Ji Xiuyun did not dwell on this matter, though he felt somewhat embarrassed about it.

After all, Yue An could not transform into a human.

...No, actually, I can.

Yue An shrunk his neck slightly, feeling a bit nervous.

The Marshal scrolled the page back to the top and asked, "Do you want to agree?"

"Meow!" Yue An wrapped both paws around the Marshal's hand, pressing directly onto the confirm button.

The Marshal paused for a moment, then gently grasped the cat's small paws and gave them a gentle squeeze.

He's already learned to recognize the word "confirm" so quickly.

Ji Xiuyun felt a sense of pride, as if watching his cat grow up before his eyes.

He had completely forgotten the fact that Yue An had already devoured about ten pages of the vocabulary book.

The Marshal glanced at the camera that had been turned off and was now sitting idle on the desk. He placed Yue An to the side and stood up, intending to go upstairs to fetch his light computer. Before leaving, he picked up the audio book and placed it on top of Yue An, who had sprawled out on the sofa. "Continue studying," he instructed.

Yue An, who had already positioned himself expecting a petting session: ...??

You're that kind of person?!

How could you possibly have a cat?!

Yue An emerged from beneath the book, unhappily kicking it to the side. He then proceeded to devour all the remaining snacks in one go. Afterward, he lazily flopped down and rolled around on the sofa several times, wrapping himself in the thin, soft sofa cushion and tumbling all the way to the floor.

When Ji Xiuyun came back downstairs with the light computer, the first thing he saw was a rolled-up cat.

Yue An's small head poked out from the cat roll, staring at him, and then he rolled a couple more times.

The Marshal: "..."

This cat must truly be foolish.

Yue An didn't feel foolish at all; in fact, he felt quite pleased with himself.

He had no desire to study.

Studying makes cats lose weight.

The Mexican cat roll let out a "meow" to greet the Marshal, then rolled over to the floor-to-ceiling window. He squinted his eyes in the sunlight, snuggling deeper into the warm, soft roll. His ears flattened in contentment.

Cats are creatures that can sleep for sixteen hours a day. Of those sixteen hours, only four are spent in deep sleep; the rest of the time is spent napping or dozing.

Yue An felt he should maintain his feline habits and dignity, being an adorable little kitty who lounges and purrs lazily in the sunlight.

The Marshal watched Yue An's series of acrobatics - rolling with the cushion, tumbling around, and then quickly falling asleep. After a moment of silence, he decided against picking up the cat to make him study diligently.

He knew very well that Yue An enjoyed napping in warm places; it was a habit he was quite familiar with.

The Marshal silently switched the doorbell to a silent mode with a light indicator. Just as he finished adjusting it, the doorbell light lit up.

He opened the door, declined the robot's assistance, and carefully carried the delivered package into the living room. Even the sound of unpacking the box was barely audible.

Inside the package was expensive natural wood and pure herbal paint that the Marshal had purchased at a high price.

The wood emitted a very faint, pleasant aroma.

The wood Ji Xiuyun had bought was called "Calming Wood," and it was extremely expensive. Most of the time, it was used for patients suffering from severe insomnia.

The natural fragrance of this wood had a calming and soothing effect. For insomnia patients, it was a godsend. For ordinary people, it could calm the mind and nourish the spirit, and was also very beneficial in stabilizing mental power.

However, Calming Wood had extremely demanding growth conditions and required an almost absurdly specific ecosystem. As a result, large-scale cultivation had never been achieved, keeping the price consistently high.

Before each battle, the Marshal would spend two or three days in a house built entirely of Calming Wood at his military unit's base. He used this time to clear his mind and adjust his state, and was very familiar with the effects of this wood.

He bought this wood because Ji Xiuyun thought that since Yue An enjoyed sleeping, napping on Calming Wood would surely be a comfortable and enjoyable experience.

