Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 709 Rapid improvement!
“If I can’t use my genetic abilities, then you’re not allowed to use them either.” Zhan Zhouzhou seized on the trap in Li Zheng’s words and blocked it.

The use of mental power and genetic abilities is forbidden; the strongest methods on both sides are prohibited.

Besides weapons, Li Zheng also learned several martial arts techniques, while Zhan Zhouzhou's skills were all in swordsmanship.

The advantage is mine!

Li Zheng confidently replied, "Alright, then don't use any of them!"

“It’s a deal!” Zhan Zhouzhou narrowed her phoenix eyes, a strange glint flashing within them, making Li Zheng’s heart pound with fear, instinctively feeling that he had overlooked some important information.

However, he had no time to think. He saw Zhan Zhouzhou bring his right index and middle fingers together, forming a sword shape, and using the unique footwork of the Zhan family, he swayed and attacked him.

Li Zheng calmed himself down and dared not be careless, using the palm technique he had learned from the bear-man tribe to meet the attack.

"puff!"

In a single exchange, Li Zheng felt a sharp pain in his palm. He used a technique that combined the footwork of the ratmen and the Zhan family to retreat. He glanced at his palm and was shocked.

A bloody hole was actually poked into his palm by Zhan Zhouzhou's two fleshy fingers!
There seemed to be some kind of residual energy in the blood hole, so much so that even with his recovery ability, the wound showed no signs of healing for a while!
"How's it going? Are you surprised? Are you surprised?"

Zhan Zhouzhou's lips curled up, forming a smug smile: "You thought I was helpless just because you banned the use of genetic abilities, huh? I only learned this trick a couple of days ago, so I'll use you to test it out!"

On the one hand, Li Zheng was shocked by Zhan Zhouzhou's talent, and on the other hand, he was annoyed that Zhan Zhouzhou had no sense of restraint and actually went all out from the start.

He put away his joking attitude and became serious. The muscles in his palms twitched, grinding away the strange energy within the blood hole, and the wound healed quickly: "The lethality is not bad. I can tell you've stopped."

"We're friends, after all. When we're sparring, we can't go all out, right?" Zhan Zhouzhou laughed heartily.

"Since you've said so, I won't hide anything from you anymore." Li Zheng paused, clenched his fist into a claw, and charged towards Zhan Zhouzhou.

This claw technique comes from the ratmen, and its advantage lies in its unpredictability and elusiveness. It attacks enemies who are forced to defend themselves while striking from tricky angles.

Li Zheng stomped his feet and flashed to Zhan Zhouzhou's side, grabbing at his throat with a vicious move that seemed to want to crush his throat bones.

Zhan Zhouzhou dared not be careless and also stepped forward, trying to dodge Li Zheng's claw.

But Li Zheng followed her closely, as if he had completely seen through her intentions, his fingers always less than ten centimeters away from her neck.

She stepped back, paused, and pointed her sword finger at Li Zheng's wrist.

The surface of her fingers shimmered with a metallic sheen; if she were to strike him directly, Li Zheng's wrist would likely be pierced through, leaving a bloody hole.

Li Zheng held his breath and focused his mind, changing his claws into palms, but no longer using the previous fierce and powerful style. Instead, it was as yin and soft as the claw technique from before.

This was Li Zheng incorporating palm techniques into claw and whip techniques, transforming hardness into softness. His arm was like a boneless snake, dodging the sharp edge of Zhan Zhouzhou's sword-like fingers and wrapping around her arm.

The two men separated their hands, and Li Zheng changed his move again, turning his palm into a claw and grabbing at Zhan Zhouzhou's throat once more.

"Snake-like Hand"?

Zhan Zhouzhou jerked her arm, breaking free from Li Zheng's grip. She leaned back, flipped backward, and kicked Li Zheng's chin with her toes, forcing him to retreat.

Having learned his lesson from the sword finger technique, Li Zheng was afraid that Zhan Zhouzhou could use the same technique with his toes, so he dared not take the blow head-on and could only take two steps back to dodge.

Zhan Zhouzhou landed lightly and said in surprise, "No, this doesn't look like the orthodox Snake Hand Technique. Who taught you this half-baked thing?"

"This is something I created myself after combining various techniques," Li Zheng said honestly. It was indeed the result of him spending a portion of his spiritual energy sitting under the Bodhi tree, and some martial arts techniques he had comprehended from the images in the Dark Realm.

Unfortunately, this technique is rather basic and can only be useful in battles where the opponents are not very strong.

If it were to be used against the twisted creatures in the Sin Domain, it would be completely harmless.

"Why do you always end up with useless things?" Zhan Zhouzhou frowned. "It seems you still need to hone your skills."

"Really?" Li Zheng's lips curled slightly, and his fingers suddenly came together to form a sword shape. "Then how about this?"

Having said that, he lunged forward, channeling his strength into his fingertips, and struck Zhan Zhouzhou with a single blow.

