All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

dong dong~

Accompanied by the sound of solid wood striking each other and the rustling of footsteps, a figure leaning on a cane and walking unsteadily appeared in Yang Pan's sight.

It was an elderly man with gray hair, a hunched back, and a frail appearance. The young man helped the old man sit on a reclining chair in the courtyard, then looked at Yang Pan.

"Brother Yang, this is our master."

Yang Pan's gaze fell on the old man, his lips twitching subtly. If the martial arts school hadn't been renowned throughout the county, and if he hadn't actually witnessed the school's disciples displaying their martial prowess, he would have turned and left.

The old man before them had cloudy eyes and trembling hands and feet. He lay on a recliner, a trace of drool at the corner of his mouth, looking every bit the part of someone nearing the end of their life. No one could reconcile this appearance with that of the martial arts school's master. Moreover, the master was said to be under sixty; how could he have aged so much? Could it be that he was beaten by Guo Jing when they were young?

Yang Pan had many guesses in his mind, but after all, he came to learn martial arts. As long as he could learn real martial arts, it didn't matter to him who the master of the school was.

"My name is Yang Pan, and I admire martial arts. I would like to formally join the martial arts school. I humbly request the master's permission."

The old man on the recliner turned his head, opened his eyes and glanced at Yang Pan, then closed them again.

The young man beside him spoke up at the same time: "Junior Brother Yang, Master has already agreed to let you enter the academy. Please wait a moment, I will take Master inside and we will talk in detail later."

As the young man spoke, he helped the old man up and led him into the house.

……

"Since you've come to my martial arts school, you must be familiar with its rules," the young man said calmly from a stone bench beside the courtyard.

Yang Pan nodded slightly. The core of the martial arts school's operation was a transaction: disciples paid tuition to the school, and the school taught them martial arts.

However, the tuition was really expensive, costing two taels of silver a month, which was almost twice Yang Pan's monthly income. This was why Yang Pan would save money for two years. Even so, twenty-five taels of silver could only support him to practice martial arts for about a year.

"it is good."

Seeing Yang Pan nod, the young man continued:

"Once we enter the martial arts school, we'll be fellow disciples. My name is Huang Hui, and you can call me Senior Brother Huang from now on."

"You saw my master's condition just now. He has difficulty moving around, so I am the one who teaches the martial arts to the disciples in the school. You don't need to worry about not learning anything real. I have followed my master for many years and have already mastered all the true teachings. Guiding you will not be a problem."

"Thank you, Senior Brother Huang," Yang Pan said at the opportune moment.

"Well, all the disciples of my Iron River Martial Arts School practice Iron Shirt. However, Iron Shirt is an external martial art that requires physical strength, so I think you should start by learning stance training for the first month, junior brother."

Standing meditation? Yang Pan frowned slightly. He hadn't paid to learn these basic things. Huang Hui seemed to sense Yang Pan's dissatisfaction and spoke up:

"Practicing martial arts without internal strength training is a waste of time in old age. This internal strength training refers to stance training, which is the foundation of our martial arts practice. Stance training can harmonize the body's energy and strengthen strength. I see that you, Junior Brother Yang, are thin and your steps are unsteady. It would be best if you first used stance training to improve your health."

Upon hearing this, Yang Pan understood something. He had been saving money for two years, living frugally and mostly eating vegetarian food, only daring to eat meat every few months. He had even lost the little belly he had developed since his transmigration.

Now it seems that I need to take good care of myself.

……

"Standing meditation focuses on the waist and stance; the stance is dynamic, and the body should rise and fall with the breath!"

call!

suck!

In the courtyard, Huang Hui was instructing Yang Pan on Zhan Zhuang (standing meditation). It is said that experts see the details, and after practicing Zhan Zhuang, Yang Pan realized that this seemingly simple exercise actually required coordination of breathing and exhalation.

No wonder many people in my previous life learned the horse stance and bow stance, but few of them actually saw results. It seems that they had lost the core breathing technique.

Huang Hui, as expected of someone who had received the true teachings, guided Yang Pan to master the basic stance in a short time. The rest would require Yang Pan to practice diligently over many years.

However, Yang Pan had no martial arts background and was also physically weak. In less than half an hour, he was exhausted and finally collapsed to the ground.

