Chapter Seventy-One: Xia Mi — Chu Zihang, Let's Go!

“Are you... Nibelungen?” Focalors asked, her voice trembling slightly.

“Nibelungen? Why would you ask that?” Lu Mingfei pondered for a moment, not quite understanding. The existence of Nibelungen wasn’t common knowledge in Teyvat, so he wasn’t familiar with it. Then, based on what he knew, he answered, “For the Dragon Kings in our world, Nibelungen is something each of them can create. Of course, there are some special second-generation types who can do it as well. For example, I recently met a second-generation named Xiamie.”

Furina stifled a laugh.

Focalors: ???

Wait, every Dragon King can create it? Does that mean the Nibelungen of the Second Throne is merely a trivial power brought from their world? And that’s just a small fraction of their might? If every Dragon King, even some of the second-generation, can create it...

Hiss.

Then this Lu Mingfei...

His true form must be incredibly powerful, right?

And from his words, he himself seemed to be a Dragon King—a Dragon King wielding great authority.

“Ahem, the Dragon Kings of your world must be extremely strong, right?” Focalors managed to steady herself a little and asked, a hint of nervousness in her tone.

“It depends on the stage. Young Dragon Kings are weak, probably only at the level of destroying a city. Adolescent Dragon Kings can easily cover hundreds or even thousands of meters with their Word Spirits. Adult and super-evolved Dragon Kings possess power enough to overturn the world,” Lu Mingfei answered honestly.

The strength of a Dragon King is tremendous. There are few who can defeat one head-on; except for some with cheat-like abilities, under normal circumstances, hardly anyone could win.

Among those with such abilities was the legendary Emperor Liu Xiu, hailed as the Child of the Plane.

That man led an army and slew two Dragon Kings—Norton and Constantine. And back then, neither Norton nor Constantine was in a weakened state after just awakening; they had even cocooned themselves in the Bronze City and, at the very least, retained the power of a juvenile Dragon King.

It was said that when Emperor Liu Xiu marched to battle, floods roared and drowned Norton, thunderous spears crashed down upon Constantine, and endless meteor showers rained from the sky. No one knew if that was luck or Word Spirit, but in any case, Norton and Constantine died thoroughly.

“I see.”

Focalors’ expression gradually shifted. She now had a rough understanding of Lu Mingfei’s world, and at the same time, she became even more wary of his power and that of this other realm.

The next morning, at dawn—

“Good morning, Senior,” Lu Mingfei greeted Chu Zihang, who had come to eat with him. But as soon as he saw the girl beside his senior, his words faltered.

At that moment, Xiamie was glaring at him with a hostile expression, as if she wanted to kill him on the spot.

Her resentment toward Lu Mingfei didn’t stem from his orchestrating Chu Zihang’s theft of her power, but rather from the fact that after he made Chu Zihang steal her power, he tricked him into believing he was Constantine—and even gave him Norton’s contact info.

And then, well, Chu Zihang actually believed it!

He really bought it!

At first, Xiamie hadn’t thought much of it; she figured she could just pin the blame for the mistaken identity on Lu Mingfei. But now the problem was, Chu Zihang truly believed he was Constantine. She couldn’t even help him deflect the blame, and this guy had chatted with Norton for quite a while. It was easy enough for her to snatch Chu Zihang’s phone, but the real issue was, how was she supposed to explain all this to Norton?

Sorry, I’m not actually Constantine; I was just tricked by Lu Mingfei, so you don’t need to come.

Would it really be okay to say that? Would that justify the hundreds or thousands of messages Norton sent every day?

His precious little brother—gone, just like that!

Wouldn’t he go berserk? Wouldn’t he rage?

Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei might not understand Norton, but Jormungandr, as one of the Four Monarchs, certainly did. She knew that Norton was the ultimate doting brother. If he found out his “brother” was a fake, he’d probably come storming in and beat up both Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang.

Of course, he might not be able to defeat Lu Mingfei...

But he could definitely beat Chu Zihang, who hadn’t yet fully mastered the power of a Dragon King!

If that shameless Lu Mingfei just made a run for it, Chu Zihang—unable to beat Norton—would be in big trouble, and she’d be caught in the mess as well. The thought was a nightmare.

