Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 452 Mutant Number One "Iki" (5K)

"Just you wait, I refuse to believe that with my intelligence, I can't learn this so-called martial arts!"

Fengshan left behind a defiant declaration and departed the instance with Yan Guang.

Before leaving, Yan Guang asked, "Who are you planning to learn from?"

"..."

Fengshan remained silent; how would he know who to look for?
He was just making a harsh statement.

Currently, Zhan Zhouzhou is the only one in the entire matrix who publicly teaches martial arts.

After so many days of selection, now whenever Zhan Zhouzhou starts a live stream, the number of viewers instantly soars to nearly two thousand.

These people have all truly grasped some sword techniques under Zhan Zhouzhou's teaching. Among them, the best ones have mastered sword techniques in just a few days and are about to break through to become sword masters!

However, the live streaming function originally released by the matrix terminal has now become a form of entertainment for players in their spare time, except for Zhan Zhouzhou.

The top 100 streamers have the most unique numbers, and very few of them actually start streaming. Apart from Zhan Zhouzhou, there are only a handful of others.

Liu Jiale was one of them.

However, his live streams don't include any tutorials; he explores from a first-person perspective the whole time, and ends the stream after visiting all ten rooms each day.

This is considered a fairly informative live stream. Many players with weaker skills choose to follow Liu Jiale in order to gather information about creatures they might encounter in the future.

Other top 100 streamers are of a much lower standard. They are basically like entertainment streamers, broadcasting for a period of time every night, making themselves look ugly and acting like monkeys to "scam" a few meager tips.

The player "Bai Xiaosheng," who previously released a guide to exploring the matrix, now has the 100th streamer ID and has started a Q&A forum, broadcasting daily to interact and entertain viewers.
According to him, his original intention was to create a strategy lecture to help new players obtain information from him.

Later, he discovered that there were more readers of freebies than his mother who read pirated novels, so he was doing all the work for nothing. He then abandoned his original intentions and became a so-called "emotional" broadcaster.

In reality, he just makes up emotional stories during his live streams, talks about some seemingly plausible life philosophies in a chat-like manner, and occasionally colludes with his friends to do a "real-life simp" life advice show, which earns him quite a bit of tips.

He earned several times more than when he was giving strategy lectures!
Bai Xiaosheng had privately complained about this phenomenon to others.

Before entering the matrix, people were overwhelmed by junk content, paying for that worthless garbage.

He believed that it was due to the social situation and the general trend.

After all, living in a fast-paced era, with busy work every day and a comfortable life where you won't starve as long as you don't lie down, it's understandable that people pursue some fast-food culture.

However, even though the survival difficulty has been adjusted several times by the terminal and the mortality rate is not as high as it was at the beginning, danger is still everywhere in the Matrix.

In this environment, those players maintained their old habits, disregarding the valuable knowledge he had painstakingly compiled and continuing to exploit it for free.

On the contrary, live streams that are purely entertaining but lack any real substance can garner a lot of donations.

He could understand this phenomenon before entering the matrix.

But even after entering the matrix, people still maintain this habit, which he truly cannot understand.

So now he's just giving up. Since the content he put his heart into isn't popular, he doesn't care if you guys live or die.

……

"Ugh……"

Fengshan closed the live stream interface and searched for ten minutes, but apart from the female streamer dancing, he couldn't find any other content.

Dressed in flamboyant attire, Feng Shan looked at the previews of the live streams and almost thought he had clicked on some small website that advertised "XX Casino is now online, beautiful dealers are dealing cards online."

"Couldn't find it, huh?" Yan Guang took out materials to upgrade his left arm and said, "Do you think everyone is like Zhan Zhouzhou, willing to share their most secret skills without reservation?"

"Save it!"

"You should listen to me and tell Zhouzhou that you'll be attending her live streams from now on."

"Isn't learning swordsmanship a good thing?"

Listening to Yan Guang's advice, Feng Shan sighed again: "Do you think I don't want to? But the key problem is that if I learn swordsmanship, it will not only not improve my strength in the short term, but it will also affect my development."

Fengshan is now faced with a choice.

After witnessing Zhan Zhouzhou's heroic demeanor firsthand, Fengshan also wanted to improve his own strength through martial arts.

