In another world, Lu Mingfei is learning card making.

"Wait, you can't leave yet."

Ron rushed forward and blocked Sargent's path. "You think you can just run away after losing the duel? You're not getting a free ride."

"You!" Sargent's eyes flashed with anger. He looked up and saw that Lu Mingfei was standing behind the new student, indicating a close relationship between them.

"Alright, what do you want?"

Lu Mingfei was taken aback, then immediately reached out and pulled Rong En. "What should we do after this kind of honorary duel is over?"

"Do what? You can do anything." Ron blinked. "He tried to insult you, and you regained your honor through a duel of honor—so as the loser, you have a certain degree of authority over him."

"How to handle it? Hmm... different eras have different methods. When wars are raging, you have the right to demand that he launch an expedition to conquer the land invaded by demons; when things are more peaceful, you can also demand that the other party repay in other ways..."

Lu Mingfei nodded, thought for a moment, and then walked up to Sargent.

He could see the anger hidden in the eyes of this senior student from the noble academy, but in a sense, it was quite remarkable that he could still maintain a "normal" expression under such intense anger.

—But when Lu Mingfei thought about what he was about to do, he couldn't help but smile:

"Mr. Sargent, do you remember what I just said?"

"...What?" Sargent's expression instantly turned wary.

"I find reasoning really monotonous and boring. Let's use force instead," Lu Mingfei said with a smile, followed by a punch that landed squarely on Sargent's eye socket.

……

After retaliating with a punch, Lu Mingfei put the knight back into the magic card, but still left Jing Shu and Miyamoto Musashi by his side to accompany him for a while to the classroom.

On one hand, it was to cultivate a so-called "bond" with his magical spirit; on the other hand, Lu Mingfei also had some doubts:

What would Miyamoto Musashi, the great swordsman of the Edo period, think of these three enemies? What evaluation would he give them?

"Hmm, my evaluation...?" Miyamoto Musashi crossed his arms, tilted his head back as if deep in thought, "It's like, a simple plate of umeboshi rice?"

"Plum rice?" Lu Mingfei asked in surprise.

He had anticipated some answers, such as "They are all so weak and vulnerable," or "Sacrificing one's life for righteousness is truly the act of a righteous person," but this metaphor was something he had never imagined before.

"Yes, plum rice." Miyamoto Musashi raised his hand and drew the shape of a Soul Eater in the air. "The first one, a legendary monster. Although it didn't display the skills of a samurai, its grotesque body and mind-piercing methods made it an extremely formidable opponent."

"Just like the dried plums in dried plum rice, although they can't fill you up, they can enhance the flavor and invigorate you."

"The second one is a swordsman from the Southern Barbarians. Although his skills are mediocre, his courage is quite good. Even after I used my Slash of Consciousness to cut off half of his body, he was still able to hold on without shouting to leave."

"Just like rice, it has no taste, but it can fill you up. When paired with dried plums, it can be considered a decent meal."

Lu Mingfei nodded knowingly, then asked:

"Where's the other person? That stone statue?"

"A stone statue..." Miyamoto Musashi shook his head. "It's just some kind of puppet. An illusion, or something else, that makes it move, but that's all—"

"It's like a box for holding rice, nothing special, not worth remembering. To be honest, it's not even as good as the kind of car you showed me on the road. If, at that time, the last competitor was a car, it could have left a different impression on me, just like using a luxurious and expensive food box to hold ordinary pickled rice."

Lu Mingfei was speechless and could only nod slightly to indicate that he understood.

……

Lu Mingfei thought this matter might not end there, just like in novels, where if you beat the child, the elder will suffer the consequences.

The story of Yu Gong implies that his descendants will never cease to exist; if we apply this to the villains, it would mean that their lineage will never cease to exist.

But a week passed, and nothing he had predicted happened. Almost everyone avoided talking about it, and even the very organization that sparked it, the 'Dragon's Claw' club, remained remarkably quiet—

There wasn't even anything extra, like 'refusing him entry into the club again'.

"Why is that? I thought those nobles, at least within their families, would be more united, like..." Lu Mingfei cut off the rest of his sentence.

He still had the card he'd obtained from the Tiss family, and it wasn't a good thing to talk about. "My friends and I are the same; I should support them unconditionally..."

"No, why would you think that?" Senior Stella's eyes showed surprise. "Even if there is support, it is conditional. This kind of unconditional support is something that only happens during student days."

"The fact that you have this question shows that you don't actually understand the logic of this nobleman—"

"For them, emotions—whether blood ties, friendships, or even romantic love—are quantifiable. If two families are at odds, their members will despise each other; if two families are on good terms, even if their members are mortal enemies, they will have friendly conversations in public..."

"As for love, it is the easiest to weigh and grasp. One of the most important reasons why the nobility has been able to continue for more than a thousand years is 'marriage alliance' - not just marriage alliances between nobles, but in fact, a considerable number of women in noble families will marry powerful men."

"—I must say, don't think this is a privilege reserved for boys. In fact, if we girls can become strong, we also have the right to choose boys from noble families..."

Lu Mingfei didn't smile; he was seriously pondering the meaning behind it. What Senior Stella said made Lu Mingfei silently change his image of nobles from the Western kind, where "my vassal's vassal is not my vassal," to the Eastern kind, where there are thousand-year-old families.

After receiving tutoring from numerous teachers, Lu Mingfei developed the ability to think about the underlying meaning from a holistic and strategic perspective.

"So, this is what aristocratic families are like?" Lu Mingfei sighed.

The concept of aristocratic families—or powerful clans—or clans arose in the Han Dynasty, reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty, and was eliminated after the scholar who discovered that "it is easier to enter Chang'an than to pass the imperial examinations in Chang'an."

In fact, if it weren't for the existence of a 'family tree', they might not have been able to achieve a decisive victory against Huang Chao and would have continued to wreak havoc on the earth for some time.