"Damn it!" Zhan Zhouzhou roared, "You stole my moves again!"

She also made a sword-finger gesture and pointed it at Li Zheng's finger.

The difference is that Zhan Zhouzhou's sword finger has a metallic sheen, while Li Zheng's is just a bare finger.

He used the enlightenment provided by the Bodhi tree to comprehend Zhan Zhouzhou's skills in real time, but the time was too short to fully understand them; he only learned a small part of them.

If the two sides collide head-on, it's obvious that Li Zheng will suffer a great loss.

So he changed his tactics again, using his soft palm to entangle Zhan Zhouzhou, avoiding the sharpness of her fingertips, forcing her to change her tactics as well.

Zhan Zhouzhou's expression turned cold, and she gradually entered a serious mode. Her reaction speed suddenly increased. With a jolt, she shook Li Zheng away and continued to stab Li Zheng's heart with her sword finger.

Li Zheng didn't confront her head-on, but instead engaged in a grueling struggle with Zhan Zhouzhou, testing their physical strength.

At this moment, the training he had done in the gravity field a while ago began to take effect. Li Zheng was pressured by Zhan Zhouzhou's offensive and had no choice but to increase his speed as well.

Gradually, the two exchanged blows at an increasingly rapid pace, dazzling the eye.

Zhan Zhouzhou launched a fierce attack, showing no mercy, leaving Li Zheng exhausted and completely at a disadvantage, only able to barely parry.

At the entrance to the gravity field, Sakura was overwhelmed by the sights. She raised her little fist and clenched it, feeling like something was missing. She shouted, "Go, Daddy! Hit her! Hit her!"

"You brat, your auntie just gave you snacks, and you're already turning your back on me?" Zhan Zhouzhou was furious when she heard this, and her speed increased even more, her attacks almost leaving afterimages.

"Oh!" Sakura made a face at her, showing no interest in the snacks whatsoever.

Under Zhan Zhouzhou's fierce offensive, Li Zheng dared not be careless and concentrated all his energy to deal with it. He felt that the techniques he had comprehended from the part of his spiritual body under the Bodhi tree kept appearing in his mind, and he used them in actual combat on the spot.

After learning lessons from actual combat, the Bodhi Tree immediately analyzed the advantages and disadvantages, thereby improving all the moves, and then transmitting them back.

Gradually, Li Zheng's attacks became more methodical, and he found it easier to deal with Zhan Zhouzhou's offensive.

At first, he could only parry helplessly, but now he can launch a counterattack once or twice every ten moves.

Zhan Zhouzhou noticed the change and was astonished: "What amazing comprehension ability! It seems I underestimated you before."

Li Zheng's breathing was slightly rapid: "A scholar should be looked at with new eyes after three days of separation. Times have changed. I am no longer the martial arts loser you used to call me!"

"That's not necessarily true." Zhan Zhouzhou smiled confidently, and then her attack changed again, incorporating more and more sword techniques, making it unpredictable, and once again she made Li Zheng unable to lift his head.

If Zhan Zhouzhou changes, Li Zheng must change accordingly.

The insights gained under the Bodhi tree flowed endlessly, and he began to incorporate more elements into the skills he had mastered.

From initially using palms, claws, and whips, to later incorporating techniques from the shadowy realm such as knives, swords, spears, fists, and grappling, Li Zheng's transformation was not only noticeable to Zhan Zhouzhou, but also to the others watching the battle.

Feng Yue smiled at Professor Rothcal and said, "Professor, didn't you want a sparring partner before? Well, a sparring partner has been delivered right to your door today."

Roscal nodded with a smile: "If they can compete at this intensity every day, and then integrate into the gravity environment, their improvement will definitely be more obvious!"

Feng Yue said, "Judging from Zhan Zhouzhou's posture, it seems like he has lived in an environment with multiple times the gravity for a period of time. Perhaps..."

Roscal glanced at him, clearly sharing the same thought.

The two nodded in tacit agreement, then turned and went into the control room.

While the two were still fighting, Professor Rothcal quietly increased the gravity by 0.5 times.

This amount of gravity was almost imperceptible to Li Zheng and his companion.

It was far too faint.

The two fought for a while under 1.5 times gravity, and then Professor Rothcal quietly increased the gravity to 2 times.

Feng Yue observed for a while and then pondered, "They still don't seem to feel anything."

"Hmm..." Professor Rothcal pondered for a moment, then directly increased the gravity to five times.

At this point, the speed of Li Zheng and his companion decreased slightly to the naked eye.

The two of them had actually sensed it when Roscal first adjusted the gravity, but they both knew that the other would not be disturbed in such an environment, so they did not stop him.

Moreover, they were both secretly thinking that perhaps the other would be dragged down by gravity first?
The result is obvious: it would be difficult for the two to quickly determine a winner under at least ten times the gravity.

Li Zheng is already able to move freely under 18 times gravity, while Zhan Zhouzhou has been fighting under 10 times gravity for a long time.

