[{"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-734":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},2313857,4524,"Chapter 734: New Branches Sprout Again","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-734",734,"\u003Cp>The two of them silently swam out of the White Rhinoceros Cave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“On the first day of a monarch’s ascension, what he swallows is either the blood and bones of loyal ministers or the marrow of the people.” Li Xizhou sighed. “A Hunjun .”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye still thought of Lingxi’s shocked, wounded gaze just now, unable to hide his shame; he glared at the woman: “I told you—just write a few characters on the horn, and none of this would’ve happened.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Blaming close ministers at the drop of a hat—a Baojun .”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t keep interrupting me. I’m asking why you didn’t write.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now you blame me? Who knew you’d eat it?” Li Xizhou gazed at him with her apricot eyes. “The horn isn’t like a scale demon’s—touch it and it flows right in. I can’t even imagine how you ate it—biting it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye fell silent for a moment: “Wasn’t I in a hurry to come find you? I had no choice.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…“\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at her; Li Xizhou turned her head away, pressing her lips together: “You’re the fool. I handed you the horn and you still didn’t understand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why should I have understood just because you handed me the horn?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s called ‘heart-to-heart understanding without words.’” Li Xizhou said. “You even claim to be Li Yuxi’s friend.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Who’s got any understanding with you?” Pei Ye ignored her and walked southward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Knowing the boy was flustered and angry, Li Xizhou followed behind with a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the wonders of the Spirit Realm came flooding in one after another; Pei Ye forgot his humiliation, and the two wandered the entire southern region, where the woman introduced him to many strange creatures—but still found no giant turtle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They drifted eastward; ordinary things in the Spirit Realm no longer seemed so novel. Pei Ye suddenly turned back: “When I was in the Jiao Palace, Yong Ji was stunned to learn I carried the True Blood of the Shenlong .”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mm. Because he himself never obtained the True Blood of the Shenlong , he always assumed only I could inherit it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xizhou paused, then said: “Pei Ye, what kind of Water Lord do you think the Shenjing  itself wants?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It chose me because of my mother—but why was my mother the one it most desired as Water Lord?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…“\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I think you can’t figure it out—but I’ve figured it out.” Li Xizhou said. “The difference between my mother and other spirit beasts is: she was human. She could go ashore.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xizhou turned to look at him: “The Shenjing  isn’t entirely severed from the mortal world, Pei Ye. Quite the opposite—it hangs above the real world. A Water Lord isn’t a king ruling in isolation within the Shenjing . He must be able to connect both realms.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye slowly understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When the path ends, dreams reveal the spirit. The Shenjing  is distant from the mortal world, yet constantly watches it. Only one who accepts its gentle rules is the monarch it favors.” Li Xizhou smiled faintly. “The Shenjing  can recognize a person’s shape. ‘Pei Ye’—your name has echoed through the Divine Capital and the Eight Waters, has entered the Shenjing  multiple times, and with our Shenlin  bond and your True Blood of the Shenlong —it naturally chose you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So that’s why.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The key turning point in opposing Yong Ji was this True Blood of the Shenlong . After obtaining it, first, he could move freely through water—somewhat even more agile than Yong Ji; second, every contact allowed him to reclaim the White Water from Yong Ji’s body, leaving Yong Ji bound and constrained; finally, and most importantly, after acquiring the True Blood of the Shenlong , he connected through the Shenjing  to heaven and earth, reawakening the divine name of 【Fire Zheng Yan Bo】.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what haunted Pei Ye was that he still hadn’t killed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had poured out every ounce of strength—but two things still stood between him and severing Yong Ji’s head: time, and true defeat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Yong Ji defeated him by wielding the advantage of 【White Water】, Pei Ye had driven him to his knees by holding the Shen blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You may burn away his true qi and flesh, strip him of every drop of White Water—but the original him merely clung tightly, guarding himself. He didn’t lose—he was merely beaten into submission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only in single combat on the battlefield can you kill. Behind closed city gates, there’s little chance of victory. Only when your opponent also wants to kill you can you break his techniques—that’s when you gamble your life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye never truly witnessed Yong Ji’s spear technique, nor fully understood the nature of those two alien true qis. He only drove his fire sea toward Yong Ji—but this prince was far harder to kill than he imagined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He won’t leave the Divine Capital. That’s no way to survive.” Li Xizhou said. “Yong Ji’s fate needn’t concern us for now—the Five Clans will try to kill him first. We can watch how the Yan Prince’s court responds.