[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-lord-of-the-immortal-food":3,"chapter-lord-of-the-immortal-food-lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-16":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Lord of the Immortal Food",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2313139,4524,"Chapter 16: Chapter Sixteen: The Dragon Heart, the Chun Bird","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-16",16,"\u003Cp>In the county yamen, all was shattered walls and broken ruins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Buildings had collapsed; pillars as thick as a man’s body were snapped in half; broken branches and leaves of the old locust tree were scattered everywhere, leaving only half a bare, stump-like trunk. Every surface was covered in sharp, cleanly cut marks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No lamps burned in the courtyard; it seemed utterly empty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Yanping’s corpse had been sliced beyond recognition, slumped helplessly against the corner of the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye lowered Cheng Feng’s body and laid it beside Shen Yanping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dozens of corpses in white robes and official uniforms lay scattered across the courtyard, even two martial arts masters—likely those who had rushed to reinforce after seeing the water dragon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the brutality of the scene, there may have been a chance for victory—but in the end, misfortune had prevailed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye hurried through the courtyard to the room he had previously occupied; it too had been flooded, but since it was in the back courtyard, the damage was not severe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye dug through overturned tables and chairs to find his own wine and medicine, took a dark brown pill from his cloth bundle, and swallowed it with the wine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, a fire ignited in his abdomen, melting the hundred cold iron needles; the searing pain rose gradually, replacing the cramping pain that had been poised to unleash its second wave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye leaned against the wall and took several deep breaths; color returned to his face, then he pushed himself up and walked back to the main hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One pillar had broken, causing the roof to slump diagonally, but the other three still held up a space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye sifted through the rubble but found no Chang Zhiyuan’s body; perhaps before the fiercer battle erupted, Lord Shen had ordered him to leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The soul-bird was gone, but the jade box had fallen beneath the table; Pei Ye picked it up and found two letters inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the light of the lamp, Pei Ye took out one letter and held it close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“To Inspector Shen, respectfully:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I am aware of the peril facing Fenghuai. But recently, a letter arrived from the Divine Capital stating that a special envoy team, bearing urgent orders, has arrived in our province and must be fully assisted. Commandant Jing departed this morning to meet them in Zheng Shou County. Upon receiving this letter, I immediately sent a soul-bird message to him and first dispatched Lords Zhang Xiu and Zhao Yi to aid you—but they may not arrive in time. Thus, I have entrusted the ‘Little Dragon Heart’ to the soul-bird, hoping it may temporarily ease your crisis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reading this letter burns my heart like fire. Inspector Shen, Lord Feng, my friend Zhiyuan—please, above all, survive!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye set down this letter and picked up the other; the ink had changed hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Little Dragon Heart…” Pei Ye murmured, reading the second letter again carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first line read: “Shen Yanping, the Little Dragon Heart has been soaked and sealed; it may be used directly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Below it, after a large blank space, another paragraph began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If Inspector Shen has met with misfortune, the reader of this letter shall use the ‘Little Dragon Heart’ as follows:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Little Dragon Heart is forged by sorcerers of Yangyi Tower and is normally stored in a desiccated state. Before use, it must be soaked in water to ‘awaken’ it; soaking time depends on the spiritual energy concentration in the water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When used, it must be wrapped in a specific talisman before swallowing. Its marvels are twofold: first, ‘Dragon Skin,’ which strengthens the body, rendering it impervious to blades and capable of resisting the force of five oxen; second, ‘Water Spirit,’ which allows one to evade water like a fish and to command two specific water techniques.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two techniques are: ‘Bind Crocodile,’ which uses water as chains to trap; and ‘Shatter Turtle,’ which turns water into blades. If one lacks spiritual power, both must be used only in places rich in water vapor, and their effects vary by individual.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Note One: If you lack experience in channeling spiritual energy to cast spells, do not attempt to command the two water techniques!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Note Two: The ‘Little Dragon Heart’ may only be used by a martial cultivator of the Fourth Life of the Meridian Tree or higher. Without true qi to protect the body, even wrapped in talismans, the Little Dragon Heart will corrode the five viscera. To survive, the user must be at least Second Life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Note Three: Even if qualified, the talisman must be used to extract it from the abdomen within two hours. This talisman is attached to the bottom of the box; activate it with the user’s blood—it may be used three times. If more than two hours pass, within ten days one must either seek a Yangyi Tower sorcerer to perform a ritual or a Taishan Medicine Pavilion physician to surgically remove it. Beyond this limit, if the person and the artifact become one, only a god may save them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A magical artifact…” Even though he had suspected, Pei Ye was momentarily speechless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something he had only heard of in storybooks now existed, undeniably real, in this world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Flipping to the bottom of the box, there lay a talisman, black background with golden ink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye took the talisman, walked to Shen Yanping’s side, knelt half-bent, gave one final look at the grotesque, blood-slicked face, drew his dagger, and plunged it into the corpse’s abdomen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The