All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

After waiting for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, until the python's body was limp and motionless on the ground, Yang Pan dared to slowly approach.

"What did this thing eat to grow so big? Its scales are quite tough." Yang Pan pulled the long knife out of the snake's mouth and gently ran it across the scales to feel their resilience, pondering to himself.

This mountain range isn't very large, much smaller than the tropical rainforests we'd seen before the crossing. Furthermore, Xiangyang is geographically located in the south, with a warm and pleasant climate; logically, there shouldn't be pythons of this size here.

Although he had no expertise in snakes, he had watched many nature documentaries before his transmigration and knew that pythons like this generally lived in tropical and subtropical regions, and that a geographical environment like Xiangyang simply did not provide them with a place to survive. However, the thought that there was an unusually large divine eagle deep in these mountains made Yang Pan feel somewhat relieved.

Perhaps there are some strange things in this mountain range, just like at the bottom of the cliff where Zhang Wuji stayed. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why the Divine Eagle was so big, or even the fact that the gall of the Bodhi Snake has such effects. It might also be related to the strange things in this mountain.

Although he had a guess in mind, Yang Pan didn't have the urgent desire to search for it. To him, the effect of rare and precious materials was to increase the speed of internal energy cultivation, and he already possessed a rare item like the Bodhi Serpent.

Instead of wasting time searching for other treasures, it's more important to improve our internal energy cultivation as soon as possible. After all, the mountain range is right here, and the treasures growing within it can't just run away.

Sheathing his longsword, Yang Pan's gaze returned to the giant python before him. The python was enormous, and Yang Pan couldn't bring it back to the city; besides, doing so would be too conspicuous and inevitably arouse suspicion.

However, Yang Pan didn't know if the snake gall had the same effects as the Pusiqu snake, and he dared not eat it indiscriminately, since not all snake galls are edible, and some contain potent poisons. Nevertheless, this did not stop Yang Pan from taking out the snake gall and waiting to test it on an animal after returning to the city.

As the longsword pierced the snake's belly, an even stronger, more pungent stench wafted out. Suppressing the smell, Yang Pan continued slicing along the snake's belly until he finally saw a snake gall bladder enveloped in blood. Reaching out to remove it, he discovered that the gall bladder was already about three fingers thick and quite heavy in his hand.

After removing the snake's gall bladder, Yang Pan didn't bother with the python's corpse anymore. Perhaps the snake meat was highly nutritious, but as mentioned before, it was something whose safety couldn't be guaranteed, and Yang Pan was determined not to touch it.

With the Bodhi Serpent and its gall bladder, Yang Pan felt his day had been quite fruitful, and the battle with the giant python had also given him a great sense of satisfaction. Returning to the outer edge of the mountain range, before it became completely dark, Yang Pan mounted his horse and rode back to Xiangyang City.

......

At Xiangfeng Inn, Yang Pan did not return to the branch headquarters; he was covered in filth and needed a thorough cleaning.

"Waiter, get me a room and some hot water. Also, buy me a change of clothes. The rest of the money is yours." Yang Pan walked into the inn and handed a two-tael coin to the waiter.

In this era, a night's stay at an inn costs only thirty to fifty copper coins. If you buy a complete set of clothes that aren't too expensive, about one tael of silver is enough. The remaining silver is more than enough to cover the waiter's errand fees, and it's even equivalent to almost half a month's income for him.

So when he received the silver, the waiter was all smiles and led Yang Pan to his room, while immediately instructing the kitchen to boil water. Just as Yang Pan took off his clothes and stepped into the basin of water, the waiter had already placed the new clothes in the room.

After taking a hot shower, Yang Pan changed into a new set of clothes.

This time, the clothes were a complete set of black silk tight-fitting clothes, with some dark cloud patterns embroidered on the edges of the robe. After Yang Pan put them on, he found that they fit him quite well, and he also found that the black tight-fitting clothes were extremely close to him.

Now, due to his cultivation of Iron Shirt, he appears exceptionally tall and robust. Based on his height before transmigrating, he was already over 1.85 meters tall, making him a true hero in this era.

