The Transmigrated Male Lead Confessed to Me - Chapter 21

Su Zhen was unsure what madness had possessed him this time, but she temporarily set aside her attempts to understand it. “Senior, you hadn’t finished speaking just now.”

“Hmm.”

Xiao Yu snapped back to reality and, without further delay, spoke directly, “The Qian Shen Spell is a life-saving technique. I imagine you already know similar spells, though this one has the advantage of being incredibly fast.”

“It doesn’t require maintaining the integrity of the primordial spirit, and the spiritual energy consumption is relatively low.”

He raised his hand and slowly demonstrated several hand seals with precision. “Mark a location of your choosing. If your physical body is destroyed or your primordial spirit is damaged somewhere nearby…”

Su Zhen’s eyes lit up. “Then, by activating this technique, the primordial spirit will transfer directly to the marked location?”

Xiao Yu nodded.

Suppressing her excitement, Su Zhen asked, “What’s the range limit? Can it transcend realms?”

In theory, the primordial spirit of a cultivator at the Soul Transformation realm is more resilient than that of a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, but it still can’t withstand excessive strain.

However, she has her methods to keep her primordial spirit from exploding. As such, upon hearing about this kind of secret technique, she felt no fear—only an irresistible eagerness.

Moreover, Xiao Yu was correct—she was indeed familiar with similar techniques and knew more than just one or two. For Upper Seven Realms cultivators, particularly demon cultivators who often dwell in the perilous Demon Realm, survival techniques were indispensable regardless of one’s expertise.

However, those techniques required substantial spiritual energy, which made them challenging for her current self to wield.

“To cross realms, you’d need the upgraded version—version 2.0 of this technique—which I personally refined. But it’s fraught with issues and, for now, is less stable than my master’s basic version.”

Xiao Yu began speaking in more enigmatic terms, “Or, you could help me research it? We could work on a version 3.0…”

Su Zhen looked at him with mild exasperation.

Yet, strangely, despite the bizarre words, she somehow understood part of his meaning.

After considering it, Su Zhen found herself intrigued. “I’m probably not qualified yet?”

“Sorry, I’m rambling again… Ah, you understood?”

Xiao Yu’s face immediately lit up, his blue eyes shining brightly. “Not an issue. No one’s perfect at first, especially from the beginning. Try what my master taught me to compare it with similar techniques you’re familiar with.”

Su Zhen readily agreed.

Xiao Yu began a meticulous explanation.

His teaching was structured yet concise, with no unnecessary words. Once he covered the casting process, he added personal insights, discussing ideas as they came to him, shifting to a more spontaneous commentary.

A beginner in Soul-Cultivation Techniques might find his explanations baffling, due to lack of foundational understanding.

Because of her past life, Su Zhen had no trouble following along. In fact, she enjoyed it.

It was rare to learn from a Saint realm Immortal. If he regarded her as a beginner, he would need to simplify his explanations with more basic fundamentals. Any standard Upper Seven Realms elder might explain the same way, which would be of little interest to her.

Fortunately, he had no such intentions.

After sharing his insights, he then began to break down the hand seals and discussed the most efficient ways to circulate spiritual energy when the physical body is destroyed, the spirit loses its “shell,” and becomes damaged.

Su Zhen listened intently, occasionally posing questions.

She even managed to glean several tips from him on how to better use her primordial spirit to channel spiritual energy. Since she was already familiar with these techniques, she understood instantly.

Though she had her own methods in this area, more knowledge was always welcome.

“This technique is far more complex than the previous one, so… I’m explaining it exactly as my master taught me back then, although I added the latter part myself.”

Xiao Yu glanced at her. “Is everything clear?”

“Senior, your explanation was very helpful,” Su Zhen replied sincerely.

“Good. You can try it when you return.”

Xiao Yu seemed reluctant to stop, evidently enjoying their mutual exchange. “But practicing on your own and deploying the technique in life-threatening situations feels entirely different…”

Su Zhen agreed, “I can also use some techniques beforehand to partially damage my primordial spirit, then cast the spell, so that if I encounter a real crisis like that, I won’t be caught off guard.”

