Yes, I became a god just by exercising.

Chapter 121 The Eighth Overlord-Level Secret Contract
This gift plate is made of gray tin.

A citrine is set at the top, left, and right of the gift tray.

Each of the three citrine crystals is surrounded by a circle of fine cryptic text.

If it were last time, Xia Fa would have only thought this gray tin gift plate was a bit exquisite.

But now that he has mastered some knowledge of occultism, especially divination-related occultism, he recognized at a glance... this is a way to prevent divination and spying!
The gray tin tray was covered with bright red silk, the outer edge of which was even embroidered with gold thread, so Xia Fa could not see what the gift inside was.

But precisely because he couldn't see, his heart began to pound uncontrollably.

What could be the gift that would make the leader of the giants, the Giant King Giant who reigns supreme, treat it with such solemnity, even adding measures to prevent divination and prying?
Suddenly, an old giant, who was six meters tall and looked even older than the Giant King Giant, stepped forward respectfully.

Xiafa knew that this was the companion of the giant king Giant.

The term "partner" refers to a custom in this tribal civilization. Whenever a person of noble birth is born into a giant royal family, the chief will assign him two partners, who are essentially trusted confidants from childhood to adulthood.

This old giant, as the attendant of Giant King Giant, held a very high position on Planet Dark.

The old giant first placed his hand on Xia Fa's chest and bowed deeply with utmost respect. Then, he reached out and pulled open the red silk ribbon.

In that instant, a burst of brilliant light erupted from the gray tin tray, the heavens and earth shook violently, the lake water boiled and bubbled wildly, a roar came from the depths of the universe, and the gods cast down their gazes... Well, none of this actually happened.

In the gray tin tray, there lay a gray hand with sharp claws lying quietly.

Beside the palm are tiny, colorful, translucent little sharks.

Xia Fa's attention immediately focused on the gray palm.

This is clearly not a human hand; it looks more like some kind of monster's. Humans don't have such sharp claws, and their skin wouldn't be gray.

However, the moment Xia Fa saw that gray hand, his heart clenched.

It was because the palm of that gray hand was covered with layers upon layers of secret runes that seemed to expand and contract like breathing!

This is... a top-tier secret contract!

Although Xia Fa immediately judged through his spiritual intuition that this was not the Gate of Stars, there was no doubt that the only thing that could have such layers of secret texts in a spatial manner was a hegemon-level secret contract!
Which one is this?
The Primal Stomach? A Fairy Tale World? A Celestial Mage? A Forge of All Things? Eternal Conditions?

However, regardless of which one it is, its value is extremely high, beyond imagination!
And there's no need to rush to find out now; we can always find out by divination when we get back!
Xia Fa couldn't contain his excitement, but he didn't show it on his face at all, and just nodded lightly.

When the Giant King Giant saw Lord Glutton nod, his old and enormous body trembled, and a burst of wild joy erupted in his chest, because this meant that... Lord Glutton had once again accepted the gift from the giants!

This is different from last time. Last time, Lord Gluttony only came for a meal and paid for it, and the giants only considered it a return gift.

This time, Lord Gluttony personally took action and wiped out the overwhelming army of rotten poisonous insects, which was equivalent to saving countless water-scarce citizens of the giant race. Now he has accepted a gift as a token of gratitude. What does this mean?
This means that the friendship between the giants and Lord Glutton has been truly established in its initial stages!

Giant King Giant had even figured out how the "photo newspaper" would be written, and he was already looking forward to how the humans and demi-human nobles of the Wright Starfield would react and what actions they would take after seeing it.

In any case, there will definitely be a steady stream of visits coming, and there might even be beings of supreme status arriving, making Him feel very important.

Immediately, the Giant King Giant raised the gray tin tray high above his head and spoke in a voice full of piety and respect.

"Your Excellency Glutton, this is a supreme-level secret contract obtained by the ancestral Titan when he traveled and cultivated during the first ten thousand years of the universe, after killing a bizarre being of divine rank."

Xia Fa gave a faint "hmm" and said nothing more, waiting for the Giant King Giant to continue.

If Giant King Giant had directly stated that this was the Overlord-level secret contract, then he wouldn't have needed to perform divination. Divining an Overlord-level secret contract is actually quite risky.

Whether from fear of facing a real being or simply from excitement, the Giant King Giant's aged voice trembled as he continued:

"But according to the clues left by our ancestors, this is not any known hegemonic secret contract."

Xia Fa was slightly taken aback, and then a strange feeling rose in his heart.

It's hard to say whether this feeling is surprise, unexpected, or simply curiosity.

This is actually... the eighth type of secret contract, besides the seven known overlord-level contracts?
Of course, it could also be the ninth or tenth type, but since they are all unknown, we can count it as the eighth type.

No wonder King Giant took it so seriously, even employing measures to prevent divination and spying.

In a sense, this supreme-level secret contract is of extremely high value, involving all aspects of secret contract research, and may even open up a new direction for the development of secret contracts.

Even disregarding these academic aspects, this one point alone proves just how precious this eighth type of overlord-level secret contract truly is.

