Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

He then fabricated a story about an ordinary high school student who encountered a superhuman with golden eyes committing a crime in an alley after school.

After clicking send, he closed the forum and opened a somewhat rudimentary shopping platform, entering "longsword" in the search bar.

There weren't many suitable items, and online platforms didn't allow for hands-on testing. Those clearly decorative longswords weren't what he wanted. In the borderlands, he had used a wide variety of weapons: swords, knives, axes, hammers, spears, and even special weapons forged from the teeth of star beasts and ancient dragons. But even ordinary weapons, after being enhanced by Mr. Xiu Gu, were far superior. The blacksmith master who had forged god-slaying weapons for Marika had crafted weapons that accompanied Lu Mingfei for most of his path to kingship.

Unable to find a satisfactory weapon, Lu Mingfei closed the online shopping website and decided to buy it from a physical store another day.

He looked at the status bar, where forum messages and chat messages were flashing simultaneously; three people had sent him messages on the chat app.

Chen Wenwen replied to a message asking if she wanted to participate in the literary society activity: "Go ahead, see you the day after tomorrow."

Lu Mingfei's question was left 18 hours ago, but for him now, it feels like more than a hundred years have passed. He politely replied, "I might have something to do and can't go."

He had a vague sense of unease, as if something in the darker side of the world was stirring. When he activated the power within him, the boy came looking for him with his dreams, so there was reason to suspect that something else would come looking for him too. The long journey had turned him into someone who acted faster than he thought, and socializing with his high school classmates was undoubtedly a low priority.

The other two names are Lao Tang and Nuonuo, people he met in the gaming channel, who are now inviting him to play games.

Lu Mingfei simply ignored it and changed the status of his profile picture to gray and offline.

He opened the forum where he had just posted, and the first message was a notification that his post had been deleted by the system. At the same time, the forum administrator sent him a message.

"Hello, Mr. Lu Mingfei, this is an invitation. Please come to the Regent Hotel at 10:00 AM tomorrow."

Lu Mingfei shut down his computer and went to the window. The fish seemed to take the bait easily, but were the fish caught with such a straight hook really prey? Perhaps they were enormous creatures underwater, tugging at the bait, just waiting for the angler to grip the rod tightly so they could suddenly pull them into the water for a feast.

The night outside the window was dark and starless. The city lights cast a dark red glow on the clouds. Such a sight could not be seen in the borderlands. Even the royal city of Rodel, beneath the throne, had not been able to regain its prosperity for decades after the restoration of the French Ring.

His gaze was indifferent and distant, as if he had returned to that high and mighty throne that felt like a shackle, and he murmured to himself.

"This is...exciting."

Chapter 3 Interview

The next day, at the Regent Hotel, Lu Mingfei, carrying a violin case, stepped into the hotel lobby.

As the most luxurious five-star hotel in the small city, its interior was lavishly decorated, but Lu Mingfei was unmoved by it. He lived at the foot of the Golden Tree, the entire royal city built upon the massive tree trunk, embodying all the prosperity of the Golden Age, a symbol of the Golden Dynasty's strength before the border region fell into war. And every day when Lu Mingfei woke up, he would see this vast royal city prostrate at his feet.

A waiter was already waiting. He stepped forward and greeted him with an unconsciously respectful air, "Are you Mr. Lu Mingfei? The VIP from Kassel College is waiting for you on the executive floor." He worked at the Regent Hotel and had served many wealthy and important people. He had a certain ability to judge character. The young man in front of him had an air of wealth and nobility. His gaze was calm, and his posture was relaxed, yet he habitually held his head high. The guest he was meeting was a VIP staying in the presidential suite.

This is a wealthy young man.

Lu Mingfei noted down the name Kassel College, followed the waiter, took the elevator to the ninth floor, and finally arrived at the VIP restaurant.

The waiter stopped at the door, and Lu Mingfei went in alone. A man and a woman had been waiting at the seats for a long time.

