"It's you! Why are you following us?" Tang Moxixi stared at him with guarded hostility.
They had just parted ways on bad terms, and now this guy was tailing them. If he didn't have malicious intentions, it would be a miracle.
"I really don't mean any harm."
Seeing that both Ye Wushuang and Tang Moxixi were full of hostility toward him, Cao Xuan felt helpless and had no choice but to raise his hands in a sincere gesture of explanation.
"No hostility? Then why are you following us?" Tang Moxixi demanded.
Cao Xuan hesitated for a moment before saying, "This brother here possesses extraordinary martial arts skills. To be able to defeat Elder Wu at such a young age—you must undoubtedly be a powerful martial artist."
"And?" Ye Wushuang said expressionlessly.
"I want to ask for your help." Without a single moment of hesitation, Cao Xuan dropped to his knees right there on the spot.
This caught both Ye Wushuang and Tang Moxixi completely off guard.
Ye Wushuang frowned slightly and asked, "If I help you, what's in it for me?"
Cao Xuan was momentarily stunned; clearly, he hadn't expected Ye Wushuang to be so straightforward. Still, this played right into his hands. He believed that as long as the reward was generous enough, Ye Wushuang would definitely agree to his request.
"I can give you ten million Huaxia dollars."
"Not enough." Ye Wushuang shook his head.
"Then... twenty million!"
"Still not enough." Ye Wushuang shook his head again.
Had this been earlier, he might have been tempted by ten or twenty million. But now, he was a millionaire in his own right on paper—how could he possibly care about that amount anymore?
"I have a mid-mountain villa on Ziyun Mountain in the southwest of Jinling City. The environment is decent, so I'll give it to—uh, may I ask how I should address you?"
Cao Xuan looked awkward, realizing that up until now, he didn't even know Ye Wushuang's name.
"Ye Wushuang."
"Alright, Brother Ye. I will give you this mid-mountain villa, plus an additional thirty million Huaxia dollars. How does that sound?"
"Not bad, not bad. Thirty million Huaxia dollars plus a villa—that's certainly enough to get me to make a move."
The hostility vanished from Ye Wushuang's face. The way he looked at Cao Xuan now made him look precisely like a walking money tree.
Cao Xuan's heart was bleeding, but for the sake of his younger sister, he had no choice but to take this desperate gamble.
"Uhm... Brother Ye, might I venture to ask what your current level of strength is?"
"Hmm?" Ye Wushuang shot him a glance that instantly made Cao Xuan shiver.
He hurriedly explained, "I'm not trying to probe your background. I just need to make sure, because my enemies are extremely powerful. If your strength isn't enough, going there would be completely useless."
"Oh? Just how formidable are your enemies?" Ye Wushuang asked nonchalantly.
"The Young Master of the Eagle Claw Sect, who has set his sights on my sister, is at the peak of Transformation Force. And the Sect Master of the Eagle Claw Sect is a Martial Grandmaster."
Cao Xuan clenched his fists. If it weren't for this, how could he have ever acted so spineless? His enemies were simply too strong; against someone like that, a half-baked quasi-martial artist like him could be squashed with a single finger.
"A Martial Grandmaster, you say? That is indeed quite strong." Ye Wushuang nodded slightly.
According to the old master of the Tang Family, there were only thirteen Grandmasters in the entire Huaxia who showed themselves in public. While Grandmasters below the supreme tier were slightly more numerous, they were still absolute overlords in their own right. Leave aside the fact that Cao Xuan was no match for them—even the aforementioned Elder Wu wouldn't stand a chance.
"You can't do anything about it either?" Cao Xuan's expression turned gloomy. Yet, on second thought, it made sense. Just how many Martial Grandmasters were there in all of Huaxia? For Ye Wushuang to be young enough to defeat Elder Wu was probably already his absolute limit. Becoming a Grandmaster was next to impossible.
"No, what I mean is, a Grandmaster is indeed quite strong—he just isn't stronger than me."
Ye Wushuang smiled faintly.
As the saying goes, the most lethal flex is the one where you don't even realize you're showing off.
Cao Xuan froze. A moment later, he was jolted with shock. "Stronger than a Grandmaster? Could it be... you are a Grandmaster!"
