The Transmigrated Male Lead Confessed to Me - Chapter 16 (Part 1)

Sweetness?

Not to mention the strength of their physical bodies; even if their mouths were filled with chili peppers, they wouldn’t shed a tear, let alone be truly affected by desserts.  Moreover—

Su Zhen looked at him suspiciously, “Don’t you also like sweet things?”

It was because of his previous comment that she added sugar according to her usual habits, which might seem a bit too sweet for the average person.

But for someone with a sweet tooth, it should be just right.

“Yes, what I meant is, it’s delicious, and I was amazed.”

Xiao Yu explained vaguely.

Su Zhen had gradually grown accustomed to his odd behaviors and didn’t bother digging any deeper.

Xiao Yu ate slowly, savoring each bite with great care. A bowl of custard took him a full quarter of an hour, and he hadn’t even finished half of it.

Su Zhen had already taken out a book on primordial spirit techniques and sat by the table to read.

A certain diner nearby was moving too slowly and was particularly quiet.

She gradually immersed herself in the techniques, almost forgetting his presence, and silently began trying out some of the methods.

For a cultivator at the Nascent Soul realm, it was extremely difficult to voluntarily separate the primordial spirit from the body while still physically intact, and the risk of injury was quite high.

However, for cultivators at the Soul Transformation realm, the process was somewhat easier, though not without risks.

Su Zhen controlled her spiritual energy, slowly guiding her primordial spirit out of her body.

She was very familiar with this process.

When she was at the Golden Immortal realm, she could separate her primordial spirit from her body in an instant, traveling millions of miles, even across realms.

It was even possible to reconstruct a new body in a single thought.

With centuries of experience, her primordial spirit could now leave her body faster than any other Soul Transformation cultivator.

The green-robed girl under the tree leaned against the edge of the table, her head lowered, as if she had quietly fallen asleep.

A golden light floated out from her body, hovering in mid-air.

This golden light took human form, with clear contours, exactly matching her physical body in size.

She meditated in the air next to her body.

Xiao Yu continued eating his pea cake unhurriedly.

He paid no attention to the changes around him, neither warning her of the dangers nor marveling at her speed in separating the primordial spirit, which far surpassed others at her level.

His complete indifference made Su Zhen feel very comfortable.

She continued practicing her spell.

—Maintaining the soul separation state during primordial spirit cultivation was beneficial for honing the control of spiritual energy through the spirit.

After all, some battles took place when the physical body was destroyed. At that time, without the body to supply and absorb external energy, everything must rely on the energy of the primordial spirit.

Before reaching the Nascent Soul realm, one strengthened the body by refining the spiritual roots, consolidating bones and blood, and expanding the meridians.

Once one entered the Nascent Soul realm, the focus shifted to strengthening the primordial spirit.

This involved drawing spiritual energy using the primordial spirit, expanding the spirit’s capacity to store energy, and speeding up the reconstruction of a new body using the spirit.

The primordial spirit was a tangible soul and differed from the flesh, so past experience with physical cultivation could not be directly applied.

However—

One advantage of being reborn was having more experience than other cultivators at the same realm.

Although others could also receive guidance from their masters, true mastery came from years of practice, gradually finding the methods most suited to oneself.

Su Zhen quietly immersed herself in cultivation.

Logically, it was best to practice alone in such situations. After all, without the body’s protection, being attacked during soul separation would be far more dangerous than usual.

But considering who was beside her, Su Zhen saw no need to worry.

If he wanted to harm her, he wouldn’t need to take advantage of her vulnerability; whether she was at her peak or near death wouldn’t make a difference.

Just like she had often separated her primordial spirit in front of her master.

—It wasn’t just that she trusted her master wouldn’t harm her; she also knew that if he wanted to, there was nothing she could do to stop him.

Of course, after reaching the Golden Immortal realm, she was confident she could escape from him at her full strength.

But by then, they no longer spoke, let alone spent time alone together. It was impossible for her to cultivate in his presence.

It was unclear how much time had passed before Su Zhen finished her cultivation.

Xiao Yu sat where he was, his plates and bowls now empty.

The handsome young man dressed in black was propping his chin with one hand, casually resting the other on the table, leisurely admiring the lush green courtyard.

Given that similar scenery could be found all over Lingxiao Peak, Su Zhen couldn’t understand what he found so interesting here.

She returned to her body. “What time is it? Still today?”

Xiao Yu tilted his head and studied her with a smile. “What if I told you it’s been a hundred years since you invited me for snacks?”

Su Zhen’s face remained expressionless. “Then I’d assume you were mocking me for taking too long to cultivate a few simple techniques.”

“Huh?”

Xiao Yu immediately looked aggrieved. “That’s not what I meant!”

Su Zhen glanced at him and couldn’t help but laugh.

Xiao Yu: “……”

He showed no sign of anger at being teased; instead, seeing her reaction, he smiled as well.

