Chapter 199: The Tide Approaches, Running Perfectly

Priestess: "Wow! So beautiful!"

Sun: "What is going on? Why are you wandering outside in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

Justice: "It must be the effect of that magic circle from earlier."

Star: "Was it a success?"

Tower: "Yes, it is done."

Judgment: "Remember to write the thesis."

Tower: "..."

Lan Qingyou never expected that showing off her results a little would actually lead to being badgered for a thesis.

So she hastily sent the book on magic circles over to Judgment, attaching a brief 'have someone copy it' before stowing her Card away, ignoring any further messages from the group.

It would be nothing more than a bunch of people badgering her to write a thesis, so she figured she might as well just hand over the entire book.

Now that this massive composite magic circle was a resounding success, it meant she had officially grasped the fundamentals. Keeping the book around was no longer of much use to her, so she might as well benefit the Witches of the Supreme Council with it.

Naturally, since she explicitly told Chu Yuan to find someone to copy it, the original manuscript would eventually be returned to her.

Oh, wait.

Now was not the time to be distracted by such things. The magic circle was not yet entirely complete.

At that thought, Lan Qingyou immediately set about her finishing touches.

She walked over to the base of one of the trees in the outer ring.

The roots of this giant tree were now completely encircled by the smaller nodes of the magic array.

However, a closer look revealed that within these small circles, there were numerous glowing, even tinier circles.

Inside each of these tiny rings lay a small pit, about half a meter wide and twenty to thirty centimeters deep.

Retrieving the War Treant saplings from her Card, Lan Qingyou planted them into the soil one by one.

Beside each of the five giant trees, she planted exactly fifteen saplings.

After all, these five colossal trees stood at the outermost perimeter—the most vulnerable area to any potential attacks. They needed robust protection.

Because a single giant tree measured over a hundred meters in diameter, fifteen War Treant saplings sounded like a lot, but they were actually spaced quite far apart along the perimeter.

Therefore, Lan Qingyou would have to deploy magical golems later to cover the gaps.

But that was a task for later.

After finishing up with the giant trees, Lan Qingyou returned to the fountain and planted the remaining saplings along the Yang curve of the Yin-Yang pattern.

She was not finished yet.

Once all the War Treants were firmly in the ground, Lan Qingyou approached the giant tree furthest from her Shelter. Carving a small notch into its main trunk, she took out the ancient tree branch she had acquired from the cave Utopia—the one capable of attracting flying magical beasts—and carefully grafted it on.

She chose the most distant tree specifically because she anticipated it would draw flocks of nesting birds in the future.

Birds were notoriously noisy creatures; their incessant chirping would be endless.

Keeping them far away ensured her own peace and quiet.

In truth, Lan Qingyou had given careful consideration to why she incorporated exactly five trees into her design rather than six, seven, or even ten.

Every single one of the five trees served a specific purpose.

One served as her High Tower, dedicated to her living quarters, research, and brewing Potions. Another, naturally, was designated as a sanctuary for the birds.

As for the remaining three giant trees, they acted as storehouses.

One was allocated for mineral storage, one for alchemical materials, and the final one for her completed magical golems.

As far as she was concerned, you could never have too many golems.

Furthermore, her battle against the ancient tree and the defensive maneuvers required during her recent excavation had sparked a flurry of new ideas regarding golem fabrication.

But all of that would have to wait.

The Mana Tide was scheduled to hit tomorrow, and she still had a mountain of tasks left to do.

Things like clearing land or constructing a dedicated golem manufacturing factory were on the agenda, but right now, the absolute priority was 'backfilling'.

Exactly.

However she had dug it all up, she now had to fill it back in.

After all, Lan Qingyou could not just leave those alloy steel plates, intricately carved with Magic Circuits, exposed to the elements where anyone could discern their weak points.

Naturally, while she called it backfilling, she wasn't completely filling the trenches back up to the brim.

The main goal was merely to throw down a layer of dirt to obscure the steel plates from view.

Otherwise, wouldn't the waters from the Spring of Rest go completely to waste?

