If it were just that, Li Zheng wouldn’t have reacted so strongly.
The main issue was Zhan Zhouzhou’s handwriting...
Li Zheng thought his own spear techniques were scrawled enough, but Zhan the heroine was even worse!
Scrawlier than scrawl...
"How am I supposed to read this? If you don’t want to trade, just say so! It’s okay to back out! Do you have to be so disgusting about it?" Li Zheng felt extremely aggrieved. After finishing his spear techniques, he had checked to ensure it was understandable before sending it.
At this moment, Li Zheng noticed a new private message from Zhan Zhouzhou:
"Wait half an hour, I’ll give you something legible."
Li Zheng was instantly moved, tears streaming down his face, and then he re-uploaded the old Prel’s Eye body for rent.
Well, as soon as he saw the Zhan family’s swordsmanship, he forced the old Prel’s Eye body back.
After all, this was a price-free lease, and forced recovery wouldn’t cause him any loss.
Half an hour later, Li Zheng received a new item from Zhan Zhouzhou and was startled again upon opening it.
This time, the writing was as elegant as a printed textbook, with very clean formatting, making it pleasing to the eye.
But, most importantly, this new booklet was five times thicker than the previous one!
Besides text, there were over twenty illustrations!
"???" Li Zheng sent three question marks to Zhan Zhouzhou.
The other party replied: "Equivalent exchange, your spear technique plus Memory Release Device intelligence can only get my family’s Performance Swordsmanship."
Zhan Zhouzhou replied: "This time, what I’m giving you is my family’s real combat swordsmanship, with all techniques and illustrated skills, and many ancestral notes included."
Zhan further explained: "Performance swordsmanship isn’t completely useless. If you can comprehend it, relying on those techniques, achieving Swordsmanship Mastery is easy.
The last page of the real combat swordsmanship contains my Enlightenment on breaking through Specialization, as extra value compensation for the Prel’s Eye."
Li Zheng replied: "You didn’t initially plan to just give me the Performance Swordsmanship, did you?"
Zhan Zhouzhou naturally replied, "Yeah, your little spear techniques are too basic, being able to get the Performance Swordsmanship was already a huge bargain for you."
Actually, there was another critical reason Zhan Zhouzhou didn’t tell Li Zheng.
That is, to learn her family’s real combat swordsmanship, one must be a member of the Zhan Family.
Through normal channels, Li Zheng would have to marry in, undergo a test lasting from years to decades, and only then receive the true teachings.
But by that time, even if Li Zheng were a martial arts genius, his declining physicality would make mastering it difficult.
Ultimately, it would benefit their children.
Of course, the reason Zhan Zhouzhou ignored this family rule and traded the real combat swordsmanship—investing all she had—was not because she suddenly fancied Li Zheng.
The main reason was, Prel’s Eye was too tempting, she simply couldn’t refuse, and conforming to her "equivalent exchange" principle, Performance Swordsmanship compared to Prel’s Eye was nothing!
No exaggeration, if Li Zheng were even a bit more scheming, just showing Prel’s Eye would have countless women lined up to offer themselves.
Zhan Zhouzhou certainly wasn’t among them. This Zhan family inheritor, her pride wouldn’t allow her to do so.
But Li Zheng’s willingness to provide such an important item without return made her feel that offering her family’s ultimate skills in return wasn’t impossible.
"So I should be thanking you?" Li Zheng retorted with sarcasm, just about to seize the opportunity to criticize Zhan Zhouzhou when several system announcements interrupted him.
[Game upgrade, new features available.]
[1. Chat lounge "group chat" feature activated, only available for players in the same channel to establish. Each player can create one group chat for free.
Basic group chat capacity: twenty people.]
[2. New feature "live streaming" activated, each player can apply to become a streamer.
After system verification, players will receive "streamer" status.
This round grants 5,000 streamer slots.
All players with "streamer" status must abide by basic conduct rules. Any violations during streaming will result in the immediate revocation of streamer status!]
[3. More new items added.]
[4. More new types of explorable rooms added.]
[5. More new gameplay added, please explore to experience specific content.]
[6. Increased survival difficulty: No player may stay awake in the same room for more than seventy-two hours.
Once the time limit is exceeded: The player will be punished.]
[7. "Season" transitions added to the Matrix, each season lasting ten days, with different effects each, please explore for detailed content.
Current season: Spring.
Please prepare for more extreme environments.]
[8. All interpretations within the Matrix are owned by the Matrix Game Terminal.
Any complaints, dissatisfaction, or grievances should just be damn well swallowed!]
As usual, the system announcement led to an uproar on the world channel.
Messages flashed by quickly, dazzling to the eyes.
Most content was cursing the Matrix Terminal, complaining about how hard their lives already were, and yet the survival difficulty was being increased.
Some people showed interest in the "live streaming" feature, and Li Zheng saw two previously famous streamers announcing on the world channel that they had sent in their streamer applications, while also promoting and welcoming all players to follow their streams.