Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

"Let's go in." As soon as Lu Mingfei spoke, he swam into the dark cave along with the backflowing water.

This time he remembered to ask permission before doing anything.

Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya exchanged a glance and followed. Ye Sheng had intended for his junior to bring up the rear, but before he could even speak, he was left behind.

“How would you say it in your country?” Shudeya said sarcastically, “We’re the ones who got stuck on the beach.”

"The Yangtze River's back waves push the front waves, and the front waves die on the beach." Ye Sheng said the whole sentence calmly. "The original sentence comes from Liu Fu's 'Qing Suo Gao Yi' in the Song Dynasty. The Yangtze River's back waves push the front waves, and new people replace old people in floating affairs. It is a metaphor for the continuous progress of all things."

Kassel College promotes a fully Chinese-language education, but the places where teachers and students learn Chinese vary. Some online platforms and expressions tend to be more appealing to young people, such as Jiu De Ya Ji. Among the professors, watching CCTV's News Broadcast is popular, as it is not only punctual but also provides a relatively consistent amount of language, making it suitable as daily practice.

"Alright, stop teaching me classical poems, let's catch up with our junior." Shudeyaqi pouted, like a child being disciplined by the teacher for playing around in class.

This distraction eased my tension somewhat.

The three swam in the boundless darkness for a long time until the spotlights on their helmets shone upwards onto a wide, rough, silver mirror-like surface—the boundary of an endless abyss of water.

Emerging from the water, one finds a huge cavern, its walls and dome cast in bronze, with the ground connected to the outside world by a river.

The three swam towards the bronze ground not far away, where a bridge spanned the water. The dry bronze surface was only a few dozen centimeters above the water.

“This city looks like it was built after being submerged. Did he take that into account when he built it?” Shudeya exclaimed in amazement. At the same time, she slowly scanned every corner of the room, allowing Professor Mans and the others, who were watching in real time through the cameras on their helmets, to also see the environment clearly.

“There are patterns on the wall.” A female comrade’s voice came through the communicator; it was Selma, Professor Mans’s assistant.

Upon hearing this, Ye Sheng approached the "wall" and said, "This is Ye Sheng reporting live for you. Selma, that's not a pattern."

Shudeya and Lu Mingfei, who had drawn his sword and was holding it, also moved closer, and the three of them looked up together.

Countless metal discs covered a bronze wall tens of meters high, their bronze teeth interlocking to form a precise and enormous structure, like the movement of a giant's mechanical watch falling in front of three ants that had wandered into the giant's house.

“It’s alchemical machinery. Judging by this scale, this must be the city of Norton, the King of Bronze and Fire,” Professor Mans said. “His palace is somewhere in this city. Let’s not linger.”

"Received. I can sense that the 'snake' we used for detection was circling nearby," Ye Sheng replied.

Lu Mingfei could hear their conversation. As he followed Ye Sheng forward, he asked Jiu Deyaji beside him what a "snake" was.

"Junior, you're finally acting like one." Akari didn't answer immediately, but instead winked playfully at him. "That's more like it. Ask your senior if you have a question, and don't be the first to rush into danger, understand?"

Her Chinese is so fluent that she can use idioms, she must have a good teacher.

Chapter 24 The Main Hall

"Snake" is Ye Sheng's spiritual power.

It releases multiple bio-currents centered on itself to probe the outside world or transmit electromagnetic information. In low-resistance environments, such as rainy days, areas with dense metal lines, along railway tracks, and inside bodies of water, this power possesses an astonishingly vast domain.

An extreme example is that the namer himself, using this incantation and amplification coil, was able to detect the Tunguska event in Siberia while located in the United States. This can be interpreted as his domain, amplified by the coil, covering the entire Earth. Of course, the extremely powerful elemental turbulence caused by the Tunguska event was also a reason for his successful detection.

Before Lu Mingfei and Mans came down, Ye Sheng relied on his Word of Power to probe underwater and discovered the existence of the Bronze City through the underwater rock layers.

At that time, Ye Sheng's "snake" not only entered the Bronze City, but also discovered some kind of terrifying existence, and circled around in fear.

The essence of the power of words is to influence the natural rules within a certain time and space using spiritual power.

What can make a "snake" fear must be a powerful spirit.

According to the records of the Kassel College, that spirit should be dormant, but the "S" class now claims to have communicated with him.

"Don't you guys feel... a little cold?" Ye Sheng said in a low voice.

He had led Lu Mingfei and Jiu Deyaji far along the direction indicated by the "snake," passing through several empty caves and bronze passageways connecting them. Sometimes they could walk on dry ancient bronze roads, but sometimes they had to dive through narrow and dark passages.

As they approached the location of the "snake," the group suddenly realized they had arrived at a special hall.

As you dive through the half-submerged passageway and step onto the main hall floor, a chilling atmosphere immediately envelops you.

Their diving suits are not only completely isolated from the outside world, but also have independent oxygen supply, air pressure and circulation systems. The high-quality insulating materials ensure that people do not lose heat in deep water.

However, the chill in the hall seemed to penetrate human technology, as if ghosts were crawling on people, uttering eerie whispers.

