Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Scarface’s Calculations _1
"What? Peak Grandmaster?" Lin Bingqing’s mouth hung wide open, and her eyes bulged. "Master, you’re not joking with me, are you?"
The shocks that Ye Ming had given her were many, and Lin Bingqing thought she had grown used to them, but when she heard the three words "Peak Grandmaster," she was still scared.
In the entire world, those who could enter the Grandmaster Realm were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Many martial artists would train arduously their whole lives, only to reach a maximum of Ninth Rank Martial Artist. To climb higher, one not only needed tremendous talent but also had to put in ten times the effort of ordinary people.
To reach the Initial Stage Grandmaster, one’s livelihood for a lifetime was worry-free, with many vying to offer tribute.
Only a great family like the Xu Family could afford to support a Middle-stage Grandmaster.
If one reached the later stages, dominating the entire Hai City was as easy as flipping a hand, with no one able to contend.
Reaching the Peak Grandmaster was even more extraordinary; one could go wreak havoc in major cities such as Yanjing and Mingzhou City.
Lin Bingqing had never imagined, being an ordinary martial artist herself, that she would actually have the good fortune to take as her master a Peak Grandmaster.
It’s no wonder that just a little Herbal Pill from Ye Ming enabled her to improve rapidly. It took her years to progress from a Third Rank Martial Artist to Fourth Rank, but now, in just half a month, she had already reached Seventh Rank Martial Artist.
Given another year or two, Lin Bingqing even felt she could join the ranks of Grandmaster.
"Sort of," said Ye Ming as if it was nothing, speaking casually.
Just then, the villa’s door was knocked on.
When the door opened, Xu Lele’s figure appeared outside.
She looked at Ye Ming with a worried expression and asked somewhat reproachfully, "Where have you been these past few days? You didn’t answer your phone, and when I came knocking, no one would open the door for me. I thought that..."
Xu Lele did not finish her sentence.
After Ye Ming left the banquet that day, Xu Lele could no longer get in touch with him. She worried that her brother, Xu Xincheng, had used some special means to deal with Ye Ming.
She was very concerned and used various methods to find Ye Ming’s whereabouts, to no avail.
After a day and a night had passed, she finally saw Ye Ming safe and sound.
Ye Ming scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "I’m fine. I just had a chat with Duke Zhou and got so engaged that I forgot to wake up."
Hearing Ye Ming’s joking explanation, Xu Lele’s expression softened somewhat.
She said, "I want to apologize on behalf of my brother. If he has offended you in any way, please don’t take it to heart."
"He’s still young and doesn’t understand much, which is why he said those things."
Ye Ming waved it off nonchalantly and said, "I really haven’t taken it to heart. Our relationship won’t be affected by these external factors."
Xu Lele was very happy to hear that, but the recent visit of Xu Xincheng had given her a signal. She thought of her family background and couldn’t help showing a worried look.
Ye Ming understood her thoughts and reassured her gently, "Rest assured, I will always be by your side, whether climbing a mountain of swords or descending into a sea of flames, I’m not afraid."
Xu Lele nodded, feeling deeply moved.
"It’s good to see that you’re okay. Tomorrow Ningning has to meet an important client, and she wants me to accompany her. Before leaving, I wanted to see you again, to know that you’re okay, and now I can be at peace."
After she finished speaking, the sound of a car horn came from not far outside the villa. Xia Ningning’s car was parked nearby, already hurrying them along.
After bidding farewell to Xu Lele, Ye Ming received a call from Scarface.
After a conversation, Ye Ming then remembered that tomorrow was the day the underground banquet began, and he agreed to come and pick him up personally.
Ye Ming didn’t object and accepted pleasantly.
After hanging up the phone, Lin Bingqing’s face showed an anticipatory expression, and she said, "Master, can I accompany you?"
"I’d also love to get a glimpse of the world and have a real fight with the masters among those underground forces!"
Lin Bingqing, who had just been promoted, had been itching for action. After her recent fight with Li Dazhuang, she found it exhilarating and missed that feeling.
Her request was rejected by Ye Ming, who advised, "Your skills are not quite there yet, and I’ve heard Li Dazhuang has invited a grandmaster-level expert this time. Since you took him on last time, he will definitely target you if you show up."
"Having you there would distract me."
Hearing these words, Lin Bingqing quickly put aside her idea.
The next morning, a Bentley stopped outside Ye Ming’s villa.
Scarface arrived with a driver and an Eighth Rank Martial Artist to pick up Ye Ming.
Upon seeing Ye Ming emerge, Scarface immediately got out of the car and greeted him warmly.
"Brother Ming, with you here this time, I feel very reassured!"
Once Ye Ming got into the car, Scarface began to elaborate on the details of the banquet.
As an up-and-comer, he showed the least prowess, merely bringing twenty or thirty underlings to make a show of force, with Ye Ming being the only real expert.
As for the Eighth Rank Martial Artist, he was an old friend of Scarface.
Scarface had done him a favor, and he was here to repay that debt.
"Brother Ming, this is Zhang Qiang, an Eighth Rank Martial Artist!"
"There will be many targeting me at this banquet, and all sorts of riffraff will challenge me. It wouldn’t be fair to leave you to handle them all alone, so I took the liberty of bringing an extra pair of hands."
Ye Ming didn’t say much, as it seemed reasonable to him.
However, Zhang Qiang, sitting in the back seat, was somewhat unconvinced.
After sizing Ye Ming up, he couldn’t see any signs of a martial arts expert; Ye Ming looked just like an ordinary man.
Delicate and unscarred, without a single muscle on his body, he seemed like someone who would be hammered to death at the first sign of trouble, at best a rich playboy relying on his status to show off.
Then, Ye Ming asked, "I heard that the Xu Family’s Xu Xincheng brought a grandmaster with him. What do you think they will do?"
Scarface was hearing this news for the first time, and his face immediately took on a shocked expression.
He said, "The Xu Family’s grandmaster must be that Master Li."
"It’s said that the Chen Family spared no expense to bring in a grandmaster-level expert to help. I never expected the Xu Family to come as well, they probably want to regain control of Hai City’s underground forces."
"Such a small banquet, and yet two grandmasters have shown up. It looks like things are going to get lively."
Scarface was initially somewhat nervous because he had offended Li Dazhuang before and feared being targeted by him. However, now that he knew the Xu Family was getting involved, he felt much more at ease.
He realized that the Xu Family wouldn’t just stand by and watch any one faction outshine them.
Instead, he could use the Xu Family’s power to suppress Li Dazhuang, and perhaps, even manage to get rid of him for good.
