In another world, Lu Mingfei is learning card making.

A layer of pure white ice with a hint of blue covered the mountain that pierced the sky, which was a deep, blood-red color. A torrential downpour was falling, and every drop of water was bright red.

On the summit of that ice peak, the giant dragon in the painting lay quietly, its wings drooping all the way to the foot of the mountain, its thick, pungent blood staining the entire ice peak red.

Even though his hand had changed, Lu Mingfei kept wondering—where did this blood come from? And why was it flowing?

And now, he knows.

Groups of people were climbing up the dragon's wings. Those who reached the top surrounded the dragon's head and hammered the ends of the sharp iron spikes into the dragon's skull.

Each time a hole was drilled, a white liquid gushed out like a fountain, evaporating into thick white vapor in a moment. The people cheered and shouted.

"Nidhogg, the Black Dragon King, was killed thousands of years ago on his own throne, which is the mountain that is forever covered in ice and snow. His killer placed his enormous body on the mountaintop, and his wings drooped all the way to the foot of the mountain."

It was a clear, childlike voice mixed with the sound of bells—this small coastal town had never been associated with religion, but as soon as Lu Mingfei heard the bells, he felt as if he were hearing a solemn monastery, church, or some kind of religious building that kept white pigeons.

Lu Mingfei closed his eyes and began to let his mind wander—he imagined the desolate wasteland under the moon and the dark shadow of a church in the distance, and crowds of people running across the wasteland with torches, their faces hidden in shadows as the firelight failed to illuminate them. He imagined them running towards the full moon, an unbelievably large moon, half of it sunk below the horizon. He imagined them leaping from the mountaintop towards the moon.

Lu Mingfei let out a long breath and called out to the Comprehensive Network in his mind—but the mechanical page that was always available was now unresponsive.

But sometimes, no reaction is also a reaction.

"Is it an illusion? When?" Lu Mingfei opened his eyes and turned around. A huge moon was slowly rising outside the room's window. Moonlight poured in, like the tide rushing towards the shore.

The entire room was bathed in the cool, watery moonlight, and the branches and leaves of the trees outside the window cast some kind of withered, ghostly shadows on the white walls. Lu Mingfei became alert and searched around, finally spotting a boy leaning against the windowsill.

He was a well-behaved boy, swinging his legs, wearing white square-toed leather shoes, a black suit, a white silk scarf, and a pair of light-colored golden eyes.

"Hello? Was that you speaking just now?"

Lu Mingfei felt he must be going crazy for trying to talk to the characters in the illusion—he had studied the spells of past "mages" with the red-robed acolyte, most of which had been absorbed by the summoners of the new era, including these illusions.

"The essence of illusion lies in deception." The red-robed acolyte's earnest teachings still seemed to echo in my ears. "Pure illusion is not dangerous; it merely changes the appearance of things that already exist in the world..."

"A sharp blade will become a flower, and an executioner's axe will become a laurel wreath. The knife is there; it will not kill. Only the person wielding the knife will kill."

Following this line of thought, what he should do is be wary of everything around him that can move—avoid people, birds and beasts, light, and anything that might harm him…

"No, this isn't an illusion." The boy seemed to read his mind and shook his head—he pointed out the window, "This is your spiritual vision, this is…"

"The Kingdom of Dragons!"

"My spiritual vision is the Dragon Kingdom?" Lu Mingfei chose to go along with him. "Then what am I? The king of this Dragon Kingdom?"

"The King?" The boy stared intently into his eyes. "If you wish to say that, then of course you can..."

"You are the emperor of this Dragon Kingdom, so naturally you can do whatever you want."

"Emperor?" Lu Mingfei pondered for a moment, feeling that this name was more imposing than "King."

It should be understood that any country, regardless of size, can call itself a king as long as it has a territory. However, only the most powerful king who has expelled six countries from that land can change his title to emperor.

"Okay, I'm the emperor of this Dragon Kingdom now." After accepting the title, Lu Mingfei decided to continue trying to extract more information from the boy. "Where were the previous emperors of this Dragon Kingdom? Can I decide my own title? Oh, wait, it seems an emperor can't have a title..."

"The emperor who lived here before?" the boy asked, then burst out laughing. "Didn't you see him?"

He reached out and pointed to the left. The wall had vanished, revealing the glacier outside. Even though the enormous dragon corpse had been dead for thousands of years, the blood flowing from its body was still scalding hot, and the dark clouds hanging in the sky continued to shower down crimson raindrops.

"This is the oldest emperor ever recorded in history. On the day he died, the whole world cheered." The boy's voice was calm.

Lu Mingfei looked at the boy, at his refined features and black tuxedo. The black dragon was so close, filling his nostrils with the pungent smell of dragon blood, yet even with this interference, Lu Mingfei could still sense something emanating from him…

"Do you know it?" Lu Mingfei asked after a moment's thought.

The boy turned around, but answered irrelevantly, "Exchange?"

"Oh... what do you want to exchange? Do you want to exchange any souvenirs with me? I'm sorry, I don't have anything to offer in exchange..."

Lu Mingfei was halfway through his refusal when he noticed something in the boy's hand.

—That's his college admission card.

"Don't use their stuff anymore." The boy pulled another card from his hand. "Use my cards, and my power..."

"Although it shouldn't be at this time, nor here—the awakening of an emperor should be done in a grand ceremony, surrounded by a crowd, with the crown bestowed upon him..."

"But, as long as it works, that's fine."

Lu Mingfei stared at another card—it was also in the style of a Sorting Card.

Compared to his already altered card, this new Sorting Card remains at the moment the Black Dragon Emperor was killed, but in addition to the existing blood-soaked dragon, there are countless people hammering nails into it.

"Who are you?" Lu Mingfei's voice trembled, a rare occurrence for him.

If the previous images and the riddles the boy played with him could be attributed to local "supernatural forces" obstructing him, then the nature of the problem changes once this card is pulled out.

This means that his biggest trump card has been seen through!