Puppet Notes (Wearing Book) - 15

 

| PN | Mental Power | 15

According to the steps to awaken the mother stone, to enable it to better absorb mental power, it must be soaked in a soothing liquid. 

The puppet master needs to inject mental power into it for at least one hour each day. Within one to two months, the mother stone will be awakened.

In the study, Qi Chao placed the palm-sized mother stone into the fish tank, then filled it with the soothing liquid. Judging by its appearance, the soothing liquid looked no different from water. 

Inside the transparent glass fish tank, there was only a dull, gray, heart-shaped stone.

"The strength of mental power varies from person to person. Puppet masters mobilize mental power through meditation. What we need to do is to imagine the mental power as a stream and then guide this stream into the mother stone."

Qi Chao followed the steps in the book, placed his hand on the fish tank, closed his eyes, and began to meditate. After an unknown period, countless green glimmers appeared in the vast darkness, flickering in and out.

It actually appeared.

Beads of sweat formed on Qi Chao's forehead. He kept his eyes closed, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly, feeling that this was quite surreal. 

He tried his best to follow the instructions in the book, attempting to shape the green glimmers into a stream, but no matter how he controlled them, the green glimmers were uncooperative, scattering in all directions instead.

If there had been professional equipment present, it would have detected an astonishingly high mental power threshold in the study, as if a dozen puppet masters were meditating simultaneously.

Ever since Qi Chao had returned, Lan Luo had been clinging to him, obediently sitting on a chair and watching Qi Chao meditate. When the study suddenly filled with green light clusters, his azure eyes widened slightly.

Puppets born from human mental power could see mental power, and this was especially true for top-tier S-class dolls like Lan Luo.

In Lan Luo's eyes, the room was now filled with countless specks of green glimmers. These clusters drifted around, some landing on the mother stone in the fish tank, some dissipating into the air upon collision, and many even landed on Lan Luo himself.

Lan Luo touched his own heart, tilting his head.

It seemed that his master's mental power had just merged with his.

Each puppet master's mental power was unique and could not merge with another's. If an attempt was made to forcibly merge two people's mental powers, it would only shatter the puppet's heart.

This was why Qi Chao had initially sought out the puppet master who created Lan Luo for repairs instead of doing it himself. 

Yet now, Lan Luo's doll heart not only absorbed the mental power but even seemed to pulse with a hint of joy.

This joy was similar to the satisfaction he felt when receiving mental power from his father, the feeling of being satiated.

Lan Luo's eyelashes trembled slightly.

He couldn't understand what was happening.

Meanwhile, Qi Chao finally learned how to control the scattered mental power. He focused his attention and held his breath. As he meditated, a white chain suddenly shot out in the darkness. 

The chain, like a nimble white snake, looped around the green glimmers in the air, guiding them into the fish tank.

To prevent the disobedient light clusters from escaping, Qi Chao elongated the chain and formed it into a bundle, covering the fish tank after channeling the mental power into it.

An hour later, Qi Chao, unaware of the strength of his own mental power, opened his eyes to see the little golden-haired puppet sitting obediently beside him. The study was silent.

The trouble with mental power is that it’s invisible to the naked eye. Although Qi Chao felt he must have succeeded, upon opening his eyes and seeing nothing, it felt like a dream.

He lowered his head to look at the fish tank. The dull gray stone soaked in the still, undisturbed soothing liquid showed no signs of change.

Typically, changes take about a month to appear. Qi Chao mocked himself for being impatient and then turned his attention to Lan Lou beside him.

"Kiddo, Dad sat here for an hour. Why did you sit with me for so long?" Qi Chao, feeling a bit sorry for his well-behaved child, patted its head. He had thought the little one would get bored and go watch cartoons.

It must be because he had been going out frequently these past few days, his cub probably felt lonely after leaving him home alone, which made it cling to him more.

Thinking this, Qi Chao felt a bit guilty. He quickly comforted his child, saying, "If nothing unexpected happens, Dad won't be going out for the next few days and can stay home with you!"

Lan Luo didn't understand why Qi Chao said this, but he was used to Qi Chao's ways of doing things. He looked up and gave a brilliant angelic smile.

The doting father was instantly charmed.

While humoring Qi Chao, Lan Luo glanced sideways at the fish tank.

Humans couldn't see it, but as a puppet, Lan Luo could clearly see the abundant green light clusters surging within the fish tank.

Normally, mental power would quickly dissipate in the air, but the green light in the fish tank was being absorbed by the mother stone without showing any signs of dispersing. Above the fish tank, a silver snake-like chain of mental power hovered, gradually becoming more transparent. 

Evidently, the green light clusters remained because of this chain. Only when the chain fully turned into a phantom would the green light clusters start to dissipate.

This was the first time Lan Luo had seen such a phenomenon, and he could hardly tear his eyes away.

Noticing that Lan Lou seemed distracted, Qi Chao followed his gaze to the fish tank. Assuming that he was curious, he smiled and explained, "If all goes well, this will be the heart of a new puppet, a good friend for Lan Luo."

"Mm!" Lan Luo nodded vigorously, his bright blue eyes narrowing in a delighted smile. He jumped off the chair, walked to the glass fish tank, and tapped the side, producing a clear, crisp sound.

The mother stone in the fish tank seemed to sense a threat, as if it was afraid its food would be taken away. The speed at which it absorbed the mental power suddenly increased, and within moments, half of the green light clusters had been absorbed.

