The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 157

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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 — Limited Lifespan Chapter 157

It happened in that moment.
Dan Mok Hyeon Seong’s chest glowed a faint blue. Ryeon’s eyes flew open wide.
It was exactly where the fragment of the Tai Chi Medallion had been embedded. Ryeon shot up from her seat. The memory of that shard—the one that had grazed past her and lodged itself into the wall behind her—flooded back instinctively.
She rushed back to the Sacred Chamber. Nothing touched her hands, yet somehow the fragment driven into the stone gave way to her grip.
By the time Ryeon tore herself away with the fragment clutched in her palm, dawn light was breaking through. Clutching it desperately, not knowing what else to do, she placed it on Dan Mok Hyeon Seong’s chest.
She knew that the past could not be rewritten, that her Divine Insight could only show her traces of what had been—and yet reason abandoned her entirely.
Since opening her eyes, she had never known helplessness; but now despair and futility were carving themselves into her very bones.
Her father, who could neither see nor hear her, repeating endlessly in the imprint of the past the slow march toward death.
“Father, please—just once…….”
From the broken fragment, a pale blue light seeped inward toward Dan Mok Hyeon Seong’s heart, and as if the glow had never been, the Tai Chi Medallion fragment tumbled away lifelessly.
In that instant, Dan Mok Hyeon Seong’s eyes opened slowly. Then he turned his head and gazed upon her.
— Who are you……?
Then, from a distance, she felt another presence. Lifting her tear-stained face, she saw an unfamiliar elderly woman rushing forward through the dawn light in rapid, rough movements. Ryeon recognized her at once: Bing Xue Yan.
And in that moment, everything before her eyes shattered like broken porcelain.

“…… Sister!”
“Huh? What? Whoa…….”
Ryeon forced her eyes to blink. They stung and burned all at once.
“Are you all right? Why did you suddenly start crying? Did you see something frightening here?”
Somehow she was sitting on the ground. Only when Hwa Ryun asked why she was weeping did she realize these hot streams running down her cheeks were tears.
Ryeon stared blankly, wiping her face. Her hand was damp. These tears were unmistakable—flowing without end, soaking her sleeves and chin.
Tears welled up until her vision blurred. The face of Hwa Ryun watching her wavered and rippled.
“Sister, let’s go back down. There’s no reason to be here in the Sacred Chamber…….”
“Hwa Ryun, I…….”
Ryeon gripped his sleeve, staring at him blankly.
I saw Father…….
“Yes, yes.”
“I…….”
I saw my father alive.
Even while I was dead, drifting through all creation and wandering beyond death itself, I never saw him like that—I saw my father alive for the first time…….
Ryeon could not find the words. Even as Hwa Ryun’s sleeve dried the tears from her eyes again and again.
She stared blankly at the damp fabric of his sleeve as it grew increasingly soaked, then forced her brow to furrow and tried to smile.
“My dear Hwa Ryun brought me all this way so carefully and didn’t get me rained on, and now it’s all wet…….”
“Is that really what matters right now? Why did you suddenly start crying—no, never mind. Let’s just go. Let’s go back down and get some rest. I’ll be right here…… or would you rather sleep near Dan Mok Seong? Or maybe…….”
Ryeon shook her head.
As she listened to Hwa Ryun ramble on nervously, the vision slowly faded and the touch of reality returned.
She had been intoxicated by the sight and dreamed a dream—but she knew these were things she had to leave behind. She would bury the lingering attachment deep in her heart. Along with the helplessness she had felt in that moment. She almost felt grateful that her mother, grandfather, aunt, and uncle had not witnessed that vision.
She had let slip tears in her shock, but there was work to be done.
‘You said you would purify this place.’
What they had likely been seeking in Blood Coral Valley was the Tai Chi Medallion that the statue of Gucheon Hyeon Nyeo had been holding.
Blood Demons who do not consume blood succumb to the madness their strength brings. Since blood alone has limits in suppressing this frenzy, the answer lies in the spiritual power of Limited Life Span remedies—which is why they sought them so desperately.
‘If that were the case, they might as well find the remedies and cultivate with them.’
But they would never do so.
In the moment they seized internal energy that others might spend a lifetime accumulating, they paid the price in patience and perseverance—those rare treasures a human being could possess.
The Blood Demons of Blood Coral Valley had coveted this old Sacred Chamber’s treasure, and Dan Mok Hyeon Seong, upon judging that he could no longer protect it, chose to destroy it rather than let it fall into their hands.
Ryeon lifted her head and looked at Gucheon Hyeon Nyeo’s empty hands, then wiped her cheek.
She had meant to touch the place where the fragments of the shattered Tai Chi Medallion had scattered and dissolved, but Hwa Ryun had rubbed so hard at her tears that her skin was raw.
“Are you looking for something?”
“I thought I saw a splinter of wood, glinting in the wall around here.”
Ryeon traced along the wall where she had found the Tai Chi Medallion fragment in her vision. The corner was dark, but strangely it felt less frightening than before.
“Around here…… wait.”
Ryeon saw only the impression where the wooden fragment had been lodged, now bare and hollow.
‘It’s gone? Could I have pulled it out back then?’
“Here? There’s nothing here.”
“I see…….”
Ryeon paused for a moment, considering whether that made sense, but then shook the thought away. It couldn’t be because she’d removed it herself—that had only been a vision, hadn’t it?—so the piece must have simply fallen out over the years as time passed.
‘All right, the Tai Chi Medallion fragment is done. Now I need to purify this Sacred Chamber. I have 55 Spiritual Energy…….’
It had been 59, but she’d burned through some while viewing the earlier landscape through Divine Insight. She wiped the lingering moisture from her eyes and got to her feet.

