All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

Yang Pan neither confirmed nor denied this. He had been so engrossed in exploring how to use his internal energy that he had indeed overlooked his surroundings. Naturally, he readily accepted Ke Zhen'e's guidance.

"Young man, judging from your accent, you don't seem to be a local. Are you also new to Xiangyang?"

As Guo Jing's master, Ke Zhen'e followed Guo Jing and his wife from Peach Blossom Island to Xiangyang. Recently, the Mongols have been frequently invading southward, and Xiangyang has had to prepare for war. He also knew that many martial arts practitioners had come to Xiangyang to help Guo Jing because of his reputation. When he met Yang Pan, he thought that Yang Pan was also a martial arts practitioner who had come to help Guo Jing.

Faced with Ke Zhen'e's question, Yang Pan truthfully replied, "Senior is right. I have lived in Jiaxing for a long time and escorted a caravan here two days ago."

"Jiaxing? Jiaxing is a thousand miles away from here. I imagine you must have had many companions along the way. Now you're drinking alone here. Have all your companions left?"

Hearing Ke Zhen'e's words, Yang Pan was also surprised. He thought to himself that the other party was indeed a seasoned veteran, guessing the whole story in just a few words. He then said, "I have other matters to attend to here, so I need to stay a while longer."

Yang Pan's reply was sincere and earnest, but to Ke Zhen'e, it undoubtedly confirmed his suspicions. Considering that although Guo Jing was leading the defense of Xiangyang, most martial artists were ultimately unwilling to get involved in this mess, and many were terrified of the Mongols, Ke Zhen'e coldly snorted:

"A bunch of cowards who're afraid of death. They're terrified before the Mongols even arrive. What a waste of their martial arts skills!"

He seemed extremely angry, and as he spoke, he slammed his wooden staff heavily on the ground. Almost the instant the staff hit the ground, Yang Pan noticed that the other man's robes were moving without any wind, and then a powerful aura rushed towards him.

For a moment, Yang Pan felt as if he were facing a raging wind, and he even had a faint feeling of suffocation. However, before he could circulate his internal energy to resist, the fierce momentum had suddenly disappeared.

What immense internal energy!

Yang Pan was shocked. Recalling the state of being like a small boat, unable to control himself, he looked at the old blind man in front of him with a completely different gaze.

If his previous conversations with the other party were more out of curiosity, as if he were talking to someone from his memories, then the strength the other party was now displaying truly told him that even if this person was far inferior to the Five Greats, he was still a master far stronger than him.

When facing a master, one must have enough respect in one's heart.

"Young man, are you alright? I'm so sorry, I lost my temper just now." After calming down, Ke Zhen'e realized that his behavior had been a bit extreme, and immediately apologized to Yang Pan.

"I have nothing to say. Senior, you are a man of strong character and a hatred of evil. You are a role model for us all."

"You young man speak so elegantly. Fine, this old blind man won't bother you any longer while you're drinking. I'll be leaving now..." Ke Zhen'e was about to say "leave" when a loud bird's cry came from outside the inn.

Boo!

The sound pierced through the clouds and reached the ears of everyone inside and outside the inn.

Yang Pan looked up, his gaze fixed through the inn's window on a spot a hundred meters in the sky. There, a blurry black shadow spread its wings and circled above the inn, seemingly searching for prey.

"Sigh, we haven't even had a sip of wine yet, and they've already found us so quickly." Upon hearing the chirping sound, Ke Zhen'e sighed.

Just as he finished speaking, a clear, childlike voice came from the stairwell of the inn.

"Grandpa Ke, Grandpa Ke!"

The sound of cheerful footsteps grew closer on the wooden stairs, and a moment later, a pretty little girl in a pink dress appeared on the second floor. The girl glanced around, and when she noticed the old man in black by the window, she smiled and skipped over to him.

"Grandpa Ke, you really are here! Luckily, Diao'er is here, otherwise Fu'er doesn't know how long she would have been looking." The little girl was lively and not at all shy in the face of the gazes of the people around her. She just said to Ke Zhen'e in a coquettish tone.

Faced with the little girl's coquettishness, Ke Zhen'e's face turned serious: "Didn't your mother tell you to study in your room? Why did you run out so quickly? Have you finished reading?"

