The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 32

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Twilight Years of a Fallen Great House — Episode 32

“If you’d arrived, you should have come straight to the clan house. I hear you’ve been wandering outside for several days since reaching Hangju.”
“Ah, I intended to do just that, but the moment I arrived in Hangju, I heard the commotion that you’d attained enlightenment. The timing seemed so peculiar that I hesitated, worried it might look as though I’d come precisely because of that news.”
Tae Heo Jin In spoke in an awkward tone.
He had come this far determined not to pretend ignorance of how the Dan Mok Clan’s fortunes were failing, yet when he arrived, all of Hangju was astir with news that Dan Mok Cheon Gi had achieved some profound enlightenment.
The timing felt too contrived—as though he’d come precisely to witness that revelation.
Perhaps caught off guard by the reason he hadn’t anticipated, Dan Mok Cheon Gi wore a blank expression for a moment before suddenly breaking into loud laughter.
“Don’t laugh. You have no idea how mortified I felt.”
“If you’d predicted my enlightenment before setting out on such a long journey, you’d truly deserve to be called a sage of Kunlun Mountain.”
“Ah, I wish I’d framed it that way instead.”
“But tell me—who’s the young one you’ve brought along?”
“A boy I’m raising as a disciple of sorts. Yeop Un, make your bow. Haha! Having this one with me is why I could come here with such confidence.”
A boy with clear eyes and a kind expression bowed quietly, cupping his hands in salutation, a touch of shyness in his manner.
Dan Mok Bi sensed a flinch in Hwa Ryun’s presence behind her.
‘Hwa Ryun?’
She glanced back briefly, but Hwa Ryun did not turn his head toward her.
“If he’s a disciple, he’s a disciple—what’s this ‘raising as a disciple of sorts’?”
“Haha…….”
Tae Heo Jin In laughed awkwardly and scratched his head, but offered no answer to that question, steering the conversation elsewhere instead.
“In any case, I hear that someone from the Golden Craft House has requested a martial match with the Dan Mok Clan?”
“It’s nothing grand—just children testing what they’ve learned. A sparring match.”
“Still, since Dan Mok Bi has never faced anyone her own age outside the clan, wouldn’t it be good for her to practice with Yeop Un here? The Kunlun sword and the arts of the Golden Craft House must be quite different, of course.”
At Tae Heo Jin In’s words, Dan Mok Cheon Gi stroked his chin and gazed steadily at Yeop Un.
Yeop Un, apparently somewhat shy with strangers, had turned crimson to his ears and stood with his eyes downcast, uncertain what to do.
Dan Mok Cheon Gi glanced back at Dan Mok Bi. Her eyes gleamed with bright anticipation.
‘I see. Dan Mok Bi as well…….’
The only visitor who had come in recent times was Gyeon Eon Jo from the Man Song Trading Consortium, so receiving a peer was truly a first. And wasn’t it the case that he’d even taken in the orphaned Hwa Ryun as a companion, simply because Dan Mok Bi had no friends?
If the two could become friends now, that would not be altogether unwelcome. Dan Mok Cheon Gi nodded.

