Flesh Puppet

Flesh Puppet

"Whoosh—"

"The Blood Essence condensed by Beast General Level monsters is far stronger than that of Beast Soldier Level monsters.

If I fully absorb Beast General Level flesh and evolve, my strength should increase by around 400 to 500 kilograms in a day.

If I engage in intense slaughter and get my blood boiling to accelerate absorption, the speed can be even faster!"

After killing all thousand-plus monsters on the entire street, Qin Ming could feel his body slowly improving as it absorbed the Blood Essence.

After a long while, Qin Ming looked into the distance.

"According to Military intelligence, a High Lord Level Diamond Ape occupies the core area ahead. Avoid it for now!"

Before setting out to hunt, Qin Ming had naturally gathered more than enough intelligence.

Under this High Lord Level monster were three Lord Level ape-type monsters alone, along with large numbers of Beast Generals and Beast Soldier Level monsters.

Although he could fly through the air and had the Black God Suit for protection, it was still rather dangerous.

"I'll hunt elsewhere first. Once my strength improves, I'll clear it out."

Qin Ming glanced at the map on his wrist communicator.

City 003 was full of monsters. There was no need to hang himself from a single tree.

Whoosh!

After several consecutive leaps, Qin Ming shot into the air and blasted off in another direction.

As for the residential complex behind him that had become deathly silent, given the density of monsters in City 003 and their tendency to roam in large numbers, it would be filled again within a few days. No one would notice anything unusual.

A moment later, Qin Ming landed atop a building.

"The monsters here are already quite strong. There are quite a few High-Level Beast Generals, and it seems other Martial Warriors have been active here as well."

Qin Ming's consciousness seemed to float in the sky, seeing places extremely far away. It also seemed to pass through the obstruction of buildings, seeing the monsters lurking within them.

This was a function Qin Ming had developed while exploring the Myriad Souls Banner.

He discovered that he could use the Myriad Souls Banner to attach a thread of consciousness to a monster's soul, observing everything around it through the other party's vision.

He could even divide his consciousness among the souls and bodies of multiple monsters at once, forming a network of vision.

Rather than being limited to having monster souls scout independently.

Whether for reconnaissance or even combat, this was an excellent divine ability.

"The Myriad Souls Banner is still far too mysterious to me. At present, I've only used it to absorb monster souls and corpses to strengthen myself, or to attack directly through monster souls or possess them.

There are still many functions that I haven't developed at all."

As he thought, Qin Ming leaped into the balcony of the tall building beneath his feet and began searching from top to bottom, hunting the monsters inside.

Within this building was a High-Level Beast General Tiger Cat.

Tiger Cats were not especially large. After all, they were feline monsters. Even a High-Level Beast General was only the size of a calf.

Though not large in appearance, Tiger Cats were extremely vicious, possessed incredibly fast reactions, and were highly agile. They were assassination-type monsters.

Identifying a Tiger Cat's strength was very simple; one only needed to look at its tail.

One tail meant an Advanced Beast Soldier, two tails a Primary General Level, three tails an intermediate Beast General, and so on. Upon reaching eight tails, it would already be a King Level monster!

This one had four tails.

"I'll use this Tiger Cat to test how to refine a Flesh Puppet!"

With a thought from Qin Ming, flying knives surrounded it from every direction at incredible speed, instantly killing the Tiger Cat hidden around the stairway corner.

Clearly, this Tiger Cat had discovered Qin Ming on the rooftop and had attempted an ambush.

Unfortunately, let alone Qin Ming, any Spiritual Force User could detect such an ambush ahead of time through Mental Force.

Whoosh!

Landing before the Tiger Cat's corpse, Qin Ming moved his mind and collected both its corpse and soul into the Myriad Souls Banner.

However, unlike before, this corpse was not rapidly broken down. Instead, it fell into a crimson lake formed from Blood Essence within the Myriad Souls Banner.

This crimson lake was not large, only about five meters in diameter.

After hunting more than a thousand monsters, half had been absorbed by the Myriad Souls Banner itself, while Qin Ming had kept the rest and turned them into this lake of flesh and blood.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

Accompanied by piercing sounds, large amounts of crimson essence flooded into the Tiger Cat's corpse. Its originally spotted fur soon turned completely red, while the body pierced by flying knives rapidly repaired itself.

In just a moment, the fatal wounds vanished without a trace.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Qin Ming revealed a trace of delight. As the refinement continued, he seemed to be able to vaguely sense a body, and that sensation was rapidly strengthening.

This feeling was completely different from controlling a monster soul.

"It's actually this clear? I can even see the Tiger Cat's muscle tissue and cellular structure?"

The more it was refined, the stronger Qin Ming felt his control over the Tiger Cat becoming. He could even clearly see everything within its body and control it with ease.

Whoosh!

The entirely blood-red Tiger Cat appeared before Qin Ming. The crimson color rapidly faded from its body, though a trace of blood-red remained in its eyes, filled with deathly stillness and killing intent.

"Controlling a Flesh Puppet? Interesting!"

As Qin Ming's will moved, the Tiger Cat's body began to move as well. As it ran and leaped, it looked no different from an ordinary Tiger Cat.

This was a Tiger Cat with Advanced General strength!

In only a moment, Qin Ming had gained combat power at the Advanced General level.

In some novels Qin Ming had read in his previous life, demonic treasures like the Myriad Souls Banner often possessed corpse-refining abilities, allowing their users to control zombies, puppets, and the like.

And in the world of Swallowed Star, there was also the profession of Puppet Master.

Puppet Masters were a type of Spiritual Force User, but they were extremely niche. Compared with The Controller, Illusionists, and the like, they were exceedingly rare.

They were barely mentioned in the original work.

As for Flesh Puppets, Qin Ming only knew of a cosmic Special Lifeform called the Green Line Devouring Worm. It could create countless Clones, root itself in planets, and control Life Puppets.

"With the power of the Myriad Souls Banner, it seems I can refine Flesh Puppets on a large scale and use them as combat weapons."

Qin Ming stroked his chin. Rather than personally controlling this Flesh Puppet, he refined the Tiger Cat's original soul and placed it back inside.

Sure enough, once the Tiger Cat's soul entered the body before him, it controlled it with great ease, as though it had never died.

"Go! Hunt a monster and bring it back to me."

At his command, the Tiger Cat pounced out from the balcony. After making several consecutive leaps through the street, it landed before a Primary General Level Tiger Howl Dog.

Its claws shot out, sweeping across the Tiger Howl Dog's neck at tremendous speed and forcibly tearing out its blood vessels.

Then its small body bit down on the Tiger Howl Dog and forcibly dragged it into the building, hauling it before Qin Ming.

"This Flesh Puppet's range of movement seems far greater than that of a soul body. And just as monster souls devour Soul Crystals, it can use Flesh Crystals to continue strengthening itself!"

"I'll continue the experiment. With a batch of Flesh Puppets, both my strength and my safety can improve considerably."