The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 89

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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 Countdown — Chapter 89

Dan Mok Hyeon U had heard the piece several times and practiced it often enough that he had no trouble plucking the Biwa strings and playing the melody.
And when Ryeon, humming softly as she listened to his performance, let her eyes shine bright for a moment before bringing the Fragrant Bamboo Flute to her lips and playing it directly, and when that tender melody sent a deep resonance spreading through his chest, Dan Mok Hyeon U found himself thinking with nothing but a gentle smile.
‘It was only our Ryeon who was different!’
The other children weren’t lacking, and his teaching wasn’t lacking either—it was simply that Ryeon alone was different.
Meanwhile, Ryeon carefully infused Spiritual Energy into her own breath as she blew the notes into the flute.
It was something she had been planning to attempt once she grew more proficient with the instrument. Her Spiritual Energy rippled outward softly, thinly, wherever the sound reached.
The surrounding air began to grow as crystalline and fresh as that of a clear, deep mountain gorge. A sensation different from when she merely purified it. Not becoming clean, but filling instead with something transparent and cold.
A carp in the pond, some distance away, flicked its tail and sent water droplets scattering. A single scale on that tail gleamed with a faint blue shimmer, but no one’s attention lingered on the carp’s briefly glowing tail.
‘Is there really no special effect to this?’
She had thought she would naturally become a master of Sound Attack

without doing anything special, but it seemed life wasn’t quite so simple after all.
After enjoying the melody for some time, as they were preparing to finish, Dan Mok Hyeon U carefully opened his mouth.
“I’ve been thinking about something regarding the children, Ryeon.”
Dan Mok Hyeon U spoke cautiously as he wiped the flute with a soft cloth. Ryeon tilted her head questioningly.
“Yes?”
“Aren’t we going to Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon next spring?”
Winter was now approaching, so even spring meant there wasn’t much time left. Ryeon nodded her agreement.
“What if we brought some of the children along at that time? They’re still so young that taking all of them would be difficult, of course, but at least those with high achievement. Since our clan has fewer Direct Line members than other Prestigious Families, it shouldn’t be a problem to bring along a few Branch Line children as well.”
“Wow! That’s a great idea!”
Ryeon enthusiastically agreed. What could be more important than diverse experiences during childhood?
“But how will you decide which of the children with high achievement to take?”
“I was thinking of giving them a test and selecting the first through third place.”
“What if instead you said that anyone who accomplishes something gets to go? If someone’s progress has been slow recently, it might dampen their spirits otherwise.”
“But what if they all manage it?”
“If they all passed even though it was a difficult test, then no matter what, you’d have to make the effort to take them all. I just thought of something about the test, actually.”
As Ryeon spoke thus, she whispered her idea. Dan Mok Hyeon U clapped his hands in agreement, saying it was indeed a good thought.

* * *

Frost began to settle on the air, and when a group gathered, breath mist started to form, yet the children’s training never took a day of rest.
“Does anyone here know about Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon?”
At Dan Mok Hyeon U’s question, the children gathered in the Yeon Mu Jang opened their eyes wide and looked at each other. When all remained quiet, Mae Sin Yu slowly raised his hand.
“It’s where the martial sects gather near the Grand Canal of Gyeong Hang.”
“Ah! So you do know. It’s been quiet recently, but next spring they’re meeting again at the Nam Gung Clan in Nam Jik Rye Seong.”
The conversation had progressed to this point, but the children still looked puzzled.
“It’s a fine opportunity to meet people from various Prestigious Families, so I’m thinking of taking some of you hardworking children along. Does that spark your interest?”
“Yeaaah!”
“Waaaah!”
“To Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon…… Us…… We too……?”
While several children shouted excitedly, Dan Mok Wan asked carefully. Dan Mok Hyeon U nodded.
“In exchange, only those who pass a test in one month’s time will be able to go.”
“Ah…….”
The expressions of children who had remained in the clan with barely adequate grades darkened at once.
In the meantime, Dan Mok Hyeon U smiled slightly and drew a line at a considerable distance away. It was a distance that would stretch across the length needed for about five or six adults to lie down.
“Only those who reach from one end of this line to the other, leaving behind only three footprints, will be able to go to Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon.”
At the same moment, all their faces darkened. Mae Sin Yu raised his hand.
“May we use tools?”
A flicker of interest crossed Dan Mok Hyeon U’s eyes.
“Of course. Though only what can fit in one hand. The test will be held in one month, so dedicate yourselves to training until then!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
The children answered cheerfully enough, but their eyes drifted toward the line Dan Mok Hyeon U had drawn.

