We stepped into the dining hall together and the noise hit first, everyone was talking about the recent event.
And when they noticed us, all of them rushed over, voices overlapping.
"Fu Yang! Is it true you tried to kill the spy yourself?"
"Did you really face Sect Master Shen's attack?"
"You got rescued by Elder Yun himself"
Wanting to hear every detail.
I played my role.
"I was just helping Chen Wu. He's the one who did everything."
They got excited.
Chen Wu was nearby, surrounded by his own crowd. He looked tired but pleased. Smiling at the attention and answering questions patiently.
And Su Ling… sigh, she was still looking at me, coldly.
(The system backlash..) She probably couldn't even enjoy the celebration.
Then I noticed Mei. She was across the hall with the other Greenbrook disciples. Lin, Jian, Wei, and little Hua.
And now it was her who was staring at me too.
Really...
........
The next morning, I headed to the Medical Hall early.
Elder Yun's token would grant me access to better medicines. I could accelerate my recovery while maintaining the appearance of being damaged. But today something felt off as I walked through the sect.
The disciples I passed didn't treat me the way they did last night. Just... looked away or gave me strange wary glances.
At first, I thought I was imagining it, but it kept happening.
Two inner disciples whispered to each other as I approached, then went silent when I got close.
A servant who'd been friendly yesterday now hurried past like I was untouchable.
What the hell?
I reached the Medical Hall. Elder Han examined my meridians with his usual efficiency. "Healing well," he grunted. "The premium medicines will accelerate your recovery significantly. Come back in three days."
He handed me new bottles which seemed of better quality than before. The treatment was definitely upgraded.
On the way back, I passed more disciples. Again the same reaction.
Returning to my quarters, I opened the door and found Wei Feng, hurriedly packing his belongings into a bag.
"Wei Feng?" I said. "Where are you going?"
He glanced at me. Just once. That same expression everyone else had been giving me.
Then he went back to packing without answering.
"Wei Feng, what's going on?"
SILENCE.
After he finished packing his things he picked up his bag and walked toward the door.
I stepped aside to let him pass.
The door closed with a loud thud and I stood alone in the room, thinking that something had happened between evening and morning. Something that turned the entire outer disciple population against me.
What could have happened?
Is their a new information about Zhang Kun? We reported everything we saw to Elder Yun… did Chen Wu say something which made all of them think negatively of me?
Surely not, he was still supportive towards me this morning when I saw him. Wait. That must be it.
Rumors, ofcourse... someone must have spread rumors about me. And I guessed exactly who it could be.
"Su Ling....Mei."
"They must have spent last night spreading poison." And redirecting all the praise and attention back to Chen Wu where it "belonged."
Standing alone in my empty room, I started laughing. It just slipped out before I could stop it.
"So that's what they chose?"
I pressed a hand against the wall to steady myself. "Spreading rumors? And then what?"
I laughed harder.
"The absurdity of it…. Hahah." These supporting characters trying to use little tactics against someone who'd survived literally hell.
It was almost endearing in its stupidity.
But then I stopped laughing and got serious.
If I think about this carefully, right now, this was nothing. Disciples avoiding me didn't actually impact my plans. I didn't need their friendship. I needed Chen Wu's trust and the sect's resources. Both of which I still had.
But
This was at fifty percent corruption.
What would happen at sixty percent? Seventy? Ninety?
The system backlash was tied to corruption progress. The more I corrupted Chen Wu, the more the supporting characters would react, (like Newton's third law.)
Su Ling was already experiencing irrational hostility and Mei was joining her. If this continued escalating…
At what point would they stop at rumors?
At what point would they decide I needed to be eliminated?
Su Ling was at the Foundation Establishment peak stage. Stronger than me even if I wasn't suppressing my cultivation.
If she snapped completely and the backlash drove her to actual violence. If she convinced others to help her.
They could kill me....
And unlike my tutorial villain days, death may be permanent now. I leaned back against the wall. This was a real problem which was slowly growing and I needed a solution.
First : Kill these supporting characters before they could act.
Tempting isn't it. But impractical. I couldn't just kill Su Ling without raising suspicion. She was an inner disciple. Chen Wu's close friend. Her death would trigger investigations.
And there were others. Mei. Other disciples. How many would I need to kill before the backlash stopped?
Second: Discredit them before they could organize. It is possible. If I made Su Ling look unstable, irrational, unreliable... her accusations would carry less weight. When she finally snapped and tried to expose or attack me, no one would believe her.
That had potential.
If I could use her own irrational behavior against her. Make her look paranoid and later Chen Wu doubts her judgment.
Third: Accelerate the corruption, the most riskiest option. But maybe the most effective. If I could push Chen Wu to complete corruption quickly - seventy, eighty, ninety percent in rapid succession - maybe the supporting characters wouldn't have time to organize. They'd be reacting, scrambling, unable to mount effective resistance before it was too late.
Speed over caution.
I sat there thinking for a long time. Finally, I made a decision.
Combination approach….
I'd discredit Su Ling while accelerating corruption. Make her look unstable to Chen Wu. Push his doubts about the sect, about whatever he believes.
Risky but necessary. I couldn't afford to be passive and couldn't just react to their moves.
I needed to be proactive and aggressive. Pushing forward relentlessly.
That was how you survive. Not by playing it safe but by moving faster than your enemies could respond.
I opened my system screen.
[CORRUPTION PROGRESS: Chen Wu→50%]
[WARNING: Supporting character backlash increasing. Recommend accelerated corruption timeline OR elimination of hostile NPCs.]
The system agreed with my assessment….