The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 110

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

The Decline of a Great Clan: Spirit Pills and Limited Time — Chapter 110

Under ordinary circumstances, Dan Mok Ryeon would have seized upon Hwa Ryun’s suspicious demeanor and picked a quarrel, but today she seemed oddly dazed, as though lost in a daze.
“I didn’t know…… our grandmother is in the Northern Sea.”
“Your sister’s…… grandmother?”
“She’s been ill for a long time, but she’s much better now. So she sent along Spirit Pills as a gift for the people who helped me with my clan consolidation.”
“I see.”
“So I decided to go. After the Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon is over.”
“I’m sorry?”
Having said that much, Dan Mok Ryeon grasped Hwa Ryun’s hand tightly, her face alight with enthusiasm.
“It’s terribly far, but it should be fun! We can see the Northern Sea. I hear it’s cold, so I’ll need to pack winter clothes. Should we stop for roasted duck on the way?”
“Roasted duck? That’s sudden self-deprecation, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean——Hwa Ryun!”
Dan Mok Ryeon shrieked, and only after Hwa Ryun’s hair had been nearly torn from her head did the two finally calm down.
Dan Mok Ryeon continued as though she’d completely forgotten the conversation moments before.
“Sigh…… I should have developed the Pyo Guk sooner. I’m a bit late.”
“The Pyo Guk?”
Hwa Ryun asked while tugging at her own disheveled hair with her fingertips. Dan Mok Ryeon nodded.
“I have an ambitious dream. I want to grow the Pyo Guk so that when the Pyo Sa messengers go out on their routes, if they find a guest inn with exceptional food, they write it down, and I publish a small handbook. Then other Pyo Sa would be able to find delicious food whenever they travel to those areas.”
“The senior Pyo Sa would teach you such things, wouldn’t they?”
“……But they might not be able to……. Besides, there’s meaning in creating a map of guest inns across the entire Martial Arts World…… and we could sell the books not just for our own Pyo Guk but to other Pyo Guk and trading companies too!”
“Yes, so the roasted duck.”
“Right. We eat roasted duck. And other delicious things, and the flowers and trees will be different there too.”
“That’s true enough, I suppose…….”
“But you have to come back with me.”
“What?”
“Even if the Northern Sea Ice Palace recognizes how clever you are and offers you gold and jewels, you can’t stay there. You have to come back with me.”
“Are you imagining things again for no reason? Who would offer gold and jewels?”
Hwa Ryun spoke dismissively and waved her hand, but Dan Mok Ryeon was not swayed at all, seizing both her cheeks firmly.
“Do you know what they say? A jewel in my eyes is a jewel in another’s eyes too.”
“…….”
“I’m so very worried about this elder sister of yours. I’m afraid someone will recognize how precious you are and try to keep you.”
“……But didn’t you say you wouldn’t go?”
“That’s right. And if you reject my talk of adoption into the family and then go off elsewhere, that’s betrayal. Real betrayal.”
“Is it necessary to call it betrayal……?”
“It is betrayal. Traitors face summary execution. Understand?”
“What do you mean by summary execution?”
“You have to eat a hundred Gyeongdan that I made.”
Hwa Ryun’s face went pale in an instant.
“Isn’t that awfully harsh?”
“You always try to find loopholes to escape. Why is that? Dan Mok Ryeon is curious. Is it because of something in your nature that makes you unwilling to keep your promises?”
“All right, all right. I won’t betray you.”
Faced with Dan Mok Ryeon’s stern words, Hwa Ryun removed her hand and spoke with a grumble. Dan Mok Ryeon immediately broke into a bright smile and continued.
“So let’s go and come back together. They say there’s an ice lake in the Northern Sea. Do you know what an ice lake is? When a lake freezes solid, you can play on top of it…….”
Dan Mok Ryeon chattered eagerly. While Hwa Ryun appeared to listen carefully, she stole glances at Dan Mok Ryeon’s complexion.
Seeing no trace of painful pallor on that face, Hwa Ryun, instead of countering with “I’m not interested in such things” or “You can find that in Beijing too,” asked instead, “What if the ice cracks?”
“That won’t happen, but this elder sister of yours will rescue you, so don’t worry!”
Dan Mok Ryeon laughed brightly, stars sparkling in her eyes before vanishing beneath her lashes. Hwa Ryun buried her face against her arm and murmured, “You promised.”
Night fell gently.

