Yes, I became a god just by exercising.

Chapter 150 A Shocking Turn of Events: The Overlord Makes His Move!
First, I held it in my hand and weighed it. It felt about the same weight as a normal bottle filled with water.

Then, Xia Fa pulled out the ebony plug.

A soft "pop" sound, accompanied by a strong, spicy aroma, instantly spread.

The pungent smell went straight to Xia Fa's nose, causing his nose to wrinkle instantly and making him about to sneeze.

The thought that a baby Mistscale Dragon might appear at any moment, perhaps already cautiously approaching—that's how prey behaves when faced with a favorite bait; they'll only take the bait once they're sufficiently reassured.

So Xia Fa forced himself to suppress the sneeze.

But almost instantly, he felt his whole body start to heat up, as if every muscle, every bone, and even every cell in his body was being tempered.

"Good stuff!"

Without even needing to consult a divination, Xia Fa immediately realized the benefits of this bottle of black potion.

Without a doubt, this black potion can greatly enhance his physique, especially his strength and speed!

However, out of caution, Xia Fa still performed a divination to confirm that there would be no danger in drinking the black potion before slowly bringing it to his lips.

The closer he got, the more pungent and spicy it became, as if someone had sprinkled pepper powder into his nose.

At the same time, Xia Fa also felt his whole body getting hotter and hotter, and through his spiritual intuition, he even felt that his strength had really increased slightly!

This was just from smelling the black potion!

Without hesitation, Xia Fa suddenly bit the bottle opening and tilted his head back.

Glug! Glug! Glug!

The black liquid flowed down his mouth and into his esophagus, giving Xia Fa the sensation of swallowing lava.

The heat was so intense, so scalding, it almost burned his esophagus.

However, the benefits are also obvious.

His arm muscles suddenly bulged by a centimeter, and his whole body seemed to have grown a little taller.

He used to be extremely thin, but after a period of hard work, including eating at restaurants and exercising, he now looks like a normal person who is a little thin.

Now, Xia Fa is developing in the direction of having an ape-like back, a wasp-like waist, and a strong and powerful physique.

The black liquid finally entered his stomach, and then with a "boom," it spread out and surged directly throughout his entire body.

Xia Fa could clearly feel that every cell in his body was joyfully absorbing the black potion.

At the same time, my physical condition is also improving rapidly.

His muscles swelled up, and even fine fibrous lines separated under the skin. His bones became stronger and his organs became more active. Xia Fa felt his body undergoing amazing changes.

"It feels a bit like what those extraordinary individuals who signed the Titan's Might pact described..."

Xia Fa had once read in a book various accounts from extraordinary individuals, describing their feelings when signing different secret pacts.
Those extraordinary individuals who signed the Titan Force contract described their experience as feeling hot all over, with muscles bulging, bones becoming stronger, and even their organs becoming healthier and more powerful.

And now, Xia Fa's feeling is, if not exactly the same, then pretty much the same.

"Could it be that this little gift from the storyteller, this bottle of black potion, is equivalent to the Titan's Might Code's effect on enhancing the physique of extraordinary individuals?"

Xia Fa was overjoyed. Although he certainly couldn't use the various secret abilities of Titan's Might, the physical enhancement effect alone made him feel like he had made a huge profit!
After all, he was now fighting with the Silver Throne, a supreme-level secret contract, as the core of his power, and the effectiveness of the Silver Throne secret contract depended on his own strength and speed!

Xia Fa gritted his teeth and endured the burning sensation all over his body. Suddenly, he thought that since his physique had been greatly improved, could he do more pull-ups when he exercised?
Currently, after completing push-ups, doing ten more pull-ups each time can bring unimaginable benefits.

Of course, my exercise is different from ordinary exercise. Even if I exercise every day, I may not necessarily improve. Xia Fa thinks it mainly depends on the right opportunity.

Finally, the burning sensation throughout his body dissipated, and Xia Fa let out a long breath, feeling that even his breath was spicy.

He stood up, raised his arms, and looked at himself from head to toe with great joy.

Hmm... I've grown about ten centimeters taller, and my muscles have increased a lot.

He was already 1.8 meters tall, but now he's 1.9 meters tall.

Moreover, his physique has changed from a skinny bamboo pole to a slender ape-backed, wasp-waisted figure, appearing as agile as a leopard at first glance, as if his whole body is full of explosive power.

