All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

After lowering the latch and locking the wooden door from the inside, Yang Pan checked the windows to make sure they were secure before returning to the bedside.

Living in this slum, you can never be too careful at night.

Although most of the residents here are ordinary people, it's a notoriously impoverished area, and the night patrol officers know there's little to no profit to be made here, so they never set foot here. The lack of strict control means that petty theft is rampant at night, and theft is a common occurrence.

Reaching the base of the wall, Yang Pan reached out and lifted the bed leg, prying open a seemingly ordinary brick that was filled with dust in the gaps underneath. He reached inside and rummaged around for a while before pulling out a cloth bag wrapped in gray linen.

Unfolding the cloth bag, gleaming silver coins were revealed. These were the coins Yang Pan had saved up over the past two years through frugality. Of course, the majority of the money, more than ten taels of silver, came from pawning the shoes and clothes he wore after transmigrating.

Yang Pan didn't know how much his clothes were worth in this world a thousand years ago. He only knew that the pawnshop owner seemed quite satisfied after he put on his three-hundred-yuan soft-soled sports shoes, so he generously gave him a few more taels of silver.

In this way, the scattered amounts add up to twenty-five taels.

With this amount of silver, Yang Pan could move into the center of the county town and escape the anxiety of the night.

However, Yang Pan did not have such thoughts for the time being; he had other plans.

If this were just an ordinary ancient dynasty, and Yang Pan were just an ordinary person living in this era, then he would definitely move to the center of the county town, work diligently, honestly serve as a beast of burden for the rest of his life, save enough money to try to leave Tongjiang County, or even leave Anqing Prefecture.

However, this world has martial arts. Those martial arts practitioners move freely and are not even bound by the laws of the dynasty, making them far more free and unrestrained than ordinary people living in this world.

Although Yang Pan was not very knowledgeable about history, he roughly knew that the Southern Song Dynasty would be completely destroyed in a few decades.

The Mongols, a nomadic people on horseback, would also carry out inhumane massacres of the Song people after conquering the Southern Song. Those who suffered would mostly be ordinary civilians. Even those who miraculously survived would be relegated to the lowest caste under Yuan rule and subjected to brutal treatment.

But Yang Pan didn't want to, and was unwilling to, become a fish on a chopping block. Even if he couldn't become a superior person in this second life, he wanted to at least be able to control his own destiny.

In his previous life, he lived in a peaceful era. Although oppressed by capitalism, he was never lacking in the fiery temper of a common man, ready to shed blood. However, despite the oppression of life in his previous life, he was never threatened with his life.

Now living in a chaotic world, he was naturally unwilling to be slaughtered by others, and if he wanted to save his life, learning martial arts to strengthen his body was undoubtedly the best way.

However, he wasn't Yang Guo; he didn't have the various fortuitous encounters or a sufficiently powerful background. Also due to his clothing, his body remained at the age of twenty-five or twenty-six, long past the prime age for martial arts training. It seemed unlikely any martial arts school would accept him. Thus, the only remaining path was to join a martial arts school.

There was a martial arts school in the center of the county, which was said to teach Iron Shirt, but that was enough for Yang Pan.

In this world, martial arts are like knowledge. Although ordinary people can study and take the imperial examinations, core knowledge is still controlled by powerful families, while martial arts are monopolized by martial artists.

For ordinary people to learn martial arts, unless they are taught by a master, the only other options are to join a sect or martial arts school. Of course, one could also try jumping off a cliff to see if they're lucky enough to find a secret manual...

There is absolutely no other way; even the most common martial arts techniques in the martial arts world are difficult for ordinary people to learn.

This was something Yang Pan had learned through exploration over the past two years, and he guessed that it was probably related to the dynasty's rule.

After all, chivalrous people break the law with their martial arts. If the world were full of martial artists, then the Southern Song Dynasty's current level of governance would not be able to control many people.

Martial artists typically begin learning martial arts in childhood. Yang Pan, being an adult, already has his physique fully developed, so even if he were to learn martial arts in a short period, he wouldn't achieve much.

However, martial arts is not just about talent; it also requires hard work and time. And for Yang Pan right now, time is precisely the least valuable thing.

Lying on his back on the wooden bed, in the dim light, a few lines of writing, visible only to him, trickled down Yang Pan's cheeks:

Dao Master: Yang Pan

Dao Fruit: Longevity

……

These two short sentences represent the greatest fortune Yang Pan has received since his time travel.

This thing isn't a system; it's a longevity Dao Fruit that Yang Pan fused with during his transmigration. After the Dao Fruit fused, Yang Pan learned all the information, and the Dao Fruit also manifested through Yang Pan's subconscious understanding.