That is... the vast majority of beings in the entire universe, regardless of their rank or status, may be completely unaware of any information about this eighth type of overlord-level secret contract!

Especially the most crucial ability of secret communication!

In battles among extraordinary individuals, even those at the demigod level or above, the main factor is the close bond between the two sides.

If a secret contract of a supreme level with completely unknown capabilities is signed, how much advantage will it provide when facing an enemy?

After all, given the unparalleled transcendent status of the Overlord-level secret contracts among the extraordinary beings, while demigods might not yet be able to fully know all the information about the other seven Overlord-level secret contracts, those above them, such as angels or even rulers, have probably already thoroughly studied the information about those seven Overlord-level secret contracts.

But now, he possesses a top-tier secret contract containing information unknown to everyone else.

Just then, the voice of Giant King Giant rang out again, this time filled with utmost sincerity:
"Your Excellency the Glutton, please accept this gift. Otherwise, our entire clan will feel uneasy. I know that money is of no use to you now. I hope that this unknown overlord-level secret contract can provide you with value."

I really need money...

Xia Fa felt a bit amused and exasperated, but spoke calmly, his voice hoarse and garbled like a malfunctioning telegraph machine.

"good."

These two simple words sent a jolt through the giant king Giant, and his attendants were instantly moved to tears.

After all, this is a compliment from a physical being, and one who ranks among the top in strength among physical beings!

Although it was just two simple words, and didn't even contain much praise, both Giant King Giant and his companions were more excited than when they were just insignificant children in the Giant King's royal family and received praise from the old chieftain back then!
The next moment, Lord Glutton took the gray tin tray and stood up.

A surge of electric-like chaos and a hoarse, cacophonous telegraph-like sound filled the air once more, and then the entity vanished.

For some reason, this time, whether it was Giant King Giant, his attendants, or the more than three hundred giants, looking at the empty armrests and the gold-inlaid chair, they all felt a sense of emptiness.

On the lake, a wild goose skimmed across the water, its chicks following closely behind, as if afraid of losing it.

……

Caligius Star.

The Kingdom of Augu.

Rum City.

In the attic, Xia Fa suddenly appeared from the chair.

He stood up, his face full of admiration.

Unexpectedly, this time I accidentally activated my ability to randomly freeload meals and actually gained such a great reward!
The eighth type of overlord-level secret contract!

Of course, there was also a plate of over a hundred exceptional dried fish.

Xia Fa recognized it as a gem shark, a superhuman fish of a higher rank than the crystal dragon grouper. Its entire body looked like it was carved from gemstones. It was only the size of a thumb and tasted like chewy gummy candy.

Moreover, different colors have different flavors; red is spicy, yellow is sour, and so on.

He first placed the gem shark on the table, then picked up the gray hand with sharp claws and examined it.

Sure enough, the moment he picked up the gray claw-like hand, more than a dozen electric currents shot out from his spine and covered his cerebral cortex.

"One from the palm of God..."

From God, there is a being whose status is higher than that of the Sovereign, second only to the Outer Gods.

Even though more than 30,000 years have passed, and God probably thought He was dead beyond any doubt, His palm could still easily cause a demigod or even an angel to lose control.

It was only because this strange current could surge from his own spine that Xia Fa dared to touch it. "Hiss... This is a bit troublesome. I don't dare to do any divination now. Forget about the overlord-level secret contract on it, just this hand alone... if I were to do any divination, I'm afraid I would lose control on the spot..."

Xia Fa was in a dilemma mainly because his reckless actions, such as using the Divination God's Hand, meant that the strange electric current at his spine wouldn't come out to protect him. Even if he tried to activate it, he could only manage to summon a wisp of it.

"Forget it, I'll keep it for now. If one day my spiritual intuition truly guides me to this unknown, overlord-level secret contract, I'll sign it directly, and then I'll know all relevant information and intelligence..."

The reason he immediately recognized that the layered runes on the gray palm were not the overlord-level secret contract of the Gate of Stars was for this very reason.

Once the next secret sign is encountered, guided by spiritual intuition, the spiritual intuition will surge wildly and desperately foreshadow it; this is true for any extraordinary person.

So, if next time, his spiritual intuition guides him to a secret contract name he has never heard of, and he feels that same intense spiritual intuition and desperate premonition when facing that gray palm, then he can sign the contract directly.

Thinking this, Xia Fa nodded slightly and put the gray tin tray and the divine hand into his pouch.

It has to be said that Giant King Giant was very thoughtful; he even gave him this divination and spyproof gift plate, so he can put more things on it in the future.

"Oh, right, where's Beneath?"

When Xia Fagang teleported back, he didn't see Benedictine in the living room and assumed she was sleeping upstairs.

But upon closer inspection, they discovered that Benedict was not home at all.

He has a connection with his doll girl, which started when they signed the contract.

Within a certain range—currently about 100 meters—he can vaguely sense Benedict's location.

Judging that Benedict had gone out shopping, Xiafa shook his head with a smile. Then he thought, since he had already eaten a bellyful of roasted lamb, he might as well... exercise!
Unless investigators from the authorities or the church come knocking on his door at this time, it won't affect his exercise.

