Eh...I'll read any cultivation story as long as the characters and plot are interesting. In the end we remember memorable characters not memorable names or cultures.
Going to the gym definitely took away the boredom from me, made me more active too. Besides it's good to exercise once in a while since all we writers do is sit in one place and type, type, type...
THIS!
I think it's more about choosing the right audience. A lot of SH readers like smut the same way a lot of RR readers like LitRPG. So if you want to get readers then its best to know what's trending on that platform, use that trope, hook the readers and then throw life lessons, philosophy...