Yes, I became a god just by exercising.

Chapter 268 The Secret of the Doll Girl, the Hidden Secret of the Ball Joint Beyond the God of Dolls?
"I didn't expect Miss Bennett to have grown so quickly; she's already far surpassed the average doll girl, hasn't she?"

Inside a huge doghouse made of straw, the old chieftain of the dog-people looked at the circular plaza ahead, his face filled with emotion.

[Grandma Meow stood beside it. At this moment, the old catgirl looked at Benes, who was fighting a giant monster in the circular square, with only deep respect and a hint of awe in her eyes.]

Perhaps because they were born and raised in the giant egg-shaped microcosm, they had no other way of learning about the outside world except through their clan's ancient texts.

Even so, simply comparing the accounts and deeds of our ancestors recorded in those ancient texts is enough to confirm that the doll-like girl before us is no ordinary person!

[During this time, Beneath has progressed rapidly, starting from only being able to deal with the Eagle-level Undying Leopard Serpent, and now she can even fight the Demigod-level Stiff Puppets to a standstill!]

Originally, when Beneath ventured to challenge the Stiff Puppet, the old patriarch of the dog-man tribe and Granny Meow were always by her side, fearing that something might happen to her, who had just broken through to the Whale level, when facing the demigod-level Stiff Puppet.

[But neither of them expected that Miss Benedict... not only could she fight the stiff puppet to a draw several times, but she had also begun to gain the upper hand!]

Having just finished reading the first paragraph, Xia Fa was genuinely delighted.

All I can say is that this doll girl truly lives up to her reputation of possessing the "ball joints of the doll god." Once she undergoes full-scale special training, her growth rate is something that many human and demi-human geniuses can only dream of.

That's good. Before, Benedict was too weak. Now, she finally has some ability to protect herself.

Don't be fooled by his frequent outings to kill extraordinary monarchs. On the Baron Ocean, under normal circumstances, a demigod is more than capable of protecting himself, and even angels can roam freely.

Whether they are rulers or extraordinary monarchs, they are ultimately only a minority.

Now, if the doll girl comes back, he can feel much more at ease.

Of course, one must also be constantly aware of the hidden threats posed by the Crimson Agents.

However, if all else fails, it's the same to let Benedict stay in the small world.

I just don't know how far she's grown up now.

With that in mind, Xia Fa continued reading.

"Hey!"

[In the circular plaza, also paved with straw, a delicate shout suddenly rang out.]

[It was the tall and slender Benedictine, who nimbly dodged the powerful punch that came crashing down from the stiffened puppet. She then stepped onto the giant monster's arm, ran a few steps along it, leaped into the air, and suddenly thrust out her sword.]

The sword she conjured was no longer the golden, radiant greatsword of the Puppet Princess's swordsmanship, but a giant sword wreathed in seven colors, seemingly crafted from crystal.

Even though she was a full 1.68 meters tall, she appeared quite petite next to the crystal giant sword.

【Whoosh! 】

[Benise thrust her sword forward, and the crystal greatsword suddenly shone brightly, with invisible, distorted waves spreading out. Although this move was clearly from a distance, the stiff puppet shuddered, and its eyes immediately went glazed over.]

"Hey ha!"

[Benise screamed again, this time transforming into a blur of light as she charged toward the stiffened puppet's head, thrusting her sword down with lightning speed.]

As the sword was thrust out, an extremely sharp and fierce aura spread out, reaching an extreme level of murderous intent.

[First, crisscrossing blood lines appeared on the head of the stiff puppet, and then, gelatinous, transparent blood oozed from them.]

With a crash, its head was broken into pieces like building blocks, falling to the ground with a sound almost identical to that of building blocks.

Immediately afterwards, the headless body of the stiffened puppet, a hundred meters in size, crashed to the ground.

In that instant, both the dog-man clan's elder chieftain and Granny Meow were stunned, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

[Clearly, Miss Benedict had only gained a slight advantage, but this stiff puppet made a mistake, revealing an opening, which Miss Benedict found and killed?]

