All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

The paper contained extremely detailed instructions on how to move internal energy, but the description of how to generate Qi was somewhat vague. Fortunately, there were some annotations from Senior Brother Huang on it.

"Different schools have different methods for generating Qi. Some major schools, such as Shaolin and the Beggars' Sect, have profound skills and are said to be able to generate Qi directly based on their mental techniques. However, Iron Shirt, as a type of external martial art, cannot generate Qi directly based on its mental techniques."

Only after completing the second level of muscle forging, and following the set of dynamic exercises described above, can one develop a sense of Qi. Once you feel a faint flow of Qi within your body, you must immediately circulate your inner energy to strengthen the Qi sensation; otherwise, the Qi sensation will easily disappear.

Looking at the records above, Yang Pan suddenly realized. It turned out that the key to developing internal strength in Iron Shirt lay in dynamic exercises and the circulation of mental energy, which was quite different from the process of generating internal strength that he had imagined.

"However, how come the major sect's cultivation method recorded by Senior Brother Huang can directly generate Qi sensation? Is there some other secret involved?"

Yang Pan pondered to himself, recalling the vast amount of information he had encountered in his previous life. Some of it was utterly useless, while others made considerable sense. For instance, there was an article he had read in his past life about the origins of internal energy should it truly exist.

It discusses the Taoist principle of refining essence into qi, suggesting that internal strength is actually a kind of auxiliary energy generated after the human body becomes strong to a certain extent, which, in Taoist terms, is the so-called overflow of essence when it is full.

"Jing" refers to the physical body. When the body's "Jing" accumulates beyond its original capacity, the excess "Jing" will be transformed into "Qi". This is called refining Jing into Qi.

However, modern times lack the mental techniques to transform excess "essence" into "qi," so this overflowing "essence" simply dissipates and is wasted.

In Yang Pan's view, the part about the birth of Qi described in the third level of the Iron Shirt technique was extremely consistent with that discourse.

The first two levels are for training and strengthening the body. The third level of dynamic exercises may be for further strengthening. After the body is strengthened to a limit, the overflowing "essence" is transformed into qi sensation. At this time, the qi sensation is transported according to the mental method, and the qi sensation is further materialized into internal force.

But Senior Brother Huang said that those major sects' techniques can generate Qi sensation just by relying on mental cultivation. But how can one feel the overflowing "essence" without strengthening the body? Yang Pan felt that his mind was in complete chaos and he couldn't figure out the principle behind it no matter what he did, so he simply stopped thinking about it.

Regardless of the underlying principles or whether the discourse was too one-sided, these are things Yang Pan cannot grasp at this stage. For him, the primary goal right now is to complete the physical forging stage of cultivation as soon as possible before he can begin cultivating the third level of the mental technique.

"However, the second level of cultivation requires external medicine. It seems I'll still have to be slaughtered by Senior Brother Huang..." Yang Pan looked down at the cultivation manual in his hand, and seemed to vaguely see Senior Brother Huang's smiling face.

......

On the fourth day after joining the Beggars' Sect branch, people began to leave one after another. Senior Brother Shi even left earlier, departing the day after he successfully applied for the position of guard. However, there was nothing that could be done about it; as a guard, he couldn't simply not be on duty indefinitely.

After the fourth day, the branch's guest rooms were almost empty. Huang Hui was still there; his other injuries had mostly healed, but the knife wound on his back still required more rest.

Yang Pan, however, had already arrived at the northern part of the city.

Jiaxing City is divided into four directions: the south and west are the concentrated residential areas of wealthy families, the east is mainly the area where markets, temples and academies are concentrated, and the north is the main area where commoners are concentrated.

Because of its proximity to the riverbank docks, the northern part of the city also houses numerous inns and restaurants, making it a popular place for ordinary people to live and work during the day. Yang Pan came to the north of the city because there was a branch of the Beggars' Sect there.

As the largest gang in the world, the Beggars' Sect has many disciples, and naturally, it spends a lot of money. But where does the money come from? It's impossible to just let the beggars at the bottom beg for money. They can only beg for a few coins a day, and even if they accumulate little by little, it's absolutely not enough to support such a large gang.

Therefore, the Beggars' Sect made clear divisions regarding this point. The Beggars' Sect itself was divided into two factions: the Dirty Clothes faction and the Clean Clothes faction.

The Clean Clothes Faction consists mostly of wealthy merchants and powerful figures in the martial arts world. They are affiliated with the Beggars' Sect and each year they hand over a large amount of silver or land to the Beggars' Sect in exchange for the sect's protection. This is also the main source of the Beggars' Sect's money.

The Dirty Clothes Faction, on the other hand, consisted mostly of people from the lower rungs of the martial arts world, or those who joined the Beggars' Sect later in life. While the Dirty Clothes Faction didn't possess large amounts of money or land, their martial arts disciples were skilled in combat, and their ordinary disciples could also contribute to the workforce.

