Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

“To be precise, this is corruption,” Angers shook his head. “When the dragon bloodline exceeds 50%, this happens spontaneously, but the powerful dragon genes cannot completely eliminate human genes. These things that dragons consider impure are preserved like dregs. Therefore, hybrids will not truly evolve into pure-blooded dragons, but will only become something called ‘Deadpool.’ They will die at the last moment of their evolution, losing their sense of self, like walking corpses.”

"In other words, this whole process is heading towards destruction." Lu Mingfei had already guessed the meaning of the "Path to Godhood".

At the border, there lived a demigod, "Blasphemy King" Raccard, who offered his body to the God-Slaying Serpent to devour, intending to gain the power of blasphemy by possessing the serpent's soul. However, his fate was to be influenced by the serpent in the opposite way, his ambition as a hegemon degenerating into base greed, and he was ultimately killed by Lu Mingfei, the faded one.

The path of blasphemy means a heavy price, even the loss of self, but in return, it brings a power far beyond oneself.

After merging with the God-Slaying Serpent, Rakad fought with almost earth-shattering power. If the Gemir Knights hadn't sought out the great spear used to hunt the Undying Serpent in order to restore their master's reputation, Lu Mingfei might not have been able to defeat him successfully.

It's a tragedy, really.

The nameless knight, carrying the Great Serpent Hunting Spear, approached his once-respected but now corrupted demigod master, fought to the death, and left the weapon before the demigod, until, after many years, someone came to end this filthy fate.

“The overall outcome is destruction,” Angers affirmed the latter part of Lu Mingfei's statement, “but hybrids are actually at a complete disadvantage on the battlefield against dragons, especially in an era when human technology was not advanced, therefore…”

"Therefore, temporarily altering one's bloodline to maintain consciousness and gain power for a short period of time becomes a necessary weapon," Lu Mingfei said calmly.

Ang nodded, his expression one of appreciation. He grew increasingly admiring of this young man whose thinking carried a decisive, murderous aura. He then continued, “Even if a hybrid’s bloodline doesn’t exceed 50%, after training, they can retain their primary personality while suppressing it, thus releasing a second personality. At this point, not only does their mind change, but their dragon genes also seem to sense this change and begin to activate. All the hidden dragon characteristics in your body are activated, and the dragon genes begin to modify human genes. This is called ‘Blood Explosion.’”

The idea was essentially the same as Lu Mingfei's: even if the price of obtaining a certain power was huge, the chance to change one's fate when facing a desperate situation was extremely tempting.

Blood Explosion is the exchange of irreversible destruction for the power of dragons—gods.

"Blood Burst is a forbidden technique. It instantly activates the dragon bloodline, but the side effect is that it can push you past the 50% 'critical blood limit.' Once you break through, you're like a roller coaster on a downward trajectory, and no force can pull you back. This technique is devilish; the pleasure from the instant purification of your bloodline will immerse you in the illusion of 'omnipotence.' If you are too greedy for power, the devil will silently lead you across the line and push you into the abyss." Angers stared into Lu Mingfei's eyes, describing its consequences in more detail.

“I know,” Lu Mingfei nodded.

The knowledge I gained from the principal today filled another gap in his understanding of dragons and hybrids.

The so-called divine power, stolen by a mortal, is actually a curse.

“Mingfei, I don’t know why you’re so eager to learn about dragons, but that’s a good thing, of course.” Angers said as he saw that Lu Mingfei seemed to be preparing to leave. “I have some good news for you today, which I think will be more appealing than those ancient books in the library.”

Lu Mingfei blinked, somewhat curious, "What good news? Which resurrected dragon did you successfully kill this time?"

“No,” Angers said, “but we are quite close. The ‘Kuimen Project’ has made great progress, and we may have found the palace of the King of Bronze and Fire.”

Chapter 20 Underwater

As evening approached and the sun was about to set, the last rays of sunlight shone through the glass and fell on Lu Mingfei's calm face.

The dormitory was quiet. Fingel had gone to the cafeteria to pick up his meal. The cafeteria did not offer delivery during the summer vacation, so the two of them had been taking turns picking up the meal.

The sound of a heartbeat broke the silence.

At first, it was faint, but later, with the rise and fall of Lu Mingfei's breath, "thump! thump!" it became clearer and clearer, like the slow but powerful beating of a drum.

At the same time, the blood flow in Lu Mingfei's body accelerated, and a continuous stream of nutrients was delivered to his muscles and limbs. In the intense metabolism, these nutrients were converted into waste heat from bioenergy. In the hot summer, hot sweat vapor rose from his body!

"Hoo—" Lu Mingfei opened his eyes, and the golden pupils slowly went out.

After practicing for a period of time, he has mastered a technique called "Blood Burst".

In this process, he gradually suppressed his thoughts in order to unleash his so-called "dragon" personality. Unfortunately, even when he achieved a state of perfect tranquility and reduced his self-awareness to the extreme, no other violent and bloodthirsty personality emerged.

Somewhat disappointed.

