Martial Arts Longevity Begins with the Equipment Slot

Chapter 65 The Holy Flame Extinguished, Purifying Evil from Evil

"You really understand Old Sassanid?"

Ouyang Qing looked at Luo Ninghai with surprise, her beautiful eyes full of suspicion.

"Oh! I see!"

Fang Ke suddenly realized.

"Our senior sister is not a pure-blooded Eastern Continent person. Her mother is from the Western Continent and is said to have half black blood."

"That's right, that's right."

Luo Ninghai said with great enthusiasm.

"My mother traveled to various countries to study in her early years and became fluent in hundreds of languages. Although I do not have her talent for languages, I have been exposed to them all day long and have also learned a dozen or so languages. Ancient Sasanian is no challenge for me."

Chen Yu looked at Luo Ninghai, whose face was dark and whose muscles were bulging.

Judging from skin color alone, they certainly don't look like pure-blooded Eastern Continent people.

However, his facial features are not entirely like those of a Black person; he does not have curly hair or thick, everted lips.

"Junior brother, are you a follower of the Holy Fire Cult? Why are you suddenly asking about the ancient Sassanid language?"

Fang Ke ate a few bites of food and then asked hesitantly.

"The Holy Fire Cult? Isn't that Zoroastrianism?"

Chen Yu countered with a question.

"The Holy Fire Cult is a branch of Zoroastrianism. This name is more common in our Eastern Continent. If you say Zoroastrianism, many people will probably be stunned and wonder what Zoroastrianism is."

"But if you mention the Holy Fire Cult, many people might be taken aback, but after the initial shock, they're mostly filled with fear!"

"Why? What's so scary about the Holy Fire Cult?"

Ouyang Qing asked, puzzled.

She only knew about the Crow Cult, the Rebirth Cult, and the God-Slaying Cult, but had never heard of the Holy Fire Cult.

Fang Ke said seriously, "When I was young and ignorant, I worked as a salt smuggler in Huaizhou for two months. There was a customer from the Western Continent, and everyone called him 'An Beard'."

"This 'Bearded An' was a notorious old traitor in the Holy Fire Cult. It was a gloomy, rainy afternoon when 'Bearded An,' who had nothing better to do, told me about what he had seen and heard in the Holy Fire Cult."

Fang Ke took a sip of soup, looked around, and began to speak slowly.

"The history of the Great Liang Sacred Fire Sect begins thirty years ago."

"In the thirteenth year of Yongchang, Fahemos, the western protector of the Bolis Zoroastrianism, went mad while practicing the Sacred Fire Token and was expelled from the Zoroastrian headquarters. Afterwards, he led twelve saints to cross the sea to Daliang and founded the Sacred Fire Cult in the lava cave of Guangyan Mountain."

"Hemoth firmly believed that the ultimate form of fire was not light, but nothingness. He created a set of evil techniques that reversed the meridians, exchanging the pain of spontaneous combustion for world-destroying power."

"Later, Hermos died suddenly, and a saint who was even more extreme than him succeeded him as the leader and renamed the Holy Fire Cult the Cult of Extinction."

"I dare not say the name of this cult leader. If I do, he might immediately target me, and I might even be instantly eliminated."

At this point, Fang Ke shuddered.

He wanted to stop there and stop talking about these terrible things.

But seeing the eager looks on everyone's faces, Fang Ke still gritted his teeth and continued speaking.

"All I can tell you is that his ideas are quite radical. He believes that the world itself is a mistake, and that fire is the original and only pure form of the universe."

"Unlike orthodox Zoroastrianism, which venerates the creativity and light of fire, the Church of the Extinction of the Sacred Fire worships the destructive nature of fire, an absolute power that turns everything to ashes until it is reborn from nothingness."

"They believed that the material world was a shameful depravity, and that the Eastern Continent, due to its dense population, was filled with even more of the foul breath exhaled by 'Angela Mambo'."

"Ordinary Zoroastrian cleansing rituals are completely ineffective against this; only Ahura's 'purifying fire' can transform the living into the source, thereby tearing open a rift in the earth leading to the world of light."

Upon hearing this, Luo Ninghai seemed to suddenly realize something, and he slapped his forehead and blurted it all out.

"Junior Brother Fang, what you're describing sounds a bit like the bull-slaughtering ritual I participated in when I was young!"

"On the surface, this ceremony involved worshipping the sacred fire and chanting the 'Ashasta' in a Zoroastrian shrine where merchants from the Hu region gathered to pray for blessings, but secretly, another kind of human sacrifice ceremony was carried out at midnight."

"They believed that Ahura Hamiqi's light was too distant, and to combat Angra Mambo's darkness, they had to fight fire with fire, creating a 'purifying evil' to devour 'pure evil'!"

"Unfortunately, I was not even ten years old at the time, so I can't remember exactly what happened."

