No Rush, Teaching, Deduction

Zhang Wan wasn't afraid of a fight with them.

But there were too many.

He didn't want to waste too much time on this.

Of course, he wouldn't do nothing either.

He'd note down all those rumors one by one and then slowly verify them when he had the time.

If those brats really said such things, he'd just drag them to the arena for a few duels.

He needed to spar with fellow disciples to gain practical experience anyway, so using those brats would be killing two birds with one stone.

However, Zhang Wan didn't plan to do this immediately. He'd take his time and fight them one by one.

If he impulsively charged at those bratty fellow disciples without a second thought, driven by anger, he'd be exhausted by sheer attrition, let alone anything else.

Zhang Wan also wasn't interested in investigating the people who were plotting against him and fanning the flames from behind the scenes.

So far, the methods used by those people were very subtle.

They basically just gave a push from behind.

It was difficult to track down who was causing trouble.

Of course, it wasn't hard to roughly narrow down the targets.

Besides those in power within the Sect, who else would do such a thing, and so skillfully at that?

Zhang Wan temporarily set his sights on the old Postnatal cultivators who had conflicts and vested interests with his two cheap masters, as well as their disciples, descendants, and blood relatives.

If he had the chance in the future, he wouldn't mind giving these people a hard time!

Of course, he wouldn't go too far.

The methods these people were using to scheme against him now were merely insidious, not outright destructive. Naturally, he wouldn't be completely ruthless either.

However, whether they would fall into a trap then, and how deep they would fall, would be their own problem.

Just like how his life would be ruined if he couldn't resist corruption and truly became addicted to Beguilers and gambling dens.

His revenge would be similar.

Insidious methods like sugar-coated bullets laced with poison weren't something only they could use!

In short, Zhang Wan wasn't afraid of offending his fellow disciples. He'd shut his door, ignore those who came to befriend him, and act as if he was oblivious to the gossip. He maintained a diligent and hardworking demeanor that made him seem like he had no friends, which truly baffled those scheming behind the scenes.

They felt Zhang Wan was slippery and difficult to scheme against.

However, this did leave a bad impression on quite a few outer disciples who were rejected by him, which did meet the minimum requirement of those scheming behind the scenes.

And with the Sect's resources being limited and numerous opponents, they weren't solely targeting Zhang Wan and soon shifted their attention to other rivals.

Even Xu Shenghua, Zhao Kun's fourth disciple, who was hiding quite deeply behind the scenes, temporarily focused his attention on other, easier-to-scheme-against outer disciple geniuses.

Not everyone had Zhang Wan's innate wisdom.

To see through the hidden dangers behind these matters at such a young age.

Most martial artists his age, without guidance and not being precocious, would be puffed up by so many fellow disciples, they'd likely lose sight of themselves.

If they were taken out for some fun a few times, those with weaker self-control would be ruined for life.

Let alone young martial artists like them, even old Postnatal cultivators in the Sect couldn't withstand too many sugar-coated bullets!

Zhang Wan heard about these matters and immediately realized that someone was using the same tactics against these young geniuses who had just graduated from the academy.

He didn't interfere.

They weren't his friends, so why should he care about them?

Whether they succumbed to temptation or managed to awaken and escape early was their own business and had nothing to do with him.

However, Zhang Wan wrote all of this in a letter, explaining it one by one to his second and third younger siblings.

Zhang Wan never shied away from discussing these unpleasant matters with his second and third younger siblings in detail.

If he didn't tell them many things, were they supposed to conjure understanding out of thin air?

That was too unrealistic.

And their parents were just ordinary spirit farmers with little understanding of these matters, so only Zhang Wan could teach them.

He planned to tell them everything they needed to know before they graduated from the academy and came to the mountain gate.

Even if some of it was unpleasant.

If he didn't tell them now and let them have some awareness, they would easily be taken advantage of once they entered the mountain gate, this great melting pot, after graduation.

Even with him by their side, he couldn't watch them all the time.

The only ones who could protect them at all times were themselves.

To ensure their future well-being, the best approach was to let them be aware of these things and know how to deal with them.

Zhang Wan watched coldly as his reputation deteriorated among some disciples, remaining calm and steady as a mountain.

His two cheap masters, Wang Yue and Li Guannian, observed in secret for a while. Seeing that although Zhang Wan chose to handle the situation with cold indifference, he himself was not affected and was still steadily improving, they were satisfied and left without interfering too much.

Wang Yue and Li Guannian didn't care how Zhang Wan dealt with the schemes of others.

They only wanted Zhang Wan to be able to handle them without his cultivation being affected.

As long as he could do that, it would meet their requirements.

After all, such matters were unavoidable for anyone aiming to advance and acquire more cultivation resources.

There would inevitably be countless rivals emerging and endless schemes brewing.

Without the ability to handle these schemes, without a stable mindset in such situations, one would sooner or later be drowned by them.

Zhang Wan was unaware that his two cheap masters were observing him in secret. He had been busy with his own affairs during this time.

Ever since he obtained the complete Postnatal Five Elements Spirit Planter inheritance and those two Postnatal magic tools, Zhang Wan had been thinking of putting them to use.

Regarding the Spirit Planter inheritance, Zhang Wan was not stingy. He directly invested a full three hundred EXP to comprehend the complete version of the Five Elements Detailed Explanation!

Although it was far less than the eight hundred and ninety-one EXP required for the fire talisman inheritance, this did not mean the Five Elements Detailed Explanation was inferior.

The over eight hundred EXP for the fire talisman inheritance was the combined EXP needed for the fire talisman runes and over a hundred talismans!

Unlike the Spirit Planter inheritance, where after mastering the unique cultivation methods, the remaining spirit plant knowledge only required rote memorization, the talisman inheritance had too many aspects that required comprehension and insight, thus demanding significantly more EXP.

While the Five Elements Detailed Explanation was used for cultivating spirit plants, it actually recorded more about the characteristics and usage of Five Elements spiritual energy.

With sufficient talent, it would not be impossible to deduce a set of Five Elements martial skills from it.

Zhang Wan did not possess such peerless comprehension, but he had EXP!

Initially, Zhang Wan did not want to squander EXP.

However, with the Postnatal High-grade Earth Tortoise Shield and Postnatal Mid-grade Cold Heavy Saber in hand, it would be a waste of these two magic tools not to develop matching martial skills to unleash their power!

Moreover, deducing martial skills with EXP was not as conspicuous as improving one's cultivation.

After he deduced them, he could keep them as hidden trump cards, not revealing them in public during normal times, thus avoiding any potential trouble.

Therefore, Zhang Wan decisively invested a sum of EXP and deduced two Five Elements martial skills.