Wang Qinghe used all of his abilities to turn Elder Mo Li into his cultivation puppet.

A large amount of spiritual qi energy was consumed and absorbed into Wang Qinghe’s body.

To transform Mo Li into a cultivation puppet, Wang Qinghe needed an enormous amount of spiritual qi energy and a long period of time.

There were two reasons for that: Mo Li’s cultivation base was quite high, and Mo Li’s demonic cultivation foundation was extremely aggressive.

If he was not careful, Mo Li’s cultivation puppet could fall into corrupt energy and instead become a massive threat to Qinghe.

Yue remained in the middle of the forest, continuously channeling the natural qi she gathered from the forest area into Wang Qinghe’s body.

Aside from natural qi energy, Wang Qinghe also pushed the spiritual qi energy within his body to the limit.

With those two types of energy, he could suppress the aggressiveness of the dark qi and shorten the process of taming Mo Li.

"AAAKKKHHH!"

"QINGHE!" Mo Li shouted furiously.

"I’ll kill you. I’ll tear your body apart. I’ll curse your soul for thousands of years!" Mo Li roared.

"This hatred... will never disappear!"

Wang Qinghe narrowed his eyes and directed a golden qi orb toward Mo Li’s body.

The orb exploded and caused Mo Li’s soul consciousness to lose consciousness.

That allowed Wang Qinghe to easily take control of Mo Li’s body and turn the man into his cultivation puppet.

Several rune arrays formed beneath Wang Qinghe’s feet. The initial stage of creating the cultivation puppet was almost complete.

All that remained was for Qinghe to prepare for the second stage, the core of the cultivation puppet creation process.

He needed to insert rune arrays to revive Mo Li’s body without disturbing his soul consciousness.

The process was complicated and intricate. Qinghe’s hands finished forming hand seals, and five rune arrays could be seen rotating around Mo Li’s body.

"I’ll need time to finish this stage. Can you protect me, Yue?"

"I will," Yue replied.

The blonde-haired woman floated into the sky, formed a simple seal, and created a second barrier manifested from natural qi.

Now, the island had two layers of defense. The first wall was Qinghe’s qi dome, while the second wall was Yue’s natural qi dome.

With layered defenses, Yue felt confident that the cultivators would not be able to find them.

She looked down and saw Wang Qinghe sitting cross-legged while floating above the ground.

Both of his hands were stretched forward, channeling spiritual qi energy from his body into the five rune arrays surrounding Mo Li.

Qinghe’s eyes were tightly closed, fully focused on channeling the spiritual qi within his body to create a rune soul inside Mo Li’s body.

He did not know how long it would take. However, with the abundant supply of spiritual qi energy and natural qi, Qinghe was confident he could complete the cultivation puppet creation process quickly.

After all, the cultivation puppet was important to him because it would greatly help Qinghe in future battles.

***

One year later.

A qi explosion spread throughout the area. Yue opened her eyes and looked downward. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

She sensed a burst of golden qi emerging from Mo Li’s body, specifically from the five rune arrays on the puppet’s body.

Wang Qinghe also sensed it. It was a sign that the rune soul had already formed and that the second stage of the cultivation puppet creation process was about to end.

Qinghe’s hands moved again to form hand seals before directing them forward toward Mo Li’s body, which was trapped within Wang Qinghe’s golden rune array.

There was barely any resistance. Mo Li’s soul was unconscious, and the one controlling the cultivation puppet’s body was the rune soul.

Unlike Mo Li’s soul, the rune soul would always obediently follow its master’s commands. If its master ordered it to fight, then it would fight.

The third stage, the final stage, began. It was no longer about Mo Li’s soul or the rune soul, but about physical appearance, the body, and the dantian.

The Mo Li puppet’s eyes opened.

The five runes that had been surrounding him now entered the rune soul. Mo Li’s arms spread open, releasing a powerful golden qi light similar to Wang Qinghe’s.

A qi explosion erupted around Mo Li, accompanied by booming qi waves and powerful energy fluctuations.

The shockwaves even spread throughout the entire area, creating waves across the lake.

"Soul Formation?" Yue asked in confusion.

"But how is his cultivation base stronger than yours?" Yue asked.

The blonde-haired woman flew downward and floated right beside Wang Qinghe.

Wang Qinghe stood up and looked ahead at Mo Li under the influence of the cultivation puppet’s rune soul.

His body was still intact, but his eyes emitted a red glow. He appeared to be wearing a black robe with a red qi aura radiating from his body.

"The most likely explanation for his condition is the supply of spiritual qi and natural qi," Wang Qinghe replied.

He extended his hand and touched Mo Li’s forehead with the tip of his index finger. A strong golden qi light radiated outward.

"He only possesses strength equivalent to Soul Formation. As for a primordial soul or conception, he has neither."

"Does that mean he’s weaker?"

Wang Qinghe nodded and turned back toward Yue.

"Yes. He can dominate against Nascent Soul cultivators, but he is powerless against Soul Formation Masters."

"Can’t we insert someone’s primordial soul or dao conception?" Yue asked.

"That’s far too dangerous. Primordial souls and dao conceptions possess absolute power beyond rune souls."

"The best option for Mo Li’s puppet is to keep training him and continue increasing his strength."

"If the enemy is an Early Soul Formation Master, then to defeat them, Mo Li’s puppet cultivation base must at least reach Mid Soul Formation," Wang Qinghe explained.

"But this will still help me while I seek enlightenment on my dao path."

"I understand, Qinghe."

Wang Qinghe raised his hand, golden qi light shining from the tip of his finger.

Mo Li’s puppet shot into Wang Qinghe’s bag of holding, leaving only Wang Qinghe and Yue behind.

"Where are we going now?" Yue asked.

"Enlightenment and the search for dao conception must be done calmly, following the path of heavenly fate."

"If we rush, we won’t gain anything. We’ll only waste our time."

"I understand," Yue replied before turning to look at Qinghe again. "What kind of dao path do you want to obtain?"

Wang Qinghe fell silent for a moment. He took a deep breath and raised his eyes toward the sky, looking at the blue heavens hidden behind the two faint walls reflecting qi light.

"I don’t know."