Chapter 290: The Shakyamuni Heart Refining Art

Unlike the Holy Maiden Dantai Xuan, whose aloof and emotionless demeanor resembled an untouchable iceberg, An Miaoli radiated an ethereal, immortal charm. Her gaze wasn’t cold or indifferent but serene and tranquil, far more approachable than Dantai Xuan’s icy presence.

Ye Chen particularly adored the sight of An Miaoli, her face composed and serene, as she diligently helped him purge the Nether Poison. The sensation was uniquely captivating.

The poison had accumulated heavily, surging in relentless waves. It took a full half-day to complete the detoxification.

“My apologies, Senior, for imposing on you again…” Ye Chen said, his tone brimming with sincerity as they stood before her cave abode.

An Miaoli’s expression remained unruffled, her eyes calm and clear. “No matter. It’s all for Yuyi’s sake. You’re afflicted by the poison, so there’s no need to dwell on it. A clear conscience is enough.”

Ye Chen nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes, a clear conscience!”

After a brief exchange, he drifted away, returning to his own cave abode.

Seated cross-legged on the cool, jade-like stone bed, Ye Chen’s mood was buoyant. The top-grade spiritual artifact he’d gifted An Miaoli seemed to evoke different sensations depending on its color. And perhaps because of their time apart, this reunion felt like a honeymoon—An Miaoli had been more open, allowing him access to new “territories.”

But Ye Chen didn’t linger on these thoughts. Detoxification was merely a pleasant diversion in his cultivation journey. Strength and cultivation were the true foundation.

He knew his current comfortable life stemmed from his power. If he were still that anxious little cultivator in Silver Moon Market, trembling at the mention of a Foundation Establishment beast, even getting someone like Lin Ke’er to serve him would’ve been a struggle, let alone catching the eye of a Nascent Soul sect’s grand elder. He wouldn’t even have the qualifications to meet such a figure.

In the cultivation world, strength was everything.

With that in mind, Ye Chen activated his system. The notification that had chimed earlier now resurfaced.

“Congratulations, Host, for successfully gifting an item…”

“Processing feedback…”

“Two-hundredfold feedback in progress…”

“Detected significant emotional fluctuations in the recipient… Critical reward triggered…”

“Reward: Shakyamuni Heart Refining Art!”

“Shakyamuni Heart Refining Art: Created by Shakyamuni during his Golden Core stage, this heart-refining technique was later perfected after he ascended to immortality, becoming a supreme Buddhist heart-refining art of Immortal grade. Only a handful of the most exceptional Buddhist prodigies in each generation are permitted to cultivate it. This technique vastly enhances the upper limit of spiritual sense, greatly increases its sensitivity, and significantly boosts the quality of the Nascent Soul formed. Upon reaching the pinnacle of the Immortal Path, it can manifest extraordinary phenomena…”

Ye Chen’s eyes gleamed as he read the system prompt.

Buddhist sects were rare and declining in the Great Yan Continent, but it was common knowledge that Buddhist cultivators possessed the most formidable spiritual sense. And now, the system had granted him the Shakyamuni Heart Refining Art, a technique reserved for the direct disciples of Shakyamuni himself?

It was almost too incredible to believe.

Every cultivator’s spiritual sense had an inherent limit. Ordinary heart-refining techniques—Yellow or Black grade—could only push a cultivator’s spiritual sense to that natural ceiling.

Earth-grade techniques, however, could break through that limit, elevating spiritual sense beyond its innate boundaries. Heaven-grade techniques, like the Sword Peng Heart Refining Technique, went further, not only raising the ceiling higher but also infusing spiritual sense with greater sensitivity, leading to a higher-grade Nascent Soul.

But none of these compared to the Shakyamuni Heart Refining Art. It promised to dramatically increase the limit, enhance sensitivity, and elevate the quality of the Nascent Soul formed. Most intriguingly, it could even produce extraordinary phenomena upon reaching the pinnacle of the Immortal Path.

The description didn’t specify what those phenomena were, but based on Ye Chen’s experience, anything extra was bound to be valuable. He could figure out the details later.

Without hesitation, Ye Chen extended his spiritual sense into the jade slip. Instantly, a vast and intricate scripture flooded his mind. After fully comprehending and digesting it, he frowned slightly.

With his current talent, bolstered by his Primordial Supreme Heart, Immortal Scripture, and Heavenly Spirit Root, mastering the technique was well within his grasp. But cultivating the Shakyamuni Heart Refining Art required a decade of relentless refinement to strengthen his spiritual sense. For him, with his exceptional gifts, it might take only six or seven years.

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To most cultivators, a decade was a trivial price to pay for a top-grade Nascent Soul—especially for prodigies who deliberately delayed breakthroughs to perfect their foundations.

But Ye Chen was different. His entire cultivation journey, from start to now, had barely spanned a decade. His sense of time still lingered closer to that of a mortal. The thought of spending six or seven years grinding his spiritual sense felt agonizingly slow.

Then, a spark of inspiration hit him. If he could pair the Shakyamuni Heart Refining Art with a Buddhist holy fruit—the Shakyamuni Fruit—the results would be far more potent. Not only would it amplify the technique’s effects and raise the spiritual sense ceiling even higher, but it could also slash the cultivation time to a mere fraction, perhaps just a tenth of the original duration.

The catch? Shakyamuni Trees only grew in Buddhist Holy Lands. Legend had it that when Shakyamuni ascended to immortality, his blood, shed during his heavenly tribulation, transformed a grove of bodhi trees into Shakyamuni Trees. These trees bore a single Shakyamuni Fruit every millennium, a treasure capable of vastly enhancing spiritual sense and Buddhist affinity.

Its rarity was unimaginable. Even the prodigies within Buddhist Holy Lands competed fiercely for it, and it was utterly unattainable to outsiders, no matter how many spirit stones one offered.