Most importantly, what was that final sword strike?

[You know, the Stiff Puppet is a demigod-level monster! It's especially known for its incredibly hard body, yet it was caught off guard and had its head sliced ​​into pieces by Miss Beneath?]

Just then, Benedict landed lightly, her delicate body trembling slightly, and a grand and majestic aura slowly rose from her body.

She too had entered a state of absentmindedness, but it was different from when she used the "Sword of Destruction" to pierce the 'Stiff Core' inside the Stiff Puppet's head, rendering it helpless.

[It seems that...Benise is about to break through to demigod status because she successfully used the seventh sword of the Twelve Divine Swords of the End, the 'Sword of Body Break'!]

[That's right, the sword strike that easily sliced ​​the head of that demigod-like monster into small cubes was the seventh sword of the Twelve Divine Swords of the End, the Sword of Body Break!, which allows doll girls to break through from whale-level to demigod level!]

The Body-Piercing Sword, as the name suggests, is specifically designed to destroy and sever an opponent's body. When the strength is roughly equal, no matter how resilient or how high the opponent's defense, it can be easily destroyed!

The God of Puppetry is said to be a being far surpassing outer gods and approaching the rank of true gods.

The Twelve Divine Swords of the End, created personally by the God of Puppetry, are just that unreasonable.

"Miss Benedict... what's wrong?"

Seeing Beneath standing motionless in the circular plaza made of straw, yet her aura growing stronger and more chaotic, Granny Meow couldn't help but feel worried.

After a few seconds of contemplation, the old patriarch of the dog-men suddenly seemed to understand something, and a genuine joy spread across his face:

"According to the history recorded by our ancestors, whenever a doll-like girl enters our giant egg-shaped world for training, if she can easily slice those incredibly tough monsters into pieces, it means... she is about to become a demigod!"

[Grandma Meow was taken aback:]

【"Why?"】

The old patriarch of the dog-man tribe laughed:

"Because this means that the doll girls have mastered the seventh of the Twelve Divine Swords of the End, and once they master the seventh sword, it will be the moment they transform into demigods, which is similar to signing the seventh secret pact with humans and demi-humans."

[Grandma Meow's gaze sharpened slightly, and she nodded thoughtfully:]

"Oh, that's wonderful. Miss Benedict truly lives up to her reputation as the puppet girl who wields the Twelve Divine Swords of the End..."

At that moment, a strange thing happened.

[Standing frozen in place, Beneath her tall, slender figure, on her fair and delicate left shoulder, suddenly began to sprout pure white threads.]

[Immediately afterwards, countless threads emerged from the middle of her smooth, white back, quickly intertwining with the threads that had appeared on her left shoulder.]

These threads, resembling silkworm silk, spider silk, and even lotus root silk, quickly intertwined and coiled around Benedict, forming a...cocoon.

[Following this, on the surface of the enormous three-meter-long cocoon, the silk threads were found to be fused together.]

In an instant, all the silk threads on the giant cocoon grew and merged together, making the giant cocoon resemble a huge, white egg.

With a loud crash, before the dog-man patriarch and Granny Meow could react, the giant white egg fell to the ground, creating a large crater in the straw plaza, demonstrating its immense weight.

This left even the old patriarch of the dog-man tribe completely dumbfounded.

"What...what's going on?"

[Grandma Meow asked curiously:]

"Chief Biggs, didn't you just say that Miss Benes was breaking through from Whale-level to Demigod?"

The old patriarch of the dog-man tribe shook his head and pondered:

"This is different from the records of our ancestors. Historically, several doll-like girls who wielded the Twelve Divine Swords of the End entered our giant egg-shaped world."

"But regardless of which one it is, they all directly broke through to demigod status, at most temporarily draining the extraordinary power within the giant egg's small world."

"But none of them, like Miss Benedict, have gone from cocoon to egg..."

