Severing Ties: The Sect Regrets My Departure

Chapter 216: The Myriad Beasts Heavenly Pearl! I Do Not Borrow Clouds from Another’s Shoulders!

It was a perfectly round pearl, shimmering with a mysterious seven-colored radiance as it floated beside the incubating eggs. It looked profound, almost holy.

“This is…”

“A Myriad Beasts Pearl!”

Sui Xing, the spirit of the Star Shattering Forging Platform, gasped the moment he saw it. “A Myriad Beasts Pearl… No, wait! This isn’t an ordinary one.”

He drifted closer, his spectral eyes widening.

“This pearl contains seven colors. The bloodline imprints within are ever-changing, shifting like the tides. This is a Myriad Beasts Heavenly Pearl! It’s formed by refining the bloodlines of over ten thousand different species of Spirit Beasts!”

Sui Xing was an old hand in the cultivation world, and his shock was palpable. The other three spirits looked confused, so he didn’t keep them in suspense.

“In the path of Beast Taming,” Sui Xing explained grimly, “there are certain powerful and cruel masters who forge these pearls by continuously slaughtering beasts and absorbing their essence. The pearl acts as a vessel for an ocean of bloodline power. Its primary function is absolute suppression—most Demon Beasts would be rendered immobile just by sensing its aura.”

“This is considered the ultimate inheritance of the Beast Taming Dao. However, the creation process is so barbaric—requiring the live extraction of bloodline essence—that few are willing to make one. Usually, only a dying master would craft such a thing to leave a legacy for their disciple.”

“Judging by the appearance alone, this Heavenly Pearl is top-tier. It’s a king among treasures.”

Squeak, squeak, squeak!

Haiqi, the little black monkey, scurried over and chattered dismissively, pointing at himself.

“You insolent monkey, are you questioning your boss?” Sui Xing snapped, annoyed. “My knowledge is vast! I’m not wrong about this.”

“Squeak!”

“Your bloodline is special, so you’re immune,” Sui Xing scoffed. “But look at these eggs. Any beast that hatches here would be instantly enslaved by this pearl’s pressure.”

Hearing this, Haiqi lost interest immediately. If the pearl couldn’t even suppress him, it was trash. He scampered off to frolic on the mountain, finding the freedom of the open space much more interesting than some broken marble.

Sui Xing ignored the monkey and turned to Gu Xiu, shaking his head.

“The former owner of this place was truly ruthless.”

“Making a Heavenly Pearl isn’t just about killing. You have to extract the bloodline while the beast is still alive. The pain involved is no less than what the Tantai Clan suffered when being refined into wax.”

“Furthermore, the success rate is abysmal. You might have to torture hundreds of beasts just to get one successful extraction. To reach the ‘Ten Thousand Beast’ level… the number of victims is likely in the millions.”

Gu Xiu’s eyebrow twitched.

He had always known Lu Qingyao wasn’t a good person. In the “Glance Spanning Ten Thousand Years” dream, he had seen her hunting beasts and imprisoning them here. But he hadn’t realized she went this far.

To refine a Myriad Beasts Heavenly Pearl required not just strength, but a heart of absolute ice.

“Still,” Sui Xing clicked his tongue, “Cruelty aside, this is a supreme treasure. And she just… left it here? That woman really is your lucky star. A true philanthropist!”

Philanthropist?

Gu Xiu shook his head, staring at the pearl. He could feel the ocean of resentment roiling inside it—millions of souls screaming in eternal agony.

“I can sense the grievance within,” Gu Xiu said quietly. “Is there a way to disperse these resentful spirits and allow them to reincarnate?”

“Disperse the resentment?” Sui Xing pondered. “I’m afraid not. The pearl exists because of that fusion of blood and hate. They are intertwined. To free them, you’d have to destroy the pearl. But—”

“Then let’s destroy it.”

“Huh?” Sui Xing froze.

Before the spirit could react, Gu Xiu stepped forward. He raised two fingers, channeling the ambient power of the Remnant World. The wind and spiritual qi converged, forming a colossal, invisible sword hanging directly above the pearl.

“Wait! Wait!” Sui Xing screamed, throwing himself in front of the pearl. “Are you crazy?! This is a Supreme Treasure! A peerless artifact! You want to smash it?”

“If a ‘Supreme Treasure’ requires the eternal torture of millions of innocent souls, then what kind of treasure is it?” Gu Xiu asked calmly.

“Do you know what you’re throwing away? If you absorb this, your cultivation will skyrocket! It’s a massive Fated Chance!”

“Fated Chance?”

Gu Xiu smiled faintly, his eyes clear as a mountain spring.

