Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

As soon as the five obsidian stones entered the hands of the spiritual entity under the Bodhi tree in the Dark Realm, they suddenly emitted a faint glow. The glow was as thin and long as cow hair, and consisted of three layers, one inside the other, spreading outwards.

Immediately, a human figure appeared inside each obsidian, identical to the image imprisoned within, only much larger.

"So they've been released?" Li Zheng tried to speak to them again: "Can you hear what I'm saying?"

However, the five figures did not respond, but instead began to move slowly in place.

Looking at their movements, Li Zheng couldn't help but be taken aback.

"These are... the combat techniques they learned in their lifetime?"

Five figures were present. One of them was throwing a powerful punch, his face contorted in pain, and he let out a silent wail.

He made a series of empty hand gestures and swung them out, seemingly using some kind of weapon technique. However, since there was no weapon, it was impossible to discern anything about it; it looked like he was having a fit of madness.

One hand is positioned in front of the other, moving slowly yet with great force, seemingly wielding a heavy long weapon, though it's impossible to discern what it is.

The other two moved swiftly, dodging and occasionally peeking out; they were both armed with firearms.

After about ten minutes, the five figures slowly disappeared, their bodies surrounded by starlight, gradually turning into nothingness.

After they completely disappeared, the five obsidian stones also dimmed and became empty.

"This……"

Li Zheng was completely stunned: "It collapsed directly?"

He was confused: "Why did it collapse?"

The Dark Realm is a space where spiritual entities can exist and move freely. Logically speaking, these obsidian stones are made from the spiritual entities of others and are used as containers to expand the capacity of the spiritual world. They are no different from spiritual entities and should be able to exist normally in the Dark Realm.

But they vanished completely before Li Zheng's eyes, disappearing so suddenly that it caught him off guard.

"Is it because they left the ape-man's mental space?" Li Zheng's eyes darkened slightly as he considered a possibility: "To prevent this thing from being taken away by others, it would dissipate as soon as it left the mental space where the first person transplanted it?"

Or rather, is each of these containers custom-made?
Or perhaps the ape-men created them by hand in some way, making them adaptable only to their own mental space, turning them into exclusive containers?
Looking at the obsidian, now dull and only an unidentified outer shell remaining, Li Zheng couldn't help but feel regretful: "Well, it's better to disappear than to continue suffering while still alive."

He casually tossed a few obsidian stones aside, only to see them slowly dissolve, first softening, then liquefying, and finally turning from liquid to gas, as if they had been absorbed by the dark realm.

"I was originally planning to figure out how to rescue them, but now it seems..." Li Zheng sighed, "We'll have to wait until next time."

He turned his attention back to the outside world, where Feng Yue came in carrying a large basin of cooked meat.

The cooking was mediocre, and it smelled extremely greasy. Li Zheng frowned and asked, "Did you make this?"

The craftsmanship is terrible!
These ingredients were wasted for nothing.

“I didn’t make it; Mudala made it and asked me to deliver it,” Feng Yue said truthfully.

"Mudala actually has meat to eat here?" Li Zheng dragged the living corpse of the ape-man out of the house. "But I didn't see any wild beasts for her to hunt."

“The various areas of the wilderness are interconnected.” Feng Yue put the basin down and followed her out, saying, “She must have gotten this beast meat from other neighboring areas.”

"I see." Li Zheng saw Miriel searching in the vegetable garden in front of the cabin and walked over. "What are you doing?"

Miriel didn't even look up: "You saw that dish too. With that kind of cooking, how could you possibly eat it? Let me see if there are any vegetables we haven't tried before, and we can make another one."

Following Li Zheng, Miriel learned many exquisite and delicious dishes. Now she has high standards for every meal. She finds it hard to swallow even a glance at boiled meat in plain water.

"No need." Li Zheng took out a bottle of soy sauce and a few cloves of garlic from the capsule. "I'll teach you a way to eat it; it can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary." "Really?"

Miriel looked at him suspiciously, not quite trusting him.

Li Zheng had cooked a few times before, but in Miriel's opinion, what Li Zheng made was only edible and not bad, definitely not delicious.

If eating Miriel's cooking is living, then eating Li Zheng's cooking is survival, but eating boiled meat in plain water is not even survival, it's suffering!
"Come on." Li Zheng beckoned her back, then glanced at the wooden house next to him. Mudala appeared at the door, looking at them.

Li Zheng thought for a moment and said to her, "You should come too. Even if you're not on the same path as me in the future, you can still learn how to improve your standard of living. Don't live like a savage."

Mudala hesitated for a moment, then walked toward them without saying anything.

“Uh…” Feng Yue pointed to himself and asked, “Guide, what about me?”

Li Zheng chuckled: "Come on in, let's eat together."

The group entered the room together; the light was rather dim.

Li Zheng took out tables, chairs, and benches, while Feng Yue took out a small lamp for lighting. After turning it on, he placed it on the table, illuminating the entire room as bright as day, and the light was soft and not glaring.

After arranging for everyone to sit down, Li Zheng took out several bowls and gave one to each person.

Then I started peeling the garlic.

The other three, seeing his actions, followed suit, peeling off the outer skin of each garlic clove to reveal the glistening garlic flesh inside.

Snapped!
Li Zheng clapped his hands together, crushing the garlic cloves into powder in his palms, leaving his hands smelling of garlic.

Put minced garlic in a bowl, add some light soy sauce, stir well, and let it sit for a while.

The aroma of light soy sauce blends with the aroma of garlic, creating an extremely appetizing fragrance.

Mudala had never tried this way of eating before. To be precise, she had never even seen soy sauce. It was a unique seasoning that the terminal brought in from Aquamarine after the players entered the matrix. No race had ever made anything similar before.

Or rather... most races only require food to fill their stomachs, and at most they may have some requirements regarding the original flavor of the ingredients.

For example, carefully cultivated fruits or livestock.

Pick up a piece of meat from the bowl, dip it in garlic soy sauce, and put it in your mouth.

The aroma of garlic, savory, soy sauce, and salty flavors instantly stimulates the taste buds, giving the originally bland and greasy boiled pork a different taste and making it more appetizing.

Mudala, imitating Li Zheng's method, found the food quite appealing.

Feng Yue nodded slightly. Most of the food he ate in the outer city was of similar quality, but this was the first time he had tried this flavor. It wasn't bad and he could accept it.

Miriel, however, was disgusted. "Is this what you call turning the rotten into the magical?"

That's so ordinary!

Discussing business at the dinner table is an unspoken rule that is almost universally accepted by people on Earth.

After Li Zheng and the others had eaten a few bites, he spoke to Mudala, saying, "I met your kin a month ago in the Gluttony Sin Domain."

Upon hearing this, Mudala paused.