| PN | Mother Stone | 14
Arriving at the old residence, Qi Feng and Qi Ye sat awkwardly in the back seat, reluctant to leave for quite some time.
Qi Chao looked at their flushed faces and thought of something, testing the waters, "Today's events are our three brothers' secret, let's keep it between us."
Qi Feng and Qi Ye understood immediately. Upon hearing this, they visibly relaxed, their faces instantly brightening as they nodded repeatedly in agreement.
"Brother, don't worry, we won't tell Dad about your thing either!" Qi Feng hurriedly swore, and Qi Ye nodded solemnly beside him.
Qi Chao chuckled. Although the original father might have already heard about his resignation from the subordinates, he appreciated the genuine concern of his younger brothers.
Today, he hadn't managed to buy the heart of the puppet, but he had helped the original owner’s brothers. All in all, it wasn't a wasted trip.
It was approaching 8 PM, with half an hour until the little puppet's bedtime, Qi Chao was worried about his child. After leaving the old residence, he accelerated the car, arriving home safely in just ten minutes.
Initially, Qi Chao expected his little one to be sitting on the couch watching cartoons as before. To his surprise, as soon as he opened the door, he saw his child standing in the entrance hall.
Lan Lou seemed genuinely tired, standing there nodding off. Upon hearing the door open, however, he immediately straightened up, his misty blue eyes looking up, revealing a soft smile.
Who could resist such a cute and well-behaved little one?
Qi Chao's heart melted instantly.
He strode over and lifted the sleepy little puppet directly into his arms, letting Lan Luo sit on his arm. His voice was deep and laced with a smile, "You're so sleepy, why didn't you go to bed? Aren't you tired from standing at the entrance this whole time?"
Lan Luo had replenished his energy at six o'clock and was now so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. He nestled his head against Qi Chao's shoulder and murmured sleepily, "I haven't said goodnight yet, so I can't sleep."
Human children in cartoons always exchanged goodnight wishes with adults before going to bed.
For the past few days, Qi Chao had always gently bid Lan Luo goodnight before bedtime. Lan Luo had gotten used to it.
Human children needed to say goodnight before sleep. Even if he was sleepy, Lan Luo would wait for Qi Chao to come back.
Qi Chao was melted by his child's words. He reached out and rubbed Lan Luo's head, whispering softly, "Then let's sleep now. Goodnight, Lan Luo."
The little puppet nodded slightly, whispered a goodnight, and then closed his eyes, resting his head on Qi Chao's shoulder, his long eyelashes fluttering gently as he breathed lightly.
From any perspective, the child in his arms was as beautiful as a fallen angel in the mortal world.
Qi Chao carefully placed Lan Luo back in the room, tucked him in, and couldn't resist taking another photo of his child sleeping.
[My angel at home is really well-behaved.]
Upon hearing the host's silent sigh in his mind, the system quietly sneered, ‘Of course, when a demon puts on an angel's skin and falls asleep, how could he not look so well behaved?’
Early the next morning, after Qi Chao finished teaching Lan Luo reading, he prepared to go shopping again.
Initially, he thought to take the child with him, but Lan Luo shook his head and voluntarily sat on the sofa, turning on the projector. His intention was clear—he wanted to watch cartoons and didn't want to go out.
Human children in cartoons usually disliked shopping, and so did Lan Luo.
What could Qi Chao, this indulgent father, do? Naturally, he agreed.
This time, he needed to buy the mother stone used to create the core of the puppet.
The mother stone nurtured the life of the puppet and was an essential material in puppet-making, and it was also the most expensive among all materials.
Qi Chao found it hard to imagine how a piece of stone could nurture life, but this world was indeed magical. By soaking the mother stone in a soothing solution and then transmitting spiritual energy to it day after day, once it absorbed sufficient energy, the mother stone would "awaken" and beat like a heart.
This was the puppet's core.
Mother stones were born in special mineral veins. According to forum users, most mother stones were now controlled by the association, accessible only to certified puppet masters recognized by the association.
