The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 130

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 130
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How long had we been gone? Yet here we were, returning again. I was startled to see Mu-yeong greeting us immediately upon our arrival.
‘Does that man ever sleep?’
Father set me down and spoke.
“Do you remember the conversation we had earlier?”
“Yes, but… are you going to do it right now?”
Mu-yeong was normally difficult to read, but now his bewilderment was palpable. I could understand his sentiment entirely.
“The sooner, the better.”
“I… understand. But may I ask what elixir this is? I heard there’s no need to worry, but even if we neutralize the spiritual stone’s essence through qi circulation, it must match the Family Head’s inner strength foundation…”
Mu-yeong asked Father cautiously. Father withdrew from his robes a finger-sized porcelain vial with a black sheen. It was a sight I hadn’t seen in ages.
“Kongcheongseok elixir.”
Mu-yeong’s expressionless face crumbled once more. This time, his eyes widened in shock. Considering the value of Kongcheongseok elixir, his reaction was remarkably restrained.
After a lengthy silence, Mu-yeong spoke.
“The Great Hero’s generosity is beyond what a humble servant like myself could ever comprehend. I can only offer my gratitude.”
Father suddenly pressed his hand to my shoulder and pushed me forward slightly.
“It was not my choice, but Yeon’s. The Kongcheongseok elixir belongs to Yeon.”
“…”
His tone was so thick with pride that I felt embarrassed instead. Mu-yeong dropped to his knees and prostrated himself before me.
I was taken aback.
“I swear that I shall repay the boundless grace the young lady has bestowed upon the Family Head.”
“Yes…”
The burden felt a hundredfold heavier now, compounded by all that lay ahead.
“Now then, Yeon.”
Before arriving at Jegal Segaju’s Residence, Father and I had discussed how best to proceed.
Father handed me the Kongcheongseok elixir.
At that moment, Mu-yeong interjected urgently.
“Please wait a moment. Is the young lady the one who will guide the qi circulation?”
“Yes.”
“…Will it not be dangerous?”
His concern was natural. Had he not worried, I would have kept my distance from him.
The power contained within the Kongcheongseok elixir was vast. It was naturally difficult to handle. Only a master who wielded true qi like an extension of their own body could manage it.
What if a sudden seizure occurred while handling the Kongcheongseok elixir? The supreme essence without a guide would scatter into the void. The mere thought was horrifying.
Therefore, someone was needed to assist. But… to whom would I entrust the Kongcheongseok elixir? How could I trust them? What if they consumed it and converted all of its power into their own inner strength?
This was something that could only rely on individual morality. Even Mu-yeong, a subordinate of Jegal Segaju, could not be trusted in such a matter. This was why I had hesitated to decide so readily to use the Kongcheongseok elixir for Jegal Segaju.
Mu-yeong spoke with a grave expression.
“If anything were to happen to the young lady, I would have no face to show.”
I looked up at Father, and he spoke to Mu-yeong.
“It’s fine. Do not worry.”
Despite Father’s words, Mu-yeong remained unmoved.
“The Family Head instructed me to serve you well too, Miss.”
I found myself frowning without realizing it.
When had he said such a thing?
Now I understood why Mu-yeong had been so accommodating whenever I came and went from here, hanging on my every word—there was a reason behind it all.
Could it be that Jegal Segaju had anticipated his own collapse?
‘Well, come to think of it, that was true from our first meeting.’
He’d been collapsed on the roadside then too. It was only natural that he would anticipate losing consciousness again at any moment.
“Yes. His condition does worsen with each passing day, but there is still time remaining for the Family Head. There is no need to rush matters so urgently.”
“I understand your concern. But recently, I’ve come to believe that Yeon is capable of something….”
I interrupted Father as he spoke.
“Mu-yeong, what exactly did Jegal Segaju tell you?”
“He said that should anything happen to him, I was to serve Miss Baek well.”
I nodded in acknowledgment.
“Then please follow his wishes. That is the kind of service I desire.”
“….”
“If you cannot trust me, then trust Jegal Segaju’s discernment.”
Having silenced Mu-yeong, I turned to Father with an expression that seemed to ask, ‘Didn’t I do well?’
