Tylen stood respectfully before Makley, clutching the Purple Diamond Carving Knife and the crisp banknotes tightly in his hands, but he didn't leave right away.
He raised his head slightly, a hint of tentative hope and earnestness in his eyes, and spoke:
"Mentor, I have a small request."
Makley was in a good mood. He lifted his teacup and took a sip. "Go ahead."
"Since the deadline for the task is so tight, I'll need a lot of time to find suppliers, practice runes, and process corpses."
Tylen paused, his tone growing even more earnest:
"So I was hoping... I could skip the two morning lectures on basic theory in the big classroom on the first floor."
"After the crystal-clear, sun-bright guidance you gave me yesterday, sitting through those rote lectures would be nothing but a waste of my life and of the precious time I could spend working for you."
He had phrased it exceptionally well.
He had put down the public lectures while praising his mentor, and made clear he wanted to skip class for work, not to slack off.
When Makley heard him out, the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile, just as he'd expected.
As an Official Wizard, he knew all too well how much those public lectures were worth.
They were little more than a placebo for cannon fodder. The true elites had never relied on them to grow stronger.
"Fine."
Makley agreed without hesitation.
"I'll talk to the academic affairs office. From now on, you'll get full attendance credit. No need to waste your time going."
"Focus all your energy on what matters."
"Thank you, Mentor!"
Tylen's face was lit with undisguised delight as he bowed once more.
Then he swiftly stacked the three empty sealed crates on the handcart. Before the pampered noble students arrived for class, he grabbed the cart and slipped away like a gust of wind.
Watching Tylen's slender yet energetic figure disappear through the doorway,
Violet Star, who had been standing silently nearby, lightly fiddled with the jeweled pendant on her hat brim and turned to Makley.
"Teacher, should I secretly help him?"
"No."
Makley shook his head.
He walked over to the window and looked down at the busy crowd below, his gaze profound.
"If you interfere too much, more people will notice him."
"Violet Star, you have to understand: this boy started with far too little. You are a star in the heavens, born to shine brightly and stand above the rest."
"But he's different. He's a seed in the dirt."
"He can't survive in the spotlight the way you can. What he needs is shadow—the safe space that comes from being overlooked."
"The more attention we show him, the more danger he'll be in."
"Let him make his own way. Only after rolling around in the mud a few times can a seed put down deep roots."
Violet Star nodded thoughtfully, a look of understanding flickering in her eyes.
"I understand, Teacher."
After leaving the oppressive main tower, Tylen felt as if even the air had grown fresher.
He pulled the empty handcart along, his steps so light they seemed almost like a dance.
"Skipping morning classes means I get four extra hours of free time every day!"
Tylen calculated rapidly in his head.
"Four hours, multiplied by the thirtyfold efficiency of Slacker Saint Body, gives me 120 hours!"
"That's almost five days!"
"While everyone else sits in class all morning, I can teach myself for five whole days! If I still can't outwork those second-generation heirs after that, I might as well find a block of tofu and bash my head against it."
Just as he hummed a tune and walked out of the Wizard Tower,
he ran into a large crowd of low-level apprentices heading to their lectures.
Four familiar figures stood out from among them.
They were the same four lackeys who had followed Haige around yesterday.
The four were still huddled together, pointing at several apprentices and acting high and mighty. It seemed their boss's death yesterday had done little to make them mend their ways.
But when their eyes landed on Tylen pulling a handcart,
they went silent as if someone had grabbed them by the throat.
Their arrogant expressions froze, then turned to deep fear.
All four lowered their heads at once, hunching their shoulders and wishing they could stuff their heads between their legs. They stepped aside to clear a wide path for Tylen.
They barely dared to breathe.
Tylen pulled his cart past them without so much as a glance, not even sparing the trash a look from the corner of his eye.
But he understood exactly what was going on.
"Looks like Mentor Makley's name really does carry weight."
"Judging by how scared those four are, Tom must have already called off the order to hunt me down. He might even have warned his underlings."
"Otherwise, with how those toadies play dirty and prey on the weak, they'd have come straight over to provoke me—or even attack me from behind—the moment they saw me alone."
"So this is what power tastes like..."
Now that he knew he wouldn't face any immediate threat from Tom or Jane, Tylen felt even more at ease.
Back in the dark, damp Morgue,
Tylen locked the door and eagerly pulled the Purple Diamond Carving Knife from his clothes.
Even in the dim lamplight, the knife shimmered with a captivating sheen.
It was crystal clear throughout, its deep-purple blade seemingly carved from the purest crystal. A faint chill glinted along the edge—the mark of the Sharpness enchantment.
