Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

"I can't explain it clearly, so let me show you."

As Miriel spoke, her eyes became hazy, and a complex floral fragrance wafted to Li Zheng's nose.

Li Zheng took a light sniff and immediately frowned.

He saw beautiful flower petals before his eyes. A gentle breeze blew from somewhere, and the petals drifted and floated in front of him.

At first it was slow, but gradually, the petals suddenly hardened, like flying knives, and suddenly increased their speed, heading straight for his neck!
Li Zheng remained calm, letting the petals brush against his neck without causing any injury. The petals seemed to pass through his body as if they were nothing.

"Hallucination?"

"It's not just an illusion."

Miriel said, "If I want, those petals can instantly materialize and damage the target. And as my mental strength increases, the destructive power of the petals also increases."

"This is very similar to your 'Return of the Ten Thousand Whips' technique," Li Zheng said after a moment of contemplation. "It should incorporate some of the techniques from 'Return of the Ten Thousand Whips', right?"

“That’s true to some extent,” Miriel explained. “But the ‘Ten Thousand Whips Return to Origin’ directly conjures whip shadows that everyone can see, while these petals can only be perceived by the target I’ve locked onto.”

"In addition, the Ten Thousand Whip Returns to the Source directly generates tens of thousands of whip shadows, each of which has a pattern. If you deal with the same enemy multiple times, it is easy to be figured out."

"The petal attacks are completely under my control, and they are more varied and more flexible."

Li Zheng thought for a moment and asked, "Does your ability have triggering conditions? I smelled a floral fragrance before I saw the petals. Do I need to inhale the fragrance to be affected?"

“No,” Miriel said with a sly smile, “the fragrance is just a smokescreen.”

"Smart," Li Zheng remarked lightly.

If the enemy knows nothing about Miriel and repeatedly smells the fragrance of the flowers before realizing they are being attacked by the petals, they will inevitably develop a habitual way of thinking that they will be fine as long as they don't smell those flowers.

This is how they fell into Miriel's trap.

When the enemy holds their breath and lowers their guard, Miriel might use this ability again and achieve a great feat.

“Hehe.” Miriel chuckled, “This is also inspired by a saying I saw when I was learning Chinese: ‘When masters clash, the best strategy is to win hearts and minds.’”

Succubi, who enjoy manipulating people's minds, wholeheartedly agree with such remarks.

"Oh, right." Li Zheng remembered something and said, "We've saved up some near-purple-grade magic crystals this month, which should be enough to get you a complete outer city resident identity. Do you want to wait until the Queen enters the outer city before doing it, or do you want to take some time to get the identity done directly?"

I consulted Ziyuan about this issue before, but at that time, the price was too high and Li Zheng couldn't afford the crystal coins, so it was temporarily put on hold.

Later, although he obtained many twisted magic crystals, Miriel's energy absorption speed was too slow, so Li Zheng was never able to accumulate many empty magic crystal shells.

Now, a month has passed, and he has finally saved enough. He feels it's time to put this matter on the agenda.

“Actually, as long as I can be with you, my status doesn’t matter. What matters is what I am in your heart.” Miriel said tenderly, “So there’s no need to rush this matter. Let’s talk about it after Mother comes to the outer city.”

Miriel is still Li Zheng's follower and is not free to move around in the outer city. She even needs Li Zheng to accompany her when she teleports across blocks. Otherwise, the teleportation gate host has the right to refuse her request.

But this arrangement has its advantages. If missions to the Matrix are issued in the future, Li Zheng only needs to secure one spot to bring Miriel back to the Matrix. After breakfast, Li Zheng and the others continued their training at the Gravity Research Institute.

The Overweight Necklace has changed hands once again, now ending up in Sakura's possession.

However, Sakura is lazy and always secretly turns it off when Li Zheng and Miriel aren't paying attention, which makes progress very slow. She's not even used to double gravity yet.

Li Zheng didn't want to force it anymore. He just hoped that the little guy's mental strength development wouldn't fall behind, and that he would have enough self-protection ability in the future.

Life returned to normal, and Li Zheng and his group steadily improved their abilities.

The current training method is the best approach that Rothschild has found after multiple improvements, and it will be difficult to continue to improve it unless some better methods are discovered.

Li Zheng originally thought he could train at the Gravity Research Institute forever.

However, another month passed, and just as he had fully adapted to the twenty times gravity environment and was approaching the highest record of abundance, Roscal gave him bad news.

“After two months of intensive training, your data changes are becoming increasingly sluggish,” Professor Rothcal said, adjusting his small glasses. “From my observations over this period, I’ve found that the problem lies in your cell vitality.”

"Because putting pressure on them for a long time will deplete their internal potential and gradually make them tired. Continuing to train will not only fail to make greater progress, but may also be detrimental to your health."

Li Zheng asked, "Does the professor mean I should stop training and rest for a while?"

"Pretty much," Professor Rothcal said. "Actually, I would suggest you go out for a walk, let your body change its environment, relax, get used to a different rhythm, and then come back to continue training."

Li Zheng frowned and said, "But training is like rowing against the current; if you don't move forward, you fall behind. I'm worried that if I slack off, my current performance will suffer."

“That’s true,” the professor said, but he also had his own opinion: “However, there’s another saying, ‘The balance between tension and relaxation.’ Your cells have been tense for too long, and they should be allowed to relax for a while.”

He gave an example: "Take Sakura for example. She has a big appetite, but can she eat non-stop and without limit? No matter how strong her digestive ability is, there will be a moment when she is full. Continuing to eat will only become a burden for her. If she does not restrain herself, she will eventually be stuffed to death or become bloated due to excessive nutrient intake."

Sakura: “???”

She really wanted to ask: Are you polite?

“Alright.” After careful consideration, Li Zheng nodded: “We’re almost out of magic crystals, let’s go to the Sin Domain and get some more.”

He asked the professor, "How many days of rest would be appropriate this time?"

“At least half a month, otherwise you won’t achieve the desired relaxation effect,” Professor Rothcal said. “I will have Feng Yue follow you throughout the process to record your daily changes. You can also share any thoughts or discoveries with him. As for Zhan Zhouzhou, I will go there to take charge of her training.”

"OK then."

Fifteen days is too long.

It doesn't take that many days to get magic crystals from the Sinful Realm.

After a moment's thought, Li Zheng decided to make another trip to the wilderness to fulfill the agreement to destroy the clan.