Father, who had been silent for a moment, spoke.
“Then, since Mu-yeong seems to agree, you may begin.”
“Tch.”
I pursed my lips and took a seat beside Jegal Segaju. I opened the medicinal vial. They said the liquid inside was milky white, but to my eyes it was merely a luminous mass shimmering with five brilliant colors. Even suppressing my golden eyes’ vision to its fullest extent, I could not perceive the milky hue.
‘All I need to do is drink this.’
I thought to drink it. But contrary to my thoughts, my hand would not move. Instead, what surfaced was the memory of pain—as though my body were burning.
My hand had begun to tremble faintly without my notice.
“….”
How foolish I must have looked, speaking so confidently to Mu-yeong.
It was then that I heard a voice whispering in my mind.
It was Father’s voice transmitted directly into my consciousness.
[You told Mu-yeong the same thing—if he cannot trust you, then trust Jegal Segaju’s discernment. I say the same to you. If you cannot trust yourself, then trust this father’s discernment. You can do this.]
A small laugh escaped me without my realizing it. The trembling in my hand had ceased.
I swallowed dryly and drew in one deeper breath. Then, without hesitation, I brought the medicinal vial to my lips and tilted it.
Not more, not less—just a single drop. The moment it entered my mouth, it dissolved without a trace. There was no taste at all. It was simply… like water. Flavorless and odorless.
But the vital energy contained within was different. The moment it seeped across my tongue, the energy began to spread. A sensation like wind gradually intensified until it became a raging tempest.
‘Wait, I’ve heard that normally when one consumes a spiritual elixir, one must release the compressed vital energy….’
This elixir was nothing like that. Before I could even release it, the energy was already running wild of its own accord.
Throughout both before and after my regression, there had been only one spiritual elixir that had caused me to fall into demonic cultivation—and even my memories of that were hazy due to its influence. Yet I could be certain that it was nothing like this.
‘Now I understand why he said it couldn’t be administered directly to Jegal Segaju.’
My initial thought had been to have Jegal Segaju consume it, and then guide the vital energy afterward. Naturally, I had assumed the person in need should take the elixir. But Father had objected. I had to consume it myself and refine the energy before transferring it.
‘That was a close call.’
No matter how many books I had devoured before my regression, my knowledge still fell short of Father’s experience and wisdom.
Had I fed him without heeding Father’s words, Jegal Family Head’s meridians would have ruptured before I could even assist his cultivation—torn asunder by the sheer force.
His weakened, constricted meridians could never withstand the tempestuous energy of the Gongcheong Stone Essence.
Yet I could endure it.
‘So it’s… almost comparable to the natural qi I normally manipulate?’
My body had grown accustomed to wielding natural qi. The only difference was that this energy surged far more abundantly and resisted my intent—yet as I suppressed its unrefined, scattering nature and gradually bent it to my will, something felt exquisitely right.
‘How could all this power possibly be contained within a single droplet?’
It defied all logic. Another thought followed immediately after.
‘If I master this method… I could apply it when handling natural qi as well.’
And the final realization I came to was…
Father would never have consumed it, even if his body had been whole. He knew I remained a crippled cultivator for whom all spiritual medicines were useless, yet he waited—hoping that someday would come when I could finally take this.
When the Gongcheong Stone Essence’s energy seemed sufficiently stabilized, I raised my hand. I reached toward my lower dantian as I always did—toward the region of my abdomen and navel.
But I stopped just before touching my dantian.
‘What if I tried the upper dantian instead?’
Jegal Family Head’s meridians, tangled with severed pathways, had an unusually expansive upper dantian. Unlike ordinary people, whose meridians were widest near the lower dantian where inner power centered, his were fundamentally different.
I redirected my hand. My palm made contact with the soft strands of hair and the warmth of his forehead. Then I immediately channeled the Gongcheong Stone Essence’s energy into him.
His meridians, circulation nearly halted by the severed pathways, began absorbing the essence’s energy with desperate hunger.
‘Good. This is the right approach.’
The moment I thought this, I sensed something wrong. An aura unlike anything I’d ever felt before—something profoundly deep and vast, unsettlingly immense—emanated from Jegal Family Head.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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