Chapter 37 – Ashes Speak Louder

The battlefield was silent now. The broken plains, once a testament to a violent, eternal struggle, had settled into a ghostly calm. The sky, deep and dark, stretched endlessly above, mourning the lives taken—lives that had fallen in the shadow of death itself. Cratered earth lay in every direction, twisted and warped from the collision of immortality and death, where the Twelve Cloaked Ones had once stood, their presence now nothing more than a fading memory.

This place was no longer a plain. It had become something else—something final. The survivors of the battle, those who had lived to see the end of the hunt, began to trickle into the vast emptiness, their forms little more than silhouettes against the ruined landscape. Some were wounded, others mere shells of themselves, lost in the aftermath.

Rin stood at the center of the Endmark, the cratered heart of this desolation, his eyes scanning the horizon. He had not moved since the last immortal fell. His senses were attuned to the remnants of the battle—the lingering energy, the fading ripples of death that now hung in the air like smoke after a fire. There was nothing left to conquer here. The Cloaked Ones were gone, and Rin, the Endborne, had emerged victorious.

But as the wind whispered across the plains, something else lingered—something Rin could not ignore. The survivors.

They were drawn to the aftermath like moths to a flame, seeking what they could not find in their own hollow lives: meaning, power, purpose. Some were broken, others triumphant, but all were the same in one aspect—they had witnessed Rin's victory, and now they came to him, their faces filled with expectation.

Some sought hope, some sought power, and some were simply curious, intoxicated by the promise of death and its secrets. But Rin saw through them all. He saw their desperation, their greed, their desire to possess what they could not comprehend.

A figure staggered forward, its movements slow and labored, dragging a crippled leg behind it. His clothes were tattered, stained with the ash of the battlefield. His face was gaunt, pale, and drawn, yet there was a certain intensity in his eyes that stood out amidst the sea of hopeless faces. He was a man who had lived too long in the world of the dead, a man who had seen too many deaths without ever understanding the true meaning of them.

The man came closer, his breath ragged, and Rin felt the weight of his presence. This was no ordinary survivor. There was something more to him—something darker.

The crippled scholar stopped before Rin, his head bowed in reverence, though his body shook with exhaustion. He did not speak immediately, as though searching for the right words. The silence between them stretched long, heavy with the tension of the moment.

Finally, the scholar spoke, his voice rough and strained. "I am Shen. A scholar, once. Now, a man broken by the immortals and their endless pursuit of power."

Rin did not respond at first. He merely studied the man before him, his expression unreadable. Shen's words carried the weight of experience—years spent in the shadow of immortality, years spent watching as the heavens tore apart everything he had ever known.

"I have heard of you, Endborne," Shen continued, his voice gaining strength. "I know what you have done. You are the one who defies the heavens, who walks the path of death itself. And I… I wish to learn from you. To understand the art of death cultivation. I want to escape them, the immortals, and find my own path—one that does not lead to endless suffering."

Rin's gaze hardened. The man's words were laced with desperation, but there was something else beneath them—something that Rin recognized in himself. It was the same hunger, the same thirst for knowledge, for power, for freedom from the chains that bound them all.

But Rin was no fool. He had seen too many like Shen, too many who sought power for selfish gain, too many who thought they could wield death without understanding it. Death was not something to be taken lightly. It was not a tool, a weapon, or a means of escape. It was an end. It was truth. It was a force that could not be tamed or manipulated without consequence.

"You wish to learn death cultivation?" Rin asked, his voice cold and measured. "Do you understand what that means?"

Shen hesitated, his gaze flicking to the ground. "I know what it means to suffer. To lose everything. I want to stop being a pawn in their games, to stop being a plaything for immortals who care nothing for life or death. I want to learn the way of true death."

Rin's lips curled into a slight, bitter smile. "True death… You think you can learn it? That it can be taught like any other cultivation technique? No. Death cultivation is not something you learn. It is something you accept, something you become. And before you can even begin to understand it, you must understand one thing."

Shen's eyes lifted, the weight of Rin's gaze locking him in place.

"The name to mourn," Rin said, his words heavy with meaning. "Death is not a tool to be wielded. It is not a power to be stolen. It is a promise. Every death you take, every life you end, demands a name to mourn. You cannot learn death cultivation without a debt. A name to mourn is the price of understanding. It is the key to mastering death."

Shen's expression faltered. "A name to mourn?" he echoed, as if trying to grasp the significance of the words. "But I… I have nothing. I have no one left to mourn. My family is dead, my friends are lost. I have nothing."

Rin's eyes narrowed, the weight of his words cutting deep. "Then you will never learn death cultivation. Not without a name. Not without someone who is more than just a memory to you. Death demands sacrifice, Shen. You cannot take from it without giving something of yourself in return. If you wish to escape the immortals, you will first have to understand what it means to mourn."

A long silence hung in the air, the wind picking up, swirling the ash and dust around them. Shen looked lost, his face a mask of confusion and sorrow. Rin could see it in his eyes—the void. The emptiness that had driven him here.

And yet, Rin's resolve did not falter. He would not allow death to be taken lightly. He would not allow it to be used as a tool for escape, for selfish gain. If Shen was to learn, he would have to understand the true weight of the sacrifice.

"I will teach you," Rin said at last, his voice softer, but still firm. "But on one condition. You will never teach death cultivation to anyone who does not have a name to mourn. If you wish to understand the way of death, you must first understand what it means to lose. What it means to give everything to the ashes. Only then will you be worthy of the knowledge."

Shen nodded slowly, his eyes still clouded with uncertainty. "I understand."

Rin's gaze lingered on him for a moment longer, then shifted to the others who had gathered—silent onlookers, drawn by the promise of death's secrets. They, too, would seek him out in time. Some out of desperation, some out of greed. But Rin would not be swayed. He had set his boundaries, and he would uphold them.

"Let this be a warning to all of you," Rin said, his voice carrying across the crowd. "Death is not a gift. It is not a power to be taken lightly. You will follow me, not in worship, but in understanding. There will be no blind obedience. There will be no empty promises. If you seek to learn, you will pay the price. And you will know the weight of death."

The survivors of the Endmark stood silent, the air heavy with the gravity of Rin's words. Some nodded in understanding, while others remained uncertain, perhaps even fearful. But Rin knew that the seeds had been planted. His path would not be walked alone.

As the moonlight bathed the crater in an eerie glow, Rin turned away, his figure disappearing into the vastness of the ruined plains. The survivors, those who had come seeking hope, now had a new understanding: death was not salvation, nor was it escape. It was a reckoning. A truth that would shape their lives forever.

And in the distance, the ashes spoke louder than any prayer.

To be continued…