Push-ups Make You Stronger

"What methods are there in this world to quickly increase one's strength?"

Jin Li could not help asking.

"Become stronger quickly?"

Several answers instantly sprang to Qi Yuan's mind.

Eat a Devil Fruit?

Have a grandmaster impart enlightenment directly into you?

And... do push-ups.

There were no Devil Fruits in this world, nor was there anyone to impart enlightenment directly into others.

"Doing push-ups can make you stronger," Qi Yuan said enthusiastically. "I know someone who was utterly ordinary, nothing special at all, but he exercised every day—push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups. Before long, though he went bald, he grew stronger too."

"Exercise? Push-ups? Sit-ups? Pull-ups? What are those?" Jin Li looked utterly bewildered. "Could they be some supreme cultivation technique?"

Seeing this, Qi Yuan was somewhat surprised. "So you're a girl who doesn't like exercising. Let me teach you how to work out."

"Would that be appropriate?" Jin Li thought Qi Yuan was about to pass down some supreme cultivation technique to her.

"Don't worry, it's common stuff. Very simple." After thinking it over, Qi Yuan spent roughly ten minutes teaching Jin Li those exercises.

"This... can increase one's strength?" Jin Li found it inconceivable.

Those movements were utterly ordinary, with nothing mysterious about them.

But when she remembered that carrying a ladder on one's back could let one enter the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area, she felt that it might be true.

"Well... actually, not really. Maybe after ten years of practice, you'll be able to beat a wolf?" Qi Yuan said.

Jin Li froze briefly, then smiled. "These could be popularized among ordinary soldiers."

"But it's not impossible, either." As Qi Yuan spoke, he took out the Divine Brush.

The Xuanyuan Forbidden Area was now under his control.

He could alter the rules of the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area.

"Then let's add: exercising the body increases cultivation."

After thinking for a moment, Qi Yuan wrote in that exercises such as "push-ups" and "sit-ups" would increase cultivation.

Once he was done, Qi Yuan fell into thought.

"It worked... but there seems to be a side effect?"

"Hair loss?"

"So... even when changing the rules, am I still changing them according to my own understanding?"

"No, my brain is starting to grow. I can't think about this anymore." Qi Yuan felt a headache coming on and could not delve too deeply into the underlying principles.

He hurriedly told Jin Li, "In the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area, doing the exercises I taught you will quickly increase your cultivation. Bring more people in, raise your strength a little, and try to clear the stages sooner so you can come help me grind dungeons."

"Doing those things in the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area can increase one's strength?" Jin Li was still bewildered.

"Of course. Why would I lie to you? But be careful—if you do too much exercise, you'll lose your hair."

Jin Li remained somewhat dazed.

Emotionally, she believed Qi Yuan's words.

But logically and rationally, she felt that Qi Yuan was talking nonsense.

As for the side effect of hair loss, she did not take it too seriously.

Compared with increasing one's cultivation, what did that amount to?

Still, after thinking it over, she bit her red lip with pearly teeth. "Thank you."

"I need to log off. It's too late," Qi Yuan said.

"Where... are you going?" Jin Li asked.

"Seven Colors Peak. I'm a disciple of the Shinguang Sect." After saying that, Qi Yuan logged off and went to sleep.

Jin Li, meanwhile, committed the place Qi Yuan had mentioned to memory.

"The Shinguang Sect, Seven Colors Peak? What place is that?" Jin Li murmured.

Yet when she thought of the method Qi Yuan had provided for becoming stronger, though it was comical and absurd—absurd to an extreme—Jin Li still chose to believe him and put it into action.

"Someone, come! We're going to the Great General's Mansion!"

Night slowly descended.

The carriage stopped outside the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area.

Inside the carriage were Jin Li's trusted confidants, along with Aunt Qin.

They had traveled for nearly a day and a night without stopping.

When they grew sleepy, they slept in the carriage.

At last, they arrived at the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area.

"Have you remembered everything I told you?" After getting out of the carriage, Jin Li looked at the more than thirty people before her, her expression grave.

These thirty-odd people were all her true confidants, loyal souls willing to die for her.

Aunt Qin was among them as well.

All of them nodded. They had no objection whatsoever to Jin Li's orders.

Aunt Qin held a ladder in her hands, seemingly lost in thought. Then she asked, "Your Majesty, was the imperial medicine obtained from within the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area? It seems Your Majesty has already mastered a way to enter it."

As Aunt Qin looked at the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area ahead, a guess arose in her heart.

She was simply curious about how they were supposed to get in.

Could the ladder in her hands be of use?

"Everyone, carry your ladders and enter the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area together.

Remember, no matter what happens, you must not throw away your ladders."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Though these confidants were puzzled, they all did as Jin Li instructed.

No one spoke, but in truth, their heads were full of question marks.

Hua Xian, commander of the Imperial Guards, could not help but chuckle when she saw this.

The first time she had entered the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area this way, she too had been completely bewildered.

Once they got inside, their expressions would surely be especially amusing.

Sure enough, when everyone carried their ladders and entered the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area without obstruction—

Even the best-trained Imperial Guards could not help crying out in surprise.

Hua Xian wore a smug smile.

"Carrying a ladder allows one to enter the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area. A friend of mine told me this. This matter must absolutely not be leaked!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." These confidants all understood the gravity of the matter.

They all found it utterly inconceivable.

For perhaps ten thousand years, no one had been able to enter the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area.

Why... could one enter simply by carrying a ladder...?

Had no one tried this method in all those ten thousand years?

But then again, what sovereign would be so idle as to carry a ladder into the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area?

But why did it work?

Did carrying a ladder represent some special meaning?

They could not understand.

After entering the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area, the group proceeded deeper inside.

Jin Li spoke again. "Keep carrying the ladders. You are not allowed to let go.

Do you still remember the few movements I taught you on the way here?"

"We remember."

"Get yourselves in order. We will perform those movements here in the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area." Jin Li gave the command.

Everyone present was somewhat dumbfounded.

Aunt Qin also asked, "Your Majesty, what are we doing these for?"

"Aunt Qin, do you believe me?" Jin Li looked at Aunt Qin and spoke earnestly.

"Of course I believe every word Your Majesty says."

"Performing these movements..." Jin Li raised her head to look at the sky. "Within the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area, they can rapidly increase one's cultivation."

"What?"

"Increase one's cultivation?"

If they had not been Jin Li's confidants, and if Jin Li had not been the Empress—

Had this been some of the keyboard warriors from the world where Qi Yuan had lived in his previous life, they would surely have begun spewing abuse by now.

Words like "what a joke" and "idiot" would have poured forth in a torrent.

Yet even these trusted aides wore expressions of utter incomprehension.

Aunt Qin was no exception.

This was even harder to accept than carrying a ladder into the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area.

If cultivation were this simple, wouldn't the world be full of high-ranking cultivators?

Naturally, Aunt Qin did not believe it, but she still said slowly, "This method of cultivation is indeed quite interesting. Might I ask where Your Majesty learned of it?"

"That same friend told me," Jin Li said without concealing anything.

"It seems that senior must be a powerful expert wandering the world in play," Aunt Qin murmured.

The word "play" revealed exactly what she thought of it.

Even so, she strapped the ladder to her back and began doing Push-ups. "Let this old woman give it a try and see how effective it is."

She moved.

Everyone present stopped what they were doing and looked toward Aunt Qin.