In the space of mere inches, Zhang Shan stepped forward to close in.

He stared at Qiao Jiajin’s forearms moving up and down, and after spotting an opportunity, immediately reached out to grab.

But Qiao Jiajin seemed to know his intention. He raised both hands to evade the grab, then reached back to grasp Zhang Shan’s arm.

Zhang Shan wanted to catch his arm, but didn’t Qiao Jiajin also want to drag the opponent to the ground?

To defeat an opponent of this level in a cross-weight-class match, “submission techniques” had a higher success rate. As long as he could lock down the opponent’s limbs tightly, he could restrict the opponent’s movements.

A few of Qiao Jiajin’s fingers gripped Zhang Shan’s wrist, but before his second hand could be placed to reinforce the hold, Zhang Shan twisted his arm and broke free from Qiao Jiajin’s restraint.

Taking advantage of Qiao Jiajin’s wide-open hands, Zhang Shan’s hands shot toward the opponent’s throat like pincers. In just a flash, Qiao Jiajin’s neck was grabbed, fingers as hard as steel instantly embedding into skin and flesh.

But before Zhang Shan could exert force, Qiao Jiajin’s hands struck downward fiercely on the opponent’s wrists. Zhang Shan momentarily lost his grip, and this second attempt at grabbing also failed.

Qiao Jiajin then took advantage of this moment to fly up with a kick to the opponent’s chest, kicking him back several steps in succession.

The two separated by a few steps. Both seemed to understand the other’s intent—now it was a matter of who could grab the other first.

Zhang Shan could break the opponent’s arm with brute force, while Qiao Jiajin would use “submission techniques” to twist the opponent’s limbs.

Normally speaking, whether it was ordinary “submission techniques,” “grappling,” or “judo,” once many moves took form there was no way to break them. In most situations, executing such killing moves was used to force the opponent to surrender.

But in this death match, it seemed neither would surrender.

The two cautiously bent down, simultaneously lowering their centers of gravity, looking like two wrestlers.

Zhang Shan, leveraging his size advantage, exerted force first and charged forward like a wild bull. His two broad arms were also like scissors, pinching toward Qiao Jiajin’s waist from left and right.

Qiao Jiajin grabbed the forearm with one hand and seized the upper arm with the other, while his foot also probed forward, placing itself between Zhang Shan’s legs.

Zhang Shan wanted to pull back his arms, but Qiao Jiajin turned his body to the side, using his shoulder to press against his chest.

This way, the opponent applied force from three points—using his shoulder as the apex, both hands firmly gripping his arm, making it impossible to break free for the moment.

Since he couldn’t break free, he had to immediately guess what technique the opponent was using. If he couldn’t figure out a way to break it, he could only wait to be subdued.

Zhang Shan rapidly thought through the current situation—both hands gripping the arm over the shoulder… was it an “over-the-shoulder throw”?

Just as this thought occurred to him, Zhang Shan’s other hand reached out to press against Qiao Jiajin’s waist, his entire body also shifting his center of gravity completely backward. Even if it was an “over-the-shoulder throw,” as long as he couldn’t be lifted, it wouldn’t cause injury.

Qiao Jiajin yanked the opponent’s arm downward and discovered he seemed to have grabbed hold of a mountain. The opponent’s body leaned entirely backward, combined with astonishing brute force in resistance—the “over-the-shoulder throw” couldn’t be completed.

But Zhang Shan should have thought of this long ago. Since an ordinary whip kick could be achieved through feints… why couldn’t a “throw”?

Qiao Jiajin only tested slightly before quickly abandoning the “over-the-shoulder throw.” Since all of the opponent’s center of gravity was behind him, he kicked off with his left foot and hooked his right foot behind Zhang Shan’s heel to trip him.

Then using the leverage of the force, he embraced Zhang Shan and flew backward half a step with him, finally slamming heavily onto the ground.

