The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 185

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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 Doomed Clan’s Limited Lifespan — Episode 185

‘My luck has run dry.’
What had been brimming full vanished in an instant, yet she didn’t regret it in the slightest if it meant solving the internal energy problem that had left her without recourse. It was the sort of deed that deserved such fortune and virtue layered upon it.
‘Not a waste! Not even a little. So friends at the Beijing Ice Palace… when I wake up, let’s all train together….’
Ryeon leaned against the transparent wall of frozen spiritual energy, murmuring softly to herself.
At the same time, light began to gradually seep into her vision.
Ryeon thought of Hwa Ryun, who was likely worried sick. Hwa Ryun grumbled as if she didn’t know what worry even meant, yet her expression always told a different story altogether.
Watching those round eyes dart about in concern made Ryeon feel guilty for causing her to fret, and yet oddly proud all the same.
‘Grow just like this, my little Ryun….’
It troubled her that Hwa Ryun still worried about no one but her, but she believed that as time passed, she would see her change into someone different, someone fuller.
She would make friends, and when she grew, she would build a new family of her own.
Having thought that far, Ryeon decided that the moment she woke, her first act would be to ease Hwa Ryun’s worries.
And finally, she awakened from this inner realm.
“Mmm… Ryun, I….”
But before Ryeon could say anything else, a cup touched her lips. Clear water. She sipped it down, and when a small cough escaped her, a tiny hand steadied her back.
As she blinked, the light blurring her vision flickered too. With each blink, the shapes before her grew clearer.
“Can you see this?”
“My index finger….”
“Where is this?”
“My room….”
“Who am I?”
“Us….”
“Us?”
Ryeon mumbled in a small voice, and Hwa Ryun leaned in close, her ear attentive. In that instant, Ryeon burst into laughter and said:
“Sweet dumpling!”
“Oh, for real.”
Hwa Ryun pulled away sharply, her brow furrowing.
“You think teasing me is funny?”
“I’m… ahem. I’m fine.”
“I can tell you’re fine just by looking. Did you get anything out of it? Making me suffer all night long.”
Hwa Ryun grumbled. Looking out the window as she said it, Ryeon saw the sun rising.
“You… didn’t sleep?”
“How could I sleep when someone just collapsed right in front of me!”
“You have to sleep, or you won’t grow tall.”
“I will. Even if I don’t sleep a single night here for a week, I’ll grow nearly six feet.”
“Hmm….”
Ryeon paused to think. In her past life, how tall had that Minor Palace Master of Ma Cheon Gyo been?
‘She was taller than me….’
It seemed she’d been a hand’s span taller. Even though Hwa Ryun had suffered more when she was younger than she did now, she’d grown that much, so she’d grow well this time too.
“Ryun, what do you know about it? You won’t understand until you’ve reached adulthood yourself! If you don’t eat and sleep properly even now, you might not grow at all.”
“When I think about how much you feed me, I might grow eight feet instead of six. And honestly, the thing you should worry most about right now isn’t my height—it’s yours, isn’t it?”
“I’ll turn you into a little savory pancake.”
“That’s not important right now. So did you gain anything? Any results?”
“Oh! Results. Yes! I did!”
Ryeon sprang up from the bed. The blankets fluttered in the commotion.
Before her eyes, the Celestial Registry materialized. Since she wasn’t viewing it through her white Fan as she normally did, the background bled through and made the characters seem dizzying, but Ryeon could read every single one without missing a word.

