Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 632 Spiritual World
The mixed-race woman's situation couldn't be resolved in a short time. Li Zheng walked up to Feng Xie Mao, looked him over, and saw through Preys' Eye that he had indeed gotten rid of the influence and showed no signs of being infected.

Feng Xiemao was also scrutinizing Li Zheng, his face full of surprise: "You...you really are a player from this year's new race?"

Such terrifying mental power could be transmitted accurately to the ears of everyone in the shop, demonstrating the exquisite control and application of mental power.

This is something that a player who has only been playing for a little over a month can achieve!
"Yes, that's me." Li Zheng smiled calmly. "Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing," Feng Xiemao said with a wry smile. "I was just intimidated by your strength. If someone had told me before that a new player could grow to your level within a month, I would have scoffed..."

"Haha, this is nothing, I just had some good luck and a bit of a lucky encounter." Li Zheng thought to himself, "It's a good thing my physical strength isn't enough to use my mental power recklessly, otherwise if you knew the true strength of my mental power right now, it would probably scare you silly."

Not wanting to discuss this further, Li Zheng changed the subject and asked, "How much do you know about the Optimist Clan?"

"To be honest, I don't know much about them." Feng Xiemao thought for a moment and said, "Or rather, apart from their innate abilities, the Lucky Clan has almost no secrets. Even their innate abilities have been studied by countless people, and many have tried to replicate them, but there has never been a successful precedent."

"Not even once?!" Li Zheng exclaimed in surprise.

The outer city has developed over countless generations, and the number of people researching its various unsolved mysteries is probably countless.

The fact that there wasn't even a single successful example of replicating the Lucky Clan's talent is a bit frightening.

“They’ve never succeeded even once.” Feng Xie Mao shook his head and said, “At first, some people thought that the Lucky Clan wanted to keep it a secret and deliberately concealed some key information during the research process. It wasn’t until the end that someone came to the conclusion that even the Lucky Clan themselves couldn’t explain the principle behind their innate abilities.”

"How could this be?" Li Zheng found it unbelievable. It was as absurd as countless scientists and biologists having spent countless years and exhausted their efforts, only to be unable to explain the principle of breathing.

Science is a magical discipline. Everything in the world that exists rationally can be given a rational explanation through scientific means. It is not difficult to even get to the bottom of things and find out their essence.

It's truly frightening that so many people haven't been able to figure out the talents of the Optimistic Clan.

"Actually, it's not hard to understand." Feng Xiemao said with a wry smile, "Research on mental power has always been very difficult in the outer city since ancient times, otherwise there would be no way to break through the upper limit of mental power until now."

Li Zheng was taken aback: "Is mental power... really that difficult to explore?"

Isn't it enough to simply project your mental energy into someone else's mind to observe the changes in their mental state?
Why does it sound so... when Fengxie Cat says it?

Even residents outside the city wouldn't use this method?
Or is it because they failed to form a cohesive node, preventing them from doing so?

After careful consideration, Li Zheng felt it should be the latter.

Releasing one's mental power requires a certain level of mental strength. Even the "Return of Ten Thousand Whips" and similar mental manipulation techniques that Miriel previously comprehended are actually very rudimentary methods of releasing mental power. They are absolutely incapable of entering someone else's mind to observe their mental power in place of their eyes.

Moreover, everyone's spiritual body is instinctively surrounded by defenses, and once invaded by external spiritual power, it will automatically launch a counterattack. If Li Zheng hadn't taken advantage of the mixed-race woman's spiritual body being affected by the pale red evil energy and being unable to take care of herself, it would have taken him a lot of effort to easily enter her mind.

So it's not that the residents of the outer city didn't want to study spiritual power in depth, but rather that they couldn't meet the strict requirements, which prevented them from studying it thoroughly.

“Difficulty is an understatement to describe the difficulty of researching mental power,” Feng Xiemao said. “Countless generations of residents in the outer city have racked their brains to find a way to indirectly continue to improve mental power, which is to use the energy inside the purified twisted magic crystal to increase the purity of mental power.”

