Pan Long still remembered Jiang Bei.
His first impression was that Jiang Bei could make friends with anyone. The man had a way with people.
His second impression, of course, was that Jiang Bei was a formidable martial artist.
They had met several times. The last was at a nighttime banquet in a Qiaonan Town tavern, when members of the White Path had gathered to discuss how to hunt for treasure.
That meeting had not been pleasant. A swordswoman from the Purple Cloud Palace had picked a fight for no apparent reason. After Pan Long defeated her with a single slash, she went after Jiang Bei. Before Jiang Bei could act, his friend—the scrawny, shriveled young Demon Gate master who looked like a monkey—ripped out one of the madwoman's kidneys in a single move, then strode away.
Pan Long had noticed that Jiang Bei was about to strike. In an instant, Jiang Bei's gaze shifted several times, locking onto flaws in the woman's technique and footwork. Had he made his move, she would not have survived a single exchange with him either.
The woman was no weakling. She had perfected the Four Innate Mysteries. People who could defeat her in one move were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns in the Innate Realm. Nearly all of them were prospective True Person Grandmasters with a chance of reaching the Return to the Natural State.
In other words, Jiang Bei was at least at that level, and possibly stronger.
Pan Long had gone out that night and dealt with the narrow-minded, intensely vindictive woman. But even during the treasure hunt the next day, he had not crossed paths with Jiang Bei.
After that, he heard nothing more about him.
Jiang Bei was well known among the righteous factions, a strong