Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 575 Integration and Mastery: A First Glimpse into the Path of Martial Arts
Memory image + Bodhi tree = ?

A: Absolutely quick!

Li Zheng stood under the Bodhi tree, his eyes closed, his mental energy fully released, encompassing all the memories and images within.

Around him, all the memory images began to play simultaneously, and the dark realm instantly became noisy.

However, Li Zheng was completely unaffected, immersed in rapidly comprehending each martial art technique.

The giant axe skills of the Elephant-Man race are at the level of effortless mastery; the heavy double-edged axe is as light as a feather in their hands, and every move carries the power to split mountains.

"The next step after 'effortless mastery' should be what Zhan Zhouzhou was talking about with Xu Ying the other day—'effortless mastery'." A flood of insights kept pouring into Li Zheng's mind. "At that level, even holding a feather can unleash immense power!"

The staff moved like a dragon, and the slender-limbed alien wielded a metal dragon-patterned staff with such skill that water could not penetrate it, and the sky was filled with the shadows of the staff.

"I used to hear people say, 'A year of swords, a month of clubs, a lifetime of guns.' Now I think that although there is some truth to this saying, it is ultimately too simplistic."

"The simpler something is, the harder it is to truly master. This staff technique is so difficult that even someone without a matrix system could spend a lifetime trying to learn it and still not truly grasp its basics!"

A bit of cold light arrived first, and then the gun came out like a dragon.

The gunplay imagery was created by Li Zheng by combining the techniques he obtained from the first memory release device with his own ideas summarized from actual combat. It represented the pinnacle of what he could achieve before.

However, looking back now, Li Zheng felt that all the moves he had left behind were flawed!
In a real fight, he could easily defeat himself when the video of him was recorded, all with one hand!

"Let's summarize the gun techniques again later, and then update the footage. It's shameful to leave such rudimentary gun techniques in the Dark Realm!"

Similar to the gunplay videos is Sarutobi Amuro's 'sword mastery'.

Although swordsmanship occupies the rank of 'specialization,' which is higher than proficiency, Li Zheng, blessed by the Bodhi Tree, still discovered the problems with 'specialization in swordsmanship.'

"Yagyu swordsmanship... In fact, the Yagyu school of swordsmanship is a style of nurturing the sword and accumulating power for a single, fatal strike. It focuses on dodging and finding opportunities, but the true essence lies in a specific footwork."

Whether it was because the Yagyu family was too protective of their skills and didn't teach their disciples everything they knew, or because Sarutobi Amuro had a severe imbalance in her knowledge, the memories I received from her only contained simple techniques like drawing and swinging the sword, without any footwork assistance.

“But it’s not a big problem.” Li Zheng shifted his attention to the rat-headed people. “This race’s claw technique requires specific methods to hone the fingers, similar to the legendary Iron Palm. If you try to use your ordinary flesh and blood in actual combat, you’ll only be asking for trouble.”

According to Li Zheng's understanding, one must train their fingers to be one or two levels stronger than the rest of their body in order to be considered to have entered the realm of this claw technique.

Its practicality is greatly reduced, and it is only suitable for certain gifted alien races.

Unless players on the Blue Star have the patience to train slowly, they can only learn the agile footwork to enhance themselves.

"This set of footwork may seem sleazy, but it is actually quite practical. It can be used in conjunction with claw techniques, and anyone who uses any weapon can learn a thing or two from it."

In other words, body movement techniques have a wide range of applications.

Generally speaking, there are no specific types that are particularly effective against it. Even the secret techniques of the Zhan Zhou family can be applied to martial artists from other schools.

"I'll revise it later and remove the unnecessary claw techniques, so that future visitors won't... never mind, maybe someone will be interested in unorthodox martial arts, so I'll leave the claw techniques here."

Li Zheng shook his head and rewatched all the other martial arts videos. With the help of the Bodhi Tree, he reviewed them one by one and also made great progress.