This move was the Chinese wrestling technique “Lying Blade Throw,” disguised using the “over-the-shoulder throw” as a feint.

Qiao Jiajin turned his body sideways, like a long blade chopping down on Zhang Shan’s chest, while Zhang Shan landed flat on his back, letting out a muffled grunt followed by a tremendous sound.

Ordinary throwing techniques naturally couldn’t shake Zhang Shan, but as long as one borrowed force in the direction the opponent was exerting force, even a mountain could be toppled.

But in the next second, Qiao Jiajin felt he couldn’t let his guard down. Given the opponent’s thick skin and tough flesh, using this throwing technique just once couldn’t cause substantial damage. But once locked down by the opponent on the ground, with such a huge disparity in strength, he definitely wouldn’t be able to escape. So he hurriedly flipped up.

Zhang Shan also realized this was a good opportunity to counter. Before Qiao Jiajin could release his arm, he grabbed the opponent’s wrist. Qiao Jiajin quickly retreated a step, and Zhang Shan also used this force to smoothly stand up.

He thought he had grabbed hold of Qiao Jiajin, but after standing up, Qiao Jiajin didn’t pause and once again grabbed his arm with both hands.

In just half a second, Zhang Shan cried out in alarm, but Qiao Jiajin was no ordinary opponent. Before he could react, the opponent had already launched into the air, his two thighs clamping around his neck.

Qiao Jiajin wanted to pull the opponent’s arm to execute an “armbar,” but discovered his strength was too weak. The success rate of pulling the opponent’s arm with brute force wasn’t high, and moreover, he fundamentally couldn’t drag the opponent down to the ground. So he directly clamped the opponent’s head, yanked Zhang Shan’s arm forcefully, and his entire body fell backward onto the ground.

Zhang Shan, dragged by this hundred-plus pounds of body weight, could only fall to his knees with a “thump.”

Qiao Jiajin pulled the opponent’s thick arm while simultaneously clamping the opponent’s armpit and head with both legs. While pulling the arm upward, his legs also constantly applied pressure.

This was exactly the ground submission technique, the “triangle choke.”

Once this move took form, ordinary people found it extremely difficult to break. The opponent’s arm was locked, neck was pressurized, the entire body struggled to exert force, and there was even the possibility of suffocation.

But in this fight, the weight difference was truly too extreme. Zhang Shan, at one meter ninety in height with nearly one hundred kilograms of body weight, had muscle mass far beyond what normal people could compare to.

He let out a muffled roar and both legs began rapidly exerting force. He actually started pushing Qiao Jiajin and crawling rapidly across the ground.

Qiao Jiajin had already removed his upper clothing, and after being dragged across the ground for a while, felt a burning pain. But if he let go now, it would be even more dangerous. He could only continuously pull upward on the opponent’s arm, his two thighs using all their strength to press downward, forcing Zhang Shan to cry out in pain repeatedly.

After crawling more than ten steps, Qiao Jiajin suddenly felt a heavy blow to the top of his head, a tremendous sound ringing in his ears.

It seemed he’d been forced to the wall, and the top of his head had struck the wall surface.

This collision made Qiao Jiajin’s vision instantly go black. He could only rely on feel to continue grabbing the opponent and pulling forcefully.

In the previous battle at “Heaven’s Gate,” he had used this move to break the arm of someone from the “Cat” team, but Zhang Shan’s thick arm was as if it had steel reinforcement mixed in. Though locked, it was still resisting with all its might. If he couldn’t exhaust the opponent’s strength, breaking his arm was just wishful thinking.

Zhang Shan discovered that even after suffering a heavy blow, Qiao Jiajin still hadn’t released his grip. Gritting his teeth, he let out a great roar and actually tried to stand up.

Qiao Jiajin only felt the situation before his eyes was too absurd. The opponent’s head and neck were being pulled down by over a hundred pounds of body weight—what kind of core strength could allow him to stand up at this moment?