Yes, I became a god just by exercising.

Chapter 13 Arrogant Fools
[Benise easily defeated the three-headed dragon statue!]

"call……"

Xia Fa admitted that he was greatly relieved.

He couldn't forgive himself if Benedict were to get injured or even risk her life while retrieving the Mithril Symbol for him.

As for the dried fish that Benedict ate before the battle, he had secretly found an empty alley and delivered three of them to her when he bought them.

It wasn't that he was unwilling to give more; the main problem was that Benedict seemed to only need three, if she wasn't being polite.

But then again, given Benedict's personality, it seemed unlikely that she would actually pretend to be polite.

Just then, new words appeared on the old, rough paper.

Benedict found a silver key among the shattered pieces of the three-headed dragon statue.

Beneath walked to an empty pedestal next to the three-headed dragon statue, inserted the key into the keyhole, and the pedestal opened to both sides, revealing a highly complex ritual magic circle.

[Benise took another bite of the dried fish, then confidently crouched down to break the ritual magic circle!]

[Benise is scratching her head in frustration...]

The words stopped there, no longer appearing, and the rustling sound of writing disappeared, leaving only a faint lingering scent of ink.

Xia Fa waited patiently for a while, but seeing that no new words appeared, he had no choice but to close the copper notebook.

At least, judging from these words, this training in the abandoned ancient temple in the land of rising stars was indeed not dangerous for Benedict.

At the same time, Xia Fa also understood why she hadn't retrieved the Mithril Holy Symbol during her previous training, even though she clearly knew where it was.

Judging from this, obtaining the Mithril Emblem seems to be quite a difficult process.

"When she comes back, I'll definitely make it up to her. Hmm... besides dried fish, what else does she like to eat?"

Even if the church does send the mithril emblem over tomorrow morning, it doesn't mean that the mithril emblem that Benedict brought back will be useless.

The Mithril Emblem is a sealed artifact; how could it be useless?

With a sense of relief, Xia Fa put Benedict's training notes back into his pocket and then pulled out a long, rectangular oil paper package from his trouser pocket.

There are hot dogs in here. Logically speaking, this kind of food shouldn't exist in the Augu Kingdom, which is in the age of steam and machinery, but it does, and it's a very popular snack among the common people.

On his way back, Xia Fa bought one on the spur of the moment.

Inside were two long slices of pretzel bread, which had a slightly hard texture and a mild salty taste. Slices of grilled sausage were sandwiched between the bread, with melted cheese between the sausages, and the bread was sprinkled with green peppers and pepper powder.

He was actually very hungry; he had only been out of the cave for a short time and his stomach was already aching from hunger.

I don't know if it's because I exercised today, or because I was mentally exhausted in the cave.

At that moment, Xia Fa swallowed hard and quickly devoured the hot dog.

However, something strange happened.

Given his appetite, he should have been about 70% full after eating this hot dog.

But he still felt very hungry, and he didn't even feel full at all!
This large basket of dried fish cost only one silver coin, while the dress for Benedict cost a total of five gold pounds, and the hot dog only required two copper coins.

Copper coins, silver coins, and gold pounds were the common currency system throughout the entire Augu Kingdom.

Ten copper coins equal one silver coin, and ten silver coins equal one gold pound.

Therefore, with over forty gold pounds still in his purse, Xiafa was full of confidence. He rushed out of the attic, bought a large bag of white bread, and then rushed out again to bring back a large pot of mutton soup.

He guessed that his body urgently needed a large amount of energy replenishment, possibly due to his physical exercise and the activation of the "bullet time" cheat.

That's why he was so hungry, why his whole body ached, why he felt like he couldn't hold on, and why he ate a whole hot dog without feeling anything.

Seeing the pile of white wheat bread and the steaming mutton soup on the table, Xia Fa rubbed his hands together and immediately started eating!
……

Just ten minutes later, Xiafa lay on the chair, touching his still-empty stomach, looking at the empty mutton soup and the wooden tabletop with only a few crumbs of white bread left, and finally a look of confusion appeared on his face.

What... what's wrong with me?
Even though I ate enough food for five people, I still didn't feel full at all.

No, to be precise, I'm actually hungrier than I was at the beginning!

Moreover, my stomach was completely empty; all the food I ate seemed to be digested and absorbed immediately as soon as it flowed down my esophagus into my stomach.

His stomach acid was still being secreted insanely, and he was so hungry that his lower abdomen was burning with pain.

Xia Fa knew that something must have happened to him to cause this situation.

But eating normal food can no longer alleviate this hunger, so what should be done?
He stood up and paced back and forth on the wooden floor of the attic, lost in thought.

