Chapter 1: The Reborn

　　It appeared to be a bronze lamp, with an extremely ancient design.

　　But Wesley Brown knew it was not just a bronze lamp, but rather a soul-nourishing lamp forged from nether gold he had collected during three journeys into the underworld, refined over three years by the Grand Priest of the Grand Si Ming Shrine at the request of his grandfather Lucas Brown, using the Grand Si Ming’s art of fate manipulation.

　　It stood about twenty centimeters tall, with a round, hollowed base connected to a tall stem, topped by a circular plate about ten centimeters in diameter.

　　At the very center of the plate stood a bronze tree, with a bird perched on its branch.

　　The tree was called Fusang, and the bird was known as the Phoenix.

　　It had a scholarly name: the Spirit-Gathering Lamp.

　　In Wesley Brown’s era, it was also called the Soul-Nourishing Lamp, a divine artifact used by the sorcerers of Sangtai to preserve their lives.

　　Far back in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, two thousand five hundred years ago, war was constant and demons roamed the land. Every nation worshipped immortals and demons, seeking supernatural power to protect their homes.

　　Like the Eight Main Gods of Qi, the Five Emperor Gods of Qin, and the Nine Divine Lords of Chu.

　　Wesley Brown was born during the Warring States period, a member of the royal family of Chu, one of the Seven Warring States.

　　At his birth, a rebellion broke out in Chu. Wesley Brown’s family chose the wrong side and was wiped out.

　　Fortunately, Wesley Brown’s grandfather was a Grand Priest of the Grand Si Ming Shrine, one of the Nine Shrines of Sangtai. Upon hearing the news, he rushed a thousand miles from Sangtai to rescue them. Sadly, he was a step too late; though he slew the family’s enemies, he managed to save only Wesley Brown.

　　Afterward, his grandfather brought Wesley Brown to Sangtai and had him join the Grand Si Ming Shrine.

　　Sangtai, also known as Chu Hill, was once home to the Jilian tribe, ancestors of the Chu people, during the mid-to-late Xia dynasty.

　　After the Chu migrated south, they never forgot their ancestral land, so they named their capital Sangtai, using it exclusively for ancestor and deity worship.

　　In “Heavenly Questions” from the Songs of Chu, it is written: “How to find the Lady of Tu Mountain, to bring her to Tai Sang.”

　　The Tai Sang in the poem refers to Sangtai.

　　Wesley Brown grew up in Sangtai, inducted into the Grand Si Ming Shrine from a young age.

　　The Grand Si Ming is the Death God in Chu mythology.

　　But his natural talent was poor; even with his grandfather’s help, he made no progress after advancing to Junior Priest.

　　Soon after, his grandfather, who served as a Senior Official in the Grand Si Ming Shrine, passed away, leaving Wesley Brown without support.

　　With no other choice, he became a Spirit Collector for the shrine, gathering spiritual offerings for the Nine Gods.

　　During this time, he befriended Howard Brown, who would later become the famous King Huai of Chu. In King Huai’s reforms, Wesley Brown risked his life and made great contributions to their implementation.

　　Later, Wesley Brown resigned as Spirit Collector and returned to the shrine to seclude himself, attempting to break through to Middle Priest.

　　Until one day, he received news that Howard Brown was trapped by the Qin in their territory.

　　Howard Brown refused to betray Chu’s interests, and the royal family of Chu chose a successor, intending to abandon Howard Brown.

　　With no other option, Howard Brown decided to escape from Qin and sent word for Wesley Brown to assist him. Wesley Brown left the shrine overnight, not wanting to be betrayed by the Chu royal family. While staying in Qin, he was discovered by Lord Mengchang, Tian Wen, who had been appointed Chancellor by King Zhaoxiang of Qin. An ambush was set at Wuguan. Wesley Brown fought fiercely against three hundred elite Azure Kite warriors, but was outnumbered and died in battle at Wuguan.

　　Fortunately, as a disciple of the shrine, Wesley Brown had his life lamp, the Soul-Nourishing Lamp, consecrated by his grandfather since childhood.

　　Within the lamp was a wisp of his soul, nurtured by spiritual energy, so that when the time was right, he could be reborn through the shrine’s secret arts.

　　This was the advantage of the Grand Si Ming Shrine’s sorcerers, for the deity they worshipped was the very god who ruled over life and death.

　　But now...

　　Wesley Brown caressed the Soul-Nourishing Lamp in his hand, letting out a long, wistful sigh.

　　He had been revived, he had been reborn!

　　However, he was no longer Wesley Brown, but Chris Foster.

　　The place he now found himself was not the Grand Si Ming Shrine of Sangtai, but America, New York, ten thousand miles from Sangtai.

　　Most importantly, he was now separated from his own era by two thousand five hundred years.

　　Wesley Brown did not understand why he had been reborn two thousand five hundred years later.

　　But he remembered clearly that he had awakened in this very basement, with the Soul-Nourishing Lamp that had nurtured his soul lying on the ground.

　　That was why, after being discharged from the hospital, he had rushed back here without hesitation.

　　He wanted to retrieve the Soul-Nourishing Lamp, and also to figure out why he had awakened after two thousand five hundred years of slumber.

　　This was the home of Chris’s adoptive father, Thomas Foster, and also Chris’s own home.

　　Thomas Foster was a fourth-generation immigrant through and through.

　　His ancestors had been sold as indentured laborers to America at the end of the nineteenth century.

　　At first, they settled on the West Coast.

　　Until the early twentieth century, with the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act, they were forced to move from the West Coast to the East Coast.

　　To what is now the Big Apple.

　　Chris’s Chinese name was Gavin Foster, but very few people called him that.