All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

The journey from Jiaxing to Xiangyang passes through Hangzhou and Suzhou. As the ancients often said, "Above is heaven, below are Suzhou and Hangzhou." Yang Pan naturally had a lot of curiosity about these two legendary ancient cities.

Although Yang Pan had visited Suzhou and Hangzhou before, all he had seen were high-rise buildings and busy roads. He had never seen their antique charm before.

The caravan arrived in Suzhou at dusk. The long carriages entering through the city gates inevitably attracted the attention of the crowd, but after seeing the martial arts practitioners with weapons all around, ordinary people dared not pay too much attention.

"The last time I came to Suzhou was a month ago when I was tracking down a flower thief. I didn't expect to be back here so soon."

Holding a long sword, Zhang Xu's white martial robe fluttered gently in the evening breeze, and his slightly sentimental expression gave him a melancholic and weathered look, which attracted many young women and women on both sides of the street.

"Hmph, what a show-off, pretty boy!" A deep groan came from behind Yang Pan. Without turning around, Yang Pan knew who was speaking.

Along the way, the group inevitably chatted with each other, from their respective sects to their specialties in martial arts, and these martial artists naturally became acquainted as a result.

However, since they are all people of the martial arts world, they inevitably spar and compete with each other along the way. Some who get along well can become friends after a few exchanges, while others with different martial arts styles will inevitably have disagreements about their respective skills after the exchange.

The Beggars' Sect possesses a wide variety of martial arts techniques, including not only fist and sword styles but also movement techniques. Zhang Xu, in particular, has mastered a movement technique, and his agility is renowned throughout the martial world. This led to a disagreement between Zhang Xu and a disciple of the Lu Family Manor during a sparring session on the road.

The reason is simple: the disciples of the Lu Family Manor practice a palm technique that is powerful and forceful, so they naturally don't get much advantage when they encounter an opponent like Zhang Xu, who is known for his agility.

Even though the disciples of the Lu Family Manor tried to provoke Zhang Xu with words, Zhang Xu refused to back down, and in the end, the disciples of the Lu Family Manor had no choice but to give in.

However, the opponent was extremely dissatisfied with the defeat, so he wanted to compete with Zhang Xu again on the way. However, Zhang Xu was cunning and refused to agree, instead using this as a way to retaliate.

Fortunately, the relationship between the Lu Family Manor and the Beggars' Sect had always been good, and the two only had some verbal disputes on the road, so it didn't escalate into them becoming enemies.

"Hehe, some people are just sour grapes. After all, these girls don't like big guys, and you can't even scrub their backs when you're all muscle." Zhang Xu said casually, not taking the other person's words to heart at all.

Listening to the two arguing, Yang Pan, caught in the middle, also turned somewhat pale. He felt that Senior Brother Zhang had gone too far with his sweeping generalizations, even affecting him. After all, when it came to size, he was known as the "Black King Kong" in Jiaxing City.

However, Yang Pan had no regrets about his current physique. In fact, he planned to continue searching for stronger external martial arts techniques in the martial arts world or within the Beggars' Sect after he had developed his internal strength in Xiangyang.

The world of martial arts is treacherous, rife with open and covert attacks. No matter how profound one's inner strength, there will always come a day when one becomes complacent and falls victim to a sneak attack.

There are many poisons or weapons in the martial arts world that target a martial artist's internal energy. Once a martial artist loses their internal energy, their overall combat strength will be greatly reduced. Throughout history, countless masters have been defeated because of this.

However, there are different types of external martial arts training, which focus on strengthening the physical body. Even if a martial artist who has mastered external martial arts training loses his internal energy, his powerful defense and terrifying physical strength will absolutely terrify his enemies.

Therefore, ever since Yang Pan began practicing Iron Shirt, he has been particularly fond of external martial arts techniques, since only the thickest armor can withstand the most severe blows!

......

After entering the city, the caravan found an inn to stay at. Although the goods they were escorting were entrusted to the inn for safekeeping in the backyard, the martial artists still needed to take turns guarding them at night. Therefore, the rooms for Yang Pan and the other escorting martial artists were arranged near the backyard.

Fortunately, since the duty was rotated, the warriors who were not on duty had relatively more freedom during this time and could wander around the city at will for their own amusement.

