Drawing Magic Formations is Tedious

After obtaining the materials, Li Yu began his preparations. He gathered some tools and started grinding the crystal cores into powder.

This step required extreme caution; he had to use his own magic to shield the cores, preventing their magical energy from leaking out during the grinding process.

If that were to happen, the cores would be ruined, resulting in a significant waste of money.

Li Yu worked with meticulous care, a sight that opened the eyes of Asuna and the others—they had no idea such a process was even necessary.

Under Li Yu's careful grinding, the cores were all reduced to powder, emitting a faint blue glow. Just by looking at the quality, one could tell this batch was highly pure.

Once the grinding was finished, Li Yu began the second step: adding the remaining materials in sequence, ensuring they would not interfere with the magic stones.

"How are you supposed to tell the difference?" Asuna, watching Li Yu's work with intense focus, couldn't help but ask.

"Look at the glow. Didn't you notice? I've added several types of materials, yet that pale blue light remains. If you were to close the curtains, you'd see it even more clearly." Li Yu didn't hide anything, explaining it to his employer.

Hearing Li Yu say this, Asuna thought about it and found it made perfect sense. It seemed to be true; no matter what Li Yu did, that glow persisted.

"I see. This is so complicated; just watching you work gives me a headache." Although it was only a few materials, the knowledge required was far from trivial.

"Why else do you think it's so expensive?" Li Yu grumbled while continuing to process the materials, finishing with the addition of mercury.

The basin of materials in Li Yu's hands was now fully prepared; they were glowing, and the quality was quite impressive.

"Done. Next is drawing the array. Let me check the feng shui of this place." With that, Li Yu began to busy himself.

He first closed his eyes to sense the flow of magic throughout the room. After determining the orientation, he took out a pre-prepared brush, dipped it into the materials, and began marking the spots.

Once the positions were set, Li Yu stuck his rear in the air and hunched over on the floor to start drawing.

Watching the lines Li Yu traced bit by bit, everyone stared without blinking. The design looked incredibly complex. Li Yu followed the four points he had established, drawing in a very specific sequence.

This scene was completely incomprehensible to Asuna and the others. They had assumed magic arrays were just circles with some drawings inside, but they never imagined it would be this intricate.

It wasn't just a matter of drawing a circle; the various patterns had to form the circle themselves. You couldn't afford a single mistake, or the entire magic array would fail to activate—or worse, it might explode.

"It's so complicated!" Watching Li Yu draw with such focus, Asuna complained with a headache. She truly hadn't expected field magic to be such a deep subject.

"If it weren't complex, hiring someone to draw field magic wouldn't be so expensive. The labor costs more than the materials." Yukino Yukinoshita understood perfectly.

There was a reason for the high price; seeing Li Yu's work made that clear. Even if you wanted to learn, you might not be able to master it.

It took Li Yu over half an hour just to draw the entire magic array, during which his mental energy was highly concentrated.

Asuna and the others watched for that entire half hour, and when they finally saw Li Yu finish the array, they let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Now, the final step!" Li Yu set aside his used tools and stood in the center of the magic array.

Asuna and the others watched intently. Suddenly, a surge of magic erupted from Li Yu.

The next moment, this magic flowed directly into the array beneath him. In an instant, the room seemed to light up, and the entire space shimmered with a pale blue glow.

The magic Li Yu injected began to spread along the patterns he had drawn, forming a complete array that encompassed the entire room.

Standing in the center, Li Yu stared closely at the array beneath his feet. Once he was sure there were no issues, a massive magic array suddenly manifested above his head.

Seeing this, the three of them blinked. What was he doing? The question had barely formed in their minds before they got their answer.

The array above Li Yu's head plummeted, crashing down toward the one on the floor.

"Hum!" A low vibration echoed, followed by a gentle breeze, and the light in the room instantly dissipated.

"Done!" Li Yu clapped his hands, the weight finally lifted from his heart.

Hearing this, everyone's gaze fell to the floor. There were no longer any traces of the magic array on the ground.

Even the patterns Li Yu had drawn had vanished. This left Asuna amazed; she crouched down and touched the floor.

"Has the magic array merged with the floor of the room? Is that all it takes?" she asked, surprised.

Li Yu nodded at Asuna's question, then crouched down to inject magic into the floor. "Look, as long as you inject magic into it, the array will activate."

Listening to Li Yu, they watched as he channeled magic into the ground. The array slowly manifested again, instantly lighting up the room once more.

Only this time, it wasn't as dazzling as the initial activation; it felt calmer, and everyone clearly felt the same sensation they had experienced on the third floor of the school.

"That's amazing. How long can this array last?" Asuna's eyes shone as she looked at the activated array, clearly very satisfied.

"It can be activated for eight hours a day and should last about two or three years. If you exceed that time, it will need to be redrawn—it's not a perpetual motion machine, after all!" Li Yu estimated the lifespan and usage time for her.

"That's more than enough!" Asuna nodded in satisfaction. Two or three years was plenty for her; she might not even need it for that long.

"Whenever you want to use it, just inject magic into it. Of course, if you don't mind the wear on its lifespan, you can just keep injecting magic even after the array fades." Li Yu stood up, clapped his hands, and gave Asuna the final instructions.

Asuna nodded, understanding. If she was at home, she'd just keep it running; it wasn't like she'd be using it for that long anyway.

With her mind made up, Asuna immediately took out her phone and transferred ten thousand yuan to Li Yu. The job was done, and it was time to pay.

As she transferred the money, Asuna smiled brightly. "Thank you for your hard work, Li Yu!"