However, his genetic abilities are actually more suited to learning hand-to-hand combat techniques. If he were to learn swordsmanship from Zhan Zhouzhou, all of his genetic abilities would be rendered useless.

Especially the "burst" capability that was developed first.

Although its rank is only silver.

But its growth potential is frighteningly high!
Fengshan had a hunch that if he combined his explosive power with some boxing techniques, the power might undergo a dramatic change!

He didn't want to give up such a useful genetic ability, after all, "burst" was his strongest attack method.

"If all else fails... I'll have to go ask Liu Jiale."

Fengshan pondered for a moment and said, "I remember he seemed to be proficient in some kind of boxing technique."

Liu Jiale?
Yan Guang was puzzled: "Isn't he a swordsman? And I remember Old Li wanted to ask him for advice before, but he refused. He said that the sect does not allow the knowledge to be passed on to outsiders. You might as well ask Zhouzhou instead of him."

One sheep is driven, two sheep are herded.

Since everyone knows each other so well, Zhan Zhouzhou shouldn't mind teaching one more student.

Liu Jiale's proficiency in martial arts was, of course, discovered by Fengshan after obtaining the Eye of Preer.

When Li Zheng first met Liu Jiale, he was practicing hitting iron sandbags, so this hidden ability, which was not displayed in the system's ability panel, was also recorded by Lao Pu.

Liu Jiale's initial idea was that if he ever lost his weapon during a fight, having someone skilled in boxing would at least give him a fighting chance when he was unarmed.

However, after he had fully mastered the art of boxing, he realized something and never practiced boxing again.

Weapon dropped...

Why don't I just prepare a few more knives?
It's easy to take it out of the capsule...

“He once told us privately that the only thing the sect forbade to pass on was the sword technique; his mastery of fist techniques was something he developed on his own.”

Fengshan made up an excuse to cover up the fact that he knew the other party was skilled in martial arts, and said in a frustrated tone, "But at that time I thought martial arts were just flashy and impractical things, so I was too embarrassed to ask him to teach me..."

Li Zheng had signed a confidentiality agreement with him regarding the existence of the Eye of Preer, so he had to keep it a secret even from Yan Guang.

Therefore, even with the Eye of Prey as an aid, he still had to take out his pocket watch to check before opening the metal door, just to make a show of it.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Yan Guang activated his left arm, which had officially been upgraded to the diamond grade, without any suspicion: "Say some nice things to them, and if that doesn't work, we can prepare some gifts and ask them to teach you a lesson, right?"

"But you should also keep a more relaxed attitude. It's a favor if someone is willing to give you pointers, and it's their right not to teach you."

"If you get rejected, don't get upset or angry. We'll just think of other ways."

"Alright, I'm not a child, I understand all this!" Feng Shan waved his hand impatiently. Ever since Yan Guang and his relationship were officially settled, he actually missed the old Yan Guang a little...

Now this chatterbox is becoming more and more like his mother, making him a bit rebellious.

Opening the private chat page, Fengshan, with the trepidation of someone about to borrow money, typed a message and sent it.

"Brother Le, are you busy?"

Remember, if someone who hasn't contacted you for a long time suddenly contacts you with this kind of opening line, nine times out of ten they want something from you.

It's highly likely it's either borrowing money or getting married...

Liu Jiale, clearly a worldly person, replied ambiguously, "It's alright, why?"

"Um... I heard from Old Li that you've practiced boxing? And you're quite good at it?"

"That's right..." Liu Jiale was dealing with affairs in the legion when he took a moment to recall that Li Zheng had indeed seen him practicing his boxing.

But his training was only average; he wasn't particularly skilled.

"Brother, I have a favor to ask," Feng Shan said hesitantly. "Could you teach me how to practice boxing? My boxing proficiency is stuck, and I haven't made any progress for several days, so I'd like to learn from you."

That's it?
Liu Jiale breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the private message from Feng Shan. He had thought it was some kind of 'unreasonable request,' but it turned out to be such a simple request.

After thinking for a moment, he sent Fengshan the ten iron sandbags he had left over from his boxing practice, with the message: "Punch the sandbags five thousand times a day. When you break all ten of these, you will have mastered the art of boxing."

"It's that simple?"