With this in mind, Marshal, who didn't even have a Calming Wood bed for himself, decisively ordered a bunch of raw wood, intending to build a cat tree for Yue An with Calming Wood as the main material.

Even the adhesive and paint he chose were natural products that emitted a faint floral scent.

Marshal's handyman skills were inversely proportional to his drawing abilities.

As crooked and twisted as his drawn lines were, his movements in cutting and shaping the wood were clean and precise.

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He worked with confidence, his actions flowing smoothly.

The benefit of advanced technology was that this kind of work could be done quietly, without disturbing others' rest.

The seasonal changes in the imperial capital of Cinteris Star were not very noticeable.

Each day lasted twenty-eight hours, with over sixteen hours of daylight.

The sun's movement wasn't particularly fast, but that didn't prevent the Marshal from losing track of time as he immersed himself in his work.

By the time the main structure of the cat tree was finally built and Ji Xiuyun finally allowed himself to lift his head from his work, the sunlight falling into the room had shifted significantly.

The Marshal watched as the Mexican cat roll drowsily rolled a couple of times, repositioning himself from the shadows back into the sunlight.

Yue An even stretched his leg, unconsciously extending his claws in his sleep, directly tearing through the sofa cushion he was wrapped in.

Ji Xiuyun: "..."

This probably meant he needed to buy a new sofa cushion.

It seemed he would have to add another item to his schedule: taking Yue An to test his strength level.

The Marshal added this new item to his memorandum before glancing at the time and then immersing himself back into his work.

Ji Xiuyun's psychic power level was very high, so being surrounded by Calming Wood for an entire afternoon had no effect on him whatsoever.

In contrast, Yue An, the little furball, had already kicked the sofa cushion to shreds and was now lying on the soft carpet, belly up with all four paws in the air.

Ji Xiuyun's work efficiency was remarkably high. Just as the sun was about to set, he finally completed the last step.

The result was a luxurious, fluffy, modular cat tree that emitted the fragrance of Calming Wood and fresh flowers. It was eight meters wide and one and a half meters tall, featuring tunnels, small holes, fake square boxes, and several round cat beds. Various plush toys hung from the structure, which occupied most of one wall in the living room and extended to the floor-to-ceiling window.

The Marshal was quite satisfied. He turned and gently woke up the little cat.

Yue An drowsily rolled over, using all four paws to grab the large hand disturbing him, and struggled to open his eyes.

He yawned, revealing tiny white teeth like jade: "Meow..."

Ji Xiuyun picked him up and scratched under his chin. "Look," he said.

Yue An turned his head to look, and his eyes widened in surprise the next second.

"Do you like it?" The Marshal pinched his cheek gently.

Yue An hugged Ji Xiuyun's hand with both paws, patting the back of his hand with his paw pads, his face full of excitement.

"Meow!"

Are you an angel?!

You must be an angel!!!

Yue An, suspended in midair, kicked his legs, eager to go and play!

The Marshal squeezed his paw pads again, observing Yue An's enthusiastic reaction, and asked, "Is it exactly like the design drawing?"

Yue An: "..."

I hope you wake up and stop avoiding reality.

The Marshal's eyes, seemingly devoid of emotion, gazed into the cat's sky-blue eyes. "Hmm?"

Yue An nuzzled against him, coaxing: "Meow~"

For once, Ji Xiuyun didn't indulge in his peculiar sense of humor. Instead, he glanced at the time.

"You can play when we get back," he said. "I'm taking you out for dinner."

Yue An's eyes lit up, and without hesitation, he leaped onto the Marshal's shoulder, nuzzling his cheek.

The Marshal didn't change out of his military uniform, nor did he bring any guards. He simply left with Yue An, whose combat ability surpassed that of ten guards combined.

This was Yue An's first time carefully observing the conditions of this era.

Previously, when they had driven back to Ji Xiuyun's home, they had used a special military route that was deserted. Now, taking the civilian road, various models of vehicles passed by on the ground and in the air.