However, this method has great limitations. In addition to needing to enter the Seven Sins Domain to fight and obtain the Twisted Magic Crystal, one also needs to find an existence like the Optimist Clan to erase its negative effects before one can safely absorb it.

Even so, as more and more magic crystal energy is absorbed, more and more magic crystal energy is needed to further purify mental power.

"Ten years ago, when my mental strength reached the initial limit, the first thing I absorbed was a white magic crystal. Now, even the energy from red magic crystals is barely enough to significantly improve my mental strength; I can only slowly accumulate it through quantity." Feng Xiemao sighed, a rare occurrence for him, "I can feel that the effect of red magic crystals is becoming increasingly weak. In the near future, the effect of red magic crystals will become negligible, and then..."

By then, unless he can obtain an even rarer, higher-level Twisted Magic Crystal that is only seen once every few years, his mental power enhancement will have reached its limit.

Li Zheng really wanted to suggest that Feng Xie Mao open his mind and let him go in to see for himself what a spirit body enhanced by magic crystal energy looked like.

However, the mind is the only place where the spiritual body resides, and the mental defenses that surround it are also the strongest. But once someone else enters it, this strongest point will instantly become the weakest point.

If the other party harbors malicious intentions, they can bring about one's utter ruin.

Therefore, Feng Xie Mao would never feel comfortable letting a stranger he had only known for less than half an hour enter his mind, especially after witnessing the scene of the mixed-race woman being infected. He would be even more wary of anything that tried to invade his mind.

After thinking for a moment, Li Zheng asked, "She... right, I still don't know her name."

He pointed to the mixed-race woman, whose physical changes caused by the negative emotions she had previously experienced had returned to normal without any lasting effects.

"Her name is Le Jia, and she is a mix of the Optimistic Clan and the Folded Ear Clan," Feng Xie Mao then introduced the mixed-race woman's identity to Li Zheng.

Just as Li Zheng had thought, the other party was indeed of mixed race.

"I'd like to ask, besides the dangers, does the Optimist Clan get any other benefits from processing the Twisted Magic Crystals?" Li Zheng asked. "I mean benefits other than the harvest."

He had just observed Le Jia's spiritual body erasing the faint red evil energy and discovered that while the other party was erasing the evil energy, his spiritual body was also absorbing something from the process.

That thing is harmless to the spirit; on the contrary, it is beneficial.

"Benefits?" Feng Xiemao was taken aback. "I don't know about that. No one from the Optimistic Clan has ever mentioned such a thing. Why don't you ask her yourself after she wakes up?"

"No need to wait, I'm already awake."

At this moment, Le Jia finally finished dealing with the evil energy that had invaded his mind, opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air. His bright eyes were clear, indicating that he was mentally sound.

The outer city residents who had been standing guard nearby breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, and then went back to doing their own things without saying a word.

Everything was in perfect order, and Li Zheng noticed that when these residents from the outer city lined up again, the order hadn't even changed.

Le Jia looked at Li Zheng, a hint of panic and fear flashing deep in his eyes. He hesitated several times before stepping forward and whispering his thanks: "Thank you for your help earlier, sir. Otherwise, I would have become an infected person and been killed on the spot."

The outer city is extremely wary of the twisted creatures; if even one appears, it will be swiftly and decisively killed to prevent them from having the opportunity to infect others.

There were residents who went to the Seven Deadly Sins Domain, became infected and remained undetected until they returned to the outer city, when the infection broke out completely, causing a large number of casualties.

Several neighborhoods with very low numbers were completely wiped out as a result, with not a single survivor!

"My lord?" Feng Xiemao glanced at Li Zheng, puzzled by this title, which held a very high status in all races and languages.

Why would a human from the planet Aquamarine be addressed as "Master" by a half-human, half-human hybrid?
It is especially unbelievable to hear such a title from someone like Le Jia.

Based on Feng Xiemao's understanding of Le Jia, this woman is fearless and never gives a good look to guests, no matter how powerful they are. Why would she be so respectful to someone she has just met and has not even said a word to?
Is it because I saved her just now?

"You're welcome." Li Zheng waved his hand and asked, "Your sudden loss of mental strength just now was probably partly due to me, wasn't it? Can you tell me what you saw in me?"