"Perhaps it's due to its location. In alchemy, the pentagram represents the five elements, with fire being the element in the lower right corner. This bronze city was also built based on alchemy, similar to ancient Chinese feng shui principles. The Dragon King's palace is located in the lower part of the bronze city, and you're already close to the deepest part of this city," Professor Mans explained to them in the communication.

The main hall is extremely magnificent, at least tens of meters high, with bronze pillars at each of the four corners that connect the ground to the ceiling.

Entering from the front, you'll see rows of snake-headed, human-bodied statues bowing on either side.

Following the path where the statue bows, you reach a bronze tree with a thick trunk and ancient, gnarled roots. The top of the trunk reaches the ceiling, where the caster carved its branches and leaves, radiating out to cover half the dome.

Lu Mingfei's gaze swept across the ceiling, walls, and statues of the hall, but he did not find the lurking enemy or the monster disguised as a statue that he had been on guard against.

When he was at the border, he entered many underground tombs. The environment inside was very similar to that of the Bronze City, but much more lively. Monsters could be lurking around every corner or even overhead, making it impossible to guard against them.

"The 'snake' is very close; the place we're looking for is just a wall away from here." Ye Sheng's eyes shone with a pale golden light. The closer he got to the "snake," the clearer the fear became. It crawled and circled uncontrollably, yet dared not leave, just like a servant seeing his emperor.

“Aki, point the camera at the ceiling. Norma said those twisted branches and leaves are dragon runes,” Professor Mans directed remotely. “Ye Sheng, Lu Mingfei, you two explore the surrounding area. This is an alchemical city, and the king’s palace may be accessible through special mechanisms and passages.”

"Ok."

The three of them split up in the enormous hall.

Lu Mingfei held the Crimson Sky sword in his hand, the tip of which touched the ground. The sword and his arm were in a straight line, resembling the Fool's stance in a longsword preparation posture, but he was holding the sword with one hand.

He strolled slowly among the statues, his gaze sweeping over the most suspicious ones.

The statues are dressed in ancient Chinese robes, holding Chinese-style ivory tablets, and bowing their heads in a respectful manner. Their heads are shaped like cobras, and their slender necks peek out from the collars of their robes, which looks extremely abrupt.

Walking among them, I always felt that their eyes were watching the passersby.

Suddenly, Lu Mingfei felt a cold gaze coming from behind him.

The longsword in his hand was slightly deflected, reflecting the scene within a range of about 60 degrees to his right and rear.

The moment he turned around, he raised his sword to his side, lowered his center of gravity, and assumed a ready stance for a slash. Then, a silver-moon-like arc of sword light slashed out!

Lu Mingfei used to wield this combat technique with a longsword, his movements incredibly fast and his attack range vast, capable of instantly turning the tide of battle. Now, although he wields a straight sword, the King of Elden no longer needs to pursue wide-ranging attacks; precision is sufficient.

Following eerily behind Lu Mingfei was a snake-faced human statue. The moment they faced each other, the sharp tip of Chixiao's sword sliced ​​through its pure silver eyes, leaving a cut a finger deep.

The gaze I just received came from the solitary, fierce silver light that gleamed in its eyes on the dark bronze surface, as if it were blinking.

The statue was moving in some unknown way, yet it remained silent. Two lines of thick, black "tears" flowed from the wounds on its eyes, meandering down its bronze face and the gaps in its scales.

"Bang!" A heavy boom echoed through the hall; it was the sound of a gunshot.

Lu Mingfei raised his hand and swung his sword, piercing the throat of the eerie statue along a short straight line. He then kicked it hard, sending it flying into the overflowing water of the passageway in the distance. He immediately rushed towards the direction of the gunshot.

A chilling sound emanated from all around the hall, like someone rubbing two rusty iron pieces against your ears. Now, this sound was amplified hundreds or thousands of times. On the surrounding bronze walls, tens of thousands of bronze gears slowly began to turn, the enormous chimes echoing within the cave. The rust on the gears began to peel away, their teeth grinding together with a grating sound. All the snake-faced figures moved simultaneously, raising their ivory tablets, their slender snake necks arching as they looked up at the dome, as if performing an ancient pilgrimage.

Lu Mingfei moved quickly among the statues. In the dim light, the spotlight from his helmet illuminated one eerie face after another. The eyes of those snake-faced men all gleamed silver, like ghosts rushing towards them on the road to the underworld.

Chapter 25 Story

Lu Mingfei rushed to where Ye Sheng and Jiu Deyaji were.

Ye Sheng held an SSP-1 gun, its muzzle still emitting blue smoke. He stood behind Jiu Deya, using a wrestling-style grappling technique to control Jiu Deya's movements. Not far from them, there was also a strangely moving snake-faced statue. Its head had been hit by a bullet, shattering into a huge gash, and the remaining corner of its mouth was strangely smiling.

"What happened?" Lu Mingfei asked.

“It might be because of those dragon runes,” Ye Sheng pointed to the dome, “Yaji took photos continuously, which is equivalent to reading the dragon runes in a certain order, which will produce ‘spiritual vision’ and make the mind uncontrollable.”

