All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

In the east of the city, at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, on the second floor near the window, Yang Pan and Ma Wu sat together drinking and eating.

Yang Pan was able to quickly defeat Ding Feng thanks to the message Ma Wu delivered to him. However, after defeating Ding Feng, Yang Pan was mentioned so frequently by the people of the city and the disciples of the martial arts gangs that he felt watched wherever he went. Therefore, Yang Pan hid in his courtyard and practiced martial arts for a few days.

During that time, I also attended the first birthday party of Brother Huang's daughter, and afterwards I stayed in my own courtyard without going out.

Only now, when the information has subsided, has he invited Ma Wu out for drinks as a way of expressing his gratitude.

"Hehe, Junior Brother Yang, no, soon to be Senior Brother Yang, I'd like to congratulate you in advance."

Ma Wu raised his wine cup and said with a smile, "Within the Beggars' Sect, strength ultimately determines rank. Unless you're from the same sect, whoever is stronger or has a higher rank is the senior brother."

Yang Pan waved his hand, raised his glass in return, and said, "Brother Ma, you're too kind. Just call me Brother Yang. Without you, I probably wouldn't even know who this person is. I should be the one thanking you."

After saying that, he took the lead and drank the wine in his cup in one gulp. The wine at Zuixianlou was not the strong liquor of Xinglong Inn; it was mainly yellow wine and fruit wine.

As for Yang Pan, who has always disliked the pungent taste of baijiu, no matter how booming the business of strong throat lozenges is, he can't say he likes it. Instead, he prefers fruit wine with a hint of sweetness and a smooth taste.

"Brother Yang, with your current contributions, you only need to take on one or two more missions to become a five-bag disciple. There are some missions available in the gang right now; you can go and take a look later, Brother Yang," Ma Wu said, putting down his wine cup.

In the past two years, he has been trying to get closer to Yang Pan, so their relationship is now quite close, and there is no hesitation in their brotherly support. Once Yang Pan becomes a five-bag disciple, he will also benefit greatly from it in the future.

"Yes," Yang Pan nodded. That was his original plan as well. Although he should be able to condense his internal energy within the next six months, it was clear that he could become a five-bag disciple faster by contributing. In that case, he could first ask Sun and Ma which internal energy cultivation methods a five-bag disciple could choose.

Yang Pan pondered in his heart, occasionally exchanging a few words with Ma Wu.

Zuixianlou, also located in the east of the city, is a long-established inn that has been open for decades. Although it doesn't have the strong liquor of Xinglong Inn, it still surpasses Xinglong Inn in terms of business, and the reason for this is that this inn has a story to tell.

Decades ago, the master of the now-famous hero Guo Jing, one of the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan, fought against Master Qiu, one of the Seven Immortals of Quanzhen, here. Although the battle damaged the inn considerably, it was witnessed by many in the martial arts world. Now, only one of the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan remains, and Master Qiu spends most of his time in Zhongnan Mountain, detached from worldly affairs.

However, these two groups are always considered unattainable masters by ordinary people, and people in the martial arts world always like to follow the deeds and whereabouts of martial arts masters. Therefore, Zuixianlou has become the most frequented place for people in the martial arts world ever since.

People from all walks of life in the martial arts world gather together and always have something to say about it. Often, the information in the city comes from these people from all over the country.

"The Mongol Tartars are getting more and more arrogant. They just captured Anqing Prefecture two years ago, and now they're going to attack Xiangyang!"

"Hmph! With Master Guo guarding the city, and Beggar Clan disciples and numerous martial arts masters within, the Tartars' desire to conquer Xiangyang is utterly delusional!"

"Alas, while Master Guo is indeed highly skilled in martial arts, the Tartars are not without their own experts. Several months ago, I heard that some Tartar prince actually stormed the Quanzhen Sect on Zhongnan Mountain. If it weren't for Master Guo's timely intervention, I'm afraid..."

