Chapter 1

Heavenly Flame Emperor had an extremely ordinary start for a harem novel.

Set in ancient china with a wuxia theme, the protagonist of the book, Mo Lian, grew up surrounded by immortal beauties and revered masters passing him by without a care on the dirty streets.

As a street rat, Mo Lian had little to no knowledge about cultivation. Yet, somehow the master of one of the most powerful elemental sects had seen talent in him and picked him off the streets to be her disciple.

There was no suspense in what happened next— Mo Lian's senior brothers ridiculed him for being a beggar and his senior sisters found him pitiful yet attractive for it. But he grew rapidly under the tutelage of his master and soon found himself as one of the most powerful disciples in his sect.

He crushed his previous ridiculers with his newfound strength. His power grew and so did his body and admirers. Women from various sects all over proposed themselves to him and as a benevolent harem protagonist, Mo Lian accepted them with open arms.

So, it was only natural that success was what awaited Mo Lian.

He would rise beyond the skies as an emperor with his unparalleled ability.

The other sects all thought so.

The readers also thought so.

It was inevitable.

That is... if the long disappeared demonic clan hadn't massacred the entirety of the elemental sects.

The attack was unprecedented.

No one had been left spared— sect masters, disciples, and even the servants. Everything Mo Lian had laid to claim as his future was destroyed indefinitely.

He'd watched horrified, as the master he held so dear in his heart was cut in two. As his faithful junior sisters screamed under the swing of a blade. The family he had found in the servants who took care of him at his lowest, laid bare and dismembered for all to see.

All that had been left were his three closest companions and both of his most treasured wives.

They'd all been horrendously injured by their opponents and left the sect grounds in a hurry. All along the way, the shattered reasoning of Mo Lian detailed their escape.

It was originally intended to be a happy day.

The great sects conference— where the sects would gather to discuss problems in the cultivation world and also celebrate another year of prosperity.

It was amusing.

Their arrogance was their very undoing.

Quickly, Mo Lian had fallen into a state of insanity. A child born of poverty was sent back from whence he came. That was the actual start of Heavenly Flame Emperor, a journey to avenge the future he had so desperately wanted and to realize that the strength he was so proud of was nothing but the thoughts of a frog in a well.

Thousands of readers fell in love with the premise.

Naturally, Bai Xue followed along in enthusiasm. As one of the very first readers of HFE, Bai Xue was particularly dedicated to the book and the author, Vengeful Rot Fox. So much so, that when there was a raffle to have a reader entered as a character into the story, he was among the very few who won it.

Bai Xue, courtesy name Bai Aijuan. Eighteen. The sickly flower of the prosperous Bai family.

No one could covet him and he wouldn't let anyone try.

Not that it mattered much, as he rarely appeared outside of the Bai Estate after his late parent's death. No one blamed him-- he was a male ger after all.

Gers.

Another interesting detail Vengeful Fox had added to the plot. She believed that as the eventual emperor of all the heavens, Mo Lian shouldn't have been restricted to just women!

He should conquer men as well!

That was immediately met with the burning hatred of her predominately male audience.

So, to pacify her readers and still, continue with her convictions, Vengeful Fox created gers.

Two genders that could do what their original sex couldn't.

Female gers were born with male genitalia and were naturally physically stronger than most average women. While male gers could conceive and were believed to be weaker with a more feminine beauty.

So, just like that, another hundred beauties were added to Mo Lian's harem.

Bai Aijuan was something of an exception to this. Funnily enough, he was the first male ger Mo Lian had met in the story.

It was the beginning after the end for Mo Lian and his companions. They were starting to find their way in this new world where sects didn't dominate the villages and the communities in them.

They stumbled their way into Xuqiu Water Village. Where the nobility was extravagant with their spending and the commoners were writhe with poverty. Though the majority of them smiled and comforted Mo Lian that there was no such thing, he saw it. But he couldn't do anything about it. He only conversed with the common people and began to pack to travel to the next city.