Immortality—these two short words encapsulate humanity's ultimate desire.

Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Taizu of Song... Yang Pan achieved what countless heroes throughout thousands of years of history had strived for but could not attain.

Logically speaking, Yang Pan should have been happy. In fact, Yang Pan was happy at the beginning of the fusion with the Longevity Dao Fruit, and was even excited to the point of madness.

However, after learning in detail about the effects of this longevity fruit, Yang Pan felt as if he had been doused with cold water.

When discussing longevity, the word "immortality" often automatically comes to mind, as if in everyone's understanding, longevity is equivalent to immortality. However, in the information of the Dao Fruit, longevity and immortality are two different concepts.

After merging with the Dao Fruit, Yang Pan gained immortality, and his body and soul remained forever in the state of someone in their twenties. However, aside from this, his body was still mortal flesh and blood. He would die from a fatal wound, needed to sleep when tired, needed to rest when exhausted, and needed to eat when hungry…

You could say he's just an ordinary person who's likely to live a long life.

But such immortality, let alone in the chaotic world of the late Southern Song Dynasty, even in the peaceful era of the previous life, once the secret was exposed, would likely bring surveillance more terrifying than death, or even capture and experimentation by those with ulterior motives...

If he were exposed in this era, he would probably become a real-life version of Tang Sanzang.

This is why Yang Pan always felt a sense of urgency. He couldn't stay in one place for too long, nor could he spend too much time with acquaintances, otherwise the secret would inevitably be leaked.

This is one of the reasons why Yang Pan is so eager to learn martial arts. Only by learning martial arts can he have the strength to travel all over the country. Only by learning martial arts can he protect himself even after his secret is exposed.

call!

Yang Pan blew out the lights in the room and went to sleep with his thoughts in his mind. When the sun rose the next day, everything might have changed.

……

In the center of Tongjiang County, on West Street, lies the Tiehe Martial Arts School.

There were only a few pedestrians on the wide stone-paved road, and the vendors on both sides, who were usually bustling with activity, were much fewer than usual.

Yang Pan stood outside the martial arts school courtyard. Directly in front of him was an open, red-lacquered, mottled wooden door. Through the door, he could see three or five figures inside, using stone mills and wooden stakes to train their bodies.

Tiehe Martial Arts School is the only martial arts school in Tongjiang County. The school's owner roamed the martial arts world in his youth and is said to have even fought with the now-famous Master Guo.

Thanks to this rumor, the martial arts school gained considerable fame under the old master's management, attracting numerous disciples. However, with the departure of many wealthy families in recent months, the number of disciples has noticeably decreased.

After all, the saying goes, "the poor study literature, the rich study martial arts," and those who could afford to enter a martial arts school were naturally mostly wealthy families who were not short of money.

After crossing the steps, Yang Pan passed through the wooden door and entered the martial arts hall. Once inside, the scene inside became clearer.

The courtyard was spacious, enough to accommodate about twenty or thirty people. Besides some stone mills and wooden stakes, there were also some weapons such as swords and clubs on both sides of the courtyard.

In the early Song Dynasty, weapons were strictly controlled, but the control weakened in the Southern Song Dynasty. Not only were ordinary weapons sold, but even in some remote cities, prohibited weapons such as crossbows and armor were openly sold.

In the remote Tongjiang County, the ban on weapons was practically a dead letter. The guards of wealthy families in Tongjiang County carried long swords, and the government didn't seem to say anything. It was perfectly normal for the Tiehe Martial Arts School, which taught martial arts, to possess weapons.

"Brother, you've come to my martial arts school to learn martial arts, haven't you?"

As Yang Pan was secretly observing, a young man walked out of the central room of the martial arts school. Yang Pan quickly glanced at the newcomer and noticed that the man was not only tall, but also had a bronze-yellow skin that, under the sunlight, revealed a thick, gel-like texture.

"My name is Yang Pan, and I intend to join the martial arts school to learn martial arts," Yang Pan said, cupping his fists in the manner he remembered from martial arts practitioners.

The young man first glanced at Yang Pan, his gaze lingering for a moment on the bulge in his chest and abdomen, before he also clasped his hands in a fist and smiled:

"Brother Yang, you're too kind. My martial arts school doesn't have many rules. If you want to enter, you just need to pay your respects to the headmaster. Please wait a moment while I go and invite the headmaster out."

After saying that, the young man turned and walked into the house behind him. He didn't care about Yang Pan's age. The martial arts school was open for business. As long as you had money, it didn't matter if you were the right age or not, you could still learn martial arts.

Yang Pan stood still and waited. After a short while, a commotion came from ahead.

The disciples practicing martial arts nearby did not pause their movements at all upon seeing this scene, appearing completely accustomed to it.