If one were to ask whether the excess water from the Spring of Rest might overflow, Lan Qingyou would just say they lacked imagination.

Had they forgotten the stream running right outside her door?

When Lan Qingyou first designed the magic circle, she had already formulated a solution for the drainage.

It was simply a matter of redirecting the flow—drawing water in from upstream and flushing the excess downstream.

Although doing so would inevitably dilute the magical density of the Spring of Rest, such a minor reduction in potency was inconsequential.

Besides, no matter how capable Lan Qingyou was, she didn't possess the sheer power required to permanently alter the course of an entire stream.

Even if she could have used the Excavator to carve out a new riverbed, that would require a massive time investment. Under such a tight deadline and with so many pressing tasks, there was simply no room to worry about such grand landscaping projects.

At the very least, that would have to wait until the Mana Tide subsided.

After all, for a project of this magnitude, the only window of time Lan Qingyou could possibly squeeze out was the brief eleven-day reprieve between the end of the Mana Turbulence and the onset of the Mana Tide.

If she had waited until either the Mana Turbulence or the Mana Tide arrived, her excavations would have undoubtedly collapsed and been buried. Even the massive magic circle suspended in the sky might have been blown away.

Oh, right! The magic circle in the sky!

Pausing her backfilling work, Lan Qingyou glanced up at the radiant array above. With a sharp snap of her fingers, the floating magic circle instantly dissolved into a shower of sparkling magical particles, vanishing completely within mere seconds.

Right as the clock neared midnight, Lan Qingyou stowed the Excavator away and sprinted back inside her Shelter.

Her defensive array had activated successfully, yes, but the incoming Mana Tide was a cataclysm far more violent than the previous Mana Turbulence.

She certainly had not forgotten the harrowing ordeal of the last disaster.

It was better to be safe than sorry.

Ding.

As the hands of the wall clock struck exactly midnight, Lan Qingyou could palpably sense the magical array outside flaring with increased brilliance.

Indeed, despite having backfilled the trenches with soil, the firefly-like motes of magical light radiating from the circuitry had not been extinguished.

They continued to dance vividly throughout the surrounding area.

Faced with this unprecedented phenomenon, Lan Qingyou felt a twinge of uncertainty once her initial rush of thrill and excitement faded.

But ultimately, she decided it was fine.

Although the glowing lights might slightly expose the presence of her array, they provided an incredibly practical way to visually monitor whether the magic circle was operating smoothly. Thus, she simply stopped fretting over it.

Besides, it looked gorgeous, didn't it?

Especially in the dead of night, the breathtaking display perfectly suited the mystical, enigmatic aura of a Witch.

After taking a moment to appreciate the mesmerizing effects of the exterior array, Lan Qingyou finally made her way up to her living quarters on the fifth floor to inspect the core of her magical protective barrier.

Energy: 50,000 / 50,000

Perfect!

Seeing those numbers, Lan Qingyou flashed a wide grin.

This was exactly why her design absorbed ambient mana and the magic of the stars, all while utilizing the waters of the Spring of Rest as a cooling circulation system!

This limitless power loop was the crucial key.

This stroke of genius was born from the disaster she had suffered previously, where her Shelter was nearly wrecked because she hadn't managed to manually refuel the core before heading out.

Now that she had secured an automated power supply, she could freely leave on occasional expeditions without worry.

If her home was plunged into chaos every single time she stepped outside, who could possibly endure that?

But things were different now. With this self-sustaining magic circle, she would never have to worry about her Shelter being destroyed while she was away ever again.

Flopping down onto her bed, Lan Qingyou pulled up the interface of her Magic Desk, preparing to process a few upgrades.

After all, the lower floors of the tower were still completely empty. They desperately needed to be properly renovated and furnished.

However, the moment she tapped to view the upgrade requirements, she froze in stunned disbelief.

"What... what in the world is going on here?!"

Lan Qingyou clutched her head in both hands, her eyes wide as she stared in absolute shock at the massive strings of numbers displayed on the Magic Desk.