The ground still had traditional roads, but the sky above was divided into several tracks from top to bottom. These "tracks" were actually just semi-transparent lines flickering with indicator lights.

There were six such flimsy lines in total, dividing the space above the road into six non-interfering driving lanes.

The flow of vehicles on the ground and in the sky was busy but orderly.

Yue An crouched on the control panel by the front window, curiously watching the vehicles occasionally zipping over their heads.

The Marshal glanced at the dashboard and, without a second thought, chose the number one track, then activated the autopilot.

Yue An watched as the car he and the Marshal were in began to float, slowly rising to the topmost track.

This track had very few vehicles, and Yue An guessed it was probably reserved for the privileged class.

After all, this was an empire, and there were naturally many places that reflected the special status of the noble class.

Yue An pressed against the front window, looking out with wonder-filled eyes.

Every time he saw something new and intriguing, Yue An marveled at how remarkable humans were as a species.

Because walking on two legs was slow, humans learned to tame horses.

Because riding horses wasn't comfortable, they invented carriages.

Because carriages were bumpy, they then invented cars.

Because they wanted to soar through the skies, humans conquered the air.

Because they yearned to explore the ocean depths, humans delved into the blue expanse.

Now, humans had stepped into the vast universe, a realm that many supernatural beings from the end times of magic had been reluctant to discuss.

Yue An had once heard the elders of his clan say that after humans occupied the living space on the ground, the replacement of the mystical side by the technological side became inevitable.

Humans were, after all, a race favored by heaven and earth.

Yue An raised both paws, clinging to the window, leaning in to look at the towering buildings.

Everything here was full of mechanical elements, but the architectural style wasn't as rigid and solemn as machinery. Surprisingly, it was full of free-spirited, humanized elements.

As they traveled along the highest track, the surroundings became increasingly remote.

After leaving the city's tracks, they switched to manual operation.

Yue An watched as Ji Xiuyun's hands continuously input commands, and then witnessed a dense patch of trees suddenly disappear, revealing a flat and vast settlement floating in midair.

To be precise, it was a military encampment hidden in the sky above the imperial capital.

Yue An jumped down from the window ledge and burrowed into the Marshal's coat pocket, poking out only his small head. His two paws rested under his chin, making him look particularly small and adorable.

Ji Xiuyun didn't stop him, maneuvering his vehicle to land in the parking area.

His clearance level was very high, so apart from the patrolling soldiers, no one was alerted to their arrival.

The Marshal, with his cat, simply got out of the car without notifying anyone and strode purposefully into the base.

The soldiers on patrol duty snapped to attention and saluted when they saw Ji Xiuyun, their gazes inevitably drawn to the little cutie peeking out from the Marshal's pocket.

Yue An looked up at them and softly "meowed."

Awww!

The soldiers maintained their stern expressions, those on patrol continuing their rounds, those training returning to their exercises. But internally, they were as excited as graduates from the Central Academy of Drama!

It's a cat!!

It's really a cat!!

So small!!

So cute!!!

Such a tiny, well-behaved thing!!

That meow was absolutely adorable!!

Its fur looks so soft and smooth!!

It makes you want to cuddle and squeeze it!!

And the very cat they wanted to cuddle and squeeze, after making an appearance before some of the troops, was finally brought by the Marshal to their destination.

"Meow..."

The snow-white kitten was now crouched on the table, his beautiful cat eyes wide open, staring at Ji Xiuyun, who had also taken a seat, with utter disbelief.

To be frank, the Marshal was a man with very little appreciation for life's pleasures.

He was only proficient at barbecue; other cooking methods were simply too demanding for the busy Marshal.

Usually, either his orderly would prepare special meals for him, or he would eat in the cafeteria with several other corps commanders.

He had no idea where the good food was in the Imperial Star, and no one ever chatted with him about such trivial matters.

So, the place Ji Xiuyun had brought Yue An to was his corps' base in the imperial capital...

...specifically, the military cafeteria.