Although Suzhou was a bustling city, it and Jiaxing were both located in the Jiangnan region. Even if Suzhou was more bustling at night, it would only be more crowded and the atmosphere a little more lively. So after strolling around with his senior brother Zhang for a while, Yang Pan declined the invitation to go to a brothel and returned to the inn directly.

It wasn't that Yang Pan was pretending to be a virtuous gentleman by not going to brothels; after all, he had frequented brothels and pleasure boats in Jiaxing City quite often over the past two years.

Before his transmigration, he had been single until the age of twenty-six, never even holding a girl's hand. Now, in this era, with plenty of money and everything legal, how could Yang Pan possibly resist trying to win a girl's heart?

Now that he is about to condense his inner strength, he should know that the process of condensing inner strength is to refine essence into qi. If too much essence is lost, it will be detrimental to his condensation of inner strength. Rather than damaging his kidneys and depleting his essence in that brothel, Yang Pan would rather practice his boxing in the backyard of the inn.

Although swordsmanship is Yang Pan's most powerful means of combat, he does not want to give up his fist techniques. In fact, his original plan was to completely abandon the advantage of weapons and rely solely on fist techniques to travel the world when he has mastered his divine skills.

Because at that level, a casual punch or kick is more powerful and ferocious than any sword or axe strike from a martial arts master, and weapons would only restrict his ability to perform.

After resting for the night at the inn, the caravan replenished its food and water supplies the next day before continuing its journey. The caravan traveled mainly on official roads, avoiding any remote or secluded paths. Furthermore, with numerous martial artists escorting them, they encountered no bandits or outlaws attempting to rob them.

The wheels of the caravan left clear tracks on the ground, and after traveling for half a month, the caravan finally arrived at the gates of Xiangyang. If the first impression of cities like Jiaxing and Suzhou was one of prosperity and bustle, then the first impression Yang Pan had of Xiangyang was one of desolation and vicissitude.

The fact that there were still traces of blood on the outer city wall that hadn't dried and some broken bricks that hadn't been replaced was enough to show how many attacks Xiangyang City had suffered.

Despite the repeated southward incursions of the Mongol hordes, Xiangyang City has been able to hold out to this day not only because it is inherently easy to defend but also because of the indispensable strength of Guo Jing and the many martial arts practitioners who remained in the city.

Thinking back to the original story where Guo Jing was able to fly down the city wall and fight his way through the enemy's encirclement during the great battle between the two armies, Yang Pan could hardly imagine what level of strength the other party had reached. Could it be that the Five Greats had become fundamentally different from other martial arts practitioners?

Yang Pan believed that with his current strength, he would only be able to run away from the Mongol troops who invaded Tongjiang County two years ago, let alone rampage through a large army.

These were simply legends to him; even before his time travel, Yang Pan would have considered them as superhumans.

Fortunately, he has now arrived in this world and possesses the Dao Fruit of Longevity. Yang Pan is confident that he will reach the same level in the future, or even surpass his opponent. Right now, all he lacks is time...

Following the caravan into the city, the soldiers guarding the city did not stop them. Once inside the city, the manager of the Qingliu Trading Company led the way directly to the city center, eventually stopping in front of the government office.

As Yang Pan watched the people coming out of the yamen open and inspect the goods one by one, he realized that most of what he and his men had been escorting along the way was grain and medicine, with only a very small amount of porcelain and the like.

Considering that Xiangyang was the front line for defending against the Mongols, it was indeed necessary to stockpile more grain and fodder while there was no fighting at the moment.

The caravan arrived safely in Xiangyang, and Yang Pan and his group's mission was now successfully completed. Next, everyone decided whether to stay or leave, or find an inn in the city to stay in.

Yang Pan and Zhang Xu did not look for an inn to stay in like the others, because there was a Beggars' Sect branch in Xiangyang City.

As members of the Beggars' Sect, the two only needed to state their identities to be allowed to stay in the guest rooms at the helm.

After settling down in Xiangyang, Yang Pan rested for the first day, and on the second day he made an excuse to say goodbye to Zhang Xu and went to Xiangyang alone to find the Bodhi Qu Snake.

Yang Pan didn't know the exact location of the Bodhi Serpent, only that the original trajectory described it as being in a mountain range. Yang Pan had indeed seen a mountain range on his way to Xiangyang with the caravan, roughly to the northwest of the city.

Having found his direction, Yang Pan didn't delay any longer. He mounted the horse he had bought in the city and headed straight for the mountain range.