The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 170

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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 Declining Clan’s Limited Lifespan, Episode 170

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“So I just grow persimmon trees in hot spring water, and that’s it?”
“No, it’s not that simple. Among those trees, you’d need one where the roots never fully ripened yet still survived. And among the fruit on such a tree, you’re looking for a persimmon with enough heat to melt the first snow entirely—that would be the Hongwhasi.”
Dan Mok Ryeon nodded as though she understood. If the persimmon had clung to the branches until winter came, it would have ripened a deep red. And if it had grown strong enough in hot spring water to survive, it should be brimming with spiritual energy.
“So is this ‘melting the first snow’ thing a condition for it to manifest, or a condition for identifying a Hongwhasi?”
“I’m not sure about that either. I’ve just heard such stories. Never actually seen one myself.”
“I see…….”
“Where did you hear about it, sister?”
Ryeon, about to deflect, suddenly turned her head and narrowed her eyes at Hwa Ryun.
‘Where in the world did he pick this up?’
A Hongwhasi—she’d only learned of it this time herself. Yet somehow Hwa Ryun knew the details with unsettling precision.
“I just… heard it might be needed for grandmother’s medicine-making.”
“Then this apothecary should have some.”
Ryeon tried to picture the form of this legendary medicine she’d never seen and never read about before.
Winter approaching, bare branches laden with deeply colored red persimmons—that was all she could imagine.
‘Could they even keep something like that here? And how would it be…… stored?’
She could only envision a fruit that split at the mere touch, its contents flowing away.
‘How could it remain undamaged this long? It’s summer now. Well, I suppose with spiritual energy contained within it, perhaps it’s possible—but are there even persimmon trees in Beijing? Can persimmons actually grow and survive there?’
Pondering Beijing’s climate and vegetation, Ryeon rubbed the space between her brows.
“Do you know what it looks like?”
“…….”
Hwa Ryun narrowed his eyes, studying her. Mind speaking to mind? Ryeon spoke quickly.
“It’s not hard! I’m not overexerting myself! It’s nothing! Honestly, martial training is what’s truly exhausting.”
Since she couldn’t build inner energy, Ryeon pushed herself to master martial technique more rigorously instead.
If she could wield a blade more precisely, more decisively, more delicately than someone with inner energy—if she could read her opponent’s movement a step ahead—
‘I’ll only manage to endure for a few years this way, but I can find a solution in that time.’
Her peers’ mental cultivation methods hadn’t yet matured to a decisive level, so for now, Ryeon’s overwhelming understanding of martial technique itself was enough to prevent major problems. But……
Having passed through Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon, she understood.
There was a reason Grandfather and Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo were so worried.
‘Martial artists…… they simply won’t listen unless you’re stronger than they are.’
It wasn’t about preserving the family name or solving problems like that.
The reason she’d been able to lead those children safely out of Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon was because they’d followed her willingly—and Ryeon understood precisely why.
Because she’d defeated them!
The weak only receive protection; they don’t stand at the front. Hwa Ryun’s attitude made it crystal clear.
He’d seen her sickly appearance only a few times up close, and now because she’d asked about the shape of a persimmon, he was glowering with concern, worried she might strain herself searching for it.
‘He sings the same old song about not learning martial arts, not learning martial arts, yet his thinking is so stubbornly bound by Martial Arts World convention? And he still claims he doesn’t want to learn? Good grief!’
“Why are you upset again? What did I do wrong this time?”
He raised both arms in a posture suggesting he might prostrate himself, his expression so pitifully contrite that Ryeon felt an odd flare of annoyance and whipped her head away.
“I introduced you to grandmother, saying ‘This is my younger brother,’ and then you immediately shot back saying you were just a servant?”
“Presenting a complete stranger as a grandson to your grandmother seemed like it might not be the best idea.”
Ryeon turned around as if she hadn’t just looked away, grabbed his cheeks in both her hands, and began to pinch them playfully.
“Even if you’re a complete stranger, with how cute and soft you are—a sweet dumpling like this—grandmother might just adopt you as her grandson.”
“I’m neither soft nor cute, so please stop.”
Ryeon was about to tease him by saying ‘You didn’t deny being called a sweet dumpling though,’ when she caught the sudden sharp gleam in Hwa Ryun’s eyes. She bit her lip and smiled.
Hwa Ryun widened his eyes and spoke.
“You were about to bring up the sweet dumpling thing.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
“I wasn’t.”

