The Transmigrated Male Lead Confessed to Me - Chapter 24 (Part 1)

Although the sound became increasingly faint, Su Zhen still heard it clearly. Her emotions swung back and forth between helplessness, surprise, confusion, and bewilderment.

“…Senior brought me here, saving me a day’s journey. I can pick a few baskets for you later, no need to keep them stored—just take a bite. Yours should also be quite sweet.”

Xiao Yu hurriedly replied that there was no need to buy a few baskets. He obediently lowered his head and took a bite, his eyes lighting up instantly.

“You’re pretty good at picking.”

He praised, “The first time I came here, I bought three, and they were all sour. I thought this fruit was inherently sour, and the locals just had a different definition of ‘sweet.’”

Su Zhen laughed with amusement. “Did you only pick the prettiest ones?”

And so, they started discussing the art of selecting fruits.

Su Zhen shared some tips about purchasing local specialties, all from the various regions of the Five Regions and Fourteen States. These were plants shaped by spiritual veins, unique to specific locations, and unavailable elsewhere.

Xiao Yu listened with great interest. “Does your hometown have a lot of delicious things too?”

“Indeed, Huanhua State boasts a wide variety of spiritual plants. Among the specialty fruits, the extremely sweet ones are mostly spiritual plants, which are hard for ordinary people to cultivate.”

Spiritual plants, like other flora nurtured by spiritual veins, take longer to bear fruit and require more spiritual energy. Without spiritual energy infusion, the cultivation time becomes unbearably long, and ordinary people might never see the fruits mature in their lifetime.

Moreover, they often attract demonic beasts.

“My ancestors compiled a book documenting various spiritual plants within the state’s boundaries, detailing their natural growth cycles. It was meant to help the common folk recognize them, to avoid accidental consumption of poisonous ones in the wild.”

Su Zhen said, shaking her head. “But many people couldn’t read, so they came up with other methods, such as drawing the poisonous spiritual plants likely to be eaten, adding a picture of a dead person next to them, and posting them everywhere…”

“Did it work?”

“How should I put it,” Su Zhen said, biting into a fruit. “It’s certainly effective, but there are still misunderstandings. I once heard about a town mayor who hoarded the scrolls my family distributed because he thought they were immortal treasures. Others used the scrolls to deceive illiterate people, selling them poisonous spiritual plants under the guise of granting immortality. My family had to handle several such cases, one after another. It wasn’t until we executed a few perpetrators who caused deaths that things quieted down a bit.”

She shook her head again. “With constant shifts in the spiritual’s veins, new spiritual plants emerge every few decades, requiring renewed research and new antidotes.”

Xiao Yu mused, “Your family must have a close relationship with Qihuang Palace. I imagine they often send people to you for new materials.”

Qihuang Palace was the foremost sect of medical cultivation and the leading faction of the Southern Region, located on an immortal island in the Southern Region. The sect was home to numerous experts and held a highly esteemed status in the entire cultivation world.

Low-level medical cultivators could only treat minor external and internal injuries, which most cultivators rarely needed due to their resilient physiques that allowed injuries to heal on their own.

However, stronger medical cultivators, especially those in the Upper Seven Realms—For those whose physical bodies had been destroyed, they could regrow flesh and bones in an instant; for those whose primordial spirits were damaged or incomplete, they could restore them overnight.

This was merely the capability of ordinary medical cultivators in the Upper Seven Realms. As for the experts within Qihuang Palace, their abilities far exceeded this.

However, medical cultivators at the Golden Immortal realm and above were practically as elusive as dragons.

Perhaps due to the overwhelming number of requests for their aid, they rarely met anyone easily, even within the sect. Outside the palace, their whereabouts were even harder to trace.

Otherwise, they’d likely spend all their time diagnosing and treating illnesses, with no opportunity to do anything else.

Nevertheless, the field of medical cultivation encompassed many branches. Some practitioners favored spells, resolving issues using spiritual energy alone, while others, like pill cultivators, required spiritual plants as materials.

“Our relationship isn’t exactly close, but there has been some interaction.”

Su Zhen glanced at him. “If someone else asked me this question, I’d think they were trying to get me to ask Qihuang Palace for help on their behalf. I’d likely refuse or even make up some excuses.”

With Xiao Yu, it was different. Not only did he not need medical cultivators, but even if he did, a visit from him in person would guarantee that no one dared to turn him away.

Even the Palace Lord of Qihuang Palace, the revered Chensha Xianzun—whom countless seekers of medical aid would have ruined themselves financially for just a glimpse, yet who had become solely obsessed with seclusion and ascension—would likely have had to come out personally to greet him.

Su Zhen made a joke along these lines.

Xiao Yu immediately shook his head. “He might come out to welcome me on the surface, but deep down, he’d probably be wishing I’d just leave. My relationships with my peers have never been great, so don’t get your hopes up.”

Su Zhen: “…Isn’t he from a generation younger than you?”

Xiao Yu pretended to be hurt. “The age difference isn’t that big.”

Su Zhen: “What did Senior do back then? From what you’re saying, it seems like your relationships with the Immortal Venerables from other sects aren’t great either.”

Xiao Yu was silent for a moment. “I defeated them? And maybe their masters too? That might be the reason?”

Su Zhen was stunned. “You even went after medical cultivators?”

Why are you so obsessive?

Although, if both parties were at the same cultivation level, fights could certainly occur, but she had rarely heard of a sword cultivator challenging a medical cultivator. What was there to gain?