Seeing this, Lan Luo's eyes curved even more, as if witnessing something amusing.

Qi Chao, pleased to see Lan Luo forming a bond with the future puppet, leaned in and squatted down, saying, "In one to two months, you'll see the mother stone change color. By then, this heart-shaped stone will be even more beautiful!"

As he spoke, Lan Luo noticed a cluster of green light drifting from Qi Chao, floating unsteadily before landing on the mother stone in the fish tank.

He blinked and looked at Qi Chao.

Qi Chao, however, seemed completely unaware, returning Lan Luo's gaze without any sign of noticing what had happened.

Lan Luo gave Qi Chao a perfunctory smile and turned back to the mother stone, his eyes filled with confusion.

Why was this human's mental power so strange?

Lan Luo was puzzled.

He could understand not seeing any results after releasing so much mental power, but why would the mental power suddenly float out like that?

Qi Chao was unaware that his mental power was actually abnormal; the books he had read didn't delve into such specifics. He still believed his mental power was just an ordinary A-level.

Seeing that it was almost six o'clock, Qi Chao instantly switched to a fatherly mode. "Kiddo, are you hungry?"

Lan Luo wasn't actually hungry. Quite a bit of the mental power Qi Chao had released had fused into his heart, so he didn't currently need to replenish energy. For puppets, even the highest-grade energy stones were merely substitutes for mental power.

Qi Chao found it odd when Lan Luo shook his head but didn't dwell on it. He stood up and said, "Alright, I'll cut back on the energy stones a bit, but even if you're not hungry, you still need to eat."

Lan Luo nodded and followed Qi Chao out of the study. As they closed the door behind them, Lan Luo glanced once more at the fish tank.

Inside, the mother stone was like a voracious glutton, having already devoured two-thirds of the mental power in the tank.

This was normal. A mother stone in the incubation phase needed to constantly absorb mental power to nurture life.

Humans often classified mother stones into upper, middle, and lower grades, but they seldom considered whether the mental power they provided truly met the mother stone's needs.

Qi Chao was the greatest puppet master in the world, with enough mental power to energize three mother stones simultaneously. However, most puppet masters on Blue Star couldn't even meet the requirements of one mother stone.

As Lan Luo closed the door and followed behind Qi Chao, watching the man's back and recalling the astonishing scene in the study earlier, he couldn't help but think: the mother stone in the fish tank should be like him—never going hungry.

After finishing his meal, the little puppet pattered upstairs eagerly to continue observing the mother stone in the fish tank.

Qi Chao felt relieved seeing this. It seemed that Lan Luo truly looked forward to the arrival of his unborn friend.

If possible, Qi Chao hoped the awakened mother stone would be the highest grade, represented by a vibrant red, indicating that his child could enjoy a long life.

 However, even if it turned out to be the lowest grade, a plain white, Qi Chao wouldn't discard it.

Though there was no precise evidence, Qi Chao believed that perhaps the mother stone possessed life from the moment it was awakened.

The immediate priority was to create the puppet’s body. With this in mind, Qi Chao entered the study again to prepare for the work.

Meanwhile, Lan Luo sat beside the fish tank, swinging his legs in the air. Occasionally, he tapped the glass wall of the tank with his hand, seemingly amused by something, then squinted his eyes and smiled.

Watching this charming scene, Qi Chao couldn't help but be amused. Of course, he didn't know that each tap from Lan Luo on the fish tank increased the mother stone's absorption speed of mental power twofold, like a starving wanderer finally getting some food but having to watch out for predators eyeing him hungrily, stuffing dumplings into his mouth desperately.

Qi Chao stood at the door watching for a while before picking up the design plans from the desk. He addressed Lan Luo, "Lan Luo, Dad is going to work in the basement. If you feel tired, just go to your room and sleep, okay?"

"Mm!" Lan Luo nodded, then added, "Good night."

"Good night."

Satisfied with Qi Chao's response, Lan Luo settled in.

Tonight was another night like any other human child would have.

Qi Chao, too, was content.

Today was another day healed by his obedient child.

He took the design drawings and went down to the basement, where he had stored the materials he had purchased in recent days. Some materials were temporarily out of stock and would only arrive tomorrow, but tonight's work wouldn't require those missing materials anyway.

Making dolls was a manual task involving clay and plaster spraying, which was messy and required wearing a gas mask for one step. 

Doing this in the basement was ideal, and Qi Chao felt fortunate that the original mansion came with a basement; otherwise, he would have needed to rent a workshop specifically for making dolls.

Qi Chao put on his work uniform, donned custom-made gloves, and once again released his mental power. Under the warm yellow light, he began to mold the clay.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Lan Luo, who had been playing by the fish tank, suddenly sensed a familiar fluctuation in the air. He paused, jumped off his chair, and the angelic smile on his face had long been replaced by a cold indifference.

The golden-haired doll could smile like a sweet little angel, making people want to give him everything under the sun. 

But when he removed the disguise of the angel and revealed a cold expression, even the most exquisite appearance would only make people feel uneasy and uncomfortable.

The space at the entrance of the study seemed to twist into a vortex, occasionally emitting a whistling sound from within.

Lan Luo wasn't surprised by the scene before him. He walked up to the vortex, his expression cold, and said, "Elder brother."

The twisted vortex slowly rotated and expanded upon hearing Lan Luo's voice. After a few minutes, a foot stepped out from the vortex.

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