“I…” Le Jia glanced at Feng Xie Mao, his face showing hesitation, and he didn’t dare to speak directly.

Seeing her like this, Li Zheng understood. It must have been that when he was observing her earlier, his spiritual power inadvertently revealed only a small part of his abilities, which she "saw".

Imagine, in the outer city where everyone is struggling to improve their mental strength and break through the limit, suddenly seeing Li Zheng's terrifying mental strength, even without being able to see the whole picture, would be enough to shock people beyond measure.

"Alright, you don't need to say anything more." Li Zheng raised his chin and said, "Go back to work first. When you have some free time, come find me at blacksmith shop number thirty-eight. My name is Li Zheng."

"Yes, sir!" Le Jia respectfully performed an odd salute, crossing his hands in front of him and placing them on his shoulders before turning back to continue processing the second red magic crystal.

Seeing that he wouldn't gain anything by staying, Li Zheng nodded to Feng Xie Mao and said, "I'll head back now. It was nice meeting you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too." Feng Xie Mao didn't try to keep Li Zheng there any longer, but silently noted down the address Li Zheng had just given.

Li Zheng said goodbye to him, left the magic crystal shop, turned around and entered a currency exchange, withdrew a red crystal coin, and examined it carefully.

"So the red crystal coins are just empty shells left behind after the red magic crystal that the Wind Demon Cat took out to purify absorbed its internal energy." Based on this, it's not hard to deduce that the white crystal coins are naturally a lower-level white magic crystal, with a larger output and lower value.

It's just much smaller than a magic crystal, so it must have been cut from the same piece.

One advantage of using this as currency is that there's no need to worry about counterfeiting, because Twisted Magic Crystals can only be generated within the bodies of those twisted creatures.

At the same time, there is a downside: empty magic crystal shells have almost no other use. As time goes by, more and more twisted magic crystals circulate in the market, and the purchasing power of these crystal coins will naturally gradually decrease.

This is what is known as inflation.

Unless the outer city can find something even scarcer, less abundant, and more valuable than magic crystals to serve as collateral.

For example, gold, which is recognized by countries all over the world.

The currency exchange was very similar to the banks that Li Zheng remembered. Because the currency was in a special form, it was difficult to replace manual labor with self-service equipment, so there were no fewer than two hundred windows set up here.

After looking at the red crystal coin in his hand, Li Zheng handed it back: "Please deposit it back into my card."

Behind the counter was a creature with a squid head. It seemed used to Li Zheng's actions and did nothing unusual. It calmly took the red crystal coin and the inscription card, operated the internal machine a few times, and handed the inscription card back.

Li Zheng put away the card, got up and left the exchange, returned to the blacksmith shop, took out some of the medicine he had bought, and gave it to Miriel.

“I’ve found a way to help you quickly improve your mental strength. Once the blacksmith finishes modifying the Lampholder, we can try it out.” Li Zheng briefly explained to Miriel what he had discovered on his trip.

After listening quietly for a moment, Miriel said, "That Optimist's talent sounds very similar to the emotional turmoil that succubi experience after reaching adulthood. Both are mutations in some kind of mental power."

"An anomaly?" Li Zheng's heart skipped a beat when he heard this word.

If there is another reason why others might not be able to replicate the talents of the Optimist Clan, then the mutation of mental power is undoubtedly the most likely cause.

Because mutations are specific and cannot be judged by common sense, even the most authoritative experts cannot guarantee that they can cause certain things to mutate in a specific direction within their own field.

“Yes, you just said you can project your mental energy into other people’s minds to observe their spiritual bodies,” Miriel suggested. “Why don’t you try entering mine and help me find the source of the succubus’s emotional fluctuations?”

If the source can be found and restricted, or even eliminated at its root, perhaps future succubus babies will be free from the torment of their inner turmoil and will no longer be ridiculed and despised by other demons for their promiscuity.

"it is good."

Li Zheng agreed, as he also wanted to see what changes would occur in the spiritual world after a normal condensation node was formed.

"Loosen your guard and don't resist at all. It's best to try to suppress your mental rebellious instincts, otherwise you might get hurt," Li Zheng reminded him in order to enter Miriel's mental world.