Xia Fa narrowed his eyes upon seeing this, his curiosity piqued.

Although he could guess that this might be because Beneath was about to become a demigod, and was therefore regrowing the spherical joints of the Doll God.

However, he always had a vague feeling that his doll-like girl was hiding some other secret...

Because the threads emerging from Beneath's body were not only from her left shoulder, which lacked the ball joint of the Doll God, but also... from the middle of her back.

"Could it be that, besides lacking the ball joint of the Puppet God on her left shoulder, Beneath is also missing a section of the Puppet God's spine in her vest?"

As soon as the speculation came to mind, Xia Fa immediately denied it.

The reason is simple: Heather, as the former Queen of the Dolls, possessed the status of a ruler. At first, she didn't notice the missing ball joint of the God of Dolls on Beneath's body, but after discovering this, she paid extra attention to Beneath, almost treating her as her successor.

In other words, Heather's spiritual intuition must have already checked for Benedict's condition and couldn't have missed such an obvious problem.

"So, besides missing the ball joint of the Puppet God in her left shoulder, Beneath also hides a secret in her vest? And this secret is no less significant than the ball joint of the Puppet God?"

"Perhaps...it's even more important than the ball joints of the Puppet God?"

After all, even Heather Perria hadn't noticed anything wrong with Benedict's vest.

This suggests that the secret hidden under Benedict's vest is likely far from simple.

"The God of Puppets was said to be far more powerful than the Outer Gods, a deity close to the rank of a true god. However, for some reason, he never truly became a true god until his disappearance..."

The more Xia Fa thought about it, the more curious he became. What exactly was in that part of Benedict’s vest?
Surprisingly, it looks even taller than the ball joint of the God of Dolls!
In particular, Xia Fa suddenly remembered that the first time he met Benedictine was in that underground cave.

At that time, she was clearly being chased by Veronica, the leader of the Ten Thousand Poisons, and she didn't even have the strength of an insect-level being.

However, Veronica, the Poison Patriarch, despite being a powerful entity that ranks among the top ten, simply couldn't catch up with her.

Finally, the Patriarch of Ten Thousand Poisons escaped, for reasons unknown. Of course, even Beneath herself was unclear why she was being chased by the Patriarch of Ten Thousand Poisons and his army of Holy Poison Bees, and she was even confused about how she escaped each time.

Therefore, Xia Fa didn't ask any further questions.

But now it seems that another secret hidden within Benedict is perhaps extremely significant...

"Hmm... I'll check it myself when Benedict gets back."

"If all else fails, I should be able to figure it out once I become a god..."

Thinking this, Xia Fa looked at Beneath's training notes again.
He was curious, and even more so with a strange anticipation, wanting to know what kind of transformation Benedict would undergo after becoming a demigod.

Now it seems that after her doll-like girl became a demigod, she grew not only the ball joints of a doll god, but also the area around her vest...

"Don't worry too much. This giant egg is extremely sturdy. Even a legendary transcendent monarch wouldn't be able to break it."

At this moment, in the dog-man camp, the old dog-man chieftain and Granny Meow had already reached the front of the giant white egg. After carefully observing it for a while, the old dog-man chieftain finally gave his judgment.

Upon hearing this, Granny Meow nodded thoughtfully.

"I see something similar to you. How about this, I'll stay here and wait for Miss Benes to transform. Chief Big, go check on how that child, Meowkor, is doing."

【boom--! ! ! 】

[As soon as Granny Miao finished speaking, a deafening roar erupted, and a large hole was blasted through the thatched wall on the left side of the circular plaza.]

[Immediately following, golden blood energy roared in from the large hole, like a raging river, almost engulfing the entire Straw Square.]

A colossal figure was sent flying backward from the golden blood aura, crashing to the ground. Upon landing, its neck lolled to the side, its body cracked and bleeding profusely; it was already lifeless.

That was clearly a demigod-level monster, or more precisely, a supernatural being—a steel-maned giant lion.

