All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

The next day at dawn, in the early days of summer in June, the city of Jiaxing was bustling with activity. The white walls and black tiles reflected the shimmering water, displaying a gentle and serene atmosphere typical of the Jiangnan region.

Yang Pan strolled slowly along the shore of Yuanyang Lake, soaking in the vibrant atmosphere of the city. He had come out with Shi Yingfeng that morning; the group had discussed their future plans the day before, so naturally they wanted to get started early.

Shi Yingfeng went to the eastern part of the city, where wealthy families were concentrated. He wanted to apply for a job as a guard, and the chances were naturally better there.

Yang Pan, though he decided to join the Beggars' Sect, was ultimately after their martial arts techniques. Jiaxing City had many martial arts schools, and Yang Pan wanted to see if any of them taught any advanced techniques.

If so, even if Yang Pan joins the Beggars' Sect in the future, he can still practice martial arts at the martial arts school at the same time.

However, after going around in circles, Yang Pan realized that he had indeed overthought things, or rather, he had underestimated how much people in the martial arts world valued internal energy cultivation techniques.

Internal energy cultivation techniques are considered core inheritances for some small martial arts factions. Martial arts schools, however, open their doors for business and at most teach some basic fist and foot techniques. They keep internal energy cultivation techniques tightly under wraps, and will not teach them to anyone other than the heir apparent.

This completely dashed Yang Pan's hopes; it seemed that the Beggars' Sect was still the most reliable source for obtaining the internal energy cultivation method. As for Senior Brother Huang, Yang Pan remained silent.

This is something the other person has to figure out and think about. Think about how good your junior brother is, think about the life-and-death bond you've shared. If you understand this, the other person will naturally give you the third level of the technique. If you don't understand, there's nothing you can do.

"Internal cultivation should also take into account resources, companions, methods, and location. Even if you obtain the internal cultivation manual in the future, you will still need various auxiliary medicinal herbs and treasures if you want to improve your cultivation level quickly."

Listening to the hustle and bustle of the city around him, Yang Pan slowly fell into deep thought.

Although the world of The Return of the Condor Heroes cannot compare to the fantasy worlds of cultivation that I read before I transmigrated, there are still many opportunities in it.

Needless to say, the cultivation techniques are already reserved by Yang Pan. He can pick them up when the time comes. Then there are all sorts of rare and precious materials to accelerate his internal energy cultivation.

Actually, during the time of The Condor Heroes, the snake that the Ginseng Immortal Old Monster raised was a precious medicine to enhance internal strength. It's just a pity that the old monster didn't have the fortune to do so. The precious material he painstakingly raised ended up being used as a wedding dress for Guo Jing.

However, while the Ginseng Immortal Old Monster's treasured snake was gone, there was something outside Xiangyang City with a similar effect: the Pusiqu Snake. In the original story, after Yang Guo lost his arm, he relied on eating snake gall to greatly increase his cultivation in a short period of time, wielding a heavy Xuan Tie sword with great power.

Meanwhile, the Jade Bed in the Ancient Tomb Sect should also be a rare treasure. Yang Pan is not sure about its specific effects, but it seems that the successors of the Ancient Tomb Sect need to practice on it from a young age, so it may also have the effect of assisting in cultivation.

However, the Jade Bed is somewhat difficult to obtain, because even though Yang Guo and Xiaolongnu have passed away, there are still their successors in the era of Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, and their martial arts are not weak.

Although there's a hundred-year time gap between *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber* and *The Return of the Condor Heroes*, Yang Pan's martial arts skills would certainly not be weak then. But to have this senior Yang Pan bully a young, inexperienced junior—wouldn't that be a bit disrespectful to his elders?

Yang Pan imagined himself a hundred years later, having mastered his divine skills, storming into the Ancient Tomb Sect and arrogantly saying to its disciples: "Little girl, I, your ancestor, have my eye on your treasure for a hundred years. Hand it over to me obediently!"

This art style doesn't seem like that of a righteous character.

Shaking his head, Yang Pan cleared his mind of distractions. These things were the opportunities in the world of The Return of the Condor Heroes that Yang Pan knew of. As for whether there would be other rare and precious treasures, Yang Pan was certain that there would be.

After all, this is a completely real world. How could the so-called Condor Trilogy, with its hundreds of thousands of words, possibly fully describe the prosperity and vastness of a world?

Countless rare and wondrous artifacts lie hidden in the world beyond the protagonist's experiences, and these are what Yang Pan desires to uncover. However, that awaits him after he has mastered his divine skills; for now, he should focus on cultivating his internal energy.

After wandering around all morning without finding anything, Yang Pan returned home. Although Jiaxing City was prosperous, everything required spending money, and his meager savings couldn't support these expenses.