“…It must be to steal their secret techniques.”

Xiao Yu coughed lightly. “I did sneak into their sects and read a lot of their archives. But I’m a bit dull in this area. Just reading wasn’t enough for me to fully grasp it. Learning through combat and stealing techniques on the spot gave me a more practical understanding.”

Goodness.

Su Zhen had not expected such an answer.

And honestly, it didn’t sound very honorable. Not that she cared—she had done similar things herself—but for an Immortal Venerable to openly admit such a past was quite something.

“If I were to say that, Senior would surely claim I’m not an ‘outsider,’ right?”

“Mm, that’s part of it. Also, I figured you wouldn’t mind.”

Fair enough.

He really did understand her.

“What has Senior learned?”

“Most of it is just life-saving and healing techniques. Honestly, I’m terrible at it. I truly lack talent. But back then, I thought, just in case one day I needed to save someone I wanted to save… Though such a situation might never occur…”

Su Zhen nodded. “With Senior’s cultivation level, it’s unlikely you would need to save yourself.”

Then she recalled another matter. “The gateway I’m heading to is underground. It’s guarded by… demon cultivators. I’ll need to pretend to be one of their own.”

She wasn’t lying.

For now, she still wasn’t one of them.

Xiao Yu showed no surprise. “Oh, fine. If there’s anything you need me to do, just let me know.”

Su Zhen was about to say that escorting her here was enough but changed her mind. With his level of cultivation, there was no chance he’d be exposed; those guards definitely wouldn’t be able to see through him.

Su Zhen: “Just act accordingly. Even if you look down on them and want to kill them all, make sure not to destroy the entire city with a single slash.”

Xiao Yu smiled. “If I made a move, I could destroy this city but still preserve the gateways. However, that won’t happen. If I truly look down on someone, I’d just kill them. Then…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, instead giving her a look that implied she could figure it out herself.

Su Zhen: “Hmm? If that’s the case, then there wouldn’t be any living beings left in the Nine Realms now, would there?”

Who’s the real demon cultivator here?

“Haha, that’s not necessarily true.”

Xiao Yu waved his hand. “You’d definitely still be alive.”

Su Zhen rolled her eyes at him.

The two of them chatted casually as they traversed the long, snowy mountain paths, eventually arriving at Feihe City bustling with people.

In Suiyun State, the distribution of spiritual veins was uneven, and the spiritual energy around Feihe City was scarce. As a result, only third-rate sects occupied a few of the spiritual mountains nearby.

Su Zhen had initially paid little attention to these minor sects but later discovered that a few of them were backed—or outright controlled—by demonic sects.

For this very reason, the artificial boundary gate leading to the Demon Realm was hidden in a secret underground passage within the city.

Suiyun State was located in the Northern Region of the Human Realm, covered with snowy peaks and high mountains. Major cities and towns were relatively sparse.

Feihe City was the only city within several hundred miles. The city had a large population, and the surrounding villages and towns were densely distributed.

As a result, even though the mountain roads leading to the city weren’t particularly easy to traverse, many people rushed to the city early in the morning to attend the market.

The two of them strolled leisurely toward the marketplace, while countless carts—drawn by horses, oxen, or even by people—passed them by.

Within the city, buildings were neatly stacked, the canals ran straight, and the streets were lined with shops. Thick snow piled up on rooftops and roads, while the marketplace bustled with calls from vendors.

By now, the sun had risen, casting brilliant rays across the horizon, illuminating the snow-covered ground and the crisscrossing footprints, hoofprints, and wheel marks left behind.

Su Zhen felt a touch of nostalgia.

She had visited this city several times, her most recent visit being shortly before her death. Yet none of those visits had been as leisurely as today.

“Do you still have an appetite, Senior?”

“Are you familiar with the snacks here?”

Both spoke at the same time.

Su Zhen looked up, and Xiao Yu lowered his head. Their gazes met for a moment before both broke into laughter.

Su Zhen said, “How about we each buy our favorite things and share them with each other?”

Xiao Yu pondered for a moment. “With how in sync we are, I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up queuing at the same shop.”

Su Zhen couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him. “Who’s in sync with you—”

She decided it wasn’t worth arguing further. “You’ve been glancing toward East Street earlier. I’m guessing the thing you most want to recommend is over there. Then I’m confident we’re not thinking of the same place.”

Xiao Yu sighed. “You’ve got me. If you’re not heading to East Street, I can almost guess what you’re planning to buy. There are only a few good desserts here.”

Su Zhen narrowed her eyes. “Maybe it’s not something sweet.”

Xiao Yu mused for a moment and replied, “Fine. Anyway, I think I can still surprise you. The store I’m heading to is well hidden. I found it by accident years ago when I was chasing a wandering Chi Zou that kept evading capture.”

Su Zhen thought for a moment. “…I can kill those creatures with one strike. Why were you chasing one around? And how long ago was that? Are you sure the shop hasn’t moved?”

Xiao Yu looked at her helplessly. “I was going to argue with you, but you’re right. I had the same concern, which is why I deliberately checked just now. The shop is still there.”

Of course, the so-called “checking” involved using his spiritual sense to perceive the area.

After saying this, Xiao Yu seemed to have thought of something and gave her a meaningful look. “I just hope things go smoothly for you.”

At the crossroads, the two parted ways, one heading east and the other west.

TL – Hi! This is the last free chapter that will be posted here. Please check NU for the new links on 11th Dec and the TL note below for more details! 🙂