Chapter – 02
Only now did she admit how much she had pretended to be indifferent in the face of death.
She had wanted to live this badly.
Even if she could never become a great martial arts master, she had wanted to run, play, and live in good health.
The stars reflected in Mokryeon’s eyes sparkled brightly.
“I’ll get rid of everything that stands in the way of my long and healthy life!”
It was almost infuriating to think that she had possessed this power in her previous life yet had died helplessly because she never understood what it was.
But Mokryeon quickly shook her head.
No. It’s enough that I’ve come back. Think positively.
She still wasn’t healthy.
She still had warnings telling her she only had two months to solve her spiritual-energy problem.
Even so, she would find a way.
Feeling optimistic, Mokryeon reached for the fan lying beside her pillow.
Right. First, I should use some spiritual energy and lower the amount I have.
She wanted to try using one of her abilities: Purification.
A gentle breeze stirred.
For a moment, it felt as though distant wind chimes were ringing somewhere, and the air became fresh and invigorating.
Immediately, her Spiritual Energy value dropped.
“Wow!”
Physical Strength: 4 (+1) / 100
Spiritual Energy: 75 (-1) / 100
Only a little, but it had worked.
Maybe I can just go around purifying the air everywhere? Should I change careers and become a walking air purifier?
Excited by the idea, Mokryeon couldn’t stop smiling.
She enthusiastically fanned every corner of the room, purifying the air wherever she went.
When she had finished making a full round of the spacious residence, however, she suddenly felt dizzy.
“Huh…? Ah?”
Physical Strength: 1 (-3) / 100
Spiritual Energy: 79 (+4) / 100
Warning: Do not condense Spiritual Energy…
“What the…?”
Mokryeon stared at the fan in disbelief.
The Spiritual Energy entry had turned bright red and increased dramatically.
The air around her was now purer and clearer than that atop a mountain peak.
Yet Mokryeon could only collapse helplessly onto her bed.
The surroundings were completely saturated with the spiritual energy she had scattered.
The purified energy was slowly returning to her.
Purification: 2 Stars (+1)
Physical Strength: 4 / 100
Spiritual Energy: 68 / 100
Mokryeon glared at the mirror.
Warning: Please continue your efforts to keep Spiritual Energy below 50.
The words floating above the mirror seemed to be mocking her.
Wherever she could read text, the display would appear.
On the white surface of her fan.
On the wide sleeve of her robe.
On the bed canopy.
On a mirror.
Even on the surface of water inside a bowl.
She had awakened in late autumn, just before the first frost.
Afterward, the seasons changed.
Her birthday in February passed.
She turned eight years old.
For several months she did little but recuperate.
Meanwhile, her remaining lifespan fluctuated constantly.
“Two months remaining.”
“One and a half months remaining.”
“Two months remaining again.”
But seriously, how am I supposed to spend any more spiritual energy than this?
Even using Purification wasn’t as simple as it sounded.
The good news was that her Purification skill had risen to 2 Stars after all her efforts.
The bad news was the side effects.
As winter approached, people began noticing that the tree outside her window had not dropped a single leaf and remained vividly green.
Because of that, Mokryeon had been forced to stop practicing purification toward the outside world.
Before ridiculous rumors spread any further.
“It’s obvious now! A celestial immortal temporarily took Young Miss Ryeon away and then returned her! That’s why the flowers and trees around her residence never wither!”
Worse still, purified spaces amplified spiritual energy.
Which meant they were actually harmful to her body.
Yet she couldn’t simply stop using her powers either.
What was she supposed to do?
Maybe I should at least learn some basic medicine and pretend to be a miraculous physician…
“Ryeon! Ryeon! Mother has come!”
Just as Mokryeon was worrying over various possibilities, the door swung open.
The person she had been longing to see appeared.
A woman whose beauty looked as though a fairy had carefully painted every feature with a delicate brush.
It was her mother.
Wi Jicheong.
At that moment, the text on the mirror rapidly changed.
Wi Jicheong
Traits:
- Lost Child
- Heir
- Devoted
- Intertwined Branches
Mount Hua Swordsmanship: Basic
Falling Star Twelve Swords: 2 Stars
Talent & Comprehension: Insight 3 Stars unlocked
Current Concerns:
- Dan Mokryeon’s health
- Dan Mokryeon’s happiness
- Dan Mokryeon’s future
Advice:
- It is important to let go of unnecessary guilt.
Information about other people was very different from her own.
She could see the star ratings of martial arts they had learned.
But most other details were hidden.
It seemed that as her Insight ability improved, she would be able to see more.
One section especially caught her attention.
Current Concerns.
Presumably, these were the things occupying a person’s mind most heavily.
My health. My happiness. My future…
Just like Nursemaid Jang, Wi Jicheong always smiled brightly whenever she looked at her.