Having been back on Earth for a long time, they haven't seen a single real dragon, nor has the "curse" within their own bodies shown itself.

The sunlight had completely disappeared, and the pale blue sky outside the window opened wide, gradually enveloping the fading warmth of the summer night.

Just then, the cell phone the principal had given him finally rang. Some time ago, Angers had agreed to let him participate in the "Kuimen Project," a plan to dive into the Three Gorges Reservoir to find the Dragon King's palace, and had promised to notify him before departure.

"Mingfei, come to the helipad." After the call connected, Angers spoke casually, without asking if he was ready or going into details of the mission. He hung up after receiving a brief reply from Lu Mingfei.

It wasn't like they were going to cause trouble for the first generation of dragons, nor was it a top-secret mission requiring board approval, nor a dangerous operation with complicated procedures. It was more like a father and son about to go on a beach vacation, the family packed their luggage and sat in the car, waiting for their eldest son, who was still unpacking in the room, to come downstairs. The father made a phone call, urging, "Hurry up, the sun and sand are waiting for us, my good son!"

Lu Mingfei had already undergone several days of diving training for this mission, and his luggage was naturally packed long ago.

Fingel, carrying two white foam packing boxes, kicked open the dormitory door and saw Lu Mingfei carrying the Chixiao backpack and a black suitcase in his hand.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Fingel stared, holding up the steaming takeout box in the plastic bag in his hand.

"I have a mission, so you can eat both of them," Lu Mingfei said succinctly.

"You haven't even enrolled yet, have you? It's only September, and you haven't had a single proper class. You're already being used as a donkey to run all over the world by the Executive Department?" Fingel complained. "Also, I feel like you have a prejudice against my appetite."

“I asked for it myself.” Lu Mingfei shocked Fingel once again.

“Okay, you’re an elite, you’re 'S' grade, and I’m just a piece of trash, I can’t understand.” Fingel placed both dishes on his table.

Lu Mingfei ignored him and pushed open the door to leave.

Fingel stared at the empty dorm room for a long time, then muttered to himself, "They really don't know how to cherish their time on campus..."

......

The group arrived at Chicago International Airport in Angers' private helicopter, and then transferred to a small commercial passenger plane chartered by the executive department to travel to China.

After a long journey, this luxurious lineup consisting of two "S" class members finally arrived at the local Kassel College branch.

As an executive officer, Lu Mingfei checked into a hotel arranged by the college. About a week later, the operation finally began.

Angers does not participate in the direct operation; as the principal and representative of the board of directors, he acts as the overall commander and does not interfere with specific tasks. The person in charge on-site is someone else, Professor Mans Rundstedt, who teaches kinetic mechanical design.

This professor is the one directly responsible to Angers.

On the day of the dive mission, it was raining heavily. We were on a boat in the midst of a storm. All we could see in all directions was the surging waves under the cover of night, the unfathomable water appearing pitch black.

Lu Mingfei stood in front of the aft hatch of the tugboat "Moniach". He had just asked Professor Mans for permission to go into the water, but was refused.

Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya were putting on their diving gear, while Professor Mans checked the lifeline beside them. The rain was pouring down on them; in this weather, you had to shout to be heard.

Lu Mingfei watched for a moment, then turned and went back to the rear cabin. His current appearance was somewhat peculiar; he was wearing an all-black thermal suit and carrying the Crimson Sky Sword on his back, looking like a swordsman in pajamas. The front cabin was the combat department and command center for the Kassel mission personnel, with everyone staring at their own screens. He couldn't offer any help, so he had to stay in the rear cabin.

Inside the rear cabin, there was an infant lying in a cradle, with a charming woman sitting beside him, presumably his mother.

Lu Mingfei sat down opposite them. He didn't know why an infant would be involved in such a dangerous situation, nor did he want to ask further. He simply closed his eyes to conserve his energy. With his current knowledge of the dragon race, he could guess that the infant must possess a special bloodline or special spiritual power to be part of the mission.

The beautiful woman glanced at Lu Mingfei, who was resting with his eyes closed, and remained silent as well.

The ship had a deep draft and only rocked rhythmically during the storm; the sound of the rain, which drowned out everything, sounded somewhat muffled through the steel cabin.

The calm continued until Mans entered, but after taking off his waterproof suit, he immediately rushed to the front cabin without giving any orders to the woman or Lu Mingfei.

Unlike Angers, Professor Mans did not actually consider Lu Mingfei as part of the mission.

Undeniably, an "S"-rank student who has passed the 3E exam is destined to be a rising star. But at this moment, he is at most a freshman assigned by the principal to hone his skills through a mission, and can only observe from the sidelines. Participating in such a mission, which is suspected to be at the Dragon King level, without receiving any academy courses or training from the Execution Department, is already more than worthy of his "S"-rank status.

As for actually going underwater to carry out the mission, Mans trusted his own people more.

Now, the only remaining connection between the people on the ship and Ye Sheng and Jiu Deyaji is the signal line in the lifeline. The underwater sensor signal will penetrate 50 meters of water and be converted into electronic images and sounds at the monitoring terminal.