Fang Ke nodded and continued, "The part you mentioned, Senior Sister, should come from the core classic of the Extinction Holy Fire Cult, 'The Theory of Burning Evil.' This book is falsely attributed to the Prophet Hamayasid in his later years, but it was actually compiled by the first Great Mughal of the Extinction Holy Fire Cult. Its key content is only one sentence."

"Light does not shy away from filth, and fire is born from the ashes. It burns evil with evil, and the ashes are the sacred fire."

As dawn broke, the canteen gradually filled up with people.

People come and go, and people walk past their table from time to time.

Fang Ke picked up his rice bowl, intending to end this terrible topic.

"Alright, let's not talk about that anymore. Let's talk about something happier. You know what? Our master went to Peach Blossom Pavilion again the night before last, and when he came back, his legs were so weak he could barely walk..."

Ouyang Qing looked at the topic with disdain, while Luo Ninghai listened with great interest.

Only Chen Yu was still immersed in Fang Ke's description of the Holy Fire Sect.

He never imagined that the Holy Fire Cult would be a gathering place for such a bunch of lunatics.

Looking only at the description of the Ahura statue, one would never guess that these believers would be so fanatical.

"Could this be the difference between orthodoxy and heresy? Perhaps the Zoroastrian Church in Polis is easier to deal with?"

Chen Yu was at his wit's end. He had originally planned to go to the Holy Fire Sect to inquire about clues regarding the three missing parts.

Now it seems that, let alone going to the Holy Fire Church on your own initiative, you should even avoid them if you accidentally run into them on the street.

If you run too slowly, you might get dragged away and have your body and mind purified by flames.

As Chen Yu pondered, he suddenly felt that there was something amiss in Fang Ke's words.

But he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.

In those short two quarters of an hour, my brain received an overwhelming amount of information, and it was too stimulating.

For a moment, Chen Yu's mind was completely blank.

"Damn it, did building up his muscles ruin his brain? How come he can't even figure this out?"

After clearing his mind and calming down for a moment, Chen Yu finally came to his senses.

He suddenly realized that it wasn't a problem with his brain.

Instead, there was an unspeakable, mysterious being who altered Fang Ke's words or exerted some kind of power upon him, thus influencing all the listeners.

But Chen Yu still couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Fang Ke in front of me was diligently eating, and there was no sign of anything wrong.

Since you can't figure it out, you might as well stop thinking about it for now.

Instead of wasting time, you should work out your muscles.

Train until you're like those legendary powerhouses, able to smash any demons or monsters with a single punch.

Besides building muscle, another urgent task is to unlock the equipment requirements for the Ahura statue.

"Senior Sister, do you have any free time lately? If so, could you do me a favor?"

Chen Yu asked politely.

"What is it? Please speak!"

Luo Ninghai smiled slightly, and his dark face immediately became radiant.

"Your senior sister may lack many things, but she has plenty of time!"

Chen Yu cleared his throat: "Ahem, could Senior Sister teach me the ancient Sassanid language?"

"Ancient Sassanid language? By the way, junior brother, why are you so interested in it?"

Luo Ninghai asked.

"I recently had a dream in which a blond sage told me that I have an affinity for the ancient Sassanid language, and if I can learn it, I will become very wealthy within a year!"

Chen Yu shamelessly spouted nonsense, making even the serious-looking Ouyang Qing laugh.

"Haha, really? Junior Brother, you actually believed that? Maybe the immortal meant you'd become rich in your dreams!"

Ouyang Qing said something he thought was very humorous.

But no one around her laughed, and she suddenly felt the atmosphere was a little awkward.

In order not to lose face, Ouyang Qing could only awkwardly laugh three times.

"A blond-haired immortal?"

Fang Ke and Luo Ninghai said in unison.

After they finished speaking, the two looked at each other for two seconds.

After a moment of silence, Fang Ke opened his mouth, as if about to say something.

But a strange feeling suddenly came over him, and he shut his mouth again, ultimately unable to say anything.

Luo Ninghai blurted out, "Junior brother, teaching you ancient Sassanid is no problem, but let me make it clear beforehand that I myself am only half-baked, and I'm afraid I can't explain anything too profound to you."

"If you wish to delve deeper into the ancient Sasanian language, I can take you back to my ancestral home in Yuezhou, where my mother will personally guide you."

Chen Yu nodded, about to agree, but before he could speak, Luo Ninghai raised his eyebrows and interrupted him.

"Junior brother, although your senior sister has nothing to do all day, you could say I'm bored to death, I can't work for you for nothing. You want me to teach you ancient Sassanid, so you'll have to pay me something, right?"

Seeing Luo Ninghai rubbing her hands together, hinting that she was about to take the money, Chen Yu couldn't help but laugh.

