Befriending, Corrupting, and Rumors

A few days later, Zhang Wan noticed that ever since the news spread that he had been taken as a disciple by two vice-ministers of the Dust Bone Fourth Branch, quite a few unfamiliar fellow disciples had started visiting him to forge connections.

There were so many that it was beginning to interfere with his daily cultivation.

Some disciples, while claiming curiosity about him, were clearly looking for a chance to spar or test their skills against him. They would show up at his door.

Occasionally, people he'd only met a couple of times would also come by, sharing recent rumors, like how so-and-so was secretly expressing dissatisfaction with him.

Later on, even close friends who had graduated from the Beginner Martial Arts Academy with him would frequently visit and tell him these things, insisting he couldn't let people look down on him and that he had to strike back.

This left Zhang Wan feeling quite speechless.

He simply shut his door and ignored everyone.

Every day, he would go out to tend to the spirit fields. If anyone tried to talk to him, he would offer only a few brief words before changing the subject, giving them no opportunity to continue the conversation.

He wasn't foolish; of course, he knew there was a trap here.

It was normal for people to want to connect with him after hearing he was taken as a disciple by two Ninth Level Postnatal cultivators. He wouldn't refuse normal interactions.

But it couldn't interfere with his cultivation!

Anyone who came knocking while he was trying to cultivate, wasting his time, he would ignore them all, leaving them out in the cold!

This might offend some people, but so what?

For a martial artist, the fist is the most important thing. Everything else is just decoration.

To delay his own cultivation just to avoid offending these disciples who came to socialize would be the act of a colossal idiot, prioritizing the trivial over the substantial!

If this were to delay his future cultivation, leaving him with low attainment and losing the attention of his two masters, it would be precisely these disciples who came to socialize who would be the first to stab him in the back!

Those who genuinely came to connect would never barge in during his cultivation time and force him to get acquainted.

Those who came during his cultivation time, were turned away, and held grudges because of it, were already harboring ill intentions!

It was fine to offend such disciples.

They were not on the same path anyway.

If he were to associate with such people, who knew when they might stab him in the back?

As for the fellow disciples who wanted to spar with him, Zhang Wan neither disliked nor particularly liked them. He also needed to spar with others to improve his practical combat experience.

However, he couldn't spend too much time on arena wagered battles.

Furthermore, each time he fought with disciples of similar strength, although they wouldn't fight to the death, he would still need a few days to recover afterward.

Fighting too often would also affect his own cultivation.

Therefore, Zhang Wan would only occasionally go to the sect's martial arts arena to fight if he felt inspired.

Interestingly, regardless of whether he won or lost, a group of people would immediately come to flatter or console him, and then drag him off to banquets, without him having to pay a dime! Initially, these people only took him to sample spirit meals. Later, they gradually started dragging him to places frequented by charm cultivators, and then to gambling houses and gambling stone fields.

Zhang Wan saw through these people's intentions immediately. They were trying to corrupt him with wine, women, and wealth! He didn't play along with their pretense for long, directly stating his lack of interest and telling them to enjoy themselves.

Even if some were displeased and felt Zhang Wan was not giving them face, insisting on dragging him along, Zhang Wan remained unmoved.

So what if he wasn't giving them face? There was no need to give face to such hidden malicious intentions!

While they might not have been consciously trying to corrupt Zhang Wan, perhaps they were being used, pushed from behind. But Zhang Wan wanted no part of such things.

At least not now.

He was too weak right now. What if someone played dirty if he frequented such places?

It didn't have to be obvious; a method that affected his foundation through prolonged exposure could easily trap him!

If he then had to use EXP to restore his foundation, it would be easy for others to notice something was wrong, leading to greater trouble.

Once his cultivation improved in the future and he no longer feared being ambushed with underhanded tactics, if these people still wanted to corrupt him, he would absolutely not be polite.

He would directly bankrupt them!

The same applied to gambling stone fields and gambling houses.

Once one became addicted, wouldn't they have to chop off their hands every day?

Even if he wanted to try his luck, he should first learn a few related martial skills, then max them out with EXP, and then go in to dominate!

Going in to gamble without understanding anything was just pure spirit stone delivery!

It was also because of these things that Zhang Wan was certain someone was trying to trap him from behind, and they were using not only very subtle methods but multiple methods simultaneously!

Initially, they secretly spread the word that he had been taken as a disciple by two Ninth Level Postnatal cultivators, arousing the curiosity of his fellow disciples and fanning the flames, leading them to approach him for connections.

Among these people were both good and bad. Once a connection was made, there would inevitably be endless trouble in the future.

No matter what happened, these people would come to him for help, and whether he helped or not, he would be pestered to death.

Moreover, if he spent too much time making friends and developing connections, his own cultivation would be delayed, slowing his progress.

If he saw through this and simply closed his door, he would offend a large group of narrow-minded fellow disciples.

These offended individuals would definitely seize any opportunity in the future to set a trap for Zhang Wan.

Making friends and developing connections was not inherently a bad thing, but it was something that required time to slowly screen and select. Someone from behind had directly hit the accelerator, shortening the time. Originally, Zhang Wan could have taken his time to slowly make a group of like-minded friends without offending too many people. Now, he was forced to close his door, offending quite a few fellow disciples.

Later, there were also traps within the arena battles, with too many people curious about him and wanting to fight him.

If he accepted everything, he wouldn't need to cultivate anymore; all his time would be spent recovering from injuries.

The later corruption techniques were even more lethal.

Whether it was charm cultivators, gambling stone fields, or gambling houses, people became obsessed. It wasn't a stretch to say their lives were ruined, or at least half-ruined.

If all their cultivation resources were spent on these things, how could their cultivation advance by leaps and bounds? Even geniuses would turn into mediocrities!

Later, when they saw he wasn't falling for it, the rumors they spread clearly aimed to exploit the arrogance and short tempers of young people, trying to provoke him and sow discord with his fellow disciples.

If he had truly been hot-headed and blinded by the rumors for a moment, seeking them out to settle the score, things would likely have spiraled out of control.

As for the idea of finding the other party involved in the rumors to talk things over, Zhang Wan dismissed it as soon as he heard who the rumors were about.

The person digging the pit behind the scenes was indeed clever, as the targets of the rumors were the notoriously hot-tempered and unruly outer disciples.

It wasn't that these people lacked brains and couldn't have a frank discussion, telling the other party that someone was instigating trouble behind their backs.

It was just that Zhang Wan felt those rumors might not be entirely false.

They might have been things said in drunken stupors, with a little provocation leading to outright nonsense.

And then those words were spread by someone with ulterior motives.

If he went to confront them, he'd likely immediately discover that those idiots had actually said those things, and then a fight would be unavoidable, even if he didn't want one.