Cultivating through increasing my stats in America Chapter 349 - 216: The New Battle Begins

Dwayne Johnson certainly rembered that competition, and it was clear as day, for it was he who had recomnded Li Ang to participate in the slap contest.

Afterward, Li Ang had claid the championship in his own weight class and even secured the title in the overall championship in the Unlimited Weight Class.

On that stage, he had flattened a competitor weighing over four hundred pounds with a slap; if that didn’t prove his strength, nothing could.

Compared to the behemoth weighing over four hundred pounds, his current rival, a bodybuilder weighing under three hundred pounds, was practically a lightweight.

"I was overthinking this, dear Li, the rival you’ve chosen is bound to bring a huge amount of attention to our show, you know, the audience loves such contrasts."

So, three days before the show began, the match-up was announced.

The eyes of the world were on Tour de France champion Li Ang, as his rival was the bodybuilder weighing 278 pounds, Pius Juli.

As soon as the news broke and a poster exaggerating the physical contrast between the two was released, the popularity of "Titan Gas" imdiately soared to new heights.

A large number of internet surfers also left their comnts beneath the official announcent.

"I still don’t understand why Li Ang would join such a sports variety show; it’s clearly not his forte. How much money did the organizers give him?"

"Anyway, I now truly believe "Titan Gas" has no script, otherwise they wouldn’t have set Li Ang up with such an opponent. If Li Ang wins, it only ans that the production team really has no sha. "

"I think he still has so hope, don’t underestimate the leg strength of cyclists!"

"Ugh, what kind of rival did they set up for my husband? His muscles are hideously ugly, like a giant bullfrog."

"If you’ve been watching this show, you’d know that Li Ang has participated before and even got the title of ’Titan.’ So, if the ga rules are not purely about power this ti, Li Ang still has a good chance of winning."

...

The data from this official tweet broke the Titan Gas Production Team’s records for views, likes, comnts, and shares, reaching historical highs.

This was partly due to Li Ang’s current popularity and the striking contrast with his opponent, which spurred more people to share the news with their friends.

For a paid TV program like this, this kind of rating could directly translate to money, making Dwayne Johnson feel that Li Ang’s appearance fee was worth every penny.

This was also thanks to his initial insight that allowed him to build a rapport with Li Ang, for otherwise the offered appearance fee would definitely not have sufficed given Li Ang’s current status in the sports world.

For the staff at Li Ang’s company, his active participation in variety shows and visibility in front of the audience was certainly good news.

The fear for anyone trying to be famous and gather followers isn’t in lacking achievents but in disappearing from public view. If too much ti passes, no matter how great you were before, the audience will forget you.

However, while most people were expressing their opinions objectively, there were those who voiced dissent and even dedicated a video to the issue.

The person who released the video was the sa European cycling blogger who had criticized Li Ang right after the conclusion of the Tour de France.

The re fact that he was still paying attention to Li Ang’s participation in an Arican TV program showed that his interest in Li Ang was no less than that of the die-hard fans.

Except that while those fans were keeping up with Li Ang’s latest activities, he was looking for ways to nitpick.

"How much would the newly crowned world champion push for money?"

Just the title of the video was sensational enough.

The content of the video critiqued Li Ang’s participation in this session of "Titan Gas," not once ntioning that Li Ang was already a participant of the show and this was rely a continuation of the previous season.

It mostly talked about how, as a professional athlete, rather than focusing on training, he was imdiately thinking of making money after a competition.

Most crucially, he was joining a contest focusing on strength where he’d only embarrass himself...

In essence, while the video seed to offer viewpoints, it was essentially an emotional rant, revealing how much the previous incident had really gotten to him.

Yet, regarding his points in the video, many had responses, especially his attacks about Li Ang not training hard enough, which greatly annoyed many athletes, even those who weren’t fans of Li Ang.

As a professional athlete, there is only one tric for evaluation, and that is results. If you claim Li Ang doesn’t train hard, doesn’t it imply that all other athletes are wasting their ti?

Moreover, even if he truly doesn’t train hard, as long as he performs well, he can cover it all up; conversely, without the desired results, no amount of good deeds will save an athlete from criticism in the end.

Only, regarding the second point, there wasn’t much to refute, as even outsiders understood that given the significant size and weight difference between the two, Li Ang was definitely at a disadvantage.