* * *

“Should we really take them with us?”
“He was just talking. He set an impossible test anyway.”
“Still, I wish we could go. What about the Nam Gung Clan? They must have children like us too.”
Among the children, hope and doubt mingled together.
In the meantime, Mae Sin Yu sat in the shade of the Yeon Mu Jang, his brow furrowed as he stared at the line Dan Mok Hyeon U had drawn.
“What’s on your mind?”
Dan Mok Gyou approached quietly and asked. Mae Sin Yu only deepened his frown and looked back at him.
Even after Dan Mok Gyou had been cut down so bluntly last time, he kept approaching like this, striking up conversations and asking odd questions. Questions like whether he’d awakened to the Heart Method, for instance.
“I was thinking about what ‘three footprints’ means.”
“Doesn’t it mean cross it in three steps?”
“Could you do that if you were in his place?”
“Well, the Void Step

and all that…….”
To walk through empty air, one first needed an exceptional Light Skill

to make the body light, and a strong Body Technique

to maintain control over nothingness—all still a distant dream for them.
“That’s not something we can do now. Maybe someone like the family head could manage it.”
“There’s no way we could, right?”
Seeing Dan Mok Gyou answer brightly with that, Mae Sin Yu cried out.
“Seo Geuk Rim! Come take him away!”
“Hey, no, I was making a good point. I didn’t say anything weird!”
While Dan Mok Gyou protested his innocence, Seo Geuk Rim and Dan Mok Wan approached.
“What’s wrong?”
“Dan Mok Gyou is saying we should use the Void Step to get across.”
“Sin Yu, that’s not what I meant. I was just thinking out loud about how to solve it, and the Void Step came to mind. I’m serious.”
Seeing Dan Mok Gyou stammer, Seo Geuk Rim patted his back reassuringly. Mae Sin Yu had already turned his gaze elsewhere.
‘There must be a reason he said three footprints instead of three steps.’
Why had Dan Mok Hyeon U said three footprints instead of three steps?
Could it mean they were allowed more than three steps?
“Even if we’re allowed to take more than three steps…….”
The answer still seemed out of reach. At Mae Sin Yu’s murmur, Dan Mok Wan glanced at him sideways.
Just then, Dan Mok Gyou clapped his hands together loudly and cried out as if struck by sudden realization.
“Ah! What if we’re supposed to cross together, combining our strength?”
“Combining our strength?”
The unexpected suggestion drew all the eyes in the Yeon Mu Jang toward Dan Mok Gyou.
Dan Mok Gyou continued, puffing out his chest.
“Say five of us link hands and roll in a wheel formation—wouldn’t that work out to three or four footprints per person? Then in the middle, someone could stand on one foot…….”
“Seo Geuk Rim! Take him away already!”
“Why do I have to? I’m not his nursemaid.”
“You’re the one who came in as a new member. Isn’t it the new member’s job to handle this? Go on, take him.”
“Ugh…….”
As Seo Geuk Rim’s shoulders sagged, the other children in the corner had their eyes gleaming bright.

* * *

‘This one… is truly a genius.’
As the training of the Branch Line children entered its full swing, Ryeon threw herself into sword practice with Hwa Ryun, which had been postponed until now.
It was because Hwa Ryun had gained free time while Dan Mok Bi was finishing the Thousand Character Classic and Dan Mok Cheon Gi had been teaching her sword technique.
‘It’s not the same as learning through Mind’s Eye and executing with harmony, but she seems to grasp things far more instinctively.’
If Ryeon applied what she saw directly to her body, Hwa Ryun seemed to grasp the subtlety of swordplay in each passing moment—as she progressed through each form.
It was as though she first imitated what she saw, and in the very act of imitating, she grasped it: ‘Ah, I see!’
“Like this, up to here…… is this right?”
Having completed all twelve forms, Hwa Ryun brushed the hair from her forehead with her shoulder and turned back to look at Ryeon.
“Oh, like that!”

Hwa Ryun’s Third Lesson
Luck Stat: 40 / 120 (3▲)

‘No, really? Like this?’
Her luck stat had jumped by three points in a single stroke—the realization made Dan Mok Ryeon’s mouth fall open. Had she gained this much simply by lending aid to a talent destined to become a minor sect leader of the Ma Cheon Gyo? Or had he already achieved enough to deserve a three-point increase all on his own?
The words rose to her throat—You really are a genius—before she swallowed them back down.
What life unfolds without its share of curves and falls? One day his progress would inevitably slow, and she worried he might become shackled by the weight of a genius label he’d carried since childhood.

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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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