All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

In the small courtyard north of the city, Yang Pan returned directly after leaving the branch hall. The merchant guild was scheduled to depart the day after tomorrow. Since he had decided to stay in Xiangyang for some time, he naturally needed to pack some changes of clothes, and most importantly, he needed to prepare several large-denomination banknotes for easy carrying.

In fact, Yang Pan originally planned to talk to Senior Brother Huang and Senior Brother Shi about this matter, but he thought that Senior Brother Huang had already settled down and started a family here, and Senior Brother Shi was now a guard for a wealthy family, so it was really impossible for him to leave easily.

Moreover, the two of them have now left the martial arts world and are just ordinary people in the city. They are unlikely to offend Li Mochou. However, Yang Pan still gave them a reminder before they left.

......

Two days later, in an open space outside Jiaxing City, rows of horse-drawn carts loaded with goods were parked along the official road, and the grooms were feeding the horses. The journey from Jiaxing to Xiangyang was long, and if these horses were not fed, they could easily buck and fall over halfway.

At this moment, the pavilion next to the pipeline was crowded with several martial arts practitioners, some standing and some sitting. In the middle of the pavilion sat a middle-aged man dressed in brocade robes with a mustache.

This man was the manager of the Qingliu Trading Company who accompanied the goods on this trip, while the Jianghu people around him were disciples from various gangs who had accepted the escort mission.

There was still an hour before the official departure time, and many martial arts practitioners who had accepted missions were still heading to this place.

Yang sat cross-legged under a large tree not far from the pavilion, with Zhang Xu, another five-bag disciple who had traveled with him, beside him. Since the merchant guild required that the guards for this trip be at least third-rate martial artists, they would naturally conduct a thorough examination of these martial artists who had come.

The testing process involved sparring with a third-rate martial artist trained within the Chamber of Commerce. The strength of martial artists could usually be discerned in a single move.

Since Yang Pan had no internal energy, he naturally clashed with his opponent using weapons. After one move, his opponent naturally acknowledged Yang Pan's strength.

There was still an hour before departure, so the martial arts practitioners gathered together to introduce themselves and chat. Yang Pan didn't join in, because his senior brother Zhang was actively explaining some of his experiences in the martial arts world to him.

"Junior Brother Yang, you've always stayed in Jiaxing. This should be your first time stepping into the martial world."

Zhang Xu's voice was calm and even. His white martial arts outfit, paired with the long sword in his hand, made him look dashing. Anyone who saw him would call him a young hero.

The Beggars' Sect does not force its members to wear tattered beggar's clothes, especially for members with five bags or more. These members often represent the face of the Beggars' Sect and must not be inferior to other sects in appearance.

Even Yang Pan was dressed in a light blue outfit, looking energetic and with a more robust physique.

However, the hall masters, branch leaders, and even elders within the Beggars' Sect would deliberately put several patches on their clothes in order to highlight the sect's teachings of sharing hardships and never forgetting their roots.

The reason why the Beggars' Sect is always perceived as a group of beggars is naturally because the number of its members is so large. Those who beg in tattered clothes are mostly lower-level members of the Beggars' Sect who cannot afford to wear overly luxurious clothes.

However, the Beggars' Sect's rise to become the largest sect in the martial arts world is built upon its vast number of lower-level disciples.

Hearing Zhang Xu's words, Yang Pan nodded: "Junior brother has little experience in the martial world, I wonder if Senior Brother Zhang could impart some of his experience?"

He spent most of the past two years cultivating, and even when he went out on missions, he rarely left Jiaxing, so he naturally knew very little about the various situations in the martial arts world.

Although Yang Pan was fully aware of the major events that would occur in the future of the Condor Heroes world, he felt he still needed to learn more about the details that were not described and the martial arts sects that were not mentioned.

Seeing Yang Pan's humble attitude, Zhang Xu's smile widened, and he readily said, "What's there to talk about imparting knowledge to? I only have some shallow experience myself."

After speaking, the other party paused as if organizing his thoughts, then glanced around at the surrounding martial arts practitioners and asked, "Junior Brother, are you able to identify the identities of these fellow martial artists around us?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Pan subconsciously scanned the surrounding martial arts figures. He wondered how many martial arts gangs the Qingliu Trading Company had commissioned; there were already over a dozen people gathered here. Some were unarmed, but most were armed with knives, spears, clubs, and other weapons.

At first glance, there was nothing particularly special about it. At least he didn't see anyone carrying any unusual weapons. It seems that when traveling, no one wants to be too different or eye-catching.

