The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 175

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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 Terminal Lifespan — Chapter 175

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The next morning.
Before her lay a basin of warm water, steam curling upward in gentle wisps, still pleasantly hot to the touch.
‘Should I have held back? No, wait—thanks to me pushing harder, both Uncle and Aunt made real progress. Still… maybe I should’ve been more careful.’
Ryeon lay sprawled across the bed, riddled with regret, even as the steam continued to rise uninterrupted from the basin.
Bing Mun Bi and the other young disciples of Bing Palace had tried earnestly enough, but none of them could match what Ryeon had done—seeing something once and replicating it perfectly in a single glance.
Ryeon had done her best to explain technique and Sword Path naturally, layering in practical tips, and Bing Mun Bi had listened with fierce intensity, yet even her exceptional martial talent couldn’t transcend the ordinary ceiling of swift comprehension.
The silence among the younger disciples grew suffocating, while the Dan Mok Clan members beamed with satisfaction.
After that, when Dan Mok Hyeon U and Dan Mok Hyeon Yo took their turn, followed by Do Wi and the Bing Palace warriors, the exchange of Sword Techniques and philosophical debate became far more heated and passionate.
Naturally so—they were peers of comparable talent, none yielding to the others. They sparred with one another, offered criticism, took offense, sparred again, and eventually resolved their differences to enjoy the evening together in harmony.
The younger disciples of Bing Palace joined as well, but Ryeon had excused herself early alongside Dan Mok Seong to observe the Bing Palace Master’s Martial Law.
Absorbed in watching Dan Mok Seong’s progress, she’d forgotten the events of the day and fallen into deep sleep without realizing it.
When she woke and opened her eyes, as though waiting just outside, a basin of steaming hot water had been brought in, vapor rising in lazy spirals.
‘But I slept in…’
Yet to time the arrival of warm water so perfectly, someone would have had to reheat it each time it cooled.
She realized it must be Bing Mun Bi’s way of apologizing, or perhaps reconciling—a gesture she found oddly endearing. Ryeon decided not to dwell on any awkwardness, choosing instead to feel genuinely pleased. After all, improving relations with Bing Palace was something she’d hoped for all along.
But this warm water came not just once.
For days the basin appeared, until one morning Bing Mun Bi approached with the resolute expression of someone prepared for battle, requesting a sparring match.
“Just one round… I humbly ask of you.”
Bing Mun Bi’s complexion bore the toll of days spent in both mental anguish and physical exertion, yet her eyes blazed with unwavering brilliance.
Ryeon studied her with an awkward expression, then gestured toward the basin.
“Then let me just wash up first…”
“Yes, of course!”

* * *

‘Oh.’
Standing across from Bing Mun Bi, Ryeon’s eyes gleamed as she studied her carefully. The old saying held that even acquaintances need to rub their eyes and look again after a few days apart—and it seemed that wisdom applied not only to ancient sages.

Bing Mun Bi
Traits: Marked / Proud / Devoted / Forward-focused / Chasing Light
Quality and Five Stars: Mid-High
Bing White Divine Sword: 5 Star (1▲)
Bing White Divine Art: 3 Star
White Cloud Step: 3 Star (1▲)
Resolve: I will prove my achievement.
Hint: The more you strike it, the harder it becomes.

