All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

call!

The night wind dispersed the stench of blood from his nose and mouth. Yang Pan let out a long breath, looking at the corpse lying at his feet with its eyes wide open. He had heard the corpse's last words, of course, but he ignored them.

A life-or-death struggle cannot be resolved with a simple surrender. In fact, apart from confirming the other party's identity at the beginning, Yang Pan did not utter a single word throughout the entire process.

He knew that in a battle where one person had to die, any words were meaningless. Rather than endless chatter, he preferred to conserve his energy and focus on the fight.

Releasing his longsword, Yang Pan looked down at his still slightly trembling hands, his chest surging with emotion. Tonight's battle wasn't particularly perilous; it was merely a simple back-and-forth exchange, more of a test of endurance than anything else.

The opponent intended to exhaust Yang Pan's stamina and then kill him with a single blow using his agility, but he did not expect Yang Pan's swordsmanship to be so skillful. Yang Pan, on the other hand, wanted to deplete the opponent's internal energy and wait for the right moment to kill him with a single strike.

The two were evenly matched, but in the end Yang Pan lasted longer, so he was the one who won and survived.

Tread!

Yang Pan was still immersed in the exhilarating thrill of the battle when two figures emerged from the house behind him.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Yang, on beheading the enemy!" Ma Yongping, dressed in a gray short-sleeved outfit, approached Yang Pan and clapped his hands in congratulations.

"What a clean and decisive strike! With your current strength, Junior Brother Yang, we two probably won't be able to offer you any more guidance in the future."

Sun Xin also said with a grin, his gaze falling on Ding Feng's corpse. When he saw the knife wounds on the corpse's neck and wrists, his pupils dilated slightly.

"I'm so sorry to have troubled you two senior brothers to keep me in check this time. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have dared to go all out."

Yang Pan calmed his emotions and bowed to the two men in thanks. Both of them were fifth-bag disciples in the branch hall, and for the past two years, Yang Pan had mostly sought their guidance on his fist and sword techniques.

After deciding to eliminate the threat completely during the day, Yang Pan asked two people to come and provide backup. Although he was determined to fight these third-rate martial artists head-on, Yang Pan was also afraid that they would lack martial ethics and resort to underhanded tactics.

At that time, if Yang Pan were in danger, the two of them could come to his rescue in time. Fortunately, Ding Feng was also a straightforward person. Although he was very vigilant, he ultimately chose to fight Yang Pan head-on, which allowed him to have a real understanding of his current strength.

"Junior brother, what are you saying? We've received a lot of help from you on a regular basis, so this little thing is nothing. Besides, we didn't even lift a finger," Sun Xin chuckled.

Yang Pan didn't say anything more about this, as martial artists need money to learn martial arts.

Especially after developing internal strength, the financial expenditure will only increase if one wants to continue to improve. The essence of cultivating internal strength is refining essence into qi, and this "essence" cannot be replenished by simply eating white flour buns; it requires the assistance of large amounts of meat, fish, and various medicinal herbs.

Fortunately, Yang Pan received a considerable share of the profits from the inn each year, and besides his own cultivation, he would also spend money to befriend some five-bag disciples.

Ma Yongping and Sun Xin were the people Yang Pan had befriended, and he had spent a considerable amount of money on them over the past two years. Otherwise, even if they were both disciples of the Beggars' Sect and even if they were valued by the sect leader, there would be no reason for them to frequently instruct Yang Pan, let alone come here tonight to help him out.

"It's a pity that Ding Feng doesn't have much of a reputation in the martial arts world. Although he has a bad name, it's not as good as that bandit's second-in-command. I'm afraid he won't contribute much," Ma Yongping said regretfully. A small contribution means that he won't be of much help to Yang Pan's promotion to a five-bag disciple.

Although Yang Pan has personally killed a third-rate martial artist, according to the Beggars' Sect rules, he still cannot directly become a five-bag disciple without having cultivated internal energy.

However, Yang Pan didn't care about this. He no longer cared much about his contributions. Developing internal energy was just a matter of time for him. He had a feeling that he would be able to condense his internal energy in no more than half a year, at which time the internal energy cultivation method would be readily available.

The three then chatted briefly under the cover of night, before summoning a few low-ranking members of the Beggars' Sect to deal with the body. Yang Pan felt it was unlucky to leave the corpse lying in the courtyard overnight, and he also conducted a thorough search of the body during this time.

