The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 116

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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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A Declining House’s Limited Lifespan — Episode 116

In the Martial Arts World, what internal energy signifies cannot be reduced to mere qi accumulated within the body.
The years when humans are young, when their physical abilities reach their peak, last only briefly—scarcely extending past thirty.
Yet those called “masters” in the Martial Arts World are universally gray-haired ancients, while the young are merely called “rising talents” until they mature.
They’re spoken of only as “the most exceptional among the younger generation”—unable to surpass their seniors despite all their brilliant youth.
This is because the achievement and superiority of martial arts are not determined solely by physical strength—quick reflexes, brute force, or keen judgment.
Internal energy holds back the decline of an aging body, commands power that mortal flesh alone cannot produce, and simultaneously grants sight beyond the horizon.
When all these converge, a martial artist becomes a supreme master who dominates their era.
This was precisely what Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo was asking now.
Whether Dan Mok Ryeon’s generosity to others and willingness to share her keen intellect stemmed from knowing she herself had no future.
Initially startled, Dan Mok Ryeon soon smiled faintly and shook her head.
“Yes, it’s true I can’t build internal energy. Please keep that secret from the others. They all have tender hearts…….”
Dan Mok Ryeon imagined that if they learned of her condition, someone like Dan Mok Wan would try to vomit up every Black Grain Pill he’d swallowed.
“But that’s not why I’ve taught Mo Yong Seol Ho and the others anything.”
Having said that much, Dan Mok Ryeon scratched her cheek with a slightly embarrassed expression and deliberately spoke with a touch of cockiness.
“If I’m being honest, that’s exactly it. Whether I teach them or not doesn’t really matter.”
She shrugged her shoulders, attempting to sound boastful, but the shame beneath couldn’t be fully hidden.
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo stared at her blankly for a moment, then smiled softly.
“So you believed competing against them would present no difficulty even without a shred of internal energy?”
“There’s a way. I came back from being a walking corpse—what’s a little internal energy?”
“And if you can’t find that way?”
“Why did you pursue strength, Elder?”
“What?”
“What was your reason for learning martial arts and becoming strong?”
“To gain the power to eradicate evil and protect my clan and friends.”
“That’s similar for me.”
The power to eradicate evil and protect the family and friends.
“But to eradicate evil, one person’s strength alone won’t suffice—as your grandfather showed us.”
If one person’s strength had been enough, the Martial Alliance, which gathered Hek Cheon Ryeon and Ma Cheon Gyo together, would have been unnecessary.
Yet despite pooling all that strength, they had failed to eliminate the bloodline of Blood Coral Valley.
Dan Mok Ryeon recalled what she had heard at Tian Fei Palace.

‘The shadow of blood cannot be escaped…….’
The future would arrive as it must. Perhaps it was arriving even at this very moment.
“Even the Greatest Master Under Heaven couldn’t do it alone. We must all do it together.”
“Then how do you intend to protect your clan and friends?”
“It’s not my clan alone. Everyone in the clan pools their strength together, and my friends aren’t helpless people I must always protect.”
“If your power is weak, will the clan people follow you?”
“The clan people aren’t beasts.”
“……!”
“Besides, you can’t even force beasts to obey through strength alone.”
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo gazed down at Dan Mok Ryeon with dark, penetrating eyes. Dan Mok Ryeon met her gaze before looking away, her eyes shifting.
“And that internal energy is necessary to perceive things—well, I can see them anyway…….”
“What?”
It was the kind of remark that should’ve earned a rebuke for its insolence, yet Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo found she couldn’t deliver one.
Not because she misunderstood Dan Mok Ryeon’s intent as merely saying ‘I’m fine.’
Those who lived long in this savage Martial Arts World, aside from their exceptional martial prowess, possessed an instinct for reading truth.
‘It’s genuine. She really does see them.’
“……In those eyes of yours, do all of us—everyone your age—appear to be people whose potential must be elevated and whose strength pooled for some great purpose?”
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo was now asking: ‘Do you believe Blood Coral Valley will surge forth again?’
Dan Mok Ryeon nodded lightly.
“You speak so readily of the greatest achievement of your grandfather being undone?”
“My grandfather’s greatest achievement wasn’t eradicating them. It was saving the people in that place at that time.”

Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo fell silent for a moment, then let out a low laugh.
“You’re right, you’re right. Your words are true. That was his achievement.”
Evil may always rise anew, but the deeds of those who save others never crumble.
While Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo laughed on, Dan Mok Ryeon wore an expression of feigned displeasure—precisely what any granddaughter ought to show when her grandfather’s achievements nearly faced belittlement.
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo laughed a while longer before speaking.
“What I wished to discuss with you was not, of course, to cast aspersions upon the deeds of Mu Wol Geom.”
By then the two had arrived at a place that was very quiet and dimly lit. Dan Mok Ryeon noticed they had drawn near to where the Mo Yong Clan members dwelt.
“When one receives something, it is surely right to repay it.”
“Received… something?”
“Is it truly nothing to you that you aided the heir of the Mo Yong Clan? How can you wear such an expression of utter obliviousness?”
“Well, I decided to become friends with Mo Yong Seol Ho, so…”
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo stared at the young girl who answered so simply and straightforwardly, then shook her head in wonder.
“That you became his friend is joy enough, certainly, but the Mo Yong Clan cannot simply wash its hands of such a debt so lightly.”
With these words, Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo gazed down at the girl beneath the moonlight.
“Do you know of the Dou Zhuan Xing Yi

technique?”
As Dan Mok Ryeon considered how to reply, Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo continued.
“It is our Mo Yong Clan’s secret technique—one that receives an opponent’s martial arts and counters them. Even after receiving instruction, Seol Ho could not take a single step forward, and so he stalled.”
That was precisely where Dan Mok Ryeon had helped Mo Yong Seol Ho.
“I watched you face Ui Hyeol Do. You already understood well how to let pass forces stronger than yourself. You know how to receive and counter them too, yet you chose not to—because his strength was far too overwhelming. You knew you could not bear it.”
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo spoke calmly and quietly drew her sword.
On a night when the moon hung high, spring’s breath had begun to caress the world, and petals danced in the air like wisps of silk.
“Until you gain mastery over your internal energy, this teaching may serve as some small aid, however modest.”
“What are you…?”
Dan Mok Ryeon asked, but Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo fell silent and began to concentrate. Starlight glimmered in Dan Mok Ryeon’s eyes.
In a movement so subtle that it could barely be perceived, a single plum blossom that had clung to life until the last moment fluttered and touched the tip of Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo’s blade, then drifted back the way it had come.
In that instant, Dan Mok Ryeon’s eyes widened.
At the same moment, Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo sheathed her sword and, seeing the girl’s face, furrowed her brow in astonishment.
“…Do you understand?”
Had anyone else been watching, they would have questioned whether she was playing some sort of trick. From all appearances, Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo had stood perfectly still, without the slightest motion.
Yet Dan Mok Ryeon, who had stood entranced for a long moment, came to herself and gazed at Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo with an expression of faint concern.
“Um… but is it really alright to show me something like this?”
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo clicked her tongue.
‘Ordinarily, even if one saw such a thing once, they would understand nothing!’
“It seems there is nothing I can hide before you, so perhaps it is better to show you first and at least claim some credit for it.”
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo said this, then suddenly asked in a voice filled with disbelief.
“Do you truly understand?”
Dan Mok Ryeon nodded repeatedly.
“Is it the form we practice when the Mo Yong Clan teaches the Dou Zhuan Xing Yi?”
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo became aware that the fine hairs on her body had risen in the spring night air.
“…Yes, naturally—though no matter how deep your debt of gratitude for helping Seol Ho, I cannot reveal the clan’s secret technique…”
Even the forms practiced when teaching the technique were not easily shared with outsiders.
Yet she had revealed it for three reasons: first, because Seol Ho’s learning had been no small matter; second, because Dan Mok Ryeon was the eldest grandchild of a trusted friend; and third, because she wished to convey that friendship and loyalty deserve their due repayment.
“…Could you attempt what you just witnessed?”
“Well, it’s not like I’m countering your attack—if it’s only flower petals…”
Dan Mok Ryeon murmured softly and drew the wooden sword that dangled at her waist. Then she waited for the wind to rise.
From the distance, thin, delicate petals came whirling with the scent of blossoms.
When that wind abated for the briefest moment, Dan Mok Ryeon’s arms, legs, and the wooden sword raised before her face moved in an otherworldly way, glancing against three petals as they passed.

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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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