Pan Long's furious roar carried deep reserves of power. It rang out like a thunderclap from a clear sky.
The two burly gatekeepers barely had time to glance at him. Before they could understand what was happening, the violent roar knocked them unconscious. They toppled over and went rumbling down the dozen or so steps outside Zeng Family Manor, coming to rest off to the sides.
As it happened, they came to rest one on the left and one on the right.
Pan Long had not directed the force of his roar at them. Though it had shaken them badly and they had been hurt in the fall, their injuries were not serious overall.
They had fared much better than the gate.
Pan Long's focused roar struck the tightly shut gate as though a band of hulking men had rammed it with a battering ram, shouting in unison. With a thunderous crash, the bolts and hinges snapped. The two doors, each weighing two or three hundred pounds, folded straight inward, then tore free of the frame and slammed onto the ground inside.
Cries of shock and fury rose from within the manor, followed by the hurried footsteps of many people.
The guards were coming, of course.
Before they arrived, however, the door to the gatehouse was kicked open. An old man with white hair and beard charged out carrying a great saber, his face twisted with fury.
"Who dares make trouble at Zeng Family Manor? I'll chop you to pieces!"
Despite his age, there was no weakness in the old man's aura; he seemed as vigorous as a man in his prime. Now his presence surged, driving even the Heaven and Earth Essence around him into a frenzy. A fierce wind reached Pan Long before the old man's footsteps did.