* * *

“So what are you really here for?”
“Truly, as I said—I came only to pay my respects. If I’d had any other purpose, wouldn’t I have come straight here upon reaching Hangju, rather than wandering about outside for days out of embarrassment?”
As Tae Heo Jin In spoke with studied nonchalance, Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s gaze softened slightly. Tae Heo Jin In avoided that look, turning his attention to the window instead.
The children and all the other clan members had been sent away; the two men were alone in the room. On a night when the moon hung full and bright, the garden’s clear floral fragrance, crystalline as a whisper, drifted between them.
“One day I opened my eyes and thought……’Hmm, I wonder what Master Mu Wol is doing these days?'”
He remembered Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s back as he performed funeral rites for his son. Years had passed since then.
That they had lived as though forgetting each other was not out of contempt for the Dan Mok Clan, which had lost its heir and was declining, but because the affairs of Kunlun Mountain knew no rest, and the distance to Hangju was too great—they had simply been occupied with living their own separate lives. So must it be with others. Too busy with their own lives and responsibilities.
The thought of Dan Mok Cheon Gi had come to him by pure chance. Last autumn, sitting on a mountain ridge gazing down at the crimson leaves, it had suddenly surfaced.
How is the Master faring?
How many years has it been since we last met?
Yes—not since the funeral.
Had anyone else visited him since then?
No one speaks of the Dan Mok Clan anymore…….
He still could not fathom why such thoughts had seized him. Yet an intense, undeniable feeling had stirred him—that this must not continue.
Kunlun Mountain lies in the far west of the Central Continent, bordering the Ma Cheon Sect, while the Dan Mok Clan is in Hangju at the far east.
When Jang Moon In witnessed his sudden resolve to visit the Dan Mok Clan on a whim, without reason, the master had been taken aback—yet he had smiled and sent him on his way.
“So you suddenly felt like this and came all this way just to make idle conversation? Have you ever heard of such a pointless visit?”
To traverse a distance so great—three months and ten days of travel, even at five watches a day—only to claim he’d come merely to pay respects; Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s bewilderment was understandable. Yet Tae Heo Jin In could not explain his own heart any better than that.
He himself did not understand the bittersweet ache that washed through him like a wave—a regret for someone not yet lost—much less how he might convey such a thing to another.
“Once I’ve set my mind to something, I must see it through. That’s simply how I am.”
“Ah.”
If only Dan Mok Cheon Gi had retained his strength.
If only, long ago when he faced Hyeol Ra Valley, he had not burned away everything.
Had his son and he both been in good health, they would have found their own way to meet annually, exchanging letters between visits—a rhythm that would have become as natural as breathing for them both.
“I hear this is a busy season for Kunlun Mountain. Word is the Ma Cheon Sect’s master has begun searching for a successor.”
“Ah yes. Apparently the sect’s elders have left the mountain to scout for candidates.”
In their struggle against Hyeol Ra Valley, the Dark Martial World’s Huk Cheon Ryeon, the Righteous Martial World’s Baek Do Maeng, and even the distant Ma Cheon Sect had all pooled their strength.
When that proved insufficient, during the matter of the Frozen Poison Sages, they’d even borrowed a hand from Sae Oe’s North Sea Ice Palace—and so the martial world had grown closer in this era than at any point in its long history.
Yet no matter how near they drew, they could never truly merge. Restraint and suspicion between them remained unchanged.
The moment rumors spread that the Ma Cheon Sect’s leaders had quietly departed the mountain, those at Kunlun Sect—closest to them—would perk their ears first.
The Ma Cheon Sect searched for successors not within their walls but without them. So when the time came, the elders would slip away into the Central Continent to scout for talent, then return once their purpose was achieved.
“Still, such matters at Kunlun Mountain are hardly my concern. I’ve never involved myself in such affairs.”
“Jang Moon In must be troubled by your constant wandering about.”
“I only roam to better serve my master.”
Tae Heo Jin In laughed heartily. Dan Mok Cheon Gi shook his head slowly.
“But elder, might you spare a moment to offer me some guidance?”
“If I taught you, all Kunlun Mountain would do is glare. What good would that be?”
“Come now, don’t say that. We’re ten thousand miles away—their glares won’t reach us here. And elder, don’t underestimate me.”
I have not wasted my years idle, Tae Heo Jin In said with confidence. Dan Mok Cheon Gi smiled and rose slowly to his feet.
“Even if I wanted to teach you, I’ve no time—I need to feed Ryun.”

* * *

“Yeop Un?”
“A Daoist? No, I’m not—please, speak as you wish. No need for formality.”
The boy’s cheeks flushed a pitiful crimson, and he stood at a loss. Hwa Ryun smiled mischievously but chose not to tease Yeop Un further.

Yeop Un
Traits: Unwavering Heart / Soaring / Bamboo /
Yun Ryong Dae Pal Sik: 2-star (4-star)
Tae Cheong Shin Gong: 1-star
Tae Cheong Geom: 3-star
Aptitude and Five Stars: Upper-Middle
Concern: How to establish a master-disciple bond.
Note: No proof is needed between master and disciple.

She was somewhat startled by Yeop Un’s condition. That he had already mastered the Kunlun Sect’s swordwork to the 3-star level was remarkable enough, but the fact that he had already grasped the principles of internal energy cultivation at such a young age spoke of no ordinary talent.
‘Internal energy, no less. I’ll admit I’m a little envious. But what’s this—why does Yun Ryong Dae Pal Sik show 2-star alongside 4-star?’
Hwa Ryun had seen something similar before. Dan Mok Hyeon U and Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s attainment levels were written the same way.
‘Perhaps he reached that level once but couldn’t fully master it… or some injury prevents him from demonstrating that height?’
The thought made her even more astonished. Yeop Un, at his age, had already glimpsed the 4-star level of the Yun Ryong Dae Pal Sik.
“These are…”
After exchanging greetings with Hwa Ryun, the visibly awkward Yeop Un gestured toward the boys standing behind her.
“My younger siblings. Hwa Ryun, Dan Mok Bi—go on, say hello.”
Hwa Ryun pulled the two boys forward, who had been clinging shyly to her back.
Dan Mok Bi, who had worn a curious expression at first sight of the stranger, now beamed with delight, but Hwa Ryun only gave a curt nod before tugging at Hwa Ryun’s sleeve.
“Sister. It’s already growing late. We should go to sleep.”
“Oh! The time—it’s gotten so late already. I’ve kept you far too long. Thank you, truly, for guiding us to the guest hall.”
The boy’s face was as red as a beet as he bowed awkwardly toward Hwa Ryun.
But when Hwa Ryun said, “Starting tomorrow, I look forward to our sparring,” his shy demeanor vanished, replaced by eyes bright with anticipation.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————