[Last Emperor] Chapter 17 - Bodybuilding Dreams (Patreon)

Looking at his status page did not help his cause. Tao Zi needed to get to work and push past his goal before he decided on what he wanted to do afterward. The big plan, luring the HellHound to the chimp camp, could wait a few days longer until he was more confident in his ability to escape.

That meant he would not start his plan until he reached Body Tempering Initiate Stage 5 to match his Qi cultivation. Giving him a boost to his speed, strength, and everything else he couldn't quite explain properly. Some form of intangibles that he suddenly gained.

A feeling for how to move and the most effective ways to advance efficiently.

Not that it was any good yet, but he could feel the difference already even if it was marginal. Tao Zi guessed that it was more important or equally as important as gaining a bunch of advances in pure brute strength or speed.

Tao Zi didn't even need that much. He pushed the percentage up to 98% already through working out, but the rewards that were coming started slowing down tremendously. At least the experience he gained was more applicable to the dangers compared to the other rewards he had received so far. The randomness was grating at his mind.

He wasn't going to let it bother him.

For that purpose, he was currently simulating a bench press. Doing exclusively strength and body based activities and workouts he didn't mentally associate with being a cultivator. No kung fu moves, no plyometrics, swordsmanship and any other weapons practice, no meditation, and even push ups and jumping jacks felt too close. No boxing either.

So he dedicated his time to the art of bodybuilding.

Tao Zi knew very little about the subject at hand. Just the very basics of the art in that he had to workout as though he was in a gym. In order to do that, he needed workout equipment. Hence the makeshift dumbbells in his hands currently.

Simulating a bench press with the two large stone dumbbells. Their weight was not the same, they were slippery in his hands, and worst of all was that they were pretty much shaped completely differently. It was a horrible attempt that even the system had deemed unworthy of a slight reward.

Yet, it was enough. Alternating sides with the mismatched dumbbells to keep each side equally worked out as he pushed up. He grunted trying to act as though he was a muscle bound giant with biceps as large as Tao Zi's entire chest.

It didn't help his repetition count.

His form was horrible. He'd barely missed decapitating his head when one of the dumbbells slipped out of his sweaty hands and then he dropped the other one on his toes. The same ones that throbbed and ached in pain at being clipped ever so slightly. Tao Zi could have sworn his heart was located there had he not known better.

Tao Zi shouted as he finished another one. It was getting ridiculously hard and he hadn't gotten a reward yet. He slowly let the dumbells fall until they touched his chest. He took in a few quick breaths and braced himself. Gritting his teeth and locking his jaw as he pushed with every ounce of power his scrawny arms could muster. They shook like branches, slowly going up.

He shouted again, straining to get them all the way up.

Whispers to quit seemed to fill his mind. Pushing him to relax or maybe even try this when it wasn't so hard. Tao Zi refused to listen to his demons. There was nothing worse than a heart demon in a cultivation world. Nothing. It could change the most righteous sages into monsters or bring low the strongest immortals to walk the land.

No heart demon would have him.

Tao Zi screamed in triumph. His arms locked with the weight high above his head. Taking breaths to calm himself and get oxygen back into his brain did not prevent him from imagining the massive things dropping and cracking his skull.

He thought about slowly bringing them down—

Nope. That's not happening. My arms hurt too much to bring them down.

Only one choice remained. He channeled his inner gym bro to the best of his ability. Throwing the makeshift dumbbells over his head, praying he hadn't made a mistake and killed himself or Tiger in the process.

Both of them crashed heavily into the ground. One of them chipped and lost a piece.

Congratulations on your exceptional action!

Push past your limits!

Complete an entire set of Dumbbell Bench Presses!

Reward 1 Qi Exp

Reward 12 Body Tempering Exp

Congratulations on your exceptional action!

Reached the bottleneck of Body Tempering Initiate Stage 4 - 5 !

1 Reward Bottleneck Breakthroughs!

No Heavenly Lightning Trial!

Reward Fancy, bright blue pants!

Reward Bright blue, muscle tank top!

Reward Protein shaker!

System Downtime and forced unconsciousness -

04h 01m 44s

Do you wish to start the process?

Yes?

No?

Tao Zi let out a deep breath as he sat up. He finally did it. After all the grueling workouts he had been subjecting himself to for the past few days, it had finally resulted in his goal. A shot of pure dopamine rushed through his brain and into his veins.

He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of his situation.

Sore arms and chest began to ache him as he stood up from his makeshift bench. Nothing but a stone he made flat through carving. It was easier to make a surface even and straight than it was to make something round for some reason.

Tao Zi walked to his bed, limping all the way there. His toes still hurt too.

Maybe I pushed myself too far. My shoulder doesn't even feel sore, it just hurts during the workout now. I think I need to have a few recovery days or I'm going to start breaking down like an old car.

He fell onto the bed and laid down. Looking into his ring pocket to see how much food he had left. Only a couple of wild carrots, seven of the white roots, and one wild squash. No meat in sight ever since he had arrived in the rift pocket.

Tao Zi had a few suspicions. First and foremost to him was that all the game in the area was being over hunted by the chimps. Forcing the herds and animals to migrate further into areas in the rift he was simply too weak to attempt currently. A place where there were a dozen HellHounds was not a spot he wanted to ever visit until he passed the Journeyman Stage 3 at minimum.

No source of meat seemed like a massive issue, one that would hopefully be solved by eliminating the chimp camp.

Second was the fact he hadn't started losing weight, fat, or any muscle ever since his arrival. He had a few theories, none of which he wanted to test out on himself. Whether it was the constant gain of experience fueling his body enough that it doesn't degenerate, allowing anything he ate to be used as a source of growth. Or if it was actually the roots and what amount of energy in them being miraculous in nature. Giving him all his needed nutrients alone.

Tao Zi yawned loudly. Covering his mouth as his eyes became blurry with tears.

Good time as any to pop a Spiritual Medicine Pill and start the breakthrough process. Need some good sleep anyways.

He prompted the system and clicked yes. Immediately losing consciousness as the counter began counting down. Tiger jumped on the bed and snuggled tightly in between Tao Zi's legs. Yawning similarly to him and falling asleep.

04h 01m 44s

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04h 01m 42s

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