Baiyanggong's Courtyard

Why are you chasing me?! Through the street, Little Nora darted in a panic, wobbling through the crowd as it fled. Behind it followed a mob of red-eyed diners who had lost their bets. Menacing and furious, they chased after it while shouting for compensation, sending chickens flying and dogs jumping in their wake as pedestrians scrambled to get out of the way. In truth, with Little Nora's current strength, it could have easily wiped them out in an instant, but it was timid by nature. Faced with such a situation, its first instinct was always to run. The chase went from one street to the next. Little Nora ran faster and faster. It discovered that the Adamantine Feathers across its body could adjust their angle, creating wind pressure that propelled it forward even faster. "Gotta run!" Little Nora grew excited, kicking its legs out and sprinting even faster. In the blink of an eye, the diners lost sight of their quarry. The crowd stood in the street cursing before returning dejectedly to the restaurant. By now, Little Nora had already forgotten why it was running in the first place. Weaving through the crowd, it laughed as it ran, until gradually the pedestrians around it grew fewer and fewer. It ran into a quiet street, darting back and forth among the alleys, and only stopped after a good while when a savory aroma caught its nose. "Smells so good!" Little Nora closed its eyes, sniffing the air, and then its eyes lit up. Though it had no idea what food gave off this scent, it was undeniably a mouthwatering delicacy. Like a hound, it continuously sniffed the air, slowly advancing along the trail of fragrance. Turning a corner, it stopped before a wall—the scent was drifting from the other side. *Gulp!* Little Nora swallowed hard, looking up at the wall. An inner struggle tore at it; it wanted to climb up and take a peek, yet it knew very well that doing so was bad manners and bound to annoy people. "It smells so amazing..." One second Little Nora was hesitating, and the next its eyes were gleaming, drawn irresistibly by the aroma. Suddenly, a bright idea struck it. It couldn't climb someone else's wall, but nobody could stop it from bouncing around on the street! As for jumping a bit high—well, that was just its own ability. So it backed up a few steps into the middle of the street, then leaped with all its might, shooting upward. The moment its head cleared the top of the wall, it peeked over into the yard. It was an exquisite garden. In the center, a goat-headed man was reclining on a chair, holding a fishing rod as if fishing. Beside him was a grill holding several strange crystals, and the aroma was emanating from those very crystals. Just as Little Nora spotted the goat-headed man, the goat-headed man also looked over at Little Nora. He smiled faintly, lifted his fishing rod, and flicked it. The hook instantly caught on the Adamantine Feathers of Little Nora's wing. With an effortless tug, Little Nora was reeled into the garden in the blink of an eye, landing at his feet with a thud. "Little one, does it smell good?" the goat-headed man asked with a beaming smile. Little Nora sat up and nodded vigorously. "Smells so good! Uncle Goat, are you going to treat me?" As it spoke, its eyes sparkled with anticipation as it gazed at the goat-headed man. Instead, the smiling goat-headed man picked up the crystals from the grill with his fingers and popped them into his mouth one after another. Little Nora's expression visibly shifted from anticipation to disappointment, its glittering golden feathers dimming noticeably. "If you won't treat me, forget it, I'm leaving." Pouting with indignation, Little Nora got up to run. Yet despite sprinting with all its might, it remained running in place. It spun around and glared warily at the goat-headed man, the Adamantine Feathers on its wings fanning out defensively before it as it demanded, "Goat-head, what do you want? My big bro is not someone to mess with!" "Do you know what this is?" the goat-headed man asked with a smile, holding the last crystal between his fingers. Little Nora replied frankly, "No, but it's definitely tasty. I can tell by how much you enjoyed eating it that it must taste amazing." "This is a world crystal. Each one contains a worldline—a single possibility. For instance, this crystal in my hand holds the worldline where Crescent Bay is completely destroyed by the Abyss. Truly despair-inducing," the goat-headed man said with a chuckle before swallowing the crystal in one gulp. Little Nora gasped in wonder. "You can even eat worldlines?" "Tangible things and intangible things are like the balance of yin and yang. Since extreme yin can turn to yang and extreme yang can turn to yin, it is only natural that the tangible can become intangible, and the intangible tangible. At the very least, that is far simpler than creating something out of nothing," the goat-headed man explained with a smile. Little Nora stared at the goat-headed man in astonishment and said with certainty, "So that means you're super strong, Uncle Goat!" "So-so, just so-so. There are oceans of people stronger than me; I've merely mastered a tiny smidgen of tricks," the goat-headed man replied modestly, gesturing with his fingers to indicate a minuscule amount. Little Nora paid no heed to his modesty, asking curiously, "Then Uncle Goat, can you tell me if world crystals taste good?" "Don't call me Uncle Goat. My surname is Baiyang, and my given name is Gong. You may call me Grandpa Baiyang, or Grandpa Gong. I'm vastly older than you, so you won't be cheated calling me Grandpa," the goat-headed man said with a gentle smile. Little Nora complied readily. "Then Grandpa Baiyang, can you tell me what world crystals taste like?" "They hold every flavor imaginable. Alas, they would do you great harm, or else I wouldn't mind letting you have a taste," Baiyanggong replied. *Great harm, huh...* Little Nora immediately looked disappointed. Still, it knew many foods couldn't be eaten recklessly. The Garuda clan ate dragons, but could not eat Qilin—in fact, eating Qilin meat was poisonous to them. "However... Grandpa has far too many delicious things here. Since you've called me Grandpa, I'll treat you to some genuine dragon meat," Baiyanggong said, shifting the topic with a smile. *Dragon meat!* Little Nora's eyes lit up at once, gazing at Baiyanggong in eager anticipation. Next, Baiyanggong retrieved slab after slab of dragon meat from the void. With exquisite culinary skill, he prepared the meat, and an aroma unique to dragons wafted from the small courtyard. Little Nora was intoxicated by the scent. Its eyes were glued to the meat, drool streaming down from the corners of its mouth. Ten minutes later. Little Nora ate the most delicious food of its life. ... ... "So good!" "So delicious... give me more..." On an empty street, Little Nora had its eyes closed, wearing an expression of pure bliss, muttering continuously to itself. Just then, several kobolds came strolling over, laughing and joking. But when they spotted Little Nora, their grins vanished instantly, and they walked up slowly. "Lost, kid?" One kobold poked his head out from behind Little Nora, turning his head to look at it as he asked. However, Little Nora didn't hear a word he said. Still lost in the delicious memory of the dragon meat, it kept muttering to itself, "Delicious, so delicious, so good..." "Brat, wake up!" Annoyed, the kobold barked at once. One of them even clenched a fist and struck Little Nora on the head with all his might. But Little Nora wasn't hurt at all; instead, the kobold's own hand swelled up. The Adamantine Feathers were, after all, the feathers covering Little Nora's body. These kobolds didn't even possess Heaven Rank strength; how could they possibly harm Little Nora? Only, suffering an injury only made the kobolds angrier. They drew their weapons one after another, preparing to teach Little Nora a lesson. "You little mangy pups, bullying children is not allowed, you know!" Just as they were about to strike, Niman walked over slowly from the other side, a faint smile gracing her face when she saw Little Nora.