Using a few techniques beyond her current capacity could easily strain her primordial spirit; she could think of many such methods.

Xiao Yu gave a thoughtful hum.

For a moment, Su Zhen thought he might disagree with her.

Perhaps it was a subconscious impression or maybe because her master always reacted that way. If Yuchen Xianzun had heard her say that, he would definitely have admonished her.

Though he rarely used harsh words, his reproaches were always marked by a mild and exasperated tone, from which she could sense his disapproval of such training methods.

Naturally, Su Zhen did as she pleased.

If her master didn’t agree, she simply wouldn’t tell him—a straightforward principle.

“It’s not necessarily a bad idea,” Xiao Yu considered. “Originally, I was going to say I could help, but… I think you might handle it better alone.”

Su Zhen was momentarily taken aback, sensing his meaning.

Xiao Yu became conflicted again. “Of course, if you need my help, I’ll prioritize your wishes. Even if I had to hypnotize myself, I’d ensure it’s done.”

Just as Su Zhen was about to speak, he sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead in distress. “But I can’t be sure. There are some things I instinctively resist; hypnosis might not even work.”

Su Zhen: “……”

Su Zhen: “Enough, Senior, I was only making a suggestion. It’s not urgent.”

“Oh.”

Xiao Yu seemed to return to his senses. Then, as if reminded of something, he straightened. “Instructor Su, it’s your turn to teach now.”

Su Zhen sighed and went straight to the point. “I assume Senior is well-versed in techniques of entering, exiting, and summoning dreams?”

Xiao Yu nodded again.

Su Zhen proceeded with the key principles of the Huoxu Technique, explaining, “The method of channeling spiritual energy with the primordial spirit in this technique is very similar to the ones we discussed, and over half of the hand seals originate from there.”

She rolled up her sleeve slightly, revealing a section of her pale wrist.

Her fingers unfolded gracefully, weaving several intricate seals. A faint green light pulsed in her palm.

“Although it looks complicated, since you’re familiar with the previous techniques, you’ll probably understand it at a glance. Only the sequence is a bit different. If Senior has trouble remembering, I can draw it for you.”

“Hmm.”

Xiao Yu lowered his gaze to her hand, his long lashes fluttering. “It’s fine. These hand seals aren’t random; they’re interconnected, so I should remember them.”

Su Zhen nodded and was about to continue when suddenly a voice sounded in her mind.

“Come see me.”

The cold, melodious male voice carried a hint of displeasure, seemingly suppressing anger.

Su Zhen paused for a moment, then smirked and pretended nothing happened as she continued, “If you’re aiming to simulate an ominous omen, you mainly need to focus on…”

“Su Zhen.”

The voice in her mind called her again, “Come to the mountaintop at once. Do not delay any longer.”

Su Zhen sighed deeply. She formed several hand seals, channeling spiritual energy to cast a seal within her primordial spirit, attempting to cut off all contact with the outside world.

“Hmm…”

Xiao Yu looked at her with a complex expression. “Not that it’s any of my business, but…are you cursing yourself?”

“You heard him too, right? He’s really annoying.”

“I only know he’s transmitting to you. I didn’t listen in on what he was saying.”

Xiao Yu cautiously added, “If you truly want to go this far, I won’t stop you, but maybe we could think of another solution?”

Su Zhen lowered her hand. “Then destroy my physical body, and I’ll reconstruct it from scratch.”

Though she was partly venting her frustration, for her, it was a trivial matter.

Long before she became a demon cultivator, she had faced similar situations many times, and since then, injuries have become routine. Today her head would be lopped off; tomorrow she’d be blasted to pieces. Every few days, she’d need to reconstruct her body.

Sometimes, she even had to rebuild her body multiple times in a single day.

However, given her current cultivation level, regenerating a physical form would certainly take longer.

