The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 124

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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 Grand Clan — A Terminal Prophecy, Chapter 124

The flames dealt her no mortal injury. Certainly, being hurled directly into an inferno or placing a bare hand on something scalding would have been another matter entirely, but the flickering tongues of fire dancing at her side dared not approach Dan Mok Ryeon.
Once she grasped this, she’d thought it would suffice to press forward at the vanguard, trusting in the strength of her Black Moon art. Yet the flames behind them couldn’t be ignored, so she spent her Luck Points freely, wielding her Divine Insight to navigate the safest path possible.
Starlight shimmered in Dan Mok Ryeon’s eyes.
“It’s all right now. Let’s go… quickly.”
They all pressed scarves to their mouths and crouched low, advancing between the walls of fire.
‘Thank goodness Purification is working.’
Her Spiritual Energy was bleeding away steadily, yet she couldn’t afford to stop. The skill purified the air and cooled it, unobtrusively easing their breathing.
At first she’d worried that summoning Purification might call forth oxygen and feed the blaze, but mercifully it hadn’t.
Perhaps the skill operated in a manner that inflicted no harm upon her.
The floorboards groaned ominously, then suddenly gave way. Wooden pillars supporting the building structure snapped and tumbled, scattering embers in their wake.
‘Cheon Hwa Hall is just… so vast…. Impossibly vast!’
Each time Dan Mok Ryeon urgently seized someone stumbling behind her, each moment she snatched them from danger, her Luck Points melted away like snow.

Luck Point consumed!
Luck Point consumed!
Luck Point consumed!
Luck Points: 28 / 120 (15▼)

‘How much farther do we have to go? How much Spiritual Energy is left? I should never have spent so many points on Blood Coral Valley….’
There was no way to conserve what remained, yet the fact that no one had suffered even a single burn wound so far was nothing short of miraculous. A miracle wrought by Dan Mok Ryeon’s Luck Points and the strength bequeathed by her Black Moon art.
‘From now on, I have to build up Luck Points diligently. Help others, teach them, do everything earnestly. Please. Or… please, can’t someone here witness me and grant me enlightenment on a fast track?’
Of course, such a thing was impossible mere seconds from burning alive. Everyone bore soot smudged across their cheeks, their clothing catching fire in place of skin, as they fought desperately toward the exit.
Tears and sweat dried on their faces the instant they formed. Ak So Hyeong, crawling low with his body pressed to the floor, muttered numbly.
“I think I finally understand how a roasting sweet potato feels.”
Paeng Ju Ran glanced at him and shook her head, answering.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to eat roasted sweet potatoes for a while….”
Nam Gung Hye Min cast a brief look at Paeng Ju Ran and Ak So Hyeong bickering with each other.
The other children also showed fear and shock, their faces marked with dried tears and sweat, yet betrayed no despair or anxiety.
‘Is that because of her?’
It wasn’t due to the Nam Gung Clan’s warriors leading them with composure. It was because the girl advancing at the fore seemed invariably collected, so none of them trembled with panic.
‘And yet she’s clearly not unaware of the danger….’
Dan Mok Ryeon understood full well how terrifying these violent flames were.
Otherwise, those eyes visible from the side would never show such tension.
Otherwise, she would never respond so nimbly, stopping or pulling back the children the moment they seemed about to be harmed.
‘I can’t fathom how she’s doing it, but….’
“Oh, Jong Ha!”
The girl at the front glanced back as naturally as if checking their surroundings, then called out to Geum Jong Ha.
In that same instant, Hwa Ryun yanked Geum Jong Ha sharply toward herself.

Luck Point consumed!
Luck Points: 23 / 120 (5▼)