It's said that murder and arson bring wealth and power, and Yang Pan has certainly experienced this firsthand during his bandit suppression missions over the past two years. He's found quite a bit of silver and even some martial arts manuals, though they're all basic techniques that don't interest him.

However, Ding Feng's display of movement skills tonight still impressed Yang Pan. The fist and knife techniques he had learned were all wide and sweeping, and he was good at close combat, but he really didn't have any movement techniques. Even the Beggar Clan's techniques open to lower-level disciples did not include any movement technique manuals.

If Yang Pan could obtain the other party's movement technique manual, he could study it for the next six months.

Unfortunately, Ding Feng didn't have any secret manuals on him. Perhaps he had already memorized them perfectly, so there was no need for him to carry any with him.

After dealing with the body, Yang Pan finally relaxed completely and went back inside to sleep soundly until dawn.

......

The next day, a considerable commotion broke out in the Beggars' Sect branch.

Although Yang Pan's fight last night wasn't very loud, some of the lower-level Beggars' Sect disciples who helped dispose of the body witnessed it. In addition, Ma Yongping and Sun Xin, two five-bag disciples, deliberately spread the word, so the entire branch knew that Yang Pan, a four-bag disciple, had personally killed a third-rate martial artist last night.

A third-rate martial artist may not be considered a master in the vast world of martial arts, but they represent the most crucial hurdle for countless lower-level martial artists on their path to becoming masters. After all, without developing internal energy, one will never qualify as a master.

Once one cultivates internal strength, even if it's only third-rate, their strength and status will be vastly different from ordinary martial artists.

Putting aside everything else, just look at the Beggars' Sect itself. The five-bag disciples who are third-rate martial artists are the backbone of the sect. Which disciple below the five-bag level wouldn't call them "senior brother" when they see them?

Yang Pan, an ordinary martial artist who hadn't even cultivated internal energy, was able to kill a third-rate martial artist. How could this not shock and envious everyone? Therefore, when Yang Pan arrived at the branch hall the next day, the Beggar Clan disciples made no attempt to hide their admiration and fawning over him.

Even Wang Yue, the hall master, was overjoyed. He had intended to cultivate Yang Pan, but he never expected Yang Pan to give him such a big surprise.

If he can kill a third-rate martial artist without internal energy, his strength will definitely skyrocket once he develops internal energy. In that case, Wang Yue can be considered to have cultivated a promising young talent for the Beggars' Sect, and he will surely make a great contribution.

Faced with the praise and envy from the other disciples, Yang Pan felt slightly uncomfortable. Although he had some reputation among the lower-level disciples of the gang before, he was ultimately just an ordinary martial artist with some strength, and his so-called reputation was mostly known around the docks.

But now, with the Beggars' Sect disciples' promotion, Yang Pan feels as if he has suddenly stepped out from behind the scenes and into the spotlight.

His attention was no longer limited to the Beggars' Sect; perhaps many other gangs in the city had also begun to take notice of him.

Yang Pan didn't complain about this, nor did he worry that "the tallest tree in the forest catches the most wind." After all, apart from Chixia Manor, no other gang in Jiaxing City could rival the Beggars' Gang in terms of power and influence.

Moreover, no matter how much the Beggars' Sect boasts, to the true masters in the city, Yang Pan is ultimately just a low-level martial artist without internal energy.

As for Chixia Manor, it was the residence of Li Mochou, the famous Red Serpent Fairy. However, her whereabouts were always elusive, and she had not appeared in Jiaxing City in recent years.

In addition, the other party was ruthless and almost like a heretic, so the gangs in Jiaxing City hardly ever mentioned him.

Apart from Chixia Manor, the remaining gangs naturally wouldn't harbor any malicious intent to harm Yang Pan.

Moreover, a great reputation has its advantages. For example, although Yang Pan is still a four-bag disciple, according to Hall Master Wang, as long as he accumulates some more contributions, he can become a five-bag disciple in less than half a year, even if he has not developed internal strength.

This was good news for Yang Pan, since the sooner he came into contact with advanced internal energy cultivation techniques, the faster his strength would grow. However, there was one thing that made Yang Pan somewhat unhappy.

That is, the greater his fame became, the more people knew the name "Black King Kong." To this day, Yang Pan still doesn't know who gave him the name "Black King Kong."

It was alright before; even if it spread, it was limited to the vicinity of the docks. But now, the name has begun to spread into the inner city, and it seems to be getting more and more attached to him.