Chapter 1728: Feather

Ye Qing slowly clenched his fingers and shrank the cage. He was slowly but surely forcing the pill into his palm.

It was at this moment the pill puffed up its cheeks and spat out a ray of golden light.

Buzz!

The golden light was unbelievably potent. It actually pierced through the cage of energy Ye Qing weaved!

“Huh?”

Ye Qing was surprised. He did not think that the pill would possess such a trump card; one which potency had exceeded even his expectations.

That said, it was clear that producing the golden light cost the pill a lot of strength. Both the red light and its patterns became much dimmer after it expelled the golden ray.

As soon as the cage of energy was broken, the pill flapped its wings and slipped through the gap.

“You can’t escape.”

However, the more the pill resisted, the more interested Ye Qing became in it. Once again, he reached out and created a giant hand of profound light.

The profound yellow hand was just about to catch the pill when suddenly, a beam of light caught the pill and took off to the distance faster than even Ye Qing.

The beam of light turned out to be a feather. A feather that was as pure and white as jade.

“Oh?”

Caught off guard, Ye Qing furrowed his brow slightly. The profound yellow hand abruptly spread out before curling its fingers one by one.

A powerful gale suddenly blew in the sky, and everything began flowing in reverse. Like a black hole, the profound yellow hand was dragging anything and everything into its palm.

The feather that had already slipped into the void was forcefully blown back out into the open. Then, it was caught and consumed by the profound yellow hand.

The profound yellow hand disappeared the next moment. Naturally, both the feather and the pill fell into Ye Qing’s hand.

The feather glowed erratically and kept phasing in and out of existence. It was still trying to escape with the pill with it.

Ye Qing harrumphed and unleashed thick, heavy layers of profound light from his palm. It instantly pinned the feather down and prevented it from moving even an inch.

“Ugh!”

As soon as the feather was suppressed, a muffled groan came out from somewhere. Then, a silhouette appeared out of nowhere.

The silhouette was a girl. A young girl who looked to be thirteen or fourteen years old at most.

The young girl looked cute and lovely. She had a pair of wings growing out of her back. The wings were covered in white feathers that glimmered like translucent snow under the sunlight, dazzling and beautiful.

“A Feather?”

Ye Qing raised his eyebrows.

“Give me back my spirit feather!”

The girl glared at Ye Qing as soon as she appeared. She was trying to look intimidating, but her puffed up cheeks and petite appearance only made her look cute.

“Spirit feather? You mean this?”

Ye Qing held up the feather and asked. He could sense powerful energies inside the feather.

The girl reached out and declared, “That’s right. That’s my spirit feather. Give it back to me now!”

Ye Qing smirked. “Why should I?”

The girl replied matter-of-factly, “Because it’s mine.”

Ye Qing countered, “If it’s yours, then why is it in my hand?”

“Because... because...” The girl’s eyes twirled. “Because you stole it!”

“I stole it?” Ye Qing kept smirking. “I guess I did. But if I remember correctly, you’re the one who stole from me first.”

“What, you can steal from me, but I can’t steal from you?”

“I...” The girl knew she was in the wrong and bit her finger guiltily. “It’s not like I succeeded!”

“B-Besides... it’s an object of nature. It goes to whoever is destined to have it. Anyone has a right to take it for themselves, so how can you say it’s yours?”

Ye Qing replied playfully while toying with the pill, “It is mine because it is mine. That’s all there is to it.”

The pill looked tearful and aggrieved as it turned round and round in Ye Qing’s hand.

“Since it is mine, it means you stole from me. Naturally, a thief should always be ready to be stolen in return.”

“Yours?”

The girl harrumphed, “Don’t think I don’t know that the pill is nurtured from the Pill Furnace Island. The Pill Furnace Island belongs to no one, and so is the pill it creates!”

“So what? It’s now in my hand, isn’t it?”

Ye Qing said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Since I am holding it, it is mine. It is my right to do whatever I want with it.”

The girl looked frustrated. “You... you’re being unreasonable!”

Ye Qing shrugged. “So what if I am? Whatcha gonna do about it?”

“You... you... if you don’t return my spirit feather, then I’ll beat you up!”

The girl swung her fist at him. “Just so you know, I’m very strong!”

“Oh yeah?” Ye Qing chuckled. “Are you stronger than me?”

To be fair, the girl was incredibly strong. She was already a Half-Sage even though she was only thirteen. But of course, there was no way a Half-Sage could beat an Aboder.

The girl choked. She just recalled that the young man was a Sage.

“My... My daddy and mommy are very strong too! They’re way stronger than you are!”

If she couldn’t win by herself, then she would call for reinforcements!

Ye Qing replied nonchalantly, “Is that so?”

The girl took it as a sign of fear and puffed up her chest. “Are you scared now!”

“Sure.” Ye Qing smiled. “Why don’t you tell me exactly who your parents are and how strong they are. Maybe I’ll become so scared that I’ll return your spirit feather to you.”

“My daddy is the—” The girl was just about to answer when she cut herself off in realization. “Are you trying to trick me?”

“No?” Ye Qing shrugged. “If you don’t tell me who your parents are, then how would I know who you’re talking about? If I don’t know how strong they are, then why would I be scared? And if I’m not scared, then why would I return your spirit feather to you?”

“Am I right?”

The girl scratched her head in puzzlement. “I... guess?”

Ye Qing shrugged. “Right? So start talking.”

The girl opened her mouth but hesitated at the last second. Her face was bunched up like she was cutting onions.

“If you don’t want to tell me, then so be it. It’s not like I want to listen to you!”

Ye Qing waved. “Goodbye.”

“You can’t leave!” Ye Qing had just turned around when the girl disappeared and reappeared in front of him. “Give me back my spirit feather first!”

“What are you doing? Are you trying to rob me?”

Ye Qing unleashed a hint of his aura. “Can you beat me though?”

“I... I...” The girl was frightened by the terrible pressure as a matter of course. Her eyes reddened, and she abruptly burst to tears. “You’re a bully! Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

She could neither beat the guy nor outtalk him. What else could she do?

She could only cry!

At first, the girl was just pretending. In the past, her parents, her uncles and aunties, and even her brothers and sisters would comfort her and obey her the moment she burst into tears.

When she realized that Ye Qing was smirking at her as if he knew exactly what she was doing though, when she realized that Ye Qing was unmoved by her act, she grew aggrieved, and her sobs slowly but surely began to turn real. Her tears began falling profusely like broken beads.

It was at this moment something magical happened. The tears turned into translucent, colorful beads when it hit the sea.