Purification: 3-Star – Allows you to cleanse Contamination.

This Sacred Chamber had been stained by that battle, and if she could purify it, she wanted to. She hoped that her brother’s unavoidable choice would not be subjected to any judgment or blame.
At the same time, the phrase “traces left by the wellspring of the source” weighed on her mind.
‘One of my traits is being an infinite wellspring of Spiritual Energy.’
It couldn’t all be coincidence. Ryeon drew in a deep breath, then slowly exhaled with her palm pressed against the floor.
Spiritual Energy began streaming from her body—like sand at the shore pulled away by gentle waves, like incense smoke scattered on the wind, the Spiritual Energy flowed from Ryeon’s form.
And those crystalline energies slowly swept through the Sacred Chamber.

Spiritual Energy is being consumed! -5
Spiritual Energy is being consumed! -5
Spiritual Energy consumption rate accelerating. Remaining Spiritual Energy: 35.
Warning issued!

In an instant, her vision flashed red. But it was brief.

Reabsorbing 12 Spiritual Energy stored in a Hair Ornament crafted by a Master-tier Craftsman.
Spiritual Energy is being consumed! –5
Spiritual Energy is being consumed! –5
Reabsorbing 15 Spiritual Energy stored in a Bracelet crafted by a Master-tier Craftsman.

‘Nam, thank you. Thank you so much…….’
Whenever her Spiritual Energy threatened to run dry, she’d stuffed the reserves he’d given her into the various ornaments she carried through the mountain.
The Hair Ornaments, the Ornamental Pendant at her waist, the jade Bracelet on her wrist, and the decorations fastened to her shoes all trembled softly.
Had it not been for the overflowing Spiritual Energy she encountered upon entering Wu Ryeong San and the ornaments Nam Craftsman had crafted to contain it, she likely would have collapsed long before reaching this valley—her remaining Lifespan would have been cut down to just two days from the excess—and even without that, she could never have managed this moment now.
When Nam Craftsman heard her departure date, he’d locked himself away in the workshop she’d arranged for him and didn’t emerge once. But the day before she left, he’d pressed an armful of ornaments into her hands.
Ryeon had only hoped he would make them one at a time, day by day, so she’d been shocked senseless and made him solemnly swear not to strain himself like that again before she departed Hang Zhou.
The dark stains Ryeon had taken for bloodstains began to fade away.
And the dizzying throb she’d been feeling all along gradually began to subside.
‘But this is…….’
It was similar to the sensation she’d felt just moments before—the feeling when she’d handed the Spirit Energy Bell to Hwang Gyou On, daughter of Hwang Chae Ju. A sensation of something darker and more turbid than the darkness of midnight being driven out.
And the moment Ryeon’s Spiritual Energy finally reached the heart of the Sacred Chamber.
A starlight gleamed above Ryeon’s eyes, radiant for a moment before slowly fading.
Ryeon rubbed her eyes. They felt dry from having shed so many tears.
When she opened them again, a Vision bloomed rapidly before her once more.

Contaminated traces purified
Recovered missing Tai Chi Medallion fragment
Current Luck Stat: 91/120 (17▲)
Spiritual Energy: 11/120

* Purification reaches 4-Star (1▲) *
You can now cleanse your body by consuming Spiritual Energy.
Upon reaching an ancient Sacred Chamber, you may receive counsel.

– Sometimes, knowing that something was unavoidable can become a greater strength.
– The grains of sand cupped in your hand will slip away.

“……Sister!”
“Huh? Yes?”
Ryeon, who had been standing in a daze, suddenly snapped back to attention. Beside her stood Hwa Ryun, her face noticeably turned cold.

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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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