The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 117

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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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The Decline of a Fallen Clan — Terminal Fate — Chapter 117

Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo thought she heard a sound like clear ripples spreading outward.
And the flower petals twisted back the way they’d come, drifting away silently before the capricious spring wind could sweep through again.
Dan Mok Ryeon set down the wooden sword and beamed at Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo.
“Wow, that’s really amazing! There’s a technique hidden in it—using the opponent’s movement and the direction and grain of their force to send it right back.”
“Yet you just told me you couldn’t parry my attack. How so?”
“Oh, well, if I did that, I thought the wooden sword might break. A long time ago, I tried to block something similar—though in a much cruder way than what you showed me—and it shattered into pieces back then.”
“That’s why you use a proper weapon. Tell your grandfather to bring out the Divine Sword Made of Hyeoncheol!”
By the end, Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo was practically barking out the command.
What Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo had demonstrated was, in essence, like playing on a seesaw with your opponent.
The crux lay in discerning the direction of the flower petals’ momentum as it caught the wind, then meeting them at precisely the angle they were coming.
To do that, one had to move even the finest fibers of muscle at will, had to perceive direction with absolute clarity, and therefore could never hope to accomplish it in a single attempt.
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo abandoned the thought. In that same moment, hearing her voice, people from the Moyong Family emerged from inside their quarters, poking their heads out.
Unaware of Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo’s speed, Dan Mok Ryeon simply grinned and bent in a respectful bow.
“Thank you so much for teaching me this.”
“No… no, it’s nothing.”
‘Do I have to find the Divine Sword Made of Hyeoncheol myself?’
Dan Mok Ryeon had grasped it so easily that Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo didn’t feel like she’d taught her much of anything. She sighed quietly.
‘Our Seol Ho hasn’t been betrothed yet.’
At the same time, Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo was tempted to somehow tie the Moyong Family to this girl, but she abandoned that thought just as quickly.
The Dan Mok Clan would never let such a child slip away, and if she showed such greed…
‘Seol Eon might leap out of his seat.’
With that temperament, if the Dan Mok Clan were to give up Dan Mok Ryeon, he’d raise hell demanding the same from the North Sea. Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo trembled slightly.
Even with her hair turned white and her face lined with wrinkles, the thought of her old friend’s terrifying nature still made her shudder.

“What’s the old lady saying?”
Dan Mok Ryeon, who had been walking briskly with delight after learning a new technique, burst into laughter at the sight of two bean-sized eyes peering over the top of the wall.
“What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for sister.”
“Waiting for me!”
“So what’s the old lady saying?”
“She taught me the Method of Exerting Strength.”
“Oh…”
Hwa Ryun seemed to understand the general situation from those words alone.
“She’s teaching that family’s grandson something too, it seems.”
“Who? What did she teach? Me too, me too!”
Dan Mok Bi spoke urgently and tugged at Dan Mok Ryeon’s collar.
Since arriving at the Nam Gung Family Estate, Dan Mok Bi had been learning what it meant not to have her sister’s attention all to herself, and lately she was quick to wedge herself in whenever she noticed her sister’s gaze turning toward someone else.
“How to get better at swordsmanship and things like that.”
“Teach me too!”
“Sure, want me to show you tomorrow?”
“Can’t you do it now?”
“You need to sleep now. When you sleep well, you grow tall and strong, and once you’re strong enough, you can become a real master. Tall people have long arms, and long arms let you face enemies from farther away, don’t they?”
Dan Mok Bi’s face showed deep conflict, but soon enough she nodded.
“Then I’ll go to sleep.”
“What a good girl.”
When Dan Mok Ryeon patted Dan Mok Bi, the younger girl smiled radiantly with a grave expression on her face.
Hwa Ryun, who had been watching the scene intently, waited until Dan Mok Bi fell asleep, then approached Dan Mok Ryeon and asked quietly.
“Setting aside the old lady—what did you talk about with Nam Gung Seo Geon?”
“Huh?”
The sudden mention of Nam Gung Seo Geon caught Dan Mok Ryeon off guard, and she could only tilt her head in confusion before catching on belatedly.
“Oh, when we were roasting sweet potatoes earlier?”
“Yes.”
“Wait, you saw that? I was looking everywhere for you to give you a sweet potato! So where were you the whole time!”
“Sorry?”
“I told you the Garden has incredibly complex formations, didn’t I? So you need to be careful. You didn’t wander into some strange place again, did you?”
Saying this, Dan Mok Ryeon pressed close to Hwa Ryun and examined his clothes carefully, turning them this way and that until she finally discovered a single leaf tucked between his collar.
“This! This! Where did you get it? Where have you been?”
“Right in front! That tree right out front!”
“……Ah, is that so?”
“Sigh…….”
“Look at this little thing sighing.”
When Dan Mok Ryeon glanced at him sideways, Hwa Ryun pouted his lips.
“Don’t keep me from speaking. So what did you talk about with her?”
“I gave her some advice about her troubles.”
“Well, of course you gave her advice — who else would have? What troubles could she possibly have? It’s been ages since she saw you.”
“Seems she’s struggling to get by.”
“Oh, come on.”
“Hwa Ryun, you’re hopeless.”
“Born into a family like this and she can’t manage? How is that possible?”
“Well…….”
“Though I suppose the world has always been unfair, and everyone carries their own burdens, don’t they?”
“…….”
Dan Mok Ryeon narrowed her eyes and studied Hwa Ryun carefully. At that suspicious gaze, Hwa Ryun’s shoulders shrank.
“What…… what is it? What’s wrong?”
“What troubles do you have?”
“Oh, now it’s me again.”
“You should be grateful that this sister takes such interest in you.”
“Yes, yes. I’m grateful. I have no troubles, truly.”
“If something bothers you, tell me at once!”
“And you’ll solve it all for me?”
“Not necessarily…… I might not be able to fix everything. But usually, just talking about it helps untangle things.”
“Talking about a problem solves it?”
“Not solves it—but it does ease your heart.”
This time it was Hwa Ryun’s turn to narrow his eyes.
“Isn’t that the method cults use to recruit followers?”
“…….”
Dan Mok Ryeon clenched her lips, then gave Hwa Ryun’s nose a sharp twist.
“Ow!”
“Don’t wake Bi. Be quiet.”
“Sister really does torment only me.”
“It’s all love and care and affection.”
“……Hmph.”
Hwa Ryun pouted his lips, then closed the window and turned back to Dan Mok Ryeon.
“Who’s teaching tomorrow?”
“The head of the Nam Gung Family Estate, they say. Would you like to listen in?”
Hwa Ryun shook his head.
“I’m busy. A servant has his own work to do.”
Dan Mok Ryeon was about to press him about what work he could possibly be doing, but Hwa Ryun pushed her toward the sleeping platform first.
“They say early sleep makes you grow tall and strong. When will you ever get bigger, anyway?”
“Are you boasting that you’ve grown faster than me?”
“At this rate of growth, I think I’ve earned the right to boast a little.”
“Getting taller doesn’t mean you’re growing up in years.”
“It’s the same thing! It’s the same! Enough, right?”
“Fine, fine.”
Dan Mok Ryeon lay down on the sleeping platform and pulled the blanket up to her chin, and Hwa Ryun, watching her for a moment, quietly snuffed out the lamp.

