I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

[All characters in this book are adults, and those who aren't are at least 1+ (so don't be surprised if you see someone 112 years old)—I was elbowed once and have a history of being blacklisted, so I had to change it QAQ]

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An international bodybuilding invitational tournament.

When the US team entered the stadium, the entire audience gasped.

That player is Arnold Mike Sun, a well-known "tank" in the professional arena.

A large pectoral muscle can stop small-caliber pistol bullets, and the circumference of both arms when engorged with blood is 67 centimeters.

It is said that this guy started using technology at the age of eighteen and has gone through seventeen cycles so far, producing a list of drugs that is longer than the catalog of the Big and Beautiful Act.

The commentator exclaimed with enthusiasm: "This is a legendary figure in the American bodybuilding world, possessing an extremely high tolerance for drugs, truly..."

"Drug-resistant Saint Body!!"

A voice came from the corner.

Everyone turned around and saw a thin young man leaning against the wall. He was holding a bottle of mineral water and staring at Arnold with the eyes of someone looking at a treasure.

His name is Ji Tian, ​​a Chinese team athlete. He's supposedly a part-time player, and supposedly has never used performance-enhancing drugs. And so on...

It's said that this guy read too many online novels and has developed some mental issues.

Ji Tian muttered to himself, his eyes burning with fervor, "A drug-resistant physique... a physique resistant to fourth-grade pills. If he finds a stroke of good fortune in the future, he might very well transform into a ninth-grade Tribulation-Crossing Saint Body..."

The team leader next to him turned green and whispered, "Ji Tian, ​​stop reading. Those are foreign athletes. Why are you reading something they can't understand?"

Ji Tian said earnestly, "I'm discussing the Dao with him. All cultivation methods in the world lead to the same goal, and the Dao of Medicine is also a Dao. This fellow Daoist can bear so much external alchemical power with a mortal body, so he must be extraordinary. I want to ask him how he refined it."

Arnold also saw him and said disdainfully in broken Chinese, "You little punk, you're that Chinese guy who does natural fitness??"

Ji Tian nodded, having questions for the other party, but not minding their rudeness.

Arnold patted his chest muscles. "I bench press 260 kilograms! What, that's impressive!"

Ji Tian held up one finger.

"one hundred?"

Shake head.

"one thousand?"

He still shook his head.

"How much did Ni take?"

Standing with his hands behind his back, Ji Tian placed the bottled water on the ground. His gaze was distant, as if he were looking through the long river of time.

"When I was dreaming and traveling through the vast emptiness, I saw a Nascent Soul ancestor shatter a mountain with a single palm strike."

Team leader: "..."

Arnold: "..."

"So I think that measuring strength in kilograms is too narrow-minded. Strength is about cultivation, state of mind, and understanding of the universe. You might be able to push a 260-meter shovel, but do you 'understand' it? Do you feel that profound and simple mystery of the great Dao when muscle fibers tear?"

Arnold's face turned green.

Game start.

Arnold goes first.

His veins bulged like a coiled python, and his eyes were bloodshot as if he had gone mad.

Two hundred and sixty kilograms, all done in one go!

The audience erupted in applause.

"We're here, you little punk!"

Ji Tian walked to the bench press rack. There was no warm-up, no shouting, he just took a deep breath.

Then she closed her eyes.

Those nearby heard him chanting in a deep voice: "...The profound origin of heaven and earth, the root of all energies. Through vast calamities, I will prove my divine powers..."

"What is he doing?" The commentator was at a loss for words.

The audience members were also somewhat puzzled.

Covering his face, the team leader sighed, "He's chanting the Golden Light Mantra."

"Recite the Golden Light Mantra during bench press?"

He said this allows him to connect with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, making the barbell lighter.

The commentator paused for a few seconds before saying, "...Has he been reading too many online novels?"

The team leader's voice was filled with endless exhaustion. "It's not just that he's seen too much; he thinks he's a cultivator, and fitness is just his way of training in the mortal world. He calls muscles 'the foundation of the physical body,' protein powder 'the elixir of immortality,' and squats 'a low-grade earth-level cultivation technique'..."

