Zeng Haoheng's expression changed drastically.
Of the two combatants, one had devoted every scrap of attention to the fight, without the slightest distraction. The other still had enough to spare to count how many moves his opponent made... The gulf between them was plain to see.
Before he could answer, Pan Long struck.
His figure blurred like a ghost and suddenly appeared before Zeng Haoheng. He raised a hand and swept it out.
The motion looked effortless, as though it carried no force at all. Yet with that single sweep, the Zeng Family's third-strongest fighter of this generation went flying and ended up hanging from a nearby Copper Pillar, bound by a hemp rope that seemed to have come from nowhere.
Only then did he come to his senses and realize he had lost.
But... he had not even had time to understand how he had lost. His face was full of bewilderment.
The hemp rope, which Pan Long had bought to tie up goods while shopping for rice, flour, grain, and oil, held him fast to the Copper Pillar, just like the Icefield Descendants whose arms and legs had been broken before they were tied to pillars and burned to death.
He struggled with all his might, but could not break free.
Given his strength, that should not have been possible. Even without his Internal Power, he could have torn the rope into seventeen or eighteen pieces with the strength of his muscles alone.
But whenever he tried to exert himself, he felt a force vibrating through his muscles and joints. Not only could he not circulate his Internal Power, he could not even bring his brute strength to bear.
He opened his mouth, but it merely moved soundlessly, without producing so much as a whisper.
With that one