What a good child! Take the Purple Diamond Engraving Knife.

He had some understanding of Cain Wizard Tower's current situation.

This city-level wizard tower officially required a minimum configuration of one Grand Wizard as the tower master, plus ten full wizards.

So the tower only had ten morgues equipped with complete freezing and preservation arrays.

But in recent years, to qualify for a provincial-level wizard tower, the Cain family had been recruiting frantically.

Now, the number of full wizards inside the tower had surged to thirty!

Too many monks, too little gruel.

Thirty monks fighting over ten bowls of porridge—a conflict was inevitable sooner or later.

Especially after the last few failed wizard tower promotion assessments, the tower's resources hadn't grown as expected; instead, the expansion had piled on a heavy burden.

Now, the contradiction was finally about to explode.

Makley, seeing Tylen lost in thought, didn't hide anything and directly laid out the stakes:

"Among these thirty full wizards, my talent and academic achievements aren't top-tier."

"But do you know why I still have an independent morgue?"

Tylen said respectfully, "Of course, it's because you possess a noble and pure bloodline, my esteemed mentor."

Makley nodded with a smile: "Right, because I'm a direct descendant of the Cain family—this wizard tower is ours."

This was both a deterrent and a way to give Tylen absolute confidence.

"I know a lot of people are eyeing my position."

"They think I'm occupying a latrine without shitting, and they want to snatch this resource away."

As he said this, a glint of coldness flashed in Makley's eyes.

As a vested interest holder, he certainly wasn't about to spit out the meat he'd already bitten into.

Tylen immediately followed Makley's lead, stepping forward and asking in a sincere tone:

"Teacher, what can this student do to ease your worries?"

"Just give the order, and this student will face death without hesitation."

Makley turned around and gently placed his hand on Tylen's shoulder.

That hand was heavy, carrying both a trust and a pressure.

"You need to perform well enough."

Makley's voice was low, the dagger finally revealed:

"After this review, the higher-ups will further tighten the budget for purchasing corpses."

"From the previous monthly budget of 10,000 Purple Gold Coins, it's being cut directly to 6,000."

"But!"

Makley's fingers suddenly tightened, squeezing Tylen's shoulder until it hurt:

"The number of corpses supplied cannot decrease!"

"This is a test for all corpse-collecting apprentices and their teachers."

"Moreover, I've now reached a private cooperation with three other full wizards who don't have morgues."

"They very much hope to receive corpse supplies as excellent and dignified as yesterday's and today's."

"So, my student."

Makley stared into Tylen's eyes and said word by word:

"In the coming month, you'll need to work a bit harder."

"You have to use these 6,000 Purple Gold Coins to accomplish what used to require 10,000 or even more."

"You need to expand your corpse-collecting channels, ensuring our supply not only doesn't stop but exceeds others in both quantity and quality!"

Hearing this, Tylen was inwardly amused.

Good grief!

This would make even a capitalist weep and a Jew kneel.

A 40% budget cut, plus supplying three other wizards, tripling the workload!?

Wasn't this the classic "want the horse to run but not let it eat grass"?

"If I didn't have the Slacker Saint Body, I'd probably be worked to death on the job!" Tylen ranted internally.

But his facial expression was perfectly controlled.

He showed a hint of well-timed reluctance, his brows slightly furrowed as if pondering a great difficulty.

Then, his gaze turned resolute, like a death warrior ready to go through fire and water to repay a debt of gratitude.

"Please rest assured, Mentor!"

Tylen gritted his teeth and said loudly:

"Although the difficulties are great, this student will definitely redouble their efforts, think of every possible way, and absolutely will not let you down!"

Seeing Tylen's demeanor, Makley was quite satisfied.

"Good."

Makley nodded, his tone softening slightly:

"I know you have your own difficulties here—it's hard for a Great Wizard to tackle a topic without materials."

"If you have any specific problems, or need any support, you can tell me directly now."

"As long as it's reasonable, I will satisfy you."

As he spoke, Makley looked at Tylen with a meaningful gaze.

An opportunity had come! This was another test!

Tylen immediately fell into deep thought.

He rapidly calculated in his mind.

Ask for money directly? Too vulgar, and it would easily leave the impression of "greed" on his mentor, especially since he'd just been compensated with 98 Purple Gold Coins.

Ask for magic? He hadn't even maxed out Magic Thorn Art yet—biting off more than he could chew.

Ask for knowledge? He'd just started Runic Studies and hadn't digested it yet.

He had to ask for something that could solve his current predicament while also projecting an image of "selfless dedication and frugality."

At the same time, the price had to be moderate—not too valuable.

After thinking it over, Tylen's eyes suddenly lit up.

He looked up at Makley and said with some embarrassment:

"Teacher... could you give me a White Diamond Carving Knife?"

Makley raised an eyebrow slightly, a bit surprised:

"What do you need that for? It's for carving hard materials."

Tylen gave a simple, honest smile and explained:

"It's like this, Teacher."

"I'm preparing to practice runes, so I can master the Bone Domination you taught me as soon as possible."

"But... rune paper is too expensive."

"The cheapest kind costs 1 Purple Gold Coin for just 3 sheets, and because the quality isn't great, it's easy to lose control and catch fire during practice."

"I thought, since I pick up a lot of unwanted bone fragments when I collect corpses..."

"If I had a good carving knife, I could practice runes on bones instead."

"That way, the money I save on paper can go into my corpse-collection budget, to buy more bodies and ease your pressure."

"Besides, bone runes are a good application direction in themselves, aren't they?"

Hearing this, Makley was stunned.

He looked at Tylen's current expression—frank, simple, even carrying a bit of the "foolish cleverness" of a low-level apprentice.

Deep in his heart, a long-lost feeling of emotion stirred.

What a good kid!

To save him money, to help him complete his task, he'd actually come up with such a hardscrabble method as using bones instead of paper!

In this Wizard Tower, full of scheming and demands, this kind of pure loyalty and consideration was more precious than an epic-grade artifact!

"Good!"

Makley was overjoyed. With a grand wave of his hand, a surge of boldness rose in him:

"A White Diamond Carving Knife is too brittle and not sharp enough—it doesn't match your diligence."

He turned his wrist, and a carving knife appeared in his hand, its body deep purple, its blade shimmering with an eerie light.

"This is a Purple Diamond Carving Knife. Its hardness is three times that of a White Diamond, and it comes with a 'Sharpness' enchantment."

"Take it and use it!"

"What a treasure!" Tylen's heart instinctively screamed.

A Purple Diamond Carving Knife cost around 3000 Purple Gold Coins, and the "Sharpness" enchantment on it was worth another 200 Purple Gold Coins.

Before Tylen could recover from his surprise, Makley handed over five Purple Gold Banknotes, each worth 100.

"Also, here's 500 Purple Gold Coins."

"This is for you personally."

Makley looked at Tylen's thin frame, his tone carrying a hint of concern:

"Go buy some good nutritional supplements to build up your strength."

"The next month is going to be physically draining. I don't want my student to collapse from exhaustion before even finishing their training."

Tylen took the Purple Diamond Carving Knife, which radiated a captivating luster, and then caught the crisp banknotes.

In that moment, his heart bloomed with joy.

"Thank you, Mentor!"

"Your student will not let you down! Even if I have to work myself to death, I'll collect that corpse for you!"