As though the world contained nothing bad at all.
As though only happiness existed.
But how could that possibly be true?
She was undoubtedly overwhelmed with worries and anxieties, yet she hid them from her young daughter.
Mother… I’ll make sure you don’t have to worry anymore.
A long, healthy life was also Mokryeon’s dream.
Though it had never come true in the future she experienced.
How old was I when I died? Twenty-something?
The Blood Luo Valley had risen again.
The martial world had descended into chaos.
Dragged along by the turbulent times, she struggled to survive.
Then, unable to control her spiritual energy, she collapsed and died.
A miserable ending.
For seven years, Wi Jicheong had never once given up on her silent daughter.
And in the future Mokryeon remembered, after her daughter died shortly after reaching adulthood, Wi Jicheong slowly wasted away in tears.
Mokryeon forcibly pushed those memories aside.
That future would never come.
Now she could see more.
And do more.
“My daughter! Are you eating candied hawthorn?”
Wi Jicheong immediately scooped Mokryeon into her arms.
The words on the mirror scattered and vanished.
Mokryeon relaxed against her mother.
“Mother! You’re here? The Master of the Medicine Hall made these for me. They’re sweet and sour and really delicious.”
Listening to her daughter’s crystal-clear voice, Wi Jicheong smiled once more.
Mokryeon took one candied hawthorn fruit and placed it into her mother’s mouth.
When she first woke up after seven years, her speech had been clumsy and awkward.
But perhaps thanks to the power of her Harmony ability, she quickly learned to speak clearly.
The adults of the clan had been amazed.
Yet compared to the miracle of her awakening, smaller miracles felt like mere fragments of joy.
“It really is delicious. Uncle even interrupted his secluded training because of you, and he still took the time to prepare this.”
Wi Jicheong instructed someone to send a gift of thanks to Dan Mok Hyeon-woo, Mokryeon’s younger uncle and the Master of the Medicine Hall.
Then she gestured to the servant she had brought with her.
“Come now, Ryeon. Would you like to see what Mother brought?”
The servant carefully placed something before her.
Small white flowers, each no larger than a grain of rice, clustered together along thick branches.
The sweet fragrance that had filled the room came from them.
“I picked them to decorate your room.”
Mokryeon stared blankly at the flowers.
Smiling brightly, Wi Jicheong arranged the branches in a white porcelain vase.
“They’re called Malli Flowers. They’ll make your room smell lovely and look elegant.”
She selected a small blossom and tucked it behind Mokryeon’s ear.
Then she narrowed her eyes and smiled.
“I can’t even tell where the flower ends and the girl begins. Isn’t that right, Madam Jang?”
“Absolutely.”
Nursemaid Jang immediately agreed.
If she had truly been an eight-year-old child, perhaps she could have accepted such praise.
But Mokryeon couldn’t sit there and listen calmly.
Her face instantly turned red.
Wi Jicheong laughed.
“Our Ryeon is so shy.”
Embarrassed, Mokryeon pulled her blanket over her face.
Even so, she couldn’t bring herself to remove the flower her mother had tucked behind her ear.
Wi Jicheong gently stroked her cheek.
“When I looked at the garden today, I saw new shoots sprouting everywhere. Even the sweet olive tree we thought had died has grown new leaves again. I was so surprised. It must be that all living things are celebrating because our Ryeon woke up.”
Actually, it was probably her spiritual energy.
But Mokryeon said nothing and simply leaned into her mother’s hand.
“If Seong-rang could see this, how happy he would have been…”
“Madam…”
Mokryeon had noticed her mother’s fingertips trembling.
Wi Jicheong turned her head away.
Watching her mother’s shaking shoulders, Mokryeon suddenly remembered something she hadn’t thought about.
Her father, Dan Mok Hyeon-seong, had died five years earlier.
Not long after her younger brother, Dan Mok Bi, was born.
Perhaps believing it was still too early to discuss such matters with her daughter, Wi Jicheong composed herself.
She wiped away her tears and forced a smile.
“You heard that we’re going to thank your grandfather today, didn’t you?”
Mokryeon nodded.
“Your grandfather is the one who helped make the medicine that cured you.”
Speaking gently, Wi Jicheong dismissed the nursemaid and personally adjusted her daughter’s collar.
The air was still chilly in early spring.
“The medicine used in your Beolmoseisu procedure contained the Ten-Thousand-Year Supreme Blood Treasure (Mannyeon Jiguk Hyeolbo). Your grandfather gave it to us.”
Mokryeon’s eyes widened.
“That was originally meant for your grandfather’s own medicine, but he yielded it for your sake.”
Mokryeon stared in shock.
Grandfather gave them the Ten-Thousand-Year Supreme Blood Treasure?
