Cultivator of the End: I Refine My Own Death-Chapter 107 – The Skin Thieves

The Hollow's air was thick with the scent of blood, decay, and something older—ancient, almost sentient. Each breath Rin took seemed to draw him deeper into its intoxicating embrace. The Fleshcrafters, those practitioners of the grotesque art of corpse refinement, were more than just artisans of death. As he watched their work unfold before him, Rin discovered that their practices were not confined merely to crafting death-forged bodies, but to something far more sinister—a practice that blurred the line between identity, flesh, and soul itself.

The Fleshcrafters were skin thieves.

He had heard the term whispered among them in hushed tones, but it was not until he spent more time in the depths of Yama Hollow that he came to understand the true horror of what they did. Skin thieves were those who sought not merely to forge bodies from death but to wear the identities of powerful cultivators. They would steal the skin of their victims—cutting, peeling, and refining it into garments that would allow them to take on the persona of the one they had killed. To wear the skin of the slain was to become them. Their essence, their memories, their powers—everything—could be transferred through this dark art.

Rin was fascinated by the concept but also horrified. The process was a twisted, sickening parody of what true cultivation should be. It was as though these skin thieves sought to be more than human, to transcend themselves entirely by hollowing out the souls of others and wearing them as if they were mere clothing.

One night, as Rin rested in the darkened chambers of Yama Hollow, a disturbance broke his meditation. He awoke, his eyes snapping open in the cold, suffocating silence. Something was wrong. He could feel the air change—the temperature dropping, the oppressive weight of death in the room intensifying. The pulse of his Death Core beat louder, as if calling to something beyond the Hollow's walls.

Before he could react, a presence loomed over him. It was not human. It was a predator, a creature that had no need for words. Rin's heart skipped a beat as he recognized the feeling of a soul attempting to invade his own, to worm its way inside him. His senses flared, and instinctually, he reached for the Death Echo Talisman at his waist, but it was too late.

The thief was already upon him. It moved with inhuman speed, an amorphous shadow that shifted and flowed like liquid. Its hands were claws, reaching for his throat, seeking to crush his soul. There was no face—no true identity—just an empty, hungry mask of intent.

Rin reacted instinctively, but his limbs were slow, sluggish. The soul-thief was too fast, its essence already beginning to twist around his own, binding him in a cocoon of suffocating darkness. His mind flashed to his Second Body, a vessel made from death, and in the haze of his awareness, he realized the truth: the skin thief wasn't just trying to steal his body, it was attempting to erase his identity. The thief wanted to wear him.

A low, mocking laugh echoed in his mind, a voice filled with disdain and hunger.

"Do you think you are special?" it sneered. "You are nothing more than a fleeting moment, a passing shadow. I will become you, and you will cease to be."

Rin's vision blurred, his body paralyzed by the intrusion. The thief's touch was cold, as if it carried the weight of a thousand lost souls. His heart pounded in his chest, but he couldn't escape. His own identity was slipping away, dissolving into the darkness of the thief's will.

But in that moment of helplessness, something deep within him stirred. His Death Core pulsed violently, as if rejecting the invasion. His second body, the one crafted from death itself, was not bound by the same rules. Death is my domain, Rin thought. I will not be taken so easily.

The moment of clarity was fleeting. Rin did the only thing he could—he let go.

He allowed himself to die.

For a single breath, his body went still, his heart stopping. The world faded to black.

And in that void, in that terrifying expanse where there was no light, no sound, no life, Rin's essence fractured. It was as though his soul was being torn from his body, the disembodied state pulling him further from the world of the living. He could feel the thief's soul clutching at his fading existence, trying to claim it, to rip it from him entirely. But Rin was not done. He was not dead.

He chose to die.

And then, like a storm breaking through the silence, Rin inhabited his Second Body.

The transformation was instantaneous.

The body he had forged from death matter, the one that had been little more than an empty shell before, now surged with the force of his will. The Second Body, made of decay and bound by the laws of death, cracked open like a living tomb. The thief's soul was thrown off like a broken dream, ripped away from Rin's core as the Second Body came to life.

Rin's hand shot out, grabbing the thief by the throat, his fingers sinking into the creature's spectral flesh. He pulled the thief's essence close, feeling its struggles, its fear as it realized it had failed to claim him. With a final, brutal twist of his wrist, Rin crushed the thief's soul, letting it disintegrate into nothingness, leaving behind only the faintest echo of its former existence.

But even as the thief was destroyed, Rin felt the poison of its presence lingering within him, seeping into his very being. His Second Body was strong, but it was still not immune to the consequences of such an attack. He had won, but the price was high. His soul trembled, weakened by the violent intrusion.

He slumped against the cold stone floor of Yama Hollow, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he tried to regain his composure. It was the first time he had died voluntarily—truly died—and it was a sensation that left him shaken, hollowed out in ways he could not yet comprehend.

The ritual was complete.

The Rebirth Through Decay Sutra, he thought, his mind still reeling. His experience, this process, this moment of death and rebirth—it was a new form of cultivation, a method of transcending death itself, an evolution. His Death Core pulsed in recognition, a dark power awakening inside him. He had seen death from within, not as an observer, but as a participant. And in doing so, he had unlocked something deep within himself—a power that would fuel his ascent.

He staggered to his feet, feeling the lingering effects of the poison ebbing away as his body began to recover. His Second Body, formed from the very essence of decay, was not merely a vessel—it was his vessel. It was now one with him, a part of him that was as much a reflection of his soul as it was of his ambition.

The Fleshcrafters, who had been silently watching from the shadows, now looked at him with something akin to fear. They had witnessed the battle—the soul duel between Rin and the skin thief. They had felt the ripple of power that had washed through the Hollow when Rin allowed himself to die.

Rin had become something more than human.

The Fleshcrafter who had first spoken to him, the one with the smooth mask, stepped forward, his expression unreadable beneath the featureless surface. "You... are beyond what we imagined," he said quietly, his voice betraying the fear that Rin had caused in him. "You have unlocked something ancient, something that should not be."

Rin met his gaze coldly, his Death Core still pulsing with the dark ichor of rebirth. "Do not mistake my survival for mercy," he said, his voice a low growl. "I do not seek to be like you. But I will not be claimed by anyone—not even by death itself."

The Fleshcrafter nodded slowly, stepping back. It was not reverence in his eyes but something darker—a recognition of a power that could not be contained.

And Rin, standing tall amidst the shattered echoes of his duel, knew that this was only the beginning. The skin thieves, the Fleshcrafters, and all those who sought to manipulate death would tremble at the thought of him now. He had crossed the line between life and death, and now, nothing would stand in his way.

To be continued...