If you’ve spent any time in the deep trenches of Chinese web fiction, you’ve probably run into the name Qin Mu. He’s the protagonist of Tales of Herding Gods, a massive web novel that basically flipped the "Xianxia" genre on its head. Most of these stories follow a pretty tired script. A kid gets bullied, finds a magic ring, and spends five thousand chapters punching people until he’s a god. Boring. Honestly, it gets repetitive. But Tales of Herding Gods (Mu Shen Ji), written by the author Zhaizhu, is something else entirely. It’s weird. It’s smart. It’s actually funny.
The story starts in a place called the Disabled Elders Village. You’ve got a protagonist, Qin Mu, who is raised by nine elderly people who are all missing limbs or eyes or, well, souls. They tell him he’s "ordinary." They lie to him. It turns out the kid is anything but ordinary, but the way he learns is what sets the tone. Instead of finding a secret manual in a cave, he learns how to butcher cows from a man with no legs. He learns how to paint from a guy who can’t see. It’s a subversion of every trope you’ve ever hated in fantasy.
The World-Building in Tales of Herding Gods is Absolutely Nuts
Zhaizhu didn't just write a story about cultivation; he wrote a story about philosophy and physics disguised as magic. In the world of Tales of Herding Gods, the "gods" aren't these benevolent beings looking out for humanity. They’re more like cosmic parasites. They’ve locked the world in a "Great Darkness," and they use humanity as a sort of battery or plaything.
Qin Mu’s journey isn’t just about getting stronger. It’s about reform. It’s about the "Path of the Commoner." Most authors in this space focus on the individual becoming a god, but Qin Mu wants to make the world so advanced that gods become obsolete. Think about that for a second. It’s a pro-human, pro-science message wrapped in a story about guys flying on swords.
The political intrigue is actually dense. You have the Eternal Peace Empire, which is trying to modernize magic. They treat "Spells, Supernatural Powers, and Path" as something that should be taught in schools, not hidden in sects. It mirrors real-world industrial revolutions. You see the conflict between the old guard—those who want to keep power in the hands of the few—and the reformers who want to empower the masses. It’s surprisingly deep for something people usually read on their phones during their commute.
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Why Qin Mu Isn't Your Average Hero
Qin Mu is kind of a jerk. Not a villainous jerk, but he’s incredibly cheeky. He’s been raised by "villains," so his moral compass is a bit skewed. He doesn't go around seeking justice because he's "good"; he does it because he’s curious or because someone annoyed him. His nickname, the "Overlord Body," is a running gag throughout the first few hundred chapters. It’s a fake title his village gave him to boost his confidence, but he believes it so hard that he actually makes it real.
There’s this one specific scene where he’s fighting a "prodigy" from a prestigious sect. Usually, the hero would struggle and then have a flashback. Not Qin Mu. He just uses basic butchering techniques he learned from Grandpa Butcher and dissects the guy’s technique in mid-air. It’s brutal and hilarious. The power scaling actually makes sense because it’s based on understanding the "runes" of the world rather than just having a bigger "mana pool."
Reform and the Death of Traditional Cultivation
One of the most fascinating aspects of Tales of Herding Gods is the "Reform of the Three Great Transformations." In most novels, the levels of power (Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, etc.) are set in stone. They’ve been the same for millions of years. Zhaizhu says, "No, that’s stupid."
He introduces the idea that as people learn more about the universe, they should change how they cultivate. Qin Mu and his allies literally invent new realms of power. They realize that the old ways were designed by the "Gods" to keep humans weak. This is a huge shift. It turns the protagonist from a fighter into a scholar and a revolutionary.
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- The Eternal Peace Reform: This is the core of the mid-story arc. It’s about the democratization of knowledge.
- The Role of the Imperial Preceptor: This character is basically the architect of the new world, and his relationship with Qin Mu is one of the best "mentor-student" dynamics in fiction.
- The Concept of 'The Path': In this book, "The Path" isn't just a metaphor. It’s a literal understanding of the laws of the universe. If you don't understand the math, you can't cast the spell.
The Problem With the Length
Look, I’ll be honest. Tales of Herding Gods is long. We’re talking nearly 3,000 chapters. That’s a massive commitment. Like many web novels, it can suffer from "bloat" in the middle. There are arcs where Qin Mu travels to different worlds that feel a bit like filler. But even the filler usually has some weird bit of lore that becomes important 500 chapters later.
The translation quality also matters. If you’re reading a rough machine translation, you’re going to miss the nuance of the Taoist philosophy Zhaizhu is playing with. You need a good translation to catch the humor. The "villains" in the village, for instance, have such distinct personalities—from the blind apothecary to the mute blacksmith—and their dialogue is where the heart of the story lives.
What Real Fans Get Wrong About the Ending
People often complain that the ending feels rushed compared to the slow build-up of the first 2,000 chapters. While there’s some truth to that, it’s mostly because the scale gets so cosmic that it’s hard to wrap up every single thread. The "final battle" isn't just a physical fight; it's a clash of ideologies. It’s about whether humanity deserves to rule itself or if it needs the "guidance" of ancient, stagnant deities.
The story doesn't end with Qin Mu sitting on a throne. That wouldn't fit his character. He’s a "herder." He herds the gods, he herds the people, and he herds the era toward something new. It’s a bit more philosophical than your standard "I am the Emperor of the Universe" ending.
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Actionable Insights for New Readers
If you're going to dive into this beast of a novel, don't try to binge it in a week. You'll burn out. Instead, treat it like a long-running TV show.
- Focus on the Village Arc: The first 100 chapters are some of the best "origin story" writing in the genre. Pay attention to the lessons the elders teach; they aren't just flavor text.
- Understand the Satire: Zhaizhu is actively making fun of other web novels. When Qin Mu does something ridiculous, ask yourself if it's a parody of a common trope. Usually, it is.
- Track the Names: There are a lot of characters. Keep a mental note of the "Heavenly Teachers" and the "Ancient Gods." The payoff for these characters often takes hundreds of chapters to arrive.
- Embrace the Weirdness: There’s a scene where a guy fights using a giant painting. There’s another where someone uses a chest of drawers as a weapon. If it feels absurd, you're reading it right.
Tales of Herding Gods stands out because it treats its readers like they have a brain. It asks questions about progress, the cost of revolution, and what it means to be "ordinary" in a world of giants. It's not just a tale about gods; it's a tale about why we don't need them anymore.
To truly appreciate the depth of the series, start by looking for the "Qidian" or "Webnovel" official translations, as they preserve the linguistic jokes that make the early chapters so engaging. Avoid the "MTL" (Machine Translation) versions until you are deep enough into the story to understand the jargon, otherwise, the philosophical debates between Qin Mu and the Daoist masters will turn into total gibberish. Pay close attention to the concept of the "Ancestral Court"—it’s the narrative lynchpin that connects the prehistoric lore to the current timeline's conflict.