Just as Geum Jong Ha was stumbling forward, a burning branch collapsed into his path—part of the ornamental lattice from a nearby doorframe.
Geum Jong Ha flinched in terror, his body recoiling. The children nearby steadied him once more.
“G-God, that was close.”
Geum Jong Ha pressed a hand to his chest. Had he continued forward, even if he’d escaped death, he would have suffered severe burns.
“Look! A door!”
Ak So Hyeong cried out.
Joy flashed across every face, then slowly faded.
“Well… it is a door, but….”
True enough, a final doorway to the outside lay ahead of them—though it was completely engulfed in flames.
“… We can actually make it through, right?”
Geum Jong Ha murmured numbly. Ak So Hyeong shrugged and replied.
“I’m going to end up a roasted sweet potato.”
“A burnt one, more like…….”
Paeng Ju Ran sighed. Mo Yong Seol Ho, standing beside her, spoke with a stern expression.
“Sweet potatoes are vegetables, so strictly speaking we’re more like ‘roasted Yangzhou Martial Artists’―.”
“Stop.”
Ak So Hyeong paused in thought, then corrected himself.
“Roasted Seo Seo Lake Martial Artists……?”
“Stop!”
At Paeng Ju Ran’s exasperated cry, everyone let out small laughs. Even Dan Mok Ryeon smiled faintly as she gauged the dwindling Spiritual Energy and Luck Points.
“Are you alright?”
Hwa Ryun, who had drawn near, asked quietly. Dan Mok Ryeon’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Of course.”
“……You’re not pushing yourself right now, are you?”
Her heart lurched. Her already parched lips seemed to dry further.
“We’re all pushing ourselves together.”
Dan Mok Ryeon could not save them all. It was the warriors of Mu Ae Dan who had rescued the children from the small, petty misfortunes and accidents.
“But my sister…….”
“Hmm?”
Hwa Ryun, who had been about to say something, stopped and then her lips trembled again.
“Never mind.”
Dan Mok Ryeon was curious about what Hwa Ryun had left unsaid, but she had no time to ask. She had to urge the children on and escape this inferno at once.
“Come on, let’s get out of here and then we’ll have roasted sweet potatoes!”
“Didn’t you just say a moment ago that we didn’t need to eat sweet potatoes?”
“If Dan Mok Ryeon says let’s eat them…… I’d even become a sweet potato field―.”
In that instant, the wooden door crumbled, revealing a path to the outside.
The surging flames faltered, just for a moment.
“Go! Now!”
The children, who had each been speaking moments before, bolted toward the direction Dan Mok Ryeon gestured, like dogs hearing a bell.

* * *

“These mad Blood Demons—how dare they act so recklessly!”
Nam Gung Hwan’s voice cut through the air. Beneath the fury lay sheer bewilderment.
The intruders cut down by their blades reeked of the stench of rotting flesh while still alive.
With warriors of enough strength to lead an entire family gathered in one place, disposing of the intruders was not difficult, but their numbers were considerable.
“How could these creatures possibly act unless truly deranged!――”
“When have they ever been sane to begin with?”
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo spoke thus, scattering his blade with fluid grace.
“I thought it would take at least another ten years before they dared show their faces again…….”
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo knew well that completely eradicating evil was impossible.
Decades ago, Dan Mok Cheon Gi had succeeded in driving back the Gok Ju of Blood Coral Valley, but had not destroyed them entirely.
Even if the seeds of Blood Coral Valley had been withered, perhaps other corruptions would have flourished in their place.
‘Is it a blessing, then?’
Now, while he himself was still vigorous enough, and at a time when those with experience fighting Blood Coral Valley remained.
Those who had failed to cleanse the evil of the past now had the chance to pass on a clean world to their descendants—and there was something heartening in that thought.
“What of the children?”
“Mu Ae Dan has gone to fetch them.”
The Nam Gung Clan would not be shaken by an invasion, but if those invaders possessed such formidable internal energy as to scatter it recklessly, matters were entirely different.
Fortunately, they had detected the suspicious movements beforehand and prepared defenses; and because this was the fortress of the ancient Nam Gung Clan, pillars of Nam Jik Rye Seong, they had managed to hold the line.
“This senseless pattern persists…….”
Reckless assaults toward their goal, showing no regard for death—acts that defied all understanding.
No strategy, no desire to conserve resources, only the relentless tide toward their objective, yet why that objective mattered remained a mystery.
This very moment proved it. They had not even fully recovered their strength, yet they dared assault the Nam Gung Clan without warning?
And here, no less, stood Dan Mok Cheon Gi, who had once made Blood Coral Valley weep tears of blood!
“Has the family some sweetness they’re spreading about?”
At Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo’s words, Nam Gung Hwan shook his head wearily.
“If anything’s sweetened, it’s not us―――.”
“Are you at the gossip again?”
“Ah.”
At Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s appearance, Nam Gung Hwan shook his head with twice the vigor.
Dan Mok Cheon Gi removed the last intruder—the one charging in with Sword Qi—and unsheathed his blade. Not a drop of blood clung to the steel, a testament to another level of mastery in the Void Seizing technique.
“I hear you captured a few from the Chang Gung Dan alive.”
“A pointless effort, it seems.”
Nam Gung Hwan clicked his tongue.
They had interrogated these captives many times over, yet had gleaned almost nothing of value from any of them.
Those in a state of madness, bound only to obey commands, did nothing but crave the blood of others to maintain their own reason when given even a moment’s respite. They knew nothing else—could know nothing else.

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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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