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Qi Chao found it hard to imagine how a stone could give birth to life, but this world was simply that magical. As long as a Mother Stone was soaked in Soothing Fluid and a puppeteer transmitted Mental Power into it day after day, once it received enough energy, the Mother Stone would be "awakened" and begin to beat like a heart.

This was the Puppet Heart.

Mother Stones were born from special mineral veins. According to forum users, most Mother Stones were now controlled by the association and were only available to association-certified puppeteers. Puppeteers who had not been certified by the association could either pay out of pocket to dig for them in the mineral veins or hunt for them on the black market.

Between the two, Qi Chao chose the former.

First, the black market was expensive, and Qi Chao had no money.

Second, he lacked experience and could easily be scammed at the black market. He might as well go to a mine.

The closest mine to the Linjing District was the Tieshan Mining Area, two hundred kilometers away. It only took forty minutes by aircraft. Countless robots worked tirelessly throughout the mining area, while only one or two staff members were responsible for maintaining order.

When the woman wearing a work badge learned why Qi Chao was there, she was not surprised. Although the association provided Mother Stones, many puppeteers were dissatisfied with those stones. Many puppeteers like him came to the mining area every day.

She led Qi Chao into a mountain mine. A soft blue glow flickered from the hollows in the walls. Looking up at the cavern ceiling felt like gazing at a starry sky. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Unlike outside, there were only two or three robots in the mine, but at a glance, there were at least a dozen humans.

Watching them chip and hammer away, Qi Chao guessed that they were all puppeteers.

After bringing Qi Chao to the site, the woman reminded him in advance, "Once you've picked a Mother Stone, go outside to have it weighed and pay for it. If this is your first time choosing a Mother Stone, I suggest you don't get greedy. Even at a mine, Mother Stones aren't cheap."

"Okay, thank you." Qi Chao nodded, grateful for her kindness.

After the woman left, Qi Chao crouched on the ground and began sorting through the pile of stones.

That was right. The Mother Stones capable of nurturing precious life were not the blue-glowing stones embedded in the walls, but the dull gray stones on the ground, indistinguishable from clumps of dirt.

Mother Stones were divided into three grades: high, medium, and low. Only after being "awakened" by a puppeteer would they reveal their unique colors. High-grade Mother Stones were red, medium-grade ones were blue, and low-grade ones were white.

The higher the quality of a Mother Stone, the longer a puppet's lifespan; the lower the quality, the shorter its lifespan. On Blue Star, even the longest-lived puppets survived no more than fifty years, while some did not even last an hour.

Before a puppet was awakened, no one knew what grade a Mother Stone truly was. One might exhaust all one's Mental Power and painstakingly awaken a Mother Stone, only to end up with worthless pure white.

Qi Chao did not have much money. His budget was only enough for one Mother Stone. Since there was no method for choosing one, this made things simple: he would pick whichever one caught his eye.

Less than ten minutes later, Qi Chao picked out a gray stone in the corner that looked remarkably like a heart. It also felt nice in his hand and looked beautiful. At a glance, it seemed anything but ordinary. He casually slipped the Mother Stone into his pocket, dusted off his hands, and prepared to leave.

Qi Chao had arrived later than all the other puppeteers, but he was also the first to leave.

A bearded man in the corner was irritably picking through Mother Stones. Seeing this, he could not help mocking his companion, "No wonder some people can't even become puppeteers. Look at him—he doesn't even take Mother Stones seriously. How could he possibly become a puppeteer?"

His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for everyone in the mine to hear.

The bearded man's companion, Aisley, immediately flushed red and snapped, "Bego, what nonsense are you saying?! Why are you meddling in other people's business?"

Aisley regretted it deeply. If he had not been unfamiliar with the route, and if the other puppeteers he knew in the association had not all been busy, he never would have asked Bego to come to the mine with him. No wonder no one liked this man. He was perfectly fine otherwise, so why did he have to have such a mouth?

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please don't take it to heart. My companion doesn't mean any harm," Aisley hurriedly tried to make amends.

Qi Chao had not cared about those words in the first place. Only someone whose sore spot had been stepped on would get angry over such remarks. Whether he was a puppeteer or not would not change because of a single sentence from Bego.

He smiled at Aisley and asked, "Are you all puppeteers from the association?"

"Yes." Seeing that Qi Chao was not angry, Aisley breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little more favorably toward him. Curious, he asked, "Have you only just started learning to make puppets?"

"You could say that." Qi Chao smiled, his gaze falling on the armband on Aisley's right sleeve.

Every puppeteer in the mine wore the same armband. It was probably the association's symbol. He was the only one present without one. No wonder Bego had singled him out.

When Bego saw his companion actually chatting amicably with that man, he immediately became displeased. He muttered to himself at the side for quite a while. Though his voice was low, anyone nearby could hear that he was cursing.

Aisli became even more embarrassed and hurriedly said, "I'm a Level Three puppeteer in the association. Although I don't have much experience choosing Mother Stones, if you need help, I can offer you some advice."

The quality of an unawakened Mother Stone could not be determined, but experienced puppeteers who had seen many of them developed a mysterious sense for it. Though that feeling could sometimes be wrong, when there was no other way to choose a Mother Stone, that elusive intuition became the only option.

Qi Chao naturally would not refuse help that had come right to him. He took out the Mother Stone he had selected and let Aisley have a look.

Aisli frowned as he examined the Mother Stone. No matter how he looked at it, it did not seem very promising. The feeling was just like the Mother Stones he had bought the previous two times—after two months of hard work, they had turned out to be low-grade white ones.

Just as Aisley was about to tactfully suggest that Qi Chao choose another Mother Stone, Bego saw the stone and burst out laughing. "That stone of yours is definitely white—the worst kind of white. If it turns out blue, I'll cut off my head and let you kick it."

"Bei Ge!" Aisli was about to be driven mad by him. If he ever came out with this guy again, he would be a dog!