The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 69

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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 69
‘I heard they used the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect’s formation technique, but…’
My ears and cheeks, which had grown cold from the outside air, tingled pleasantly in the gentle warmth that permeated this place. I rubbed my cheeks and walked through the field in a daze.
Changung Pavilion was the Namgung Clan’s secluded training ground, though to be precise, it had been created jointly by the Namgung Clan and the Jegal Clan.
The Jegal Clan, one of the Ten Great Families, occupied a unique position among the great houses. While their martial arts were exceptional, what earned them even greater recognition was their strategic brilliance.
One could say that without the Jegal Clan, the Murim Alliance would not exist. They had been instrumental in founding the Murim Alliance and driving back the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect. For generations, the Jegal Clan had held the position of military strategist within the Murim Alliance, aspiring to become the greatest family under heaven.
But that was ancient history. Now they had declined considerably. By sheer scale alone, they couldn’t even match the Baek Li Family anymore. Naturally, they no longer qualified to be counted among the Ten Great Families.
Yet there’s a saying: even if a wealthy family falls, its reputation lasts three generations. The image they had built over centuries was so solid and distinctive that despite their decline, people still regarded the Jegal Clan as one of the Ten Great Families.
In any case, when the Jegal Clan was at the height of their prosperity, they joined hands with the Namgung Clan to create this Changung Pavilion. The sensation of the gentle breeze, the grass underfoot, and the earth felt so vivid it could hardly be called an illusion.
In the novel, there was a time when Namgung Ryu-cheong had been trapped within the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect’s formation technique. He had been with his companions, yet in an instant they were separated, and he was attacked by creatures treated as legendary monsters, sustaining real injuries.
‘If that’s possible, then creating something like this should be feasible too.’
I stopped by the lakeside and dipped my hand into the rippling water. It felt like real water.
‘This is truly remarkable.’
I closed my eyes for a moment and concentrated my mind. When I opened them again, a vivid golden gleam reflected in the water’s surface.
Certainly, when I first checked in a mirror after being discovered by Seo Ha-ryeong, my eyes had been a bright brown. But with each training session, the color had grown increasingly golden, and now they approached a deep amber hue.
Roughly speaking, the more natural energy I wielded, the more distinctly my eye color changed.
I couldn’t tell if this was a good thing.
I lifted my head from the water’s surface and scanned my surroundings.
‘I suppose I should be grateful—at least these eyes can’t be deceived.’
This beautiful landscape and the flow of natural energy were entirely different. The artificial nature of it was so apparent that I felt a sense of discord the moment I perceived it.
And most importantly.
The concentration of natural energy was far denser.
‘It’s truly a place made for cultivation.’
Training in such a place would certainly allow me to accumulate inner energy rapidly. I sat on a suitable tree stump, crossed my legs, and began to circulate my energy.
Honestly, there was no real need to sit in this position. What I was doing couldn’t truly be called energy circulation.
But for some reason, it seemed to help me concentrate better, so I sat this way.
I assessed the natural energies I could manipulate, just as I had practiced before. Then I gradually gathered natural energy into my right palm.
Soon after, the wound on my palm began to itch unbearably. The wound was healing rapidly.
A martial master with high inner energy possessed recovery far superior to ordinary people. Similarly, by using natural energy, I could achieve comparable effects.
This was why the Namgung Clan’s physician had marveled at my healing speed. I could have accelerated it further, but I had restrained myself to avoid drawing attention.
‘Now there’s no need to be cautious.’
That said, I wasn’t healing wounds like magic in an instant.
‘If I could do that, Man Shin-ui wouldn’t have passed away like that…’
I was simply maximizing an individual’s inherent healing capacity.
Therefore, for those whose lives hung by a thread or whose lifespan had already expired, depleting their innate energy, pouring natural energy into them would be useless.
But a wound of this degree posed no problem.
If I helped people with similar potential for recovery using natural energy, those who would have died elsewhere could be saved. This was why he had been called Man Shin-ui.
I squeezed every last bit of strength from my body and gathered all the energy I could muster. When I opened my eyes, an orb of energy the size of a quail egg hovered above my palm. This was the amount of natural energy I could currently command.
‘Is this less than Namgung Ryu-cheong’s inner energy but more than Seo Ha-ryeong’s?’
The high concentration made it feel far greater than usual, and the moment stray thoughts entered my mind, the barely gathered energy scattered.
“Ah!”
I tried to grasp at it again, but once the energy began to scatter, it dissolved into the natural energy around me as swiftly as cotton candy dissolving in water.
Well, it didn’t matter much. I had merely been testing the maximum amount I could manipulate in this place.
I closed my eyes again and concentrated, moving the natural energy around me.