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“The Hongwhasi…… really?”
The moment Ryeon saw the face of the physician in the Beijing Ice Palace’s medicinal ward, she knew the answer.
‘It doesn’t exist.’
“You’re speaking of that Red Persimmon from the old stories, aren’t you?”
“From the old stories?”
Ryeon’s eyes went wide. Seeing that she had no idea, the physician spoke with an awkward expression and told her a tale.
“Long ago, a sick mother heard tell through rumor of a Red Persimmon and wished to eat one—said to be red both inside and out, sweet as honey. Her daughter searched desperately, but since it doesn’t grow in Beijing, she couldn’t find one anywhere, could she?”
‘A fruit that doesn’t grow in Beijing……’
Ryeon wanted to squeeze her eyes shut but held back.
“Then, in a place where cold air churned above and warmth rose below—where falling snow melted and dripped—they say she found one Red Persimmon.”
“That’s the Hongwhasi?”
“Yes.”
The words ‘Eternal Snow and all that actually exists, you know?’ rose to her throat, but she swallowed them back.
‘Besides, that’s probably not really eternal either……’
It simply contains an enormous amount of spiritual energy.
Seeing Ryeon’s sullen expression, the physician’s face grew fond, but when she noticed the boy standing behind her eyes turn sharp, she flinched.
It was as if he were scolding her: ‘You haven’t even secured that one thing—what are you getting soft about?’
Yet Ryeon didn’t catch the exchange between them and turned away despondently.
‘So it’s just something from old stories? But Xianjing spoke of it so seriously that it can’t not exist.’
Besides, even if it existed somewhere in this world, it was useless if she couldn’t obtain it now. Bing Xue Yan’s condition had improved greatly, but she wasn’t fully healed.
Moreover, since this was the medicinal ward of the Beijing Ice Palace and she was merely someone of the Dan Mok Clan, she wondered if they’d even give it to her if she asked for something precious. When she brought it up with Bing Xue Yan and Dan Mok Cheon Gi, both returned only embarrassed expressions.
They trusted Ryeon’s word since she had healed them, but even the two who had wielded considerable power in the Martial Arts World had never heard of the Hongwhasi actually existing.
Since the Kangho was a place where all manner of extraordinary things occurred and appeared, it might exist somewhere, but Bing Xue Yan seemed reluctant to have her subordinates search for something from a dream when her own illness was already nearly cured.
At least Dan Mok Cheon Gi took Ryeon’s words somewhat more seriously and said he would set people to searching for it, even if it couldn’t be obtained right away.
‘If it takes too long to find…… I don’t know what will happen. But how does Hwa Ryun even know this?’
Even her grandparents had never heard of this artifact from old stories, yet Hwa Ryun spoke of it as though it actually existed—as if she had never seen it but knew it well nonetheless.
When Ryeon squinted her eyes to look closely, Hwa Ryun casually covered both her cheeks with her hands.
“Don’t suddenly pinch my cheeks again.”
“I’m not.”
“You’ve done it constantly until now.”
“Wait until you’re older. You’ll be crying and clinging, saying ‘Sister, please just stroke my head once!'”
Watching Hwa Ryun laugh scornfully, a sudden thought struck Ryeon and her eyes went wide.
‘Wait.’
At her sudden change of expression, Hwa Ryun, walking beside her, looked at her with fresh suspicion.
‘If it doesn’t exist…… I can make it, can’t I?’
Why was she living this unstable, terminal existence? Wasn’t it precisely because of the spiritual energy pouring endlessly from her body?
‘I can make it. The question is where to make it.’
Yet the answer was already clear.
What the physician had said: a place where cold air churned above and warmth rose below.
“Sister?”
Hwa Ryun called out from beside her, her expression full of concern. Ryeon merely smiled contentedly in response, which only made Hwa Ryun more uneasy.

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“Oh, so you mean a hot spring?”
“Yeah, I want to visit the hot spring near Ice Peak.”
“Ice Peak…… nearby, you say?”
Do Wi, stopped by Ryeon, wore a somewhat puzzled expression.
To the people of the Beijing Ice Palace, Ice Peak was synonymous with the source of power that sustained them—the will of heaven and earth.
Yet at the same time, that ‘Ice Peak’ actually existed as well. At the northern edge of the enormous lake that encircled the Palace, there stood a massive chunk of ice the size of a mountain, which the Beijing people called Ice Peak—a name that held within it the awe of standing before the majesty of nature.
And there was indeed a hot spring near it.
“How did you know? Well, I mean…… getting there isn’t difficult, but it’s not particularly interesting either. And since we draw water from that spring, if you’d like a warm bath, we can arrange one here in the Palace……”
“The washing water froze solid before it arrived here—what are you talking about?”
At Hwa Ryun’s curt remark, Do Wi’s face reddened.
She had already figured out what had been done to the guests in the Palace.

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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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