The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 189

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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 — Chapter 189

While the Cheon Rang Dae Vice Commander stood momentarily stunned, Paeng Ja Gwang—performing beyond his usual ability—approached Dan Mok Ryeon and offered the Fist Salute. She smiled brightly and tapped his arm in return, a gesture of congratulation on his effort and achievement, despite his defeat.
“The day when our Yuseong Piao Bureau becomes the finest in Zhejiang Province isn’t far off now!”
“S-sir, I’m honored. I’ll continue to train diligently.”
Piao Bureau Director Yang Geum Bo also patted Paeng Ja Gwang on the shoulder.
The temporary camp soon filled with chatter and laughter once more.

The Vice Commander looked up.
“What is it?”
“Well… could it be…?”
“Could what be?”
The Vice Commander frowned, watching the Commander’s stern expression from a distance.
Though a martial artist shouldn’t waver at victory or defeat, and despite his own win, the fact that he had been pressed—even briefly—by a mere young courier chief was nothing short of shocking.
The impact was all the greater because his opponent had shown no such ability at the start.
The member lowered his voice further.
“Those Beijing Ice Palace people lately… what did they call it… the Nangrang Critique…”
The phrase “what did they call it” was meant to suggest he’d overheard it in passing, but in truth the member had been turning the matter over in his mind ever since he first heard it.
‘Those kids’ progress has been absurdly rapid.’
It wasn’t simply a matter of learning more martial arts.
They had clearly awakened to hidden principles—the subtle difference between knowing technique and truly understanding it.
Moon Bi had been so captivated by a certain book that when he asked to see what it was, the youth claimed he wouldn’t show it unless Moon Bi joined some federation. Eventually they’d left in haste without getting a glimpse.
“…The Nangrang Critique?”
“Miss Dan Mok is said to be remarkably skilled at analyzing martial forms. Those children who’ve reviewed what she wrote have all shown marked improvement…”
“You’re telling me that’s what they call the Nangrang Critique? That just because a girl spent a few days critiquing his martial arts, this courier chief’s achievements grew so dramatically in mere days—to the point where he could match me, at least for a moment?”
“Well…”
Now that he heard it put that way, the story did sound implausible.
“Still… didn’t you notice Miss Dan Mok and Director Paeng conferring after each match?”
“You dare suggest otherwise?”
The Vice Commander’s brows shot up.
He frowned briefly, then glanced at Dan Mok Hyeon U, who was bouncing his nephew playfully, and then at the courier chief standing beside him.
“…Is it truly so?”
“Sir?”
“About the Nangrang Critique. I have noticed Moon Bi’s visible progress myself…”
Even if one dismissed it as children’s games, the courier chief’s achievements were plain to see—too tangible to dismiss as mere play.
“It’s the truth, sir. When I return, I mean to join this Bandit-Hunting Federation myself. They say once you’re a member, they’ll show it to you…”
The member griped about how strict and exacting the children were—refusing even to show the cover of the Nangrang Critique until one’s membership stamp was officially affixed—but the Vice Commander spoke with sudden resolve.
“I must seek her instruction as well.”
“…Sir?”
“Whether I must grovel or offer treasure, I need to obtain at least a single word of advice from that young lady.”
The member’s eyes widened as he looked between the girl perched on Dan Mok Hyeon U’s shoulder and the Vice Commander in turn.
Fire gleamed in the eyes of the man now past forty.
“But sir, surely we cannot presume to ask such a thing of those who have taken us under their wing?”
“Young Master Dan Mok Hyeon U once encouraged me.”
“How so, sir?”
“He asked if I wouldn’t join him in hearing what his sister had to say.”
After the match, Dan Mok Hyeon U had approached the Vice Commander with the innocent, serene tone of a monk inviting someone to hear Buddha’s teachings, and the Vice Commander had gently declined.
‘But what if those teachings are truly worth hearing?’
The girl laughing and playing tricks from atop Dan Mok Hyeon U’s shoulder caught his eye and their gazes met.
The Vice Commander quickly bowed his head, yet somehow a halo seemed to shimmer above the girl’s crown.
‘Or is it merely the sunlight?’