Mans stood in front of the display terminal, two vibrant and powerful heartbeats playing in his headphones, corresponding to the rising and falling green lines on the screen.

Ye Sheng and Jiu Deyaji were gradually approaching the bottom of the reservoir. The two should be surrounded by endless darkness from all sides, unable to hear anything except the hollow sound with snow noise transmitted through the signal line.

In this state, a normal person would inevitably fall into deep water phobia, with rapid breathing and a faster heartbeat. However, Ye Sheng and the other person's heart rate did not fluctuate drastically. It was slightly rapid due to the water pressure, but within the normal range.

He truly deserves to be called the most outstanding young person in the Executive Department in recent years.

Chapter 21 Going into the Water

The Executive Division dispatched four additional teams to XZ, XJ, Greenland, and Mexico, bringing the total number of people searching for the "Dragon Tomb" worldwide to approximately 1,300. Professor Mans' team, which came closest to success, targeted Norton, the King of Bronze and Fire, a noble first-generation being and one of the four monarchs.

The project to be carried out along the Yangtze River is called the "Kuimen Project".

Lu Mingfei sat in the cabin, recalling the information revealed by Angers.

In a sudden moment, the sound of rain stopped, and the chill of the storm, which could drench even the summer heat, seeped into the cabin.

Lu Mingfei opened his eyes.

As expected, the woman opposite had disappeared, and a boy in a black suit and lace scarf was now sitting there. If the separation door between the front and rear cabins were opened, all the busy staff inside, including Professor Mans, would surely have vanished as well.

"Lu Mingze," Lu Mingfei called out the other person's name.

The ship stopped rocking, as if the storm outside had subsided, but the faint smell of water was still strong, emanating from Lu Mingze. The rear cabin door was wide open, and he looked as if he had just climbed out of the water.

"Brother, are you sure you want to keep going?" Lu Mingze leaned over the cradle, teasing the baby inside.

The baby's face was rosy, but it wasn't breathing or moving, like a lifelike porcelain doll. Lu Mingfei knew this was because of Lu Mingze's dream; in this guy's dream, everything except himself and Lu Mingze was fake.

"Advance? You mean the Dragon King's Palace down there?" Lu Mingfei tried to extract information.

"The Dragon King? He's nothing but a traitor." Lu Mingze showed extreme disgust for a moment. "But for you, brother, he's quite dangerous."

Lu Mingze's words confirmed that the King of Bronze and Fire was located beneath the reservoir.

"Is it dangerous?" Lu Mingfei shook his head. "If he's really down there, there's a 50-meter-deep reservoir between us right now."

“It’s coming soon. If you continue to get involved, you’ll face him head-on,” Lu Mingze said quietly. “I know something has happened to you, brother. You’re full of fighting spirit now and have even activated the power of the hybrid, but are you really ready?”

His gaze was sincere, but his words carried a hint of bloodshed, like a conductor on a train to hell who, out of kindness, stopped an innocent passenger from boarding and asked him one last question: were you sure you wanted to get on? Once you agreed, there was no turning back; you were on a headlong march towards hell.

Lu Mingfei suddenly realized that the big guy underwater was probably the one Lu Mingze had mentioned when he said he would "trust you this once."

This is the last time Lu Mingze will try to persuade him to stop.

"For us, there's no such thing as stopping," Lu Mingfei replied with a faint smile.

"You guys...?" Lu Mingze's eyes flickered, and he helplessly spread his hands. "Then we can only watch your performance, brother."

The sound of wind and rain returned, and someone suddenly pushed open the partition between the front and rear cabins. Lu Mingfei turned his head and saw Professor Mans, who looked slightly anxious.

At the same time, Lu Mingze disappeared from sight, and the rear cabin door he had opened was closed.

"Time is limited. To open the Bronze City, can I use the 'key'?" Mans asked on the phone as he walked toward the baby and the woman.

“Professor Mans, I request to go into the water.” Lu Mingfei stood up, his tone resolute.

Professor Mans frowned, looking at him with some annoyance, then suddenly showed a moment of surprise before his expression returned to calm. "The principal just agreed that you and I will go down with the 'key'."

He put away his phone, went to the cradle, and gently picked up the baby.

“Be careful when using him. He is our only ‘key’ right now. With such high purity of dragon blood, it’s hard to find another one. Even Chu Zihang can’t compare to him,” the woman said.

“But he’s much better behaved than Chu Zihang,” Mans teased the baby. “Don’t act like you don’t trust people. You’re just his foster mother. We all really like ‘Key’.”

After saying that, Mans carried the baby to the front cabin to retrieve the diving equipment.

Lu Mingfei took the sword off his back, intending to tie it to the waist of his diving suit later. This way of carrying the sword would make it easier to draw it underwater.

The woman suddenly spoke to him, "Aren't you scared? You know what's down there, right? Just now, there was an underwater earthquake, and your classmate might be in danger right now."