Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from Sekiro

"Of course, I've always enjoyed being a teacher. Students always think they know everything and like to correct my mistakes in class, but in the end, they all blush and sit back in their seats amidst laughter." The old cowboy patted his belly.

The middle-aged man said nothing, but his gray eyes remained fixed on the old cowboy's face.

"Before I explain, let me first explain the concept of 'spirit' to you. We all know that releasing the power of words consumes 'spirit', and once the 'spirit' is suppressed, the power of words can no longer be used. To use the power of words, there are two necessary conditions: words and spirit. Words represent chanting the corresponding dragon script, while spirit is the fuel that drives the words."

"Ordinary people cannot use the power of words. Even if they chant the dragon script without missing a single syllable, they cannot use it because they do not have 'spirit' in their bodies. 'Spirit' is a special power that only exists in dragon blood. Whether it is a dragon king, a second-generation species, or a hybrid, the essence of using the power of words is to use 'spirit' to command the elements."

“The dragon race has a clear and strict hierarchy. Lower-ranking bloodlines can be suppressed to the point of immobility when facing the Dragon King, precisely because of the ‘spirit’ within them.” The old cowboy pointed to the dragon bone in the center of the altar. “Now, please turn off the ‘soul-guiding lamps’ and close your eyes.”

Everyone obeyed the instructions, blew out the green flame in the lanterns, and closed their eyes.

At the moment darkness fell, a blazing sun appeared before my eyes, so bright that I could not look directly at it.

Crimson 'spirit' filled the entire space around them, as if they were in a fiery furnace, the extreme heat threatening to devour and melt them. The spirit that had disappeared from their bodies began to stir—no, it was trembling!

With a crisp snap of the fingers, everything returned to darkness and silence.

"Please open your eyes." The old cowboy gently stroked the silver ring with an emerald set on his thumb.

The middle-aged man slowly opened his eyes, his whole body soaked with sweat. He looked at the skeleton in the center of the altar again, his eyes now filled with awe.

“Just now I temporarily lifted the seal and released a tiny amount of Norton’s ‘spirit’ that I had extracted over the past two days into the air, bringing it before everyone’s eyes. It was roughly equivalent to the amount of a single hair,” the old cowboy said. “Although it was very little, I’m sure everyone felt the fundamental difference. Only the Dragon King can possess this level of ‘spirit.’ Once the Dragon King’s soul cocoons and returns to the prepared cocoon to await rebirth, the ‘spirit’ will be annihilated in the air because there is no container capable of containing such a high-quality ‘spirit,’ or rather, no master capable of commanding it.”

"But everyone should have felt it, the active fire element within the Dragon Bone Cross." The old cowboy's tone suddenly became excited: "We added refined water element to the 'blood vessels' of the 'Well,' but fire element still appeared in the center of the altar. Water element is the nemesis of fire element. With the 'Well' covered by water element, it's impossible for any wandering fire element to gather here. After eliminating all possibilities, no matter how incredible the remaining one may seem, it is the truth!"

"Fire elementals are being spontaneously created within the altar!" the old cowboy declared emphatically.

Everyone fell silent. Anyone who has studied the basics of alchemy knows one thing: the four elements are naturally existing, cannot be created, and can only be used. This is beyond any comprehension; it is the true power of God.

If we were to use a metaphor, it would be creating something out of thin air.

No one questioned whether these were the remains left behind after the King of Bronze and Fire had transformed into a cocoon; they insisted that these were the remains of the Dragon King.

The ten people standing here truly understand that the King of Bronze and Fire perished in Kassel.

Chapter 119 The Affectionate "Greedy Snake"

The forum exploded again as news spread that Caesar was going to hold a ball at Norton House, becoming a hot topic of discussion.

Until Freedom Day next year, the Norton House will belong to Lu Mingfei. Many people are speculating whether this is a sign of Lu Mingfei's collaboration with Caesar, but neither party has come forward.

Lu Mingfei got up early to watch TV series. He snuggled up in bed, curled up in a ball, propped up by a soft pillow, yawning as he ate American potato chips, chewing them with a crunchy sound.

He didn't sleep well again last night, and his sleep quality was getting worse and worse. He missed his little chubby brother's thunderous snoring, because it made him feel at ease.