Until he heard the rumors of Bai Aijuan.

An unparalleled beauty. One that could topple nations and seduce even the mightiest of cultivators.

Mo Lian was traumatized, how could he not be after all that he'd experienced? But, at the end of the day-- he was still a harem novel protagonist, so of course he went to see the beauty!

He climbed over the Bai Estate's walls, wondering where he should go when he heard someone coughing hard enough it seemed as if they would die. Mo Lian hurried toward the sound and found himself in a shabby courtyard in front of a poorly built wooden shack. Before he could even wonder why a place of such disrepair was in the illustrious Bai Estate-- he saw him.

A heavily flushed Bai Aijuan, tears clinging to his lashes as hair like silk fell over his porcelain white shoulder. The red dot in-between his brows only highlighted his glistening eyes.

Mo Lian had chanced upon Bai Aijuan in one of his rare sickly bouts.

"Beauty, are you alright--?" Mo Lian said, reaching his hand out and freezing when it was smacked to the side.

"...And what exactly do you think you're doing in my estate— you pig?" Bai Aijuan snarled.

Bai Aijuan was glaring at him with such palatable disgust and anger that Mo Lian was dizzy with confusion. What had he ever done to this ger? This was the first time he'd seen him in his life!

"Pig?" Mo Lian laughed angrily. "What right do you have to say that to me!"

"What right do I have? Do you think everybody is blinded by those foolish praises they sing in your name?! I know you're just another lustful wretch that'll take anyone who offers themselves up to you!" Bai Aijuan scoffed, revulsion rippling off his every word.

"Lustful--! You're stating this on baseless grounds when I've done nothing to you!"

"Baseless?" Bai Aijuan sneered. "Then what exactly are you doing in my courtyard at the dead of night?"

Mo Lian snapped his mouth shut, lips pressing together in indignant silence. The veins along his neck bulged as he glowered at the Ger lying on the ground. Bai Aijuan looked back into his furious gaze with cold indifference.

"Get out." Bai Aijuan hissed.

"And to think they called you benevolent..." Insistent on getting the last word, Mo Lian turned and scoffed.

Bai Aijuan didn't even move his gaze from the ground, "Why would I be benevolent to a man who snuck into my home?"

Mo Lian's face flushed in anger and he flew from the courtyard with qinggong, set on beating whoever told him that Bai Aijuan was a benevolent beauty until they cried!

But when the next day arrived and the fool who had told him had been beaten blue. The devastating news of the only son of the Bai Family passing away spread. The Sui Family—relatives who had been taking care of Bai Xue since his parents had passed, said it was from illness. That they did everything in their power to prevent it.

Surrounded by grief and disbelief on all sides, Mo Lian frowned. He looked at the gate of the Bai residence and the lavishly dressed Sui Family accepting condolences from everyone.

He thought back to the threadbare robes that Bai Aijuan had dressed in and the neglected courtyard he called home.

He stared at the crowd for a moment longer before shifting his gaze away and turning back to his companions, "Let's move to the next town."

And so they went.

---

Pathetic, right?

Bai Xue wasn't expecting much… but a cannon fodder? Plus, he was a ger.

Ai... Vengeful Fox was really malicious!

However, there was a reason he was explaining all of this.

Specifically, the situation in front of him.

"Young master Bai!" A young girl dressed in hanfu cried out, holding his hand.

Bai Xue stared at her and then moved his gaze to the pale, bony fingers and stiffened.

The girl blinked tears out of her large eyes and stood up, "I- I warmed up some porridge, I'll go get it--!"

The door snapped open with a bang and two men dressed in dark garbs stepped back to let a beautifully dressed lady come through.

The lady's face pinched in distaste as she snapped a fan over her mouth.

"Has that waste woken up yet?" She said.

The girl suddenly stood in front of Bai Xue, a fierce scowl on her face, "Get out."

"Oh?" The lady smiled. "It appears that he has. So, have you decided yet?"