"...Then what about his bench press?"

He said the bench press is "proving the way through strength".

The entire room fell silent.

At this moment, Ji Tian had finished chanting the incantation, gripped the barbell with both hands, and exerted force...

Three hundred kilograms.

It was also completed in one go!

Without roaring or bulging veins, the barbell in his hands seemed to be supported by some invisible force, steady and composed, carrying an indescribable 'Taoist charm'.

Arnold was so startled that the abscess on his back, left by the injection, almost burst open.

He muttered, "This can't be! You must have been given pesticides, you must have been given pesticides! What pesticides did you use? Tell me what pesticides you used!"

Ji Tian sat up, lightly patted his clothes, and remained calm.

"I didn't use any medication."

"Impossible! It's impossible to push 300 meters without natural training!"

"Yes, natural training can't push you 300 times," Ji Tian replied calmly.

"Then who is...?"

Ji Tian raised his hand to interrupt, "I'm not doing natural training, I'm cultivating immortality."

Arnold: "?"

"You mortals treat your bodies as mere flesh and blood; I treat mine as a furnace. You train your muscles; I cultivate my foundation. You rely on drugs to break through your limits; I rely on..."

He paused, seemingly considering his words, and said, "I rely on 'enlightenment'."

"Wu She Yao??" Arnold said in broken Chinese.

"Enlightenment. One day I was carrying cement at a construction site, and suddenly I had an epiphany. I realized that cement and a barbell are essentially the same thing: they are both 'heavy objects.' And the concept of 'heavy' is just a rule of the universe. When you understand the rules, you will not be bound by them."

He pointed to the barbell: "These three hundred kilograms are three hundred kilograms in your eyes. In my eyes, they are just a rule of 'weight.' I'm not pushing iron, I'm pushing the Way."

The entire room fell silent once again.

After a moment, the commentator muttered under his breath, "Now I'm starting to doubt whether he really didn't take any drugs. Even drugs can't produce this kind of brain circuitry."

The team leader was no longer willing to speak.

Arnold lost today's game.

But he was not convinced.

That night, Arnold locked himself in his hotel room.

A suitcase was laid out in front of him, containing dozens of vials of medicine neatly stacked inside.

Testosterone, trenbolone, stanozolol, insulin-like growth factor... the various colored liquids gleamed eerily under the light.

His eyes were red, like a wounded wild animal.

"That punk must have gotten some kind of drug I don't know about. I can't lose..."

He began preparing the medicine.

The dosage is twice the usual amount.

injection.

I still feel it's not enough.

Three times the dose.

Re-inject.

"I'm going to break through! I'm going to show him what real power is... what a real man is!"

He suddenly remembered what Ji Tian had said.

"You're being idiotic, but do you even 'understand' it?"

"I understand! I understand! I understand!! I understand... I understand!" Arnold roared, pulling out another syringe. "I'll show you what it means to understand! What it means to know!! What it means to..."

Four times the dosage!

injection.

My liver felt like it was being squeezed, and my heart was pounding wildly, as if it was going to burst out of my chest.

Cold sweat soaked the sheets, vision blurred, and my ears were ringing.

He tried to call for help, but he couldn't open his mouth.

In his final moments before his consciousness faded, he heard a familiar voice outside the door…

"Fellow Daoist, are you inside?"

It's Ji Tian.

With his last ounce of strength, Arnold managed to squeeze out a few words through gritted teeth:

"Get out...get lost..."

"I sensed a strong medicinal fluctuation here, and thought you were undergoing a tribulation, so I came to see if you needed protection."

Ji Tian's voice was filled with concern, "Are you alright? I just did some calculations and found that there's an inauspicious star in your destiny palace, so it's not a good time for you to refine pills tonight."

Arnold wanted to swear, but he couldn't swear anymore.

The last thing he saw was the hotel room door being kicked open, with Ji Tian standing in the doorway, holding a bottle of mineral water, staring in shock at the syringes scattered all over the floor.

