The Crafty Fourth Junior Apprentice-Brother

No one in this world is a god who can account for every possibility.

Ororo reported the appearance of a new Mutant to Professor X that very day. This was the second disciple whose X-Gene had been activated by Ultimate Limit Qigong, which already revealed a great deal.

However, Professor X assumed that Raven was in the Martial Arts School and would certainly inform Magneto of the news. Given Magneto’s personality, once he learned that Ultimate Limit Qigong possessed this ability, he would definitely stop making things difficult for Zhan Liu.

Moreover, Professor X had learned through certain channels that the members of the Brotherhood of Mutants had all left the United States, so he arrived at the wrong conclusion.

In truth, Raven had already left the Martial Arts School before then to persuade Magneto to lead the Mutants down the Path of the Martial God. She had no idea that a second Mutant had appeared at the Martial Arts School.

As a result, Professor X thought the threat from Magneto’s side had ended, but in reality, Magneto and Zhan Liu had already agreed to a challenge match in the middle of the month.

Meanwhile, in order to accelerate Peter’s "leveling up," S.H.I.E.L.D. had been sending him everywhere under the banner of "rescue." Wherever there was danger, that was where they sent Thor.

Although fighting creatures such as vampires and devils had greatly broadened Peter’s horizons and improved his Complete State, those battles placed almost no pressure on him. As a result, he remained stuck at Magnetic Field Rotation Fifth Heaven, without the slightest progress.

Sharon Carter was also pulled away by Coulson under the pretext that she had an internship assignment at her university, and she joined the leveling-up program as well.

However, the fourth disciple to enter the school also appeared. It was the old homeless man from Chinatown whom Zhan Liu had taken a liking to, a man named Wang Yunxiang.

This name belonged to no famous supporting or main character in the Marvel world. He was nothing more than an ordinary passerby, the sort with no part to play at all.

Like Peter, the old man had come entirely for the ten-thousand-dollar monthly allowance. He had a clear goal and was willing to work hard. With the accelerating effect of the Magnetic Field and the system on registered disciples, he finally achieved his wish and changed his fate.

After learning all the Martial Dao principles involved in transforming Current Drive into Magnetic Field Rotation from Zhan Liu, he happened to take Sharon’s place and begin teaching everyone.

Then, on the second day after this newly initiated Fourth Junior Apprentice-Brother took over, Tony came running back to work.

The older a man became, the craftier he grew; the older a horse became, the slicker it grew; when a rabbit grew old, even an eagle would have trouble catching it.

Old Wang was nearly seventy years old this year. What hadn’t he seen? He was delighted to slack off, and without a word, he handed his position over to the Senior Apprentice-Brother.

He had spent his entire life at the bottom, suffering countless hardships and hardships of every kind, which had cultivated a cautious and careful nature in him. These days, he barely even spoke to Pepper, because he was afraid the Senior Apprentice-Brother would misunderstand.

Old Wang was very good at handling people. Although he had become the fourth senior brother, he put on no airs. After receiving his enrollment allowance, he first changed into a clean set of clothes, then invited all his junior brothers and sisters out for a meal.

Then he bought four boxes of gifts for his master, Zhan Liu, as tokens of gratitude.

This was the first time Zhan Liu had ever received a gift from a disciple. None of his previous three disciples had ever given him one.

It had to be said that Westerners who spoke Chinese and true-blooded Chinese people were completely different in their ways of thinking and habits of conduct.

Zhan Liu was overjoyed. He was even more impressed by this old disciple who was older than himself, and he was extremely satisfied.

Everyone had their favorites, and Zhan Liu was no exception.

Old Wang had used only a few small gestures to elevate his standing in Zhan Liu’s heart above Sharon Carter’s.

The reason he still had not surpassed Tony and Peter was entirely that the two of them might help Zhan Liu break through the limits of his cultivation technique.

Zhan Liu was a very practical man. Personal likes and dislikes would always come after his ultimate goal. To put it bluntly, whoever fed him was his mother.

If Raven were to enter the school as well, Old Wang’s standing in the sect would probably drop another place.

The developments within the Martial Arts School were now of paramount importance to every organization. The moment Old Wang successfully entered the school, his personal information was placed on the desks of all the organizations that very night.

Then Old Wang was subjected to a succession of recruitment attempts by the major organizations.

There was nothing they could do. There were only four disciples in the school, and S.H.I.E.L.D. had already monopolized two of them. Another was the big capitalist Tony Stark. Of the remaining disciples available for others to fight over, only Wang Yunxiang remained.

Old Wang was a sly one. While currying favor with everyone and saying something pleasant to each person, he used the pretext of learning about the organizations’ strength and background to collect the names and general information of every organization that tried to recruit him. Then he ran back to report everything to his master, Zhan Liu.

"Master, these are all the organizations. I wrote them down in this notebook. I didn’t miss a single one!"

Looking at Wang Yunxiang’s fiercely loyal expression, Zhan Liu asked, "Our school does not forbid its disciples from joining other organizations and working for them. Since they are all trying so hard to recruit you, why didn’t you choose the one offering the best terms?"

"Master, I am nearly seventy this year, and I have lived on these foreigners’ turf for several decades. I understand their ways of doing things to some extent."

"They are recruiting me now not because I am remarkable, but entirely because I am your disciple, Master. If I truly joined one of their organizations, I would inevitably be subject to their control."

"If they ordered me to monitor your words and actions or reveal your whereabouts, should I do it or not?"

"If I did it, I would betray the kindness you showed me by teaching me. If I refused, none of the things they promised would be fulfilled, and they might even make trouble for me."

"Rather than become entangled with them later, I would rather not board their pirate ship in the first place."

Old Wang stood respectfully before Zhan Liu and honestly laid out his thoughts without concealing anything.

"Everything this disciple has comes from the gifts of my honored master. Although I am an unworthy disciple, I would never do anything that could harm you."

Upon hearing this, Zhan Liu sighed inwardly. As expected, only Chinese people truly understood the meaning of the master-disciple relationship.

The East valued the idea that a master and disciple were like father and son. No matter what, these Westerners could never understand it.

If Zhan Liu were to become the enemy of the world in the future, people like Tony and Peter would most likely stand on the opposite side from him. This was also one of the important reasons Zhan Liu had always restrained himself and prevented his madman temper from flaring up.

At the very least, before breaking through the upper limit of Ultimate Limit Qigong, he had to maintain his restraint.

That was awareness!

But if Zhan Liu became the world’s public enemy in the future, Wang Yunxiang would very likely stand firmly on his side as well.

The reason Zhan Liu did not make a definitive statement was that people’s hearts could change. Old Wang thought this way now, but what about several years later? Whether he would still think the same way was impossible to know.

Still, that was already enough.

This old man, Old Wang, was worth cultivating!

Thanks to book friend 20210916200201541 for the reward!