"As expected of a physical entity, this casually given gift has the passive effect of signing a high-level secret pact..."

Xia Fa sighed inwardly, but he also understood that the story answerer was no ordinary entity; it was an existence that could rank among the top three of all entities and was even qualified to visit the nine great gods.

Moreover, according to the young miner who had no facial features, the storyteller... also seemed to have signed the Silver Throne, a supreme-level secret contract.

"Can physical entities... also sign confidential contracts?"

Every time Xia Fa thinks about this, he finds it unimaginable, with a sense of exaggerated absurdity.

The main problem is that these entities are already incredibly powerful, and then they can sign secret agreements. How are other people supposed to survive?
It can only be said that the Secret Code truly lives up to its name; this power, originating from the very source of the universe, is indeed applicable to most living beings in the universe, and even various mysterious and bizarre "beings."

I wonder if the supernatural can sign secret agreements, probably not?
The thought popped into Xia Fa's mind, and he was startled by his own idea.

If the supernatural can sign secret contracts, that would be terrifying.

After admiring his sculpted muscles for a moment, Xia Fa sat down again with satisfaction and casually sprinkled iron filings all over the vine-covered hut.

Since he was going to have to wait here anyway, and it might even take a day or two, Xia Fa decided to make the most of the time.

After creating a sealed space by sprinkling live iron powder, there are many more things that can be done. Xia Fa plans to first advance the progress of understanding the secret agreement.

After all, he had absorbed a full three smart chips, while the other noble students and church elites who had only absorbed one smart chip were all rushing to finish their barbecue and find a place to start pushing forward. He should also try to push forward.

Xia Fa immediately closed his eyes slowly, imagining his mind turning into a glowing sphere, and quickly passed through the hazy mental body, arriving at the boundary between the mental body and the astral body.

The Ether Source Pact remained huddled in the corner, while the Silver Throne and the Gate of Stars, two overlord-level pacts, faced off against each other, neither willing to yield.

But strangely enough, there are even more places where they merge with each other.

Instead of rushing to advance his understanding of the overlord-level secret treatise, the Gate of Stars, Xia Fa used his spiritual intuition to pierce a small channel within his mental body, like a transparent thin tube extending to the outside world.

In this way, if the Mist Scale Dragon cub succumbs to the Nightmare Octopus's allure and appears, or if any other unexpected event occurs, he can immediately sense it and pull himself out of his meditative state.

After making preparations, Xia Fa immediately looked at the extremely large cryptic text of the Gate of Stars.

He raised an eyebrow, revealing a rather surprised expression.

Before he began to understand it, he couldn't feel it at all, but now that he had begun to understand it, Xia Fa immediately noticed that rings of crystalline light were appearing on the secret text of the Gate of Stars.

However, it wasn't all the cryptic texts, but rather the first ten or so percent of the texts that were not understood. Each cryptic text was surrounded by a hazy, crystalline glow, like the radiance of the sun, only white and semi-transparent.

At first glance, it looks like a smart chip shrunk countless times!

"So that's how it's done..."

Xia Fagang looked at the cryptic inscription that he couldn't understand no matter what last time, and found that he immediately understood its meaning. The faint crystalline glow also disappeared the moment he understood it.

Xia Fa breathed a sigh of relief, because judging from the number of runes surrounding the crystal radiance, his progress this time... was about 21% complete!

This means that you are guaranteed to obtain the secret ability of the Gate of Stars!
"It absolutely has to be a time-hiding technique..."

Xia Fa began to pray in his heart, but for a moment he didn't know whether he should pray to the [Silver Universe] or to the [Absolute Defense].

The former is one of the nine righteous gods worshipped by the Silver Church he has now joined, while the latter is the righteous god he currently worships the most.

So, if I were to calculate it this way, would I be considered a heretic of the Silver Church?

After thinking it over, Xia Fa decided that it was better to rely on himself than on others, so he simply... prayed to himself!

"We absolutely must acquire the Time Concealment skill..."

He prayed to himself and quickly immersed himself in understanding the cryptic text.

The cryptic texts are infinitely mysterious and full of fascinating details. Each time Xia Fa tries to understand them, it feels like he is learning new knowledge and solving one difficult problem after another.

Unbeknownst to him, he became engrossed in the story, and his understanding of the secrets of the Gate of Stars reached 21%.

