Flameburner

"Thanks, but no thanks!!"

Yin Ming waved Johnny Green away, with no intention of squeezing any more oil from him.

Was he joking?

In his previous life, he had dared to do the work of "seeking dragons and dividing gold."

Mainly because it had been the Age of Dharma Decline, and all the restrictions and curses set within ancient cultivators' tombs had failed.

Besides, as the sole immortal cultivator in the End of Dharma. Though his Divine Sense lacked spiritual energy as a medium and could not disturb even a speck of dust in the present world, it could observe every stir of wind and grass within several kilometers, allowing him to avoid tomb passage mechanisms and all manner of danger with ease. Otherwise, even the lives of his entire nine clans would not have been enough to fill those graves.

He could wait until demons, Evil Gods, wizards, warlocks—everyone in this world—had been buried in the earth to sleep forever before returning to his old trade.

"Uh... won't you reconsider? I can tell that you're very suited to our organization."

Succubus Dinaya Aman had descended and attempted to charm a young wizard. That wizard was very likely the Yin Ming before her.

He had sensed danger ahead of time and fled, yet could also resist a succubus's charm. Such danger perception and willpower would be wasted if he did not explore ancient ruins!

Yin Ming: "..."

A team of more than ten people, and after a single operation, only one remained—and he was half-crippled.

Didn't she have even the slightest idea of what a death rate over ninety percent meant?

"..."

"Forget about joining your organization! But I can trade with you for artifacts recovered from ancient ruins."

Yin Ming naturally held a strong interest in ancient ruins.

If they could excavate Alchemical Bombs, then they could also excavate the methods for refining them.

But if they wanted him to enter ruins and go adventuring, one word: difficult!

It was not because he was cowardly or followed his heart.

The Immortal Path was a struggle across the river, striving for life without fearing death. A temperament that merely followed one's heart would have met its best ending in the Age of Dharma Decline by dying of old age; it would have been impossible to cultivate to become a Corpse-Liberation Immortal.

It was not that he refused to contend, but that he did not contend over everything.

There would always be commonplace knowledge in this world, always be worthless tools and objects that could be acquired through ordinary trade.

He could first convert all those things into his own strength, then explore the hidden and scarce knowledge afterward.

"Cough, cough... Trade?"

Johnny Green adjusted his breathing and shook his head with a faint laugh. "Among the spoils from the last wizard ruin, everyone qualified to trade with the organization was an Official Wizard or a One-Ring Wizard. Besides, do you have Element Crystals?"

Yin Ming: "..."

Element Crystals!

So they were the currency of the supernatural world.

The Scavenger Gourd truly deserved to be called an auxiliary Innate Spiritual Treasure.

Sure enough, the games from his previous life had not deceived him. Equipping support gear really could automatically increase gold!

"Element Crystals! You mean this?"

Yin Ming took out an Element Crystal the size of a fist, crystal-clear in texture and refracting five-colored light. The gourd could condense one this large every day.

Johnny Green: "..."

He wore nothing but peasant clothes. Johnny had thought he had merely stumbled upon a wizard's inheritance and luckily become a Wizard Apprentice, yet he actually possessed whole Element Crystals.

"As far as I know, the only thing left from the last wizard ruin is a Basic Rune Exposition that nobody wants. Besides, Element Crystals alone are useless. Only One-Ring Wizards are customers. For Wizard Apprentice-level wizards, only internal members can participate in exchanges."

Wait!

Basic Rune Exposition?

Runes formed the foundation of the wizard cultivation system. Once he understood the fundamental principles behind rune construction, Yin Ming could merge the two cultivation systems.

Compared to that, the talisman techniques contained in Alchemical Bombs were simply not worth mentioning.

Yin Ming decisively stopped in his tracks, turned around, and forced out an awkward smile. "Then how do I join you?"

Johnny Green: "..."

"..."

The Flame-Burners Association was located near Green Forest City, adjacent to the royal city of the Duchy of Landon.

Yin Ming chose to travel with Johnny Green. Although his current physique, speed, and endurance all surpassed those of ordinary horses, he still sold a Red-Eyed Fire Ox Magic Beast hide and hired a carriage for the sake of the injured man.

"Creak, creak..."

A low-grade nag headed westward. At the carriage's leisurely pace, it would take a day to reach their destination.

Seventeen had gone, and one had returned. Johnny Green looked out at the scenery beyond the window, his mood low.

Yin Ming broke the oppressive silence first and asked, "Green! How many Element Crystals are needed to become an internal member of the Flame-Burners Association and exchange for the Basic Rune Exposition?"

"Twenty standard units of Element Crystals, roughly—two of those, I suppose!"

Johnny Green turned back, thought for a moment, then added, "After all, it's only the basic rune for the Zero-Ring Wizardry spell Wizard's Hand. Even if it is a rune exposition, Official Wizards wouldn't give it a second glance."

Zero-Ring Wizardry: Wizard's Hand.

A detailed explanation of one basic rune?

He had thought it was a tome comparable to a Daoist canon, one that explained every common basic rune and compiled them into a volume. He had not expected it to be the exposition of just one basic rune.

"Forget it! One rune collected is still one rune collected. If it really were a comprehensive rune encyclopedia, it wouldn't have failed to sell and been left for me."

Analyzing basic runes had always been long-term, enduring work.

The hardest part was achieving the breakthrough from zero to one.

Yin Ming did not feel disappointed. He continued, "Since we're idle anyway, tell me about the Flame-Burners Association along the way."

Johnny Green nodded. After pondering briefly, he said, "Then I'll start with the founder of the Flame-Burners Association, Norman Martin!"

"Strictly speaking, the Flame-Burners Association does not belong to any faction."

"Norman Martin was a commoner, a commoner with exceptionally good luck who enjoyed excavating ancient ruins."

"At that time, the elements of this world had only just begun to revive and could not yet support the descent of powerful beings. Wizards, warlocks, Demon Gods, Evil Gods, demons—powerful beings from every faction sent down divine miracles and scattered inheritances throughout this world."

"Those who obtained the inheritance of 'gods' were called Godblessed. They led mortals out of ignorance, yet also crushed and warred against one another for centuries. Mortals revered them as saviors, as flames of hope."

"Norman Martin was also one of the countless masses who worshipped the Godblessed, until he excavated an ancient civilization ruin from the previous epoch. There, he discovered that people did not need so-called gods to develop civilization and live happier lives."

"At this moment, this world was fundamentally Hell Realm, a furnace. And the ones who had brought calamity upon this world were the 'gods,' as well as the Godblessed whom countless people regarded as saviors and flames of hope."

"Light? Flame? They were merely darkness of a slightly paler shade!"

"Norman Martin thus proposed the origin of our Flame-Burners Association's name: since the flame of hope cannot bring light, then let us turn the flames into firewood and burn them, illuminating the darkness."

Did the Elemental World also have an End of Dharma, a time when the supernatural ceased to exist?

Yin Ming remembered the name Norman Martin and continued asking, "What happened afterward?"

"Of course it failed! They died horribly." Johnny Green spread his hands and laughed lightly. "Otherwise, we wouldn't be doing business with wizards and warlocks right now. We'd be nailing them to crosses and burning them alive."

"That makes sense! Idealists usually come to no good end!" Yin Ming nodded.

"I think so too. It's fine to just listen to it as a story!" Johnny Green agreed.