Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

The two apprentices turned to look into the depths of the mine, and Lynn also cast his gaze with great interest.

Footsteps approached from afar, and a figure slowly walked out.

He was a man of about thirty years old, with a sinister face, deep-set eyes, and wearing an obviously ill-fitting formal wizard's robe.

However... this wizard's robe is clearly made of ordinary fabric, and the magic patterns on it are drawn with paint, without any magical energy fluctuations.

It looks like a cheap imitation that was temporarily obtained from some clothing store.

He was radiating energy fluctuations that he had just advanced to the next level and could not yet fully control; his mental power was strong but not solid enough.

This person was none other than Hoy, who had forcibly advanced in rank; he was the third apprentice.

Hoy walked confidently in front of the two apprentices, blocking Lynn's view, raised his head, and looked at them with an arrogant "I am different" attitude.

"What's there to be afraid of!" Hoy deliberately raised his voice, as if to bolster his courage.

"Now I'm a full-fledged wizard! We're both in the same circle, what can he possibly do to us?"

"Once I return to the academy to complete the certification and be officially entered into the roster, I'll naturally be qualified to take over the post of guarding this mine! At that time, I'll protect you all!"

Upon hearing this, the two apprentices, as if grasping at a lifeline, quickly scrambled to their feet and hid behind Hoy.

Although his face was still filled with fear, there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

Lynn watched the scene with great interest, as if he were watching a poorly written play.

"Hoy?" Lynn uttered the name. "Using the resources produced from the mine over the past three years to forcibly accelerate his advancement?"

Hoy made no attempt to hide anything; on the contrary, he displayed a kind of reckless and open-mindedness.

"So what if it is? Those resources are just a waste sitting in the warehouse. Using them on you academy lords would only be icing on the cake, but using them on me could create a new official wizard! Isn't that a more worthwhile investment?"

Lynn raised an eyebrow slightly.

Is it a good deal?

This deal was undoubtedly a great deal for Hoy, but for the people in the "chain of interests," it was a huge loss.

"When your mentor Chris left, did he explain the whereabouts of these resources to you?" Lynn asked casually.

"He's told me." Hoy's lips curled into a sneer. "Half of it is sent to the Soul-Sinking Outpost every year, to be 'shared' with Lord Grom and those deacons. The rest is kept and will be dealt with when he returns."

"Hmph, what high-sounding words you make, isn't it just a spoils-sharing agreement between your upper echelons?"

Lynn remained noncommittal. This kid had been in the Valley of Sinking Souls for who knows how many years, so he naturally knew more about the ins and outs than he did.

"Then why didn't you do it?"

"Why should I do as I say?" Hoy's eyes brimmed with years of suppressed resentment and anger.

"You high and mighty official wizards, the beneficiaries of the academy, can comfortably plunder resources and line your own pockets, so why can't I?"

"Those resources would be a waste on you, feeding parasites! But on me, they're an opportunity to change my destiny!"

His voice grew louder and louder, carrying a distorted sense of "justice":

"Cultivation is inherently defying the heavens! It's about contending with the heavens, the earth, and humanity! If we don't contend, are we supposed to wag our tails and beg for scraps like a dog?"

"I, Hoy, am not resigned to this! I will fight for it! I will seize it!"

"It seems I won my bet!"

Lynn listened quietly until Hoy finished speaking, then smiled slightly.

"Oh? Did you really win?"

Hoy was momentarily speechless at the bland question, then retorted angrily, "Of course I won! I successfully advanced to a full-fledged wizard, shedding my apprenticeship and standing on equal footing with you! Isn't that a victory?"

Lynn shook his head, his tone tinged with pity:

No, you didn't win.

"Whether you're an apprentice or a full-fledged wizard, you can't change one fact today—"

Hoy's expression changed drastically: "What do you mean? Do you dare to attack a formal wizard? The academy rules forbid formal wizards from harming their peers without cause! If you touch me, the academy will never let you off!"

"You've misunderstood." Lynn's smile grew even gentler, but it sent chills down the spines of Hoy and the other two. "Why would I attack someone of 'equal rank'?"

He took a step forward.

With just this one step, the air in the entire mine tunnel seemed to freeze instantly.

A spiritual pressure far more vast, more solid, and more profound than Hoy's ethereal spiritual power descended like an invisible mountain!

Hoy's pupils constricted. He felt as if he had been thrown into the deep sea, surrounded by boundless pressure, making even breathing difficult.

His still unstable spiritual core groaned under the immense pressure!

"I'm just cleaning house."

Lynn's voice remained steady, yet every word pierced the heart.

"Deal with a few audacious apprentices who embezzled mine resources and attempted to deceive the new garrison commander."

He deliberately emphasized the last two words.

Without certification, Hoy will forever remain an unknown apprentice within the Tower of Bones.

"No--!!!"

Hoy let out a terrified scream, frantically summoning his newly acquired power in an attempt to fight back.

But the gap is too big.

One is a newcomer who was forcibly catalyzed by a large amount of resources, and has not even mastered a single first-circle spell.

The other is the "Lord of All Things," whose mental strength reaches 500 points and who has mastered hundreds of first-level sorcery spells.

Lynn didn't even use the undead army, nor did he cast any complex spells.

He simply raised his right hand, his five fingers loosely clenched.

【The Grip of Bones】!

From the mine floor and walls, countless pale bone hands shot out instantly, binding and imprisoning Hoy and his two apprentices!

The death energy attached to the bone hands directly invaded their souls, suppressing their energy flow.

Hoy struggled desperately, his mental energy surging violently, but he couldn't even break a single bone finger.

"You...you can't...I'm a certified wizard..."

His eyes were bloodshot as he roared in vain.

Lynn walked up to him and looked down at this "apprentice" who had gotten to this point because of greed and luck.

"A certified wizard?" Lynn said softly. "Who knows?"

"Someone who hasn't even inscribed their innate magic, can't even unleash a complete first-level spell, and whose spiritual core is teetering on the brink of collapse... dares to call themselves a formal wizard?"

He shook his head, as if sighing, or perhaps mocking.

"A castle in the air built with resources will collapse with the slightest breeze."

"What's even more foolish is that they could have taken those resources and fled far away, found a place to digest them slowly, and stabilized their cultivation level."

"Yet you insist on staying here, gambling that the new garrison won't be able to see through your disguise, or gambling that the academy will recognize the legitimacy of your 'unorthodox' advancement?"

"Greedy, and foolish."

Lynn said no more, and a speck of gray light from his fingertip entered Hoy's brow.

[Soul Imprisonment]!

Hoy's struggle came to an abrupt halt, his eyes instantly glazed over, and his soul was forcibly sealed away.

The two apprentices had already fainted from the mental shock, and their souls were also extracted from the seal and guided into the soul lamp.

Lynn waved his hand, tossing the three of them into the isolated corner of the Necromancer's Ring like trash. After all, they were wizard corpses, and he could still craft some gadgets from them later.

The mine tunnel fell silent again. Lynn stood there, looking around at the filthy entrance to the mine, and sighed softly.

"This idiot... he actually managed to become a full-fledged wizard? He's an insult to the title of a full-fledged wizard!"

"Clean it up early, so it won't disgust others later."