Zhang Wan had hidden it well.
Though he was inwardly dissatisfied, not a trace of it could be seen on his face.
The brief moment of stunned distraction was also interpreted by Wang Yue and Li Guannian as being overwhelmed by surprise.
After all, being taken as a disciple by one deputy minister was already cause for celebration. Being taken as a disciple by two deputy ministers at once was an earth-shaking stroke of good fortune!
It was only natural for him to be dumbfounded for a moment.
After Zhang Wan finished paying his respects, Wang Yue and Li Guannian looked at the young, heroic Zhang Wan, and the more they looked, the more satisfied they became.
They had placed great expectations on this disciple, so they were not stingy. Once Zhang Wan had become their disciple, they immediately gave him the cultivation resources he urgently needed.
A storage bag, a complete Postnatal Spirit Planter inheritance, two magical artifacts, and one hundred low-grade spirit stones.
The generosity of their gesture surprised even Zhang Wan, and it dispelled much of his dissatisfaction with Wang Yue and Li Guannian.
Zhang Wan had heard about disciples taking masters within the sect. Usually, the disciple gave the master a gift upon becoming their disciple, while the master was responsible for imparting more profound martial knowledge and guiding the disciple's cultivation.
After they had spent more time together, if the master found the disciple pleasing, they might bestow some treasures upon them.
For someone to be given so many treasures immediately after becoming a disciple, as he was now—it was not unheard of, but such cases could certainly be counted on one hand.
What exactly are these two old men thinking? Zhang Wan was somewhat puzzled, but since Wang Yue and Li Guannian were willing to give, he would not be polite.
These were all things he needed right now, especially the storage bag, magical artifacts, and spirit stones.
Moreover, with him becoming the disciple of two Ninth Level Postnatal martial artists at the same time and inevitably attracting trouble, he truly needed some treasures to increase his combat power.
Although spending experience points to increase his cultivation was also an option, that method of boosting his combat power would be even more conspicuous.
After chatting with Wang Yue and Li Guannian for a while, and asking Zhang Wan about his family situation, Wang Yue laughed.
"All right. You can't relax when talking with the two of us old men. Go home for today."
"If you run into any problems in your cultivation, come find the two of us."
"Also, come here once every month in the middle of the month. Most of your senior brothers and sisters will come to pay their respects to us around then. You can meet and get to know one another."
"Yes, Master. This disciple will take his leave." Zhang Wan clasped his hands and bowed. Since he had become their disciple, he would observe the proper etiquette.
Back in his small courtyard, Zhang Wan thought over the matter, yet still found it strange.
Being taken as a disciple by two Ninth Level Postnatal martial artists at once, along with their method of directly giving him cultivation resources, was all too unusual. It left Zhang Wan feeling uneasy.
"I need to find some time to investigate these two old men's circumstances, in case there's some enormous pit they need someone to fill." Zhang Wan muttered to himself, then took out the cultivation resources Wang Yue and Li Guannian had given him.
When he had just received them, it would not have been convenient to examine them carefully. Now, he could finally look into the specifics of these treasures.
He picked up the storage bag and swept it with his divine sense. The space inside was a full ten cubic meters!
"Ten cubic meters? This big? Tsk, tsk. This thing's price is probably comparable to that of a Postnatal high-grade magical artifact." Zhang Wan had always used storage talismans and had long coveted a storage bag, so he knew quite a bit about their prices.
Storage talismans could only be used for two or three years, and their space was only one cubic meter. One low-grade spirit stone could buy two of them.
But a storage bag with the same one-cubic-meter capacity cost at least ten low-grade spirit stones! A ten-cubic-meter space? Tsk, tsk. Even a tenfold increase in price would be an underestimate.
He then took out the two magical artifacts: a Postnatal high-grade Earth Tortoise Shield and a Postnatal mid-grade Cold Heavy Saber.
The grades of the two magical artifacts shocked Zhang Wan. He had thought they would be two Postnatal low-grade magical artifacts.
Two Postnatal low-grade magical artifacts would already have been precious enough. Yet one was Postnatal high-grade, and the other was Postnatal mid-grade!
And that was on top of the storage bag with its ten-cubic-meter space.
They were far too precious!
Zhang Wan knew that investigating the two old men was already imperative and could not be delayed in the slightest! He had to figure out in the shortest possible time exactly why these two old men had taken him as their disciple.
Zhang Wan then took out the complete Postnatal Spirit Planter inheritance.
"A Five Elements Spirit Planter inheritance?" Zhang Wan opened the inheritance scroll and was stunned for a moment.
He had only just bought the incomplete version of the Five Elements Spirit Planter inheritance, and now the complete version had flown straight into his hands? Hadn't buying the incomplete version been a loss, then?
Damn!
Zhang Wan angrily cursed inwardly, then put away the complete version.
Being angry was one thing, but he could not waste the item. Besides, this truly was a good thing.
After becoming a disciple in the morning, Zhang Wan went to find Li Sanjian and Wan Xing'er in the afternoon.
Among the people he knew, those with whom he had a relationship and who also understood the sect's circumstances were limited to these two.
Moreover, Li Sanjian had hinted at the issue of the Extreme Spirit Planter last time. Clearly, Li Sanjian understood the affairs of the Spirit Planter Hall very well and bore Zhang Wan no ill will.
Thus, asking these two about Wang Yue and Li Guannian's circumstances seemed like a good choice.
"Hmm? Deputy Minister Wang and Deputy Minister Li took you as their disciple?" Li Sanjian and Wan Xing'er were astonished.
Several years earlier, when Zhang Wan had met them through a martial instructor from the academy, they had already seen his potential. They also happened to be pursuing the path of the Spirit Planter, so they had always maintained a friendly relationship with him.
Yet he had only just arrived at the mountain gate, and a deputy minister had already taken a liking to him? Two of them, no less?
Although they knew Zhang Wan had potential and would surely rise to prominence one day, they had not expected it to happen so quickly.
Zhang Wan then asked the two about Wang Yue and Li Guannian's circumstances, subtly expressing his unease and saying that he did not understand what virtue or ability he possessed to attract the attention of two great figures.
Li Sanjian and Wan Xing'er saw through the little scheme Zhang Wan was deliberately displaying, but they did not mind. If they were in his place, they would also have grown suspicious.
Li Sanjian and Wan Xing'er had stayed in the Spirit Planter Hall for many years, so they indeed knew quite a lot.
After learning that Wang Yue and Li Guannian had joined forces to take Zhang Wan as their disciple, they almost immediately guessed the two deputy ministers' objective.
After glancing around and confirming that there was no one nearby, Li Sanjian and Wan Xing'er quietly explained Wang Yue and Li Guannian's circumstances to Zhang Wan.
"The situation is like this. If our guess is correct, the deputy ministers indeed bear you no ill will."
"However, if we can figure out why you were taken as a disciple by two deputy ministers at the same time, others absolutely can too."
"It wouldn't be strange if some people coveted the deputy minister positions, or felt that you had blocked their path. They might grow jealous of you because of this and secretly make a move against you."
Li Sanjian and Wan Xing'er reminded Zhang Wan of a few things.
Zhang Wan expressed his thanks.
The information they had shared was very useful to him.
Without a successor? That did explain the various abnormalities displayed by the two deputy ministers.
Now that he knew this, the worry in Zhang Wan's heart disappeared.
What he needed to guard against next were the people who might grow jealous of him because of this and make a move against him.
"Looks like it won't be very suitable for me to leave the mountain gate in the short term."
Before you continue