Such a physique can exert an invisible sense of pressure even when standing in a crowd. Now, with a black robe, his temperament appears even more heroic and strong. Anyone who sees him at a glance would have to call him a great hero.

"The cards are good enough, but the strength is still lacking." Looking at his face, which appeared much more heroic in the bronze mirror, Yang Pan felt a rare sense of satisfaction.

After tidying himself up, he sat cross-legged on the bed again, swallowed the gall of the Bodhi snake, and began to cultivate.

There were many Bodhi snakes in the mountains, so he didn't plan to wait until he changed his internal energy cultivation method before consuming snake gallbladders. He wanted to strengthen his internal energy as much as possible now, so that it would be easier to switch to other cultivation methods later.

As soon as the snake gall entered his stomach, Yang Pan felt a familiar warm current emanating from his stomach and spreading throughout his body and meridians. He immediately focused his mind and circulated his internal energy.

The internal energy circulated rapidly through the two meridians. When it encountered the heat generated by the snake gall, it devoured and merged with it like a glutton, turning into a drop of water in the stream of internal energy, thus increasing Yang Pan's total internal energy.

It wasn't until an hour later that Yang Pan finally felt a significant increase in the total amount of internal energy in his dantian. He was secretly delighted, somewhat captivated by this tangible increase in strength, and thus practiced even more diligently.

Although the properties of the Longevity Fruit allow Yang Pan to be immune to the meridian injuries caused by high-intensity internal energy circulation, circulating internal energy still consumes mental energy. His current cultivation level is still insufficient to completely replace sleep with cultivation.

After battling the giant python during the day and circulating his internal energy for several hours, Yang Pan finally succumbed to mental exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep in the middle of the night.

......

For the next few days, Yang Pan maintained his routine of searching for the Bodhi Serpent in the mountains during the day and cultivating his internal energy at the inn at night. During this time, based on the roughly determined location, he also collected several more snake gallbladders and used the gallbladder of the giant python.

However, Yang Pan did not swallow the giant python's gall bladder himself. To determine whether it was non-toxic, Yang Pan fed the chunks of meat soaked in the bile to a yellow dog. As a result, a small mound appeared in the mountains outside the city.

Although it was a pity that the giant python's gall was useless, Yang Pan's internal strength had been steadily increasing these past few days thanks to the effects of the Bodhi snake gall, which made him very happy.

Yang Pan originally thought that this stable state of cultivation would continue for a few more days, until a Beggar Clan disciple came to bring him news of the return of the leader, and only then did Yang Pan completely emerge from this state.

While the increase in internal strength was certainly gratifying, Yang Pan was still eager to switch to cultivating a new martial art as soon as possible. Therefore, although he was not at the branch headquarters these past few days, he instructed the Beggar Clan disciples stationed there to keep a close eye on the branch leader's movements and to notify him immediately upon his return.

Now that the leader has finally returned, Yang Pan naturally went straight to the Beggars' Sect branch.

"Senior Brother Yang, the Sect Leader is currently in the council hall. Please follow me." As Yang Pan was waiting in the hall, a Beggar Clan disciple approached and said with clasped hands.

Nodding, Yang Pan got up and followed the disciple toward the back of the branch. The construction of this branch was not much different from that of the branch in Jiaxing, except that it occupied a larger area and had several training grounds and guest rooms for martial artists.

Yang Pan followed his disciple across a covered bridge and then entered a large hall in the center.

"Master, Yang Pan has been brought here." Upon entering the hall, the Beggar Clan disciple who had led the way bowed to a burly middle-aged man sitting in the center, then turned and left.

Upon seeing this, Yang Pan knew that the middle-aged man was the leader of the guild, and he quickly cupped his hands in a salute.

"Hmm, Yang Pan, twenty-six years old. His ancestral home is unknown. Two and a half years ago, he and his senior brothers Huang Hui and Shi Yingfeng followed Wang Yue from Anqing Prefecture to Jiaxing. He has been a member of our Beggars' Sect for two and a half years and has gone to the outskirts of the city many times to suppress bandits and gather intelligence. He is now a four-bag disciple..."

