Chapter 15

The three or four Dollmakers watching from the sidelines began to comment as well when they heard Bei Ge. Though they did not like him either, they had to admit that his eye was quite sharp. This Mother Stone was obviously the lowest-grade inferior product.

Despite being dismissed by so many Dollmakers, Qi Chao showed no sign of disappointment. Or rather, before a Mother Stone was awakened, no one had ever said these Dollmakers had to be right.

He smiled at the group, thanked them for their well-meaning advice, then slipped the Mother Stone into his pocket. His meaning was obvious: he was set on buying it.

Bei Ge grew even more displeased at the sight. What he hated most were people like this—people who were not even Dollmakers yet acted so self-righteously. Their group of professional Dollmakers had already given him the answer, yet this guy merely thanked them and still intended to stubbornly take that piece of trash home?

Seeing his companion about to start up again, Aisli hurriedly shoved him aside and explained things to Qi Chao himself. Once he learned that Qi Chao had bought the stone simply because he found it pleasing to the eye, Aisli said nothing more.

Both sides were relying on so-called feelings, so it was impossible to say who was right or wrong. Yet his idiot companion was still cursing behind him, insisting on adding the man's contact information so he could wait for the result and prove who was right.

Qi Chao had no objection and directly added both Bei Ge and Aisli as friends. Bei Ge had a tendency to pick fights for no reason, but Qi Chao had met plenty of more troublesome people. This barely counted as anything.

After leaving the mine, Qi Chao found a staff member and paid fifty thousand Star Coins for the Heart-Shaped Mother Stone.

A Mother Stone that was very likely low-grade had cost fifty thousand Star Coins. Any family even slightly poorer would struggle to afford such an expense. Qi Chao was not poor, but his life was still far from comfortable.

Sitting in the driver's seat, he stroked the heart-shaped gray Mother Stone. It looked uneven, but it felt as delicate and smooth as a pebble. Qi Chao lowered his head to look at it, liking it more the longer he looked.

What stone in that mine could compare to this one, with such a unique shape and such a nice feel?

How could those Dollmakers not like such an excellent stone?

Qi Chao did not quite understand. Muttering that it was really strange, he tucked the Mother Stone into his pocket.

What Qi Chao did not know was that whenever he praised the stone in his heart, a layer of glowing green motes invisible to the naked eye would drift around the Mother Stone. Like fireflies, they danced through the air before settling onto the stone and melting away.

If they were tested with instruments, it would be discovered that these glowing green motes were Mental Power drifting from Qi Chao's sea of consciousness.

If this scene were recorded and posted online, it would certainly cause an uproar. Mental Power only ever appeared when a human's mind was highly focused.

Who had ever seen someone like Qi Chao? He only needed to turn his attention to a Mother Stone and casually praise it to feed it a mouthful of Mental Power. It was terrifyingly effortless.

Chapter 15

According to the steps for awakening a Mother Stone, it had to be soaked in Soothing Fluid so it could better absorb Mental Power. The Dollmaker then needed to inject it with Mental Power for at least one hour every day. Within one to two months, the Mother Stone would awaken.

In the study, Qi Chao placed the palm-sized Mother Stone into a fish tank, then filled it with Soothing Fluid. By color alone, the Soothing Fluid looked no different from water. Inside the transparent glass tank sat only a dull gray heart-shaped stone.

[Mental Power varies in strength from person to person. Dollmakers use meditation to mobilize their Mental Power. What we need to do is imagine Mental Power as a stream, then guide that stream into the Mother Stone.]

Following the steps in the book, Qi Chao pressed his hand against the fish tank, closed his eyes, and began to meditate. After an unknown amount of time, countless green glimmers seemed to emerge from the boundless darkness, flickering in and out of sight.

They really appeared.

A few beads of sweat formed on Qi Chao's forehead. With his eyes closed, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. It felt surreal. He tried his hardest to knead the green lights into a stream as the book instructed, but no matter how he controlled them, they refused to obey and instead scattered in every direction.

If professional instruments had been present, they would have found that the Mental Power threshold in the study was unimaginably high, as if more than a dozen Dollmakers were meditating at once.

Ever since Qi Chao returned, Lan Luo had stayed glued to his side. He sat obediently in his chair and watched Qi Chao meditate. When green orbs suddenly flooded the study, his sapphire-blue eyes widened slightly.

Dolls born from human Mental Power could naturally see Mental Power, and S-Rank Dolls, who were top-tier in every respect, were even more capable of it.

In Lan Luo's eyes, the room was now filled with specks of glowing green light. These light clusters drifted everywhere. Some landed on the Mother Stone in the fish tank, some collided and vanished directly into the air, and many more motes even fell onto him.

Lan Luo touched his heart and tilted his head.

His master's Mental Power seemed to have merged into him just now.

Every Dollmaker's Mental Power was different, and it was even more impossible for them to merge. If two people's Mental Power were forcibly fused, the Puppet Heart would only shatter.

That was why Qi Chao had sought out the Dollmaker who made Lan Luo instead of repairing him himself. Yet at this moment, not only had the Puppet Heart inside Lan Luo absorbed that Mental Power, his heart even stirred with a trace of pleasure.

That pleasure was like the satisfaction of being full after receiving the Mental Power his father had once passed to him.

Lan Luo's eyelashes trembled faintly.

He did not understand what was happening.

At the same time, Qi Chao finally learned how to control the scattered Mental Power. He focused his attention and calmed his breathing. As he meditated, a white chain-like track suddenly shot out from the darkness. Like a nimble white snake, it circled the green light clusters in the air and guided them into the fish tank.

To keep those disobedient light clusters from escaping, after guiding the Mental Power into the fish tank, Qi Chao directly lengthened the chain, coiled it into a ball, and covered the fish tank with it.

An hour later, Qi Chao, still completely unaware of the strength of his own Mental Power, opened his eyes. He saw the little blond doll sitting obediently beside him, while the study was completely quiet.

Not being able to see Mental Power with the naked eye was troublesome. Although Qi Chao felt that he had probably succeeded just now, there was nothing when he opened his eyes. It was as though he had only dreamed it.