Minimum cycles here absolutely requires pre-building; theory min of 20 is completely impossible without since the Vitae and Mors can't get created and bonded in time otherwise, and it certainly looks like an easier route to 21. Unfortunately, none of my attempts at prebuilding ever let me get the right pairs of Vitae+water and Mors+fire made in anything resembling a "timely manner" while still having a decent setup for outputting, so this is the best I managed.