"Holy crap!" Ji Tian was also somewhat shocked. "Fellow Daoist, you've gone mad with cultivation!"

Arnold Mike Sun, the drug-resistant god of the American bodybuilding world, an absolute champion with a bench press of 260 kilograms... passed out amidst a floor full of syringes and medicine bottles.

The next morning, Ji Tian had breakfast at the hotel restaurant.

A bowl of plain porridge, two steamed buns, a dish of pickled vegetables, and a copy of the Tao Te Ching.

The team leader jogged over and shouted to him, "Ji Tian!! Arnold overdosed on medication last night and had to be rushed to the hospital! He forfeit today's match! You won!"

Ji Tian took a bite of the steamed bun and chewed slowly. He turned to a page of the Tao Te Ching and read aloud: "...It is precisely because he does not contend that no one in the world can contend with him."

"What did you say?"

Ji Tian looked out the window, his tone deep, "I said, I won not because of my strength, but because of my steadfast Dao heart."

The team leader remained silent for a long time before finally unable to hold back and asking, "Ji Tian, ​​tell me honestly, did you receive any medication?"

Turning his head, Ji Tian looked at him seriously.

"Do you think someone who spends their holidays working on construction sites and has to spend 300 yuan on a monthly pass to the gymnasium has enough money to buy medicine?"

Team leader: "..."

"I only buy the near-expiration version of my fasting pills (protein powder)," Ji Tian said, taking a sip of porridge. "Last week I managed to snag a tub that was still three days away from expiring, saving eighty yuan. I was happy all day."

He raised his head, his eyes so clear that it was hard to believe he was someone who could lift 300 kilograms.

"So when I said I was cultivating immortality, you thought I was joking. But I'm serious. I have no money for medicine, no money for a coach, no money for physical therapy. What else can I do besides 'enlightenment'?"

"What do you understand?"

Ji Tian finished the last bite of his steamed bun and continued, "I've been trying to figure out how to achieve the greatest results with the least amount of money. Later, I realized that the underlying logic of this thing is actually quite similar to cultivating immortality. Both involve making up for insufficient resources with your life. Both have no shortcuts; you can only take it one step at a time. Both involve enduring hardship; if you can endure it, you're a genius; if you can't, you're a waste."

He stood up and picked up the bottle of mineral water.

"I'm not talking to you anymore. The bonus will be split the same as usual. There's still work on the construction site, and you'll get fined if you're late."

He left quietly, without taking a single cloud with him.

He walked out of the restaurant, out of the hotel, and into the morning sunlight.

His back was thin, and his gait was casual; he looked no different from any other ordinary working person.

Behind him is the cleanest gold medal in bodybuilding history, and a five-star red flag that inexplicably rose up because his opponent was knocked out by doping.

And a post-match interview secretly recorded on the team leader's phone...

Reporter: "Mr. Ji Tian, ​​what are your thoughts on winning the championship?"

Ji Tian looked at the camera with a serious expression: "I want to say something to everyone in the world who wants to take shortcuts."

Reporter: "What did you say?"

Ji Tian: "Although elixirs are good, they are ultimately external things. If one's Dao heart is unstable, it will be a waste no matter what one eats."

reporter:"……"

Ji Tian: "Also, the pre-expiration fasting pills (protein powder) are really worth buying; the money saved is enough to buy a monthly membership. I've personally tested it and it works."

……

"This hotel doesn't have as much charm as a construction site."

Ji Tian stepped out of the hotel. The morning sun shone on his face, warm and comforting, much like the lowest-grade spirit-gathering array in the sect in his dream... better than nothing, but better than nothing at all.

He took out his phone and glanced at the time.

Six forty-seven.

The clock-in time at the construction site is 7:30 AM; being late will result in a 50-yuan deduction.

"I need to hurry," he muttered to himself. "I still have one set of squats left to do today, and that bucket of fasting pills I used yesterday is almost finished. I need to check online to see if there are any cheaper ones..."

He walked briskly along the road, calculating his expenses for the month.

The rent is 800.

