Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 294 The Deal is Complete, Li Zheng Makes a Fortune? (Part 2)

Misaka Tsuchimon chickened out at the last moment, not wanting Li Zheng to take away his "swordsmanship expertise". As a result, he called over a woman who was in love with him and tried to make her his substitute.

Through Lao Pu's detection abilities, Li Zheng already knew the woman's identity, all her abilities and equipment. On the surface, this woman named "Sarutobi Ayoraku" was even stronger than Misaka Tsuchiemon.

In addition to being a "swordsmanship expert" and a "metal manipulation expert", Sarutobi Amuro also has the ability to "master hidden weapons".

In terms of equipment, he also has one more set of gold-grade snowflake darts than Misaka Tsuchimon.

[We are all of the same origin, why are we so eager to harm each other? You think "of the same origin" refers to "compatriots"? Then you're wrong, think about it carefully.]

“Not the same as… uh…” Li Zheng was startled by the sudden hint given by Lao Pu. It turned out that the “root” here referred to that “root”!
If this is true, that would be incredibly ridiculous!
Do Misaka Tsuchimon and the other two know about this?
Li Zheng's eyes darted between the two men, trying to discern something.

Misaka Tsuchimon has the kind of looks that are very appealing to the opposite sex, and she has the potential to be a fishpond owner. Obviously, Sarutobi Amuro is one of the fish being raised in that fishpond.

But this fish... is the pond owner's half-sister?
"Let me introduce you. This is Mr. Li Zheng from the Dragon Kingdom. The reason I asked you to come here is to complete a transaction with Mr. Li," Misaka Tsuchiemon said calmly.

"Greetings, Mr. Li." Sarutobi Yuraku gave a slight curtsy, very polite, with excellent appearance and a gentle temperament, making it impossible to tell that she was a person specializing in swordsmanship.

"Hmm." Li Zheng nodded calmly, pretending not to know anything.

"This is Sarutobi Amuro, a student of the Yagyu Kenkan school like me, so she's my junior sister." Misaka Tsuchiemon gave a brief introduction, subtly indicating to Li Zheng the reason for calling her over.

"Junior sister?" Li Zheng's expression shifted. It seemed that being from the same root could also be interpreted as being from the same sect?
Don't be too clever for your own good.

Old Pu's simple words dispelled Li Zheng's doubts; the two were indeed, as he had suspected, likely siblings.

Li Zheng carefully observed the expressions of the two men, but could not tell whether they knew about it or not.

Misaka, oblivious to Li Zheng's actions, asked Sarutobi Yuraku, "Did you bring everything I asked you to bring?"

"I brought it," Sarutobi Yuraku said softly.

"Then take it out."

"Hey." Sarutobi Ayaku raised her hand and released a pile of materials, which formed a small mountain. More and more materials were added to it, expanding its scale.

This is because the capsule space is too small, and some of the items were hung in the trading hall, which she is currently taking out one by one.

“Okay, wait here for a moment, I need to say a few words to Mr. Li.” Sarutobi Yuraku needed some time to finish taking everything out, so Misaka Tsuchiemon took the opportunity to pull Li Zheng aside: “Mr. Li, what conditions are required to acquire a special ability? I will cooperate with them.”

Li Zheng noticed that Sarutobi Ayame was watching the two of them from a distance. When she looked at Misaka Tsuchiemon, the tenderness in her eyes was so real that it seemed like it was about to drip water.

This situation made him feel that things were getting interesting. He had a feeling that Misaka Tsuchiemon might already know Sarutobi Amuro's identity, but just hadn't revealed it.

"The conditions aren't difficult; all you need is for the target to be alive but unconscious." Li Zheng looked deeply at Misaka Tsuchiemon, and asked with some reluctance, "Excuse me, but did your father have any concubines?"

"A concubine?" Misaka Tsuchimon was taken aback by the question. "You mean a mistress? I don't think so. Before he became an official, he was always traveling between Japan and China. How could he have time to keep a concubine?"

"Oh, no wonder." Li Zheng's expression became even stranger. Running between two countries, wouldn't that make it easier to keep a mistress?
It seems that Old Pu is still quite reliable; this time he was even able to detect whether the other party was related by blood.

Misaka Tsuchimon said calmly, "I'll go over there and knock her out later, then you can do whatever you want to her!"

Anything is fine?
What do you take me for, Li Zheng?
But then again...

Judging from their fighting abilities, it's not certain who will knock whom out.

"Suit yourself, I'm only responsible for receiving the goods anyway." Li Zheng shrugged, not wanting to cause any trouble.

"Alright, Mr. Li, please wait a moment, it will be ready soon." Misaka Tsuchiemon walked up to Sarutobi Ayaka and said a few words. Taking advantage of the other party's lack of vigilance, he suddenly attacked and delivered a heavy chop to Sarutobi Ayaka's neck, knocking him unconscious.