In the spacious hall, the leader's deep and resonant voice echoed in my ears.

Yang Pan listened attentively as the branch leader recounted his experiences since joining the Beggars' Sect, his heart remaining unmoved. He knew this was an intelligence investigation conducted on him by this branch.

The Beggars' Sect has a vast intelligence network. It's likely that they've been gathering information about him ever since he reported a few days ago that he was cultivating his inner strength and wanted to be promoted to a five-bag disciple.

Regardless of their depth, internal energy cultivation techniques are of paramount importance to any sect. Therefore, before imparting these techniques to a disciple, it is essential to thoroughly verify the disciple's identity to prevent any imposters from being passed off as genuine.

After the leader finished reading all the information, the entire council hall fell into a brief silence. Just as Yang Pan was wondering why the other party hadn't said anything more, heavy footsteps approached.

"To be able to kill a third-rate martial artist without ever developing internal energy, especially considering that Ding Feng was skilled in agility and movement, and you managed to kill him without taking any damage—not bad, not bad at all!"

The voice rang in his ears, and Yang Pan straightened up to find that the leader had already approached him. Only then did Yang Pan realize that the other party's physique was no less imposing than his own.

Noticing the surprise in Yang Pan's eyes, the leader laughed and said, "Don't tell me you think no one in my Beggars' Sect practices this external martial arts technique?"

Without giving Yang Pan a chance to speak, the leader of the gang sized him up for a moment, his voice carrying a hint of a sigh as he said, "It's just that the external martial arts are easy to learn but difficult to master, and there are too few disciples in the gang who practice them. Even I, who have cultivated to this level, have spent an unknown amount of time and money."

Faced with the leader's感慨 (sentiments/remarks), Yang Pan remained silent and did not respond.

It's only been a little over three years since Yang Pan first encountered Iron Shirt Technique, which, frankly, isn't a long time, much shorter than other practitioners of this technique. Without the aid of the Longevity Fruit and the Bodhi Serpent, Yang Pan certainly wouldn't have progressed so quickly.

As the leader said, it is easy to learn but difficult to master, which is also a drawback of the external training method!

Seemingly realizing he had said too much, the leader looked at Yang Pan again and said, "I have investigated your identity and there are no problems. According to the rules of the gang, you are now a five-bag disciple. Now come with me to the Transmission Pavilion. There are cultivation techniques you want to learn inside."

After speaking, the leader turned and walked out of the council hall, with Yang Pan following closely behind, until they stopped in front of a pavilion.

The pavilion had two floors, and two Beggars' Sect disciples were stationed at the entrance. When the two disciples saw their leader arrive, they clasped their hands in greeting. The leader simply waved his hand, signaling his disciples to open the door, and then led Yang Pan inside.

"All the cultivation techniques of the disciples in the gang are here. What you need now should be the internal energy cultivation method. You can find it on the bookshelf on the right." After leading Yang Pan into the pavilion, the gang leader found a place to sit down and let Yang Pan choose the cultivation method himself.

Yang Pan discovered that although this was the Transmission Hall, it was not the scene he had imagined, filled with scriptures. Instead, the layout was almost the same as the previous council hall, except that there was a bookshelf on each side of the main seat in the middle.

The left bookshelf had far more martial arts manuals, almost filling both shelves. Yang Pan glanced at the right side and estimated there were no more than twenty manuals there.

"From the Tianlong era to the present, there are probably only a handful of martial arts techniques that are famous throughout the martial arts world. Internal energy cultivation methods are secrets that are not passed on to each sect. I was just being presumptuous."

Thinking of the vast collection of books he had imagined before coming here, Yang Pan shook his head inwardly. He had underestimated how much this world valued martial arts techniques. Even the Beggars' Sect didn't have many internal martial arts techniques. It was doubtful whether the Shaolin Temple, which was known for its seventy-two unique skills, still had those seventy-two skills in its library.

Without thinking further, Yang Pan walked straight to the bookshelf on the right.