The corners of Ye Wushuang's mouth curled up slightly. Without directly answering Cao Xuan's words, he simply gave the ground a gentle stomp.
In an instant, a pile of concrete rubble not far away shattered into pieces with a loud crash.
At this sight, not only Cao Xuan, but even Tang Moxixi was struck dumb with astonishment.
To possess such destructive power with just a casual stomp—was this really what a Martial Grandmaster could do? It was simply terrifying.
"You really are a Martial Grandmaster!" Cao Xuan wept tears of joy. "That's wonderful! My sister is saved."
At that moment, a thought crossed Tang Moxixi's mind, and she couldn't help asking, "Second Young Master Cao, isn't your Cao family a prominent military and political family in Jinling City? How could you possibly be afraid of the troublemaking young master of a martial arts sect?"
In her understanding, no matter the dynasty, martial artists and martial sects alike had to submit to the jurisdiction of the imperial court or the government. Any act of transgression would be met with devastating destruction from the authorities. That was true even in the era of cold weapons, let alone now in the age of hot weapons.
Even an earth-bound immortal couldn't withstand the bombardment of a nuclear warhead; they would simply be "pacified" by a nuke. As the most powerful family in Jinling's military and political circles, the Cao family's influence should be utterly unimaginable. Meanwhile, the Eagle Claw Sect was merely an ordinary martial arts sect—they should be doing everything in their power to suck up to the Caos.
Why, then, had the tables turned, driving the Caos to a dead end? Why would Cao Xuan even stoop to lowering his status and paying a heavy price to beg Ye Wushuang for help?
"Actually, when it comes to this matter, the majority of my family agreed with it," Cao Xuan said with a bitter smile.
"My eldest brother, Cao Ren, wanted to enter the Eagle Claw Sect to study martial arts, so last month he invited Gongsun Weiyang, the Young Master of the Eagle Claw Sect, to our home as a guest."
"Who would have thought that after three rounds of drinks, Gongsun Weiyang would set his sights on my younger sister, Cao Ning?"
"Xiaoning is only sixteen years old! And that Gongsun Weiyang is already a forty-year-old old man."
"Moreover, rumor has it that this Gongsun Weiyang has an extremely scandalous private life, changing women faster than he changes socks."
"If Xiaoning ends up with him, the rest of her life will be completely ruined." Cao Xuan gritted his teeth.
Nodding, Tang Moxixi asked, "And then?"
"Naturally, my sister refused and didn't give Gongsun Weiyang the time of day."
"But this old lech actually managed to persuade my eldest brother. Using the condition of being accepted into the Eagle Claw Sect, my brother stepped forward and convinced the senior elders of the family to vote in favor of the match."
Cao Xuan was filled with grief and indignation, yet felt completely powerless. As a junior in the Cao family, he simply could not defy the will of the family elders.
"Just what on earth is wrong with the brains of your family elders? Selling out a daughter for glory—that is utterly shameful."
Tang Moxixi curled her lip and said contemptuously.
"There was simply no other way."
"Our Cao family holds great influence in military and political circles, but the elders are not content with that."
"They hope that one day, the Cao family can undergo a complete transformation and become a true martial arts family."
"Brokering my eldest brother's entry into the Eagle Claw Sect is only the first step—and the most crucial one at that."
Cao Xuan wore a helpless expression. He could guess the reasoning of the family elders more or less. But to watch his own biological sister jump into a fiery pit for the sake of the family's future—when he asked himself if he could do that, Cao Xuan knew he couldn't.
"When Elder Wu originally sought out you, Brother Ye, it was also because he wanted to find a suitable helper for me to counter the Eagle Claw Sect."
"After all, as my eldest brother's only rival for the family inheritance, Elder Wu was worried that my brother would collude with people from the Eagle Claw Sect to take me out in secret."
Ye Wushuang couldn't help asking with curiosity, "At that time, how did you know I had the confidence to protect you?"
"I had no confidence at all. I just saw how cleanly and decisively you dealt with the Yan Family's thugs, and figured your martial arts skills were quite good."
"Elder Wu didn't even know you were a martial artist at first; he actually wanted to take you on as a disciple and teach you martial arts."
At this, Cao Xuan let out a bitter laugh. They really had been blind back then, daring to pass judgment on a Martial Grandmaster.