abruptly, a known voice emerged from one camel, "Ah Xuan."

Xuanji froze. He glanced up, beholding beneath the hood the countenance of his cherished girl from the neighboring village, named Su Su.

"Today's the rite to honor the god. My village presented me as an offering."

The maiden on the green camel spoke to him, "This day, I wed the god."

Xuanji's thoughts reeled. Wed a god?

Hadn't she pledged to wed me?

The wizard prompted the girl to lower her veil. The bells tinkled as the caravan proceeded toward the world tree.

"Su Su, recall our promises?" He called out forcefully.

"Yes—"

She twisted to face him, veil still in place. "But what choice do you have? I'm now God's woman."

I am the woman of God.

Xuanji stood dazed, watching the green camel bear away his beloved. He peered downward, where an enormously imposing deity reclined.

From Xuanji's vantage, the colossal god loomed immense still. The figures erecting the palace nearby resembled mere insects.

This deity surpassed in scale and grandeur any worshipped upon the world tree.

Myriads of laborers chanted work cries, hauling massive boulders, felling enormous timbers, extracting sacred metals. They toiled relentlessly around the grand god, shaping stones into blocks, hewing logs into supports, melting ores into mortar to seal the structures.

Overseers cracked lengthy lashes against the fatigued workers. These toilers were chattel of the tree's overlords. Under grueling toil, few outlived three decades.

Slaves ranked beneath even servants. Their lives and designations weren't theirs to claim. Slaves equated to beasts, unworthy of personal names.

Body haulers carted several lifeless slaves toward remote burial pits. There, ravenous hounds awaited, baying for carrion.

Yearly, the elite rulers atop the world tree selected comely maidens to present to the god beneath, seeking his favor.

Folk dubbed these maidens goddesses.

The women of the god.

Chosen as goddesses, the girls confined themselves to the palace crafted for the god by rulers. They became his exclusive possessions.

Yet the stately god ignored these goddesses entirely. Some arrived at the palace as blossoming preteens of eleven or twelve. Through their lifetimes, the god spared them no glance.

For the world tree's rulers, presenting such beauties secured their governing authority. Wizards proclaimed the god's acceptance of the tributes, implying divine endorsement of their dominion.

How might the ignorant masses revolt?

But to the god below the world tree, such matters likely held no interest.

Goddesses perished successively, and the god remained indifferent.

Still, the upper world's rulers fretted, the wizards obsessed, and the tree's gods concerned themselves.

The upper world's sovereigns named this seated god beneath the world tree Milo.

Milo evoked vastness, immensity, and expanse. This deity embodied boundlessness, profundity, and enigma.

Upper world divinities addressed him as Tai Yi.

In the realms forged by the tree's nobility, myriad deities received veneration. These guardians shielded the elite kingdoms. Rulers and wizards traced lineage to these gods.

Tai Yi, legend held, was creation's primordial deity, the eldest and mightiest.

Five ancestral gods shaped the cosmos, with Tai Yi among them as the paramount.

He shunned the world tree's upper realms, choosing instead its roots below.

For two to three millennia, the tree's nations had labored on palaces for the supreme Milo.

Over those ages, Milo's palace reached only to his midsection, as he sat upon the ground.

Even thus, the edifice towered tens of thousands of feet, humanity's grandest construct—yet dwarfed by Milo himself.

The summit-dwelling rulers schemed to encase the still god in an enormous palace, enshrining the sublime deity within their creation.

This evoked for Xuanji the idols in shrines.

What folly and hubris, he mused inwardly.

Would any deity abide mortals confining them in a petty stone enclosure?

The world tree's apex rulers thought otherwise. They persisted doggedly in erecting the Milo Palace to enclose the unbound Milo.

Centuries turned, rulers passed into dust generation by generation, yet the resolve to box Milo endured unchanged.

Xuanji had never resented Milo. Pity had even touched him. But with his love soon to become Milo's bride, hatred toward Milo stirred faintly.

Far more, though, he loathed the upper world's tyrants.

Milo acted not at all. He merely sat beneath the tree. It was the overlords, currying Milo's favor, who tore them asunder!

Suddenly, Xuanji leaped aboard a yellow sheep's back. He spurred the beast toward the camel train.

"Su Su, Milo won't notice you!"

He bellowed, "Milo surrounds himself with countless women! But I do care for you."

He proclaimed to the girl, "I cherish you! I desire you, I yearn to wed you! I long to bear children with you, many children!"

Su Su flushed crimson with mortification. The maiden atop the green camel had no refuge.

This youth she yearned for nightly possessed a raw, irresistible candor and allure. He voiced his desires outright, sans subtlety or evasion.

She harbored identical sentiments.

Yet she lacked the boldness to declare them plainly. She resorted to hints and tests. Each circumlocution, each trial, left her in a whirl of anxiety. The thrill and elation in her breast fluttered like an escaped dove, poised to soar free.

But Xuanji shunned hints and trials.

The youth's affections rang true and direct. His loves burned fierce and unfeigned.

The yellow sheep overtook the green camel. Xuanji extended his hand to her. "Let's flee this instant! We'll run away together!"

"Insolence!"

The lead wizards erupted in rage. They wheeled about, declaring, "A goddess touching a mortal defiles her. She demands cleansing in the sacred flames..."

Xuanji hauled Su Su upward with desperate might. The yellow sheep vaulted over the wizards' heads. Su Su cast off her veil, flinging it into the wizards' faces. She laughed merrily, crying, "Return and inform the god—I'm not wedding him!"

The six stories of Milo served as extras in the Shepherd God saga. Recently, reader polls crowned Milo's tales the favorites. Thus, the author penned six Milo episodes, comprising six chapters total. All released gratis. This presents the inaugural tale. The sequel appears on the official channel. Seek 'otaku' for access.