Anyway, on the surface, he is physically weak. He is exercising so that he can withstand the infusion of extraordinary power when signing the next secret contract. There's nothing wrong with that, and no one can tell anything from him.

With this in mind, Xia Fa immediately started doing push-ups in the living room.

"One, two, three, four, five..."

While doing push-ups, Xia Fa suddenly remembered something.

"Why did my ability to randomly freeload a meal and go to Da Ke Xing fail temporarily when I stood up and went back?"

Since I accidentally teleported to my home planet, I've encountered quite a few things, which is why I didn't discover the problem until I returned.

"Wait, could it be that..."

For some reason, Xia Fa thought of that unknown entity that resembled a heavily armored cavalryman.

The unknown entity resembling a heavily armored cavalryman was clearly already waiting by the God-given Lake before he appeared.

But of course, they weren't waiting for him; they were waiting for the moment when the army of decaying, poisonous insects would awaken from their slumber and crawl out of the ground.

While this unknown entity, resembling a heavily armored cavalryman, was waiting outside the Lake of Gods, my ability to teleport back immediately upon standing up just happened to malfunction. As soon as it left, it became usable again.

This forced Xia Fa to realize a terrifying truth.

"My ability to randomly freeload meals actually fails when facing this unknown entity that looks like a heavily armored cavalryman?"

Back in the city built by the giant jaw beasts, Shafa had always considered his ability to randomly freeload meals as a trump card for escaping, but he didn't have time to use it.

Now it seems……

"No, it's not necessarily completely ineffective. Maybe when I sit down, I can still be randomly teleported to a place where I can get a free meal. It's just that when they're around, my ability to teleport back when I stand up will fail..."

Xia Fa could only console himself in this way; otherwise, the deep fear he already had of that unknown being resembling heavily armored cavalry would only intensify.

"What exactly is that...?"

Since the three demigods had all said that the unknown being resembling a heavily armored cavalryman was independent of the existing system of occult knowledge, and was not a physical entity, not a follower of gods, not an outer god, and certainly not one of the nine great gods.

So, after struggling with the thought for a while, Xia Fa simply stopped thinking about it.

"Ninety-six, ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!"

Soon, after completing one hundred push-ups, Xia Fa was pleasantly surprised to find that the soreness throughout his body was much less than when he had done one hundred push-ups the last time!
Could it be because my rank has improved? Or is it due to the effects of consistent training?

Regardless, this was a good thing, and Xia Fa immediately went to the passageway between the living room and the kitchen.

Today, he's going to take on the challenge of... thirty pull-ups!

Last time, when he tried to dissolve the bee eggs by exercising to awaken the burning sensation in his heart, he stopped after only doing push-ups because he needed to digest the enormous supernatural power.

This time, without distractions and with no one else to worry about, Xia Fa decided to attempt thirty pull-ups!
Suddenly, he leaped up, grabbed the kitchen door frame with both hands, tightened his back muscles, and began to pull himself up.

"one!"

"two!"

"three!"

……

His back, which already showed some muscle definition, was shiny with oil, and his arms were trembling. The extreme soreness in his muscles brought an irresistible feeling of exhaustion.

Xia Fa gritted his teeth; this was already the twenty-ninth!

He's just one short of completing the challenge of thirty pull-ups!

The aching pain in his body, as if it had been scraped by countless knives or as if his muscles had been completely burned, could not shake his will, much less make him give up.

The only thing that could stop him was the feeling of weakness caused by muscle soreness.

Logically speaking, he should be an insect-level superhuman, so he could easily do more than thirty pull-ups, let alone thousands.

Xia Fa understood that his method of exercising was extremely special and could not be measured by common sense.

In this situation, the muscles are completely exhausted, and there's no way to do another one.

"thirty……!"

The count practically burst out through gritted teeth. Xia Fa felt a sense of relief as he let go and landed, a faint sense of accomplishment welling up inside him.

At the beginning, I could barely do a few dozen push-ups, but now I can not only do a hundred push-ups, but also thirty pull-ups!
Xia Fa felt inspired and full of energy, wanting to continue tomorrow.

"Hey, this is..."

Suddenly, Xia Fa felt a burning sensation and strange electric current surging out from his heart and spine, and then... it rushed wildly towards his left shoulder.

That's... the place where Veronica, the Poison Queen, planted bee eggs for the second time!

"Wait, wasn't I just implanted with bee eggs yesterday? It's only the second day, they haven't even matured yet..."

Xia Fa had just begun to have doubts when suddenly he felt a vague, extremely weak will expressing its willingness to submit to him.

Although that will was extremely weak, even weaker than that of an elephant, it gave Xia Fa a feeling that its potential was limitless.

Moreover, that will came from his left shoulder!
As Xia Fazheng pondered how to respond, suddenly, that faint will seemed to release a glowing secret script, which fell into his mind.

In that instant, Xia Fa understood, and was deeply moved.

I have completely become the master of that weak will.

Because those luminous runes were formed from the very essence of that faint will's soul!
and many more……

Xia Fa suddenly realized what was happening.

Have the bee eggs planted by Patriarch Veronica of Ten Thousand Poisons come to recognize her as their master?

(End of this chapter)