“I cut the signal line and started something…” Shudeyaki’s face was pale as he looked at the bronze lever on the wall not far away.

The signal cable connecting her to the ship had broken; one end was hanging around her waist, and the other end was broken on the ground.

“Aki has likely activated the Bronze City’s mechanical system. It now knows that someone has infiltrated the king’s palace, and some of the defenses may be activated.” Professor Mans’s voice was grave. “Prepare for a retreat. This infiltration has now become a frontal invasion, which is beyond your capabilities.”

“No, Professor,” Ye Sheng said, “my ‘snake’ doesn’t feel any danger. It’s still circling around there. We still have a chance.”

Before Professor Mans could even think or reply, the changes in Bronze City ended on their own. The gears that had been spinning violently suddenly stopped, and all the roaring sounds vanished without a trace. If it weren't for the piles of rust that had been shaken off along the edges of the walls, it would have seemed like a dream.

“What happened? Norma detected that the vibration has stopped,” Professor Mans asked.

"I think we've found the palace," Ye Sheng reported over the communicator after a moment of silence.

The wall behind the bronze tree opened. Covered by the patina of countless years, the wall appeared as a single piece, but in reality, it was composed of countless bronze blocks, some as tall as several stories and others only a few tens of centimeters in size, resembling a densely packed, irregular Rubik's Cube.

Now, after complex mechanical operation, some blocks have been moved away, revealing a gate more than ten meters high.

The gate was wide open, and it was pitch black inside.

Once everyone shone their flashlights over the door, Professor Mans was able to see the entire door through the camera.

"Let's continue the operation."

Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya both drew their guns, while Lu Mingfei held the Crimson Blade. The three slowly walked into the unsettling darkness. Fear stems from the unknown, but now it was the opposite; all intelligence was revealing what lay beyond that door, but the more they learned, the greater the fear. Inside lay the shadow that had shrouded human history, the eternal and immortal ruler, the archetype of gods in countless religions, or, in more official terms, Norton, the King of Bronze and Fire.

The main gate leads to a passageway, and based on previous exploration experience, there should be another room connected to the main hall ahead.

The walls of the passageway are carved with countless twisted and intertwined lush branches and leaves, including the floor and ceiling, as if the canopy of the bronze giant tree in the hall not only grows on the walls, but also extends into the passageway behind.

That's not a passageway; it's more like a gap in the tree canopy leading to a treehouse.

"Don't look at those leaves," Shudeya said in a low voice, her expression filled with lingering fear. "They can trigger clairvoyance."

"As long as you don't read in a regular, sequential manner, there won't be any problems," Ye Sheng said softly, holding Jiu Deya's hand.

Lu Mingfei's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly thrust the Crimson Sky Sword in his hand towards the middle of Ye Sheng and Jiu Deyaji. Someone stood in front of the two's clasped hands, with a look of pity and mockery on their faces.

"Brother, you've summoned me again."

The sharp tip of Chixiao's sword stopped a few centimeters from Lu Mingze's eyes. Lu Mingfei stopped his momentum and sheathed the sword.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Lu Mingze's expression remained unchanged, as if he were not afraid of being pierced by the longsword at all.

"I've developed clairvoyance?" Lu Mingfei asked.

He looked at Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya, and time seemed to stand still for the two of them, frozen in the meeting of the young man and the girl's eyes. Under the oppressive weight of death and disaster, there seemed to be a firelight flowing in their eyes, their reflections of each other, or perhaps the end of something.

“They’re going to die.” Lu Mingze’s voice was low. “Why bother, brother? This world is so beautiful, why choose the cruelest path… You can’t handle it.”

Lu Mingfei's gaze passed over the passageway and fell into the endless darkness.

“Let me tell you a story.” His eyes flickered, as if he could see a dirty and disheveled figure through the darkness. “There was a man who was destined to be a savior, but he was a cowardly and weak fellow. In the face of death and pain, he was so frightened that he hid in a dark and damp corner of the ruins, unable to move forward. For a small person, the reality and fate of the whole world were too vast, so vast that it was despairing.”

Lu Mingze stared intently at Lu Mingfei with a serious expression.

“In that world, the soul is immortal, but the body decays and reincarnates.” Lu Mingfei said, a hint of pity for the protagonist in his eyes. “So that person drank sewage from the stinking ditch and ate the fruit used as livestock feed, and actually survived, and even wandered around that ruin for a long time.”

“Until one day,” he squinted, “that person met another person.”

Lu Mingze sensed the fluctuation in his emotions and realized that the turning point in the protagonist's fate had arrived.

"The other was a ragged, disheveled fellow, bald, his face practically a layer of skin covering a skull, not like a living person, yet he had all his limbs intact, wielding a rusty longsword, wandering the road. The cowardly fellow, however, was actually quite perceptive. He immediately realized that the other was fundamentally different from him; the pitiful creature before him was actually dead, its soul twisted, decayed, and dissipated through countless reincarnations, leaving behind only a rotting, immortal corpse, defying the laws of death. Terrified, the fellow ran away like a madman until he reached a swamp. In the black, stagnant water, he saw his reflection, no different from the monster he had just encountered, except that he hadn't completely lost his soul."