“No problem, go ahead.” Miriel closed her eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering gently, looking beautiful and charming.

Seeing that she was ready, Li Zheng released a wisp of his spiritual power to probe into Miriel's mind.

Unlike entering Le Jia's mind, Le Jia was infected by evil energy at the time, and his mental world was completely undefended. Li Zheng did not feel any obstacles when entering it.

Meanwhile, Miriel remained conscious. Even though she tried her best to suppress her mental resistance, Li Zheng could still sense a faint resistance.

However, this resistance was almost no different from being unguarded in front of him, and it was easy to slip in and reach Miriel's mental world.

It's clear that Miriel truly trusted Li Zheng completely, which is why she could suppress his mental defenses to the point that they were almost imperceptible.

"Huh?" Miriel's spiritual form was a tiny person who looked exactly like her, not very tall, about half her actual height.

However, his spiritual body was clear and solid, obviously much more robust than that of Le Jia.

At that moment, she seemed to see Li Zheng and tilted her head: "How come you're just like Xu, able to reflect other people's appearances?"

Li Zheng was taken aback when he "heard" this.

Suddenly I understood a lot of things.

For example, why did Le Jia "see" his spiritual experience and become so frightened that he was taken advantage of by evil spirits?

Because his spiritual body appears to others exactly like their own, the residents of the outer city had never experienced anything like this before. How could they not be frightened when they suddenly saw an existence that was many times stronger than themselves and looked exactly like them?

This is far more terrifying than simply seeing a master of mental strength!

"Perhaps this is some kind of characteristic left behind by Xu." Li Zheng wasn't quite sure either. He had accepted all of Xu's spiritual power, so it was reasonable for him to have obtained some of the other party's spiritual power characteristics.

Moreover, Miriel had faced him face-to-face in the Dark Realm before and hadn't noticed this situation then, so Li Zheng was convinced that his changes were due to the infusion of spiritual power by the Void.

"This is the first time I've seen your spiritual form outside the Dark Realm." Miriel looked around, bewildered, and asked, "What is my spiritual world like?"

Li Zheng was taken aback again: "Can't you see it yourself?"

Miriel shook her head: "I can't see it. I can only see your image and that node in my mind. I can't see what the rest of the mental world is like."

“Hmm…” Li Zheng looked around and realized that Miriel’s mental world was not quite the same as Le Jia’s.

Le Jia's spiritual world is a lonely island floating in the void, and her spiritual power is the inhabitant of that island, existing on that small piece of land.

It's like being a part of the world that has been abandoned.

Apart from that, Le Jia's spiritual world was completely empty, devoid of anything superfluous.

Miriel's inner world, however, is much richer and more colorful.

Perhaps it is related to her life experiences; her spiritual world is a landscape much like an abyss, vast but desolate.

All that could be seen was black and gray, while her spiritual form stood alone in the very center.

Looking into the distance, the surrounding area is covered with plants that resemble some kind of tree.

These are all reflections of Miriel's inner world, indicating that what is most deeply etched in her memory is the abyss of her hometown.

Looking up, a pale golden sphere hung above, slowly spinning.

As the sphere rotates, it generates a weak suction force. Occasionally, a faint wisp of spiritual energy will escape from Miriel's spiritual body, only to be instantly absorbed by the pale gold sphere.

"It turns out that everyone's inner world is different."

Li Zheng recounted everything he had seen to Miriel, "but I couldn't find the source of your emotional reaction, perhaps because you haven't experienced an emotional outburst yet."

The emotional surges experienced by succubi are not continuous, but rather occur intermittently.

Fortunately, the patterns were predictable, and Miriel could calculate the timing to prepare for the onset of her emotional surge.

Moreover, with Li Zheng's help, the frequency of her heartbeats is gradually decreasing, and the interval between two heartbeats is also lengthening, making each day much easier for Miriel.

“The next surge of emotion will probably come in half an hour.” Miriel looked at Li Zheng and suddenly smiled charmingly: “But I have a way to make it come earlier.”

When Li Zheng saw her smile, his legs trembled involuntarily, and he almost turned around and ran away.

(End of this chapter)