Suddenly, starlight appeared in the distance, this time from the Celestial Spirit Realm. A purple-white meteor with a long tail crashed into the glowing sphere formed from his mind.

Xiafa abruptly exited his meditative state, yet felt no pain whatsoever; his mind was completely at peace.

Only in his mind did the name of the newly acquired secret bond ability appear.

[Time Hidden]

"It really is time concealment!"

Xia Fa was suddenly overjoyed. It seemed that praying to himself was quite effective.

However, he only thought it as a joke and didn't take it seriously.

……

at the same time.

Putte Farm, in the western part of the Kingdom of Augu.

This place was once the largest farm in the Kingdom of Augu, and was home to many villages of all sizes.

Every evening, as dusk falls, wisps of smoke rise from the tranquil fields, and children, who have been playing, are called home by their parents for dinner—a scene of peace and tranquility.

But all of this was destroyed by the freezing rain and insect infestation at the beginning of the year.

The once tranquil and beautiful village is now almost deserted, with the bones of those who froze to death and the bodies of those who starved to death in the past few months scattered along the roadside.

But in the last few days, Putte Farm has shown a renewed and vibrant vitality.

Under the organization and dispatch of the royal family of the Augu Kingdom, the Silver Church, and the Church of Nature, many refugees were sent back to Putte Farm in an orderly manner.

The refugees were sent back to this place that had once become a wasteland, the home they had fled from. Instead of feeling any sorrow, they were filled with joy.

Because Putte Farm... now has a full ten million acres of land covered with potatoes!

Moreover, those ten million acres of land have themselves become extremely fertile black soil!
The black soil is the most fertile land, a truth known to farmers for generations. The refugees finally resumed their lives as farmers, repairing their slightly dilapidated houses while digging up potatoes for food and selling them to supplement their income.

At the same time, many refugees, as well as ordinary people from several surrounding cities, and even kind-hearted nobles or those who wanted to show off, spontaneously came to Putte Farm, to that ten million acres of black soil covered with potatoes.

Those with money contributed money, those with strength contributed strength, and those with skills contributed skills. On that black soil, two statues would be erected at regular intervals.

One is a cloud-like mist rising above the earth; this is the ancestor of the mist people, the silent mist of the earth.

The other statue is of a handsome and sunny young man, standing on the black soil in his signature pose of being sculpted with one hand.

It was precisely... that Xiafa won ten million acres of potato fields for the refugees of the Kingdom of Augu!

After the refugees finished building the statue, they have been worshipping it every day for several days now, and will continue to do so.

……

At this very moment, in the Mist God Hunting Grounds, Xia Fa was excitedly examining the specific abilities of Time Concealment.

In his mind, lines of text that he could understand appeared one by one.

[Time Hidden]

[It can hide any inanimate object within a certain area—whether it be a secret treasure, a sealed artifact, an extraordinary metal, or even any ordinary item—into a time rift and release it after a certain period of time.]

[Upon reaching the demigod level, one can temporarily conceal oneself within a temporal rift.]

[Upon reaching the rank of angel, one can hide humans or demi-humans of lower rank into time rifts.]

[Upon reaching the Dominator rank, one can hide any living beings or things below their own rank within a designated area into a temporal rift. The lower the rank, the longer the hiding time, with an unlimited limit.]

Xia Fa's eyes grew brighter as he read, and when he finished, he let out a long, relieved sigh.

At this moment, he could only sincerely exclaim again—truly worthy of being a hegemon-level secret contract, the hegemon among secret contracts!
This ability to conceal time is simply incredible!
Even now, he has thought of things like hiding superhuman bombs in a certain area to catch the enemy off guard, or hiding poison gas in a certain area to ambush the enemy.

Not to mention, as he becomes a demigod, the higher his rank, the stronger his ability to conceal his time will become!
If a sovereign can hide anything within a region, as well as any living being of a lower rank, then wouldn't an Outer God who has signed this overlord-level secret pact be able to hide an entire planet?
As for the nine righteous gods, if any of them have signed the Gate of Stars, wouldn't they be able to hide an entire star field?
Xia Fa's heart was filled with more and more excitement as he thought about it.

Moreover, for him right now, the most crucial thing is...

