[{"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-23":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},2313146,4524,"Chapter 23: Chapter Twenty-Three: Fate Shared in Prosperity and Decay","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-23",23,"\u003Cp>Pei Ye’s view of the Black Chi and the Black Chi’s purpose toward Pei Ye were clearly misaligned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the start, Pei Ye had doubted and been wary of it; his principle was simple and plain—the very words he’d told Lu Youcai: “Precisely because I’m now a penniless beggar, I must account for every single thing clearly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unable to repay its kindness, he dared not accept its favor. Some might think a poor boy has nothing worth being coveted, so they might as well give up entirely, accepting every gift offered, and deal with repayment when the time comes. Pei Ye thought Uncle Yue must have been that kind of person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for Pei Ye himself, precisely because he could not imagine what about him was worth coveting, he grew even more cautious and reticent before such lavish, supernatural benefits. To eat another’s food is to be silenced; to take another’s gift is to be weakened. When what one receives exceeds the value of one’s entire life, and the other still insists on giving, he could not help but tremble at the cost that would be demanded in return.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What deepened his suspicion further was the activation method of the [Chunshou].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes,” Pei Ye admitted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We can speak openly—why?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is that your goal?” Pei Ye countered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“To get that gourd inside my body.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How could you think that? Wasn’t revenge your own choice? Wasn’t killing that man your own effort?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you think I can weave all this like manipulating puppets?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t know,” Pei Ye confessed. “The way you appeared suggests deep ties to them. I feel used by you. And the method to activate [Chunshou] is that hand seal.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...I cannot answer your last question. It’s a mystery to me too, because [Chunshou] is not my ability—I merely... temporarily hold it.” The Black Chi chose its phrasing carefully, then continued, “As for your earlier concerns, I have remained open with you from the start. ‘I help you, then you help me’—remember?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye nodded slowly: “I remember. You saved my life last night, and today my blood feud was settled thanks to [Chunshou]’s power. No matter what, I will repay this debt.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good. Then let us forge a fate bond, shall we?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is how you help me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t understand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We beings like us are born imbued with mystery. We grow only through the passage of years. Only by forming a fate bond with a human can we draw in external mystery-qi. Put simply, I borrow your light, hitch a ride on your destiny, so I may command the mystery-qi of heaven and earth—what do humans call it? ‘Holding Mystery,’ right? In return, you too may gain benefits from me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye pondered: “If it’s mutually beneficial, how is this me helping you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Because I am currently in danger and need this fate bond to strengthen myself. And this bond is called [Fate Shared in Prosperity and Decay]. Should I meet misfortune, you will suffer grave harm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you want me to help you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You cannot help me. Simply forming the bond is enough.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then... why me?” Pei Ye finally asked. “Or rather, is there some criterion for choosing who to form this bond with?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fate.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...” Pei Ye was clearly dissatisfied. “What is fate?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Since it’s a fate bond, the destinies must align. Different beasts have different types of compatible humans. It’s a subtle, unseen filtering. If you insist I put it in human terms, then perhaps ‘youth,’ ‘sword,’ ‘clear heart,’ ‘resolute.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I won’t stay young forever,” Pei Ye said with serious inquiry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It refers only to this moment, this place.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Any other questions?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Once you’ve passed your crisis, can this bond be broken?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Troublesome, but possible.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye exhaled slightly: “Fine. You saved my life first; naturally, I’m willing to bear the risk for you—how do we form this bond?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good question,” the Black Chi said without inflection. “Both parties must intertwine their lives, entrusting each other with life and death to forge the bond.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye realized: “You saved me once last night. I’ll find a way to save you once—then the bond will be formed?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve already saved me once.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye froze: “When?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Black Chi turned its massive head. For the first time, Pei Ye saw the creature’s true form—majestic, profound, magnificent. Without its horns, it gained an added delicacy and lightness. Every detail was exquisitely carved; every scale shimmered with jade-like luster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the center of this chi-head, a pair of translucent emerald eyes, like polished glass, gazed calmly at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye gasped in shock: “You’re that—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not exactly,” the Black Chi turned its head away. “Don’t bother applying herbs to it anymore.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then... how do we form the bond?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Simple. Just say, ‘Pei Ye, Chunshou.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pei Ye, Chunshou,” Pei Ye tried.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mystic Fire, Shishen,” the Black Chi replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye felt something connect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A shadowy chi-form coiled around a deep-blue orb in his dantian. He clearly sensed [Chunshou] within it—this gift from the Immortals now solidified within his dantian through the chi-form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s it?” Pei Ye felt no change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you’d just told me you were that cat—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A cat you spent two days with would earn your trust?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, it would feel a little warmer. And I liked it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’d better not arbitrarily treat others as pets.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Sorry.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Since our fates are shared in prosperity and decay, may I ask you a question?” Pei Ye fell silent for a moment. “What’s happening to my body now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this dream, he could inwardly observe himself. The good news: all five viscera were fully healed; the lingering traces of the tiny dragon-heart were gone. The bad news: his dantian seed had vanished, leaving only a solidified deep-blue orb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Simply put, you’ve achieved what that man intended,” the Black Chi mused. “But what use such a body has, I do not know.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Will I turn into that kind of monster?” Pei Ye raised his arm, covered in blue veins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No. But it will still alter your body to some degree. The result should fulfill the Candle World Sect’s original goal—but whether it’s good or bad for you, I cannot say.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Black Chi thought a moment, then said: “I suspect the orb in your dantian is nourishment meant for a seed to grow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A seed? My dantian seed? But mine was already dissolved by it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. Ordinary dantian seeds serve only as fertilizer,” the Black Chi mused. “So I believe what can grow here must be a stronger, more extraordinary seed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...I’ve never heard of dantian seeds being replaceable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Never?” The Black Chi sounded surprised. “Why do I think this should be common?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It paused, then grew irritated: “...I’ve lost many memories.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye gently patted the massive body beneath him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But I’m right,” the Black Chi finally declared firmly. “You must find this seed. The Candle World Sect must know where it is.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1159,"2026-06-20T13:17:09.438Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","feb54cb99b6e6aed12f436327db604ea63ea1ff10d68785c2783774c478721fc","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-24","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-22",771,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Flord-of-the-immortal-food-cover.jpg"]