Hong Dongchuan's defeat shocked the entire audience. Apart from a few powerful individuals who had vaguely foreseen the "ending" from that initial probing strike, most people lacked that level of insight.
Therefore, they were utterly astonished.
As for Hong Dongchuan himself, although he knew he might lose, he had not expected to lose so cleanly, so decisively, and so "miserably."
Chapter 4224