Puppet Masters not certified by the association either had to pay to mine in mineral veins themselves or resort to the black market.
Qi Chao chose the former option for two reasons.
Firstly, the black market was expensive, and Qi Chao didn't have much money.
Secondly, he lacked experience, and going to the black market would likely result in being cheated, making mining in the mineral vein a better choice.
The nearest mining site to the outskirts of the capital district was the Tieshan Mining Area, located 200 kilometers away. It only took forty minutes by flying craft.
Inside the mining area, countless robots worked tirelessly, with only one or two staff members responsible for overseeing operations.
Upon learning Qi Chao's purpose, the woman with a work badge showed no surprise. Although the association provided mother stones, many puppet masters were dissatisfied with them.
Therefore, numerous puppet masters visited the mining area daily for this purpose.
She led Qi Chao into a mine where the walls twinkled with a faint blue light, resembling a starry sky when looked up at, which was exceptionally beautiful.
Inside the mine, contrary to outside, there were only two or three robots, but there were around a dozen humans scattered about. Qi Chao guessed they were all puppet masters by their busy activities.
After the woman guided Qi Chao to his designated spot, she cautioned him in advance, "After selecting the mother stone, weigh it outside and pay accordingly. If this is your first time selecting a mother stone, I suggest not being too greedy. Even in the mining area, mother stones are not cheap."
"Thank you, I understand," Qi Chao nodded gratefully in response to her advice.
Once the woman left, Qi Chao began squatting down to examine the piles of stones on the ground.
Indeed, the mother stones capable of nurturing precious life were not the ones shimmering on the walls with blue light, but rather the ones on the ground that looks no different from dusty lumps of soil.
Mother stones were categorized into upper, middle, and lower grades. Only when awakened by puppet masters would they reveal their unique colors: red for top-grade, blue for middle-grade, and white for lower-grade.
The higher the quality of the mother stone, the longer the puppet's lifespan. Conversely, lower-quality stones meant shorter lifespans.
In Blue Star, even the longest-lived puppets could not exceed fifty years, while the shortest-lived puppets might not even survive an hour.
Before a puppet master awakened a mother stone, no one could determine its grade. It could be a tremendous drain of spiritual energy to awaken a stone, only to end up with a worthless white stone.
Qi Chao didn't have much money, so his budget was only enough to buy one mother stone.
Since there was no method to select the mother stone, he decided to choose based on which one caught his eye.
In less than ten minutes, Qi Chao had already selected a gray stone resembling a heart shape from a corner. The stone felt good in his hand and looked beautiful, clearly not ordinary. He casually put the mother stone in his pocket, clapped his hands, and prepared to leave.
Among the group of puppet masters, Qi Chao was the latest to arrive, but also the first to leave.
The bearded man in the corner, who was irritably selecting mother stones, couldn't help but sneer at him, "No wonder some people can't even become puppet masters. Look at him, not even taking the mother stone seriously. How could he possibly become a puppet master?"
His voice wasn't too loud, but it was just right for everyone in the mine to hear.
His companion, Ashley, blushed instantly and scolded, "Bego, what are you talking about?! Mind your own business!"
Ashley regretted asking Bego to come along to the mine. If he hadn't been lost and had other acquaintances at the association, he certainly wouldn't have brought Bego along. No wonder this guy was so unpopular; how could someone have such a big mouth?
"Sorry, sorry, don’t mind him. My companion didn't mean any harm," Ashley quickly apologized.
Qi Chao himself didn’t pay much attention to those words. Only those who stepped on sensitive spots would be angered by such comments. Whether he was a puppet master or not wouldn't change because of Bego's words.
He smiled at Ashley and asked, "Are you all puppet masters from the association?"
"Yes," Ashley, relieved that Qi Chao wasn't angry and felt a bit more friendly towards him. He curiously asked, "Have you just started to learn how to make puppets?"
"Sort of just starting," Qi Chao smiled, his gaze landing on the insignia on Ashley’s right arm.
In the mine, all the puppet masters wore the same emblem, likely the association's insignia. Qi Chao was the only one without it, which explained why he was singled out for criticism.