This year, my son is starting his senior year of high school and will face the pressure of college entrance exams. During the summer vacation, Shilan High School started tutoring them. The summer vacation for the year he went from junior to senior was only half a month, and he had to spend all the rest of the time at school. However, my son still had to go to tutoring classes during the holidays, so he had almost no free time.

Although his aunt didn't care if Lu Mingfei went online outside, if his little chubby brother dared to sneak into an internet cafe, he would definitely get a beating.

At home, my aunt was the most frightening person; no one dared to challenge her.

There is a time difference between the United States and China. It is morning here for Lu Mingfei, but night there for his cousin.

Judging by the time, evening self-study should be over soon.

Lu Mingfei stared blankly at his cousin's melancholic anime profile picture, tapping his phone screen a few times, unsure what to say. He deleted and edited the message, but ultimately didn't send a single word.

He switched to the login screen and skillfully typed in a QQ number on the numeric keypad.

This is his alternate account, with the ID "Sunset Marks".

Back in May, he applied to cancel the QQ account on the website. However, Tencent is very considerate and has set a 180-day grace period for each canceled account. If you regret it and want to get the QQ account back, you can cancel the cancellation as long as you log in to the account again within this six-month period.

Only four months have passed since Lu Mingfei cancelled his account. There is still a little over half of the time left. During this period, "Sunset" will not disappear. The account will be temporarily retained until the expiration date.

Lu Mingfei did not delete "Snake" from his friends list, so it's easy to imagine how many messages "Snake" sent to "Sunset".

"Want to go up and take a look?"

Lu Mingfei swallowed hard, staring blankly at his phone screen, as if the button in his hand wasn't a login button, but a Pandora's box that would unleash despair.

QQ allows you to go offline without being detected. As long as you don't change your settings or send messages, no one will know whether you are online or not.

A tempting voice prompted Lu Mingfei to press the login button.

He took a deep breath, his fingers trembling slightly, and slowly lowered them.

"Logging in..."

A spinning circle appeared on the screen, as if it were stuck on something, and the picture suddenly froze.

A few seconds later, a series of "ding ding ding ding" sounds rang out.

Lu Mingfei covered the phone screen with his palm and slowly moved it down until he saw his cousin's grayed-out profile picture.

The 99+ in red speaks for itself.

Lu Mingfei looked around, even sticking his head out to look at the upper bunk, as if he were doing something wrong.

After confirming that he was the only one in the dormitory, he slowly clicked into the message history to see the message that "Snake" had sent to "Sunset".

"Sunset, are you there? It's been 115 days since you last messaged me, and I still miss you so much. I don't know if you can see this. I'm a senior in high school now, and my parents are arranging my college entrance exam interview. You said you're going to study in the US, and I want to study in the US too! After I get my acceptance letter, would you like to meet me?"

This is a message from yesterday.

"Sunset, I got first place in the class in this mock exam. I've been memorizing vocabulary every night. I'll definitely work even harder and come to America to find you!"

This was from the day before yesterday.

"Sunset, do you remember the first time we chatted? I went through your entire social media profile that day, and I did it again today. But back then I was laughing, but today I'm crying."

Lu Mingfei was a little afraid to watch any longer.

He quickly swiped the screen, scrolling back to the earliest day in the chat history.

"Giving up on loving you is impossible for me. Meeting you has messed up my feelings and my heart."

"In the end, the one who gets hurt is always the one who suffers."

...

Unlike the inspirational quotes I posted these past few days, those were all sad sentences and non-mainstream sayings.

About a month after "Sunset" went missing, my cousin's style began to change little by little, transforming from a minor character in the "Funeral Love Family" into a diligent and hardworking student.

That period seemed to coincide with Lu Mingfei's improved relationship with his cousin, during which they would eat late-night snacks and watch anime together.

The one who tied the knot must untie it.

Lu Mingfei felt a pang of emotion, thinking that if it could help his cousin study hard, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

That was the only way he could console himself.

"Ding ding ding ding!"

Suddenly, the notification tone sounded again.

A new message arrived: "Snake." The profile picture lit up, indicating the user was online.

