Heretic Trainer: The Gym Is My Cultivation Method

Paren was still glaring at Garion when the effects of [Star Creatine Pro Max] began spreading throughout his body.

The remaining soreness from yesterday’s tests gradually faded, replaced by a strange, heavy restlessness as fresh strength gathered inside his muscles and limbs.

Paren looked down at his hands, slowly flexing his fingers with a complicated expression. ”The effect is actually good.”

Garion nodded with obvious satisfaction. ”Of course it is.”

Paren’s face remained ugly. ”The taste is still unforgivable.”

Garion chuckled. ”That just means it worked properly.”

Paren’s eyebrow twitched. ”That logic is disgusting.”

Garion ignored the complaint and pointed toward the center of the [Divine Training Hall]. ”Alright. First, we warm up your body.”

Paren frowned. ”Warm up?”

Garion looked at him as though he had just asked something incredibly stupid. ”Yes. Warm up. You don’t immediately throw your body under insane pressure unless you want your joints screaming before the actual training even starts.”

Paren stared at him.

For some reason, hearing Garion say something so reasonable only made him more nervous.

Garion walked toward a glowing silver platform covered in soft formation lines and motioned with one hand. ”Stand here.”

Paren stepped onto the platform cautiously.

The formation immediately activated.

HUMMM...

Gravity increased around his body.

It was nowhere near enough to crush him, but it was strong enough to make every movement noticeably heavier.

Garion crossed his arms. ”Start with joint rotations. Neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles.”

Paren’s eyebrow twitched again. ”This is surprisingly ordinary.”

”Good training starts with ordinary things.” Garion pointed at him. ”Move.”

Paren reluctantly did as instructed.

Thus, the Peak Star Realm manager of Astral Cosmic Terminal One began rotating his shoulders and joints beneath the watchful gaze of God Gym’s founder.

For some reason, the entire situation felt strangely humiliating.

Garion, however, watched him with complete seriousness. ”Good. Now dynamic stretches.”

Paren continued through walking lunges, hip openers, arm swings, controlled spinal rotations, and deep bodyweight squats while the platform continuously adjusted the gravity around him.

At first, he thought the whole thing was ridiculously easy.

A few minutes later, sweat had already begun gathering across his forehead.

Only then did Paren realize the platform was doing far more than simply increasing gravity.

It was constantly scanning his joints, muscles, balance, flexibility, movement patterns, and neglected weak points, subtly adjusting the resistance to force every part of his body to move properly.

Garion watched the floating data panel for a while before clicking his tongue. ”As expected.”

Paren slowly breathed out while straightening his back. ”What?”

Garion answered bluntly, ”You sit too much.”

Paren’s face immediately stiffened.

Garion pointed toward the lower-body section of the panel. ”Your legs and glutes are weak for someone at your realm. Your hips are stiff, your posterior chain is lazy, and your lower-body power output is honestly trash.”

Paren’s expression darkened. ”Could you describe my condition a little less brutally?”

Garion shook his head without hesitation. ”No.”

Paren’s mouth twitched.

Garion looked back at the data before clapping his hands once. ”Also, because of all that, we’re starting today with leg day.”

Paren froze.

For some inexplicable reason, those two words sounded more terrifying than hearing about the possible collapse of his [World Seed]. ”Leg... day?”

Garion’s expression became almost cheerful. ”Exactly. Since you’ve spent too many years sitting behind a desk, we need to rebuild your legs and glutes first. Squats, weighted lunges, gravity sled pushes, star-core leg presses, hip thrusts, calf raises, and loaded endurance carries.”

Paren slowly turned his head toward the collection of terrifying machines waiting nearby.

Several of them suddenly looked much more sinister than they had a minute ago. ”You call that rebuilding?”

Garion nodded seriously. ”Yes.”

Paren’s mouth twitched again. ”It sounds more like punishment.”

Garion laughed. ”That’s because you’re still thinking like an office worker.”

He pointed toward the first massive squat platform. ”Come on, Manager Paren.”

Garion cracked his knuckles, his cheerful trainer expression becoming strangely merciless. ”Let’s wake up those dead legs.”

---

Garion trained Paren as if the man had personally offended every leg muscle in existence.

The first exercise was squats.

Naturally, they were nothing even remotely close to normal squats.

They were gravity-adjusted, star-core-weighted, formation-supported squats that forced nearly every muscle in Paren’s lower body to work at once.

By the end of the first set, even his Peak Star Realm legs had already begun trembling slightly.

Garion stood beside him with a completely calm expression. ”Lower.”

Paren’s face twisted from the strain. ”Any lower and I’ll be underground.”

Garion sighed and pointed toward his legs. ”Oh, come on. Your knees haven’t even reached ninety degrees yet. Lower.”

Paren shot him an irritated look, but he had no choice except to descend farther.

His thighs immediately screamed in protest. ”Damn it...”

”Good,” Garion said approvingly. ”Now stand back up.”

Paren pushed himself upright. ”Again.”

His expression darkened.

By the time Garion finally allowed him to stop, Paren had already completed far too many sets for his liking, and his legs felt as though someone had replaced the muscles inside them with burning metal.

Unfortunately, that was merely the first exercise.

The next one was weighted lunges across a glowing training platform.

Paren originally thought the exercise looked less terrible than the squat platform.

That opinion disappeared very quickly.

The glowing path continuously extended ahead of him no matter how far he walked, while additional weight and gravity adjusted according to his condition.

Within minutes, both his legs and hips were practically screaming in pain with every step.

Garion walked beside the platform, casually watching his form. ”Nice. Now faster.”

Paren turned his head and glared at him through clenched teeth. ”Are you training me or trying to kill me?”

Garion answered without the slightest hesitation. ”Both can be productive.”

Paren almost missed his next step.

The torture continued.

Gravity sled pushes came next, forcing Paren to drive a massive weighted platform forward while its resistance constantly increased.

Following that were star-core leg presses, hip thrusts, calf raises, and finally brutal endurance carries with enormous cosmic iron plates floating above his shoulders and pressing down on him through concentrated gravity.

By that point, Paren had stopped asking how many exercises were left.

He was afraid Garion might actually answer.

Near the end of the session, the dignified manager of Astral Cosmic Terminal One was standing almost entirely through stubbornness and pride.

His breathing was rough.

Sweat covered his body.

His legs shook beneath him like two cracked pillars somehow refusing to collapse.

Garion, meanwhile, calmly examined the floating results panel as though everything that had just happened was perfectly ordinary.

A few seconds later, he nodded with satisfaction. ”Good first session.”

Paren slowly lifted his head.

His voice came out hoarse. ”First...?”

Garion looked over at him with cheerful approval. ”Of course.”

Paren already hated where this was going.

Garion pointed toward the equipment behind them. ”This was only the warm-up for leg day.”

Paren stared at him in absolute horror.

For perhaps the first time in his long life, Paren genuinely felt that fighting in an actual cosmic war might be easier than surviving a training session at God Gym.