The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 23

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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 Promised Covenant, Episode 23

“Seeing comes first. You must see before you understand, and understand before you master.”
“Yes!”
Hwa Ryun, her earlier tension finally easing, drew in a steady breath and activated her Divine Eye as she answered.
“First, I’ll show you the Sword Forms from beginning to end. Watch carefully.”
“Yes!”
Hwa Ryun nodded vigorously. Dan Mok Cheon Ki, surveying his granddaughter’s face, tightened his grip ever so slightly.
‘Wow……!’
The moment the man who had devoted his life to the Danmok Clan’s sword began to move, the air around them transformed and surged with fierce currents.
Hwa Ryun breathed slowly, her eyes tracing Dan Mok Cheon Ki’s movements as though etching them into memory. Though her grandfather appeared to use no Internal Energy whatsoever, with each form he added, the surrounding air spiraled toward him.
‘So this is why it’s called the Nakseong Twelve Swords?’
Specific points along the Sword Path seemed to shimmer like the brightest stars in the Milky Way. The radiance reached even Hwa Ryun’s eyes.
By the time Dan Mok Cheon Ki had completed all twelve forms, the straw dummy bore exactly thirty-six blade marks, with only twelve distinct footprints visible before it.
Sheath.
Finally, Dan Mok Cheon Ki returned his sword to its scabbard, steadied his breathing, and turned toward Hwa Ryun.
“Did you see it well?”

* Divine Eye 5-Star Skill Achievement (1▲) *
You can now perceive the path to correct your shortcomings.

Her eyes burned hot, shimmering with light.
‘Whenever I see something decent, the Divine Eye just springs upward. Is it because I’m still at the beginning stage?’
Skill Achievement, after all, tends to grow in leaps when you know nothing, but becomes progressively harder the further you advance.
‘What does it mean to perceive the path to correct shortcomings? Up until now, all I’ve been doing is pointing out flaws or simply removing them — now I’m understanding how to actually fix them, is that it?’
No matter how she thought about it, this was no ordinary ability. If a mere 5-star achievement granted this much, what would she be able to perceive when she reached 12-star?
Hwa Ryun gathered her thoughts and nodded slowly.
“Now, try to perform it yourself.”
“What?”
Hwa Ryun’s eyes widened in shock. Had he truly just said that?
She had wanted to learn martial cultivation, yes — but how could she possibly reproduce forms she had seen only once?
And there were twelve of them at that! She wasn’t even certain she had memorized everything she’d witnessed.
“I’m not asking you to perform them well. I want to see how far you can go, so do what you can.”
Hwa Ryun hesitated, her lips trembling with anxiety, before drawing a deep breath and stepping before the straw dummy with her wooden sword in hand.
‘At least this sword method isn’t entirely new to me…….’
It was the clan’s basic Sword Forms. Though she had never cultivated the Martial Arts, she had seen it countless times in her past life.
And now, she possessed not only those memories but Harmony as well — perhaps reproducing what she had seen was within reach.
As golden light scattered like stars across Hwa Ryun’s eyes, gleaming and luminous, her wooden sword moved.
And when Hwa Ryun reproduced ‘everything’ she had observed, exactly twelve footprints remained before the straw dummy.
Hwa Ryun breathed in ragged gasps, her face flushed with pride as she turned back to Dan Mok Cheon Ki. Dan Mok Cheon Ki raised one eyebrow, his expression flickering with something ominous and undisguised.
“How is it…….”
“Pardon?”
But before Dan Mok Cheon Ki could finish his thought, Hwa Ryun collapsed with a cry of “Ah!” The sudden violent exertion had caused a muscle cramp.
Dan Mok Cheon Ki swallowed his words and quickly called out toward the courtyard. Staff members came hurrying from the medical hall.

* * *

Dan Mok Cheon Ki paced the courtyard of Wol Yeong Jae, clenching and unclenching his trembling hands.
The chief administrator Kang Rip, observing the family head’s poorly concealed astonishment, felt his own bewilderment mirrored. In all his years serving as administrator of the clan, Kang Rip had seen wonders enough to pride himself on having witnessed far more than most — yet he had never seen anything like this.
Every Martial Artist possessed their own Sword Path.
Even between senior and junior disciples who had trained in identical Martial Arts, the paths must diverge subtly. Height differs, limb length differs, thoughts differ — and so the sword that emerges from their hands must differ.
But what he had witnessed was otherwise.
If Dan Mok Cheon Ki, diminished and aged, were to unfold the Nakseong Twelve Swords, would it not look like this?
The sword technique that the massive-framed Dan Mok Cheon Ki had deployed had unfolded in the small girl’s hands without a single trace of variance. Even the smallest habits had been mimicked perfectly. To call it mimicry at that level would be to call it mastery.