Therefore, the Dirty Clothes Sect disciples mainly engaged in begging, selling information, working as escorts, or collecting management fees in certain areas. These were the main sources of income for the Dirty Clothes Sect disciples.

The branch in the north of the city is the branch of the Dirty Clothes Sect. The branch is close to the dock and the surrounding shops and inns, which makes it convenient for the disciples to collect money.

The Beggars' Sect doesn't have many requirements for joining its lower-level disciples. All that's needed is a recommendation from a member of the sect, and then simply showing up and registering one's name in a branch hall. For example, Yang Pan is currently queuing up in a branch hall, waiting to be registered and have his name displayed.

Yang Pan had initially thought that not many people would join the Beggars' Sect, but upon arriving at the branch hall, he was surprised to find a considerable number. His gaze swept over the people also queuing around him, and he noticed that most of them were emaciated and pale. Among them were some familiar faces—those who had come from Anqing Prefecture together. Clearly, these people hadn't found work in a short time, so they had come to the Beggars' Sect.

At least in the Beggars' Sect, they can be assigned jobs and barely survive, right?

While Yang Pan was pondering, it was already his turn in the queue.

"Name, age, place of origin, and who recommended you."

Ma Wu made the entries on the table, and his tone did not show any impatience, even though this was a menial job with no money to be earned.

However, after escorting the people back from Anqing Prefecture, each of the disciples who went there received a substantial reward. This amount was far more than what they had earned from guarding the docks and selling intelligence; they wouldn't starve even if they didn't work for several months.

Yang Pan recognized Ma Wu immediately upon seeing him, but he didn't call out immediately. Instead, he waited until Ma Wu finished registering before asking, "Are you Brother Ma Wu?"

"Huh?" Hearing someone call his name, Ma Wu looked up and saw a tall, strong young man. Looking at the man's robust physique, a strange light flashed in Ma Wu's eyes. In this day and age, most of the lower-level disciples who joined the Beggars' Sect were poor commoners, and they were mostly thin and weak. There were very few as strong as the young man in front of him.

However, after seeing the young man's face clearly, Ma Wu felt a vague sense of familiarity. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly realized, "You're Brother Yang! I didn't expect you to have actually joined my Beggars' Sect."

Ma Wu sounded somewhat surprised, recalling that the young man before him was the one who had spoken to him in Anqing Prefecture. He also had a deep impression of Yang Pan, as the two people traveling with him were of similarly tall and strong build, and looked like they had practiced martial arts.

"Brother Yang, please wait a moment. I'll talk to you after I've finished registering," Ma Wu said, eager to make more friends among martial artists.

Yang Pan nodded, took the identity plaque carved from rotten wood, and then waited to the side.

After waiting for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Ma Wu finally completed all the registrations and walked towards Yang Pan. "Brother Yang, I've kept you waiting. Have you eaten yet? If not, how about we eat and talk?"

Yang Pan naturally wouldn't refuse the invitation. Although he had already eaten before coming, his appetite had increased considerably since he cultivated the Iron Shirt technique, so another meal wouldn't hurt.

The two left the branch hall and found a wonton vendor on a nearby street. Ma Wu ordered two bowls and invited Yang Pan to sit down with him. Yang Pan didn't think the other man was stingy; he had inquired about the income of lower-ranking Beggar Clan disciples, and it was generally not high. If the other man had actually invited him to an inn, Yang Pan wouldn't have dared to go.

After all, unsolicited kindness is usually suspicious. He felt more at ease eating wontons outside.

"Where are Brother Yang's two companions? Didn't they come with us?" Ma Wu asked.

"They went elsewhere; I came alone."

"Really? That's a pity." Ma Wu's face showed regret upon hearing this. Looking up and seeing Yang Pan looking at him with a puzzled expression, Ma Wu smiled and said:

"Brother Yang, please don't misunderstand. I just noticed that the three of you seem to have practiced martial arts. If you could all join my Beggars' Sect, it would be a great help."

"Is that so? That's quite a pity," Yang Pan echoed. As he spoke, their wontons were ready. While eating, Yang Pan wanted to quickly learn about the Beggars' Sect's internal affairs, especially regarding martial arts, so he began:

"Brother Ma Wu, I wonder if newly joined disciples of the Beggars' Sect are allowed to learn martial arts?"

"Martial arts? I see you're quite robust, Brother Yang, you must have practiced some external martial arts." Ma Wu said, looking Yang Pan up and down.

"I only have some basic skills, not up to standard. I just hope to learn some advanced martial arts within the gang."

"Profound martial arts? I'm afraid that will disappoint Brother Yang." Ma Wu blew on the hot wonton and said with a smile.