Dan Mok Ryeon
Traits: Spring of Infinite Spirit Energy / Slightly More Learned / Favored by Evil’s Memory / Sickly Flower in a Greenhouse
Harmony Cultivation: 7 Stars — May go unnoticed.
Divine Insight: 7 Stars — Can develop advantages.
Purification: 4 Stars — Can cleanse the body.
Internal Energy: 1 / 60
Spiritual Energy: 59 / 120
Luck: 0 / 240

But Ryeon stopped short just as she was about to cheer. It was genuinely thrilling to see numbers appear next to internal energy, something that had always read “Cannot Acquire” before.
‘Wait, the luck cap went up to 240? So I need 240 more now to fill it completely?’
She’d gathered 120 to pull off a miracle once; the second miracle would cost twice as much.
‘Well! I guess I’ll just have to be a little nicer from now on!’
Ryeon finished her calculation and broke into a fresh smile.
“I can actually build internal energy now!”
“……What?”
Hwa Ryun’s mouth fell open.
“The thing is, my body hasn’t been doing so well all this time.”
“Wow! You knew that?”
“Well, it’s my body — of course I knew.”
“And you still put it through all that knowing it wasn’t healthy?”
“The point is, I actually couldn’t build internal energy. I thought I’d never be able to — but……”
Ryeon threw both arms wide open and cried out.
“Tada! Now I can!”
“…….”
“Tada……”
“…….”
Hwa Ryun dragged her hands down her face.
“……So it’s not really tada?”
“So this whole time you couldn’t build internal energy at all? Then why did you even study martial arts in the first place? It would’ve been pointless anyway.”
“Still, I figured I’d do what I could.”
“And get knocked flat by people who built their internal energy through proper technique? Really?”
“Well…… I suppose that did happen. But learning martial arts, maybe some method would come up eventually. And there was that person — what was his name — oh! Baek Ui Myeong, that martial artist who became a master of external techniques without ever building internal energy……”
“That guy got Chu Gung Gwa Hyeol ages ago and has been building internal energy.”
“Huh?”
Ryeon blinked.
“……He’s been building internal energy? How do you even know that?”
“He lived in Hang Zhou, right? I saw him once when I was coming and going.”
“Really? He was in Hang Zhou? But how did he even get Chu Gung Gwa Hyeol from someone, and start building internal energy all on his own……”
Ryeon felt betrayed by this faceless stranger she’d built such intimate admiration for, but she quickly snapped back to herself.
“Anyway…… I figured as I learned martial arts, some way would turn up. And it did — faster than I expected! Like this!”
Ryeon spoke with such a carefree smile that Hwa Ryun stared at her, her lips working silently.
“So you couldn’t build internal energy yourself, but you kept pushing me to study martial arts……”
She’d done that knowing full well that once Hwa Ryun studied martial arts and built internal energy, it wouldn’t be long before she surpassed Ryeon?
At this point, wasn’t that just stupid, not kind? Seeing the look in Hwa Ryun’s eyes, Ryeon spoke sternly.
“I’m me, and you’re you.”
“Are you drawing a line?”
“Why? Does that hurt your feelings?”
“Yes.”
Hwa Ryun pouted her lip. Ryeon, who’d expected her to deny it, was startled.
“Oh, no, I didn’t mean…… I mean, I want my little Ryun to become strong too……”
“So I can protect my sister?”
“No, so that you become strong and live happily.”
“What?”
Hwa Ryun made an exasperated face, but Ryeon clapped her hands together decisively.
“Get strong so no one looks down on you, and live confidently and happily. When you come of age, I’ll buy you a house. I’ve made good money.”
“A minute ago you were talking about family, and now you’re already planning to send me away?”
“What, you want to stay with your sister forever?”
Ryeon narrowed her eyes and smiled teasingly. Hwa Ryun frowned and changed the subject.
“So now my sister can finally build internal energy?”
Ryeon had meant to brush off Hwa Ryun’s comment, but she couldn’t hide the smile blooming across her face and quickly threw both arms up.
“Yes! Now! I can! I can do it!”
At her overflowing joy, Hwa Ryun just stared, forgetting to speak, before finally laughing and shaking her head.
But she gasped as Ryeon suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled.
“What, what is it?”
“Our little sticky rice dumpling stayed up all night, so she must be damp by now. You need to sleep right away!”
“No, I’m fine at this level……”
Hwa Ryun wanted to protest, but Ryeon lifted him onto the bed without mercy, pulled the blankets over him, and patted him down.
“When the feast begins, I’ll wake you for certain. Don’t worry—just sleep deeply.”
“No, who said I was worried about that…….”
Hwa Ryun grumbled at being treated like a child, but when he heard Ryeon’s stern “Now, now!” he finally closed his eyes. He’d planned to get up the moment she left, but she sat down beside him and began patting his back.
“Don’t even think about opening your eyes. Just sleep.”
“I will…….”
A soft, warm breeze seemed to drift from nowhere. Hwa Ryun resigned himself to letting Ryeon have her way, just this once.
Yet even he hadn’t expected to sleep so soundly until sunset.
Hwa Ryun woke to the sound of delicate, pearl-like laughter. He heard Baek Ryeon meowing softly, and Ryeon’s hushed voice.
“Baek Ryeon! You can’t eat that. I’m already worried enough about what you’ll become as you grow…….”
— Meow.
“I’ll give you something else instead. Want roasted sweet potato? Grandmother saved some after I told her they were delicious. Let’s roast them tonight.”
“……Sister?”
“Oh! You’re awake already?”
Ryeon, who’d been murmuring softly to the cat, turned her head.
“What time is it…….”
You Hour
(around five to seven in the evening)
. You must have been exhausted, weren’t you?”
Having slept for more than ten hours straight, Ryeon had every right to tease him about it. But Hwa Ryun was equally astonished.
‘I slept without waking once?’
No dreams, no awareness—it felt like an eternity since he’d last sunk into such a deep, unguarded sleep.
“Sister…… what were you doing here all this time?”
“Waiting for you to wake up.”
“Why?”
“There’s an incredibly lavish banquet tonight. The Minor Palace Master will be announced, and we’re celebrating Grandmother’s complete recovery too! They’re going to perform Ice Play