What could she do? She was desperate!

Although her power was at the adolescent stage, Chu Zihang lacked the muscle memory of using the King of Earth and Mountain’s strength, nor did he have any concrete experience fighting such a being. He’d have to learn from scratch, and on top of that, he still believed himself to be the King of Bronze and Fire. With that misunderstanding, his learning efficiency was far from optimal.

Never mind defeating Norton; even if Chu Zihang could, with his current mistaken identity, he’d probably use the King of Earth and Mountain’s powers while telling Norton, “Brother, I’m your brother Constantine!”

Just picturing it was explosive.

Norton would lose his mind, wouldn’t he? Chu Zihang would be insisting he was his brother, Constantine, while unabashedly wielding the power of the King of Earth and Mountain, all the while protesting, “I really am your brother, why are you attacking me?”—and with genuine emotion in his eyes.

Could the vaunted Tyrant Monarch Norton really handle that?

From his perspective, a Chu Zihang with adolescent-level strength couldn’t possibly be a newly awakened, amnesiac Dragon King. And yet, Chu Zihang would be beating him up, all the while claiming to be his brother, Constantine. Norton could only take that as the ultimate mockery.

Just imagining it felt like a detonation!

If things really played out that way, even if Norton couldn’t kill Chu Zihang, he’d certainly remember him vividly—and if he ever got the chance, he might just stab him in the back.

“Chu Zihang, let’s go! We’re not eating with him!” Xiamie tugged hard at Chu Zihang’s sleeve, pulling him away from Lu Mingfei as she spoke.

She simply couldn’t let Chu Zihang interact with Lu Mingfei any longer. It was because she hadn’t been vigilant before that Lu Mingfei had managed to trick Chu Zihang into seizing her power and even made him believe he was Constantine.

If she let him keep it up, who knew—one day Chu Zihang might think he was the Black King or the White King, and who could predict what kind of foolishness he might get up to then?

Ah! The woes of a dragon!

“No.” Chu Zihang refused firmly.

He could compromise on other matters, but keeping an eye on Lu Mingfei was a mission assigned by Kassel College. On this, he couldn’t yield. There were still many important things he hadn’t seen—he couldn’t just leave.

He seized Xiamie’s wrist, pulled her in front of him, and looked into her face with seriousness. “This is a task given to me by the school. I must complete it. Don’t interfere.”

“Chu Zihang! You—!”

While Chu Zihang and Xiamie faced off, Lu Mingfei quietly picked up his phone, opened the camera, muted it, and snapped a few quick photos. He then retreated to the breakfast shop owner’s side and grinned, “A plate of peanuts, please. I’ll just have a little to eat.”

“Coming right up!” the owner replied briskly.

Lu Mingfei, observing the standoff between his senior and Xiamie, glanced at the photos he’d just taken. He felt like a genius: even a casual snapshot had such strong chemistry between the two. Add a few special effects, and the result would be perfect!

“Why are you so hostile toward him? Has he ever done anything to wrong you?” Chu Zihang demanded.

Hmm?

A question mark slowly formed in Xiamie’s mind, while inwardly she raged: If it weren’t for him—if it weren’t for you—how could I have possibly become the strongest second-generation? And you have the nerve to ask? To bring it up?

But she also knew that Chu Zihang himself was unaware of these things, which only made her expression gloomier.

In fact, she’d had a chance to explain it all to Chu Zihang yesterday, since they’d been alone together—but she hadn’t seized it. The reason was simple: A Dragon King pretending to be a second-generation, dating a hybrid who thought he was a Dragon King—just thinking about it was thrilling. She’d gotten hooked on the game last night.

So this is what it means to be the King of Lust and Desire?

And so, on the very first night of dating Chu Zihang, Xiamie decisively set her persona as the strongest second-generation ever—and thoroughly enjoyed the role.

Wait a minute.

In Chu Zihang’s eyes, Lu Mingfei is the King of Ocean and Water, Neuvillette; I’m the strongest second-generation in history; so any conflict between us could be explained away, couldn’t it?

Since Lu Mingfei was already making things up, even inventing a name for the King of Ocean and Water, why shouldn’t she join in the fabrication?

With this thought, Xiamie’s gaze grew brighter.

(End of this chapter)