‘An aura.’
Within days, the Vice Commander understood exactly what that light was.
Dan Mok Hyeon U’s invitation to hear some good wisdom together hadn’t been a lie, and Dan Mok Ryeon had truly welcomed him with genuine warmth.
Then, as if she’d been waiting for him, she began teaching him one thing after another.
How to move against overwhelming internal energy?
What possibilities lay dormant within this martial form?
How to apply it when moving in different directions?
And each time he grasped something from her words, she rejoiced as if it were her own achievement.
At first he’d thought—what good would come from listening to a child prattle on about things she half-understood? But she drove the knowledge into his ears until ignorance became impossible.
Had the Ice White Divine Sword, which he’d treated as one with his body for nearly half a century, truly been so different all along?
And how did this girl—not even from Beijing—unearth its secrets so effortlessly?
Was this heaven’s gift of talent? One granted not to him, but only to this child?
The first night, he’d been so bewildered, so unjustly aggrieved, that sleep wouldn’t come.
But once understanding arrived, such thoughts vanished. Achievement didn’t run away.
And he was old enough to know that the world had never been fair from the start.
‘And there seems to be no one else like her in all creation.’
He’d seen great talent before—several times. Dan Mok Hyeon Seong, her father, had possessed it, and more recently, Do Wi, who became the Ice Palace Mistress, was undeniably gifted.
Spending even a short time near such geniuses, he’d found himself influenced by their vision and focus.
But they’d never seized others’ abilities by the collar and dragged them upward like this. Not with such willing joy.
When the Vice Commander and Dan Mok Hyeon U stayed close to Ryeon, discussing this and that, and the Cheon Rang Dae members noticed his strength improving in just days, they too grew interested, and Ryeon welcomed them all equally.
‘Is this… how it’s supposed to be?’
Knowledge was meant to be monopolized; teaching was expensive; therefore learning demanded a price.
A master’s disciples served their teacher a lifetime; martial artists swore loyalty to their schools; to enter a prestigious academy, one needed recommendation from a notable scholar or the backing of a distinguished house.
The techniques of craftsmen, the martial arts of sects, the scholarship of masters—these must never leak out. They were power itself.
Secret manuals of superior martial arts commanded whatever price the seller asked, and it wasn’t rare to see men arrive with fortunes in hand just to hear a single word of guidance from a master of the highest caliber.
But here—this party from the Dan Mok Clan, Ryeon—there was none of that.
When the Vice Commander had haltingly asked if this was really alright, the small girl had simply smiled and said:
“If we all grow stronger together, that’s good, isn’t it?”
“That is…”
Good. It’s a good thing… A truly good sentiment…
‘Even as I’m crushing him on the board.’
Watching her, he’d found himself oddly reassured that this girl wasn’t actually a Buddha reincarnate.
Though the Cheon Rang Dae Commander across from her likely thought differently.
“Kuh… kuh-ghk…”
“Shall I back off one move?”
Ryeon smiled brightly as she spoke. The Cheon Rang Dae Commander’s eyes suddenly glistened with emotion, and he jerked his head up, then lowered it again.
She’d offered to back off three times already, yet each time she simply drove him forward along a different path.
Would backing off this time yield any answer?
The Commander hesitated a moment, then bowed his head. His opponent wasn’t just some small child—she was the primary heir of a great clan and the re-adopted granddaughter of the Beijing Ice Palace Mistress.
“No. I… have lost.”
“Then will the Commander also…?”
“I shall follow whatever you say.”
“Waaah!”
The members cheered and applauded from the sidelines. The Cheon Rang Dae Commander’s face darkened.
‘You bastards—the Commander lost, and you cheer? You actually cheer?’
At first only the Vice Commander and the Piao Officers from the Yuseong Piao Bureau had followed Ryeon around, but when they saw the Vice Commander’s strength visibly transform, the other members began to take notice.
One by one they fell into her orbit, until the only member of Cheon Rang Dae who’d never heard her teachings was the Commander himself.
For the Commander, it was unthinkable to spend private time discussing martial arts with the very person he was meant to escort and attend—
—until Dan Mok Hyeon U had approached with that infuriating smile, asking if Ryeon was bored and wouldn’t he just play one game of Go?
And the request came so sweetly, so insistently.
With the Temporary Camp’s security assured and time to spare, he couldn’t refuse a request from such a distinguished guest from Beijing.
—Ah! And since we’re at it anyway, why not wager something? Whoever loses has to do whatever the winner says!
Even if, as the attendant, he’d won, he couldn’t demand this or that of his charge—but playing along was hardly difficult.
Or so he’d thought…

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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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