My daily cultivation progress is calculated.

Chapter 39 Iron Armor! Iron Like Clouds!

Although it was barely dawn, the vendors had already set up their stalls.

Shen Yan walked on the street paved with bluestone slabs.

He looked at the steaming wontons, soy milk, tofu pudding, and steamed buns on both sides.

My stomach started growling.

"Boss, a bowl of wontons, extra chili, and three steamed buns."

In this world, only places like Bianjing (Kaifeng) have white flour steamed buns; other places are considered lucky if they can eat coarse grain pancakes.

No matter how absurd Emperor Xuanwu was, he was indeed quite good to the people of Bianjing.

The exorbitant taxes and levies almost entirely fell on the people of Bianjing, so Emperor Xuanwu had a fairly good reputation among them.

It was extremely difficult for ordinary people to settle down in Bianjing, as most of the people there had intricate connections with powerful and wealthy families.

The most common surnames in the city are Li, Yan, Zeng, and Shen.

Most of the rest of the people lived in the outer city, which was full of dilapidated shantytowns, a mixed bag of people, and extremely dangerous.

After finishing his meal, Shen Yan headed towards the Iron Robe Hall.

Bianjing was still shrouded in fog, but there were already quite a few pedestrians on the streets.

Arrived at the entrance of the Ironclad Hall.

Beneath the dark wooden plaque, three large gilded characters were written in a flamboyant style.

Although he arrived very early, what he didn't expect was...

There are so many people.

The entrance was crowded with people and noisy.

Shen Yan frowned slightly as he looked at the sea of ​​heads, thinking to himself.

"Is this Ironclad Hall that popular? The annual tuition is a hundred taels of silver, and people are still rushing to give it to them?"

One hundred taels of silver was enough to buy a small courtyard in Bianjing and settle down comfortably.

The price was ridiculously high. Shen Yan thought it would be deserted, but it turned out to be just like buying vegetables at a market, where you had to fight for it.

Soon, disciples from the Ironclad Hall came out to maintain order.

They were all dressed in gray short-sleeved shirts, their chests exposed, their pectoral muscles no less impressive than those of the girls at the Spring Breeze Pavilion.

Those who came to participate in the assessment were all wrapped up tightly, forming a stark contrast with the disciples of the Ironclad Hall.

"Line up, line up! Servants stand on the right, those entering from the inner gate stand on the left. Anyone who disrupts the order will be disqualified."

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone quickly split into two teams.

Shen Yan also followed his instructions and lined up on the left.

The group on the left didn't have many people, only about thirty.

They were all dressed in fine clothes and looked to be around twelve or thirteen years old, with the childishness still lingering on their faces.

Only Shen Yan was in his twenties.

On the contrary, the group of menial disciples had quite a few people in their twenties and thirties.

Seeing this, Shen Yan couldn't help but touch his chin, thinking to himself.

"Am I sitting at the children's table?"

Although he was at the end of the line, his tall stature of 1.8 meters made him stand out among the other children, towering over them by more than a head.

Soon, the disciples of the Ironclad Hall noticed his presence, and one of them walked over.

She glanced at Shen Yan's thin, plain-colored robe and frowned as she spoke to him.

"The handyman disciples are lining up over there."

"Senior brother, what's the difference between menial disciples and inner disciples? Can they both learn Iron Shirt Technique?"

The man looked somewhat impatient and gave him a disdainful look.

"You're dreaming. A menial disciple wants to learn the sect's signature move? Only inner disciples are qualified to learn it. Also, don't call me senior brother; you might not even be able to get started yet."

Shen Yan chuckled and said, "That's right, I want to be an inner disciple."

The Ironclad Hall disciple looked at him with surprise, then walked away to another place.

Their conversation was quite loud, and the group of handymen disciples opposite them heard it as well.

The gazes cast upon them were a mixture of disdain, envy, and mockery.

It seems to be saying, "Why not come and learn some skills from the handymen? You can earn some money to supplement your family's income."

"What a spendthrift! He doesn't know how to manage a household."

To them, starting to practice martial arts at the age of twenty is like throwing silver into water—it won't even make a splash.

Shen Yan looked down at his plain-colored long robe. Wearing it in the dead of winter did look rather shabby, no wonder people called him a poor wretch.

I don't care much about clothes, and I don't have time to go to a tailor shop to make a new outfit. Clothes that can cover my body are enough.

Shen Yan remained silent, closing his eyes to wait for the entrance exam to begin.

They quickly shifted the topic from Shen Yan to the assessment.

Listening to the conversations of those around him, Shen Yan realized that the Iron Robe Hall not only accepted inner disciples but also servants.

The menial workers can learn some basic skills, work in the Ironclad Hall, and earn some money. If they have good talent, they can also advance to the inner sect.

The inner disciples, on the other hand, mostly faced poor students with some family wealth who wanted to use all their family's resources to gamble on this opportunity.

There aren't many external cultivation techniques that can be practiced to the middle three ranks. At least, after inquiring for a long time, Shen Yan found that only the Iron Robe Hall was relatively easy to obtain.

Although reaching the middle three ranks of external cultivation is as slow as a tortoise crawl, others are just too fast in the early stages.

As long as there's a sufficient supply of medicinal herbs, one can reach the ninth rank within a year and start earning money.

There are no bottlenecks in the lower three ranks of external training; it all comes down to hard work and external assistance.

That's why so many people are eager to try it.

The entrance exam was about to begin.

The inner sect assessment started first, since these people had all paid money.

Even registering costs five taels of silver; it's outrageous.

They were soon taken to a square on the side of the street, which was about two or three hundred square meters.

The ground was paved with gray stone slabs, some of which were cracked.

There were some wooden stakes, sticks, and stone weights placed nearby as training equipment.

It seems this is where they practice their skills.

Shen Yan and his group were seated on one side of the training ground, opposite several square tables and armchairs.

It looks like it should be for guests or the person conducting the assessment.

After waiting for almost half an hour, a middle-aged man arrived with several people.

"The one leading the group is Tieyi, the leader of the Iron Armor Hall. It is said that he is already a mid-level third-grade body refiner, and his Iron Cloth Shirt is so skilled that no one can defeat him."

"That's right, the last one is his son, Tie Ruyun. At only sixteen years old, he's already at the peak of the eighth rank. Truly, a hero emerges from among the young!"

Shen Yan heard the whispers around him and looked over.

Tieyi looked to be in his forties, with a square face covered in a thick beard, bright and piercing eyes, and a burly build; he was clearly an extraordinary martial artist.

Although Tie Ruyun is not yet an adult, she is already nearly two meters tall, much taller than Shen Yan.

He was dressed in a brown short-sleeved shirt, his thick arms exposed, and large muscles highlighting his strength.

"Tsk tsk, at sixteen years old and already at the peak of the eighth rank, having a good father is really great!"

The eighth rank is a realm that many people dream of, and Tie Ruyun's starting point is the end point for countless others.

Tieyi looked at the people in the training ground and said in a deep voice.

"The assessment begins. This time, the examiner will be my son."

As soon as he finished speaking, Tie Ruyun leaped up like a cannonball and jumped to the center of the training ground.

Dust rose from the ground, and Shen Yan saw that several more stone slabs on the field had broken.

"Everyone! Come on!"

Shen Yan found his slightly childish voice, paired with his muscular physique, to be incongruous.