Finally, I can completely interfere with the divination of the ruling position by relying solely on my own secret abilities and the living iron powder!
No spacetime-related treasures or sealing artifacts are needed, and there are no negative effects or costs to bear!

In this way, whether he kills the demigod Pompeii or that green-bearded man, he can do it without leaving a trace and won't be traced back to him!
"Oh, right, Pompeii..."

Xia Fa peered through the gaps in the vines inside the vine-covered hut at the open space not far ahead. Seeing no sign of even a Mistscaled Dragon cub, he could only shake his head and sigh.

"Forget it, I guess it'll really take a day or two. Let's do a divination first."

Since the progress in understanding the secret contract has been made, and given the possibility of encountering a Mistscale Dragon cub at any time, and the difficulty of exercising, Xia Fa understands that if he doesn't want to waste time, he has no choice but to resort to divination.

In particular, although the Mist Scale Dragon cub is also a demigod, it is definitely much stronger than ordinary demigod-level supernatural creatures.

The gruesome wound on the chain-bound body, running from its left shoulder to its right abdomen—the key to its near-death injury—was likely inflicted by the Mistscaled Dragon cub.

However, just minutes before encountering the binding chains, the divination he performed on the Mist Scale Dragon cub revealed that the cub was almost unharmed.

As fellow demigods, the fact that the Mistscaled Dragon cub could severely injure an opponent of the same rank without sustaining any damage speaks volumes about its power.

Therefore, Xia Fa only wants to stay in top condition at all times in order to deal with any possible Mistscale Dragon hatchlings.

After all, it takes time to crush the distress candy, and it also takes time for Prince Justinian, an angelic being, to descend. During that time, he must withstand the attacks of the Mistscaled Dragon cub.

Thinking this, Xia Fa nodded slightly, his body enveloped in mercury vapor, briefly entering the Silver Throne state.

He didn't enter the Starshine Silver Throne state because there was no need; he simply maintained his seated posture and raised his hands.

Five silver pillars immediately and silently materialized around them, each two meters tall and covered with magical circuits and mechanical inscriptions.

Mercury vapor rose again, and Shafa returned to human form. He turned his head, looking with satisfaction at the "mechanical pillar" he had created.

Since Daponz actually managed to divination with a few useful clues using mechanical divination, Xiafa also decided to abandon the most common and basic divination method of yellow crystal, cast iron, and live iron powder, and switch to mechanical divination.

Of course, his five pillars were not real mechanical pillars, but they were much more effective than Daponz's mechanical pillars.

The reason is simple: he used "star silver," which was transformed from the mystical living silver within his body, to forge the metal pillar.

Divination is essentially about obtaining information from the past, present, and even future from the Protoss realm, and Starsilver is one of the extraordinary metals that is closest to the Protoss realm in terms of mystical concepts.

In fact, no real-world mineral veins produce Star Silver; only extraordinary individuals who have signed the supreme-level secret pact of the Silver Throne can manufacture it.

The effectiveness of mechanical divination performed using the Star Silver Mechanical Pillar is self-evident.

Xia Fa flipped his hand and took out a handful of citrine, which he then crushed into citrine powder and scattered on the ground.

Unlike Daponz, he didn't scatter overlapping circles because he didn't understand them and was afraid of attracting the attention of some unknown entity. Instead, he chose to scatter secret runes one by one.

Those cryptic texts naturally represent various pieces of information about Pompeii, the demigod.

Xia Fa patiently sprinkled the runes, and more than thirty runes took shape one by one in this vine-covered hut.

Finally, he sprinkled the last cryptic inscription and, as was customary, infused it with a wisp of strange electricity.

boom--!
The moment the last citrine pink cryptic inscription was formed, perhaps due to the incorporation of a strange electric current, it transformed into a diamond-like color.

Xia Fa was terrified. He felt the Star Silver Mechanical Pillars around him suddenly lengthen and grow taller, and then they transformed into Greek-style palace columns!

These Greek-style columns intertwine to form a magnificent ceiling adorned with intricate reliefs, from which golden chandeliers hang.
Following that, the walls covered with valuable paintings extended out from the roof, and the figures in the paintings on the walls could even move!

Xia Fazheng was puzzled. Although he knew that this was a scene obtained through divination, and because the mysterious young ruler was no longer present, his divination scene had once again become like a holographic movie he was experiencing in person.

But where is this?

