Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

"came back."

After being teleported back to the outer city, Zhan Zhouzhou and the others did not go far. They gathered in front of the teleportation gate and did not leave.

After a long wait, they finally saw a familiar figure slowly walking out of the portal, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhan Zhouzhou looked him over, her worry mixed with a forced smile: "It seems you've really met a formidable foe this time. You didn't even have time to change your clothes after they were torn."

Li Zheng was in a very sorry state, his armor was tattered and torn, and there were large holes in his chest, both front and back.

In fact, anyone with a discerning eye who notices the holes in the front and back can easily guess that Li Zheng's heart had been cut open.

"I almost didn't make it back." Li Zheng smiled bitterly. "Fortunately, we're all alright. Let's all go our separate ways and not waste our time here. Zhan Zhouzhou, come with me."

After saying that, he led the way to his residence.

Zhan Zhouzhou opened her mouth, wanting to ask Li Zheng what he wanted to see her about, but suddenly noticed the hole on Li Zheng's back that corresponded to the one on his front. Her pupils contracted sharply for a moment, and her expression became extremely serious.

Taking a step forward, Zhan Zhouzhou followed.

Back at his lodgings, Li Zheng took off his shirt, revealing his strong and well-defined upper body, and collapsed onto the bed as if he were completely exhausted.

"Tell me," Zhan Zhouzhou said, entering and closing the door without further ado, getting straight to the point: "How did you survive?"

She didn't ask how he survived, but rather how he came back to life, indicating that she had already realized that Li Zheng had died once.

"No one survives with a destroyed heart, you..."

Zhan Zhouzhou silently focused her mind, gathering her strength, ready to launch a thunderous attack at any moment: "You are either resurrected from the dead, or you are no longer yourself."

There are many strange methods in the outer city and the wilderness. In particular, after witnessing the inexhaustible "body-snatching" method, Zhan Zhouzhou has always been on guard, worried that other people or races may have similar methods.

Especially since many things that happened to Li Zheng were extremely strange, she had to be on guard.

"You figured it out." Li Zheng covered his forehead, gave a wry smile, and said, "You guessed right, I did die once, and I was able to retain my consciousness after death."

Then, he described his existence in the world as a spiritual entity: "You know the origin of my spiritual power. Before Xu poured all his spiritual power into me, he lived in the Dark Realm in that state."

After a pause, Li Zheng continued, "At least tens of thousands of years. He has survived in that form for tens of thousands of years, or even hundreds of thousands of years, without dissipating. Instead, he has become stronger and stronger."

"I suspect that once mental strength reaches a certain level, the physical body will become a limitation that restricts the further enhancement of mental strength."

"However, the physical body limits the development of spiritual power, but also protects spiritual power from being lost."

"Unless there are appropriate means to restrict it, spiritual power will inevitably slowly dissipate after leaving the physical body, eventually disappearing into the world..."

Li Zheng rubbed his forehead and concluded, "There are still many power systems in this world that we haven't even touched the edge of. Whether it's the self-cultivation growth method taught by Xu Chuan or the grafting technique developed by the Wilderness Will Organization, we really can't say for sure what the final destination will be."

"We can't even be sure if the future is safe. If we keep cultivating along a certain path, we might end up destroying ourselves."

Li Zheng was conflicted because he had also developed a cultivation path from the mystical treasure chest, and it was likely a mature system, but there were definitely limitations, and it was uncertain whether it could be promoted to the general public.

In addition, there doesn't seem to be enough time for them to slowly cultivate, explore, and research.

He was now hesitant, unsure whether to share the newly acquired "Ten Thousand Evils Divine Skill" with Zhan Zhouzhou. Firstly, Zhan Zhouzhou's talent surpassed his own; if he allowed Zhan Zhouzhou to comprehend this mature system of cultivation, she might achieve mastery before him.

Secondly, he was unsure whether Zhan Zhouzhou would ask him questions if he took out such a thing.

Moreover, this was his true trump card. To put it selfishly, he should have kept this secret to himself and not told anyone except Miriel.

To Zhan Zhouzhou, his conflicted expression resembled the chaos caused by memory conflicts after someone had possessed his body.

She had already gathered a bolt of lightning power in her palm, ready to strike ruthlessly the moment Li Zheng showed any sign of trouble.

But before that, she had one more question to ask: "Are you Li Zheng now, or clone number 1024, or that virtual one?"

Li Zheng was taken aback by her question. He snapped out of his reverie and chuckled, "Why have you become so suspicious? Of course I am Li Zheng. I have some guesses about Xu's whereabouts, but he is definitely not in the outer city."

"No!" Zhan Zhouzhou suddenly shouted, raising her hand to condense a lightning sword, her clothes and hair fluttering: "You are not Li Zheng. I have always been a suspicious person. The real Li Zheng would not say that I have only become suspicious now!"

As he spoke, the lightning sword ruthlessly pierced towards Li Zheng's chest.

Li Zheng's expression changed, because the killing intent emanating from Zhan Zhouzhou was undisguised; she truly wanted to kill him.

He immediately rolled over to dodge, yelling, "You crazy woman, what's wrong with you now?"

With a flash of sword light, Zhan Zhouzhou followed like a ghost, shouting, "Unless you can prove you are Li Zheng, you will die here today!"

brush~
yah~
A flash of lightning streaked across Li Zheng's forehead, nearly blowing his spirit away.

"Meat skewers! Two meat skewers!"

"When we first met, you gave me two meat skewers with healing properties!"

"Damn, I can recount everything that's happened so long ago, and you still don't believe me?"

"Don't push me. I'm dodging not because I can't beat you, but because I don't want to hurt you!"

"Gan!"

"A small favor!"

Li Zheng suddenly remembered something embarrassing and shouted, "You asked me before if I could do you a small favor that would give you ten months of rest, and I didn't agree!"

Nourishing~
The lightning sword stopped in front of Li Zheng, who immediately let out a long breath. If he hadn't been temporarily unable to control the genetic force within his body after returning to it, he would have fought back immediately.

"You really are Li Zheng." Zhan Zhouzhou dispelled the lightning sword: "Only Li Zheng could be so shameless as to reveal that matter."

"You crazy woman!" Li Zheng was still shaken, his back soaked with sweat. "If I weren't in such a bad state right now, you'd be rubbing yourself into the ground by now!"

"Hmm?" Zhan Zhouzhou's eyebrows furrowed, as if she was about to explode.

"Stop!" Li Zheng quickly interrupted, "I really have something important to tell you, about another cultivation system, and it's a cultivation system that has already been researched and matured!"