Lu Mingfei knew that the person in front of him was the one who had deleted his post and sent the invitation. He took the violin case off his back, held it by the strap with one hand, and slowly walked over. Inside the case was a solid wood baseball bat, which he had bought at a chain supermarket, while the violin case was a remnant of Lu Mingze's music lessons from junior high school, when it was popular for students to take music certificate exams.

Hearing the footsteps, the two turned their gazes at the same time, and Lu Mingfei was able to see their faces clearly.

A tall, slender young man and a sweet-looking woman. Both were dressed in dark green suits with thin silver trim on the collars, gold buttons and cuffs. What caught Lu Mingfei's attention most were the badges embroidered in silver thread on their chests, depicting a giant tree that was half lush and half dead.

Both had Asian features and dark brown eyes, without any signs of being non-human or having golden pupils.

However, Lu Mingfei can change the color of his eyes to normal, and others may be able to do the same, so we cannot judge their identities based on this alone.

The two seated people stood up at the same time and introduced themselves in Chinese.

"Hello, Lu Mingfei, my name is Ye Sheng."

"My name is Shudeyaki."

Ye Sheng has a pure accent and is Chinese, while Jiu Deyaji seems to be a Japanese name.

"Administrator?" Lu Mingfei was not surprised that the other party knew his name. If a powerful force in the dark side of the world could quickly and accurately eliminate an insignificant post in the vast online world, then investigating a person's identity should be a piece of cake.

"Yes." Ye Sheng admitted. He and Jiu Deya exchanged a glance, and Jiu Deya took out a letter and handed it to Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei opened the envelope, scanned it, and quickly reviewed it.

This is a reply from a university. The first sentence is a rejection of his application to study at the University of Chicago, which his aunt helped him submit. However, after a "but," the letter introduces a fellowship school called Kassel College. According to the letter, a professor named Guderian will soon come to China to interview him.

Lu Mingfei had just learned the name of the school from the waiter: Kassel.

"So you're actually students from the same school?" Lu Mingfei put away the letter, his expression strange.

"Lu Mingfei, please sit down. We're here to explain things to you," Ye Sheng said sincerely.

Lu Mingfei walked to the seat opposite the two of them and sat down calmly.

He was willing to listen to the two young men's explanations, which was much better than he had expected; at least the other party had not shown any hostility.

“We suspect that you have awakened your powers.” Ye Sheng’s tone suddenly became serious when he mentioned powers. A laptop was open in front of Shu Deya, who was standing next to him, as if he was preparing to record something.

The entire restaurant was deserted; even the waiters at the door had disappeared. The midday sun shone into the magnificent hall, and a tangible silence seemed to solidify in the air, making Ye Sheng's voice sound somewhat ethereal.

Lu Mingfei didn't answer, and Ye Sheng continued, "Norma investigated your itinerary. At the time mentioned in the post, you were at your uncle's house. You played two rounds of the online game StarCraft in the morning, and didn't go out in the afternoon or evening." He paused, glancing at Lu Mingfei's calm face, "We speculate that this article has a strong implication. You fabricated the protagonist and the time and place, and the person with the golden pupils is you."

Lu Mingfei remained expressionless; he had no intention of hiding anything. "Yes, it was me."

Ye Sheng's eyes turned serious, while Jiu Deyaji typed on the laptop keyboard.

"You also have this characteristic, right? What is it?" Lu Mingfei asked, as this was the information he had come for today.

“Lu Mingfei, this is an accident. The admission notice was supposed to be delivered today, but you awakened the day before.” Ye Sheng did not answer the question. “You should have accepted the admission, signed the confidentiality agreement, joined us, and awakened and tested your power in the 3E exam.”

“We can’t tell you anything until you sign the confidentiality agreement,” Shudeya added.

“I understand, this is a special interview you’ve arranged for me,” Lu Mingfei suddenly said. “I’m willing to join Kassel College.”