It's only five times the normal gravity now, so it won't have much of an impact on them.

"You instructed them to do this?" Zhan Zhouzhou commanded his sword, forcing Li Zheng to retreat.

Li Zheng jumped back a step, instantly adjusted his center of gravity, and pounced again: "No, it's probably Professor Rothcal developing a new training method."

Zhan Zhouzhou dodged Li Zheng's powerful punch, which incorporated spear techniques: "Let him increase it to ten times. Right now, this gravity is like child's play. Perfect, let me see how different your level of movement under eighteen times gravity is from mine."

"As you wish." Li Zheng continued his offensive, shouting to the side, "Professor, increase the gravity tenfold!"

"Overcoming five times the force of gravity in one go?"

In the control room, Roscal hesitated for a moment, then reached out to make adjustments.

Feng Yue quickly stopped him: "Professor, increasing the gravity by too many times at once can easily cause accidents. Let's increase it little by little."

The sudden increase to five times had startled Feng Yue, who feared that the sudden increase in gravity would harm Li Zheng.

Fortunately, both of them were more resilient than he had imagined in the gravitational field, and they actually withstood it.

The Institute of Gravity stipulates that when adjusting gravity in a gravitational field, the maximum increase should not exceed 1 time.

Even if people inside the gravity field are already used to ten times the gravity, it must be increased little by little.

Roscal's actions just now violated this rule. If Feng Yue were his competitor and reported this to the institute's higher-ups, Professor Roscal would definitely be punished.

There was once a member of the Luo Gui tribe who had been adapting to twenty times the gravity for several months when, due to an operational error in the control room, too many adjustments were made at once during the initial slow improvement phase. As a result, the Luo Gui tribe member's heart shattered and he died the moment he jumped from ten times to fifteen times the gravity.

Since then, that rule has been added to the gravity research lab and everyone must strictly abide by it.

"What are you dawdling about?" Zhan Zhouzhou's impatient voice rang out: "Hurry up!"

“You see, if we had been any slower, she might have been able to break into the control room,” Roscal said with a wry smile. “Since they made such a request, they must be absolutely certain that even if they violated the institute’s rules, no one would know if you didn’t tell and I didn’t tell.”

Feng Yue remained worried: "But if something happens, even if we don't say anything, others will find out!"

“This…” Roscal pondered for a few seconds: “I’ll add small amounts at a high frequency. If something goes wrong, I should be able to reduce the gravity in time. Don’t worry.”

As he spoke, he began to operate the device, adjusting it at a gravity amplification rate of 0.5 times per second.

Inside the gravity field, the two, who had been fighting for nearly twenty minutes, were only a little short of breath. Whether in terms of physical strength or other aspects, they were still far from their limits.

Roscal quickly increased the gravity to ten times and stared intently at the monitor screen, only to find that the two people in the scene were not only not greatly affected, but their speed had suddenly increased again!
"Haha!" Li Zheng laughed triumphantly, grabbing Zhan Zhouzhou's sword finger that suddenly accelerated and thrust forward: "I knew you were faking it on me. How could a mere five times the gravity possibly affect your movements!"

"Heh, you're not bad either!" Zhan Zhouzhou twisted her wrist, breaking free from Li Zheng's grip, and casually brandished her sword: "You actually saw through my thoughts and deliberately cooperated with me to show weakness, making me think that you couldn't hold on any longer."

"Ha, likewise." After this period of competition, Li Zheng had made the most of the Bodhi Tree's effects, constantly innovating and changing his combat techniques.

With each new batch, the techniques become more sophisticated.

At this moment, he was able to fight back and forth with Zhan Zhouzhou, and whenever he counterattacked, he would come up with a variety of different moves.

They might strike with palms like knives, move their fingers like swords, swing their fists like spears, or use their arms as supple as snakes to execute whip techniques.

The different moves flowed together so smoothly that Zhan Zhouzhou often had to concentrate on dealing with them or retreat to dodge.

At first, the two were able to easily endure the force of ten times gravity.

But ten times the force of gravity is no ordinary thing.

Their stamina was rapidly depleting, and their movements gradually slowed down.

Especially Zhan Zhouzhou, whose limit is only about ten times the gravity, and she has not been able to train in the corresponding gravity environment for a long time, which has made her somewhat unaccustomed to it.

Although she made rapid adjustments, she still fell behind in terms of physical fitness and gradually showed signs of defeat.

Li Zheng, on the other hand, has experience moving freely under extreme gravity of eighteen times, so his condition is much better than Zhan Zhouzhou's.

"You're about to give up," Li Zheng advised. "Just admit defeat."

"Admit defeat?"

Zhan Zhouzhou is a person who never admits defeat, so how could she possibly accept failure?

Despite being out of breath, she persisted, saying, "Take this move first!"

She bent her right arm behind her back, striking a pose that Li Zheng was extremely familiar with.

"Swallows flying through the hall!"

(End of this chapter)