First of all, he certainly couldn't ask anyone else for help besides Benedict Cumberbatch, as this involved the secret of his own bullet-time cheat.

Secondly, based on the previous situation, he has already eaten meat, carbohydrates, and vegetarian food, which already cover most common food types, so there is no need to try different types of food.

As he was pondering this, suddenly, a familiar, fresh scent entered his nostrils.

Just by smelling this refreshing scent, Xia Fa immediately felt a significant relief from the burning pain in her stomach, as if she had drunk a glass of cool mint water.

"This is……"

Xia Fa's dark eyes gleamed slightly.

The crocodile I encountered in the cave had an eerie, otherworldly aura!

In this situation, there was no time to worry about anything else. Xia Fa even felt that in a few hours, her stomach would be burned through by the frantically secreted gastric acid, which would make things even more complicated.

So he took out his money bag, quickly untied the knots, and pulled out the black metal.

I held it to my nose and took a deep sniff. The cool, grassy scent spread throughout my body, and my stomach began to churn.

But a longing, a longing from the bottom of my heart, a deep longing for this extraordinary essence that welled up from my very bones and even from every cell in my body, surged out as violently as waves in a storm!
A bitter smile appeared on Xia Fa's face, but his hands didn't stop moving at all as he took a bite of the black metal.

There was no unexpected tooth-crunching; it was just like eating a slightly hard mint, with a cool sensation filling the mouth and nose.

After the black metal slid down his esophagus into his stomach, he finally felt a sense of fullness.

Having endured the torment of hunger before, this feeling even fascinated Xia Fa.

He quickly finished the fist-sized black metal, and then, as if possessed, took out a bronze wine jar, opened the lid, and poured out the ruby-like extraordinary essence.

Holding the ruby ​​between my index finger and thumb, I placed it between my teeth and gently bit it.
The ruby's thin, icy shell shattered, and a syrupy substance with countless bristles gushed out, resembling syrup but far sweeter.

The bristles didn't prick him at all; instead, they gave his tongue a pleasantly numb sensation.

This ruby-like extraordinary essence was finished in just two bites, and Xia Fa finally felt about three-tenths full.

Although we're still far from being completely full, the hunger that could drive a person crazy has disappeared.

However, he felt that his desire for a similar extraordinary essence had become even stronger.

"Oh no, am I losing control?"

"Hmm... that shouldn't be it. I heard Chestnut mention it before; those who go out of control usually turn into monsters. I've never heard of any out-of-control person going around eating supernatural essence..."

Xia Fa comforted himself with this thought and sat down.

Suddenly, he jumped up from the sofa, his face full of surprise!

Previously, every time he sat on the sofa, he would endure a slight torment of muscle movement due to the soreness all over his body.

But just now, when I sat down, I didn't feel that way at all!

Xia Fa carefully examined himself and discovered that the soreness in his body... had completely disappeared!

I was so full of energy that I could easily do dozens more push-ups!

"Sure enough, it would be strange if there weren't any benefits after consuming two pieces of extraordinary essence..."

Xia Fa murmured, finally finding a sliver of comfort in his heart.

After all, those two pieces of extraordinary essence represent gleaming gold pounds!
Even at the lowest price, it would still be close to three hundred gold pounds!

If he were to sell this two-story attic, it would only cost one hundred gold pounds!
Fortunately, the benefits have been gained, and the heartache of having my flesh cut off has largely subsided.

Xia Fa glanced out the window. The night was dark, the stars and moon were bright, and it was just past eight o'clock in the evening.

In the Kingdom of Augu, this was a time when many nobles held banquets.

As for ordinary people, those who do heavy physical labor might be eager to eat as soon as they finish get off work at six o'clock in the afternoon.

The middle class, on the other hand, would imitate the customs of the aristocracy and also eat at this time, or more formally, have dinner.

Originally, Xia Fa had planned to exercise in the morning, do paperwork in the afternoon, and then fall into a hole and experience a thrilling and exciting ordeal for more than an hour. After that, she was sore all over, hungry and tired, and planned to go to bed after dinner before going home.

But now, perhaps because of the two pieces of extraordinary essence he ate, he not only didn't want to sleep at all, but felt like he had inexhaustible energy and wanted to go out and run a few laps.

Thinking about the workout plan he hadn't finished in the morning, Xia Fa decided to do push-ups first!
He did sixty this morning, and now he's decided to finish one hundred!

Although almost a whole day had passed in between, that's how exercise is; the stricter you are with yourself, the easier it is to give up. If you're a little more lenient, you might be able to stick with it.

So Xiafa immediately squatted down, placed his hands on the wooden floor, stretched his legs back, and began to do push-ups to support his thin body.

