The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 174

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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 Fallen Clan’s Limited Lifespan — Chapter 174

The deeper one’s training runs, the more all things become one with the self — and for him, the Ice White Divine Sword Art was precisely that. As Palace Master, he had spent countless years proving that he and the Ice White Divine Sword Art were one and the same.
When others wielded the Ice White Divine Sword Art, their form could never match his. In other words, throughout all those long years, he had never had the chance to observe the sword technique’s precise form from an objective distance.
Some forms of learning and enlightenment come through observation alone. That was because the opportunity itself to examine something with clarity from above was rare.
He had never imagined he would gain such an opportunity in this chance gathering, while caring for his cousin’s granddaughters.
“Have you ever seen the Ice White Divine Sword Art before?”
At Bing Seol Han’s question, Ryeon shook her head. What Moon Bi had shown was, in fact, merely the Ice White Sword Art, not the Divine variant.
“Hmm, you’ve truly never seen it before? And yet how did you…?”
The first time she had witnessed it was not from a seasoned instructor or a master of Bing Palace, but from a peer who was not yet fully mature.
‘How is it possible to draw out the underlying principles and execute them perfectly after seeing something even slightly incomplete?’
Bing Seol Han knew better than anyone that Ryeon could not have seen Bing Palace’s sword technique. Bing Xue Yan, the only one who might have shown her, had remained in Beijing all this time.
Even knowing this, he had no choice but to ask where she had seen it. He simply could not believe it.
“The Ice White… sword technique—what did it feel like…?”
Because what Ryeon had demonstrated could easily pass for the Ice White Divine Sword Art itself, Bing Seol Han trailed off, but a thought that struck him belatedly prevented him from continuing further.
For one who understood everything, perhaps other paths simply became invisible.
He knew it was absurd to think that a mere ten-year-old child could advance a sword technique with such a long history, yet the thought ‘What if…?’ arose unbidden.
And if his suspicion proved correct, if such a path truly emerged from that girl’s understanding…
‘Not here.’
Though he knew that shame and humiliation have no place on the path to learning, those of shallow cultivation often felt something beyond shame or humiliation—they felt anger—when they received learning from someone who seemed beneath them.
He could not allow such friction to arise in this gathering.
Bing Xue Yan seemed to sense Bing Seol Han’s thoughts, for he adroitly changed the subject.
“Ahem, Ryeon performed quite masterfully. Now, could you show us the Twelve Stars Falling Blade?”
‘But this…’
Bing Seol Han glanced at Moon Bi’s expression and inwardly clicked his tongue.
From the moment Ryeon had begun her demonstration, Moon Bi had failed to hide his shock. Now it was no longer mere surprise—his eyes bore both alarm and a visible loss of confidence.
‘Understandable, though…’
The boy had spent a lifetime perfecting his sword technique, only to watch a girl of his own age see it once and then reproduce it with improvements. Such a blow could scarcely be ordinary.
But the real problem was that it was now the Dan Mok Clan’s turn.
No matter how talented one was, no matter how perfect the sword technique one had witnessed, it was ordinarily impossible to replicate it perfectly after seeing it just once.
‘Should I have asked for the Twelve Stars Falling Blade first instead?’
A whisper of regret swept through him, but his great-granddaughter, whether oblivious to his doubts or not, smiled brightly with eyes that mirrored her grandmother’s, then took her position on the Training Ground.
At that moment, the small girl began to move with a graceful, dance-like fluidity.
Moon Bi’s eyes blazed with intensity as he fixed his gaze on the tip of Ryeon’s blade. His face was filled with resolve—he would prove he could match what she had done, no matter what it took.
Ryeon, too, wielded her blade with tension even greater than when she had demonstrated the Ice White Sword Art.
She had observed that even warriors with keen eyes gained small insights watching her Ice White Sword Art alone.

