Chapter 28: You have really grown into your own!

"Wow! Such a cute cat..."

Lady Feng Xi’s psychic energy projection was a white Persian cat, elegant and noble with striking blue eyes. However, touching it only felt like a lump of cold energy. Ye Moxi secretly wondered if she might one day have the chance to help Lady Feng Xi’s psychic projection awaken into a true beast soul; she really wanted to touch something fluffy! She couldn't very well keep petting her foster father Commander Ye Tianjiao’s white tiger beast soul, could she? And then there was her mentor and uncle, Feng Xun—his psychic projection was actually a raccoon! Xi Mo mentioned that Qiu Jie’s psychic projection was an Alaskan Malamute... *Sigh...* If only all psychic energy projections were fluffy and tactile! Which girl could ever resist the temptation of something soft and furry?

"Moxi, how come I can’t learn to condense my psychic energy into a staff or a whip like you..."

"This..." Ye Moxi pondered for a moment. "I’ll think of a way when I get back." She couldn't learn psychic channeling either, so that issue remained an unsolvable puzzle for her. Perhaps, she thought boldly, if Lady Feng Xi’s psychic projection evolved into a beast soul, could she then control the beast soul directly to attack? It was said that a Sentinel’s beast soul could fight side-by-side with its master, so why not a Guide’s beast soul? Would it be throwing cute "cat punches"? *Hehe...*

"My madness value is already at sixty-seven. If all goes well, I won’t be troubled by it for another thirty or fifty years, so you can take your time with your research," Ye Tianjiao said. Lady Feng Xi nodded.

"Yanling and Xi Mo have arrived. Let’s begin the engagement ceremony."

Feng Yanling had practically brought his entire net worth to the table, and Lady Feng Xi had added quite a few precious items of her own. Since they were now family, Ye Moxi was delighted to see high-grade Star Beast cores among the engagement gifts. She summoned her White Furball and casually tossed a fire-element beast core toward it.

"Awoo..." The White Furball opened its maw, caught the core, and curled up to the side to absorb it. Ye Ximo followed suit, fishing a earth-element beast core out of his own pile of gifts and tossing it to his Black Tortoise beast.

Not only Ye Tianjiao and Lady Feng Xi, but even Feng Yanling looked on in shock. "You didn't know..."

Well, he certainly didn't! Feng Yanling summoned his Vermillion Bird beast soul, and Ye Moxi tossed it a fire-element core. The Vermillion Bird caught it and rubbed its head against Ye Moxi affectionately. "Keng..." The bird let out a few cries, its voice filled with grievances.

"Alright, alright! I know you’ve been wronged! He had no idea how special you are. You’re silly, too—if he doesn’t give you one, why didn't you just snatch it?" A captain of an operations team surely wouldn't be short on beast cores. Ye Moxi stroked the Vermillion Bird’s feathers; honestly, she had only glanced at it before and never had the chance to touch it properly. As expected, the texture was divine.

Ye Tianjiao and Lady Feng Xi exchanged glances; they had truly never imagined things could work this way. So, this was the difference between a beast soul and a beast form. Commander Ye Tianjiao summoned his white tiger beast soul and gave it a few Star Beast cores to absorb. To his amazement, he discovered that when the beast soul absorbed the cores, the benefits extended to him as well. Good heavens! From now on, beast cores could no longer be treated as mere supplies for the warehouse!

After soothing the beast souls, Ye Moxi, under Lady Feng Xi’s urging, looked at the rest of the gifts: balance statements for Feng Yanling’s optical computer account, jewelry, and property transfer deeds.

"I have a gift for you, too," Ye Moxi said, bringing out an exquisite velvet box.

"For me?" Feng Yanling took it, his eyes filled with surprise. When the box opened, it revealed a pair of dark red pearls emitting a soft, pearly luster, each about the size of his thumbnail.

"Oh my god..." Lady Feng Xi covered her mouth. She had thought the pale purple pearls Ye Moxi gave her were astonishing enough, but she never expected Ye Moxi to produce something even more heaven-defying: blood-red pearls.

"An engagement gift? These two are worth more than the two villas I gave you!" Feng Yanling exclaimed.

"I believe that affection should be a two-way street." She didn't have the mindset of accepting gifts without giving back. Even with Feng Yanling, whom she felt she could spend her life with, she couldn't just take without reciprocating.

"Good!" Feng Yanling gripped the box tightly. He felt even less willing to let her go now—what was he to do?

"I’ve always just sold the pearls directly, so I could only give you the loose ones. Do you know a jeweler? We can find someone to buy two chains, drill holes in the pearls, and wear them..."

As Lady Feng Xi was scrolling through her contacts for a familiar jewelry designer, she heard Ye Moxi suggest simply drilling holes in the pearls to string them onto chains. She suspected she had misheard! Her finger slipped, and the call went through. A woman’s voice roared from the other end.

"Feng Xi! You’ve grown bold! Drilling holes in pearls? You’ve lived a life of comfort for too long and have lost your mind! Just you wait, I’m coming over to deal with you!"

Ye Moxi looked embarrassed. "I just thought that since we’re announcing our engagement, wearing pearl necklaces in our photos would give it a stronger sense of ceremony." Feng Yanling had given her massive villas, endless interstellar credits, and a pair of engagement rings that were clearly ancient and meaningful. She felt her return gift wasn't something to be ashamed of; this way, when they took photos, they could showcase both the rings he gave her and the necklaces she gave him.

"Alright! Whatever you say." Lady Feng Xi felt as if her brain had stalled. "Do you hear what you’re saying? Such precious blood pearls, and you want to drill holes in them?"

"But having them professionally set would take too long." Whatever Ye Moxi wanted, Feng Yanling would fulfill. Lady Feng Xi felt like she might have a heart attack.

"Let the children decide for themselves," Ye Tianjiao said.

"Do you have any idea what these blood pearls are worth!" Lady Feng Xi whispered through gritted teeth, glaring at Ye Tianjiao.

"But they are the engagement gift Moxi gave Yanling!"

"We can just place them in the most prominent position when we take the photos." In the interstellar era, no precious gem could cause quite the sensation among women as pure, natural pearls—especially the ones Ye Moxi had brought out. Both in size and luster, they were the sort of items that would spark a frenzy the moment they appeared.

"Are pearls really that valuable?" Ye Ximo asked curiously. Ye Moxi also looked puzzled.

Were they valuable? If anyone else had asked, Lady Feng Xi would have flipped her lid! What kind of "humble brag" was that? But thinking of the siblings' background, perhaps they truly didn't know. Lady Feng Xi pulled out the box of pale purple pearls Ye Moxi had given her—six of them, larger than the two blood pearls, round and plump, glowing with a gentle, translucent light.