And yet it was a girl not even ten years old who had accomplished it.
If one could replicate exactly what one had seen, if one could understand and master what one had replicated, if one could learn what came next…….
‘But heaven shows no mercy, so how…….’
The steward swallowed his sigh.
He knew there were those who, upon seeing the eldest grandson of the Danmok Clan scarcely alive in any meaningful sense, loudly proclaimed him no different from a Living Corpse. Once, such a thing would have been unthinkable.
It was all because the clan’s power had waned. Dan Mok Cheon Ki had defeated Hyeol Ra Gok decades ago but had been injured and never fully recovered; the eldest son who should have inherited his mantle had perished; the eldest grandson had lost his mind…….
One tragedy had followed another, and as they accumulated, it felt like a curse.
And it seemed they had never fully escaped from that curse. Dan Mok Ryun could not build Internal Energy.
As Kang Rip gnawed at his lip, Dan Mok Cheon Ki asked quietly.
“How fares the child?”
“The physician says that though she did move her body violently and suffered cramping in her legs, she has since settled. There are no other complications. In fact, she’s grown quite a bit healthier than before. However, she warned that severe muscle soreness will come tomorrow, so precautions would be wise.”
“Well, she did complete the entire form from beginning to end as instructed……. That it ended with only cramping is a blessing in itself.”
Naturally, he had expected her to stumble over her own feet partway through, or if not that, to forget the sequence entirely and stop after just a few postures. So he should have halted her at an appropriate moment.
But how could anyone have done so?
Before his eyes, a miracle called talent was unfolding. To stop it felt like committing a sin.
Yet perhaps he should have sinned instead. Dan Mok Cheon Ki harbored regret in his heart.
As if talent, once present, could ever flee; and even if it did, it would matter not at all.
Still unable to abandon his greed…….
“……Steward Kang. Move Ryun’s quarters to Wol Yeong Jae.”
“Pardon?”
The steward, startled by the abrupt command, found himself echoing it before swiftly bowing his head.
“Yes, I shall see to it at once.”

* * *

“Sister…….”
Dan Mok Bi clung to Ryun’s leg, gently tapping her knee with small hands while wearing a distressed expression. She had rushed over upon hearing of the cramping.
Hwa Ryun, who had come with Dan Mok Bi, stared at her with wide eyes.
“Sister…… does it hurt a lot? Are you better now?”
Seeing Dan Mok Bi ask both whether it hurt and whether she was better at the same time, Ryun found herself smiling.
“Bi, Ryun—did you both finish memorizing the Thousand Character Classic?”
Dan Mok Bi sniffled and dodged the question slightly, and in that moment Hwa Ryun stepped closer and pulled Dan Mok Bi away.
“It looks like Bi hasn’t finished yet. Ryun, did you memorize all of it?”
“How is it that on the first day of learning Martial Arts you got cramping in the first place?”
“My legs must be cramping because I worked too hard. But you still haven’t answered about the Thousand Character Classic……. Ow!”
Hwa Ryun, who had been staring as Ryun stroked Dan Mok Bi’s hair, reached out her hand lightly as if to mimic her, but instead moved swiftly and gripped Ryun’s forearm, pressing hard at one point.
“Sister!”
At that, Dan Mok Bi startled and pressed close to Hwa Ryun’s side.
What Hwa Ryun had actually done was not grab Ryun’s arm but press firmly at a specific point, and now she narrowed her brows and jutted out her lower lip.
“Does it hurt a lot? The wet nurse said pressing here helps a bit when you have cramps.”
“Wait, really? It’s not going to cause a Qi Deviation or anything like that, is it?”
At Ryun’s nonsensical comment, Hwa Ryun shot her a look before pressing more gently than before.
“Call the wet nurse and have her keep pressing.”
“I’m really fine now.”
“That’s what I told you to do instead——.”
Not understanding what Hwa Ryun was muttering about, Dan Mok Bi simply clung to Ryun, insisting she be allowed to massage her too.
As Ryun gently stroked Dan Mok Bi, the younger girl leaned against her sister and soon fell fast asleep.
The shock of hearing her sister was in pain had tired her out.
As Ryun lay her sleeping sister beside her and continued stroking her, she glanced at Hwa Ryun with a covert look and whispered.
“You’re going to keep saying things like that?”
“Hmph.”
“If you act like that in front of others, you’ll be in real trouble. Understood?”
Ryun spoke in a voice thick with worry. Even if she and Dan Mok Bi didn’t care, in other noble families, if a slave or servant dared to address their master’s future with the slightest snort or dismissive “hmph”, they would be beaten on the spot without hesitation.
The thought that Hwa Ryun might someday be taken in by another powerful household to serve as a slave, acting this way, made her heart ache with dread.

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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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