Chapter 964 – The Amethyst Ring

“Ultra-high-tier magic…” Mo Lan recalled the spell model she had just seen in the Magic Network space.

Even after the Magic Network’s simplification, it was still remarkably complex.

If it was ultra-high-tier magic, supplemented by the city’s magic circle for power supply, then she could understand how it worked.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t create cards with similar functions—it was that the production costs and usage costs were both extremely high, making it impossible to popularize them the way Quelariel had.

Looked at this way, compared to the knowledge bracelet, what was truly rare was the city’s magic circle that could absorb starlight power and convert it into the magical energy needed to keep the floating city running.

“Let’s go! The association is in the Academy district of the Amethyst Ring. We’ll take the cross-ring train from over there!”

Seeing that she had already learned how to use the knowledge bracelet, Tobias eagerly led her toward a semi-open circular platform.

At the platform’s edge, several light rails glowing in different colors corresponded to different destinations.

“This is the cross-ring train—a vital piece of public transit linking the Silverglow and Amethyst Rings.”

Tobias pointed to the sleek, streamlined carriages silently gliding along the complex light rails.

“To get to the upper-year Academy district in the Amethyst Ring, just take the ‘Azure Line.’

All the routes, schedules, and transfer information can be checked in real time on your knowledge bracelet’s map. Very convenient.”

They arrived at the entrance of a spacious, brightly lit arched station platform, where simple fare gates had been set up.

With practiced ease, Tobias held his bracelet near a softly glowing sensor area on the gate. A soft “beep” sounded, the gate lit up green, and he passed through effortlessly.

Mo Lan, following the instructions on a floating light screen nearby, took a standard silver coin from the small purse she carried and dropped it into a designated coin slot.

The coin slot flashed briefly as verification passed, and the gate before her opened in turn.

“Once you go to ‘Starlight Bank’ and complete the paperwork—deposit your assets, open an online account, and link it to your bracelet—you’ll be able to pay with a simple tap of your bracelet at most places throughout Quelariel. Saves you the hassle of carrying and counting coins.”

Tobias waited for her to come through, explaining as they walked.

“…” Listening to this description, the sense of déjà vu in Mo Lan’s mind grew ever stronger.

She was almost certain that whoever designed this system had absolutely been exposed to a highly advanced technological civilization and had perfectly integrated it into the magical framework.

Before long, an azure-colored train glided along the track into the station, stopping with precision as its doors slid open soundlessly.

The two stepped into the carriage.

The interior was spacious and bright, with comfortable seats, and enormous observation windows that took up nearly the entire side wall.

The moment they settled in, the train gave a slight vibration, started smoothly, and began accelerating along the slightly upward-inclined azure light rail.

Their view opened up dramatically.

Below them, the Silverglow Ring’s dense, lively cluster of buildings shrank rapidly.

The train soon pierced through a thin layer of cool, damp cloud vapor, and the vista of Quelariel’s middle stratum unfolded before them. The closer they got to the Amethyst Ring, the denser the particles of magical energy in the air became—so dense that faint glimmers of various elemental lights could almost be seen drifting with the naked eye.

And the most striking sight of all were the enormous arch-shaped “flood gates” on the ring’s structure, and the torrents of magical elements of varying properties that surged forth from within them!

Mo Lan could clearly “see” that the entirety of Quelariel, centered around those massive arch-shaped flood gates, formed distinctly separated yet marvelously coexisting elemental energy zones.

Not far away, a fire-element flood gate spewed forth a blazing, churning torrent of gold and crimson.

The torrent was precisely contained by a semi-transparent arc-shaped force field channel, roaring along a specific trajectory downward into the industrial district of the Silverglow Ring below.

The air around it was dry and scorching, suffused with an orange-red glow, and the faint outlines of countless large forging workshops and furnaces could be seen belching smoke.

Right next to it, surprisingly, was a water-element flood gate. A cool, moist breeze washed over them as the water gathered together, forming a vast lake—the source of all domestic water for the entire city of Quelariel.

The boundary between these two extreme elemental energy zones was remarkably sharp. In the subtle borderland where they met, iridescent light mist formed from the collision of hot and cold air and opposing energies could be seen—breathtakingly beautiful.

Further away, there were flood gates pouring forth heavy torrents of earth-element energy, others flowing with nimble wind-element currents, and one that cascaded like an emerald waterfall of wood-element energy.

Downstream of the wood-element waterfall, several enormous floating platforms extended from the ring’s structure, their surfaces covered in neatly planned yet charmingly wild three-dimensional ecological plantations, lush and verdant—like emerald oases set into the Amethyst Ring.

These utterly different elemental and attribute energy zones were like brilliantly colored, dazzling panels, exquisitely inlaid upon the Amethyst Ring.

The air seemed saturated with hyperactive magical energy particles. The magical energy that would normally require focused concentration and delicate manipulation to summon became remarkably “obedient” and “lively” here, responding almost at the merest gesture.

“You can feel it, can’t you?” Tobias’s voice came from beside her. He drew in a deep breath of this intoxicatingly energy-rich air:

“This is the Amethyst Ring—the energy conversion core and regulatory hub of Quelariel’s city magic circle.

Here, a mage’s meditation efficiency can increase several times over. The mana consumption for casting spells of the same tier drops significantly, and both stability and success rates improve as well.

For all spellcasters, this place is a near-perfect sanctuary for cultivation.”

Mo Lan couldn’t agree more.

This was essentially an artificially created elemental energy enrichment zone.

Studying and experimenting with magic in an environment like this was a completely different experience compared to regions where elemental energy was sparse.

The train began to decelerate, pulling into a zone where various elemental energies were intermixed but the fluctuations were relatively gentle.

“We’re here!” Tobias stood up, stretching his arms with a faint popping of joints, his face showing obvious delight. “Every time I come here, I feel like my whole body is brimming with power.”

“Though only mid-to-high-tier professionals can handle living in this environment. Lower-tier professionals and ordinary people would actually get hurt coming here, so the cost of living is much higher than in the Silverglow Ring.”

He led Mo Lan off the train.

“Our ‘Old Seekers Association’ is just up ahead.” Tobias pointed in a direction where the buildings were more sparse, but each one had a distinctive design:

“The association’s members, myself included, are either enrolled in the advanced division of the Starlight Magic Academy or serve as instructors there. That’s why we set up our base of operations here—it’s more convenient, and the environment is more comfortable.”

“Is that so?” Mo Lan’s expression turned to one of interest. “If one wanted to apply for an instructor position in the advanced division of the Starlight Magic Academy, what qualifications would be required?”