All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

Snapped!

Hiss~ Hmph!

As Yang Pan approached the local temple, he dismounted and, still seething with anger, slapped the horse across the face. Watching the horse shake its head and snort incessantly, Yang Pan's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

"If you bark again, I'll kill you!" he cursed angrily, then pulled on the reins and dragged the horse to a tree outside the temple where he tied it up.

Inside the temple, Wei Hong, who had been watching the scene outside, couldn't help but twitch his lips a few times when he saw Yang Pan's actions. He had seen people slap people's faces before, but this was the first time he had seen someone slap a horse's face.

However, it is unknown who that person came from. It is taboo for merchants to meet strangers in the outside world, because they do not know if the other party will be tempted by their wealth.

Now, due to the weather, he had no choice but to spend the night in this local temple, and unexpectedly, he encountered a wandering swordsman on horseback. He could only hope that the night would pass peacefully. Wei Hong sighed inwardly and turned away, no longer paying attention to the person outside the temple.

Beside the tree, Yang Pan tied the reins while subtly glancing towards the window of the local earth god temple. Since learning martial arts, his hearing and eyesight had sharpened, making him extremely sensitive to the gazes of others. From the moment he arrived at the temple, he noticed carriages and horses parked outside, and a faint glow of firelight emanating from within.

Yang Pan knew that there were probably many people staying at the local temple tonight, but he didn't expect the person inside to be so vigilant. After hearing the noise, the person kept an eye on him until he led the horse and tied the reins before looking away.

However, Yang Pan had seen a lot along the way. Judging from the carriages outside, the people inside the temple were likely a caravan, just like the one he had escorted to Xiangyang. He guessed that there were probably many martial artists among them.

Yang Pan didn't care at all; he was just staying for one night, and everyone would be fine as long as nothing happened.

After securing the reins, Yang Pan headed towards the local temple. Upon entering, the figure of a beggar lying on the central altar immediately caught his eye. Noticing the beggar's rhythmic movements, Yang Pan's gaze shifted to a group of people with a fire burning in a corner.

"Spending the night in a deserted temple, I never expected to encounter fellow martial artists. My name is Wei Hong, may I ask how you are addressed, brother?" Seeing Yang Pan looking at them, Wei Hong, as the leader, clasped his hands and said.

Yang Pan glanced at the group and saw that Wei Hong had spoken and the others seemed to regard him as their leader. He immediately realized that this person was probably the leader of the caravan.

So he clasped his hands and said, "My surname is Yang. I apologize for disturbing you while passing through this place." He would only stay in the temple for one night and head to Jiuyuan County the next day. Yang Pan had no intention of befriending the others, so he simply gave his surname.

Sensing the aloofness in Yang Pan's tone, Wei Hong remained outwardly calm, but inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. A degree of aloofness was good; it meant the other party didn't care about them. If the other party had reacted too enthusiastically, Wei Hong would have become wary.

"In that case, please make yourself at home, brother," Wei Hong replied, then sat back down by the fire.

Yang Pan walked to another corner opposite the group, tidied up a bit, took out a relatively clean cloth mat from his bundle, and sat down on it.

The desolate mountain temple was not as good as the inn in the county town. He could not drink and eat meat as before, so Yang Pan could only take out the dry food he carried with him to fill his stomach.

Take a few bites of the dry biscuit and swallow it with water. As the food slides into the stomach, it is immediately mixed with gastric juices and gradually digested and broken down, turning into nutrients that are transported to all parts of the body.

From Jingu County to Jinzhou, Yang Pan continued to swallow two pills along the way. The effects of the previous two pills had already been completely absorbed two days after leaving Jingu County, and the two new pills were completely converted into internal energy by Yang Pan through his cultivation technique a day before arriving in Jinzhou.

After absorbing and transforming all the medicinal power from the four pills, Yang Pan's cultivation level also rose accordingly. Finally, a day ago, he completely opened up the fifth meridian, and his internal energy became even more profound.

The fifth meridian is the Foot Yangming Stomach Meridian, which flows around the stomach. Once this meridian is unblocked, the internal energy will nourish the stomach and enhance the digestive function of the martial artist. For example, the dry rations that Yang Pan is eating now are made of coarse grains. Although ordinary people can fill their stomachs, they are digested slowly and it often takes a whole day to fully absorb the nutrients.

But for Yang Pan, it only takes half a day. In fact, if he eats while circulating his cultivation technique, he can even shorten the digestion time. However, since he is currently sleeping in a deserted temple and there are outsiders around, Yang Pan cannot concentrate on his cultivation.

However, the inability to cultivate internal energy did not prevent Yang Pan from using the Hard Qi Gong technique to accelerate his progress in cultivating this technique.

During these ten days or so, Yang Pan not only practiced his internal energy cultivation techniques while traveling, but also took time to practice hard qigong. After all, it was a life-saving method, and the sooner he mastered the method of operating hard qigong, the more options he would have in future battles.