"Of course there are benefits. How could I, your junior brother, mistreat my senior sister? Just teach her with peace of mind. If she can teach me, I'll give you one or two taels of silver every day. Even if she can't teach me, I'll still give you two copper coins a day. How about that?"

"Great, great, that's what we'll do!"

Luo Ninghai beamed and nodded repeatedly.

After Chen Yu finished speaking, he turned to Fang Ke and gave him a reminder.

"Senior Brother Fang, you must be extra careful lately!"

Fang Ke patted his chest and said, "Junior brother, don't worry, with me here, the Crow-Slaying Furnace Technique will definitely not have any problems!"

"That's not what I meant," Chen Yu said meaningfully. "Anyway, it's never wrong to be cautious."

After explaining everything, Chen Yu got up and walked out of the dining hall.

The sky was clear and the sunlight was bright and gentle.

With such fine weather, Chen Yu's mood also became cheerful.

He had only taken a dozen or so steps when three figures suddenly appeared and blocked his way.

"Junior Brother Chen, I have something to discuss with you. Would you do me the honor of coming into the dining hall for a chat?"

Chen Yu looked up and saw three people he recognized.

The young man in blue speaking in the middle was none other than Xiao Tianlu.

The fat man on the left is named Zhong Dalu, and the girl in white on the right is named Lin Wan'er.

All three were disciples of the Central Academy, and they had all spoken ill of him behind his back; none of them were good people.

"Senior brother, if you have something to say, just say it. If not, please don't waste my time."

Chen Yu looked at the three of them, his eyes flashing.

"What kind of attitude is that? Is this how you usually talk to your senior brothers and sisters?"

Zhong Dalu's face instantly darkened, his eyes widened, and he glared fiercely at Chen Yu.

"Dalu, don't be so impulsive! Let's talk this out."

Xiao Tianlu wore a forced, insincere smile.

"Junior Brother Chen is a straightforward person, so I'll get straight to the point. Is your Raven Slaying Furnace still short of people? Could the three of us join?"

"My Crow Slayer Furnace is short of people, but I cannot let you join."

Chen Yu answered decisively.

A few days ago, when we were eating in the cafeteria, these three people belittled me as less than pigs and dogs, but now they're calling me "Junior Brother Chen" all the time.

How could I possibly dare to cooperate with such a shameless scoundrel who says one thing to your face and another behind your back?

"I know that Junior Brother Chen's Raven Slayer Furnace already has three people, and there are only five spots in total, so we can't all join, right? Junior Brother, you think so too, don't you?"

Xiao Tianlu's eyes darted around, and he continued, "But I have a good idea. You kick that black guy Luo Ninghai out, and that will free up a spot so all three of us can join. What do you think?"

Chen Yu just sneered.

He couldn't understand why these people were so ordinary yet so confident.

Luo Ninghai is not only a reliable person, but he can also teach me the ancient Sassanid language.

What value do these backstabbers have to me?

Letting these pests in will only make things a mess of the team.

"No, compared to Senior Sister Luo, none of the three of you are even qualified."

Chen Yu said frankly.

"What did you say? Say it again, or I'll beat you to death, you piece of trash!"

Zhong Dalu was struck at the heart, and immediately flew into a rage, furious and enraged.

"I said I don't need petty people, useless people, or people with connections."

As Chen Yu spoke, his gaze swept over Xiao Tianlu, Zhong Dalu, and Lin Wan'er in turn.

Of the three, only Lin Wan'er remained expressionless.

The other two both had expressions that looked like they'd eaten shit.

Zhong Dalu rolled up his sleeves, ready to slap Chen Yu across the face.

Xiao Tianlu quickly stepped in and blocked him behind him.

"It's just a few rumors, don't worry."

Then, he turned to Chen Yu, clapping his hands and said, "Fine, you've got guts, Chen! Just you wait and see! If you can make your Crow-Slaying Furnace work, I'll take your surname!"

After making those harsh remarks, he waved his sleeve and quickly left the scene with Zhong Dalu and Lin Wan'er.

Chen Yu didn't take these three people seriously at all.

With his current strength, even three people attacking him together might not be enough to defeat him.

"If they dare to cause trouble, just kill them all. Why waste words explaining?"

Chen Yu shook his head, feeling that perhaps he was being a bit too aggressive.

"No, I have never provoked anyone."

"I killed people in self-defense. For the sake of a peaceful and stable life, I must never be lenient with these bad people!"

Chen Yu made up his mind that no matter who it was, if anyone dared to ruin his wonderful life, he would find a way to kill them.

Back at Forging Workshop No. 11, all the forging materials were ready.

Today is the fourth day of the ninth lunar month, which, according to the Chinese almanac, is an auspicious day, suitable for forging weapons.

Chen Yu drew his deer-slaying knife, placed it on the anvil, and began the fine forging process.