Chapter 337: Heroic Spirit: Red Emperor

Chapter 337: Chapter 337: Heroic Spirit: Red Emperor

In the vast five thousand years of Huaxia’s history, there have been countless great dynasties.

But.

There was one word.

A word that carried more weight than any inscription on bronze or stone, whose Life Force was more enduring than any ceaseless, rushing river.

That word was "Han"!

It was not merely the name of a dynasty.

It was the proud ethnic name for the countless descendants of that vast land!

It was the language they spoke, passed down through the generations!

It was the script they wrote—those square characters, each stroke imbued with an unyielding spirit!

It was this very word.

For over two thousand years, it forged the backbone of the Huaxia people, allowing them to stand proud between heaven and earth, never to yield.

And it infused this unyielding Spirit deep into the veins of every last one of the Descendants of Yan and Huang.

And the man who united a chaotic world and gave that great word its immortal meaning...

...was a commoner from the countryside, a man from the streets who was even ridiculed as a rogue!

The Si Shui Pavilion Chief.

Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang!

Lance walked up to him and plopped down.

"I had my suspicions. An emperor associated with a Red Dragon and carrying the air of a scoundrel... you’re one of a kind in all of history."

He never expected that a Foreigner like him could borrow the power of the Underground City and the Heroic Spirit Hall to meet a Heroic Spirit from his old home.

When it came to sublimating the exclusive trait for his "Gathering Heart" title, he was certain no Heroic Spirit from the Otherworld’s Heroic Spirit Hall could compare to this founding emperor. This was, after all, the man who conquered the world in just seven years, leading a diverse group of talents and putting each of their skills to perfect use.

’What a legend!’

"You’ve got a smart mouth, kid. I like it!"

Hearing Lance’s teasing, Liu Bang wasn’t the least bit angry. On the contrary, he burst into a booming laugh.

’He’s a good kid. I like him.’

"This Heroic Spirit Body I’ve manifested has a total of three phases."

He pointed to his own face as he explained.

"If I had come to see you as the ’Dusk Dragon’..."

"...that would have been me in my later years, after founding the Great Han and suffering the bitter defeat at the Siege of Baideng."

"’An overreaching dragon invites regret.’ During that time, my heart was too full of twilight weariness and suspicion. I feared the lingering rage and gloom of a fading emperor would have crushed your precious youthful spirit."

"If I had come to see you as the ’Rising Dragon’..."

"...that would have been me in my middle years, during the fiercest fighting of the Chu-Han Contention and the Siege of Gaixia."

"’A dragon soaring in the heavens.’ In that period, I was wading through mountains of corpses and seas of blood every day. The aura of slaughter about me was too intense. That kind of violent energy would have harmed you as well."

Liu Bang drained a bowl of wine, a look of satisfaction on his face.

"That’s why I specifically chose this ’Young Emperor’s Phase’."

"In the Yi Li of our homeland, we call this the ’Hidden Dragon in the Abyss’."

He looked at Lance, his eyes filled with appreciation.

"You’re out here struggling all by yourself in this Otherworld, kid. It’s just like me, back in Peixian County before I ever raised my army."

"’Hidden Dragon in the Abyss.’ You may be lying low in the mud, but your youthful spirit is at its peak, brimming with vigor."

"Only that kind of boundless vitality is worthy of the immeasurable future that awaits you."

With that said.

Liu Bang gestured for Lance to start drinking.

"Alright! Don’t just stand there gawking!"

"Hurry up! Have a good, long drink of home-brewed wine with a fellow from the old country!"

"If you can drink me into a good mood, you can have as much of this Heroic Spirit Power as you want. But if *I* drink *you* under the table, then you’re going back butt-naked."

"Butt-naked?"

Lance grinned and raised the wine bowl in front of him. "Then you’d better be ready for a heavy loss today. Don’t even think about leaving until I’ve cleaned you out."

With that, he tilted his head back and downed the bowl of harsh liquor. GULP. GULP.

"COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH! Shit..."

’This is definitely not authentic Han Dynasty wine.’

The flavor was like fire, searing a path straight to his stomach before spreading through his limbs.

[Hint: Infused with "Red Dragon" Heroic Spirit Power... Base Charisma +0.1]

"Good wine! A bit rough on the throat, is all!"

Lance said, trying to save face.

"AHAHAHA! Good lad! You’ve got guts!"

Liu Bang slammed his hand on the table. Of all things in life, he loved a drinking contest the most. He personally poured another large bowl for Lance.

In the moments that followed, the long pavilion inside the Red Star completely transformed into a rowdy roadside stall for two countrymen separated by an ocean of time.

They went bowl for bowl, drinking until they couldn’t tell day from night.