Xiao Yu could see she was speaking out of frustration. “…That would still be painful, though. He’s not worth it.”

“Then what would you suggest?” Su Zhen replied irritably. “Should you go kill him instead?”

Xiao Yu didn’t try to dissuade her this time. “Hmm? Well, that could work too.”

Su Zhen: “?”

Su Zhen: “…You really don’t like him, do you?”

“I don’t like him at all,” Xiao Yu responded nonchalantly. “But that’s not the point. The point is that I care about you. If killing him would solve the problem, then why not? It’s not like he matters—I don’t even know him.”

“But is it really about whether you know him? You met him long before I did…”

“Meeting someone doesn’t mean you know them. Look at all the people on the street—I see them, but how many do I actually know?”

Hearing this, Su Zhen found herself wanting to laugh and was about to argue with him further.

But then she sensed something was amiss. “Hmm? Why did my master suddenly go silent?”

Based on her understanding of Yuchen Xianzun, if he sensed she was casting a spell on Liu Yunyao, he’d definitely reprimand her, and wouldn’t back down easily.

Su Zhen scanned her surroundings, channeling spiritual energy to her eyes, and finally noticed an almost transparent barrier.

The wall of energy circled around the two of them, brimming with spiritual energy, evenly distributed to make it nearly undetectable.

It allowed the flow of surrounding breezes and sounds; Su Zhen could still hear nearby cultivators’ conversations as they passed by.

But her mind was silent—her master’s voice was completely gone.

Su Zhen looked over at Xiao Yu again.

He was watching her nervously. “If you think I overstepped—”

Su Zhen gave him a thumbs-up.

Everything was understood without words.

Xiao Yu broke into a smile. “Then that’s fine.”

Su Zhen knew this technique too, but barriers like these would be ineffective against those of a higher realm than her, so she’d been willing to curse herself just for some peace.

Su Zhen thanked him.

Xiao Yu waved it off. “As long as you don’t mind. I thought if you weren’t happy, I’d take it down.”

Su Zhen was taken aback, “Why would I be upset?”

The two stood in silence.

Su Zhen finally understood. “Senior, were you worried I’d think you overstepped?”

“I was concerned you might dislike me interfering in your affairs,” Xiao Yu replied, a bit nervously. “Even though we’ve only known each other a few dozen days, I can tell you’re someone with strong opinions.”

“Senior, where is your mind wandering?”

Su Zhen looked at him helplessly. “This wasn’t interference. I didn’t want to listen to him rambling, and you helped me. It’s not like you decided on your own that I should ignore him.”

After saying this, she found it slightly amusing. “What you mentioned earlier, especially about it being only human to have lingering attachments, shows that you’re a very understanding person, so why are you now…”

Acting foolish.

She didn’t want to say it out loud, after all, he had just helped her.

Even if it was indeed a very foolish concern.

Su Zhen hesitated for a moment, finding it amusing nonetheless. How could someone be like this? She couldn’t help but laugh.

Xiao Yu paused, looking slightly stunned.

Throughout the evening, he had seen her smile several times, each time triggered by an excitement for the mystical arts.

In those vibrant, enchanting green eyes that held the richness of spring and summer, a radiant spark would light up like two shimmering stars.

But this time, her delight wasn’t due to intellectual curiosity.

It was a simpler, purer joy, a sense of genuine amusement. Perhaps it was precisely this simplicity that made her seem all the more radiant.

The young woman in her light green robes tilted her head slightly, eyes crinkled with laughter. Her cheeks glowed like fresh lychee, her smile as luminous as moonlight breaking through clouds, and she was gazing up at him.

“Senior…”

Su Zhen had just begun to speak when Xiao Yu abruptly drew in a sharp breath.

Su Zhen looked at him, puzzled, tilting her head again.

The tall, broad-shouldered man suddenly leaned back, raised a hand to his lips, and froze for a moment, then silently turned to face the wall, covering his face.

“…I’m dead,” he said.

Su Zhen: “???”