Xia Fa looked at the enormous palace, and in terms of sheer luxury, it was even comparable to the palace of the extraordinary monarch, Dictator.

He knew that Pompeii was very likely hiding here, but exactly where was it?
Immediately, two voices rang out, dispelling Xia Fa's doubts.

"Kaldan, this is incredible! You're actually willing to give up the last recruitment spot of the year to Xiafa? What about your illegitimate son?"

"Let him wait another year; it's good for him to toughen up."

"Hahahaha, not bad, not bad. I used to think you were a cold-blooded bastard, but now it seems you're actually quite humane."

"Axo, that's a bit harsh of you. How am I cold-blooded?"

"Haha, just kidding. By the way, since that's the case, shouldn't we invite Xia Fa to tomorrow's family dinner?"

"Yes, of course. You should contact him. It would be best to ask the head of the family to grant Xia Fa a title."

As the conversation began, accompanied by footsteps,
Xiafa saw that in the corridor not far in front of the palace, which was covered with a gold and red mosaic carpet, the elder of the Augustus family he knew, the kind-hearted and plump demigod Axor, was walking over with another elder, Cardan.

"They're actually going to recruit me into the Augustus family? And they don't even know I've already been granted a title..."

Xia Fa was somewhat surprised, but based on the conversations he had overheard between the noble students and church elites over the past two days, he learned some secrets.

It seems that apart from their fierce competition in private, neither the Augustan family nor the Selene royal family had any major conflicts.

If we don't count the royal succession six hundred years ago.

From this perspective, joining the Augustus family might be a good option, giving you more choices.

He just didn't expect that the usually aloof Cardan actually agreed with him quite a bit in private, probably because of the God's Land in the desert.

But the key is -

"What about Pompeii? I remember I divined about Pompeii, didn't I?"

Xia Fa was a little confused. Why hadn't he seen Pompeii yet?
"Watch out! This is a high-end suit that I just had custom-made!"

Suddenly, Cardan's shout rang out. It was a middle-aged servant who was mopping the floor, and the water from the mop almost splashed onto Cardan.

Just as Xia Fa was about to look at the middle-aged servant, the image suddenly shattered, and the Greek-style columns in the palace rapidly shrank, about to revert to the shape of the Star Silver Mechanical Columns.

Fortunately, at the last moment, he saw the middle-aged servant's face clearly and even sensed his presence.

The man had blond hair and a seemingly fearful expression, but when he lowered his head, he revealed an undisguised indifference and coldness.

It was... Pompeii!
"Pompeii is hiding at Augustus's house? What is he doing at Augustus's house?"

"Isn't he afraid of being discovered by Gaius, the head of the Augustus family and the ruler-level Marshal?"

Xia Fa was quite surprised, but at the same time, his killing intent also rose.

Regardless, Pompey had almost killed him, and he had killed Pompey's son and grandson; the two had become mortal enemies.

And now, while he is in the shadows and Pompeii is in the light, he will be invited to a dinner party hosted by the Augustus family tomorrow night.

Xiafa decided that right then and there, he would kill Pompeii!
At that point, it won't matter whether the Silver Throne's secret abilities are exposed or not.

"He must possess something that counters divination, which is why the divination image shattered the moment I saw him..."

Xia Fa even suspected that if he continued using the method of divination with citrine, pig iron, and live iron powder, he might not be able to divine Pompeii at all.

Pompeii and his master were certainly on guard because of the deaths of Baldr and his son.

However, he was exceptionally skilled and had mastered mechanical divination. Combined with the strange electric current at his spine, he was able to divine the location of Pompeii.

With his plan in mind, Xia Fa waved his hand and put the five star silver mechanical pillars into his bag, intending to use them again next time. This way, he wouldn't have to enter the Silver Throne form every time he performed a divination.

As for the citrine powder, it was used up the moment the divination ended.

As he pondered whether he should perform another divination to ascertain the origin of his sword-shaped sealed artifact and its other abilities,
Suddenly, a gray shadow quietly emerged from behind a tree not far ahead, sneaking towards the slender metal bottle in the center of the clearing.

The gray shadow was covered in grayish-white scales, and its huge wings were folded and pressed against its back. Although it looked cautious, it had its own kingly majesty.

Its body structure is so perfect that it doesn't seem like a living thing, but rather like a creation of a god.

It is... a Mist Scale Dragon cub!

(End of this chapter)