* * *

Upon arriving at the Mo Yong Family Estate, the grand welcoming banquet had ended, and now the time had come to accomplish the purpose of the Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon.
The first speaker was Peng Wu Hyeok, the head of the Ha Buk Peng Family.
Peng Wu Hyeok had a robust frame and large, imposing eyes—a very different impression from Peng Ju Ran, who spoke with a somewhat gentle manner.
‘Righteous Blood Blade

Peng Wu Hyeok, they said.’
It wasn’t easy for a figure from the martial world to earn a title with “blood” in it. It spoke volumes about just how bold and fierce his temperament was—though one could debate the direction of that boldness.
“What matters is real combat.”
Once Peng Wu Hyeok had lined up all the children in the Training Ground, he cast aside pleasantries and trivialities in one sweep, then spoke bluntly. In his right hand he held a blade as wide as a man’s thigh, and in his left, a bronze bell.
‘What’s that bell for?’
The children exchanged confused glances as they looked up at Peng Wu Hyeok.
“All right then—eight of you at a time, come fight me.”
“Pardon?”
“But that’s…”
“No, that can’t be. Ha ha ha.”
Some of the children laughed. The idea of fighting a patriarch of one of the great martial families while he held a real blade was absurd.
“Sigh…”
Among them, Peng Ju Ran—Peng Wu Hyeok’s own son—exhaled a quiet sigh. Knowing his father’s temperament, he’d expected this turn of events.
And before the children could even react, Peng Wu Hyeok divided them up into groups of eight as he saw fit.
“Fortunately, I’m a reasonable man. I’ll give you all one Iljak

to discuss your attack strategy, then come at me. Ready?”
And with that, Peng Wu Hyeok shook the bell in his left hand with a loud clang.
At the sound that made their ears ring, the children instinctively found their groups and faced off against one another.
“Mm.”
And Ryeon, too, looked over her teammates.
Since they’d been divided roughly by proximity, her group consisted of Ryeon, Dan Mok Bi, Mae Sin Yu, Mo Yong Seol Ho from the Mo Yong Family, Geum Jong Ha, Peng Ju Ran, Ak So Hyeong, and Seo Geuk Rim.
Dan Mok Seong and Dan Mok Wan, who stood apart, watched Ryeon with wistful eyes. Dan Mok Wan’s gaze in particular was tinged with sadness.
“What’s the Righteous Blood Blade master’s attacking style like?”
But one Iljak was no time at all. Without hesitation, Ryeon turned to Peng Ju Ran, who stood with her group.
Peng Ju Ran stared at her in disbelief.
“Are you seriously asking me about my father’s weakness right now?”
“I’m not asking about his weakness—I’m asking what his attacking style is like. We need to know to mount any kind of decent defense, right? Since you happen to be on our team, we have to do better than the others.”
“I… I mean…”
“Hurry!”
It was Mo Yong Seol Ho who urged him on. Peng Ju Ran looked at them bewilderedly, then began to speak haltingly.
“My father… he…”
At the same time, all those days of being beaten senseless in the name of training flashed past him. Peng Ju Ran found himself hunching his shoulders.
“He likes to destroy an opponent’s weak point in a single blow once he spots it.”
Ryeon realized she wouldn’t get a proper answer from such questions.
“So this is how your family trains too? How does he go about it from start to finish?”
“Well… Father usually holds back for about half an Iljak, throws attacks I can barely manage for a while, and then… then he subdues me with techniques I can’t handle.”
Ryeon swallowed hard.
“Just show us your basic swordwork once…”
“Unsheathe one of your techniques.”
Ryeon glanced back at Mo Yong Seol Ho, who’d spoken at the same time. Mo Yong Seol Ho blinked in surprise before turning his gaze back to Peng Ju Ran.
Peng Ju Ran glanced toward his father, who stood at a distance with arms crossed, eyes shut tight, bell in hand, then shook his head sharply and stood up.
“It won’t be hard, but… to this extent…?”
The other groups were murmuring too, but if one listened closely, it was nothing more than “let’s do our best.”
He felt a little embarrassed to be the only one trying this hard.
“Of course. Even if we meet the Righteous Blood Blade master again someday, it’ll be years from now. We have to learn everything we can right now!”
‘And besides, at Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon, the Spirit Pills from the Mo Yong Family go to whoever performs best. Those are going to be mine!’
Naturally, she had no need for them herself—she was planning to distribute them among the other family children.
Besides, Spirit Pills had ancillary effects beyond enhancing internal energy.
Some purified the body, others prevented the loss of one’s cultivation.
‘Such things don’t come from merely infusing young Spiritual Energy into them—they must come from special manufacturing methods.’
Studying various types of Spirit Pills seemed like it would help later when she made her own.
As Ryeon’s eyes began to sparkle with that thought, Peng Ju Ran finally gripped the blade awkwardly in his hand.
Looking into those brilliant, star-bright eyes, he couldn’t back down.
“Mm, this is the Qian Kun Lian Huan Tuo Bai Blade

technique. Um… I’ll do it now.”
“Yes, go ahead!”
As everyone around Ryeon fixed their gaze upon her with undivided attention, Peng Ju Ran felt the absurd sensation of being cast as some kind of fool. Yet he said nothing more, simply falling silent as he began to move his blade with quiet deliberation.
In that moment, the starlight dancing in Ryeon’s eyes grew sharper still. The Divine Insight flickered and gleamed within her gaze.

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