"Not yet, but I couldn't find you at the manor. Knowing that you have difficulty moving around in the city, Grandpa Ke, I came out to look for you first!"

"Hmph! Don't use me as an excuse. If your mother causes you trouble when we get back home, I won't help you."

Yang sat down beside her, looking at the girl who looked to be about ten years old. Recalling that she had called herself Fu'er earlier, he knew in his heart that this was the young lady Guo, who could single-handedly take off one of the future Condor Heroes' arms.

Guo Fu was feeling rather depressed. She had run away because she couldn't stand the boredom of studying, but she hadn't expected that Grandpa Ke wouldn't help her either. Now that she was back in the mansion, her mother would definitely not let her off the hook.

As he was pondering this, his gaze fell upon the man beside him who had been silent since his arrival and was now looking at him with a strange expression. Annoyed, he said, "Hey, big black guy, why are you staring at me like that?"

"A big, dark guy?" Upon hearing this, Yang Pan paused slightly, his face stiffening. He cursed inwardly, "That little wench has no sense at all. I'm not dark at all; I'm just a bit muscular."

Before he could say anything, Ke Zhen'e chimed in, "How rude! Is this how Rong'er and Jing'er taught you?"

Sensing the anger in Grandpa Ke's tone, Guo Fu immediately shrank back, her eyelids drooping slightly as she whispered, "Then, I don't know his name."

Noticing Guo Fu's tone, Ke Zhen'e snorted coldly, then turned to Yang Pan and clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying, "Young brother, this girl has been spoiled all the time. This old blind man is here to apologize to you."

"What are you saying, Master Ke? I am just an unknown nobody in the martial arts world. Miss Guo is right to speak her mind." Yang Pan also stood up and clasped his hands in greeting, but when his gaze fell on Guo Fu again, he couldn't help but feel a little wistful.

Thinking of Huang Rong's cleverness and wit, Guo Jing, though less agile, was still wise beyond his years. But Guo Fu clearly didn't inherit the best qualities of either; she spoke quickly and bluntly, possessing a rather rough and unrefined air.

When she met Yang Pan's gaze again, and remembering that it was because of Grandpa Ke that he was angry with her, Guo Fu didn't want to give Yang Pan a good look. She wrinkled her nose at Yang Pan to express her dissatisfaction, and then turned away.

Yang Pan remained unmoved by this; at nearly thirty, he wasn't about to get angry with an eleven or twelve-year-old girl. He simply felt that today's trip hadn't been in vain. Meeting Ke Zhen'e and Guo Fu at the inn, and witnessing Ke Zhen'e's fleeting yet powerful aura, Yang Pan gained a clearer understanding of how far he still fell short of the top masters in the martial arts world.

After bidding farewell to Ke Zhen'e and leaving the inn, Yang Pan mounted his horse and continued on his way to the mountain range he had visited the day before.

Last night, a single snake gall bladder from the Bodhi tree allowed him to condense his internal energy, officially entering the level of a third-rate martial artist. If he wants to quickly accumulate internal energy and enhance his strength in the future, besides internal energy cultivation techniques, he will need the assistance of various rare and precious treasures.

Although Yang Pan is temporarily unable to switch to cultivating internal energy techniques, the third level of the Iron Shirt technique is enough for him to refine more internal energy with the help of the Bodhi Snake Gallbladder. Even if he cannot continue to expand his other meridians, expanding his current two meridians is still a good thing.

Having learned from his first experience, Yang Pan easily found the location of the Bodhi Snake the day before.

This location is already close to the center of the mountain range; going any further would take you deep into the mountains. However, Yang Pan was not afraid. As the saying goes, skill breeds courage. Now that he had cultivated his inner strength, both his power and speed were much greater than before. Even if he encountered any danger, he should be able to escape in time.

Moreover, this mountain range isn't very vast, so there probably aren't any large, ferocious beasts inside, except for that divine eagle, of course. But that divine eagle is intelligent, so it probably doesn't eat people.

With this thought in mind, Yang Pan took his knife and pushed through the grass.

The further you go, the fewer shrubs there are, and the more trees that look quite old appear.