Thanos didn't want to be a villain.

Chapter 36 Cultivation in Progress (Transition, 28 characters)

In the days that followed, Dio and Hela began a period of spiritual practice with no end date in sight.

But in fact, it was Dio who was the most exhausted.

Because Hela is an Asgardian, she has her own unique Asgardian cultivation method and doesn't cultivate like Dio. Although her current strength has reached a bottleneck, she is stuck at this bottleneck due to the characteristics of the Asgardian gods.

The Asgardians are the most peculiar race in the entire universe. They possess a characteristic that inspires fear throughout the universe: they grow stronger with age!

However, the reality is that Asgardians become stronger with age.

At first glance, these two sentences may seem to mean the same thing, but their actual meanings are completely different.

If Asgardians get stronger with age, wouldn't they be as weak as a pile of trash before middle age?

Therefore, the strength of Asgardians is actually proportional to their age, but due to differences in their potential, this bottleneck also varies.

Like Thor in the movie, he has awakened several times and now has no more bottlenecks. All that's left is for time to allow him to mature and become stronger.

Although Thor's performance in Thor: Love and Thunder was somewhat lackluster, he did indeed come close to understanding the power of the Heavenly Father.

If Hela in the series is defeated by Odin due to plot-driven events, then the bottleneck she overcame would be similar to Thor's first awakening when he first arrived on Earth in the movie.

But it is more likely that Hela was older than Thor, and upon awakening, due to the passage of time, she rose to the level of the Heavenly Father, thus overwhelming Odin.

In comparison, Hela's potential is actually no less than Thor's, and Hela is currently stuck at this point.

"As expected, the power of idealism is definitely the most overpowered thing!" Dio wanted to cover his face.

"Snapped!"

A ruler slapped Dio across the face, snapping him out of his jumbled thoughts.

"Calm your mind and focus your energy, hold fast to the One." An old man dressed in a simple Taoist robe sat cross-legged on a futon. With a wave of his hand, the ruler that had just hit Dio on the head flew back into the old man's hand.

Although Dio had modified himself and was the strongest among the Eternal Gods, his physiological characteristics were still not much different from those of humans. In addition, with his own strength as a backup, Dio could theoretically cultivate all sorts of systems.

It's even easier to get started!

Dio took a deep breath and entered a meditative state once more.

Cultivating both body and mind sounds simple, but it is actually very difficult.

"To cultivate both body and spirit" means that during cultivation, one must keep both the soul and the body moving in tandem and reach the end of the cultivation together!

However, achieving this goal is extremely difficult.

The strange sounds from the bones, the soreness when the muscles are stretched, the pain when the ribs are struck and the head is filled with pain, and the determination to grit your teeth and persevere.

The monotony of meditation can even lead to a longing for the hardships of physical exercise.

Moreover, given Dio's physical condition, Laozi personally crafted a magical artifact for Dio to use in physical training.

It is said to have been made directly from several black holes, and it can adjust the gravity around the body at will, allowing Dio to rediscover the "fun" he felt when he first started training after transmigrating.

Now, the gravity he has been enduring has increased from 300 million times the Earth's gravity at the beginning of his training to 90 billion times the gravity he can normally endure while walking and meditating. His growth rate is incredibly fast!

Of course, if Dio had control of the artifact, he would be even more grateful.

Inside a mansion in the Heavenly Court.

"Gentlemen, how powerful do you think this so-called Eternal Clan is that they could get the Jade Emperor and Laozi involved? I don't see anything special about them." Nezha and the others sat together enjoying the delicious food.

A man dressed in magnificent official robes, with a square face, wide mouth, and glaring eyes, chuckled and said, "Third Prince, you're not usually the type to be jealous of talent, so what's going on today? You're actually doing something like this? This isn't like you at all."

"That's right, everyone knows that in the Heavenly Court, your ability to subdue demons and monsters is unmatched even by us star officials. It's truly unimaginable that you would send us gifts and ask for our advice today." The speaker was a woman, also dressed in magnificent official robes, but her tone was somewhat sarcastic.

Nezha opened his mouth. He was indeed arrogant and domineering when he first entered the Heavenly Court, but he was later taught a lesson and became much more obedient. However, he considered himself to be no weaker than those gods and always looked down on them. But now he really had to ask these star officials for something.

"Haha, it was my fault back then. I'm here today to apologize. Let's also talk about the one who came to Heaven to cultivate this time." Nezha awkwardly raised his wine cup. After all, it was the first time he had lowered himself like this, and he wasn't used to his behavior.