What pleased Tylen most was its handle.
Instead of being a straight cylinder, it had ergonomic curves and grooves, with fine anti-slip ridges carved into the surface.
In his hand, it fit so perfectly it was a hundred times more comfortable than holding a lover's hand.
"To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools. The ancients weren't wrong."
Tylen praised the knife, feeling that the urge to express himself, pent up all night, was about to burst.
He immediately went down into the cellar and picked out a skull fragment.
Back at the table, he took a deep breath and gave his wrist a light flick, bringing the tip of the Purple Diamond Carving Knife down onto the pale bone.
Without the boost from Magic Thorn Art, it relied solely on the knife's own Sharpness.
Click!
A faint little sound.
The tip pierced the surface of the bone with ease, sinking in a fraction of a millimeter.
Then he applied pressure with his wrist, guiding the blade along its path.
He could still feel the resistance of the dense bone and the same slight drag, but compared to the "constipated" feeling he'd had yesterday with the Bone-Cleaving Knife, it was incomparably smoother!
"Sweet!"
Tylen cheered silently to himself and immediately focused.
With his thirtyfold efficiency boost, he began practicing the carving of basic runes on the bone fragment.
Thanks to yesterday's two hours of doggedly studying the bone's microscopic structure, and the help of this extraordinary tool,
his progress this time was astonishingly fast.
On the first try, the line went crooked.
On the fifth, the nodes weren't deep enough.
On the tenth, the Mana circuit broke.
After more than twenty consecutive failures and roughly an hour of outside time,
the carving knife in Tylen's hand finally stopped.
On the skull fragment before him, a delicate, compact Ian Rune framework had taken shape, its structure complete.
He hadn't infused it with Mana yet, but the perfect geometry already had a beauty all its own.
"I did it!"
Overjoyed, Tylen was about to pump his fist in celebration.
"Ah—!!"
A scream suddenly rang through the basement.
Tylen dropped the carving knife and clamped his left hand around his right forearm, his features contorting with pain.
His arm had cramped.
Long hours of high-intensity precision work, with his muscles held tense the entire time, had finally made his frail body protest.
The sharp pain made it feel as if his muscle fibers were about to snap, and cold sweat instantly broke across his forehead.
"Ugh... ow, ow, ow..."
Tylen massaged his stiff forearm as he tried to stretch it out and ease the spasm.
He looked at his thin wrist, with its pale skin and clearly visible blue veins.
"What the hell..."
"My wrist is thinner than those plump noble ladies'!"
"With a physique like this, I want to be a wizard? I'd struggle even as a tailor!"
Tylen slumped into his chair, panting as he fell into thought.
The cramp was only a small interruption, but it had sounded an alarm.
"With the Wizard Tower entering this cut-costs-and-boost-efficiency rat race, it's no longer possible to get cheap corpses in the city in comfort."
"Corpses in the city cost too much. There's no way that market can support a budget of only 6,000 Purple Gold Coins."
"So if I want to meet Makley's quota, I'll have to expand beyond the city."
"Head to the chaotic suburbs, to places beyond the law, and deal with more desperadoes like Haige—or people even more dangerous than him."
"In situations like that, I need a strong body."
Tylen clenched his fist, feeling how weak it was.
"Now that I have money, I should get started on improving my physique."
"With these skinny little arms, I cramp up just carving a rune. How am I supposed to run for my life with a body like this?"
"If I really run into danger, my lungs will probably burst after a couple of steps!"
Tylen could complain all he liked, but he had always been a man of action.
Once the worst of the pain had passed, he quickly laid out his next steps in his head.
"The body is the foundation of everything. It's the capital of the revolution."
"First, I need to strengthen this body as fast as possible. So my most urgent tasks right now are nutrition and fitness!"
"With a strong body, I won't just have a better chance of survival. I'll also be able to inscribe these runes faster, more precisely, and for longer, building up my rune proficiency and experience."
"Once I finish studying Bone Domination, I might even be able to attach bone armor to my body with runes for protection."
"Then I'll be able to take a hit, fight, and run. That's what it'll take to get a foothold in this world."
With his plan set, Tylen immediately got up.
He changed out of his work clothes, stained with bone dust, and put on a clean linen shirt.
This time, he didn't go fetch the old horse or take the cart.
After all, he was buying personal supplies, not collecting corpses. Using a work vehicle for personal errands would invite criticism.
Leaving the Wizard Tower's shadow behind, he stepped into the bright morning sun.
Tylen followed the stone-paved road east until he reached the banks of the Heaven Luck River.
This was the busiest morning market in Lion City.
