On Broad Cloud Peak, in a secluded, hidden place where a faint glow shone through the darkness, a stone platform the size of a millstone stood in a spirit pool several yards across.
Mist-laden spiritual fog shrouded the pool. Above the stone platform, a ring floated silently a few inches in the air. Clouds of vapor coiled like a whirlpool, flowing into it continuously from above, while impure vapor was expelled below and carried away by the airflow in another direction.
This was Broad Cloud Peak's main-vein spirit pool, the spring eye at the very heart of this spirit peak blessed land.
The ring placed on the stone platform was the Spirit Ring Beacon now under Li Chen's control. Charged through a magic array, it remained half-open at all times, connecting the realms inside and outside as though they were one.
Inside the Spirit Ring, within the Magic Cube Maze, Li Chen's True Body lay quietly in a glass chamber that looked as though it had been fashioned from crystal, his head and all four limbs intact.
The chamber was filled with true water, and spiritual energy flowed continuously through vents on either side. Bubbles could occasionally be seen churning through the water as wisps of spiritual essence were absorbed by his body.
To restore perfect coordination between his body and consciousness, and to settle his body and mind into the right state in preparation for Puppet Conversion, Li Chen had frequently returned his head to his true body over the past three months, rejoining them so he could recuperate.
In the broad sense, Puppet Conversion was not the work of a single day. Conversion of one's own true body, in particular, was a lifelong cultivation undertaking that had to continue without pause, taking place at every moment.
It was