Chapter 363 – Modifications and Upgrades

Perhaps because of the Cloud Beasts’ presence, this area frequently experienced long rainy seasons that flooded the land, leaving virtually no powerful magical beasts.

Riding her broomstick, Mo Lan flew out of this flooded region, occasionally encountering flying magical beasts in pursuit, but she dealt with them easily.

Only when she occasionally ran into a large swarm of magical beasts faster than her broomstick did Mo Lan use the Multi-layered Magic Armor Card to tank the hits before finishing them all off.

After leaving the flooded area and landing back on the ground, she used the Fortune-Telling Spell to assess different directions.

Neutral.

Neutral.

Neutral.

Ominous?

Mo Lan looked in surprise toward the direction that had yielded the ominous reading.

She was already on the surface now — this wasn’t an underground tunnel or that unknown underwater environment.

With Zhizhi capable of fighting ordinary Advanced magical beasts, and Mo Lan herself essentially able to handle all Advanced magical beasts without issue…

The two of them together could even defeat an ordinary Peak level magical beast.

For the Fortune-Telling Spell to still produce an ominous reading — could there be a formidable Peak level magical beast in that direction?

Mo Lan was somewhat curious, but ultimately chose not to head that way.

Curiosity killed the cat. Being rescued by the Headmistress once would cost her the most valuable thing she possessed, and she had plenty of treasures on her! She couldn’t afford to take risks.

She turned and chose the direction completely opposite to the ominous one, continuing on her way.

As usual, Zhizhi enlarged herself for travel while Mo Lan sat nestled in the crook of Zhizhi’s neck, studying her Alchemy Magic.

And so began another round of gathering magical materials, expanding the Book of Cards’ card-crafting material library.

There was no telling just how vast the outer region actually was. Mo Lan had been heading generally south, but even after traveling for so long, she still hadn’t caught sight of the outer region’s boundary.

Fortunately, the harvest of magical materials was quite good, and Mo Lan’s study of Alchemy Magic was progressing smoothly.

By the time she had practiced all the relevant Advanced rune combinations applicable to broomstick and Wand upgrades, it was already the end of April.

Mo Lan and Zhizhi selected a new location, cleared out all the magical beasts in the surrounding area, and set up camp.

First came the broomstick’s modification and upgrade.

From what she had learned so far, the popular rune combinations commonly used for broomstick modification were: wind and rain protection, invisibility cushion, Mana acceleration, resilience and repair, constant-temperature shield, defensive shield, invisibility shield, passenger flight, constant-speed flight, route planning, automatic flight, broom beautification, and broom transformation.

Mo Lan had already applied the wind and rain protection and invisibility cushion rune combinations to her broomstick previously.

However, her Alchemy Magic skill had been limited at the time, so what she’d inscribed were only the most basic versions.

These two rune combinations needed to be further refined and upgraded from their existing foundation.

The Advanced wind and rain protection rune combination could withstand stronger gales and heavier downpours, enabling flight in more extreme weather conditions, and also allowing the broom to reach higher altitudes.

The Advanced invisibility cushion rune combination could improve the cushion’s comfort, adapting its shape to match her posture, with adjustable firmness and softness.

The Advanced Mana acceleration rune combination was absolutely essential. When riding a broom, as long as one’s flight speed was fast enough, flying magical beasts would pose no threat.

If they persisted in pursuit, they would only end up like those Red-Eyed Birds — run ragged trying to keep up, giving her the chance to pick them off.

The Advanced resilience and repair rune combination could enhance the broom’s inherent durability and impact resistance, as well as provide automatic repair functionality.

The top-tier configuration of this rune combination also included several spatial runes, requiring a small Spatial Magic gem, which could store surplus Broomstick Grass materials inside.

If the broom sustained damage, the damaged components could be automatically salvaged into this space, then used as materials to complete the broom’s repairs.

With this rune combination in place, the chances of the broomstick being completely destroyed became very slim.

The Advanced constant-temperature shield was also designed for extreme weather and high-altitude flight. Its runes were very similar to those of the constant-temperature magic circle, capable of regulating the temperature within the shield, though it could use either Mana or magic gems as its energy source.

The Advanced defensive shield went without saying — it could enclose both her and the broom within its protection, adding an extra layer of security to flight.

The Advanced invisibility shield was another indispensable feature for broom modifications. Once activated, it could conceal the entire broom along with the witch riding it.

Whether it was creatures on the ground or flying magical beasts in the sky, as long as they didn’t exceed the Advanced invisibility shield’s protective capabilities, they would be unable to detect the broom’s flight trail.

This feature was even more important than resilience and repair, Mana acceleration, or the defensive shield.

Its priority was the highest — if they couldn’t detect her, there would naturally be no attack to worry about.

After these came the Advanced rune combinations that were considerably more difficult and complex.

Unlike the previous rune combinations, which had simpler lower-tier versions available, each of these subsequent rune combinations started at the Advanced level.

Advanced load-bearing flight was the very feature on the broom that Madam Amisha’s true form had used when carrying Mo Lan.

It could enhance the broom’s weight capacity, and in combination with the Advanced invisibility cushion, could even provide multiple seats to carry passengers along.

This rune was optional.

Mo Lan had little need for passenger flight, and load-bearing flight wasn’t particularly necessary either — she had the Spatial Card.

Even without this rune combination, she could use the Advanced invisibility cushion feature to add an extra seat to the broom for Zhizhi.

Zhizhi’s size and weight were proportional — in her shrunken state, she barely added any load at all.

Moreover, the load-bearing flight feature would negatively impact the Mana acceleration feature; the two couldn’t both be maximized simultaneously.

So Mo Lan decided not to inscribe this rune combination for now.

As for constant-speed flight, route planning, and automatic flight — one enabled the broomstick to fly at a uniform speed in a fixed direction, another could record maps and plan flight routes, and the last could make the broom fly along a designated route while automatically avoiding certain obstacles.

Combined together, the three rune combinations formed a complete automatic flight piloting system.

If the flight route was safe, it could completely free a witch from the fatigue of controlling the broom for extended periods during flight, granting her a truly relaxed journey.

Used properly, aerial combat would also become much more flexible.

These three rune combinations were essential for Mo Lan.

The last two rune combinations — broom beautification could alter the broomstick’s appearance.

For instance, Madam Amisha’s golden broom and fluffy broom were both achieved through this rune combination.

With just a few cosmetic materials, one could transform the broomstick from its drab cleaning-tool appearance into something refined.

Some wealthy witches with high standards for quality of life would even swap in different cosmetic materials to match their daily outfits, turning themselves into a stunning sight when they took to the skies.

Mo Lan quite liked the broom’s original appearance.

She even felt that the more ordinary it looked and the less attention it drew, the better.