Dan Mok Hyeon U’s Enlightenment +3
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s Enlightenment +2
Dan Mok Seong’s Learning +3
Current Luck Points: 114/120 (↑8)

As the system reported her family’s progress, Ryeon found herself breaking into an involuntary smile.
As her spirits lifted, so too did her focus, and by the time she finished the final form, she was half-immersed in a state of no-self.
Dan Mok Cheon Gi appeared to be carefully composing his expression for the sake of decorum, yet wonder and pride shone unmistakably in his eyes.
His granddaughter had demonstrated the clan’s sword technique flawlessly—how could his heart not swell?
Meanwhile, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo and Dan Mok Hyeon U seemed deaf to all other sounds, absorbed in contemplation. They had felt something in the sword technique Ryeon had just displayed.
The Bing Palace warriors, too, fell silent.
What could one say before such an overwhelming presence—the kind that only emerges when a sword technique is executed without the slightest deviation, a sensation even a three-year-old child could feel?
“Ah…”
Only then did Ryeon become aware of the atmosphere around her. She sheathed her blade and steadied her breathing. Having executed two sword techniques in quick succession, her breath came short and sweet with exertion, a pleasant warmth spreading across her skin in the form of light perspiration.
As Ryeon’s breathing grew calm, Moon Bi’s eyes—which had burned so brightly moments before—now appeared curiously moist and distant.
“Well, Moon Bi? How was it?”
Moon Bi’s shoulders twitched. He gripped his lips tightly and drew his own blade, as if intending to replicate exactly what Ryeon had done.
The youths around him watched with ardent expressions, hoping that Moon Bi would restore the Dan Mok Clan’s honor by humbling this girl.
Moon Bi’s eyes trembled slightly.
Dan Mok Cheon Gi, who had taken a moment to gather his swelling pride before his granddaughter’s sword technique, cleared his throat and offered a simple explanation.
“It will differ somewhat from the swordwork of Bing Palace. The Twelve Stars Falling Blade carries the principles of heaven within it—you must consider what to do when the stars fall.”
“Ah…….”
Ryeon wanted nothing more than to wipe her face clean of expression.
She had spoken with Dan Mok Cheon Gi this way before, in abstract terms about swordwork.
But that had been possible only because Dan Mok Cheon Gi held complete mastery over the Dan Mok Clan’s techniques—it would hardly work on a child seeing this form for the first time.
Yet Ryeon couldn’t elaborate further either. Bing Xue Yan’s explanation of the Ice White Sword Art had been much the same.
Soon enough, Moon Bi drew a deep breath and began to move his blade.
“Yes, well done, Moon Bi!”
The young warriors of Bing Palace eagerly mimicked Moon Bi’s movements, their applause and cheers ringing out with fervent enthusiasm.
It was a cheer saturated with the desperate hope that since Ryeon had displayed such overwhelming skill, Bing Palace might land a blow of its own in return.
But within moments, a stifled sigh leaked out. There was an inherent limit to mimicking a sword form one had never seen before. Moon Bi’s knuckles had gone white as he gripped the hilt, unable to recall the next sequence.
“That part there! It’s especially difficult, so I wanted to show it once more.”
In that brief moment, Ryeon spoke up quickly. Moon Bi, who had been on the verge of tears, merely blinked his large eyes and stared at her.
“That section was modeled after a meteor shower falling from the sky, which is why you can swing the blade rapidly multiple times. That way, you can face several opponents at once, right?”
Moon Bi nodded. He understood.
“Because of that, you need to be able to change direction quickly, which is why the center of gravity in your arms and legs is slightly twisted—so you can move immediately toward wherever the force is concentrated. The Ice White Sword Art has something similar, doesn’t it? I felt the seventh form was crafted with that very intention…….”
Ryeon spoke as rapidly as she could to spare Moon Bi any embarrassment or shame, but in doing so, she ended up attacking not just Moon Bi but everyone else in one sweeping barrage of words.
To be precise, Ryeon had simply spoken a bit hastily, but the principles of martial arts came tumbling out like a bushel overturned, and it was impossible for anyone’s spirit not to be swept up in it.
“Ah…….”
Ryeon looked uncertainly toward Dan Mok Cheon Gi and Bing Xue Yan, but Dan Mok Cheon Gi merely smiled with satisfaction, while Dan Mok Hyeon Yo and Dan Mok Hyeon U beside him bore faces that said they could not be more pleased with themselves.
And Bing Xue Yan—
“So? Go on, Ryeon. Continue.”
Her eyes shining, she waited for Ryeon to speak.
‘Well, so be it.’
The principles she had been discussing were not unique to the Twelve Stars Falling Blade alone; it would be all the better if many listened and advanced further. And those many were none other than her grandmother’s family.
If her grandmother’s household grew stronger and she accumulated Luck Points for herself, it was a win on all sides—good for the uncle, good for the aunt, good for everyone. Nothing but good fortune all around.
Ryeon made a deliberate effort to think this way and nodded.

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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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