The room fell silent.
Seeing that Cao Gongyi was not going to speak, Chu Fan broke the silence first.
"You don't know?"
Cao Gongyi shook his head and said with a smile, "I'm truly sorry, young man, but I haven't heard of anyone like that in Shanhai City!"
Chu Fan said no more about this, got up, and said to Guan Hongyun in a cold voice, "Old Guan, see them out!"
Knowing but not saying, utterly insincere.
There was no need to cooperate with such a person.
If Cao Gongyi genuinely didn't know, he wouldn't have minded.
But from the slight change in his expression, Chu Fan was certain that he absolutely knew.
To say he didn't know was merely because he knew the other party's strength and background were greater, and he was afraid of being targeted if he spoke.
In that case, there was nothing to discuss.
"This..."
Cao Cheng was stunned.
They had been chatting well until now, and suddenly they were being asked to leave?
Cao Gongyi's expression showed a surge of anxiety.
"Young man, young..."
Chu Fan gave Cao Gongyi no chance to salvage the situation and left without looking back.
"Two, please..."
Guan Hongyun smiled and made a gesture to see them out.
He had naturally also seen that Chu Fan's sudden anger was due to Cao Gongyi's lack of honesty.
Cao Gongyi's expression was hesitant, and after a few seconds of deliberation, he turned and left with Cao Cheng.
At the foot of the mountain, Cao Cheng asked in confusion, "Father, why did he suddenly turn hostile?"
Cao Gongyi stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the sky, and sighed, "It seems I still underestimated him."
"He's not a half-step Grandmaster; he's very likely a Grandmaster!"
"Moreover, his eyes are extremely sharp, seeing through my lie at a glance!"
Cao Cheng was filled with shock.
Such a young half-step Grandmaster was already extraordinary.
If he were truly a Grandmaster, was he still human?
Secondly, he didn't understand. Since the other party was a Grandmaster, bringing him into the Cao family would provide unimaginable assistance to the exchange conference.
With such a powerful external helper, why would his father give up because of an "Official Zhang"?
Sensing his son's confusion, Cao Gongyi said with a wry smile, "Xiao Cheng, Official Zhang is someone we cannot afford to offend."
"Compared to recruiting him and offending Official Zhang, I would rather give up recruiting him."
"Without his help, the Cao family will merely be an obscure presence at the exchange conference."
"But if we provoke Official Zhang, the Cao family might disappear from Shanhai City!"
Hearing this explanation, Cao Cheng's heart was even more unsettled.
"Father, who exactly is this Official Zhang?"
His voice was hoarse and trembling.
"You don't need to know who he is; you only need to know that even if that brat is a Grandmaster, he will only be killed in front of Official Zhang!"
Cao Gongyi said this with full confidence.
Although Chu Fan seemed extraordinary to him, even stronger than himself, and he guessed he might be a Grandmaster.
But when facing someone who might be a Grandmaster and someone who could completely crush a Grandmaster, only a fool would favor the former.
"A Great Grandmaster?"
Cao Cheng's eyes widened.
"A half-step Great Grandmaster!"
Hiss...
Throughout the entire Dragon God Kingdom, the number of half-step Great Grandmasters could be counted on one's fingers.
At this moment, Cao Cheng finally understood why his father chose to act this way, even though the negotiation with Chu Fan had broken down.
After the two left.
Chu Fan emerged from the side woods.
"Heh, a half-step Great Grandmaster, is that so impressive?"
Although he couldn't find out who Official Zhang was from Cao Gongyi, it wasn't without gain.
Chu Fan immediately contacted Ji Ningyue.
"Collect the information on all martial arts families in Shanhai City as quickly as possible and send it to the Shanhai Pavilion!"
At the entrance of the Great Hall of Shanhai Pavilion.
Guan Hongyun saw Chu Fan return and hurried forward, bending slightly to ask, "My lord, did you gain anything?"
"Yes!"
"Do you know much about the martial arts families in Shanhai City?"
It would take time for Ji Ningyue to collect the information.
Guan Hongyun, being a prominent figure in Shanhai City, was bound to know about the martial arts families there.
Chu Fan intended to gather some preliminary information.
"Not much!"
"Does my lord wish to know about the martial arts families?"
Chu Fan nodded and led Guan Hongyun into the Great Hall to listen carefully.
In Shanhai City, there were about thirty martial arts families, large and small.
These thirty families varied in strength.
The strength of a martial arts family was not determined by its assets but by the strength of its strongest member.
There were five families whose strongest members were at the top. The Cao family was one of them.
Except for the patriarch of the Qin family, ranked first, who had just entered the Grandmaster realm a few years ago, the patriarchs of the other four families were still only half-step Grandmasters.
As for the remaining twenty-odd families, their strongest members were only at the Master level, not really noteworthy.
After hearing this, Chu Fan asked, "Among these martial arts families, which of the top five are you more familiar with?"
Guan Hongyun shook his head with embarrassment, "I'm not familiar with any of them!"
"These families are quite insular; they won't proactively cooperate or establish relationships with other families unless absolutely necessary!"
"In the past, I tried to hire two bodyguards from the top five martial arts families but was rebuffed. After that, I didn't have much of a good impression of them."
After a pause, Guan Hongyun asked curiously, "Does my lord intend to engage with the martial arts families?"
Chu Fan did not hide it and nodded.
"The person I'm looking for also comes from a martial arts family. It will be easier to start with the martial arts families."
Guan Hongyun frowned and said thoughtfully, "If my lord wishes, I can go and have a look!"
"I'm not familiar with the five major martial arts families in Shanhai City, but I do have acquaintances among the less powerful families."
"If my lord doesn't mind, I can go and connect with them!"
As long as Chu Fan didn't fixate on the top five martial arts families, the rest could be handled.
"Okay!"
Chu Fan nodded readily.
Having something was better than nothing.
As long as he could get a foothold in the martial arts families, everything would be easier.
Guan Hongyun felt proud from the bottom of his heart to be able to help his lord, and without any hesitation, he immediately left Shanhai Pavilion to attend to the matter.
Two hours later, Ji Ningyue appeared at Shanhai Pavilion.
"Young master, here is the information you requested!"
Ji Ningyue placed a thick stack of documents in front of Chu Fan.
With the Azure Dragon Consortium as their backing, their efficiency was impeccable.
Every martial arts family in Shanhai City, large or small, their areas of expertise, the number of people in the family, and what each person was specifically doing.
Even past incidents were thoroughly investigated.
As soon as he finished reading the information.
Guan Hongyun called.
"My lord, are you available now?"
Knowing that the old man had contacted someone from a martial arts family and was ready to bring them for discussion, Chu Fan said without hesitation, "I am!"
Half an hour later.
An old man wearing a long robe entered Shanhai Pavilion with Guan Hongyun.
"You?"
The old man's face turned pale with shock upon seeing Chu Fan, and his steps instinctively retreated.
Seeing the old man, Chu Fan was also slightly stunned.
He truly hadn't expected Guan Hongyun to find him.
This person was none other than Master Wu, whom he had met once before.
Wu Qiming, the patriarch of the Wu family, was somewhat famous in Shanhai City due to his considerable strength.
The Wu family was once among the top five martial arts families in Shanhai City, but after Wu Qiming's father disappeared, the Wu family completely declined.
Ordinary martial arts families disdained to cooperate with financial consortium families.
For the development of the Wu family, Wu Qiming lowered his stance and provided security for some families to earn money.
"Fate, fate!"
Chu Fan murmured.