Sixty-one!

"sixty two!"

Sixty-three!

……

Just as Xia Fa started exercising again.

At the same moment, deep within the vast expanse of the universe, a white-purple star shone brightly and slowly rotated.

The meteorite passed over a dark brown planet and headed towards an unknown distance.

This is a desolate and lifeless planet riddled with meteorite craters, which should have no life at all, and simply orbits that white-purple star.

But now, there are two figures standing around a metal grill that stretches to an endless distance on the ground.

On the grill was a whole cosmic beast, a supernatural creature that looked like a giant bear, its body as long as an endless mountain range, and its fur had already been plucked clean.

No one shook the grill, but it rotated automatically, with magma drawn from the Earth's core below, and flames constantly licking at the giant bear, which was larger than a towering mountain.

Among the two figures, one was an elderly man with a white beard that reached his chest, wearing a pure white priest's robe with starry sky patterns embroidered on the cuffs and collar.

But unlike ordinary clergy, his robe also had a pattern of the cosmos on the chest, and it was even flowing, as if the entire universe was condensed into it.

The old man stared at the giant bear with a serious and cold expression. His eyes flickered as if he were deep in thought. His gaze seemed to be on the bear, but it was actually completely unfocused.

If Chestnut were here, she would surely recognize that this old man was none other than Patriarch Osius, whom she had seen from afar in the Earthly Kingdom of the Silver Universe when she was crowned Archbishop!

The Patriarch is the supreme being in the Silver Church, second only to God and above all others. His status is almost equivalent to that of a follower of God, especially in this era where none of the nine major churches follow God and there is only the true God.

Below the Patriarch are the Cardinals, and below the Cardinals are the Archbishops.

Furthermore, the archbishops are divided into different dioceses, and their status varies depending on the prosperity of the diocese.

This was an old man with stern brows and an imposing presence, yet sitting opposite him was a young man.

The young man seemed to have casually dug out a boulder to use as a chair, and sat there lazily. His expression was very languid, as if he hadn't woken up yet, but his eyes had a sense of having seen through everything in the world.

Even when facing the Patriarch of the Silver Universe, this young man remained free-spirited and quite casual.

He was flipping through the index of a book, his gaze fixed on the entry for "How to ensure that supernatural creatures can be cooked on a planet without oxygen." After carefully turning to the corresponding page and looking at it, he finally looked up at the old man.

"Lord Osius, are you still thinking about what happened this morning?"

The young man spoke with a faint smile, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Osius gave him a cold glance and did not answer.

The young man didn't seem to care at all and continued speaking as if to himself:
"There are too few clues right now, so there's no use in thinking about it. Besides, didn't you already inform the gods of your Silver Church through a sacrifice?"

Osius's gaze deepened, like an endless deep sea that could contain everything, but his expression remained unchanged, and he still did not respond.

The young man sighed, seemingly having made a fool of himself, but still spoke:

"That's an entire life-bearing planet. Although it has been barren for thousands or tens of thousands of years and no longer has any life, to destroy an entire life-bearing planet to extract its essence... I advise you not to get involved in such a large-scale undertaking, after all..."

He seemed to be recalling something from the past, and a self-deprecating smile appeared on his face:
"...My life is the most important thing."

Osius finally spoke, his voice deep and resonant, like an iceberg that had never melted in tens of thousands of years:

"It's happening right before my eyes, it's hard not to think about it... After I finish eating this giant bear that devours meteorites, I should go back to the Kingdom of Augu."

The young man laughed:
"That's right, the delicious food is right in front of us. This is a supernatural creature from the starry sky, whose every piece of meat is rich in enormous extraordinary power. Let's eat first and then worry about other things. By the way, do you have any wine?"

Osius's face immediately darkened:
“You know, Dictator, ever since that incident I swore before the Lord that I would never touch a drop of wine again.”

The young man, known as Dick Tudor, smiled slyly and suddenly pulled out a silver wine jar from his pocket. The jar was engraved with exquisite and intricate patterns, making it a rare treasure.

He popped the cork off, deliberately sniffed the aroma of the wine, and smacked his lips, saying:
"What a pity! Such delicious food can't be paired with wine. I feel sorry for you."

Osius raised his white eyebrows, about to speak.

Suddenly, on this vast, desolate, dark brown planet without even an atmosphere, the sound of a handcart's tires rolling across the ground abruptly rang out.

Dick was quite surprised and turned to look in the direction of the sound. Then, a deep sense of apprehension appeared on his face.

Then, a figure was seen pushing a small cart commonly used by street vendors, slowly walking towards the two of them.

