## Chapter 302: Forged in the Crucible of the Construction Site

The man before him was an anomaly, a grotesque aberration of the natural order. Elder Ning, seasoned veteran of countless skirmishes and possessor of a Qi cultivation honed over decades, found himself staring into an abyss of…construction.

The man’s every pore seemed to exude the grit of sand and the scent of hardened cement. His skin, tanned to the leathery hue of weathered brick, bore a thousand minute scars, each a testament to an encounter with rogue nails, errant tools, and the unforgiving kiss of scorching sunlight. But it was the *density* that truly rattled Elder Ning. This was not merely physical fitness; it was a compression of earthly materials, a forging process akin to the creation of a demonic artifact.

He’d encountered cultivators who tempered their bodies with iron filings, ingested raw ores, and even bathed in molten metal, all in pursuit of physical prowess. But this…this was different. This was not the carefully calculated augmentation of a refined cultivation technique. This was the raw, untamed accumulation of mundane labor, the slow, relentless hammering of the construction site transforming flesh into something…else.

“This…” Elder Ning stammered, his meticulously cultivated composure crumbling like poorly mixed concrete. “This is a body…forged in the crucible of the construction site?”

The man, oblivious to the elder’s inner turmoil, simply scratched his calloused hand and grinned, revealing teeth as white and strong as freshly poured concrete. “Yup. Gotta make a livin’ somehow, right? Turns out, lifting heavy stuff all day is pretty good exercise.”

Exercise? Elder Ning felt a vein throb in his temple. This was more than exercise! This was the raw, untamed power of the earth itself, channeled through the sheer force of unrelenting physical labor. This was a phenomenon that defied comprehension, a peasant’s answer to the refined techniques of the cultivated elite.

He looked again at the man’s rough-hewn face, the unyielding glint in his eyes, and the undeniable strength radiating from every inch of his being. He realized, with a chilling certainty, that he was facing something truly unique. Something…dangerous.

This was no mere mortal. This was a *construction cultivator*. And Elder Ning had a feeling that this battle was going to be a lot more complicated than he had anticipated. The clash was not just a confrontation of Qi, but a clash between refined technique and the raw, unadulterated power of…the construction site. A battle between the elegant brushstrokes of a master artist and the relentless pounding of a pile driver.

He braced himself. This was going to be…interesting.