"Why boost the enemy's morale and diminish our own? No matter how powerful that Tartar prince is, he was still defeated by Hero Guo. If you ask me, with Hero Guo and Chief Huang around in Xiangyang, everything will be fine!"

"Yeah yeah......"

......

As Yang Pan listened to the various stories told by the people of the martial arts world, some long-forgotten memories slowly resurfaced in his mind. Although two years was a short time, Yang Pan felt that he had experienced a great deal. From escaping death in Tongjiang County to settling in Jiaxing and joining the Beggars' Sect. From fighting at the docks to gathering intelligence and eliminating bandits outside the city.

Although the time was short, it was richer than the more than twenty years he had lived before his transmigration. Now, he has even completely integrated into this martial arts world and has begun to gradually forget the so-called plots and stories he knew in his mind.

Plot? What is plot?

In his first year after transmigrating, Yang Pan had just heard the news of Guo Jing defending Xiangyang. After learning that he had come to the world of The Return of the Condor Heroes, he also thought about joining the Ancient Tomb of the whole town to obtain the Nine Yin and Nine Yang.

However, it wasn't until Maka integrated into life in this world and felt the oppression brought by war that she gradually realized that this was a real world, not just the worldview in the book that revolved around the protagonist.

Besides the main characters, there are other real, living, breathing people, each with their own stories. This vast world cannot be described in detail in just a few tens of thousands of words.

Therefore, even though Yang Pan knew that Yang Guo was a prodigy of his time and Guo Jing was a renowned hero in the martial arts world, he never made a point of inquiring about or paying attention to them. At that time, he was still an unknown Beggar Clan disciple, and the former two were too far removed from him. He just never expected to hear news related to the two of them in this Drunken Immortal Pavilion.

"Huo Du attacked the Quanzhen Sect a few months ago. Judging from this, Yang Guo should have already joined the Ancient Tomb Sect by now."

Thinking to himself, Yang Pan felt a pang of envy as he realized that the other person would develop considerable internal strength in another two or three years. He himself had been practicing martial arts for three years, yet he hadn't even developed any internal strength. The difference between them was considerable.

However, this is the norm for ordinary martial arts practitioners. Without outstanding talent, and limited by techniques, resources, and renowned teachers, it is extremely difficult to cultivate profound internal strength.

"However, if you have time, you can go to Xiangyang City to take a look. The Bodhi Serpent there is a rare item that can help increase internal strength."

Yang Pan can now sense Qi, but he is unable to condense internal energy. He has also considered that it might be because his sense of Qi is not condensed enough, and that his meridians are probably more difficult to open than those of ordinary people.

If the Qi sensation is more concentrated before condensing internal energy, it should be able to open up the meridians and thus condense internal energy.

Since the gathering of Qi is related to essence and Qi, and this Bodhi snake gall can increase internal strength, it must also have a strong effect on gathering essence and Qi and enhancing the sense of Qi. If Yang Pan could take one, he might be able to gather internal strength directly.

However, Jiaxing is too far from Xiangyang, and it usually takes ten days to half a month to travel there. A round trip would take a month, which would be enough time for Yang Pan to complete a few more contribution tasks and become a five-bag disciple.

Moreover, a long journey often means danger. Yang Pan was well aware of his own limitations. Although he had a reputation in Jiaxing City, once he left Jiaxing City, his strength would be what mattered.

In the past, when they went out of the city to suppress bandits, they always followed the five-bag disciples of the Beggars' Clan, or even the hall master, and the journey was not too far from Jiaxing City, so the level of danger was naturally not high. But if Yang Pan wanted to go to Xiangyang, even if the hall master valued him, it was not certain that he would send a Beggars' Clan disciple to accompany him.

Even if he was already capable of killing third-rate martial artists, he figured Ding Feng was probably weak even among third-rate martial artists, and there were countless stronger ones outside the city. If he acted alone, there was a chance he would be recklessly killed.

As an immortal, Yang Pan constantly reminded himself to proceed steadily and surely. There were still over twenty years before the Mongols conquered the world, enough time for him to mature.