All kinds of boats crisscrossed the broad river.
Countless small boats were moored along the shallows on both banks.
They belonged to farmers and traders who had come from the towns upriver and downriver along the Heaven Luck River.
Every morning, they floated downstream to bring their freshest produce here to sell.
This wasn't an official market, and there were no stall fees.
It only lasted about an hour each morning, dispersing once the sun climbed high.
But that was exactly why it was so full of everyday life, and why the goods were freshest and cheapest.
Tylen planned to cook for himself.
Standing on the riverbank, he looked at the bustling crowd below and took a deep breath.
The air was a mixture of the river's fishy smell, the fragrance of earth, the fresh scent of vegetables, and the sweat of livestock.
This was the smell of everyday life.
He walked down the steps and plunged into the hubbub.
"Fresh river shrimp! Just caught! They're still jumping!"
"Homegrown carrots! If they're not sweet, you don't pay!"
"Make way! Make way! Watch out, it's hot!"
The cries of vendors, the haggling, and the wailing of children all mingled together, deafeningly loud.
Tylen saw a dark-skinned farmer tie himself and his two children together around the waist with a thick hemp rope. He unloaded goods from his boat while making sure the children didn't wander off and fall into the water.
Nearby, a plump woman sat at the bow of her boat, unceremoniously opening her blouse to nurse the baby in her arms. Without missing a beat, she kept haggling with customers on the shore:
"These are top-quality Skycloud duck eggs! Great for nourishment—30 silver coins apiece!" (Silver coins and Purple Gold Coins have a 100:1 exchange rate.)
Tylen wove through the crowd, his eyes scanning the goods and prices at each stall like radar.
He had a mental scale, rapidly calculating each item's value for money.
"To build up my strength quickly, I first need to get plenty of protein."
"Meat, eggs, and dairy are the best choices."
He walked up to a meat stall and glanced at the beef hanging from a hook.
It was a rich red color with clear marbling. It really was good meat.
"Boss, how much for the beef?"
"14 Purple Gold Coins a kilo," the butcher replied without looking up.
"A little expensive, but about what I expected," Tylen calculated.
"This world is medieval, after all. Even though wizard technology has freed up some productive forces, magical technology mainly serves the upper and middle classes."
"The common folk generally spend over 60 percent of their income on food."
He went to look at the apples next.
Ordinary-sized red apples cost 1.2 Purple Gold Coins per kilo.
Carrots, turnips, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables cost about 60 silver coins per kilo.
Pork was about 9 Purple Gold Coins per kilo, and onions cost 1 Purple Gold Coin per kilo.
Various kinds of fish cost around 5 to 10 Purple Gold Coins per kilo.
Legumes... Peas, broad beans, lentils—these high-quality plant proteins cost about 80 silver coins per kilo.
As he looked at the dazzling array of ingredients, Tylen couldn't help swallowing.
He thought back to the oatmeal, black bread, and unidentifiable vegetables boiled to mush that were served without fail every day in the Wizard Tower's cafeteria.
Suddenly, that food seemed like pig slop—impossible to stomach.
"The food culture in this godforsaken place is an absolute disaster."
Tylen ranted inwardly:
"Everything's either roasted or boiled, and the only seasonings are salt and pepper. It's a crime against good food."
"As a Chinese person, I've got a cooking instinct written into my DNA. Wake up already!!"
"Besides, I've got plenty of time. I might as well make use of my Slacker Saint Body."
"Maybe... I really should consider making myself some good food as a treat."
In a world where people faced enormous pressure just to survive and had to do grueling physical labor every day, a hearty meal that delighted the eye, nose, and palate was definitely the best way to ease both mental and physical strain.
"And since I'm out, I might as well buy a little extra."
Tylen squeezed the purse tucked against his chest, his thoughts beginning to wander:
"Anyway, I've got a cold storage room for corpses where I live. It sounds a little creepy, but it's a proper magical cold room. It's very clean, and there's plenty of space left."
"At least I won't have to worry about the ingredients spoiling."
At the thought, his eyes began to burn with excitement.
"Better yet... I could use unique Chinese cuisine to build connections with the people at the bottom of society."
"Who could say no to a serving of red-braised pork? And if they could, I'd offer them two!"
"Besides, one of the weekly Grand Monthly Card quests is to make 10 magical dishes!"
"Mysterious Eastern cuisine plus magic? That's clearly got huge potential!"
With his mind made up, Tylen began a major shopping spree.
"Beef's too expensive. I'm as skinny as a monkey right now. I need to build muscle, not lose fat. Fat's good for you, too."
He went to the pork stall and pointed to a slab of streaky pork with alternating layers of fat and lean meat.