"Sui. Dai. Yu. Get out!" The lady turned to look at the bristling young girl and smiled.

"Ming An. You understand this isn't helping you or your young master?" Sui Daiyu sighed, shaking her head.

"Stop pretending to act like you care, you devious old snake." Ming An spat, looking at her with a vicious gaze.

Immediately, the beautiful lady froze, clasping the fan in her hands until they turned white, staring at Ming An with resentment. Bai Xue realized, that while beautiful, the lady also looked malicious.

Sui Daiyu closed her eyes and breathed, the fan unfolding over her mouth again.

"Continue being stubborn," Sui Daiyu said, the look above her fan venomous. "Xuqiu is my domain. You have no choice but to concede to me."

With one last piercing glare, she left through the door. The darkly dressed men, who Bai Xue now realized to be guards, slammed the door behind her.

Ming An didn't move, staring at the door guardedly until the sounds of feet shuffling couldn't be heard. Immediately, she knelt at the side of the bed and bowed to Bai Xue.

"I apologize, young master. I didn't want that to be the scene you woke up to." Though he couldn't see her face, she sounded incredibly aggrieved.

He even saw her hands trembling.

Bai Xue looked at her for a moment before lifting himself up with a grunt. Ming An instantly reached out to help but stopped and pulled her hands into her lap. Bai Xue watched her from where he sat upright and felt the immediate tremors shaking his body.

"...What need do I have for your apologies?" He pulled his unbound hair from his face and let it fall to his back. "I already know what type of estate I live in."

Ming An pursed her lips and looked down at her hands in silence.

"How long have I been asleep?" Bai Xue asked.

"...A week, young master." Ming An quietly reported.

"Hm," Bai Xue ran a finger along the dark vein in his hand. "They've increased the dosage."

It was a statement, not a question.

Ming An lowered her head further, digging her nails into her palms until it felt like they would bleed, "Yes, young master."

Bai Xue looked alongside the run-down room with its rotting wood and dirt ground. He stopped his gaze on an object that seemed out of place in the room.

A shiny full-length mirror.

Bai Xue shifted his legs from under the covers and onto the cold ground. Almost immediately Ming An shifted straw shoes onto his feet. He watched blankly as she did all of this and attempted to get up from the bed. He fell back instantly and sat down as a wave of nausea overcame him.

He silently held an arm out.

Springing into action, Ming An held from beneath his forearms and slowly pulled him to his feet. Bai Xue noticed that she carefully avoided skin-to-skin contact and even while having to use strength to lift him, it was always done in a way where he could just barely feel her touch before she pulled away.

Bai Xue silently realized something.

Instead of asking, he made his way over to the mirror and paused to look at himself.

Young.

That was the first thought Bai Xue had. The face was aesthetically pleasing enough that the future flame emperor who had all seen all kinds of beauties, would call it unparalleled.

But it was far too young.

Mo Lian had been eighteen when he first met Bai Aijuan. Even though he was a harem protagonist, he wasn't that disgusting. So the face didn't make sense.

"Young master, just be patient... it's only four more years." Ming An whispered, her expression determined.

Ah— Now it made sense.

Vengeful Fox used Western age standards, so Bai Aijuan would become an adult when he was 18. It would be four more years before Bai Aijuan met Mo Lian and an untimely death.

Bai Xue was fourteen.

"The inheritance." Bai Xue confirmed, fiddling with his ratty cuffs.

"Yes!" Ming An grinned.

Fuck!

Bai Xue pinched his nose and sighed. He had transmigrated into something troublesome.

First of all, it wasn't hard to figure out that they'd been poisoning Bai Aijuan, the evidence was already there.

Besides the illustrious words of his beauty, Heavenly Flame Emperor talked about his past. How originally, Bai Aijuan was a healthy child but the trauma of his parents' death made him extremely sickly.

Bai Aijuan's parents died when he was five years old and the Sui Family took over immediately after that. It wouldn't be very difficult to begin poisoning a child who had no one else to depend on but you.