In mere days, both her Bing White Divine Sword and White Cloud Step had risen by one star. Clearly, she’d been training relentlessly.
But there was something disquieting as well.
‘Marked? What does that even mean? And what’s this about the more you strike it, the harder it becomes? That’s iron or something like that, not—’
“Why… why are you looking at me like that?”
As Ryeon’s gaze flickered rapidly through surprise, admiration, and pride at having shaped this achievement together, it wavered into unease and concern—and Bing Mun Bi’s expression grew anxious in response.
Ryeon quickly composed herself and smiled brightly.
“No, it’s nothing! Let’s spar—come on!”
“Yes!”
Bing Mun Bi gripped her wooden sword with full intensity, and at Ryeon’s nod, she rushed forward.
The crisp clash of wooden sword against wooden sword, the rapid percussion of footsteps tracing swift Step Technique, the violent flutter of fabric and robes—all sang out in a chaotic symphony.
Sweat scattered through the air, and the cord binding Bing Mun Bi’s hair came loose, tumbling away on the wind.
Crack!
At last, Bing Mun Bi’s wooden sword flew from her grip and clattered to the ground some distance away. Her gaze followed it before turning to Ryeon, her expression falling into frustration.
Ryeon looked scarcely different from how she’d appeared before the match began. Though she’d moved violently and sweat beaded on her skin, the dark hair braided and coiled atop her head remained undisturbed, as did the various jade and gemstone ornaments pinned within it—not a single strand out of place.
“You’ve improved so much! That’s amazing! How hard have you been working?”
“I… yes?”
Though she hadn’t drawn blood, Bing Mun Bi’s form had been in shambles. She’d wanted to show off her progress, but seeing only her shortcomings, she’d been sinking into gloom—until she lifted her head in bewilderment at Hwa Ryun’s delight.
Hwa Ryun was beaming, even clapping her hands.
“In just a few days, your Sword Path has become so much more refined. The way your Step Technique and Sword Technique move together—they fit perfectly now. You’re really impressive.”
Bing Mun Bi’s face began to flush with pleasure. Hwa Ryun had pinpointed exactly the parts she’d been working on.
After a moment’s thought, Hwa Ryun asked Bing Mun Bi to wait, then went and fetched Paper and Brush.
She wrote down everything she could tell her about her performance.
“The masters of Bing Palace will probably see more than I do, but since I’m a stranger here, I notice things differently, I think.”
“You didn’t have to write it down…”
Hwa Ryun folded the finished paper and handed it to Bing Mun Bi with just a smile.
‘There’s no way I’m saying it aloud!’
When people face you and point out your flaws in person, it’s only natural to feel a flash of anger. But reading criticism on paper brought a much more measured response.
Once filtered through writing, with the critic’s face nowhere to be seen, the sting went out of it naturally.
‘I’ve only just begun to get along with Bing Palace.’
Thinking about it that way, though she hated to admit it, the Hint that Seon Gyeong had shown her was actually useful. Words alone wouldn’t work.
“If you don’t need it, you can throw it away.”
“No!”
Bing Mun Bi jumped in alarm, clutched the letter to her chest, and bowed her head deeply. She managed to thank Hwa Ryun, but her face had turned bright red as she hurried away.
“Do you know what people call what you do?”
“What?”
“What your sister wrote down.”
Hwa Ryun, who had been sitting a little distance away watching their sparring with rather casual composure, got to her feet and brushed off her sleeves as she spoke. Hwa Ryun tilted her head.
“They call it a Bright and Urgent Message.”
“A bright… what?”
“The intentions are good. But are you really teaching all of that? Even in a clan, people from the same clan get it, but this is Bing Palace.”
“If you share what you have, it all comes back to you eventually…”
Really.
Hwa Ryun looked down at the blank paper. As she blinked, Seon Gyeong flickered into being above it.

Bing Mun Bi’s Learning 1
Fortune Value: 115 / 120 (1▲)

‘Not much left to fill it. When I fill this all the way, does something happen?’
The Fortune Value she’d nearly completed before had burned away fighting the blood demons of Blood Coral Valley. This was the first time she’d ever filled it this close to completion.
“And Bing Palace—don’t you remember how much they helped when we drove back Blood Coral Valley before? If they trouble us again later, how wonderful it would be if we helped each other.”
“But there’s the Martial Alliance. We’ve already brought in the Hek Cheon Ryeon and the Ma Cheon Gyo, isn’t that enough?”
“To be honest, I wish we could all join hands—Namman Yasugung, Tae Yang Gung, Po Dal Rab Gung, all of them—and fight together.”
At the names of these legendary forces from the New Outer Martial World tumbling out in succession, Hwa Ryun let out a laugh.
“Even a sheet of paper holds better with two hands—and you want us to all team up just to deal with Blood Coral Valley?”
“If everyone joins hands, they’ll just end up fighting each other. Wouldn’t that be just as funny?”
“Then we just have to make sure they don’t fight.”
“How?”
In that moment, Hwa Ryun honestly thought of the Hint about Bing Mun Bi that Seon Gyeong had shown her—words alone wouldn’t work—but seeing Hwa Ryun’s face, she held her tongue.

* * *

From that day on, Bing Mun Bi came to visit every day. Whether out of gratitude or simply because she knew she was receiving help, each time she arrived with some sweet treat, an Ornament she treasured, or Gold Wound Medicine from Bing Palace’s secret stash.
Rather than not knowing that Hwa Ryun already had all such things, Bing Mun Bi was gathering the very best of what she could offer. Hwa Ryun declined a few times at first, then accepted joyfully.
After sparring with Bing Mun Bi in the mornings, Hwa Ryun would go to the Hot Spring in the afternoon to water the fruit trees there.
She’d gone there with only Do Wi at first, but when Jung Young found out later, he wore an expression as if he’d tumbled off a Cliff. So now she brought both of them along. With two martial artists in their prime in one space, the conversation inevitably turned to martial arts alone.
Both had seemed reserved and rigidly principled, but once they reached the place where the Hot Spring was, they found the Sword Discussion unsatisfying and engaged in proper Sparring instead. Hwa Ryun had encouraged them into it.
There, as she watered the fruit trees, Hwa Ryun watched their Sparring and would offer a word or two whenever something occurred to her. Both of them listened seriously.
The one most astonished watching Do Wi’s skills grow rapidly was Dan Mok Hyeon U, who had fought him.
So for the past few days, Hwa Ryun had been making trips to the Hot Spring to water the trees, trailing behind her a retinue of three men.
Returning from there, she would examine and practice the Martial Law of the Bing Palace Master, her great-great-grandfather, alongside the ablaze Dan Mok Seong, then check on her grandmother’s health before evening meals—this had become her daily routine at Bing 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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