Elder's Greed and Sibling

"I only want one thing... The protective treasure you used to withstand the pressure I exuded earlier." 

Mo Ling extended his palm, almost as if it was a given that Mo Yangling would just hand over whatever treasure he had obtained while outside.

"In exchange, I will make sure that you are accepted back into the family. I will also ensure that you can continue to live comfortably within the family." 

Mo Yangling stared at him for a few seconds, before staring at his extended palm. He shook the old man's hand with a smile.

"Amitabha, I've no clue what the hell you're talking about!" 

The Monk's smile was radiant, in that moment, he truly was like the Buddha.

'Treasures? What are those to an enlightened one that has denounced materialism such as myself!'

The monk's radiant smile and non-materialistic mindset of course ignored the fat stack of bills he had stuffed in his robes that he had kept hidden from the family. 

After all, Monks needed to eat as well.

"Hmph, so that's how you want to play it, huh?" The Grand Elder's face twisted into a cold scowl, his eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.

He slapped the Monk's hand away forcefully, his eyes glinting with frustration. 

He then started exuding a very subtle type of pressure with just his gaze, this time, it was not physical, but spiritual instead. It was the type of pressure that would have likely made most young men fall over.

'No matter how great a treasure, it cannot protect against both physical and spiritual pressure!'

The monk did feel the pressure exuded by the Grand Elder, and at that point, he started getting a bit frustrated at the old man's stubbornness.

'Amithaba, one must not slap or bully the elderly and senile, I must practice patience!'

"Elder, are you feeling unwell perhaps? Do you need help going to the bathroom?" 

In an instant Mo Ling stopped applying spiritual pressure on the monk, his eyes widening in shock.

'Don't tell me, does he possess a heavenly treasure?!? Did he inherit the will of some immortal perhaps?' 

"Mo Yangling, enough with your stupid games! No one is here to protect you or hear you scream! If you don't hand over the treasure, then I will simply grab it from your corpse!" 

The Grand Elder's tone immediately filled with anger, power and killing intent radiated off of his palm as he prepared to strike at any moment.

'Amitabha, I wanted to keep a low profile till I learned more about this world... But annoying people like him will always get in the way.' 

"Well, Elder, I don't know what treasures you speak of, but you are right about one thing at least... No one will hear any screams this far out from the main house." 

Then, before the Elder could even react properly, the Monk's hands moved like a blur.

The Grand Elder was strong, and experienced, but he was simply taken by surprise at both the speed and the decisiveness of Mo Yangling's attack.

A forceful shockwave hurtled towards his brain as the Monk's palms simultaneously slapped both of his ears.

The Elder's consciousness was quite literally forced out of his nose along with saliva and vomit, and his eyes rolled backwards, his brains were instantly scrambled.

Just like that, a Golden Core Cultivator was knocked unconscious.

'Amitabha, that was a lot more effective than I expected, I used to bully fledgeling monks with this move...

This old man lets his guard down very easily, his body looks trained, but his mind seems to have lost its sharpness.' 

The Monk didn't bother with the Grand Elder Afterwards, merely whistling as he walked away. 

At the end of the day, the old man was unlikely to even remember what had happened, or simply think of it as a nightmare or something. 

'I should probably go speak to Mo Weisheng now, have a proper 'father-son' meeting.'

And so, the Monk did just that, walking through that grand compound with a smile on his face.

He received quite a few gazes once more, this time rumours had already spread out through the Family that the Prodigal Young Master had returned.

"How did he change so much in but a year?"

"Fool, he must've gotten his hands on some External Cultivation Technique by luck or something..."

"I hear the Grand Elder arranged for him to be present at the Great Family Gathering, let's just hope he doesn't bring further shame to our Mo Family..."

 Many servants spoke through whispers, completely unaware that the Monk was listening into everything and gathering a bit of intel.

Through their rumours, he learned that the 'Great Family Gathering' was a bit more than a dinner banquet between the Great Noble Clans. 

It was also a competition for the youth.

Each family would showcase the martial achievements of their young, and they would be allowed to spar within an arena. 

Indeed, it seemed that the Banquet of the Grand Families was so refined that they didn't even have a dance floor, instead, they replaced it with a sparring area, which every other attendant could oversee from above.

'So the old men stand in their chairs, whilst watching their children fight and bite at each other like rats in a pit... I guess being civilized is a bit too much to ask for.' 

The monk was a tad disappointed to hear that, but he had remembered reading about quite a few similar events in novels in the past.

It only made sense anyway. Cultivation was an arduous path, and competitiveness among the youth was encouraged in order to foster growth.

But the Monk felt a bit odd, not quite wanting to participate and fight against children. 

'Ah, whatever, I'll see how things unfold...'

"You!" Just as he was about to head into the Clan's Main House, a voice called out to him from behind, it was the familiar voice of a little girl, one that caused his eyebrows to twitch.

The Monk turned around, only to be greeted by another 'new' face.

It was the figure of a young girl, barely in her teenage years. She was around 10 or 11 by the monk's estimations.

She had short, auburn-coloured hair caught in two ponytails and pearly green eyes. She wore the regular uniform of their clan members, namely a red robe with black highlights.

She looked at Mo Yangling with crossed arms and an annoyed gaze.

"... Amithaba! If it isn't Mo Mingxia, my favourite little sister!" The Monk gained a cheery smile as he started remembering the little girl in front of him.

Of course, she was too young to have been among the people who bullied the original Mo Yangling, same for her slightly older brother, Mo Mingli.

Still, both she and her brother were often used as examples or people to compare Mo Yangling to.

They had both achieved the rather impressive feat of reaching the Peak of the Martial Apprentice Realm before the age of 10.

From what the monk could feel, the little girl had already broken through to the Martial Soldier stage as well.

And it seemed that she had developed a temper to match her talents... 

"I'm your only sister, idiot!" The little girl shouted, her pigtails bobbing up and down as she moved around.

"Which automatically makes you the favourite, that's how it works." The Monk was thankfully accustomed to interacting with children.

He had instructed monks of all ages in the past, their monastery was also known to take in orphans very often, so they ended up raising plenty of children into young men and women.

Of course, Mo Yangling always preferred teaching martial arts to the boy's side of the monastery, as they tended to be more foolhardy and bold during training. 

"... You've changed quite a bit, big bro Yangling..." The little girl muttered before she clenched her fists and her little eyes narrowed.

"But don't think we'll just accept you back into the family because you rushed and started cultivating a bit! You're already an adult, but even I've been cultivating for longer..." 

The little girl seemed to be quite opinionated, but the Monk couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in disappointment at her words.

'She's just spouting what other people keep speaking about near her... It's sad enough that she sees family as something based on merit.

My opinion of our 'Father' is getting lower and lower by the second.' 

"Little Xia, no matter what cultivation realm someone finds themselves in, a family should still remain a family..."

The monk stopped for a second and looked deep into the little girl's eyes.

"Do you think your father would throw you to the side if you were incapable of cultivation?"