"It's that simple! It's just about mastering the most basic techniques. Diligent practice is the easiest way. Only by constantly throwing punches can you grasp even a trace of the essence of the fist technique." Liu Jiale had not systematically studied fist techniques; this was a summary he made based on his usual sword practice.

as long as you try very hard, you can achieve anything.

This is absolutely not an empty statement in the martial arts world.

He still maintains the habit of swinging his knife 5,000 times a day, and makes new progress every day.

On his very first day as a disciple, his master said to him in a serious tone: "If you don't practice for a day, you'll regress by ten years."

It's definitely an exaggeration, but it also proves that this is how the older generation of martial arts masters all went through it. What's this called?
This is called tradition!

Fengshan took out the sandbags filled with iron sand and asked unwillingly, "Besides hard work, are there any techniques or anything like that for practicing boxing?"

"Yes," Liu Jiale replied, then added, "but I don't know how."

I'm just someone who's learned swordsmanship, not boxing. How could I possibly know any boxing techniques or moves?

At most, he would modify some of the power-generating techniques from swordsmanship and apply them to unarmed combat.

However, knife techniques are more suitable for palm techniques, such as the palm-knife style, and not for fist techniques.

If Fengshan wants to apply his knowledge to other situations, he should consult Li Zheng rather than Liu Jiale.

After all, Li Zheng was skilled with a gun.

Although he hasn't used a gun in a long time.

"Okay, thanks." Feng Shan was a little disappointed and sent Liu Jiale a bronze-level power core.

It's worth much more than ten iron sandbags, but he needs someone's help, so he can't be stingy.

What is this called?
That's called social etiquette!

As expected, Liu Jiale did not accept the power core and chose to return it: "It's a worthless little thing, and I didn't even teach you anything. It's not worth the price."

"Alright, I'll take this as a favor." Feng Shan didn't insist and replied.

Look.

Wouldn't that leave you indebted to someone?
In social interactions, the more favors you owe someone, the better the relationship between you will be.

Although Liu Jiale didn't offer any substantial help, he did his best to give guidance, so Fengshan had to accept his gratitude.

If Liu Jiale ever needs any small favors from Fengshan in the future, it will be time to repay the favor.

Although……

This kind of small favor may never have a chance to be repaid in a lifetime.

"How is it? What did Liu Jiale say?" Yan Guang asked, noticing that Feng Shan still looked worried.

Fengshan took out a sandbag from the capsule: "He told me to practice hard and that was it. He also gave me ten sandbags and told me that when I broke all ten sandbags, I would master the art of boxing."

"That simple?" Yan Guang clenched his left fist, eager to try.

"It's that simple." Seeing her expression, Fengshan found a place to hang up the sandbag and said, "Do you want to give it a try?"

Yan Guang hesitated for a moment: "I don't think we need to. These sandbags don't look very sturdy."

"A little bit, indeed."

Feng Shan nodded. He had already seen the properties of the sandbag. It was only a black iron-grade item, and the materials used were not very sturdy.

Raise your hand, clench your fist, and swing it out forcefully!

puff!
Fengshan's right hand pierced through the outermost leather sheath of the sandbag and penetrated into the inside of the sandbag.

Fengshan: "..."

That's it?

He pulled his hand out, and iron filings scattered all over the ground, but the progress in gaining mastery of fist techniques didn't increase at all.

Did Liu Jiale deceive herself?
Actually, this isn't how you train to master boxing.
Fengshan refused to believe it and thought Liu Jiale had no reason to play tricks on him. He took out sandbags one after another and smashed them all with a single punch.

Ten sandbags were smashed to pieces, and iron sand piled up to half a meter high. Fengshan looked at the progress of his martial arts mastery acquisition, which hadn't made a sound, and fell silent.

possible……

It's not Liu Jiale's problem, it's my own problem?
When Liu Jiale was practicing, it must have been during the early days of the game, when everyone's physical condition was relatively weak.

Using these black iron-grade sandbags is naturally no problem.

However, his current physical condition, after continuously drinking gene serum, has reached the Platinum Level 1+ limit.

If it weren't for the fact that there are a few types of blood he can't obtain, his physique would have reached the diamond level long ago!

