The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 47

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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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A Declining Noble Family’s Ailing Young Lord — Episode 47

Tae Heo Jin-in, too, seemed to have grasped the situation, and let out a small cough.
“Well then… I’ll accept it gratefully.”
While Dan Mok Ryeon and Yeop Un exchanged wistful glances, Dan Mok Cheon-gi, who had been gazing intently at the jar, also managed with difficulty to tear his eyes away.
‘So applying this and practicing Qi Circulation and Meditation would help?’
Did that mean an increase in Internal Energy?
In that moment, he recalled something Gyeon Eon-jo had said not long ago.

— If word got out that someone drank Blue Lotus Water and gained a whole decade of Internal Energy, wouldn’t every martial artist under heaven come rushing forth?

His mind snapped to attention. Though he burned to rush over and try the Blue Lotus Water himself, practicing Qi Circulation and Meditation right then, Dan Mok Cheon-gi forced himself to compose his posture and continued his parting words with Tae Heo Jin-in.
“Right, so you’re heading to Nam Jik Rye? Will you stop by the Namgung Family as well?”
“Yes. Nam Jik Rye in Yang Province is on the way, so if we don’t visit when we’re already here, Gyeong-hae might send a flock of carrier pigeons up to Kunlun Mountain.”
Tae Heo Jin-in said this and shuddered slightly. Nam Gung Gyeong-hae, the Young Master of the Namgung Family, was a man of composure and frigid temperament, so much so that he earned the epithet “Iron-blooded Swordsman,” yet he often displayed a fierce temperament lurking beneath the surface to those close to him.
The sort who might send dozens of carrier pigeons to Kunlun Mountain ten thousand li away at the sight of something that displeased him.
“If word reaches the Namgung Family that Ryeon carried little Geum Ga-jang on her back and struck him, they might well want to test their skills against her once…”
Tae Heo Jin-in trailed off. The Young Master Nam Gung Gyeong-hae had two sons of his own.
They too wielded exceptional talents inherited from their parents and the concentrated power of their Noble Family, and had displayed their genius since childhood—a fact that Tae Heo Jin-in knew well.
A martial duel between Ryeon and those boys. On the surface, by the appearance of conditions alone, Ryeon’s defeat would be certain.
Tae Heo Jin-in smiled with a knowing gleam and stroked Ryeon’s head.
“Listen, Ryeon. Don’t be too harsh with them.”
“Pardon?”
“Stop talking nonsense. If you’re going, be on your way before the sun is fully risen. I’ve had a carriage prepared, so you can ride in that.”
“But why would you prepare a carriage for a Taoist?”
“That’s right. Are you a Taoist or an immortal who travels by Cloud Stepping? Take the carriage when I tell you to.”
“So because I cannot perform Void Walking, I’m being treated with such disdain.”
Tae Heo Jin-in grumbled thus, then thrust his hand deep into his sleeve and drew something out. Ryeon’s eyes widened.
“What jade is that? And so large, too.”
Dan Mok Cheon-gi was likewise taken aback.
In Tae Heo Jin-in’s hand lay a piece of jade slightly larger than an adult’s fist. He spoke with a pleased expression.
“I picked it up on the way down from the Kunlun Sect. It’s pure white, but tinged with green here and there—it has such a refined quality, as if moss were peeking through cracks in accumulated snow, doesn’t it? Those at Kunlun Mountain are all rough and crude, lacking the skill to refine things beautifully, so they merely rounded it adequately.”
Tae Heo Jin-in spoke thus and, grinning widely, pressed the jade into Ryeon’s hand.
“Hang Province has many renowned craftsmen. Have them fashion it into a beautiful bracelet for you to wear.”
But Ryeon’s ears registered none of it.

Jade containing Kunlun Mountain’s Essence: Spiritual Power Capacity 21
You may now store Spiritual Energy within it.

Not 1, not 5, not 10—but a full 21!
“You’re not giving this to me just because you offered the Blue Lotus Water, are you? I don’t need it if that’s the case.”
“This was something I intended to give you from the start.”
“But how could you give something so precious…”
“I’m still the Sect Master’s elder brother. Surely I can do as I please with a single piece of jade?”
Tae Heo Jin-in said so and stroked Ryeon’s head once more.
“Understood, Ryeon? Have it polished beautifully and wear it. Next time we meet, I expect to see you wearing that jade bracelet.”
“Can’t I just… use it as it is?”
Tae Heo Jin-in heard her words and fell silent for a moment before bursting into loud laughter.
“Aha! Of course you can’t. Don’t be stingy—have it cut beautifully and wear it.”
“But truly…”
Ryeon’s sincere heart did not reach Tae Heo Jin-in. Yeop Un, standing beside Tae Heo Jin-in, approached with a shy smile.
“I have learned much from you, Ryeon. Thank you.”
Ryeon shook her head firmly.
She too had learned much from Yeop Un, but how grateful she was that Yeop Un and Tae Heo Jin-in had come to their own realizations and accumulated Fortune Points for her without her asking?
Tae Heo Jin-in let out a hearty laugh and vigorously ruffled Yeop Un’s hair.
“Perhaps our paths will cross again someday.”
The two of them took their leave of the Dan Mok Family servants one by one, and after a final glance toward Hwa Ryun, who stood quietly behind Dan Mok Ryeon, they tilted their heads slightly in thought before turning back to Dan Mok Cheon-gi and offering a cupped-fist salute. Then they left the compound.

