[{"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-64":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},2313187,4524,"Chapter 64: Growth","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-64",64,"\u003Cp>Pei Ye immediately understood: it had transferred its soul into this body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How are you feeling now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not good. Tired.” The black cat spoke weakly, its drooping eyes revealing irritation at being disturbed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh.” Pei Ye felt a pang of guilt, placed it back, and gently patted it. “Then rest some more.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat gave him a languid glare, buried its head between its forepaws, and closed its eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ming Qitian, Xing Zhi, and Chang Zhiyuan now walked over and sat around the stone table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat jolted upright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone glanced at it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It stared fixedly at Ming Qitian, tilted its head slightly, then stepped forward with graceful, quiet paces. It crouched before Ming Qitian, its soft tail swaying gently, its emerald eyes clear and beautiful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ming Qitian extended a finger and lightly scratched beneath its chin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mew~~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye: “?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then it leapt lightly onto Ming Qitian’s arm. Ming Qitian was startled, glanced up at Pei Ye, and gently set it on his lap, stroking it softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mew~~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...” Pei Ye ignored it, sat down on the stone bench, and turned to Xing Zhi. “Commandant Xing, how are Brother Shang and the others?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We had already moved some distance away; they held relatively little attraction... I hope they return safely.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a silence, Pei Ye said: “Do you think He will come after us—Commandant Xing? Commandant Xing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hm? Oh, that depends on His purpose.” Xing Zhi snapped out of his daze. “You’ve spent more time with Him. What do you think?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...I don’t know.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am trying to find out,” the black cat suddenly said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The others had long known it was extraordinary; only Chang Zhiyuan was genuinely startled: “It... it...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s fine, Commandant Chang. Do you remember the divine chi I mentioned that entered dreams? This is it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chang Zhiyuan stared, dumbfounded. After a long moment, he accepted the revelation and said awkwardly: “The food I’ve given it these past days... wasn’t very good.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It doesn’t eat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chang Zhiyuan unconsciously stroked his beard and nodded slowly: “What exactly happened these past days? We received reports from villagers of Bai Zhu Village that the demon tiger devoured Magistrate Jing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Xing Zhi said: “Pei Young Master and Commandant Chang, chat for now. I’ve regained some strength—I’ll go heal first. Master Ming, please.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the two leave, Pei Ye turned to Chang Zhiyuan and slowly recounted the events of their journey through the Xin Cang Mountains. By the time he finished, both had completed their healing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the time that followed, the group rested thoroughly, especially Pei Ye and Xing Zhi, whose exhaustion these past days defied description.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qiongqi never came after them, and happily, after daylight fully broke, Shang Lang and his group returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Shang Lang’s expression was troubled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I saw a rabbit turn into blue water,” he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qiongqi’s golden eyes watched Pei Ye and the others vanish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Qiongqi’s consciousness had been entirely consumed—it had no black chi to construct defenses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its wings retracted and settled to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had the host still been Pei Ye, he would have felt that more powers had been unlocked after consuming Qiongqi and the purple-robed man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the forest, morning birds emerged from their nests; insects chirped, snakes hissed. Only when the fierce battle ended did one realize this was not a stage made for human combat, but a place where countless creatures lived, reproduced, and killed across generations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The voices of all living things filled the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From its paws, Qiongqi’s body began to split—or “shatter” was more accurate—breaking into countless tiny, deep blue particles, like sand pouring onto the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some were as large as finger joints, others as small as mung beans, and smaller still, like grains or hairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xuan qi became wind, lifting these minute tissues high into the air, then scattering them in all directions, as if the entire forest had been drenched in a fine blue rain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within the range covered by this rain, an ant carried a fragment of debris toward its nest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many others like it followed in a long line, each bearing a piece of food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Far ahead—past dozens of blades of grass, around three puddles, then over a massive boulder—lay a huge corpse, requiring hundreds of workers to move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They dragged it partway toward the nest, but it was too large to pass through the gap between the boulder and the puddles. After several companions drifted away, they decided to dismember it there, carrying pieces back one by one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, a slender object, shorter than its own body, drifted down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had no color vision, but by scent... it had once disliked this odor, yet now it was irresistibly drawn to it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The slender object still trembled slightly, like a thread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Movement meant alive; alive meant food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This logic was etched into its genes over millions of years, and besides, it rarely encountered anything smaller that moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its antennae wobbled forward. The moment it touched the object, the “thread” suddenly wrapped around it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt its vision rising, and the fragment it carried suddenly grew lighter. It turned twice, unable to find the “thread,” then returned to the line and followed the column into the nest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After placing the debris in the familiar storage chamber, its companions resumed the line to fetch more, but it suddenly smelled a more “delicious” scent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It left the line and crawled alone deeper into the darkness, waving its antennae to trace the scent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, it reached a chamber it had never entered before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It touched antennae with a soldier ant—it noticed these soldiers seemed smaller—and after exchanging scents, entered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside, all was rustling—the winged companions moved about, feeding countless open mouths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had no memory, yet now it seemed to recall—many companions, including itself, had once emerged from here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It crawled forward. A plump, white larva opened its mouth, waiting for food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It opened a larger mouth and bit through it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After an unknown length of time, it emerged, feeling the entrance had grown narrower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the guards at the entrance, once so brave, now tasted delicious, so it ate them too and continued deeper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A frog crouched in the grass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It saw a giant ant “flowing” out of the nest. It could not distinguish colors, nor had it ever seen such a thing before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it didn’t matter: movement meant alive; alive meant food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This logic was etched into its genes over millions of years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It flicked out its tongue and swallowed the giant ant—then froze, leapt back into the pond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the grass shook; a large disturbance was rapidly approaching.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Closer now—it was a rabbit whose skin was sprouting blue patterns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where it passed, the grass turned deep blue.\u003C\u002Fp>",1130,"2026-06-20T13:17:09.438Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","37adc1f5a6d1888daa3ea44daa247052142a67514defa6a8f8ec5937e409ed07","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-65","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-63",771,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Flord-of-the-immortal-food-cover.jpg"]