Lu Mingfei, become the King of Elden!

Chapter 67 You're going to beat up Xiao Ge?

Lu Mingfei did not linger in the round hall. Xiu Gu's craftsmanship was indeed impeccable; the battered armor had been restored to its former glory by this mixed-race old man. His skills were undoubtedly the best Lu Mingfei had ever seen.

—Although Lu Mingfei only knew this one blacksmith in his entire life.

After getting dressed, Lu Mingfei rushed to the Dragon Feast Church.

To be honest, he was a little uneasy.

The old knight had repeatedly asked him not to disturb his "meditation" at the church, his attitude growing worse each time. But Lu Mingfei persisted, becoming almost a "regular visitor."

Although every time they met, he would inevitably be subjected to a merciless scolding and reprimands like "get out," but who could blame him for being so shameless?

He gazed at the rubble in the distance, Neferi's words echoing in his mind once more.

Listen to the source of the storm? The old guy always taught him to "swipe it out," "chop it up," and "survive."

Communication at its core? What is there to communicate? You'll learn how to use it once you've beaten someone enough.

"Hopefully the old man will be a little less irritable today..."

He muttered to himself, spurred his horse hard, and charged like an arrow toward the dilapidated little church that stood alone in the middle of a huge island, overlooking the crashing waves.

Lu Mingfei could almost see the barrage of spittle already waiting for him.
-
"Stinky boy!"

The furious roar nearly lifted the roof off. Accompanying the words, a foot clad in an old cloth shoe slammed into Lu Mingfei's buttocks with tremendous force.

"Are you deaf? Or do you speak the opposite of 'border area' in your Eastern dialect? I just want to find a quiet place to die, is that so hard?!"

Lu Mingfei rubbed his burning backside; this long-awaited kick actually brought him a touch of nostalgia. After struggling in Stoneville for so long, it was still the Dragon Offering Church high overseas that made him feel at ease.

The old man was still the same as always, with gray hair, and he started glaring and berating Lu Mingfei as soon as he saw him.

The lifespan of people in the borderlands is not fixed; it is determined by their strength and the runes within them.
The body, soul, and will are a trinity. As the body gradually decays, the other two will also slowly decline, eventually returning to the tree.

But now, the legal system is shattered, and the rules have collapsed. Even death has become a luxury. The living can only drag their decaying bodies and souls through the agony, ultimately becoming living corpses, wandering aimlessly.

The old knight had indeed lived far too long. He was once a valiant general under the Storm King, second only in strength to the legendary "Storm Wings." His former comrades-in-arms had all gradually passed away.

He has been able to endure until today, perhaps because during those long years of exile, he detached himself from the chaos of warring states in the border regions, identifying himself only as a "survivor of the storm," and maintaining a solitary clarity.

He always said that his time was coming to an end and that he had only returned to this church to wait for death. But Lu Mingfei could see clearly that even after so long, the old man was still vigorous and full of energy, and the force with which he kicked him had not diminished at all.

The iconic old silver armor had long been removed, and the weapons were nowhere to be found. The old knight was now only wrapped in a faded coarse linen robe, a common sight in border areas.

The old man, who had "retired to his hometown," seemed to have calmed down a bit. He slowly sat back down on the cold stone steps, his eyelids drooping, and his voice lowered:

"Speak, what's this piece of nonsense this time?"

Lu Mingfei scratched his head.

There's quite a lot to do. The combat techniques of Stormwall, the sword and shield coordination, that ethereal source of storm energy... and that female warrior from the wilderness...

He decided to talk about Neferior first.

"Old man, I met a female warrior in the Round Table Hall. She seems to be born with the storm; she's incredibly strong and has a very high level of control over the storm's essence." The old man chuckled, interrupting Lu Mingfei:
"I know, Baizhi's adopted daughter, right?"

Lu Mingfei was stunned, staring at the old man in astonishment:

"you know?"

The old man rolled his eyes:
"How many years have I been around here? How could I not have a few friends? This isn't even a secret, how could I not know?"

"That"

Lu Mingfei hesitated for a moment.

The old man valued the Storm's legacy more than his own life. A figure like Neferi was practically a living descendant of the Storm royal family; how could this stubborn old man, who constantly referred to himself as the "Storm King," remain unmoved?
The old knight seemed to see through his unspoken question, but remained silent.

Silence filled the dilapidated church, with only the roar of waves crashing against the rocks echoing through the air.

After a long while, so long that Lu Mingfei thought he wouldn't answer, the old man's hoarse voice slowly broke through, carrying a deep weariness:

“I’ve already said… the era of the ancient dragons and the storm is long over. The generals each have their own battlefields, and she has her own path to walk. Bai Zhi has treated her well… let her go.”

He paused, his cloudy gaze turning towards the doorway, where the churning, leaden-gray sea was faintly visible in the distance.

The old man's voice was very low, almost drowned out by the sound of the waves:

"...Don't let her know about our affair."

Lu Mingfei was somewhat annoyed by the old man's words, "Let her be." It was like punching cotton. He'd traveled all that way back, only to be kicked in the backside, and it turned out the old man already knew?

That makes sense. Lu Mingfei is, after all, an outsider, while the old man has been mingling in the border region for so many years, he knows what he needs to know and has seen through what he needs to see through.

“Old man,” Lu Mingfei leaned forward, his boots clicking softly on the church’s gray-white floor tiles, “I have a few things I need your help with. Could you teach me how to use a shield? And Storm Combat Techniques, I haven’t learned Storm Barrier yet, could you teach me those too?”

The old knight didn't even lift his eyelids, he just snorted coldly.

"What?" he said slowly. "You can't even master Lao Tzu's dual-sword style properly, you haven't even scratched the surface, and you're already thinking about changing your style? The principle of 'don't bite off more than you can chew' is no longer popular in your Eastern world."
Lu Mingfei was a little embarrassed and argued:

"This isn't... In Stoneville, those lost knights, wielding swords and shields, coordinate flawlessly, they're incredibly difficult to deal with! I'll be facing a very strong enemy later, and using a sword and shield will allow me to better coordinate with my teammates."

The old knight's cloudy eyes suddenly opened.

He slowly stood up, his faded linen robe hanging loosely on his muscular body, exuding a mountain-like pressure.

Instead of walking towards Lu Mingfei, the old man strolled to the open space in the center of the church, his gaze sweeping over the headless dragon statues as if he were staring at a storm.

Lu Mingfei felt a little flustered.

"you"

His voice was calm, yet it carried an barely suppressed anger.

"Are we going to challenge Grek?"

(End of this chapter)