Chapter 1964: Heart Technique

Ren Wang finished speaking and fell silent. His feigned rest turned into genuine sleep, like a tired elder peacefully and serenely resting.

Seeing Ren Wang in this state, Ye Chen hesitated to speak, ultimately remaining quiet and not disturbing him. He simply turned around and sat quietly under the old tree, pondering the deeper meaning behind Ren Wang's words. On the surface, it seemed like an explanation of principles, but Ye Chen had a vague feeling that Ren Wang was trying to impart some secret knowledge to him.

Under the moonlight, he sat calmly and motionlessly, lost in thought. Although Ren Wang had dispelled the curse, those demonic whispers and bloody scenes were etched into his soul. Two conflicting voices constantly tormented his mind.

These were heart demons—two opposing heart demons, a flaw in the process of refining the heart. One represented Ye Fan, the other represented Cang Sheng.

Suddenly, he sat cross-legged and slightly closed his eyes, needing to eradicate these two heart demons. If left unchecked, they would eventually become karmic obstacles.

With his eyes closed, he could clearly perceive that in his sea of consciousness, two distorted humanoid figures were circling his primordial spirit, faintly visible with ferocious faces and eyes glowing with a greenish light.

"Kill Ye Fan, save Cang Sheng."

He laughed eerily, chattering endlessly.

"Destroy Cang Sheng, save Ye Fan."

He spoke in a sinister tone, cackling incessantly.

These were the two heart demons, using demonic words to tempt and confuse him, as if they wouldn't stop until he gave an answer.

Ye Chen let out a soft rebuke and silently recited a calming incantation in his heart.

It was a quieting mantra, or more precisely, the Sheng Xin Jue, passed down from Yao Chi Sheng Di. It was a supreme method for dispelling evil thoughts, taught to him by Ji Ning Shuang in the past. Using it against heart demons was perfect, as heart demons were essentially evil thoughts.

Indeed, as the ethereal immortal sounds of the Sheng Xin Jue echoed in his sea of consciousness, the bodies of the two heart demons twisted even more grotesquely. Their ferocious faces showed agony as they wailed pathetically.

"Get out of my body," Ye Chen snorted coldly, his words icy and commanding. He infused his cultivation power and Dao principles into the Sheng Xin Jue, amplifying its might. The ethereal immortal sounds were filled with divine force, becoming the heart demons' natural nemesis.

In his sea of consciousness, the Sheng Xin Jue's immortal sounds transformed into strands of divine light, converging into a sea of immortals that submerged the two heart demons. The purifying and exterminating power made them clutch their heads and wail.

The heart demons were suppressed, struggling in agony within the sea of immortals like two malevolent ghosts about to be eternally sealed away.

From the outside, Ye Chen's body was enveloped in brilliant divine light. The Sheng Xin Jue not only purified his soul and sea of consciousness but also refined his sacred body, shedding layers of worldly impurities.

The night grew deeper, and the small garden remained tranquil, with only a gentle breeze occasionally blowing, carrying a few fallen leaves that landed on Ren Wang and brushed Ye Chen's shoulders.

One day passed quietly, with Ye Chen still in meditation and Ren Wang asleep.

Two days slipped by quickly, Ye Chen remaining cross-legged with eyes closed, and Ren Wang showing no signs of waking, completely peaceful.

It was not until the night of the third day that Ye Chen's sacred body trembled slightly, followed by strands of golden radiance suddenly manifesting and swirling around his body. Various profound visions intertwined and outlined themselves, shining brilliantly in the night.

In the next instant, he opened his eyes, two beams of tangible golden light shooting from his pupils and piercing holes in the space around him.

After three days, he had eradicated the heart demons, and his mind was finally at peace.

He was truly remarkable—twenty years of heart refining, constantly tormented by demonic whispers and bloody visions day after day, yet he had not been brainwashed. This demonstrated the strength of his willpower.

Of course, this was unique to him; others might have fallen. Compared to the thousand years in the six paths of reincarnation, these twenty years of heart refining were merely a minor trial, not worth dwelling on.

Slowly collecting his thoughts, Ye Chen rubbed his eyes. Twenty years had passed, and his eyes were still blind, unchanged since he sealed himself and swallowed the blood of Zao Hua Shen Wang.

All along, he had relied on his divine sense to enhance his vision, allowing him to see the outside world, but it felt unnatural.

This lesson taught him that one should not casually consume others' blood, especially that of Zao Hua Shen Wang, whose protective measures were incredibly powerful.

Given that his own ancient sacred blood was precious, he had infused it with mysterious power. In the future, if anyone drew his blood and consumed it, they would be severely harmed by that power.

Naturally, if he willingly offered his sacred blood, it would not contain such power—all of this was for protection, a necessary precaution.

After handling that, he stretched lazily, his bones cracking with a series of pops.

A gentle breeze blew, and the Hun Dun Ding emerged, hovering in front of him and buzzing with vibration, as if joyful or perhaps showing off. It was displaying the additional Dun Jia heavenly characters on its body, each golden symbol gleaming brightly.