Bego, unhappy that his companion Ashley was friendly with Qi Chao, muttered to himself, though the words were barely audible but still insulting due to their proximity.
Ashley felt even more embarrassed, and quickly tried to make amends. "I'm a Level 3 puppet master with the association. Although I don’t have much experience in selecting mother stones, if you need help, I can give you some advice."
Mother stones, before being awakened, couldn’t be judged for quality. However, experienced puppet masters often developed a mystical sense for it. While this intuition sometimes failed, it was the only method available when selecting mother stones.
Qi Chao didn't refuse the offered help. He showed Ashley the mother stone he had chosen.
Ashley frowned at the stone. It looked unimpressive, much like the previous two mother stones he had picked, which had turned out to be low-grade white stones after two months of effort.
Just as Ashley was about to suggest that Qi Chao choose another mother stone, Bego saw the stone and burst into laughter. "This stone is definitely white, the worst kind of white. If it turns out to be blue, I’ll twist my head off for you to kick."
"Bego!" Ashley was furious. If he ever went out with Bego again, he would regret it deeply.
Three or four other puppet masters, watching the scene, began to chime in with their opinions.
Though they also found Bego irritating, they had to admit his assessment was usually accurate. This stone indeed looked like a low-grade one.
Despite being doubted by so many puppet masters, Qi Chao's expression remained calm. Before the mother stone was awakened, there was no guarantee that these puppet masters were necessarily right.
Qi Chao smiled at the group of puppet masters and thanked them for their well-intentioned advice. Then, he put the mother stone back into his pocket, clearly indicating that he was set on buying it.
Bego became even more annoyed. He couldn't stand someone who wasn't even a certified puppet master yet acted so self-assured. Despite the professional puppet masters' advice, this guy merely offered verbal thanks and still intended to purchase what they considered a worthless stone.
Ashley, seeing his companion about to start another tirade, quickly pushed him aside and explained the situation to Qi Chao.
Upon learning that Qi Chao was buying the stone purely because it felt right to him, Ashley didn't push further. Both sides were relying on their intuition, so who was right or wrong wasn't definite.
Yet, Bego continued to mutter angrily behind them, insisting on exchanging contact information with Qi Chao to settle the matter later and prove who was correct.
Qi Chao didn't mind and added both Bego and Ashley as friends. Though Bego seemed a bit troublesome, Qi Chao had dealt with far more difficult people before; this was nothing in comparison.
After exiting the mine, Qi Chao found the staff and paid 50,000 star coins for the heart-shaped mother stone.
Spending 50,000 star coins on a mother stone that was likely of low quality was a significant expense. Even families slightly less well-off could not afford such a cost. Qi Chao wasn’t poor, but his financial situation was still tight.
Sitting in the driver's seat, he caressed the heart-shaped, gray mother stone. Despite its irregular appearance, it felt smooth and fine like a pebble. Qi Chao looked down at it, feeling more and more attached to it.
Which stone in the mine could match this one in terms of unique shape and fine texture?
Why couldn’t those puppet masters see its value?
Qi Chao muttered to himself, "How strange," before tucking the mother stone back into his pocket.
Unbeknownst to him, each time he mentally praised the stone, a layer of invisible green light particles would float around its surface, much like fireflies, and eventually dissolve into the stone.
If there were instruments to detect it, they would show that these glowing particles were in fact Qi Chao's mental energy emanating from his consciousness.
This phenomenon, if recorded and uploaded online, would undoubtedly cause a huge sensation. Normally, mental energy only manifests when a human's mind is highly focused.
But Qi Chao was different. Whenever he directed his attention to the mother stone and casually praised it, he fed it a dose of mental energy—effortlessly and astonishingly.
Without knowing it, Qi Chao was nurturing the mother stone in an unprecedented way. For most puppet masters, nurturing a mother stone required painstaking effort and intense concentration over extended periods.
Yet, Qi Chao's genuine fondness and casual compliments were achieving what others needed rigorous focus to accomplish. This was both casual and terrifying.
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