Iron Pavilion monthly pass: 300.

Food costs 1,500.

Near-term fasting pills (protein powder) cost 120.

The phone bill is 30.

He spends zero on transportation... He never takes a car; he walks whenever he can, believing that "hiking is also a form of spiritual practice."

All things considered, I can still save more than a thousand yuan a month.

enough.

That's enough for him to buy another used Olympic pole, enough for him to stock up on a few more buckets of protein powder that are about to expire, enough for him to continue getting stronger in this city.

He looked down at the mineral water bottle in his hand, suddenly chuckled, and murmured, "Actually, it's not so bad. Although there are no spirit stones, no cultivation techniques, and no sect protection... this mortal world is quite interesting for tempering the heart."

He unscrewed the cap and took a sip.

The cool water went down my throat, carrying a faint, almost imperceptible sweetness.

"Like this water, even though it's all from one block, it tastes..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Because at the intersection ahead, a 100-ton truck was hurtling towards us in a way that defied the laws of physics.

No, it's not 沖.

It is flying.

The heavy truck seemed to have been launched by some indescribable force.

The front of the car was raised high, with the four wheels half an inch off the ground, and it hurtled straight toward Ji Tian with a piercing whistle that seemed to tear through the air.

There's nowhere to hide, nowhere to avoid.

Ji Tian was stunned.

It wasn't from being scared.

"Could this be a stroke of great fortune?"

His pupils contracted slightly, and countless plot points from online novels flashed through his mind—those whose names contain the character "运" (luck/fortune) are mostly related to luck; those related to luck are mostly signs of being chosen by heaven; and all chosen people... must undergo tribulations!

"A great period of fortune... a great period of fortune is..."

His eyes widened suddenly, as if he had discovered some profound truth.

"Great fortune means great destiny!!"

"This is a heavenly tribulation!! Heaven and earth are testing my Dao heart!! If I can overcome it, I will surely have a great opportunity!!"

The pedestrians waiting at the red light started screaming and scattering in all directions.

An elderly woman selling pancakes abandoned her stall and fled frantically with her tricycle.

Only Ji Tian stood still, casually tossing down his mineral water bottle and assuming a horse stance.

He took a deep breath, focused his energy in his dantian, and slowly pushed out both palms, actually assuming a position to take the hit head-on.

"Come on!!" he roared, "Let me see just how powerful this calamity of heaven and earth really is!!"

The great fortune arrives with immense momentum.

Just then, a cat suddenly darted out from the roadside green belt.

A stray orange cat, its fur bristling and snarling, was either startled by the truck's roar or frightened by Ji Tian's shout. It arched its back, its tail bristling like a feather duster, and growled threateningly at the truck.

Ji Tian caught a glimpse of this scene out of the corner of his eye, and his expression changed drastically.

This cat actually stood between him and Dayun!

"You brat!!" he shouted angrily, and with a flick of his toe, he accurately sent the orange cat flying three steps away onto the lawn.

The orange cat did a somersault in the air and landed looking completely bewildered.

Ji Tian stopped, his gaze sharp as lightning, looking down at the cat with a stern tone, as if reprimanding an arrogant junior:

"The path of cultivation is too treacherous; you can't grasp it! Don't steal my opportunity!!"

Orange cat: "Meow???"

It shrank its neck and darted into the bushes.

Ji Tian nodded in satisfaction, then unleashed a powerful punch at the Dayun heavy truck that was now almost upon him.

The wrist bone snapped instantly!

In the moments before being launched into flight, countless thoughts flashed through Ji Tian's mind...

It turned out to be the case.

No wonder I always felt that this world was devoid of spiritual energy.

No wonder I've been cultivating diligently for over ten years and haven't even reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

It turns out I do have spiritual roots.

I was... born into the wrong family!

This world is the Dharma-ending Age!

The true world of cultivation is elsewhere!!

The massive transport vehicle before us isn't a celestial tribulation, it's... a teleportation array!

"Wonderful!!!"

He uttered those two words as his last words, and then he was sent flying.