* * *

While children around ten years old clustered together in cheerful chatter, the adults went about their own affairs.
Young men in their twenties, finally freed from their younger siblings and nephews, were exchanging casual gossip among themselves.
“I hear the Martial Alliance is opening the Dragon Phoenix Gathering again soon.

Is everyone planning to attend?”
“The Martial Tournament, right? If you win, they say they’ll give you a Precious Sword that was found in the Secret Cave of Wu Ying Shen Tou.”

“Wait? The Dragon Phoenix Gathering—that’s the Martial Tournament?”
“Isn’t that where they gather Later Generation Martial Artists and have them compete? With valuable inner cores and precious swords at stake?”
“Oh, was it?”
“What did you think it was?”
“From what I heard, in the old days it was just a gathering for people our age. They’d form groups of three or four and travel around the Martial Arts World doing patrols and things like that.”
“The old days? How old are we talking?”
“Um, well, that’s what our grandmother said, anyway.”
“That’s… quite a long time ago.”
“But wait, what’s this about a Precious Sword? The Secret Cave of Wu Ying Shen Tou was discovered? And a sword came out of there?”
“Did your neighborhood just get a branch station yesterday or something?”
Someone clicked their tongue from beside me.
Yeon Hak Cheol of Hek Cheon Ryeon, master of the Shadowless Divine Theft, was a legendary figure who had become the leader of Hek Cheon Ryeon through nothing but ghostly thievery skills befitting his epithet—a shadow with no body.

At the time when rumors were quietly circulating through Kangho that striking against him meant death without knowing how you’d died, he had risen to the position of Hek Cheon Ryeon’s leader without a single discordant note.
The commanders of Hek Cheon Ryeon’s Thirteen Heavens had placed him above their heads, though no one knew where he’d come from or who had taught him.
There was even a rumor that the Shadowless Divine Theft held all the hidden secrets of the Thirteen Heavens on a single thread.
Yet he harbored one fatal weakness: he would hide away the things he stole in various places and then forget where he’d put them.
No one knew how many caves he’d secretly buried items in, or where they were. Not even he himself.
This time, he’d happened to discover one such secret cave by chance. A remarkable Precious Sword had emerged from it—though the Shadowless Divine Theft himself couldn’t remember when he’d stolen it—and deeming it unnecessary for himself or his disciples, he’d simply released it into the world.

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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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