His beautiful blue eyes sparkled, as if washed clean by rain, like a clear sky under the sun.

It seemed that whenever he saw her happy, he genuinely felt joyful.

Su Zhen thought uncertainly.

But soon after, Xiao Yu seemed to fall into deep thought again. “Now I owe you one. Next time, I’ll figure out something else for you. Let me think. You like to eat—”

“Wait!”

Su Zhen interrupted in shock. “What do you owe me? That was just to repay you for that box of pastries. Aren’t we even now?”

“No!”

Xiao Yu retorted, “Earlier, I accepted your Cuiyu Crystal Grass. So when I gave you the pastries, we were even. Now, it is I who owe you.”

Su Zhen hesitated, wanting to say that the herb didn’t count, since she had originally planned to throw it away. It was just an eyesore lying around.

But on second thought, Xiao Yu probably wouldn’t accept this explanation.

Su Zhen: “…In that case, how about you give me some spirit stones?”

She wasn’t short on money, but since they couldn’t reach a consensus, it seemed this back-and-forth would never end.

Xiao Yu thought for a moment. “How much do you think I should give?”

Su Zhen took out a jade slip and contacted a senior sister who was familiar with the current market for spiritual herbs. Soon, the prices of various grades of Cuiyu Crystal Grass were listed.

Su Zhen handed the jade slip to Xiao Yu. “See for yourself. These are the market prices.”

Xiao Yu didn’t hesitate, taking the jade slip and examining it carefully. Then, with a flip of his hand, he produced a green jade slip from his palm.

Su Zhen: “?”

She watched as he raised the two jade slips. “Can we exchange contact info?”

Su Zhen: “???”

Unless they were from the same batch or had been embedded in the same formation, it would be impossible for jade slips to communicate with each other. To establish contact, spiritual energy must be infused into both, allowing them to connect and receive each other’s messages.

Su Zhen didn’t fully understand his words but roughly got the idea. “As you wish.”

Her jade slip could contact hundreds of people, and one more wouldn’t make a difference, especially since most of them weren’t close to her anyway.

In fact, many of those she had known for decades spoke less with her than Xiao Yu, whom she had only recently met.

—Ding!

Xiao Yu gently tapped the two jade slips together.

Su Zhen listened to the crisp sound, feeling a bit dazed. “Actually, if you wanted to find me, you didn’t need to do this, right?”

Xiao Yu returned her jade slip. “Hm?”

Su Zhen took it back. “For someone of your strength, if you want to find someone, you don’t even need to leave your cave. Your spiritual sense could sweep across the Nine Realms. A mere thought, and you could either send a projection or communicate directly through mental transmission. My master often does this…”

“That would disturb you.”

Xiao Yu responded without hesitation. “Speaking directly into your mind… What if you’re busy with something else and don’t feel like talking to anyone?”

Su Zhen’s words caught in her throat.

Su Zhen said, “…Given your cultivation level, if I were in the middle of training, you’d be able to sense it.”

Her master rarely contacted her during her closed-door cultivation, except for matters of great urgency.

Xiao Yu shook his head. “Even if you’re not cultivating, even if you’re just relaxing, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a disturbance. Maybe you’re shopping, eating, or just wanting to be alone.”

Su Zhen had no words.

Would it feel intrusive?

She couldn’t deny that such moments did exist.

But isn’t that how everyone is?

It wasn’t just her; even with Liu Yunyao, her master usually communicated directly through spiritual thought instead of using jade slips.

After all, if the jade slip was stored in a spatial bag, you wouldn’t see the message until you took it out.

Moreover, it wasn’t just Yuchen Xianzun who behaved this way.

A Quasi-Saint could transmit thoughts over thousands of miles with ease. Golden Immortals, Heavenly Immortals, and Earth Immortals could all do this too, with varying distance limits.

It could be said that for anyone with sufficient strength, this was a common practice, whether they were a master, senior brother, or senior sister.

Su Zhen’s eyes flickered. “Senior, you’re really quite unique.”

“Don’t think of me as some benevolent person.”

Xiao Yu’s voice was calm. “I just don’t want you to feel disturbed. As for others, I couldn’t care less.”

Su Zhen: “……”

Although they hadn’t known each other long, there was no denying that, judging by all that had happened, she couldn’t pretend he didn’t treat her differently.

As for why, she had no other choice but to believe his previous explanations, however improbable they seemed.

“If there’s something urgent, feel free to contact me directly. I won’t mind being disturbed since…”

Su Zhen coughed lightly, “Never mind, it’s probably not something urgent. Even if it were, I wouldn’t be able to help much. Let me take that ‘urgent’ word back. If you need me for anything, feel free to transmit to me.”

Xiao Yu looked at her thoughtfully.

Su Zhen had expected him to be happy, given his usual demeanor, but this time, seeing his calm expression, she was slightly surprised.