Upon returning to the Beggars' Sect branch, Yang Pan also saw many other people going in and out of the guest rooms. Clearly, these people, like Yang Pan and his group, had gone out to find a way to make a living. These were all ordinary people, unlike Shi Yingfeng, who possessed martial arts skills and could find work as a guard.

For most of them, the future might involve working odd jobs at inns, becoming servants or laborers in wealthy households, or perhaps being seen at the docks.

These people, who originally had land to cultivate in Anqing Prefecture, are now drifting like duckweed.

When Yang Pan arrived at Huang Shixiong's door, he pushed it open and saw Shi Yingfeng already sitting on the wooden stool in the room.

Yang Pan asked with some surprise, "Senior Brother Shi is back so soon. Have you found a job as a guard?"

"Yes," Shi Yingfeng nodded, a slight smile on his face, and said, "I've found one. It's at the Jin family's house in the east of the city. They happen to be short of a guard, and after I showed off my swordsmanship, the manager hired me."

The saying goes, "Good wine needs no bush." ​​Don't be fooled by Shi Yingfeng's lack of internal energy cultivation. Those who have cultivated internal energy are all proud and arrogant. They'd probably look down on an ordinary guard. Even Instructor Zhao of the Qin family in Tongjiang County, who commanded all the guards, received twenty or thirty taels of silver a month.

"Junior Brother Yang, please have a seat too."

Huang Hui looked at Yang Pan, who was still standing, and said. Upon hearing this, Yang Pan sized up his senior brother Huang and sensed that his expression was somewhat serious. He immediately felt that Huang probably had something to say.

Sure enough, as soon as Yang Pan sat down, Huang Hui took out two rough yellow papers from his pocket. Through the light, one could see that there were many words written on them.

"Junior brothers, this is the third level of the Iron Shirt internal energy cultivation method. Please keep it safe." Huang Hui reached out and handed the paper to the two of them.

The two exchanged a glance, but did not take it directly. Instead, they looked at Huang Hui, waiting for him to continue.

"My two junior brothers, if it weren't for your care along the way, I would definitely not be alive today. This is a life-saving grace! Secondly, I don't plan to open a martial arts school in the future. Even if there are descendants, if they don't have the talent, this technique will only be lost if it stays with me. It's better to pass it on."

Moreover, this third level of technique isn't really a profound method. Even if you cultivate internal energy, you won't be considered a master in the martial arts world. You all need to remember this. Especially you, Junior Brother Yang, if you ever have a conflict with other gangs in the future, don't underestimate your opponents just because you've cultivated internal energy."

As Huang Hui spoke, the paper with the handwriting written on it was placed in the hands of the two men. This time, neither of them refused, because this third level of the mental cultivation method would be extremely useful to both Shi Yingfeng and Yang Pan.

If Shi Yingfeng were to develop internal energy, he could become a martial arts instructor in a wealthy family. For Yang Pan, this would undoubtedly increase his means of survival.

Yang Pan looked down at the paper in his hand covered with writing, and felt a surge of excitement in his heart.

He had initially thought it would take some time, but he hadn't expected Senior Brother Huang to be so quick to impart the cultivation technique to him. Indeed, hard work pays off; the ancients were right!

Suppressing the urge to check immediately, Yang and Pan put away the papers, their gazes towards Huang Hui becoming even more affectionate.

The room was filled with countless conversations. The three of them had already gone through life and death together, and now Huang Hui was passing on the martial arts technique that could only be passed on to his disciples. At this moment, their relationship undoubtedly became even stronger.

No matter how prosperous Jiaxing City was, or how complex people's hearts were, the three of them found a bond of mutual support and companionship, no longer the adrift and helpless people they had been when they first arrived in Jiaxing.

......

After finishing his conversation with Senior Brother Huang, Yang Pan returned to his room and eagerly took out the papers to read them.

During the Song Dynasty, the mainstream script used by ordinary people was regular script, which was not much different from the simplified script used in later generations. Therefore, even though Yang Pan did not systematically learn the script of this dynasty after time travel, it was not difficult for him to read the recorded martial arts techniques.

Compared to the first two layers of Iron Shirt, which involve skin refining and muscle forging with virtually no secret formulas or techniques, relying mainly on self-refinement and external medicine repair, the third layer involves the body's meridian system.

This was Yang Pan's weakness, because he knew nothing about meridians, which involved medical theory. However, Yang Pan wasn't in a hurry; he could learn these things later.

The written instructions state that to cultivate internal strength, the first step is to find the sensation of Qi. Only with the sensation of Qi can one move and strengthen it according to the mental techniques and incantations, materializing it into internal strength that flows through the meridians.