All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

"Alright, you can cultivate with your other junior brothers in the future. They are all in the skin-refining stage as well. You should communicate more with your fellow disciples."

After applying the ointment to Yang Pan, Huang Hui returned the medicine bottle to Yang Pan.

Yang Pan couldn't tell whether Huang Hui was in a good mood or not, perhaps because he had earned another tael of silver from him, and even seemed to be giving him advice on interpersonal relationships.

"Are the other senior brothers still in the skin-refining stage? They also just arrived recently?" With the coolness and pain coexisting on his body, Yang Pan could only shift his attention and ask.

Although Yang Pan was somewhat aloof, he wouldn't completely avoid talking to the other disciples in the martial arts school over a month. However, not only was he busy during that month, but it seemed the other disciples were as busy as they were. Yang Pan rarely saw all the other disciples present on the same day; more often than not, he was the only one practicing his stances in the school. This resulted in Yang Pan not being very familiar with the other disciples.

"No, some of them have been here for almost a year. I know what you mean, but the most important thing in cultivating external martial arts is to avoid being impatient and rushing things. Even with the help of external medicine, it will eventually leave irreversible hidden damage to the body and even accelerate the decline of the body's qi and blood."

"Don't be fooled by the fact that some of them have been cultivating for a year and are still working on refining their skin. This is a gradual process and the right path of cultivation."

Huang Hui cautioned that the martial arts world was not lacking in skilled practitioners of external martial arts. Among them were those who were impatient and only sought quick results. Although these people made rapid progress in a short period of time, in the end, they all developed deformities in their bodies, and their health collapsed after the age of forty, leading to their untimely death.

Upon hearing this, Yang Pan felt a chill run down his spine, recalling his first meeting with the old master. Was the old master's aged appearance due to being too hasty?

However, should he proceed step by step...? Yang Pan's eyes flickered with an ambiguous look.

A relentless pursuit of speed can leave hidden wounds and lead to an untimely death...

These are things for ordinary people, after all, the human body has its limits, and relentlessly pushing it will indeed lead to exhaustion and injury, eventually causing death from depletion of potential. But Yang Pan is different from ordinary people; he possesses the Dao Fruit of Longevity.

Although this fruit grants him endless lifespan, his body remains mortal and he will still die from a fatal injury.

However, one will never die unless one suffers a fatal injury. It should be noted that hidden injuries can also accelerate the decline of the human body, but they are not the direct cause of death.

Since the Longevity Fruit can grant Yang Pan immortality, then the hidden injuries will no longer exist for him.

Or rather, hidden injuries may occur, but they are erased the moment they appear by the Longevity Fruit, thus keeping Yang Pan's body in a healthy state at all times. At the same time, negative conditions such as illness will not occur in Yang Pan, which can be considered one of the external advantages brought by the Longevity Fruit.

If Yang Pan makes good use of this characteristic and pushes himself to the limit, his progress in cultivating Iron Shirt will surely increase rapidly.

After applying the ointment, Yang Pan went to a shady spot to rest. After the cooling sensation on his body disappeared, he waited for another hour before returning to the center of the courtyard.

This time, however, he didn't rush to start cultivating. Instead, he went to where the disciples of several other martial arts schools were gathered. In the current situation, knowing more people would open up more options.

"Senior brother is already smoothing his lower body, that's amazing! Looks like he'll be able to enter the second level soon!"

Yang Pan approached a young man who was only wearing a pair of shorts. While his upper body was slamming against the wooden stake, his calves and thighs were bound with hemp ropes, and he would occasionally kick out a few times, using the interaction of the hemp ropes to rub against the skin of his legs.

The first layer of Iron Shirt training doesn't just target the upper body; the lower body can be trained as well. However, it usually starts with the upper body, and the training is considered successful only when the skin on the upper body and legs is as tough as cowhide.

The young man in front of me had tight skin on his upper body, which looked like gel under the sunlight, indicating that he was close to completing a skin resurfacing procedure.

However, the young man ignored Yang Pan and continued to rub his skin on his own. After about an incense stick's time, he finally stopped. At this point, Yang Pan took the initiative to help him apply the ointment.

