Dawn pierced the pale golden barrier dome of the Serenitea Pot, dyeing the Liyue terraced fields in a flowing wash of honey. The air was heavy with the damp scent of awakened earth, mingled with a faint, elusive trace of plant ash—the silent work of "precision composting" as it reshaped the texture of this land.
Limeng stood on the newly constructed bamboo and wood viewing platform, the rough railing pressing into his palm. Below him, an unprecedented spectacle unfolded within the Serenitea Pot.
"Gear assembly, sequence three, start!" The voice of Renoir, the Fontaine engineer, drowned out the morning wind. Several Fontaine apprentices strained to turn massive brass handwheels, their heavy drive chains rattling loudly to set the gearbox near the high water tower in motion. Almost simultaneously, a Sumeru scholar formed seals with both hands, chanting an ancient Dendro incantation. Emerald light gathered at his fingertips, fluttering like fireflies toward the crisscrossing network of transparent glass pipes suspended above the terraced fields.
Chapter 74