* * *

“First, let’s distribute the additional wages.”
“Truly…… you would do such a thing?”
Seol Gwan-hui, the Finance Bureau director, asked again, her expression plainly skeptical. This was the second time she was confirming the matter.
“Yes. You saw the settlement that came in from Man Song Trading Company today. I’m rich now. Really, truly rich.”
The way she spoke suggested childishness, yet her decisiveness made her seem anything but a child.
“That’s true. But…… that’s all your money, Miss.”
“It’s money the family earned.”
“No, it’s not. You made all the Blue Lotus Water yourself.”
Seol Gwan-hui had never imagined she would hear herself say such words.
Yet the small girl sat with her feet dangling well above the chair’s edge, her brush never ceasing as she wrote out the figures.
The two of them were reviewing the spending plan they had already worked out together once.
There was something almost reverent in Seol Gwan-hui’s expression as she watched Dan Mok Ryeon.
For someone managing a family’s finances, anyone who brought in money deserved respect—let alone the firstborn heir of an illustrious house.
“Because I’m the firstborn of the Dan Mok Family, I made immediate connections with Man Song Trading Company’s head steward, and thanks to that, I was able to reach this scale of business by borrowing the hand of Uncle Wi Hak, who scored at the top of this provincial examination. If I weren’t part of the Dan Mok Family, I could never have earned this much.”
“That would have been only a matter of time, surely.”
“Exactly. So from now on, whatever I earn, I’ll spend as I see fit. No changing your tune then.”
“But…….”
“We endured the hard times together, and now we’ve finally seen the light. If you told me later that you wanted to use your share to repair your own home, I’d feel terribly hurt.”
“I…….”
Her tongue felt broken; words wouldn’t come.
It wasn’t that the girl was wrong, but Seol Gwan-hui had never encountered anyone who cared whether a subordinate felt hurt—which only deepened her bewilderment.
“If someone has suffered, they deserve reward. If Heaven and Earth won’t give it, then I will.”
Dan Mok Ryeon spoke thus and opened the lid of the strongbox stacked behind her.
In that instant, clouds parted and sunlight streamed in, its rays reflecting off the silver ingots that filled the chest.
The Finance Bureau director’s breath caught. Under the light, Dan Mok Ryeon appeared like a divine spirit borrowed the form of a small child.
Seol Gwan-hui’s lips moved silently in prayer.
‘Primordial Celestial Worthy, Jade Emperor, Divine Mother of the Ninth Heaven…….’
“One chest like this is enough to manage everything. Don’t worry too much.”
“Ah…… yes, yes. Yes! I shall…… receive your benevolence with gratitude.”
“And after that, we should repair the disciples’ quarters and training grounds. The apothecary expansion seems like it should come sooner rather than later.”
“Truth be told, that’s what I wanted to prioritize first.”
The apothecary had become the family’s greatest source of income, and if it were up to the Finance Bureau director alone, she would have liked to paint the apothecary in gold.
“I’m thinking of increasing staff at the apothecary, too.”
“Of course. It would be difficult for anyone to manage it all alone.”
“After that, we’ll repair the servants’ quarters…… and if there are any preferences for how they’d like the work done, gather their opinions so we can reflect them. Understood?”
“To that extent?”
‘Supreme Old Lord, Tung Fang Shuo, Queen Mother of the West…….’
“Those people—haven’t they lived here four or five times longer than I have? Some of them seem to have lived here ten times as long…… so it’s practically their own home, isn’t it?”
At those words, Seol Gwan-hui grasped Dan Mok Ryeon’s age anew—a child not even ten years old.
“Some of them have simply lacked the courage to go anywhere else and have continued to remain.”
Dan Mok Ryeon smiled softly.
“Then it’s a blessing.”

* * *

It was just as Dan Mok Ryeon finished her conversation with the Finance Bureau director and was leaving the bureau.
Wi Ji-cheong came running from a distance, bearing news he wanted to tell her.
“Dan Mok Ryeon! Dan Mok Ryeon! Have you heard? Your aunt has returned to Hang Province!”
Dan Mok Ryeon stood for a moment in confusion, trying to recall who her aunt was. For a brief moment, she couldn’t remember at all.
‘Dan Mok Hyeon-yo!’
A vague memory surfaced—the younger sister of Dan Mok Hyeon-seong and elder sister of Dan Mok Hyeon-woo, a woman who lacked her brother’s overwhelming martial prowess but possessed boundless resolve.
So it was that when Dan Mok Hyeon-seong died and Geum Ga-jang rose to power, shaking the Dan Mok Family’s standing, she had swiftly taken the position of acting family head and rushed to Haenam Province, where the Murim League was based, trying by any means to restore the family.
‘I had thought it would have been better if she’d simply stayed with the family instead…….’
In the previous life, Dan Mok Hyeon-yo remained in Haenam Province while delegating most of the family’s affairs to Dan Mok Hyeon-woo. Yet nothing had worked out.
Dan Mok Hyeon-woo had been consumed by despair and inner demons, and Dan Mok Hyeon-yo’s attempts to establish connections with the true powers of the martial world by going all the way to Haenam Province had all come to nothing.

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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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