as well.”
Ice Play was an entertainment performed on frozen ponds, where skaters wore blades on their shoes. People danced and performed acrobatics.
“……You should have woken me.”
“Why would I wake you when you were sleeping so soundly?”
Ryeon said this with a pleased expression, gently tickling beneath Baek Ryeon’s chin. Hwa Ryun found it oddly reminiscent of how she petted him, so he made a deliberately disgruntled face and climbed down from the bed. At nearly that same moment, the door burst open and people rushed in—servants from Beijing Ice Palace, and Dan Mok Hyeon Yo and Dan Mok Seong.
“Ryeon! Your aunt has brought clothing for you and Seong to wear. Come see—which one pleases you most?”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s face shone more brightly than ever before. Without any elaborate adornment, she was so beautifully radiant that one could not tear one’s gaze away. And the source of that joy and delight was none other than her mother and her niece.
Just before dawn, the news had struck Beijing Ice Palace: Bing Xue Yan had recovered all her martial arts.
From that moment on, Beijing Ice Palace had been in a state of celebration.
And not long after sunrise, the Dan Mok Clan household received doubly good news.
Ryeon had become someone whose body could cultivate internal energy.
Upon hearing this, Bing Xue Yan’s heart pounded so violently she nearly fell backward, but her newly recovered martial arts allowed her to regain her composure. Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s face flushed crimson as he frantically transcribed the clan’s Heart Technique from memory as quickly as he could.
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo initially pestered Ryeon about whether she truly couldn’t cultivate internal energy before, then cheered for a long time, and rushed out to gather gifts for the child. Dan Mok Hyeon U wept—a great deal.
He was still repeating the pattern of stopping and weeping, stopping and weeping, and it was said he still carried Ice Packs in his room.
“I…… don’t mind…… anything.”
“That won’t do. A child of the Dan Mok Clan must have the eye to distinguish between what is fine and what is not.”
“Aunt…… couldn’t you just choose for me?”
“Of course you might think so! But there are times when I’m not here, are there? Choose quickly now.”
After a brief moment of thought, Ryeon selected from the arranged clothing something most similar to what Dan Mok Seong would wear. A faint color rose to Dan Mok Seong’s cheeks, delighted at the thought of the two of them dressed alike like true sisters.
Recognizing her daughter’s expression, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo smiled softly.

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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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