"Not all sects pass the torch. Some swallow the flame and call it tradition."
— Testimony of a survivor from the Devourer Vaults, sealed in a confession scroll burned by its own ink
🏯 Western Divide – Blackroot Range, Beneath the Bone-Lantern Peaks
Jin Mu-Won and his companions descended into a darkened valley where no flame dared linger.
The air stank of old offerings—oil, ash, and aging marrow. The sky above the peaks was still, unnaturally unmoving, as if reality itself hesitated to breathe here.
Carved into the cliffs was a massive fortress-like structure: black stone, horn-shaped towers, and gates sealed by elder teeth.
"This is where they kept the fire alive," Ash-Eye muttered grimly.
"By feeding it bloodline."
"I thought the Sect of Eclipsing Roots was wiped out during the Inner Flame Purge," Su Ren said.
"It was," Jin replied.
"But tradition doesn't die in the open. It retreats."
The Sect That Devours Its Elders had once been the Fourth Pillar Sect of the Murim Union, until their practice of inheriting cultivation through forced soul absorption was exposed.
Rather than passing legacy by teaching…
They passed it by eating it.
📜 Lore Entry – The Ritual of Inheritance
Every ten years, when the sect's flame began to flicker, the youngest elite would gather and consume the soul-essence of the elders—not out of cruelty, but doctrinal necessity.
"What cannot evolve must be returned."
"Only growth matters. Even if it means your master becomes marrow."
They believed that legacy could not be trusted to memory.
Only by devouring one's predecessor could the power—and mistakes—be corrected.
They called it "the Renewal."
🧠Descent into the Devourer Vaults
The Hollow-Bound Four stepped inside the crumbling sanctum.
Hundreds of statues lined the halls—carvings of elders in agony, their hands bound by vines of petrified flame.
Lin Xue paused before one.
"They didn't die willingly."
Ash-Eye's nostrils flared.
"Their qi was ripped mid-breath."
They reached the center: a wide ritual arena, floor stained with flickering ghost-blood.
And seated in the lotus position—a child no older than nine.
But his presence… felt ancient.
His eyes opened.
"You've come for the marrow," he said flatly.
"Or to stop it?"
Jin stepped forward.
"I've come to remember it. So it never happens again."
👤 The Last Devourer – Master Luhn, Child of Twelve Flames
Despite his small body, Master Luhn bore twelve soul-cores, each a different color—each once belonging to a sect elder.
"They fed me willingly," Luhn said.
"They said this world couldn't afford mercy. That flame should grow fast, not old."
Su Ren's hands trembled.
"You were a child."
"I was a weapon. And now I'm all that's left."
He rose, and the ritual circle lit with fire drawn from countless personalities—all warping and collapsing around him.
"So let's see if memory… is stronger than hunger."
⚔️ Ritual Duel – Twelve Voices, One Blade
Master Luhn moved like twelve fighters at once:
One style mirrored Moon-Palm Frost.
Another mimicked Drunken Spear.
A third resembled Jin's own Hollow Form—but twisted, drained of meaning.
"He doesn't fight with soul," Lin Xue murmured.
"He fights with… what's left of other people's."
Jin didn't respond with a strike.
He responded with a name.
"Grandmaster Tae-Woon. You taught froststep without ever holding a blade."
"Master Zehn-Li. You healed a boy instead of raising the blade. That boy wasn't me—but I remember him."
Each name Jin spoke—a soul inside Luhn faltered.
Until only one voice remained:
"And you, Luhn… didn't want any of this."
The boy-child stopped mid-strike.
And dropped his blade.
🧠Hollow Crown Surge – Memory Over Hunger
Inheritance Absorption Nullified
Echo Reversal Initiated – Siphoned Souls Returning to Rest
Mourner's Crown Interface Established: Host Luhn Stabilized
Master Luhn collapsed, tears streaming down a face that hadn't known its own name in years.
"What… do I do now?"
Jin knelt beside him.
"You don't devour anyone."
"You remember them. And then… you choose who you are."
📜 Echo Gained – Vault of the Flame-Eaten
[You have gained: Ritual Core Fragment – Marrow of the Inverted Sect]
Unlocks: Remembrance of the Absorbed – ability to channel echoes of fragmented souls long devoured
New Technique: "Marrow Pulse" – once per battle, summon the strength of a forgotten master to alter fate briefly
Mourner's Crown Awakening: 78%
Trait Gained: Inverse Inheritance – absorbs no power, but recalls lost techniques from absorbed entities
🌍 World Response
In hidden temples, children born during the Renewal now weep without knowing why.
Flame Sects review all internal inheritance methods. One burns its manuals overnight.
A forgotten scroll floats to the surface in the Lake of Lost Oaths. It reads:
"Teach. Don't consume."
And far from there, a girl lighting a lantern feels warmth and says:
"Someone let go of the hunger. I can feel it."
As Jin and his companions emerged from the vault, Master Luhn followed—not as a devourer, but as a boy with twelve voices finally quiet.
They left the sect behind them, not destroyed…
But disarmed.