He was a tall, thin man with a warm smile on his face. His brows exuded the elegance of a prince of royal lineage, clearly indicating that he was very well-mannered.

On his cart was a pot of hot soup, with various delicacies such as braised sheep's head and braised chicken feet laid out beside it.

The man pushed the cart to the two of them and handed them two handwritten menus.

"Two guests, would you like something to eat?"

Patriarch Osius took it, glanced at it, and saw that it was labeled "Braised Sheep's Head," "Heart and Lung Soup," "Braised Chicken Leg," and so on. At a glance, it was all meat dishes.

His eye twitched silently, and a hint of apprehension flickered in his eyes. He politely handed the handwritten menu back to the man, saying in a very courteous tone:

"Thank you, but no, I'm not hungry yet."

The man smiled warmly:
"Okay, you're welcome."

Dick Tudor then took the opportunity to return the menu:
"I'm not hungry either, thank you for your kindness."

The man still smiled warmly.
"Okay, you're welcome."

Immediately, he pushed the cart, turned around, and slowly walked away.

Dick Tudor only breathed a sigh of relief when his figure completely disappeared on the horizon.

"The Gourmet... How did this entity end up on this planet? I almost thought I was in danger today."

Osius said calmly:
"This entity will appear wherever there are humans. Do not provoke him or violate his rules. Just send him away normally."

As soon as he finished speaking, the patriarch of the Silver Church seemed to sense something, his aged body trembled, and he looked incredulously at the starry sky in the far right.

Dick Tudor's sculpted, handsome face froze for a moment, forgetting even his drink, and his gaze also turned to the right.

There was a star there, the same white-purple star that the dark brown, entirely rocky planet beneath their feet orbited.

At that moment, the star was suddenly pushed away by an indescribable force.

The already balanced gravity of the galaxy immediately changed, and the dark brown planet beneath their feet began to slowly but steadily fly towards the white-purple star.

There is also a planet in the far distance that broke free from the gravity of the white-purple star and flew into the depths of the universe.

But neither Patriarch Osius nor the young man named Dictator cared at all that their planet was crashing into the star.

Their gazes both focused on the original location of the white-purple star.

Now, only emptiness remains there.

Empty and desolate, devoid of anything.

But the void began to collapse, piece by piece, like deep purple glass being shattered.

These deep purple "glass" pieces flashed briefly and then disappeared immediately.

And so, the void that could have contained a star was transformed into a pure black void, which felt extremely eerie.

"What... happened?"

Dick Tudor nearly slipped off the boulder, almost dropping the silver wine jug in his hand, and spilling a few drops of wine because of his trembling hands.

It tastes like rum.

Shock gradually rose in Osius's pupils, and he almost froze. After a long while, he finally spoke haltingly:
"Could it be... that great being... shaping its own power?"

“Power?” Dick Tudor asked, puzzled.

Osius's hands were trembling uncontrollably, despite his efforts to restrain them. He took several deep breaths before speaking with a speculative tone:

"I'm just guessing. At first, it drained the essence of an entire life-bearing planet, and now it's starting to devour space and shape space-related powers. What exactly is going on..."

He suddenly thought of something, and his old, hunched figure trembled violently, unable to continue speaking.

Dick Tudor nearly widened his eyes in surprise:
"But isn't the power of space under the control of the Lord you serve?"

The deity served by the Silver White Church, the Silver White Universe, is clearly associated with spatial power, as can be heard from its name alone.

Osius shook his head:
“They are different. The Lord possesses the spatial power of the entire universe, while this mysterious and great being has only taken away this part of the space. He... must be exploring how to build his own power!”

Dick Tudor sighed:
"What a pity. I thought I would see your master make a move. According to you, the next step for this mysterious and great being should be... signing a secret pact?"

Osius fell silent again, offering no reply, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon, on the scattered, dark universe.

……

On the other side of this dark brown planet, the figure of the "gourmet" who was pushing a cart was about to disappear when it suddenly stopped.

He blankly looked up at the vast, empty expanse of the cosmos.

As a physical entity, the face of a gourmet should have always worn a warm and elegant smile, like a mask that never changes.
But at this moment, after a brief moment of stunned silence, the warm and elegant smile that had always been on his face disappeared, replaced by a human-like look of contemplation.

"Could it be..."

……

"Ninety-eight!"

"Ninety-nine!"

"one hundred!!!"

A low growl escaped from Xia Fa's throat, a satisfied release after achieving his goal. He forced himself to sit down on the sofa.

But he didn't see it at all. The moment he sat down on the sofa, purplish-black "shards of glass" emerged from behind the wall and poured into his back.

It immediately and completely merged into his body.

(End of this chapter)