However, judging solely from their attire, Yang Pan couldn't identify the rest of them, except for a few familiar faces from the Black Tiger Martial Arts School and the Canal Gang.

However, the appearance of each martial artist in the martial arts world will be different because of the martial arts they practice. For example, the few unarmed men that Yang Pan was looking at at this moment.

They must be quite familiar with each other, or perhaps they even come from the same martial arts sect.

The group was dressed in sleeveless short-sleeved outfits, and their exposed hands and arms appeared particularly thick. However, they were not as burly and tall as Yang Pan, a martial artist who cultivated hard body techniques. Instead, they appeared rather slender. Yang Pan could not identify the group, but he knew that they were at least skilled in hand techniques.

He told Zhang Xu his guess, and Zhang Xu chuckled and said, "Junior Brother Yang is right. Those people all practice palm techniques and they all come from Lu Family Village."

"Lu Family Village?"

Upon hearing these three words, Yang Pan's heart stirred. Yang Pan also knew something about Lu Family Village. He remembered that Guo Jing would soon launch a heroes' gathering, and the gathering would be held at Lu Family Village in Dasheng Pass.

However, his understanding of Lu Family Village was limited to the descriptions in the book, and he was not very clear about the details.

Seeing Yang Pan's confusion, Zhang Xu continued, "The predecessor of Lu Family Manor was Guiyun Manor. Guiyun Manor was located at the foot of Taihu Lake and engaged in waterborne trade. You may not know the current manor owner, Lu Guanying, but his father, Lu Chengfeng, was once a disciple of Huang Lao, one of the Five Great Masters of our time."

However, Master Lu had no intention of spreading this news. It's only because our Beggars' Sect is well-informed that we know about it. Junior Brother Yang, please don't spread this around in private.

Yang Pan nodded, already aware of the information Zhang Xu had provided.

Seeing that Yang Pan had agreed, Zhang Xu continued, "Guiyun Manor does business on the water, so most of its disciples are skilled swimmers. To swim fast in the water, one must be strong in both hands and legs. This is somewhat similar to the Canal Gang, but the Canal Gang is ultimately a group of scattered people who make a living by the water. They don't have many profound martial arts techniques, and few can develop such skills."

After speaking about the people from Lu Family Manor, Zhang Xu didn't stop. He gestured with his chin towards another martial artist holding a long spear and said:

"The one holding the long spear should be from the Golden Spear Sect in Huayin County. The disciples of the sect all practice spear techniques. It is said that these techniques originated from the battlefield, so the disciples of the sect have a certain military and ruthless aura."

Yang Pan followed the other person's gaze and saw that the gun-wielding warrior stood upright with a hard face and no expression. He also exuded an aura that kept strangers at bay.

Thinking of Zhang Xu's words about the spear technique originating from the battlefield, Yang Pan couldn't help but think of the Yang family spear technique from the time of The Eagle Shooting Heroes. It is said that this spear technique was inherited by the anti-Jin general Yang Zaixing and was also a battlefield spear technique.

Thinking of this, Yang Pan sighed inwardly at the intricate relationship between the martial arts world and the imperial court. Despite the abundance of masters in the martial arts world, there might also be many hidden masters within the current imperial court.

Next, Zhang Xu described the identities and sects of other martial artists to Yang Pan, based on their weapons, physiques, and clothing. Seeing how knowledgeable Zhang Xu was, Yang Pan was filled with admiration.

Putting aside strength, Yang Pan felt that he was far inferior to his opponent in terms of experience and knowledge in the martial arts world.

While individual strength is undoubtedly the most important thing in the martial arts world, a thorough understanding of the various factions within it can also help one resolve many troubles. Yang Pan thought to himself that perhaps after he condensed his inner strength this time, he should also make a proper journey through the martial arts world.

After all, wielding a sword and riding a horse, living a carefree life in the martial world, was once his dream.

Even if all else fails, he should make good use of the Beggars' Sect's intelligence network to gain a detailed understanding of the various factions and schools in the martial arts world.

The two chatted as they waited, and an hour passed quickly. By the time they were about to set off, nearly twenty martial arts practitioners had gathered around the pavilion.

Even excluding the martial artists within the business, there were as many as seventeen or eighteen guards commissioned this time, and these were all third-rate martial artists who had cultivated internal strength.

Such power is enough to sweep through all the Beggars' Sect branches in the city. I wonder what exactly the Green Willow Merchant Guild has asked them to escort this time.

Yang Pan glanced at the tightly covered carriages, but since he didn't have X-ray vision, he couldn't see the contents. However, with so many skilled martial artists escorting them, the journey should be much safer.