Compared to when it took the time it took to brew a cup of tea to circulate this technique, now it only takes half a cup of tea to infuse internal energy into the flesh and bones. In fact, because his cultivation has now broken through, his internal energy is even more abundant, and he can infuse even more internal energy into it.

Before coming here, Yang Pan made an experiment to see what would happen if he infused all the internal energy of his five meridians into the flesh and blood of his palm. The result was somewhat unexpected for Yang Pan.

The hand, filled with all its internal energy, swelled up by half a size, like an inflated balloon, and its surface had a bluish-black tinge. Each finger was as thick as a stone pillar, a truly terrifying sight. However, despite its unappealing appearance, the strength of the hand had more than doubled.

If his palms were as hard as wood or stone during his initial tests, then his palms, now filled with all his internal energy, were like iron blocks, transforming into an iron palm.

With that kind of strength, Yang Pan felt he could withstand swords and blades without getting hurt.

In fact, Yang Pan did indeed slash his palm a few times with the longsword he carried with him, and found that if he didn't use his internal energy and only used ordinary strength to chop, his palm could completely defend against the blows. However, the duration was still very short. Even if his internal energy wasn't completely depleted, once it was halved, he could no longer defend against the weapon's slashes.

However, if a martial artist were to strike with internal energy, Yang Pan could only withstand two blows at most before being injured. After those initial tests, Yang Pan gained a clear understanding of the defensive capabilities of current hard qigong techniques.

Inside the temple, Yang Pan continued his cultivation practice, while the others remained silent. The temple was shrouded in silence, save for the occasional crackling sound of firewood burning in the fire on one side.

Splash!

In the silence, a sudden downpour began outside the temple. The thunder roared like the fury of a god, smashing a hole in the sky in its rage, and the torrential rain poured down through the hole, pounding the ground with a crackling sound.

Horses tethered under several trees neighed restlessly, but their cries were drowned out by the torrential rain.

The heavy rain continued for an unknown period of time, perhaps an hour or two, until the sound of the rain gradually subsided, and several hurried sounds came again from outside the deserted temple.

"Hurry up, we're almost at the Earth God Temple. This damn weather, with all this rain, we're soaked to the bone!"

"Alright, Lao He, you'll be thrilled after this job. Master Bai will definitely reward you handsomely when we get back. You'll probably be sleeping at Chunmanlou for three days and three nights, haha!"

Outside the temple, several men wearing straw raincoats were joking and teasing each other, but their laughter stopped abruptly as they approached the temple entrance. They saw a caravan parked outside the temple, and a horse tied up alone, some distance away from the caravan.

In the darkness, the group exchanged glances, their eyes filled with wariness. A convoy and a lone horse indicated at least two other groups inside the temple. If they were included, there would be at least three groups.

In such a situation, if the people inside the temple are difficult to deal with, a conflict could easily escalate into a bloodbath. And in this desolate wilderness, with the roads slippery after the rain, escape would be virtually impossible.

Just as the group hesitated, the man at the front, previously called Old He, wore a look of both relaxation and ruthlessness. He was experienced and knew that while caravans and wagon trains usually hired martial artists, they were mostly low-level practitioners, few in number and not very skilled.

As for the other one, who only had one horse, it was clear that the other side only had one person. Even if a conflict occurred, their group of six or seven people would still have the upper hand.

Having figured this out, Lao He gestured to the brothers behind him, then turned and walked towards the local temple.

The men behind him saw that Old He had already left. They knew his habits; he was experienced in the ways of the world but never took risks. The fact that he had entered the local temple in this state clearly showed that he was confident. In addition, there was constant rumbling thunder in the sky, and it might rain heavily again at any time. They didn't want to get soaked again.

The group immediately set off together, following Old He toward the local temple.

The temple remained silent. Although it was late at night, Yang Pan and the merchants from the opposite caravan were all light sleepers. When laughter came from outside, they all woke up. But before anyone could check what was happening outside, the temple door was pushed open with a bang.

A damp, cold wind swept into the temple, causing the flames in the corner to flicker and twist.

Yang Pan frowned slightly and looked towards the temple entrance by the dim firelight. He saw six or seven men wearing straw raincoats standing at the entrance. They were strong and muscular, and they stood side by side, completely blocking the temple entrance, seemingly surrounding everyone inside the deserted temple.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of weapons being drawn rang out, and the members of the caravan opposite stood up one after another. They seemed to sense that the people who came to the temple gate were up to no good, and now they held their weapons and looked at the men in straw raincoats at the gate with vigilance.

As everyone inside the temple looked at the group of people at the entrance, Lao He and the others were also sizing them up.

There was only one person on the right side, and a beggar lying on the altar in the middle, seemingly oblivious to his fate. On the left were five people holding weapons and looking wary, who were probably from the caravan outside.

Just as I thought!

After getting a clear look at the situation inside the temple, Lao He turned his head and exchanged glances with his companions. A hint of relief flashed in their eyes.