interior was horrifying to behold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Yanping had clearly possessed the qualification to wield the Little Dragon Heart, but now that he was dead, his true qi had vanished; the walnut-sized artifact, like a seed taking root in soil, had sent out root-like tendrils into his flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The yellow talisman wrapping it had not been pierced; instead, it had stretched like a flexible substance, clinging tightly to the tendrils, preventing direct contact with the flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye took the black talisman, dabbed it with Shen Yanping’s blood; thankfully, it still worked. As golden light flowed, the yellow talisman wrapped around the Little Dragon Heart, like a swallow returning to its nest, pulling the artifact free from the flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He caught the artifact; its root-like sprouts still wriggled and swayed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By time, Lord Shen had died less than twenty minutes ago; in this period without true qi, the Little Dragon Heart had nearly fully parasitized his stomach. He himself possessed no true qi—he would suffer the same fate as Shen Yanping’s corpse; at most, he could endure half an hour under the artifact’s influence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He must find the black-robed man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye rose and took a step—his foot struck something protruding from beneath Shen Yanping’s robe. He lowered the lamp, picked it up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a thin booklet. The moment the oil lamp’s glow touched its yellow cover, a wave of familiarity exploded in Pei Ye’s mind; he froze in place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Illustrated Treatise on the Mountains and Seas…” Pei Ye murmured. The book he had searched for in the office—now he saw it had been on Shen Yanping’s person all along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Opening the first page, the author was listed as Du Wuzhen of the Jin dynasty. He had paid no attention to the name as a child, but now the name made Pei Ye’s gaze sharpen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—“I have unearthed all of Du Wuzhen’s writings; the rest are still under review.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No wonder… Pei Ye’s spirit trembled. This was “fated connection.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He flipped pages rapidly; the book was merely a pictorial record of mythical beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, with little text—no wonder he had loved flipping through it as a child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, Pei Ye pressed his finger on one page; the hazy memory surfaced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The content was clear: a phoenix-like firebird was drawn, beneath it a small line of text: “On Kunlun Mountain, there is a bird, named Chun Bird, which oversees the myriad duties of the Heavenly Emperor.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His memory of “Chun” originated precisely here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At a glance, it was a simple drawing, barely more than a dozen characters—no obvious link to [Chunshou].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye stared intently; Du Wuzhen’s brushwork indeed held divine grace. The Chun Bird’s head was slightly bowed, exuding calm elegance—but otherwise, nothing seemed unusual.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet when his gaze shifted to the wings, Pei Ye’s eyes flickered—a sudden, dangerous familiarity flashed and vanished; his hairs stood on end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The feeling had no origin. Pei Ye frowned and stared again, yet now the Chun Bird in the painting seemed to possess a human expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It bowed its head, folded its right wing, and spread its left wing across its chest—like an old monk. Was it… paying homage to something?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Against all reason, Pei Ye suddenly understood the gesture of the wings. Slowly, he raised his left hand, pinky extended, thumb pressing the lower knuckle of the middle finger, placing it beneath his chin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This hand seal was utterly unfamiliar—why did he know it—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His thoughts halted abruptly in shock; Pei Ye froze in place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everything slowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The flame of the oil lamp danced as if in slow motion; raindrops fell from the air like snails crawling; a bird’s cry stretched out…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mind became impossibly clear; every motion around him was rendered in exquisite detail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Chun Bird, which oversees the myriad duties of the Heavenly Emperor”—this ability to organize the Heavenly Emperor’s countless affairs with perfect order now passed to the boy; the world lay before him, as clear as firelight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye, bewildered, formed the hand seal again—and the strange state vanished instantly; he plummeted back into the real world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The flame still flickered wildly in the wind; raindrops fell in dense sheets; birds cried urgently…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye looked at his hand: “This is… [Chunshou]?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He clearly realized: this was no dream. Such divine power truly resided within him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, a distant, lofty call suddenly arose within his heart. Pei Ye whirled his head toward the western city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ritual had begun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The activated [Chunshou] had taken effect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye now clearly felt the soul-draining call—but it affected him not at all. He felt he could sever the connection at any moment, just as he had last night, leaving the “spirit” without its target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Life lay within reach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black-robed man had gone west; the ritual was held west; he could sense the location calling to him, just as they could now sense his.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were horses in the back courtyard. If he severed the link and fled far from the western city, they would never find him again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye stood still for a moment, then let out a quiet laugh.\u003C\u002Fp>",1781,"2026-06-20T13:17:09.438Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","3bccc133ea6c874315a7c6cb71304d8ed4f8865cfcb5f0b277c7becaf95cd62d","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-17","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-15",771,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Flord-of-the-immortal-food-cover.jpg"]