This action left Li Zheng dumbfounded. Misaka Tsuchiemon didn't care about Sarutobi Amuro's life at all. A chop to the back of the neck is very dangerous and could easily cause death or permanent paralysis.

But when Misaka Tsuchimon attacked, he was completely uninhibited, his movements decisive and ruthless. Li Zheng could even imagine how painful it would be if he hadn't knocked someone unconscious.

Misaka Tsuchimon waved to Li Zheng: "Mr. Li, everything is ready, we can begin."

After saying that, he stood to the side.

Li Zheng returned to his residence and retrieved the "Memory Release Device," which had one more use remaining, and put it on Sarutobi Yura.

Once the item is activated, it will display the abilities that can be recorded. Select the swordsmanship specialization, strip it, and then record it into the memory release device.

Although the Memory Releaser has two uses, it can only be used once to record an ability. If it records an ability on the first use, the Memory Releaser will be locked, and the item suffix will change from blank to specified ability.

For example, the original suffix of this memory release device was "blank". After the swordsmanship mastery was recorded, the word "blank" became "melee swordsmanship".

Five minutes later, the props stopped operating, and the swordsmanship specialization was completed. In the attribute panel given by Old Pu, the swordsmanship specialization ability was also crossed out, leaving only "Hidden Weapon Mastery" and "Metal Manipulation".

"Alright, the transaction is complete. I'll go make the other items now." Li Zheng put away the memory release device with satisfaction, turned his residence into a capsule, collected all the materials, and then released it again before going inside.

Only Misaka Tsuchiemon and the unconscious Sarutobi Ayoraku remained outside. Misaka Tsuchiemon sent a copy of the video recording of Li Zheng's ability to his trusted confidants in Takamagahara.

"Keep an eye on this item, and try to get a few." After witnessing the effects of the memory release device, he also wanted to acquire some different specialization abilities for himself.

The unconscious Sarutobi Yuraku lay at his feet, but he didn't even bother to glance at her.

Li Zheng saw this scene through the crack left in the door and frowned.

Sarutobi Uroku was exceptional in both appearance and figure; anyone else would have been unable to remain unmoved in such a situation.

Not every man is like Fengshan, unmoved by beauty.

Misaka Tsuchimon's actions deepened Li Zheng's suspicions. He must have known Sarutobi Ayaka's true identity all along, but had kept it a secret.

She uses Sarutobi Uraku's feelings for him to do things for him, like in this deal, squeezing out the value of her existence.

Does Sarutobi Uroku himself know this?
They probably don't know.

After all, who would fall in love with their half-brother?

[He's ruthless and heartless; if this child isn't killed, he'll surely become a great threat!]

Old Pu seemed to have had enough and urged Li Zheng to kill Misaka Tsuchimuro.

“This person cannot be killed for now.” Li Zheng shook his head inwardly. If he killed Misaka Tsuchiemon and Sarutobi Amuro now, Takamagahara would seize on this and attack him. Who would dare to make a deal with him in the future?
"Anyway, it's Takamagahara that will suffer the loss, it has nothing to do with me." Li Zheng looked away and focused on making props.

The time to handcraft a gold-grade item is fixed at thirty seconds per item. With fifty flying machines and twenty incubation dishes, Li Zheng dragged it out for twenty minutes before handing them over to Misaka Tsuchiemon.

At this moment, Sarutobi Ayaka was still unconscious, and no one knew how ruthless Misaka Tsuchimon had been, as there was no sign of him waking up. Misaka Tsuchimon checked the number of items, confirmed that everything was in order, and then took his leave with satisfaction, saying, "Thank you, Mr. Li. I'll take my leave now."

"Okay, no need to see me out." Li Zheng was in a good mood. This transaction with Takamagahara was the most profitable he had made since joining the Matrix.

He had a hundred extra sets of materials for the levitation thrusters alone; if he made them all, he could build an elite player legion.

Of course, for Li Zheng, the most precious things are the various gold-grade blood materials.

Fifty liters of culture medium yielded nearly six thousand bottles of different types of gold-grade blood, enough for Li Zheng to raise all four attributes to the gold-grade 2+ limit.

He had collected about half of the remaining three levels of potions; he could try to collect the rest at the auction.

By then, Li Zheng will be worried about obtaining higher-level potion blueprints. He has only collected a few fragments so far, and he doesn't know how many treasure chests he will need to open to synthesize a complete blueprint.

Misaka Tsuchiemon left with the unconscious Sarutobi Ayaka. Before leaving, Li Zheng noticed that the girl's eyelids twitched, as if she was about to wake up.

I wonder how she'll react after waking up, having been tricked by Misaka Tsuchimon this time.

Although Li Zheng had little contact with her, he could sense that Sarutobi Ayuru was too weak and submissive in front of Misaka Tsuchiemon.