Ye Chen raised an eyebrow in surprise as he gazed at it. He knew better than anyone how many Dun Jia heavenly characters were imprinted on the Hun Dun Ding—now there were over a hundred more. This sudden delight caught him off guard.

Instinctively, he glanced at Ren Wang. Clearly, during Ye Chen's twenty years of heart refining, Ren Wang had not been idle and had sought out many Dun Jia heavenly characters for him, which was another form of opportunity.

As he thought about it, he stood up and approached Ren Wang.

Ren Wang seemed deeply asleep, unaware of his arrival, which was not typical for a quasi-emperor.

"Time to hit the road," Ye Chen said, giving him a firm kick.

He felt grateful toward Ren Wang but also quite annoyed.

Over these twenty years, although his mind had been trapped in the illusion, he was still aware of external events. Being led around by Ren Wang for two decades had tarnished his reputation!

However, despite the force of his kick, Ren Wang showed no reaction, sleeping soundly—or perhaps he was like a living corpse.

Ye Chen frowned and leaned closer, narrowing his eyes to peer into Ren Wang's sea of consciousness through his body.

Upon closer inspection, he realized Ren Wang's mind was in a dormant state, completely unresponsive to the outside world.

Helpless, he returned to the old tree, pulled out a wine gourd, and drank quietly. With Ren Wang in hibernation, he wouldn't wake soon, so Ye Chen decided to rest as well—the journey ahead was long.

In the middle of the night, he leaned against the old tree and fell into a deep sleep, the first truly restful one after twenty years of torment.

Sometime later, the small garden stirred with movement from Ren Wang's side.

A large hole was torn in Ren Wang's storage bag, and a bronze furnace flew out, hovering in the air and buzzing.

Ren Wang remained unresponsive, but Ye Chen was jolted awake from his sleep.

Ye Chen did not open his eyes—his blindness made it irrelevant—and he stayed still, sitting steadily while using his divine sense to observe the bronze furnace.

From the furnace, two dark, grimy hands emerged, gripping the edge, followed by a head poking out. Upon closer look, it was Zao Hua Shen Wang Lin Xing.

Ye Chen stared in astonishment, almost wanting to give Lin Xing a thumbs-up. "You really are something—breaking out of a quasi-emperor artifact's seal!"

"Damn it all," Lin Xing muttered on the other side, gasping for breath and cursing as he climbed out. His face was as black as charcoal; he had been sealed in the furnace for twenty years, enough to make anyone rage.

"You sealed me, you stole my treasures, you worthless scum," he grumbled, kicking Ren Wang repeatedly. Each kick landed with bold ferocity—who else would dare kick a quasi-emperor so openly?

Most importantly, Lin Xing had noticed Ren Wang was in a dormant state, or he wouldn't have acted so recklessly.

Remarkably, Ren Wang didn't react at all to the barrage of kicks; the deeper he slept, the more energetically Lin Xing kicked.

Ye Chen watched the entire scene but didn't intervene—for some reason, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction. He had long wanted to deal with Ren Wang and even considered joining in.

As Ye Chen observed, Lin Xing finally tired himself out and got to his real business.

His so-called business was outright robbery. He took Ren Wang's storage bag, though the treasures inside were just a drop in the bucket for Ren Wang.

Ren Wang's true valuables were stored in his internal world, a privilege of quasi-emperor's that Lin Xing, with his current cultivation, couldn't access. So, he settled for the external storage bag and some ornaments on Ren Wang.

Ye Chen still didn't move, watching Lin Xing's looting with interest—it was entertaining, and he felt an itch to join in.

He had always dreamed of robbing Ren Wang; the items on him were priceless treasures that could cause a sensation in the world. Robbing just Ren Wang would ensure a lifetime of comfort.

Unfortunately, his own cultivation limited him to mere fantasies, but now Lin Xing was doing it for him.

As Ye Chen watched, Lin Xing finished and grinned with excitement.

To his credit, Lin Xing had some sense of propriety; although he plundered Ren Wang's treasures, he left him a change of clothes.

If it had been Ye Chen, he would have stripped Ren Wang completely, leaving only underwear—that was his style.

It was a pity for Ren Wang's storied reputation to be tarnished by a Saint King junior.

No wonder he was Zao Hua Shen Wang; Lin Xing was ambitious. After robbing Ren Wang, he scurried over to Ye Chen.

"Truly in awe of your courage," Ye Chen thought to himself, though he didn't move. It was always him robbing others, and no one had ever dared to target his treasures—Lin Xing was the first.

"The disciple of a quasi-emperor must have plenty of treasures," Lin Xing chuckled to himself, rubbing his hands with a sly glint in his eyes, clearly no stranger to theft.

But to his embarrassment, Ye Chen had nothing on him—no storage bag, no ornaments, just clothes.

Ye Chen was an expert at this; he had anticipated possible robbery and kept his treasures elsewhere.

"This doesn't make sense!" Lin Xing muttered, his restless hand reaching into Ye Chen's robes to search for valuables.

"What are you looking for?" Ye Chen finally opened his eyes, flashing a grin with pearly white teeth, though his smile seemed rather menacing as he looked at Lin Xing.