But at this moment, the steel-maned giant lion, known for its immense physical strength and unparalleled defense, was smashed to pieces and died instantly?

[From the hole in the thatched wall, amidst the swirling golden aura of blood, a petite figure with cat ears emerged.]

"Second Granny, Chief Big, I've broken through to the demigod level!"

[That's Meowkor. At this moment, this energetic little cat girl's delicate face was glowing red, and her sky-blue eyes were incredibly bright. She ran to the old patriarch of the dog-people clan and Granny Meow in a few steps.]

She clenched her little fists, a smug look on her face.

"The moment I broke through, I killed that steel-maned giant lion with a single punch. Hehehe, it was so weak."

Seeing this, both the old chieftain of the dog-people and Granny Meow were overjoyed.

"Good, good, good! Haha, Meowkor, you possess the sacred body of the Meow Clan, making you a demigod capable of fighting angels. Now that you're my ally, once Miss Benes completes her transformation, the few of us joining forces will definitely be able to slay that silver-white pure light giant!"

The old chieftain of the dog-men stroked his beard and laughed heartily, in extremely high spirits.

[The pure silver giant, the mortal enemy that has plagued the dog-people and cat-girls for so long, nearly wiping them out, finally has a glimmer of hope for a solution!]

[Grandma Meow also sighed:]

"Truly worthy of being a sacred body that appears only once every ten thousand years in our clan. You became a demigod at the age of eighteen. Back then, I didn't achieve the demigod status until I was over fifty... Child, you have not disappointed my expectations. After we kill that damned pure silver giant, your great-grandmother's spirit in heaven can finally rest in peace."

[Nyakoru stood with her hands on her hips, her tail held high:]

"Yes! Second Aunt, don't worry, once Sister Beneath becomes a demigod, we can join forces to kill Her!"

[She gave a sheepish smile as soon as she finished speaking.]

"Otherwise, wouldn't all those super-extra dried fish that Sister Benedict gave me be wasted? Hehe..."

[Grandma Meow patted her little head with satisfaction:]

"Yes, after you get out, properly acknowledge Mr. Xia Fa as your master, as a way of repaying his kindness, understand?"

[Nyakoro nodded vigorously:]

"Mmm! I've been listening to Sister Benedict talk about Mr. Shaffer these past few days. He's amazing! I want a master like that, hehe!"

[These past few days, Benedict and Meowkor have actually been undergoing special training.]

Of course, Miao Kelu possesses the sacred body of the cat race, and before arriving at the dog-man camp, she already had the rank of elephant, only one whale-level away from becoming a demigod.

The reason she couldn't break through before was because her physique required extremely pure and immense extraordinary power to replenish it. Moreover, she also needed to supplement her breakthrough with extraordinary dried fish; the higher the quality of the extraordinary dried fish, the better the effect.

Therefore, since Meowkor lacked both extraordinary power and high-quality extraordinary dried fish, it was natural that she couldn't break through.

Fortunately, the arrival of Bennett, or more precisely, the arrival of Bennett's master... Mr. Shafa, who was suspected to be a transcendent monarch, provided Bennett with a large bag of transcendent dried fish, which solved this predicament.

Because Benedict was willing to share his extraordinary dried fish with Meowkor, the simple-minded Meowkor became very close to him. So every day after their special training, during their rest time, Benedict would tell Meowkor about the various glorious deeds of his master, Shafa.

[The more Nyako listened, the brighter her eyes became, and the more she admired him. One day, she even blurted out that she wanted to acknowledge Xiafa as her master.]

Benedict was naturally overjoyed. This made her even more accepting of Meowkor, and she would often share her extraordinary dried fish with her. Meowkor's special training naturally progressed rapidly.

Fortunately, Xia Fa bought far too many super-sized dried fish this time, so Benedict still has more than half a bag left, which is more than enough for her.

"This... Nyakoro also wants to acknowledge me as her master?"