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter what others planned, he first needed to equip himself with the ability to kill Yong Ji—that was why he was so eager to feed Bǐng Lù.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, following the scale demons’ guidance, he stopped and found the giant turtle, as large as a small hill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This giant turtle was the most agitated of all, smashing the waters apart, and possessing some control over water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had clearly lived for a very long time—but today, it had to die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its neck was too thick, its hide as tough as armor; Pei Ye forged three long, sharp spears and drove them one by one through its neck. When its massive head roared, unable to retract into its shell, Pei Ye slashed it four times with his sword, severing it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye sat cross-legged before its neck; around him, a vortex formed—blood, scales, flesh, even the shell—all melted into liquid and surged toward him, seeping through every pore of his skin, pouring entirely into his dantian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He closed his eyes; Bǐng Lù devoured like a whale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only at the end of the third breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as when he broke through from seventh to eighth life, the fully matured, topmost branches once again sprouted anew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each branch split into two tender buds, which immediately grew rapidly under the influx.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye nearly lost his breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His entire body stiffened, as if a heavy hammer had struck his dantian and sent violent pain racing through every vein. Only then did he realize—it was a tidal wave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From his dantian, a tidal wave roared through all his meridians, flooding every major and minor channel in an instant, nearly forcing him to scream in agony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was undoubtedly a refinement. The 256 meridians doubled again in an instant, with no time for his body to adapt. The unimaginable torrent of true qi surged forth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the leap from 64 to 128 meridians was so terrifying, the seventh and eighth lives were deemed the upper two realms—what then was the scale of the leap from 256 to 512 meridians?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps Pei Ye was the only one alive to experience it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He spat blood immediately; his meridians, like overburdened dikes, burst open everywhere, and the roaring true qi surged into his tendons, bones, lungs, and organs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Pei Ye faintly understood why the eighth life was the upper limit of the meridian tree: the human body could only withstand this level of true qi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye’s constitution was exceptional, his meridians wide and open, his true qi flowing smoothly—but even he shattered under this tidal wave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, Pei Ye wanted to stop feeding—perhaps even ignite the Sleeve Tiger to burn away these new branches—Bǐng Lù could feed anytime; there was no need to suffer such grave injury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the next moment, Bǐng Lù emerged from his dantian for the first time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It stretched upward; when Pei Ye first received it, he’d felt it was like a new organ—now, this organ underwent new growth. It extended from his dantian and fused with the ends of his meridians, and from there, his entire meridian system underwent refinement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The torrent of true qi smashed through like a storm, carving a path; the countless threads of Bǐng Lù followed this path, rebuilding everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It reconnected every broken, shattered meridian, merging itself into them like forging iron into steel. When the second wave of true qi surged forth, this new meridian system met it calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye felt for the first time what “transformation of body and soul” meant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clear spring formed from the giant turtle still flowed abundantly; Bǐng Lù’s absorption rate doubled again. The 512 meridians grew vigorously—but at this scale, one giant turtle no longer brought qualitative change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bǐng Lù ceased growing and began prioritizing the repair of his injuries. Pei Ye recovered from the agony, gasping heavily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xizhou gripped his wrist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you alright?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye looked up, speechless, giving her only a confirming glance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since reaching the eighth life, he’d felt his true qi more abundant than ever. He’d spent months in the lower and middle realms; though each advancement had doubled the last, it had merely turned a trickle into a stream. After seventh and eighth life, for the first time he felt his true qi had become a river. Looking back on the thin thread of his first life, he now understood the vast gulf between the upper two realms and the rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even that was merely an ordinary river—like a tributary of the Wei River flowing behind Liu Village.