Even if they realize they've been tricked when they wake up, they probably won't say anything.

However, those were not things that Li Zheng should care about. He was more concerned about the difference between the specialized level and the proficient level.

Why is it that even though they are all players with specialized skills, their combat power is so different, and none of them can compare to Zhan Zhouzhou?

Li Zheng took out the memory release device, put it on, and selected "Release Memory." He entered that mysterious memory space once again.

This is clearly a dojo with a strong island nation vibe, where a slender woman is endlessly practicing with a long, thin katana in her hand.

The woman's figure was none other than Sarutobi Yuro, whom I had met once before, though her face was slightly blurry.

"Why is this image so much more rigid? It doesn't seem as dynamic as the last time the gun technique space was?" Li Zheng approached the figure and observed it closely.

Although a long time has passed, Li Zheng's memory of the process of acquiring the spear technique has become much hazy, but he remembers that when he saw that figure, he almost thought it was a real person practicing the spear technique.

But this time, he immediately noticed the emptiness and lifelessness of the figure practicing the sword, like a puppet slowly operating according to a predetermined program.

Li Zheng speculated that it might be related to the recorder's own abilities.

Based on his previous experience, he approached the figure, his perspective shifted, and he mechanically swung his katana.

The moves of the katana are just a few moves over and over again, and when Li Zheng was an observer, he couldn't even see how exquisite they were.

Only by switching to first-person perspective can one perceive a subtle, almost imperceptible, nuance in each swing of the sword.

It is clearly impossible to master swordsmanship by relying on a vague, almost non-existent sense of perception.

However, Li Zheng, who already had considerable progress in swordsmanship, mastered it smoothly during the practice.

It wasn't until I mastered the swordsmanship that that mysterious feeling became clearer.

But he also knew that it was not easy to quickly master a specialty through such rudimentary techniques.

He will likely spend a long time in the memory space today.

Coincidentally, Li Zheng didn't have any other skills, but he was a little bit patient, and he practiced slowly and patiently.

While practicing, I summarized why the memory capacity of a specialist level ability is not as good as that of a master level ability.

The answer is... In that memory space last time, the figure seemed to know the principle behind each of his shots, why he shot in that way, and where to generate power.

This time, the memory of the human figure didn't even understand the basic principles; it was just a mechanical "imitation," having the form but lacking the essence.

To give a specific example, the former knows why one plus one equals two, while the latter only knows that two plus two should equal four.

After practicing for an unknown amount of time, Li Zheng finally lost patience with the monotonous sword-wielding movements and decisively broke away.

Click.

A crisp sound rang in my ears; the memory release device was damaged and could no longer be used, becoming a piece of junk that couldn't even be decomposed.

"What a huge loss. I thought I could get a specialization, but it's just a mastery." Li Zheng felt speechless. He guessed that if he could enter Zhan Zhouzhou's sword specialization space, he might have already mastered the same level of specialization ability.

However, after experiencing this memory space, Li Zheng roughly understood that the boundary between specialized ability and mastery is not actually high. As long as one practices hard to improve proficiency, everyone can improve.

However, the combat effectiveness of each person after mastering a specialty is different.

Some people lack talent and can only gain the bonus to "attack power" from their specialization abilities, but their actual understanding of martial arts is not very deep.

Li Zheng referred to it as "inferior specialization".

Zhan Zhouzhou possesses exceptional talent. The moment he attained "Sword Mastery," he was even able to unleash simple sword energy based on his profound understanding of martial arts.

Li Zheng called this specialization "superior"!
As expected of the unparalleled genius of the Zhan family, Lady Zhan's swordsmanship is unmatched in the world. Li Zheng is extremely envious, but there is nothing he can do about it.

"Oh well, at least I've acquired another melee proficiency ability, bringing me one step closer to becoming a fighter." Li Zheng glanced at the time and realized that although he had been in the memory space for so long, only five minutes had passed.

"It's still early, let's finish the remaining ten explorations first." Li Zheng made a mysterious declaration, drank dozens of tubes of gold-grade potions made by Gong Yi, and only set off after his physique was once again boosted to its current limit.

After putting away its dwelling, Sakura flew back from a short distance away, knowing that its owner was about to leave.

Li Zheng carried the lantern and headed towards the nearest metal door, taking the opportunity to familiarize himself with the power brought by his current gold-level physique.

At this moment, he was confident that, without changing his strength, he could face a creature of the level of the three-headed demon lion head-on with only his bare hands.

No weapons are even needed!
Familiarizing himself with the power along the way, Li Zheng quickly arrived at the metal door.

There is a player behind the door, someone you just met.

Friendly reminder: It's her, not him.

“Sarutobi Amuro? Why isn’t she with Misaka Tsuchimon?” Li Zheng raised an eyebrow.

(End of this chapter)