On the ancient Dunhuang road, a long carriage procession wound its way forward.
Inside one of the carriages, a young man in white sat poised. He lifted the curtain, gazing at the sand-filled sky outside, and sighed.
"Three years since I transmigrated, and I’ve finally become the most arrogant man in this world! Li Aotian, envoy of the Han Empire... I have arrived!"
Since arriving in this world three years ago, he had realized how different it was. Here, numerous powerful empires stood thousands of miles apart: the Han Empire, Qin, Tang, Ming, Yuan, Song, and others—seven great empires in total. Beyond these lay smaller nations, collectively known in the history books of this world as the "Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions."
Li Aotian had discovered early on that he was in the Han Empire, and that its history mirrored the Han Dynasty of his previous life. It featured Emperor Wu of Han Liu Che, the brilliant young General of Agile Cavalry Huo Qubing, who would die prematurely, and the middle-aged Wei Qing. In short, it was the middle to late period of the Han Dynasty.
Upon his arrival, Li Aotian had deployed his greatest asset: poetry. His verses spread throughout the Han Empire, bringing him instant fame.
"Do you not see the waters of the Yellow River flowing down from the sky..."
"The nation is shattered, yet the mountains and rivers remain..."
"Once my flowers bloom, all others shall perish..."
Countless scholars revered his work, and even the court officials hailed him as a master of the poetic arts. The world dubbed him the Poet Immortal of Great Han. Eventually, he was granted an extraordinary audience with Emperor Wu of Han Liu Che. He had hoped for a respectable post—perhaps a court historian or a magistrate of a small county.
Instead, Emperor Wu had appointed him as an envoy of the Han Empire.
It was a death sentence from the start. Everyone knew that the mortality rate for Han envoys was 99.99%. The only reason it wasn't 100% was due to the legend of Su Wu, who had somehow survived even after having his throat slit.
Li Aotian let out a long sigh and closed the carriage curtain, listening to the howling wind outside while shaking his head.
"This is a suicidal mission! For the sake of the Han territories, I am to die in a foreign land, sacrificing my own body to pave the way for the brilliant future of the Han Empire."
Before his departure, Emperor Wu had summoned him. The Emperor had commanded him to assert the majesty of the Han Empire during his mission to the Xiongnu. If anyone dared to show him disrespect, or if anyone dared to kill the Han envoy, the Empire would mobilize its armies to wipe out their tribe and slaughter their entire clan.
That day, looking at the majestic Emperor Wu, Li Aotian had gritted his teeth and said, through tears, "For the Han Empire! I shall not refuse, even if it means death!"
He was a smart man; he knew that everything the Emperor had said was a roundabout way of ordering his death at the hands of the Xiongnu.
"Alas! Is death the inevitable fate of a Han envoy? I’ve only been in this world for three years! Do you know how I’ve survived these past three years? And now you tell me I have to be a doomed envoy? Heaven, do I owe you something?!"
As he roared at the sky, a thunderbolt shook the void, startling the entire Han Envoy team.
*Hiss, hiss, hiss.*
The horses neighed in alarm. The sand swirled chaotically.
Li Aotian felt the lightning strike his brow, and suddenly, a mechanical system prompt echoed in his mind!
*Ding!*
The System! It had arrived!
[Congratulations to the host for successfully becoming a Han Envoy! The conditions for the "Strongest Arrogance System" have been met!]
The voice left Li Aotian’s brain in a daze.
A moment later, a figure emerged from the now-calm Han Envoy team. It was the deputy envoy. He came to the window of Li Aotian’s carriage, bowed respectfully, and said, "Lord Li, the weather on the ancient Dunhuang road is unpredictable. Was that sudden flash of lightning frightening, my lord?"
This official, named Nan Wujue, came from a powerful Han family, which was how he had secured the position of deputy envoy. He was fond of reciting poetry and therefore held the Poet Immortal of Great Han in high esteem.
Li Aotian glanced at him and quickly shook his head. "No harm done, no harm done."
His heart was currently so shocked by the system notification that he didn't know what to say; he was desperate to experience the benefits of the System immediately.
Nan Wujue nodded. "I am glad you are unharmed, Lord Li. We are still five or six days away from the Xiongnu border. The journey is arduous, and I fear we have been unable to attend to you properly. I shall go check on the state of the caravan; I will come find you if anything arises."
He retreated, leaving Li Aotian alone in the carriage. Li Aotian closed his eyes and whispered nervously, "System! What exactly does this 'Strongest Arrogance System' do?"
The system’s voice replied:
[The system requires the host to be consistently arrogant! As long as the host’s actions are perceived as outrageous, you can earn Arrogance Points! The more outrageous the behavior, the higher the Arrogance Points earned!]
[Arrogance Points can be used to redeem rewards in the System Mall! The system refreshes five items daily.]
Upon hearing this, Li Aotian broke into a grin.
Arrogant? Outrageous?
What a coincidence! That seemed to be exactly what an envoy of the Han Empire was good at! If he wasn't arrogant, if he wasn't outrageous, what kind of Han envoy would he be?