The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 90

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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 Fallen Noble’s Limited Lifespan Elixir — Episode 90

“That’s… right. Do you understand why we’d switch to this move here?”
“It suddenly seemed like you were assuming defense, but I don’t know why. Why?”
“To protect the person behind you.”
“Wouldn’t you just kill the person in front instead? Then there’d be no need for that, right?”
“Ha ha…….”
I’ve grown strong enough now.
I don’t flinch or waver at words like these anymore.
Dan Mok Ryeon laughed confidently.
“There are situations where you can’t do that. For instance, if the enemy is unbeatable but you have to protect the person behind you…….”
“Without running away?”
“You have to buy time for the others to escape.”
“But if you can’t beat them, shouldn’t you be the one to run first? If you can’t even look after yourself, how are you supposed to protect anyone?”
“Those weaker than me.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m stronger than they are.”
Woo Hwa Ryun’s face made it clear he couldn’t understand this at all.
Then Dan Mok Ryeon suddenly realized that she found it difficult now to tell Woo Hwa Ryun to protect others instead of running away first.
Who would wish for their family to die protecting someone else?
Dan Mok Ryeon’s throat suddenly grew dry, and she paused before laughing awkwardly.
“But now that I think about it, you have a point. It’s foolish to stand up to protect others when you can’t even protect yourself. Right?”
“Not foolish exactly. More like… thoughtless?”
Dan Mok Ryeon glared at Woo Hwa Ryun for a moment, then called him over and squeezed his hand tightly. Though he seemed uncomfortable, Woo Hwa Ryun didn’t pull away.
“Right, hurting yourself while helping others is a foolish thing to do. Just…… help others only when you’re able to, alright?”
“Foolish…….”
“Why are you suddenly calling me foolish?”
“It was just something I muttered!”
“No it wasn’t. You definitely said it looking right at me.”
The two of them bickered back and forth for a while, and only when Woo Hwa Ryun gave up and raised his hands did Dan Mok Ryeon return to her original topic and speak again.
“Anyway, you understand, don’t you? When you think you might not be able to do something, just…… run away. Got it?”
“……Why? Because I’m weak?”
“No. Because your sister will protect you.”
“……Me?”
“Yes. You’re my brother.”
“Even though I’m weak and useless?”
Though they’d had this conversation many times before, Woo Hwa Ryun asked the same question each time as if hearing it for the first time.
Dan Mok Ryeon gazed quietly at his bright eyes, then grabbed his cheek and rubbed it hard.
“If I became weak and useless, would you abandon me?”
“That doesn’t follow the logic. Besides, you’re the Dan Mok Clan’s primary heir—how could you possibly be useless?”
‘Cold child…….’
“In moments like this, you’re just supposed to say you won’t abandon me, that’s all…….”
“I’m your servant—it’s only natural that I can’t abandon you.”
Dan Mok Ryeon pressed her dry lips together and decided to change the subject. This kind of reasoning didn’t work well with Woo Hwa Ryun.
“First of all, you’re not weak, and people don’t protect others based on their usefulness or lack of it. I protect you because you’re precious to me.”
“Me? Precious to you?”
“If you weren’t precious, would I be doing this?!”
Dan Mok Ryeon grabbed his cheek and stretched it out. Woo Hwa Ryun cried out.
“It hurts!”
“Because you’re precious—I teach you swordsmanship, ask you to study letters with me, share delicious food with you, and even when you keep saying ‘you’re wrong, sister?’ like this, I still find it cute! See?”
“Hic.”
Woo Hwa Ryun, his cheeks flushed crimson and cupped in both hands, whimpered in complaint.
“How did I end up like this…….”
Dan Mok Ryeon tousled Woo Hwa Ryun’s hair thoroughly.
She knew too that she was saying something to him that amounted to deception. They couldn’t live by such innocent thinking forever—the world wouldn’t allow it.
As time passed, she would have to measure someone’s usefulness—but even she recognized that the boy had talent enough to become the future First Seat of the Ma Cheon Gyo, which was why she’d extended her hand in the first place.