The young man did not refuse, but his stern face softened considerably.

"How should I address you, junior brother?"

"My name is Yang Pan. You can just call me Junior Brother Yang, senior brother," Yang Pan said as he applied the ointment.

"Junior Brother Yang, my name is Shi Yingfeng." The young man seemed to be a man of few words, and after introducing himself, he said nothing more.

But it didn't matter; the conversation always needed someone to guide it. Although Yang Pan wasn't exactly a smooth talker, he was, after all, from the information age, and a few simple questions were enough to warm up the other person.

"I've been at the martial arts school for almost two years, so my scabbing is almost done. Junior Brother Yang, you've just started scabbing. I imagine Senior Brother Huang warned you not to rush things. Senior Brother Huang is the headmaster's true disciple; he's learned more and has more experience. You should listen to him in this regard."

Yang Pan was applying ointment to Shi Yingfeng's back when he heard this. A thought struck him, and he asked, "More? Does Senior Brother Huang know other martial arts?"

If that's the case, Yang Pan would like to learn it. After all, although Iron Shirt is a type of external martial art, it's essentially a defensive technique. Even if one mastered both levels, at most one would have more strength and better survival skills, but in terms of offensive methods, one would probably only be able to adapt to the situation when facing an enemy.

"No, that's not it. The Iron River Martial Arts School only teaches Iron Shirt, and the headmaster only knows this one martial art. It's just that I've heard that Iron Shirt has three levels, but only two levels are taught to outsiders."

Shi Yingfeng's tone remained unchanged, as if this was not a secret within the martial arts school.

"The first two levels are for training the body, but the real core is the third level, which is said to be able to cultivate internal energy. But apart from the old master, I guess only Senior Brother Huang Hui has cultivated internal energy in the entire martial arts school." At the end, Shi Yingfeng's tone revealed a hint of envy.

After all, a martial artist who doesn't aspire to be a master isn't a good martial artist, but if one can't even cultivate internal energy, then one will never be able to join the ranks of masters.

In any martial art, the methods for cultivating internal energy are of paramount importance and are not easily passed on to outsiders. Even in the Iron River Martial Arts School, the third level of the method is passed down from father to son. Others who want to learn it can only do so after paying homage to the master with three kneelings and nine kowtows and being accepted as his disciple.

Listening to Shi Yingfeng's words, Yang Pan understood the general situation. It seemed that Iron Shirt was a martial art that could cultivate internal strength from the outside in. In his memory, there were not many martial arts in this era of martial arts that could cultivate internal strength from the outside in, among which the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill were examples.

However, both the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill are top-tier martial arts techniques in the martial arts world, and Yang Pan estimated that he wouldn't have a chance to learn them in the short term. Iron Shirt Technique, on the other hand, was something he could consider, since all the martial arts school disciples knew that Iron Shirt Technique had a third level of skill, so it wasn't exactly a secret.

Since the martial arts school was able to release this news, it seems that they also intend to take on a disciple, but they haven't met a suitable one yet. It's just unknown whether completing the first two levels of training will qualify them as a disciple.

Although I may not have much talent, I have time. In addition, with the restorative ability of the Longevity Fruit, I can cultivate without regard to the cost and even if I have to endure it, I can still reach the first two levels of perfection.

"Alright, Junior Brother Yang, I see you've rested for a while now, so you should be able to continue your cultivation. Go and get your skin smoothed first, and I'll apply the ointment after you're done."

Shi Yingfeng said calmly. He had been practicing for more than a year and had long been used to the feeling after applying the ointment. So after giving his instructions, he went to rest in the shade.

After thanking him, Yang Pan went to the wooden stake and continued to rub his skin. However, as soon as Yang Pan started practicing, he felt a stinging pain coming from the places where his skin was in contact with the wood, as if the sensation of his skin had been magnified several times.

He knew this was the effect of the ointment on his skin during his first practice. However, as his training deepened, this sensation would gradually weaken. Yang Pan could, of course, reduce the force of the impact, but that would greatly diminish the skin-refining effect, ultimately just self-deception and reaping the consequences.