The constellations exchanged glances. One of them, who looked old with white hair and beard but a cheerful expression, said, "Oh dear, since the Marshal has condescended to do so, how could we not accept? After all, we are colleagues, and there is no grudge that lasts overnight."

As he spoke, he raised his wine glass and gestured to those around him with his eyes. The others also raised their wine glasses and bowed to Nezha from afar.

Nezha, unsuspecting, raised his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

"Thank you for the honor. You are all star gods who have existed since the founding of the Heavenly Court. You must know more about the inside story than I do. Could you please enlighten me?" Nezha asked with a smile.

“That’s easy to explain.” The first star official, with a square face and wide mouth, put down his wine glass and said, “The Eternals were originally created by the Celestials…”

In no time, the star official recounted the relationship between the Celestials, the Eternals, and their Earth Gods.

Nezha pondered for a moment and nodded, saying, "In that case, we can indeed form an alliance."

"Wrong, wrong." The star official shook his head.

"If anyone is to be married, it should be with the Jade Emperor. We are just star officials, and we only need to follow orders from above."

Nezha nodded, his doubts resolved, and drank and ate with the star officials, enjoying themselves immensely.

"Thank you very much, Brother Jiaomu Jiao. Let's get together again next time." After the banquet, Nezha said to the first star official who spoke.

"Of course, of course." Jiao Mujiao nodded, bowed, and then called the star officials away.

Although Nezha had resolved his doubts, he couldn't suppress his youthful curiosity and would come to watch Di'e's lively cultivation whenever he had time.

It should be understood that even though the entire Li family was granted divine status, they still needed to cultivate themselves and hone their life force and magical power to achieve their current success.

Don't talk about what they say about merit. The Heavenly Court has no shortage of merit. Whether it's monsters on Earth or alien invasions from outside Earth, they are all walking merits!

If they had just rested on their laurels, they would have been sidelined long ago. Nezha's titles of Marshal of the Central Altar and Abbess of Tongtian didn't fall into his lap; they were earned through his own hard work and battles!

Watching Dio cultivate can be seen as a form of revenge, since even as a lotus root incarnation, he had suffered a lot in the early stages of his cultivation.

"Cultivation without cultivating life force is the first disease of cultivation; cultivating life force without cultivating nature will make it difficult for a spirit to attain sainthood even after countless eons." Laozi said, shaking his head at Di'e.

Some say that cultivation is about cultivating one's nature, tempering one's will, training one's soul, and refining one's magical power, so that one can ascend to heaven. But they have all forgotten the important second half of the sentence: if there is no physical body, where will the soul find its place?

Laozi smiled and looked at Di'o, whose legs were trembling, and spoke softly.

The magical artifact is now operating at full power, meaning it has already surpassed its previous ability to exert gravity as a black hole.

No, after being refined into a magical artifact, this black hole can actually exert a gravity stronger than before. The gravity at its center point is evenly suppressed on every inch of Dio's body, and at this moment he has successfully gained a power stronger than before. In fact, he is about to exhaust his own genetic potential!

"In fact, you can train your soul, will, and magical power anywhere. The mundane world is a good place to cultivate yourself, and it is also a way to hone your spiritual power."

“Cultivating one’s life force involves strengthening one’s muscles and bones, enduring the tedium and pain, but it is also a way to train one’s sexual energy.”

"Kid, hang in there! Now is the perfect time to cultivate!"

As soon as Laozi finished speaking, the magical treasures on his body began to exert their power, and Dio felt that the gravity had reached the limit he could bear at this moment!

He bit his mouth until it was full of blood, chewed the bits of tooth he had just bitten a few times with his newly grown teeth, and then spat them out violently!

But this attack, capable of piercing a star, had no effect on any part of this area!

"Looks like you held on."

Lao Jun held the whisk and looked at Di E, whose face was contorted with rage, and chuckled.

Then Laozi waved his whisk, and the powerful gravity that had been pressing on Dio instantly disappeared. In its place, Dio's body began to absorb energy with great hunger.

"We have all witnessed your growth over the years, but it is not advisable to hone your life without any protective methods. You have been silent for so long, you should have thought about what to learn, right?" Lao Jun stroked his beard and smiled.

Dio remained silent, his physical exhaustion preventing him from speaking for the time being.

However, Laozi was right; he did indeed have a technique he wanted to learn.