10 10. Old Geezer Who Lives In The Book

Luo Geming sat upon his throne. The mighty demon, Six Wings Demon Venerable, was contemplating the book he had just acquired. He memorized the contents but hadn't started to cultivate the manual yet. Shi Hong orchestrated this, and there was definitely a trap. Demon Venerable wouldn't fall for it. He called his diviner and had them establish a formation around the book. He was about to divine the background of the book. Within the book, Hou Nui was getting desperate.

"Ahem, junior, do you want power?" Before Hou Nui finished what he was saying, the diviner screeched.

"Sire! There is a man in the book!"

Luo Geming smiled. "Got you."

Hou Nui tried to make a good first impression. "Junior, do you want power?"

Six Wings Demon Venerable sneered. "Cut the crap! What's your relation to Shi Hong?"

Emperor Huo was confused. Who was this Shi Hong?

"Is Shi Hong the junior who threw your wing to me and robbed my apothecary? He only took a bunch of books about refinement." Emperor Huo was really curious about the boy. "He knew the passcode for my door."

"No, that was someone else from the same sect," Luo Geming pointed out.

Emperor Huo: "In any case, I don't know any Shi Hong."

Luo Geming leaned in. "Elder, tell me, what were you trying to accomplish by hiding in there?"

Emperor Huo was caught red-handed. "I was trying to take over your body. The technique was going to allow me to."

Six Wings Demon Venerable understood what was going on. "Senior, it seems you were being used to entrap me. And I was being used to weaken your resurrection with my tattered demon body."

Emperor Huo was worried. This Shi Hong fella was too crafty.

Every second of every day, Luo Geming's body was in pain. His high-cultivation body parts were stabbing into low-cultivation body parts. It was both mentally draining and depression-inducing.

He asked Emperor Huo, "Senior, does it have to be me? Why don't I bring you people to possess? Senior, I want to switch bodies too. We can find ourselves a couple of supreme spirit roots youngsters. We would be unstoppable."

Emperor Huo asked, "Do you accept me as a teacher?"

Luo Geming was giddy with excitement. This was the kind of martial art development he was dreaming about even before he set out to walk the martial path.

"I do."

Emperor Huo wasn't someone who knew no compromise. This arrangement was even better for him. With a superior spiritual root, he would be better off than before.

"Disciple, find me a history scholar. I want to know what happened after I lost the throne to those usurpers."

Six Wings Demon Venerable put his affairs in order for the next two weeks. He put on regular clothes, took the book with him, and hid his aura. Then he went to see the history scholar.

Lai Qiaolian is a well-respected member of the historian community. She also became part of the drama surrounding the history scholar community when she slapped a man who said "It was revealed to me in a dream" when asked to provide a source.

A sickly-looking man walked into her residence saying, "I'm looking for one called Lai Qiaolian. Is she here?" He had a thick book strapped to his back.

Lai Qiaolian walked down the spiral stairs, her narrow slit eyes oozing intelligence. Her demeanor was dignified and respectable.

"Who is asking?" she inquired.

The sickly man placed eight silver taels on the desk.

"My name is Luo Geming. I would like to learn about the last emperor of the Huo dynasty and beyond," he said.

Lai Qiaolian took the silver taels, poured some herbal tea, and began speaking.

"Huo Nui was the most incompetent emperor of the last thousand years. He became emperor at the age of 35 but all he knew was cultivation. At one point, he became aware of corruption in the court. Instead of conducting a purge, he announced one. Needless to say, every scum under the sun had time to push the blame onto the small number of righteous officials. The emperor took these decent officials and gutted them like fish.

Another instance of incompetence arose from army supply management. He led a larger-than-necessary army to dispatch some bandit camps. Halfway to the destination, the army started to starve. Panicking, he ordered the soldiers to plunder. However, the plundered provisions were not enough, so he ordered the army to eat the local population. Right there, the seeds of rebellion were sown. The lustful bastard was swayed by one concubine one day and by another concubine the next day, pulling the entire empire into chaos. The Huo empire believed that the emperor was there through divine providence. That was the crux of the problem for them. Emperors simply did not have to care about the people. The Yao empire was built on the opposing principle. In the Yao Empire, the emperor's legitimacy stems from his ability to do what needs to be done regardless of personal gain. The current emperor is doing his best against demon sects and bandit camps. Our empire might be in decline, but it is better than the Huo empire in every aspect."

Luo Geming was barely holding back his laughter. Emperor Huo, on the other hand, exclaimed, "You whore! You slut! You fly-infested, disease-carrying Yao dog! How dare you speak to this great emperor like that? You will pay for your insolence with your head! I will have your seven generations flogged naked in the streets!"

Lai Qiaolian wasn't hearing any of the profanities. She was not a martial artist, and she was unable to receive a qi transmission.

Luo Geming put an extra tael on the desk.

"One more silver tael for one more question. What are this humble gentleman's chances of stealing your heart?"

Lai Qiaolian's face went beet red. She quickly composed herself.

"I'm sorry, Luo. You look sickly. I like vigorous men. As a woman, I get to choose what I want, sorry."

Luo Geming nodded and left her house. He began talking to the emperor in the book.

"Master, what are the chances that you will give up on reclaiming your empire and try to enjoy your life instead? We can build you a retirement home. Maybe we can find you a lady in a pendant or something. You shouldn't come to power and mess everything up again."

Emperor Huo was magnanimous; he patiently taught his disciple about how Huo Nui was the son of heaven, how those who had been eaten did so with gratitude to the Huo dynasty, and how since the emperor is always right, incidents involving corrupt officials were actually trifling matters.

On the other side of the conversation, Demon Venerable was feeling disdain in his heart. 

Evil as he might have been, at least he knew how to manage an organization. What Emperor Huo did was not it. What Huo did was pandemonium. It was retardation, the nonsense of a higher order. A masterclass in incompetency.

He wanted to annoy Huo Nui every chance he got. Half of the reason he wanted to be with Lai Qiaolian was for that. The golden spoon bastard Huo Nui was what's known as a pig teammate. It was clear that Huo Nui would lose at life with that personality of his. When he lost, it was best not to be his ally. Being dislikable to the emperor accomplished the task of distancing himself from Huo Nui with the added bonus of being wildly entertaining.

And thus, the search for a child with a superior grade spiritual root had started. Young kids from clans and promising youngsters from petty martial academies were being investigated by demon spies.

One such spy was in the Su clan. They found out that a little girl named Su Ning had a superior spiritual root.