‘Still, if only Woo Hwa Ryun could just…….’
When talent and circumstance align, a person need not prove themselves. The world will seek them out.
The whole world would become his ally, and if that Woo Hwa Ryun could possess even a measure of generosity toward those who belong to no one’s faction…….
‘No, that’s not fair. Our Woo Hwa Ryun may say harsh things, but he’s actually a good boy at heart!’
Hadn’t it been Woo Hwa Ryun who, despite his callous remarks, had seen her wilting in the summer heat and brought back ice without a word—unable to simply leave her there?
“So what you’re saying is, I did well executing those techniques just now, right?”
“Mm, yes. Want to try it once more?”
“Understood.”
With that, Woo Hwa Ryun grasped the Mok Geom and began to move.
He’d always claimed he hated learning martial arts, yet his face was flushed with the joy of learning something new. The bitter winter air could not cool that enthusiasm.
The technique he’d learned once was already far more fluid the second time through.
Dan Mok Ryeon wanted to hold up a mirror and ask him, ‘Is this the face of someone who doesn’t want to learn?’
‘But I’ve taught him all I can for now. Should I show him some Bo Beop? Then maybe Sim Beop after that?’
As Dan Mok Ryeon pondered her curriculum, her gaze fell upon the Fan, and she drew in a sharp breath.

Woo Hwa Ryun
Trait: Cheon Ma Pa Sun / Partial synchronization failure.
Twelve Stars Falling Blade: 2 Stars (New) / Partial synchronization failure.
Talent and Constitution: Partial synchronization failure.
Concerns: Partial synchronization failure.

‘Wait, no—we haven’t even finished one Form yet, and it’s already 2 Stars? Truly just a little while ago he learned it?’
“What’s wrong? Did I do something incorrectly?”
That made no sense. Woo Hwa Ryun muttered under his breath. Dan Mok Ryeon squeezed her eyes shut.
‘Right. Where in this world is anything fair? Of course there are people born with such talent that they see something once and leap straight to 2 Stars……. And my luck stat gets raised by 3 on top of everything else…….’
It was only then that Dan Mok Ryeon realized she hadn’t checked her own status in some time. She’d been too busy watching everyone else’s.

Traits: Boundless Spring of Spiritual Energy / Half-Awakened / Cherished by the Wicked / Hothouse Flower
Jo Hwa: 7 Stars – May go unnoticed.
Sim An: 6 Stars – Can perceive strengths.
Jeong Hwa: 3 Stars – Can purify Qi.
Internal Energy: Cannot be acquired
Constitution: Measurement Error
Spiritual Energy: 55 / 120

Dan Mok Ryeon tensed as if reading a report card, her eyes narrowing as she gazed past the Fan.
Nothing had changed, really. Her martial level remained invisible, internal energy still marked as unacquirable, constitution the same.
‘Wait—but I have 55 Spiritual Energy, so why isn’t there a warning……?’
The moment she noticed that her maximum Spiritual Energy capacity had increased, she felt a brief flutter of joy—then immediately a wave of dizziness washed over her, and she closed her eyes.
An increase in the maximum capacity she could hold was certainly good news.
‘I did think lately that my Spiritual Energy was filling up a bit faster than before.’
Even with the same amount of Clear Lotus Water as before, she no longer needed to go to the mountain.
In fact, there had been times when her Spiritual Energy capacity exceeded half its maximum, triggering alerts. But she simply used it right away to make Clear Lotus Water or Heuk Gok Dan and hadn’t thought much of it.
‘Just like muscles grow when you use them, Spiritual Energy fills faster the more I use it, and the capacity grows too!’
While the increased capacity was a mercy, realizing that her Spiritual Energy was accumulating faster weighed heavily on her heart.
‘How fast is it filling up? I’ve been so busy making this and that lately…….’
If she didn’t use her Spiritual Energy immediately, her life would slip into Limited Lifespan—but the more she used it, the faster it accumulated.
In the moment Dan Mok Ryeon’s eyes went blank, Woo Hwa Ryun, who had discarded the Mok Geom, was suddenly right in front of her face.
“Elder sister, are you alright?”
When Dan Mok Ryeon suddenly seemed to sway as though the world had tilted, Woo Hwa Ryun looked startled and concerned. She quickly shook her head and forced a smile.
“No, no, I’m fine. I just noticed you did that last sequence faster than before—how did you manage that?”
“Should I call a physician? Or shall we go to an apothecary?”
Though Dan Mok Ryeon was trying to steer the conversation toward the Twelve Stars Falling Blade, Woo Hwa Ryun answered as if she’d asked something entirely different.
“No, really, I’m fine. I don’t have a fever, and I’m not bleeding, and—I’m not bleeding! If I were ill, I’d say so.”
“If you say so…….”
Woo Hwa Ryun, accepting her reassurance, took a step back with a satisfied expression. Yet his gaze remained fixed on her face.
“Why do you keep staring?”
“You’ll tell me if it hurts, won’t you?”
“I said I would, didn’t I? Of course I will. You haven’t seen me make a fuss yet. Just wait till I start whining about how bothersome it is.”
Dan Mok Ryeon spoke with a laugh. Woo Hwa Ryun answered that he understood, then picked up the Mok Geom he’d abandoned and brushed the dirt from it with a few quick taps.

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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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