Then, after a short while, I opened my eyes at the first signs of a headache. Without a clock, I couldn’t be certain how much time had passed.
‘From what I confirmed outside, I can manipulate natural energy for one shichen—about fifteen minutes.’
In that time, I could draw upon more inner energy than Seo Ha-ryeong, but less than Namgung Ryu-cheong. Inner energy wasn’t the sole measure of strength, but it was certainly one of the benchmarks.
‘The quantity is one problem, but I need to extend the duration I can maintain it as well.’
Compared to the beginning when I could only manage one or two minutes before needing rest, I had improved considerably—yet it still fell short.
If I concentrated harder here, my headaches intensified; if I pushed through and ignored them, blood would pour from my nose.
My body simply couldn’t endure it. I needed at least half a double-hour—a full hour—of rest.
‘Let me rest for a moment.’
I held my throbbing head and unwrapped the cloth bundle that So Bu-in had prepared for me.
Various items emerged. Among them, something caught my eye.
‘Candies!’
She had packed sweets for a closed-door training retreat. Normally in such places, one subsisted on flavorless grain-substituting pills while focusing on cultivation. During my two months in Man Shin-ui’s Alchemy Chamber, I had eaten nothing but those same pills.
My hand naturally reached for the candies. As I held one and contentedly nibbled away, I suddenly stopped.
‘What am I doing right now?’
I looked around.
A training ground that synthesized the techniques of the Namgung Clan and the Jegal Clan.
‘What exactly am I doing here?’
I needed to build physical strength, cultivate natural energy control…
The tasks ahead were mountainous.
And I couldn’t even be certain if this path was correct or right. Yet here I was, nibbling candies without a care.
‘Anyone watching would think I’d already succeeded.’
I rubbed the back of my neck.
How fickle people were. Just a taste of peaceful living, and I had already grown slack. Where was the me who had been grateful for this second chance after regression? Where was the me who had sworn to survive by any means necessary?
I set down the candies and hardened my resolve.
‘I’m sorry.’
Then I gathered all the beautifully wrapped candies and threw them into the lake.
The candies dissolved instantly in the water.
I closed my eyes again and concentrated.
‘Even if I push myself to the limit, what’s a little nosebleed or coughing up blood?’
Besides, the Changung Pavilion had healing capabilities, so even serious injuries would mend quickly. There was nothing left but to do my utmost with whatever I could manage.
* * *
A fortnight later, I heard the sound of the bolt being drawn from the Changung Pavilion’s lock. The sealed door had been opened, allowing me to leave whenever I wished.
But I stayed one more day, then one more day after that—and today marked the seventh day of such delays.
‘I want to stay longer.’
I splashed my feet in the lake.
Namgung Wan had said I could remain even longer than a fortnight if I wished. But since I hadn’t truly entered for a closed-door retreat, if I stayed away too long, he would surely worry.
The Baek Li Family did have a secluded training ground—a place called Baek Young-yu Cave. Though I had never entered it during my days as an internal energy cripple, I knew it to be a cavern.
‘I should visit there next time.’
I shook off my lingering regrets and rose to my feet. As I straightened my robes, I gazed down at my right hand.
Pale new flesh filled the palm completely. I clenched and unclenched my fist. A subtle tightness remained, but there was no impairment in movement.
‘Ah, I suppose I won’t be able to tease Namgung Ryu-cheong about this anymore.’
Lost in thought, I opened the door. A cold wind brushed against the tip of my nose first. My shoulders tensed as pitch-black darkness greeted me.
“Huh?”
My eyes, accustomed to the brightness inside, could not adjust to the sudden darkness. Startled, I surveyed my surroundings and felt relief wash over me upon seeing the sky overflowing with stars.
‘Oh, what? It was nighttime?’
I had thoughtlessly assumed it would naturally be daytime.
‘Am I really an idiot? But then how do I get back? Can I even navigate through the Bamboo Forest at night?’
White breath rose like mist. A dull thud—the sound of the door closing behind me.
Once I had stepped out, there was no going back inside. I drew my robes tighter against the cold and moved forward. After taking about seven steps, descending stairs appeared before me, and I came to an abrupt halt.
I rubbed my eyes furiously, squeezing them shut and opening them again.
A familiar silhouette—so very familiar yet unseen for so long. My lips trembled.
Barely, I managed to complete the word.
“Father?”
“…Yeon!”
Father descended the steep stairs in a single bound and pulled me into a tight embrace.
That familiar scent of medicine that always clung to him. The actual warmth of his touch.
“Father.”
“Yes, Yeon.”
“Father.”
“Yes.”
“…Father.”
Why did hearing that voice bring such relief?
‘I truly am safe. Truly.’

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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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