Secondly, his circumstances were extremely dire and the only plan either of them had thought of so far, was to wait until he turned eighteen and return everything to normal.

What gave either of them the idea that Sui Daiyu would let Bai Aijuan live that long?

And third, how did he, Bai Xue die?

He remembered his past life and the book— but he couldn't remember how he died.

..Why couldn't he remember how he died?

"Young master?" Ming An approached, her brows tightening.

Bai Xue flinched.

He clenched his eyes shut and breathed. He already died. There was nothing he could do to change it. His best move right now was to focus on the present.

"You can quit your ceaseless worrying," Bai Xue huffed. "Though I've been weakened, I understand what I must do."

"Young Master, are you saying…?" She questioned, joy slowly lighting her face.

"I cannot let what is mine be stolen forever." Bai Xue scoffed.

Ming An, vibrating with excitement, smiled until her eyes turned into crescents. "Of course, Young Master!"

"Calm down." He frowned and once again held out his arm. "Assist me."

Ming An perked up and flawlessly directed him to the bed so that he could sit. He straightened his back and settled his slowly freezing fingers in his lap.

She stared at his trembling hands then toward the chilling wind blowing outside with a frown.

"I'll leave to gather some wood, young master." Ming An said, bowing her head.

Bai Xue waved her off indifferently and settled his chin in his hand.

He wouldn't wait for death in this disgusting mansion. He was leaving and he would do it soon.

But first, he had to figure out a way to escape Xuqiu with Ming An, and do it without his murderous aunt hunting them both down.

He obviously couldn't trust anyone in the estate to help him. It'd be like giving Sui Daiyu a knife and telling her to have fun.

But he couldn't trust the town officials to help him either. Sui Daiyu was currently the pinnacle of the economy in Xuqiu.

Meaning, she was the main force of lining the officials pockets.

Who would they help, a disgraced young noble seeking justice or the woman who brought them endless wealth?

Exactly.

So that left the one thing he didn't even want to consider.

Cultivation.

A path that could take him to the very top of the heights in this world. But a path that could destroy him just as easily.

Yes, it was a profitable option. But there was one thing he couldn't overcome.

Bai Aijuan was a ger.

HFE barely mentioned gers beyond a throwaway sex scene. How were people going to treat a Ger who wanted to be a cultivator?

It didn't matter if Bai Xue was alive if he was only going to be treated like trash.

Bai Xue wouldn't stand for that.

"Young master," Ming An burst through the door, a high flush on her cheeks. "I brought the firewood!"

She ran over to place it into a stone crock stuffed in the corner. She quickly broke two small pieces of wood and started up a fire.

As she sat in front of the crock, Ming An would frequently glance back at him. Bai Xue watched her patiently, waiting for what she had to say.

"Are you warm, young master?" Ming An asked with her hands still shaking in her lap.

Bai Xue could only shut his eyes.

"Mn," He whispered. "I'm warm, Ming An."

…Cultivation it was then.

Ming An lit up at his admission and began to poke harder at the inside of the crock, a vigorous energy in her movements.

What a funny kid.

And he had to take care of the funny little kid. Inwardly, Bai Xue heaved a big sigh.

Just how exactly, was he supposed to find a cultivator not only experienced but stupid enough to trigger his qi refining stage?

Obviously any of his late parents previous partners were out of the question.

…And nearly every part of the town had fallen under Su Daiyu's command. The only part that was free were the slums. But what use could be found there?

Wait.

The slums…?

A slow, insidious smile crawled over Bai Xue's face.

"Ming An."

"Yes, young mas—!" She turned cheerfully before freezing. "Y-Young master..?"

Inwardly, Ming An was a little spooked. The young master never smiled— erm, if she could even call that a smile…

Bai Xue turned to her, a terrible light in his eyes.

"Bring me my coat," Bai Xue said, his tone deeply mocking. "We're going to visit an old friend of mine."