"Boss, I'll take 5 kilos of pork belly!"
"You got it!" The butcher brought his cleaver down.
"No one wants these pigskins, right? Could I have some?" Tylen asked, pointing to a pile of skin that had been cut off to the side.
"Take 'em, take 'em!" The butcher waved his hand generously.
The pork cost 45 Purple Gold Coins.
Next, he switched into shopping-spree mode.
1 kilo of onions, 1 Purple Gold Coin.
1 kilo of carrots, 60 silver coins.
1 kilo of apples, 1.2 Purple Gold Coins.
2 kilos of peas, 1.6 Purple Gold Coins.
Finally, he spent 4 Purple Gold Coins on a kilo of coarse salt.
His total came to 49.4 Purple Gold Coins.
Looking at the heavy haul in his hands, Tylen felt more accomplished than if he'd killed a magical beast.
He bundled the 11 kilos of supplies in his robe and carried them on his back like a wandering monk with a pack. In high spirits, he headed back to the Wizard Tower.
Back in the morgue, he sorted the ingredients and tucked them into the cool space beneath his bed.
Then he grabbed a pen, quickly sketched a design on a sheet of paper, and hurried straight to the craftsman's workshop in the Menial Worker District.
"Brother Cole! Keeping busy?"
Tylen went over with a big smile.
Cole, who had been polishing a horseshoe, looked up and wiped away his sweat. "Well, if it isn't Little Ma. Why aren't you in class today?"
"I've got a lot of corpse collection work coming up, so I'm skipping the morning classes!"
Cole lowered his voice. "Little Ma, there's no future in collecting corpses. Make sure you don't fall behind in your classes. Knowledge is what really matters!"
"If you just stop going to class like this, you'll be no different from those slaves!"
Cole's concern warmed Tylen's heart. He smiled and said, "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."
Then he pulled a sheet of parchment from his robes. A strange shape was drawn on it.
"Brother Cole, could you make me a pot?"
Cole took the design, his brow furrowing into a deep crease.
"This pot... why's it so strange?"
He pointed at the hemispherical object in the drawing.
"The bottom's so round. How's it supposed to sit on a stove? Wouldn't a flat-bottomed pan be better?"
"And this metal's supposed to be so thin. It'll be hard to hammer out."
Tylen explained with a smile:
"It's fine, Brother Cole. Just make it roughly the right shape."
"Could you attach a sturdy wooden handle here, so I can... uh, toss the food."
Cole didn't understand what tossing the food meant, but seeing Tylen's hopeful expression, he nodded anyway.
"All right. If that's what you want, I'll hammer one out for you."
"This is simple. No mold needed—I can do it by hand. I'll have it done in an hour."
"Thanks so much!"
As he thanked him, Tylen naturally slipped 20 Purple Gold Coins into Cole's hand.
"Sorry for the trouble, Brother Cole. Use this to buy some fruit for your wife."
Cole gave a token protest or two, but then his hands began moving with remarkable smoothness as he pocketed the money in an instant. His smile grew even brighter.
"Haha, you're too polite, kid!"
With the pot taken care of, he still needed a stove.
Tylen jogged all the way to the kitchen.
It wasn't mealtime yet, and the fat chef, Burton, was sitting by the doorway smoking a pipe.
"Uncle Burton!"
Tylen went over and deftly lit Burton's pipe for him.
"Do you have one of those old portable stoves you don't use anymore? Could I borrow it?"
Burton blew out a ring of smoke and glanced at Tylen from the corner of his eye.
"What do you need that thing for? Planning to roast a corpse and eat it in the morgue?"
"Of course not!" Tylen said with an awkward laugh.
"I'm just a bit weak, so I want to cook something for myself."
"All right."
Burton pointed at a dusty iron stove in the corner.
"It's over there. Hasn't been used in ages. Check for yourself whether it's broken."
"You'll have to get your own fuel, though. Don't steal my coal."
Tylen slipped him 50 Purple Gold Coins and smiled. "I'm on my own, so I won't need that much. I'd appreciate it if you could look out for me."
He'd need the chef's help with something important in the future.
Burton took a drag on his pipe, grinned to show a mouthful of yellow teeth, and pocketed the money. "Haha, Little Ma's really grown up. If you need anything later, just let me know."
"Will do!"
Tylen picked up the simple cast-iron stove, about 20 centimeters in diameter.
It was a little rusty, but the structure was intact. A quick wipe and it would be ready to use.
Carrying the stove, he hurried back to his morgue, brimming with excitement.
"Everything's ready. All that's missing is the final touch!"
Before you continue