“Harboring the ambition to reach the clouds… I do not need to borrow them from another’s shoulders.”

Slash.

He didn’t hesitate. His fingers chopped down.

The invisible giant sword crashed onto the pearl.

CLANG!

The sound was like a temple bell struck by a titan. The Myriad Beasts Heavenly Pearl vibrated violently, and a spiderweb of fine cracks appeared on its surface.

Gu Xiu didn’t stop. He raised his hand again.

Slash!

In truth, Gu Xiu needed strength. He had enemies everywhere, and this pearl was a shortcut to power. The resentment within could be suppressed by his powerful Divine Soul and Purple Mansion Dao Platform. It was safe. It was easy.

But Gu Xiu refused.

He was not a saint overflowing with compassion. He had slaughtered his way through the Forbidden Realm for five hundred years. If killing an enemy granted him power, he would kill without blinking.

But to build his ladder to heaven on the eternal suffering of the innocent?

That, he would not do.

His Dao Heart was like the wind—free, unburdened, and clear. To take this pearl would be to place a boulder in the path of his own heart.

Poor and humble, yet I remain steadfast. My ambition to reach the azure clouds will never fall.

Seeing Gu Xiu’s resolve, and hearing that line about “not borrowing clouds,” Sui Xing stood paralyzed.

His expression shifted from anxiety to shock. And then, from shock to profound admiration.

He had waited in that mine for tens of thousands of years, wondering what his next master would be like. When he bonded with Gu Xiu, he had been unimpressed. A lucky ascetic monk—that was his assessment.

But over time, he had seen Gu Xiu’s courage, his wisdom, and his humanity toward the child Ping’an.

And now this.

Faced with a temptation that would make most cultivators drool, Gu Xiu chose his principles.

For the first time, Sui Xing felt something deeper than contractual obligation.

This is a man worth following. A man I can trust with my back.

CLANG!

Another strike. The pearl groaned.

“Aaargh! Such waste! Such utter waste!”

Sui Xing suddenly exploded into motion, cursing loudly as he flew toward the pearl. “You prodigal son! You wasteful master! You better not regret this! Do you know how much this is worth?!”

“You’re going to anger me to death!”

Despite his venomous tongue, Sui Xing didn’t stop Gu Xiu. Instead, he summoned his own power as a Forging Spirit to help break the pearl.

If you want to be a prodigal, fine! I’ll help you smash it! Who asked me to get stuck with you?

With the Star Shattering Forging Platform’s expert assistance, the pearl’s structural integrity collapsed.

CRACK!

BANG!

With a final strike, the artifact that Lu Qingyao had spent centuries refining shattered into dust.

Whoosh—!

It was like a dam breaking. Millions of trapped spirits erupted from the fragments, soaring into the sky like a reverse meteor shower. They chirped, roared, and howled, their voices no longer filled with pain, but with the joy of liberation.

Gu Xiu watched the spectacle with a satisfied smile.

“You can still laugh?” Sui Xing grumbled, floating beside him. “Beast Tamers would weep blood if they saw this.”

“Let them weep. My heart is at ease.”

“Your heart is at ease, but mine hurts! That was enough material to forge a Heaven Grade artifact with my eyes closed!”

“With you here, isn’t any artifact a Heaven Grade artifact?”

“Go away! Flattery won’t work on me!” Sui Xing huffed, though he looked secretly pleased.

Gu Xiu chuckled and turned back to the sky.

But then, his smile froze.

“Wait… why aren’t they leaving?”

Sui Xing looked up and gasped. “What the…”

The ocean of spirits, instead of dissipating into the cycle of reincarnation, was swirling back down. They converged on Gu Xiu like a funnel.

A pure white spirit bird swooped down first. It held a tiny, glowing fragment of the shattered pearl in its beak. Ignoring Gu Xiu’s physical form, it phased through his chest and flew straight into his Dantian.

It dropped the fragment onto the highest tier of his Dao Platform.

Then, it flew out, bowed deeply to Gu Xiu, and dissolved into green smoke, finally moving on.

It was the first of many.

Following its lead, the millions of other spirits swarmed down. Each one picked up a mote of the shattered pearl’s essence and carried it into Gu Xiu’s Dantian, depositing it on his Dao Platform before bowing and departing.

Gu Xiu stood rooted to the spot, stunned.

Sui Xing’s jaw dropped.

“This… This is a Bloodline Gift!” the spirit screamed, his voice cracking with disbelief.

“These spirits… they acknowledge you! They are voluntarily gifting you their bloodline power before they leave!”

“This is the real Fated Chance!”

“Compared to this… that Myriad Beasts Heavenly Pearl was dog shit!!”