Within ten minutes, all the images stopped moving. Li Zheng withdrew his mental energy and opened his eyes.

A glint of light flashed deep within his dark golden eyes, and his entire demeanor became more composed.

"This Bodhi tree is probably the best thing I got from the treasure chest," Li Zheng exclaimed in amazement. He had never imagined that he would one day experience such rapid progress in martial arts. Even a prodigy like Zhan Zhouzhou couldn't have achieved this much, could he?
With the existence of the Bodhi Tree, wouldn't everyone qualified to enter the Dark Realm become a martial arts genius like Zhan Zhouzhou, a dragon among men?
With a thought, a double-edged giant axe, entirely condensed from spiritual power, appeared in Li Zheng's hand.

With arms flailing, the axe blade left sharp marks in front of him.

Before long, the double-edged giant axe disintegrated and reformed into a dragon-patterned staff about eyebrow length.

The staff techniques, when unleashed, were powerful and swift, shattering the marks left by the double-edged giant axe and creating a sky full of staff shadows.

From axe to club, then to spear, knife, sword, whip, short weapon, fist, palm, etc., Li Zheng's feet stomped in succession, and his figure swayed, leaving behind several afterimages.

After practicing all the martial arts techniques he had mastered, Li Zheng laughed heartily, "Hahaha! Awesome!"

I had only experienced this exhilarating feeling once before, when I first used the memory release device to gain mastery of marksmanship. I never expected to experience it again now.

It's even more comfortable than eating cold drinks in an air-conditioned room during the hottest days of summer.

Most importantly, ever since he mastered these martial arts techniques, he has developed a subtle intuition.

He has now gained some control over the spiritual power left behind by the void. Although he cannot use it recklessly in battle yet, it is not difficult to at least avoid causing such a terrifying commotion when entering and leaving the Dark Realm.

It was an unexpected surprise.

"Now that this matter is settled, it's time to leave." Li Zheng stood at attention, and as his thoughts shifted, the scene before him changed, and he returned to the teleportation portal.

Miriel was still fast asleep on the table. The dazzling, god-level treasure chest disappeared after the Bodhi seed was taken out. This time, the treasure chest only yielded one Bodhi tree seed, but Li Zheng felt quite satisfied.

This value far exceeded his expectations, and was more to Li Zheng's liking than any advanced materials, equipment, or blueprints.

If you're not satisfied after finding a Bodhi tree seed, then you're being too greedy.

"Unfortunately, the time was too short, and the Bodhi tree has not yet borne fruit." Li Zheng clicked his tongue, feeling regretful.

He did try to accelerate the ripening of the Bodhi tree, but once the Bodhi tree entered its mature stage, the rate at which it absorbed energy reached a constant level.

No matter how hard he tried to draw upon the free energy from the dark realm to feed the Bodhi tree, it remained unmoved.

It seems we'll have to wait patiently to enjoy the Bodhi fruit.

"The time flow rate in the Dark Realm is four to one compared to the outside world, so perhaps we won't have to wait long for the fruit to ripen." Expectation flickered in Li Zheng's eyes. She had already experienced the effects of the Bodhi Tree, and she wondered what the edible Bodhi fruit would look like.

He shook his head, dismissing the thought of being impatient.

He is feeling slightly out of place now. His enlightenment only appears under the Bodhi tree, and after leaving the Dark Realm, he has become a martial arts idiot again.

Fortunately, those insights did not disappear; otherwise, the value of the Bodhi tree would have to be reassessed.

After a moment of adjustment, Li Zheng was still excited about obtaining the treasure: "My close combat ability has improved by who knows how many levels. If I could exercise more, I would really like to spar with Zhan Zhouzhou and test my skills now."

In their last sparring match, Li Zheng had a slight advantage thanks to his genetic abilities.

Now, he is confident that he can defeat Zhan Zhouzhou using only martial arts skills!

(End of this chapter)