It would be abnormal if someone with a platinum-level physique couldn't break a black iron-level punching bag with one punch, right?
Left with no other choice, he had to contact Liu Jiale again to inquire about the production of high-grade sandbags.

After learning that ten black iron-grade sandbags were no longer enough for Fengshan, Liu Jiale was speechless, realizing that he had overlooked the difference in physical strength.

This makes it seem as if he deliberately gave those garbage sandbags to Fengshan as a favor.

There was no other way but to make several sandbags for Fengshan using diamond-grade animal fur and send them over without any handling fees. Of course, Fengshan paid for the materials himself.

Next, Fengshan used the new sandbags and was finally able to practice with peace of mind.

The sounds of "bang, bang, and pop" echoed throughout the room.

Yan Guang watched for a while and then became interested. He also hung up a sandbag, controlled the energy output of his left arm, and practiced boxing with Feng Shan.

Suddenly, the sound of hitting the sandbag became noisy.

After a while, the two boxers gradually synchronized their rhythms. The sound of their fists hitting the sandbags was not only not noisy, but also had a strange sense of rhythm.

It wasn't until Zhan Zhouzhou sent a private message informing them that they could head to the last mutant that the two snapped out of their boxing practice.

Fengshan immediately checked the progress indicator for acquiring Boxing Mastery. There was indeed an improvement, but it wasn't significant.

The progress is 0.07% higher than before.

“Liu Jiale is right. Basic training really does require just hard work.” Feng Shan breathed a sigh of relief. His progress in mastering boxing techniques had all been accumulated through combat.

Later, he tried punching the air and found that it had no effect at all. He thought it was a problem with his technique, or that he could only improve in combat.

"I never realized before, boxing is so interesting!" Yan Guang swung his right hand, stretching his joints.

After practicing boxing with Fengshan for a while, she felt a refreshing sensation throughout her body, as if all the pressure she had been feeling had been released through the boxing match.

Every pore on her body seemed to open up, as if cheering and jumping for joy, making her feel a little unsatisfied and wanting to continue playing for a while longer.

"Huh?" Yan Guang glanced at the system notification that popped up in front of him and exclaimed in surprise, "How come I also have progress in acquiring mastery of martial arts?"

It's quite high; it reached 13.7% in just a short while!

Just twenty minutes ago, her progress in mastering martial arts was almost zero...

Fengshan wasn't too surprised by this: "The first 80% of the progress is very fast, but it gets harder and harder when you're close to mastering it."

"I see." Yan Guang nodded, indicating that he understood. "I thought I had a talent for boxing."

Fengshan said quietly, "I used to think the same way..."

Yan Guang didn't really care whether she could master the so-called boxing skills. She had enough mechanical left arm. Upgrading this arm alone was not an easy task for her.

However, it's not bad to treat boxing as a hobby. It just so happens that musical instruments are relatively rare in the Matrix, and she hasn't even wanted to hum songs these days.

"It's decided! To increase your enthusiasm for practicing boxing, I'll practice with you for two hours every day from now on!"

Yan Guang naturally took over a sandbag.

Fengshan had no objections. With the Eye of Preer's assistance, their exploration speed was ridiculously fast every day, leaving them plenty of time to practice.

……

"What are you two doing? Why haven't you accepted the challenge dungeon invitation yet?"

After receiving Zhan Zhouzhou's private message, Li Zheng sent invitations to everyone. Everyone else accepted, but Feng Shan and Yan Guang hesitated and didn't respond.

Urged by Li Zheng, Feng Shan and his companion quickly accepted the invitation to the event instance. The entire team regrouped and entered the room where the last mutant was located.

A slight blur appeared before their eyes, and everyone was stunned by the sight before them.

The room where Mutant Number One was located was different from the rooms of all the other mutants!
In particular, there are two mud-brick houses in the center of the room, and a bright, dazzling sun hangs high in the blue sky and white clouds.

"You are here."

The door to one of the rooms opened, and a fair-skinned, ordinary-looking young man walked out.

He seemed to have known that Li Zheng and the others were coming all along, and was waiting here on purpose.

Iki

Race: Human (Radiation Mutant)
Sex: Male
……

Note that he's different from other mutants; it seems like his original form is here!

(End of this chapter)