The so-called "Ring of Shared Hearts" was a miraculous dharma treasure personally forged by Di Sanmo.
From the outside, it looked like a circular portal emanating a soft blue glow. Passing through took a demonic beast merely a single instant in the physical world, but in that fleeting breath, the beast would experience countless lifelike illusions indistinguishable from reality.
The trial tested whether hearts were truly shared—specifically, whether the beast would harm its master under various extreme circumstances.
Forging the Ring of Shared Hearts was no easy feat, and in their haste, the Beast Taming Sect had managed to produce only one. Although the time required for an individual test was short, the sheer number of beasts in the sect was overwhelming. It was not just the natal spirit beasts of the disciples, but also a vast host of unbonded beasts that performed hard labor, tended the spiritual fields, and guarded the sect grounds.
Though deemed "unbonded," all of these beasts were nevertheless held in servitude by the Beast Taming Sect.
What controlled them was the sect's supreme treasure, the Myriad Beasts Reincarnation Wheel. It was said that the wheel bore carved likenesses of nearly every demonic beast under the heavens, and whenever an entirely new species was born, its image would soon manifest on the wheel as well.
Upon a beast's birth, the Myriad Beasts Reincarnation Wheel was used to brand its divine soul, binding it to the wheel's absolute control for life after life.
Legend had it that this supreme treasure had originally been brought out of Nanming Sacred Beast Mountain by Di Sanmo and presented to Wan Shiyong, the founding patriarch of the Beast Taming Sect. And it was precisely from the Myriad Beasts Reincarnation Wheel that Wan Shiyong had comprehended the True Beast Taming Art.
However, despite the wheel's astonishing powers, it had several fatal flaws. It could only be used on newborn beasts. Furthermore, any beast whose divine soul bore its brand suffered ceaselessly from the agonizing torment of the wheel. Because of this unending pain, their intellect could never fully mature, leaving them fit only for simple tasks.
Fighting alongside tamed beasts required unity of mind and intent. Only when a beast responded as seamlessly as an arm moves fingers could its full combat potential be brought to bear. In battles between cultivators of the same realm, every subtle detail could determine victory or defeat. To command a dim-witted beast was practically tantamount to cutting off one's own arm.
Thus, cultivators of the Beast Taming Sect relied on the True Beast Taming Art to raise their natal spirit beasts from a young age. They never considered choosing beasts controlled by the Myriad Beasts Reincarnation Wheel.
This very practice meant that when the great tribulation decree that dharmas cannot be cultivated concurrently descended, the Beast Taming Sect was instantly plunged into a dire predicament.
Fortunately, Di Sanmo personally oversaw the evacuation. Before this white-haired elder with long, drooping brows, neither man nor beast dared act out of turn. The testing with the Ring of Shared Hearts proceeded in an orderly fashion.
By the end of the first day, barely a fraction of the total beasts had been tested. In other words, completing the selection would take roughly half a month. The beasts that passed embraced their masters and wept, then stepped aboard the Myriad Beasts Boat ahead of the rest.
Before long, they would board this flying dharma treasure, leave the Xuanhuang Realm, and seek refuge in an unknown pocket world.
As for those that failed the trial, no matter how much their masters grieved, they were forcibly separated. Supposedly, these beasts were to be held together for the time being and released only after the entire Beast Taming Sect had safely evacuated.
The testing reached its seventh day.
That evening, Xu Ke, who had vanished for the entire day, suddenly came looking for Li Fan, his face pale with panic.
"Xiao Hei, something terrible has happened! You have to slip away right now!"
Li Fan, who had his eyes closed while cultivating the Creation Furnace Technique, opened them, glanced at the boy, and remained entirely unmoved.
Xu Ke urged, "I'm not joking with you this time! If you stay here any longer, you'll really lose your life! Forget about me—hurry up and sneak out of the sect!"
Li Fan opened his beak and gave a wide yawn.
Xu Ke grew frantic. "Xiao Hei, are you even listening to me? I heard from Senior Brother Lu Ya today that..."
"The beasts that fail the test won't be set free like they promised. They're going to execute every single one of them. Isn't that right?" Li Fan cut him off.
Xu Ke froze. "Y-You... how do you know that?"
A look of shock crossed Xu Ke's face. "Don't tell me you eavesdropped on our conversation?"
"Anyone could figure that out using their claws. Why would I need to eavesdrop?" Li Fan tilted his head high, full of disdain.
"To say nothing of how many sect secrets these former Beast Taming Sect beasts know, the evacuation from the Xuanhuang Realm is a matter of life and death for the entire sect. If word leaked, who could guarantee the demonic beasts wouldn't hunt us down in the pocket world? When the time came, with nowhere left to run, it would mean total annihilation!"
"That Di Sanmo is hardly a soft-hearted, benevolent soul. To hand humans the very method to enslave his own kind..." A dangerous glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
"In short, those beasts all have to die!" Li Fan stated coldly.
His words rang out with absolute certainty.
It took Xu Ke a long while to find his voice. He stared blankly at Li Fan. "If you already figured all of that out, Xiao Hei, why are you still so calm? Aren't you afraid?"
Li Fan puffed out his chest and fixed his gaze on Xu Ke, pressing, "Afraid? What a joke! What should I be afraid of? Do you really think I won't pass some trial of the Ring of Shared Hearts? Do you have that little faith in me?"
Intimidated by Li Fan's imposing aura, Xu Ke actually shrank from looking him in the eye. He stammered, "I-It's not that. Nothing in the world is absolute. What if..."
Li Fan flapped his wings, flew atop Xu Ke's head, and gave him a hard swipe with his claw. "There is no 'what if'!" he snapped resolutely.
Xu Ke opened his mouth to argue, but stopped himself. Though burning with worry, he knew all too well how stubborn this strange bird was, and in the end, he pressed no further.
After three days of anxious waiting, the day for Xiao Hei's trial finally arrived.
Under Xu Ke's nerve-wracked gaze, Li Fan stepped into the Ring of Shared Hearts.
For a single breath, time seemed to stand still.
The next instant, the Ring of Shared Hearts flared with a gentle blue light—the mark of a successful trial!
"Aah! Xiao Hei, you did it!" Xu Ke shrieked, lunging forward to give Li Fan a crushing hug, only to be kicked away unceremoniously by a sharp claw.
"Test passed. Next," Lu Ya announced, casting a slightly surprised glance at Li Fan.
Another five days passed. When all the demonic beasts of the Beast Taming Sect had undergone the trial of the Ring of Shared Hearts, the Myriad Beasts Boat was packed to capacity.
It was about to set sail toward their unknown new home.
"Senior Brother Lu Ya, aren't you coming?" Xu Ke asked on the deck, tilting his head with curiosity as he looked at Lu Ya standing at the prow.
Lu Ya reached out and patted Xu Ke's head. "Someone has to stay behind. The Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao have reputations to uphold, after all. If we don't even put on a show of staying, it wouldn't be good to provoke their anger."
Xu Ke nodded, half-understanding.
"Go on. The future of the Beast Taming Sect rests on you now."
As Lu Ya tied a red string around Xu Ke's right wrist, a trace of reluctance surfaced in his eyes.
"Whoa, this is the red string Mr. Bai braided!" The distinct way the knot was tied allowed Xu Ke to recognize its origin at a glance.
Back when they were still at the ruined temple in Ningyuan City, whenever a sick child was cured by Mr. Bai, he would tie a red string like this around their wrist to wish them safety and peace in the days to come.
Xu Ke raised his hand and held the red string before his eyes, looking at it again and again.
Li Fan also stared at the red string, an indescribable feeling welling within him.
Chapter 654