Chapter 144: His Suspicion-Cultivation Strategy: Winning the Male Lead’s Favor from the Start(The young lady walks with confidence, unafraid to go her own way.)

It was just as expected.

Yan Shu had nothing left to ask. She fell silent, waiting to see how Xiao Jihan would handle the situation.

Xiao Jihan glanced at the blood-stained invisible sword, his brows furrowed. He turned to the leader and asked, "How long have you been here, and how many spirit stones have you swindled in total?"

The leader, having taken a kick, felt as though his internal organs had been displaced. Terrified by the sheer power of these two, he dared not conceal the truth. "We have been here for nearly three months. We haven't swindled that many—only about two hundred mid-grade spirit stones, which we divided among ourselves."

As he spoke, he emptied the spirit stones from his person. Yan Shu glanced at them; there were roughly seventy or eighty. The rest must have been on those who were already dead.

Having obtained the answer he sought, Xiao Jihan said no more. With a flicker of movement, he appeared before the leader in the blink of an eye.

The leader, being at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, sensed the danger instantly and tried to dodge. However, Xiao Jihan had anticipated this and unleashed his spiritual pressure the moment the man moved.

The leader felt as if he were suddenly crushed under the weight of ten thousand tons, rendered completely immobile. In that instant, Xiao Jihan’s sword struck.

The leader could only watch in horror as the blade, still slick with the third man's blood, pierced his dantian and shattered his Nascent Soul. His eyes widened in disbelief. This was impossible! Even if his opponent were one level higher at the mid-stage of the Spirit Severing realm, he shouldn't have been able to suppress him so thoroughly that he was left without a shred of resistance! Furthermore, there were very few in the entire cultivation world who had reached the Spirit Severing realm.

Looking at the person before him—who remained invisible—he gasped out a final, labored question: "Who... who exactly are you?"

Hearing this, Yan Shu, who stood to the side, rolled her eyes and delivered a stinging retort: "He’s your father. You wicked son, you may depart in peace."

As the saying goes, a scholar can be killed but not humiliated. Though the leader lacked integrity, he was still incensed by these words, spitting up a mouthful of blood.

Xiao Jihan stepped aside, the spiritual power on his sword surging. The man’s eyes bulged, and he collapsed powerlessly, clutching his dantian. Xiao Jihan withdrew his blade and looked at the corpse with utter disdain. "You are not worthy of being my wicked son!"

Yan Shu: "..."
Well, he certainly wasn't.

The four men were dead, and their mustard-seed bags were now ownerless. Xiao Jihan did not claim their contents for himself, nor did he take extra spirit stones; he simply retrieved the one hundred and fifty stolen mid-grade spirit stones and returned the bags to their respective owners.

Yan Shu raised an eyebrow as she watched. For the first time, she felt the male lead’s behavior deviated from his persona in the original book. If he had followed the original script, he wouldn't have just looted these bags; he would have picked through them to take anything of value. After all, to the male lead of the original story, even the smallest scrap of meat was still meat.

Then again, it made sense. He wasn't being hunted right now, he didn't need to live in hiding, and with her—his nominal master—by his side, he naturally had to restrain himself. It seemed that it wasn't just her who had been changed by the environment; it was him as well.

Observing the "changed" male lead, Yan Shu tentatively asked, "If I were to do something that made you feel deeply disappointed or incredibly angry, what would you do?"

At these words, Xiao Jihan’s body suddenly stiffened.

Something that would make him deeply disappointed or incredibly angry? Aside from abandoning him or betraying his heart for another, he couldn't imagine anything else she could do to provoke such a reaction. If that were truly the case... If, after he had surrendered his heart and given everything, she still chose to betray and abandon him, he thought he would not accept separation or a divorce; he would only accept widowhood.

Xiao Jihan looked back toward the void and said coldly, "I would kill you."

Yan Shu: "..."
The male lead was still the same male lead.

Yan Shu swallowed hard. "I... I was just joking."

Hearing this, Xiao Jihan’s cold expression faded. He put away the spirit stones, walked over to Yan Shu, and handed her an elixir to dispel the invisibility effect. As he watched her take it, he suddenly asked, "Could you see me?"

Yan Shu was stunned for a moment, then quickly shook her head. "No, I couldn't."

A fifth-grade invisibility elixir was something even those at the Spirit Integration realm couldn't see through, let alone her. All she could see was the green favorability progress bar above his head. At this thought, her heart skipped a beat. Had the male lead discovered something?

Indeed, no sooner had the thought crossed her mind than she heard Xiao Jihan’s voice, laced with suspicion: "Then how were you able to coordinate with me and attack at the same time just now?"

Yan Shu stammered, "It... it might be because I consumed your heart-blood for a year, so there’s some kind of connection between us."

Xiao Jihan gave her a skeptical look but chose not to pursue it further. He recalled that back at the black market in Fantian City, he had recognized her instantly even when she was wearing a disguise.

After the invisibility effect wore off, the two opened the secret chamber door and saw the Lord of Xuantian City bound and unconscious. Xiao Jihan stepped forward and infused him with a trace of spiritual power, causing the Lord to slowly regain consciousness.

Perhaps traumatized by his captivity, the Lord of Xuantian City wasn't relieved to see Xiao Jihan and Yan Shu; instead, he was startled and recoiled toward the wall, mumbling something incoherently.

Yan Shu looked at him and said, "Lord, do not be afraid. We are cultivators passing through who accidentally learned of your plight and have come to save you. The four men who harmed you have been killed; their bodies are just outside the chamber. Please calm yourself, and we will untie you."

Being a man of status, the Lord of Xuantian City soon regained his composure and nodded repeatedly. Xiao Jihan removed the gag and untied him.

The Lord of Xuantian City leaned against the wall, stood up slowly, and bowed deeply to Xiao Jihan and Yan Shu. "The kindness of you two immortals is something I, Dongfang Lei, will never forget."

Hearing his name, Yan Shu finally understood why those thugs hadn't dared to take his life. Those who bore the surname Dongfang were surely close relatives of the Yunzhou royal family. Furthermore, the Xuantian Sect was the largest sect in Yunzhou; for someone to be the Lord of Xuantian City, they had to be, at the very least, a prince.

Yan Shu waved her sleeve, using her spiritual power to support him, and said, "Lord, there is no need for such formalities; this is merely what we cultivators should do. However, I have a personal request, and I hope the Lord will grant it."

Dongfang Lei quickly replied, "You two immortals saved my life. Forget one request—even ten, as long as they do not violate the laws of heaven and are within my power, I will not refuse!"

"In that case, I will be direct." Yan Shu carefully chose her words. "Your encounter, Lord, was an unforeseen calamity that no one could have predicted. You are innocent, and the women in your inner courtyard are also innocent. I hope that once you leave, you will treat those women kindly."

"Even if you no longer favor them, I hope you will keep this matter a secret. After all, if this affair were to be exposed, it would likely cost many lives and would not be favorable to your own reputation, Lord."