After a few bowls of the harsh liquor, that initial sense of reverence from a two-thousand-year gap had been completely burned away.

"So, you’re doing pretty well for yourself over here?"

Liu Bang propped one leg on his stool, listening with relish as Lance recounted the "glorious deeds" of his journey so far.

"You’re ruthless when you need to be, you know how to play dumb, and you’ve got the same shameless streak I do. You’ve truly mastered my ways!"

The alcohol was getting to Lance’s head, and he couldn’t help but retort, "Sir, is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Of course it’s a compliment!"

"I started as a commoner and conquered the world with a three-foot sword! How is being like me not a compliment? You have the air of a king!"

"Come on, come on, do you know the ’Song of the Great Wind’ I wrote? Sing it with me!"

Liu Bang slung an arm around Lance’s shoulders.

Swept up in Liu Bang’s passion and his own drunkenness, Lance began to howl the song right alongside him in the pavilion.

But soon...

The soft drizzle ceased without warning.

The peach blossom petals drifting through the air began to dissolve into faint motes of starlight, quickly vanishing.

Noticing the change, Liu Bang, who had been drinking with gusto, let the smile on his face falter.

He glanced down at his hands, which were slowly turning transparent and illusory.

"Hah..."

Liu Bang let out a long sigh, his voice tinged with regret.

"Time’s up. Just when it was getting good, I have to go."

"I was hoping you’d tell me more, kid... about what kind of prosperous, thriving world our home became in the two thousand years after I left..."

Lance had already set down his bowl, his eyes fixed on the Grand Ancestor before him.

Though their meeting was brief—one a Heroic Spirit, the other a Foreigner—they were truly kindred spirits.

"Our home is doing great now. Everyone has enough to eat and warm clothes to wear. There are no more years of endless war."

"We build our houses taller than the clouds. We have iron birds that fly in the sky faster than any dragon. We’ve even sent men to the moon."

Lance paused, then spoke with deep sincerity.

"And... more than two thousand years have passed. No matter how the dynasties changed, no matter if we were strong or weak..."

"We still call ourselves... Han People."

Liu Bang froze, his pupils trembling.

In the next instant, the founding emperor rose to his feet, threw his head back, and let out a long, booming laugh.

"Good! Good!! GOOD!!!"

All traces of the rogue vanished.

Only the domineering aura of an emperor remained.

"Then I have no regrets!"

"This Power."

"Kid, brace yourself and take it from me!"

The moment the words left his mouth.

Liu Bang jabbed a finger toward the point between Lance’s eyebrows!

BOOM!

A mass of blazing red starlight, like a meteor, shot instantly into Lance’s body.

In that moment.

Lance felt it with absolute clarity.

His [Red Dragon Wood Master] title, and even his backup [Red Star] title...

...were being infused by this red starlight, a symbol of the imperial might of Huaxia.

And they were beginning to transform!

The Attributes and term Effects he had originally planned were being overwritten by a completely new Power.

And in the instant the inheritance was complete,

the entire world before Lance’s eyes began to crumble.

The green-bricked pavilion that held his nostalgia, the wine-stained wooden table, the illusory peach blossoms drifting through the sky—

—all of it shattered like a broken mirror, fragmenting into innumerable specks of stardust.

Liu Bang’s figure also faded away into the light, leaving only his hearty laughter echoing through the void:

"Don’t you bring shame on us folks from back home! Live your life and make something of yourself!"

Lance felt himself being forcibly ejected from the space.

He plummeted from the Star Realm, his consciousness returning to the throne inside the dilapidated Pantheon deep within the Underground City.

[Independent Coronation Ceremony concluded...]

[Title bestowal complete.]

[And so.]

[This world bestows upon you its crown.]

[You are: Red Star Lance. You are also... the Red Dragon Wood Master!]

The voice of the Underground City’s will echoed in his mind.

But.

As Lance sat once more upon the throne, his face showed none of the expected ecstasy.

He slowly raised his hand.

With the pad of his thumb, he gently wiped the corner of his eye.

Then.

He stood, his expression solemn.

Facing the endless void before him, he gave a deep bow.

"I’ll take your blessings to heart, Grand Ancestor."

He whispered the words in flawless, articulate Chinese.

These words of thanks...

...were for the elder from his homeland who had traveled so far to see him.

At the same time...

...they were also a final, fond look back at the home he could never return to—his last glance before he, a [Foreigner], chose to fully immerse himself in the river of history of this fantastical world.

’Perhaps we’ll never have the chance to meet again.’

Lance took a deep breath, sealing all his melancholy deep within his heart.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was utterly resolute.

He raised his head.

And looked out at the fractured sky beyond the Pantheon.