"Junior Brother Yang, martial arts also require a proper diet. If you want to see results quickly, besides practicing diligently, you can't neglect your food," Huang Hui said, pulling Yang Pan up.

Yang Pan's face was bitter. He had thought that the silver he had was enough to last for a while. Now it seemed that the silver might be spent faster than he had imagined.

Huang Hui remained calm; he could naturally see Yang Pan's predicament. But that's how martial arts are. The inability to popularize martial arts is due not only to the deliberate suppression by the imperial court and the monopoly of martial arts sects, but also to the enormous financial burden it incurs.

For ordinary people, making a living was already incredibly difficult in the final years of the dynasty, let alone having the resources to nourish their bodies with food supplements.

However, he was powerless to help. After all, a martial arts school isn't a charity; it's a business based on mutual consent. Moreover, with the departure of several wealthy families in the county in recent months, the school's revenue has declined significantly.

Moreover, as the senior disciple of the martial arts school, Huang Hui wouldn't normally need to teach the basic stance training. However, with the school now short of disciples and manpower shortages, he has no choice but to step in personally.

With Huang Hui, an experienced martial arts master, by his side, Yang Pan became quite familiar with stance training in just one afternoon. He figured that after a while, he would be able to fully master how to stand in stance.

Yang Pan practiced until the sun was setting before leaving the martial arts school and rushing to the inn.

The inn was crowded in the morning, so he couldn't get any free time. Only in the afternoon was he relatively free. With Old Man Gao's help, Yang Pan had time to go to the martial arts school to practice.

Upon arriving at the inn, Yang Pan busied himself for a while until the moon was high in the sky before leaving again.

......

Stepping onto the potholed alleyway, Yang Pan's face was heavy. Thinking of what Old Gao had secretly told him when he left the inn earlier that day, the joy he felt from his first martial arts experience vanished as if doused with cold water.

Li Yang was right; the inn was no longer able to operate due to the current situation. The innkeeper planned to close down completely next month, leaving along with another family from the county.

However, since they were all long-time innkeepers, the innkeeper said that if they were willing, he could take them with him.

This should have been a joyous occasion for everyone, but Yang Pan was anything but happy. The news wasn't told to him directly by the shopkeeper, but rather secretly by Old Gao.

No wonder Li Yang seemed hesitant to speak to me tonight, and Master Liu was noticeably distant. It seems the shopkeeper never intended to take me away.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. Although he had been at the inn for two years, his experience was far less than that of Old Man Gao and the others.

In business, it's always important to know someone's background. Although he was introduced by the old widower, in the shopkeeper's eyes, he was still a person of unknown identity. Perhaps the shopkeeper had never trusted him. Now that he was leaving Tongjiang County, he could take the opportunity to get rid of this potential troublemaker.

As for secretly following behind the crowd and leaving together, this wasn't uncommon in previous years, but the piles of corpses in the mountains outside the county are proof of that.

Those wealthy families are not kind-hearted people. If they encounter danger, they will not allow their guards to protect these lone individuals. In fact, they might even use these people as bait to lure away the danger.

Having transmigrated to this place, Yang Pan never hesitated to speculate about people's hearts with the utmost malice, and he was unwilling to risk his life on the kindness of others.

Heh~

Anger and bitterness spread through his heart, but as he looked up at the bright moon in the sky, Yang Pan gradually calmed down.

"Being fired? It's not like I haven't been done it before. I still have a month, which should be enough time for me to find a new job."

Returning to the cabin along the alley, Yang Pan continued practicing his stance training for a while by the dim light, trying to recapture the feeling he had during the day. However, his energy was ultimately limited, and he could only persist for less than half an hour before collapsing onto the bed. He struggled to get up, blew out the lamp, and then fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Yang Pan pretended to know nothing and continued to work at the inn in the morning and practice his stances at the martial arts school in the afternoon.

Practicing alone is not as good as having someone to guide you. Yang Pan regained his sense of the feeling he couldn't grasp last night after a few words of advice from Huang Hui.

While standing in the stance and breathing exercises, Yang Pan felt, whether it was an illusion or not, that his body seemed to be getting stronger in this state.