Before becoming king, he had joined many factions, including the Great Blessing, the Blood Dynasty, and the Volcano Mansion. Leaders of those organizations who stood against him for various reasons, such as Sir Hundred Wisdom, the Blood King, and the Blasphemous King, all died under his blade.

Compared to the potential troubles brought by the unknown organization, Lu Mingfei is now more eager to understand the extraordinary power of Earth.

Even if Kassel College is indeed backed by ambitious schemers with ulterior motives, so what? We'll just crush them.

Ye Sheng looked at Shudeya, the gentle-voiced Japanese girl who took the lead in the conversation. "Originally, there was supposed to be an interview for the academy to determine whether the candidate possessed power and met the required qualities. However, the academy has decided to conduct a special process for you. There is no need for further testing. You only need to prove to us that you have awakened your power, such as by activating your golden eyes."

Lu Mingfei nodded.

This Kassel College is unlike any other school in the conventional sense. While Ye Sheng was in charge of the awakened Lu Mingfei, now Jiu Deyaji is in charge of the student Lu Mingfei is under observation. There must be a clear division of authority between them: one is the task executor, and the other is the examiner.

As the King of Elden, Lu Mingfei possesses not only the Golden Law but also a wide array of other powers, including furnaces, ancient dragons, fire, beasts, blood, corruption, mad fire, dragon feast, Grimil lava magic, stargazing magic, ice magic, night magic, crystal magic, Kalia royal magic, mud magic, death curse magic, gravity magic, radiant stone magic, and blood magic. He himself is a master of using all these powers.

Therefore, he was able to easily control the furnace-like power within his body.

Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya stared at Lu Mingfei.

When Lu Mingfei closed his eyes and slowly opened them, Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya couldn't help but stand up. The terrifying aura that enveloped them was as if a real dragon was watching them. Such majesty was a serious burden even for A-level hybrids, and both of them struggled to straighten their spines.

Those were eyes that seemed to be flowing with lava.

Chapter 4 S-Rank

Lu Mingfei extinguished his golden eyes, and Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya's breathing became noticeably disordered.

“Lu Mingfei, now I believe you, you really are S-rank.” Ye Sheng said with a wry smile.

"S-level? Is that your rating system?" Lu Mingfei asked.

Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya sat down again. Jiu Deya took a cell phone out of his briefcase and handed it to Lu Mingfei. Ye Sheng then explained to him, "Our students are divided into different classes according to their bloodline, from A-level to E-level... and now it should be F-level, which is the lowest. Above A-level are the elite of the elite, S-level. Lu Mingfei, before we went on the mission, there was news in the academy that you were appointed S-level by the principal."

"Is that so?" Lu Mingfei didn't care about the ratings. The only thing that mattered was the principal of Kassel. He had actually given the highest evaluation to a high school student he had never met on the other side of the ocean, and Lu Mingfei really did possess such power. He couldn't help but wonder if his life for the first 18 years was really real, or if he had been under close surveillance?

Unfortunately, the two people in front of them were probably unaware that they had even determined the rating of the mission target based on uncertain information.

He turned on the phone's screen; it still had half battery left. He tapped the prominent folder icon, inside which was a lone contact: "Professor Guderian."

“This is Professor Guderian. He was supposed to be in charge of admissions, but he won’t arrive until tomorrow night. Call him through this phone, and your student status will be officially activated,” Shudeya explained considerately.

Lu Mingfei dialed the number without hesitation, and the other party answered immediately.

"Mingfei? Is it Mingfei?" Guderian's voice was somewhat tense.

"I am Lu Mingfei. Please activate my identity, Professor Guderian," Lu Mingfei said calmly.

"That's great, thankfully nothing went wrong..." Professor Guderian breathed a sigh of relief. "Ahem, according to procedure, let me ask one more question, are you sure?"

