The Puppet 2

It looked no different than it did, when he had used it to clear up his garden and to set up the various traps and contraptions about his little domain, there in the Medicine Fields. But he had set it aside once he was done with the initial works, so that it could recover the energies that it had spent, dealing with the clearance of the shrubs and small trees that used to litter the place.

He didn't know how Old Man Snow Mountain had managed to craft something like this out of a dead human body, since that was not part of the memories that he had awakened so far. Nor did he care. So long as it was under his control and could be used to protect, and aid him, Qin Feng was content.

Still, he could not help but wonder who this person had been. From what he could tell, it was about sixty years old, and rather powerful. The puppet seemed to have achieved a cultivation somewhere higher than the Profound Realm, before it perished. So it had to have been someone with a past.

Which meant that there might be a chance that it would be recognized, if Qin Feng used it too often. And that he should get rid of it, once it no longer served a purpose.

Not to mention the fact that it could not regenerate its own internal strength on its own.

Qin Feng was not the sort of person who would toss aside a useful tool, and had spent a good bit of time, every ten days or so, to insert his consciousness into the puppet, so that he could Breathe, and so recover the internal strength that could be stored within the puppet's body. The method that he used was the same Foundation Jade Tree Sixteen Breathing Exercises, and it seemed to work much better for it, compared to his own body!

Of course, the stored internal qi would still drain away when he was not inhabiting the same, albeit at a very minimal rate. But using it for the gardening chores and such had drained it to almost a third of its capacity, and that had only been for less than ten days! And it had taken him close to two moons, to replenish the energies that had been lost.

After that, it was just a matter to keeping it at a reasonable level of preparedness. Qin Feng was certainly not so diligent that he would bother to push it past three-quarters of its full capacity. It was, after all, a secret defense, that he was likely to only employ once, to save his own life. Using it as a substitute body was already a little ... outside the rules.

But now ...

There wasn't anything that he could do about it, since he had already promised Elder Ming Guanhe that he would do this. Qin Feng wore a resigned smile on his face as he shifted the boxes about, to make a space for himself. He would have to sit down so that he could transfer his consciousness over to the puppet. That was the one limitation that he had not been able to overcome just yet.

He had been told by Old Man Snow Mountain that he should be able to control both his own body as well as that of the puppet once he achieved a higher state of cultivation. But the Old Man had also warned him that it would take a bit of work, and that he should not try it until he was well into the Core Formation state.

Which was, unfortunately, much too far away! He was barely in the Foundation Realm, so it might take years before he could appear together with the puppet.

But that had nothing to do with his current mission, so he simply pushed it out of his mind, and concentrated on the mantra that he had been using all this while. And quickly shifted his soul, for lack of a better word, into the puppet beside him.

The transition was as smooth as it had been previously. And the puppet was working properly, since the last time that he had pushed his consciousness into its body. He took a Breath in the puppet, as he always did, and reveled in the amount of qi that he was able to store in the same. How long more did he have to practice, before he could do the same with his real body?

Ten years? Twenty? He didn't really care, to tell the truth. And he certainly was not about to remain at the Heaven Sword School if he could help it. It was just one of those stops along the road of his life, and he would leave as soon as he had achieved the profit that he planned for.

And the faster that he got Elder Ming Guanhe on his side, the faster he could start doing that more efficiently!

Qin Feng grinned as he stood up and walked over to where he had placed the clothes that he had intended for the puppet. The robe was a little old and somewhat faded, but its green color could still be seen. Just the sort of thing that an ordinary martial arts practitioner or a simple traveler would wear. He didn't have any boots for it, but a pair of straw sandals would be a lot less conspicuous if it was supposed to be a herb-gatherer.

Then he picked up the herbs that he had prepared, putting them in a simple cloth and leather pack that he had picked up somewhere. The herbs were not protected since he couldn't afford anything that could do the trick, so he would simply have to depend on the puppet to safeguard the same.

The last item on the list was the old straw hat that he usually wore when he was gardening. That should be common enough that no one would be able to trace it. Besides, he could always claimed to have lost it, and get another from Chen Xing, if any problems arose and he had to abandon it.

Looking down at himself, clad in his puppet's form, and in the worn clothes, Qin Feng smiled again. It was time to show off what he did best!

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