Constructing the Sealing Magic Circle

The Tower: "Does anyone have any volcanic ash cement or something similar?"

High Priestess: "What are you planning to do?"

The Tower: "Digging a dungeon to put Ksuya's Eye in."

Justice: "Ksuya's Eye?"

The Sun: "That's the dungeon boss from the last instance."

The Emperor: "The ultimate boss, to be more precise."

The Star: "Huh? I never heard of it!?"

The Tower: "Well, you have now."

The Moon: "Are you saying you're keeping a dungeon boss as a pet?"

The Hierophant: "No, she's simply treating the dungeon boss as a means of production."

The Tower: "I haven't researched exactly how to use its drops yet, but according to the identification results, they can be used in alchemy."

The Moon: "Being able to bring a boss out of a dungeon... that's certainly an interesting piece of intel."

The Tower: "It’s pretty normal, isn’t it? After all, quite a few people seem to be keeping pets these days."

Lan Qingyou smiled and said no more after sending that message.

Keeping pets was indeed a real thing now.

While most didn't have a contract magic circle like Lan Qingyou, many used the same kind of husbandry methods she had used previously.

On one hand, it increased their combat power; on the other, it was a way to ward off loneliness.

Although it seemed like many people were starting to group up to increase their survival rates, the sheer size of the population meant there were still many who chose to live alone.

In such cases, the trend of keeping pets was born.

However, while bringing a boss out of a dungeon might seem like a simple matter, it was actually quite straightforward—provided one had the right tool.

And that prerequisite was something all transmigrators were familiar with: the 【Shackle Chest】.

That’s right—the chest used to store the Sunlight Stone was the same Shackle Chest magic tool that every transmigrator encountered at the beginning of their journey.

The only difference was that the Shackle Chest Lan Qingyou had found this time had no time limit and could be used indefinitely.

She even suspected that this chest might be the prototype for all those other Shackle Chests.

It was precisely because of this chest that Lan Qingyou could so smoothly bring out the eye that had already been imprisoned within it.

Otherwise, even though the Sunlight Salt had a certain suppressing effect, it wouldn't have been able to hold down an SS-grade entity.

The mana tide arrived as scheduled, but it didn't have much to do with Lan Qingyou.

After obtaining the volcanic ash cement, she began her design.

Knowing the creature's power and its dark history of being sealed, she was well aware that its destructive potential was immense.

So, Lan Qingyou decided to dig directly under her main tower—the giant tree where she slept.

Since the World Tree Boat was wood-attribute, building a place of imprisonment beneath the roots of a giant tree was a perfect choice.

Of course.

Because the entity was something the ancient Kalim people had to seal away, Lan Qingyou took the excavation very seriously.

Given its high level, it would surely wreak havoc on the region if it ever escaped.

Once the dungeon was dug, she brought out the sealing magic circle she had researched while inside the dungeon.

As for the core of the sealing magic circle, it was naturally the Sunlight Stone and the Stone of Repose she had placed above.

Using the Stone of Repose as the 'dark side' was far better than using the World Tree Boat to represent 'darkness.'

No joke, this was a 'Master Albert’s Choice' item, after all.

Although it didn't reach the world-class rank, the members of the dungeon team were already starting to have their suspicions about how ranks were determined, even if they hadn't said it aloud.

After digging out a space large enough for Ksuya's Eye to recover to half its size, Lan Qingyou began plastering the walls with the volcanic ash cement.

She could have carved the sealing magic circle directly into the tree roots, and it would have been fine.

But since she would inevitably have to upgrade it later, she decided to do the full job now.

Furthermore, volcanic ash had the advantage of producing trace amounts of fire elements, filling the surrounding air with a fiery aura.

This was the perfect counter for Ksuya's Eye, which was water-attribute.

"Wait a minute, wouldn't that be a bit of a waste?"

While sitting at the entrance and lighting a fire to dry the cement, Lan Qingyou frowned as she thought.

If she only siphoned its tears—and she wasn't even sure how to use them yet—it would be a terrible waste. Wouldn't it be better if she could exploit the creature more reasonably and efficiently?

She pulled out the notebook containing the sealing magic circle and began to study it.

Eventually, she hit upon a brilliant idea: linking the sealing magic circle to her Five Dragon Reincarnation Protection Magic Circle.

Ksuya's Eye had a four-digit mana point value. If she didn't squeeze every drop out of it and instead just siphoned its tears herself, she'd work herself to death.

Oh, the golems would be siphoning them at set times every day? Well, she could still try to hook it up to the system.

Regardless, her top priority was to strengthen her mountain-protecting array—strengthen, strengthen, and strengthen it again. One could never have too much defense.

With the idea in place, it was time for testing and verification.

A sealing magic circle was a complex thing; a teleportation circle couldn't even be compared to it.

But who was Lan Qingyou? She was an S-grade alchemist. Handling a magic circle like this was a walk in the park.

It took her only two days to complete the modifications and put them into practice.

Hum— Hum—

The moment the sealing magic circle was activated, Lan Qingyou could clearly feel the ground vibrating slightly, emitting a sound she had never heard before.

"I've been playing with magic circles for a month, and this is the first time I've actually heard one."

Lan Qingyou made a casual remark, treating the phenomenon as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world. Then, she took the big-eyed cutie—which was folded as neatly as a blanket inside the Shackle Chest—and tossed it out.

She watched as it slowly inflated, transitioning from a blanket to a shriveled shape, and then from shriveled to plump and round.

The entire process took a full two and a half hours.

Though its round form was only the size of a soccer ball for now, it was clear that the creature could recover its mana within this dungeon she had meticulously prepared.

That alone was enough.

Lan Qingyou wasn't a greedy woman, after all.

She closed the iron bars she had crafted, which were covered in magic circuits and runes, and left the dungeon under the watchful eyes of two unarmored golems holding empty syringes.

The matters below were settled, but there was still plenty to do up top.

For instance, the golems.

She had obtained over six thousand soul crystals from humanoid monsters while in the dungeon.

These crystals were more than enough to replace every humanoid golem under her command and give them an epic upgrade in the process.

With matching soul crystals, the golems' capabilities would rise by at least an entire tier.

However, when Lan Qingyou flew back to the surface, she was met with a sight that left her utterly dumbfounded...