"Sunset, today is the 116th day I've missed you. Can anyone love someone for a lifetime? I don't know, but I still miss you so much. I got first place in the mock exam, and my mom said she could reward me, but I just stared blankly at my phone, not knowing what I wanted. It rained heavily today. My cousin went to America for more than half a month, and I stayed in China. The rain in the Eastern Hemisphere can't reach my cousin in the Northern Hemisphere. Even though I got first place, I can't find another you. The raindrops hit the window, and I'm all alone in the room. I guess I'm sick. I can't sleep no matter what. I opened the chat history and saw that I'm upset for no reason. Every single one of the messages I wrote was about missing you."

Lu Mingfei shook his head and sighed repeatedly.

What is love in this world that makes people willing to die for it?

Some people appear in your life for only half a year, and then make all your past experiences seem dull and lifeless. You think things will get exciting from now on, but then they quietly leave you.

What can Lu Mingfei do?

He is not a "sunset," he can't do anything.

Perhaps you could consider paying someone else to impersonate "Sunset," but that would be fake, not real. The girl had never talked with "Snake" about the origins of the universe late at night, nor had she played word games with "Snake."

Those things were known only to "Sunset" and "Snake"; no one else had ever experienced them.

Actually, we all like the same kind of people, but it is the shared experiences that make one of those countless people unique.

So there will never be another "sunset".

Lu Mingfei silently logged out of QQ, thinking that he would definitely treat his cousin to a good meal when he went back for the New Year, and go to a high-end restaurant.

Every family has its own troubles, and you're not the only one with a deep past, but you'll never know unless others tell you.

Lu Mingfei patted his face and sprang out of his comfortable, warm bed with a somersault.

My cousin, who weighs 160 pounds, got first place in the exam. How can he waste his time here!

No matter what your final grades are, you should at least give it your all!

A salted fish is still a salted fish even if you flip it over, but at least you can fry both sides until they are golden brown and crispy!

The universe is uncertain, you and I are both dark horses!

...

At noon, Lu Mingfei arrived at Professor Guderian's office carrying two takeout boxes.

It was still just as dirty and messy, with open books and documents everywhere – a style characteristic of Professor Guderian.

There are cleaning staff in the college, and they will help if you don't want to clean up the trash. However, Professor Guderian never allows the cleaners to enter his office because last time someone threw away his precious drafts as trash, which forced him to search through the unprocessed garbage pile for a long time to find them.

Aside from himself, no one could decipher what was written on that messy piece of paper. It was like medical terminology, as if only people in their profession could understand it.

"Oh, Lu Mingfei, what brings you here!" Professor Guderian's eyebrows twitched as he sat up from his office chair. He was wearing a gray lab coat, and his white hair was a little messy and greasy. "Are you here to add extra classes? You've finally realized how good you are! It's not too late. You can apply for extra classes through the academic affairs system for the first three weeks of the semester!"

It seems he hasn't given up on his unparalleled four-degree plan.

"Come on, Professor." Lu Mingfei placed the plastic bag on the table and took out a takeout box from it. "Have you had lunch?"

Inside were dumplings and dipping sauce that Susie had given him. He had asked the cafeteria cook to cook them for him. There were 15 dumplings in one box, and he would deliver the other one to Professor Mans later.

"Not yet! You're here to care about me? I'm so touched!" Professor Guderian's eyes lit up, the aroma of dumplings wafted into his nose, and his stomach rumbled.

As a faculty member, he is entitled to a discount when dining in the cafeteria, but he has been dealing with so much work lately that he simply doesn't have time to eat. For several days now, he has been eating nothing more than a quick bread roll.

"These are handmade dumplings, Professor, please have some. They were specially prepared for you." Seeing Professor Guderian's expression, Lu Mingfei wondered if fifteen would be too few.

He had heard that Europeans and Americans have large appetites, and he originally intended to send them over as an after-dinner snack to the two professors.

He considered ordering another takeout for the professor, but then he thought, "He's a professor, can't he just order for himself if he wants to eat?"

Sitting on the bench, Lu Mingfei handed over the takeout box.

Actually, he didn't come here solely to deliver food; he also had some questions he wanted to ask.

"Professor, I heard that your research area is philology, is that right?" Lu Mingfei asked, watching Professor Guderian wolf down his food.