Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 823 My fate is up to me.

"This is……"

Li Zheng stared in awe at the colossal object before him: "Is this Xiahou Fei's spiritual world?"

It was an enormous black palace, covered with eerie, blood-red eyeballs and twisted, winding threads. The threads wrapped around the entire palace like ivy, while the eyeballs resembled the vibrant flowers... or perhaps, the fruits, that bloomed on the ivy.
“No, this is not his original spiritual world, but some kind of power in the Sin Domain!” Li Zheng circled the palace, but as he circled, the palace seemed to circle as well, always showing one side to him.

The countless eerie eyeballs also moved along with him, ensuring their gaze remained fixed on Li Zheng; they seemed to crave him.

Suddenly, the palace wall cracked open, slowly revealing a dark, gaping door. The eyeballs beside the door closed, as if inviting Li Zheng to come inside as a guest.

Li Zheng hesitated for a moment, then floated in through the main gate.

The seemingly dark doorway did not conceal a completely dark interior; instead, it was brightly lit, revealing a magnificent palace interior decorated with red carpets and ornate lampposts to create the atmosphere of a noble residence.

In this strange atmosphere, the palace contained nothing but entertainment facilities.

Li Zheng saw the gambling machines that Hu Er had played when he quit gambling, as well as the pool table, fishing game machine, arcade machine, computer and other things that he was very familiar with, as well as professional gambling facilities such as baccarat and roulette.

Further in, Li Zheng also saw the kind of dance machines, racing simulators, basketball shooting machines, and claw machines found in amusement parks.

This place is like a giant amusement park, only it's set up in a magnificent and bizarre palace.

These machines and equipment all exuded a certain allure, enticing Li Zheng to go over and touch them, to fiddle with them.

Li Zheng ignored him and continued deeper into the palace. Soon he came to a half-open door. Through the half-open door, Li Zheng saw that Xiahou Fei's spiritual power had arrived at the door and was trying his best to restrain himself from stepping into the palace. One of his feet was raised and did not fall.

Li Zheng opened the door and appeared in front of Xiahou Fei. Upon seeing him, Xiahou Fei's eyes suddenly went blank for a moment: "Who are you? Why do you look exactly like me?"

He looked around, his face filled with terror: "Where am I? Why am I here?"

"I am Li Zheng. Calm your mind and don't panic!" Li Zheng shouted. He saw that Xiahou Fei was panicked and his dangling foot was slowly falling.

Li Zheng had a premonition that if Xiahou Fei stepped into this place, he would be doomed!

"Li Zheng!?" Xiahou Fei paused. "Is this my mental world? What is this building? Why do I feel an urge to go inside when I see it?"

Because Li Zheng's entry into Xiahou Fei's mental world triggered some strange mechanism, Xiahou Fei, who was originally unable to see into his own mental world, could also see the scenes within it. Therefore, this was the first time Xiahou Fei had ever seen this strange palace.

Similar things have happened before. For example, when Lu Li was infected with laziness, Li Zheng entered his mental world, allowing the vulnerable Lu Li to see his mental world from the perspective of his mental body.

Li Zheng guessed that this rule might also be a special ability attached to his spiritual body. Just like how others could only see a reflection of themselves when they saw him, perhaps these people could see the spiritual world because some kind of "reflection" rule was in effect.

"This might be the culprit that infected you and turned you into a twisted creature." Li Zheng looked behind Xiahou Fei, at a small, clean woodland formed by strangely shaped trees. "The culprit?"

Xiahou Fei was taken aback. He said bluntly, "I have a very strong urge to go into this building, but my instincts tell me that once I go in, there's no turning back. But... these feelings didn't exist before I actually saw the building. What's the reason for that?"

"Because it essentially changes you invisibly," Li Zheng said. "You ate those tentacles before, so there should be some special manifestations. Check if there's anything that absolutely couldn't possibly appear in your mental world."

“Something that absolutely could not exist in my mental world…” Xiahou Fei looked down and rummaged through the items, took a bag from his waist, untied it, glanced inside, and his expression immediately changed: “Does this count?”

Li Zheng glanced inside and saw a sticky, flat, round object in the bag, which looked like a coin or a chip.

“I understand.” Li Zheng turned to look at the entertainment facilities and found coin slots on them. “These facilities are something that controls and destroys people’s mental will. If you want to access these devices, you need tokens. The tokens are generated in the mental world after you eat those tentacles.”

He tried to take the bag, but Xiahou Fei loosened his grip and it was transferred to Li Zheng.

"And this thing seems to work on all spiritual entities, rather than directly recognizing a master?" Li Zheng pondered for a moment and said, "You calm yourself down first, I'll go try out those devices."

"No!" Xiahou Fei exclaimed in alarm. "It is far too dangerous to come into contact with such an unknown thing. You should leave. This may be my destined tribulation. I cannot let it drag you down with me."

Li Zheng laughed and said, "Your race believes in fate? Then you must have heard the saying, 'My fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens!' Since there is a glimmer of hope ahead, why give up? Let me try, so I can find the right solution to this building."

The palace architecture had become one with Xiahou Fei's mental world, and Li Zheng could not forcibly separate it, otherwise it might cause the other party's mental world to collapse, and eventually the spirit would dissipate and become a soul disorder.

"My fate is in my own hands...not in the hands of heaven?" Upon hearing this, Xiahou Fei felt as if the clouds had parted and the sun had shone through, and he laughed loudly, "I understand! I finally understand! Hahahaha..."

His spiritual body suddenly grew stronger at that moment, transforming from a somewhat ethereal form into a solid entity. He took the bag back from Li Zheng's hand and said, "You're right, my fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens. Since that's the case, I should be the one to resolve this matter!"

After saying that, he resolutely stepped into the palace.

The door closed silently behind Xiahou Fei, completely severing his connection with the spiritual world.

Li Zheng frowned slightly and sighed inwardly.

Now, it's impossible to predict what will happen next.

His expression shifted, and a look of disgust flashed in his eyes: "What an annoying thing, actually trying to erode me on both the mental and physical levels at the same time? Humph!"

Outside, Li Zheng suddenly opened his eyes and drew some of his spiritual power from the Dark Realm into his body.

The blue-green flames burned silently, and the terrifying heat instantly burned the tiny tentacles that were wrapped around its body into ashes.

(End of this chapter)