"Confirmed." Lu Mingfei felt that this sentence was like the pureblood knight badge he used before. A vast hidden world was about to open up for him, and it was unknown whether it contained comrades or ambitious people.

"Verification successful, options enabled. Lu Mingfei, date of birth February 14, 1992, male, ID AD0013, class 'S', listed in the Kassel College roster. Database access granted, account activated, course selection form generated. I am Norma, secretary of Kassel College. It's a pleasure to assist you. Your plane ticket, passport, and visa will be delivered within three weeks. Welcome, Lu Mingfei."

"Norma will take care of the rest, Mingfei. Just wait for me to come over." Professor Guderian's tone was light and cheerful, almost like he was whistling.

After the call ended, Lu Mingfei calmly handed the phone back.

"This phone is yours, Lu Mingfei... junior." Jiu Deya said with a smile, then turned to Ye Sheng, one hand covering her chest, "A living S-class student now has to call you senior, how does that feel?"

Ye Sheng relaxed, took off the miniature camera hanging on his chest, detached himself from the role of censor, and resumed their usual interaction. "Welcome to join us, junior Lu Mingfei. You can prepare for the next two days. However, I'm sorry that Aki and I both have missions, so we won't be going the same way as you."

Seeing Ye Sheng's outstretched hand, Lu Mingfei stood up and shook hands with him.

"By the way, is there really a violin in your violin case?" Shuto Aki blinked, looking curious.

Lu Mingfei didn't shy away from the fact that he placed the violin case flat on the table, opened it, and revealed a brand-new baseball bat inside, with a supermarket price tag still attached.

"I'm not sure what kind of beings you are, maybe for self-defense," Lu Mingfei said calmly. "Fortunately, we're companions now."

"Haha, yeah." Shudeya said with a hint of embarrassment, but then suddenly thought of something. "Speaking of which, junior, what you're doing is just like Chu Zihang, the current president of the Lionheart Society. He's also from your middle school."

"Therefore, the college decided to conduct more interviews at Shilan Middle School, which is indeed a place where many talented people emerge," Ye Sheng commented.

“Junior, we’ve been staying at the Regent Hotel. Feel free to come find us anytime if you need anything. Professor Guderian will also be staying here tomorrow.” Shudeya closed his notebook and let out a long sigh.

......

At noon, Lu Mingfei walked slowly along the sidewalk, his mind not on Kassel College. He let his mind wander, stepping on the patterned paving stones. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled patterns on him. A gust of wind blew by, making the whole world seem to rustle.

Spring has come again, and Lu Mingfei has lost count of how old he is. The child who once struggled in the border region is now as blurry as a shadow in his memory, that fearful and bewildered fellow...

Before he knew it, he arrived at the newsstand he frequented, where the old man was a familiar face.

"Mingfei, everyone says you're going to study abroad?" the old man said, assuming he was there to buy the latest edition of "Illustrated Novel".

"My flight is in a couple of days, so I'm afraid we won't see each other again, sir." Lu Mingfei squatted down in front of the newsstand and picked up the latest issue of "Fiction Illustrated".

"You child, you're talking about something rather sad. Studying abroad is a good thing, you'll be a returnee when you come back." The old man felt that Lu Mingfei was a little different from usual, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong. "These days, seniority doesn't matter, only academic qualifications are the way out."

"Hmm." Lu Mingfei handed over the change, bought "Novel Illustration," and left silently.

The old man squinted and peered at Lu Mingfei's back. Looking at the upright figure, he suddenly realized that Lu Mingfei was different. This kid hadn't read "Home Computers and Games".

"Boys always grow up overnight." The old man, who usually read books from the newsstand, suddenly remembered a sentence he had read somewhere and murmured to himself.

Lu Mingfei then went to the convenience store, bought some vegetables, and also bought the bagged milk that his aunt had been talking about for a long time and was almost used up. His uncle didn't realize what was going on.