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, even if not a tidal wave, his body’s true qi could only be compared to the might of the Yellow River at its estuary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A vast, roaring current.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye sat cross-legged for a moment; his body gradually calmed. Pain still lingered, but he had never felt his body so strong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ninth life.” He stood, smiling at the woman beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was impossible to explore the entire Shenjing . If viewed as a kingdom, the two had at least toured its capital. When they returned to the head of the Shen dragon, everything remained still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jiao Palace, distant, resembled a delicate, beautiful giant jellyfish, drifting gently. The ancient Shen dragon’s horns grew on either side, cold and hard as iron.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Will this just stay here forever? Won’t you take it back?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After witnessing the Shenjing ’s dazzling beauty, its vastness brought peace. The two sat side by side on a low horn branch; tiny fish swam past their faces, overhead, dense branches seemed to form a canopy blocking the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye gazed down at the Jiao Palace below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who carries their house around every day? A snail?” Li Xizhou swung her legs. “Listen to me—this Jiao Palace is only just framed. No one would live like this. Outside, we plant trees and grass; inside, we lay jade tiles; walls are built from strange stones; each chamber uses different materials…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She pointed: “Look, that small window—I want to hang curtains made of water bubbles, so little sparrow fish can hatch inside. Then they’ll make it their home. By day, they all go out; at night, when I lie down, they return one by one.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do fish have homes?” Pei Ye doubted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xizhou glanced at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Anyway, I’ve told you all my ideas. Don’t mess it up. Do it exactly as I said.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mm.” Li Xizhou gazed quietly at the Jiao Palace, then turned her eyes toward the magnificent, boundless distance. “Then I entrust it to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye sat quietly beside her, then whispered: “I think we should invite Luo Weiyou to live here… and your little jiao. Otherwise, it’ll be too empty, and ugly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you annoying? This is my Jiao Palace.” Li Xizhou murmured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye said nothing. He turned his head to look at the woman beside him—still in her loose white robe. Throughout their journey, she had eagerly pulled him along, introducing every sight. Now she sat quietly, her eyes filled with deep, tender affection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, it wasn’t just her Jiao Palace—it was her Spirit Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here were the fish and shrimp and rhinos that cherished her, the stones and flowers she loved. Countless little fish brought jade to help decorate the Jiao Palace; even the most venomous scale demons grew gentle before her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was her mother’s origin, and all her mother left her. When it rained, perhaps she could still see that childhood shadow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had searched for it seventeen years, possessed it for only nine days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine. Then keep it all. Not a single fish gets in.” Pei Ye said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xizhou smiled: “Little fish can still come in.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She fell silent again, gazing into the distance. Long moments passed before she softly recited: “Having finished swinging, she turned back—words scattered, carried by the east wind.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye stared at her. She lowered her head; a swaying Luoshen wood peach sprouted from her wrist. She reached out and offered it to the boy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The last portion of Shen blood. Take it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…You could keep it. You can always come back to visit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I want to enter, won’t you just open the door for me?” Li Xizhou smiled at him, then looked again toward the distance. “…I don’t think I’ll ever enter again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She whispered: “I was born on land, just as my mother was born in water. We each had two paths to choose from—but once chosen, one must bid farewell to the other. Whenever I think of my mother’s final fragility, I feel sorrow. But I believe, on that Luoshui night, when she chose to spend her life with Li Zhao on land, she too had foreseen this ending.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"At that time, she did not hesitate, so when she passed away, she certainly would not regret it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I cannot keep imagining that I truly belong here, nor can I always leave myself an escape route.\" She lowered her head. \"Take it, Pei Ye.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Ye removed it, then felt the woman beside him gently rest her head against his shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned his head to look; two tears slipped from the corner of her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>",2386,"2026-06-20T13:17:12.150Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","29baa2a1a6561d6dba1294332a3c85c1164622118f3af87deeb34c859af1ff09","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-735","lord-of-the-immortal-food-chapter-733",771,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Flord-of-the-immortal-food-cover.jpg"]