Xia Fa was quite surprised when he saw this.

This section of the notes suddenly switched to a narrative style, clearly a summary of Benedict's training notes, essentially a record of her observations of Benedict's activities with Meowkor over the past few days.

However, precisely because of this, it's probably not fake, especially since Nyakoru, as a catgirl who has just turned eighteen, is indeed simple-minded.

After thinking about it, Xia Fa felt that it was still acceptable.

Catgirls, as humanoid supernatural beings, are extremely rare and uncommon throughout the universe, but they are far less rare than doll girls.

The vast majority of catgirls live in a civilization cluster-type strange realm called "Catgirl Manor".

The Catgirl Manor is far smaller than the Endless Realm where the doll girls live; it seems to be only the size of a small inhabited planet.

However, on the other hand, there are also catgirl groups of all sizes scattered throughout the universe, such as in this giant egg world. Therefore, the number of catgirls is many more than the number of doll girls.

Therefore, the probability of humans and demi-humans encountering catgirls is higher than that of encountering doll girls.

Catgirls don't easily accept a master, and they only accept a master once in their lifetime.

Normally, if an ordinary catgirl wanted to acknowledge him as her master, Shafa might refuse.

However, it seems quite good that Meowkor, who possesses the "Cat Clan Sacred Body," would acknowledge me as her master.

"So, the catgirl race needs extraordinary dried fish when they break through? What if Meowkor breaks through to the Sovereign level in the future..."

Xia Fa was a little curious. Surely, what they would need then was a supernatural dried fish made from a traveling whale of the Dominator rank?
No, that can't even be called small dried fish anymore, it's extra-large dried fish...

"Never mind, I'll wait until they both get back. But this way, my little world can finally liven things up a bit..."

Xia Fa thought about it jokingly for a moment, then continued flipping through Benedict's training notes.

"Chief Beagle, Granny Meow, you've both worked hard these past few days. Now that I'm strong, why don't I guard Sister Benes' egg while you two go and get some rest?"

In the circular plaza paved with straw, after finding out what the giant white egg was, Nymphok volunteered to protect Benedict.

Granny Meow looked at Meowkor with satisfaction, then exchanged a glance with Chief Big, and the two of them shook their heads in unison.

"Child, you've grown up, that's good. But Miss Beneath is a benefactor to our catgirl and doggirl clans, so it's better if we stay here and watch over her." Granny Meow smiled kindly.

The old patriarch of the dog-man clan nodded slightly, about to smile and tell Miaokelu to go and rest to solidify her demigod status.

But just then...

【Beep beep beep beep beep——】

[Directly in front of the circular plaza, separated by a wall, a strange sound of energy gathering rang out. At the same time, an extremely terrifying aura rapidly brewed, causing the three to feel a chill run down their spines even through the thick thatched wall.]

"Run!"

The old patriarch of the dog-men reacted the fastest, stretching out his paws and pushing towards the giant white egg, seemingly intending to push it behind the door of the passageway at the back of the circular plaza and then close the door to protect Miss Benedict.

Surprisingly, despite its powerful push, the giant white egg remained completely still!

[Grandma Meow, with her hunched figure, flashed in front of the giant white egg, pressed her palms down in the air, and instantly a fluffy carpet appeared, stood up, and instantly multiplied into dozens of layers.]

This is the 'Fluffy Round Shield,' one of the extraordinary talents of the catgirl race. Its defensive effect is extremely amazing, and it is a life-saving move for many catgirls.

【boom--! ! ! 】

A terrifying silver light pierced through the thatched wall in an instant. The thick silver light, with a diameter of over ten meters, attacked at an incredible speed.

[Bang bang bang bang bang! 】

The round shield, with its thirty-plus layers of velvet, was instantly pierced as easily as paper.

The silver light, seemingly capable of destroying everything, was about to strike Granny Meow and the giant white egg behind her.

Just then, golden blood energy surged up around Meowkor's petite body with a "boom".

(End of this chapter)