Bab 27: Sibling, Rivalry and Forge
"O-older brother?!"
The voice of Mo Mingxia was the one that Mo Yangling recognized best. It was the most recent in his mind.
"Oh, Little Xia and Little Li! How are the two of you doing?" The Monk waved at his two smaller siblings.
Mo Mingxia looked just the same as before, her auburn hair flowed in the wind and her green eyes seemed to shine with confusion.
Mo Mingli was someone that the Monk hadn't seen personally before. But he was very much similar to his sister, the two could be mistaken for twins.
He had short and spiky auburn hair, and his eyes were a slightly deeper shade of green. He was also a head taller than his younger sister, though he was still 1.5 meters at best.
He seemed just as shocked and confused as his sister to see Mo Yangling jump out of the newly formed crater that spawned on their flower field.
"What do you mean how are we doing!?! Were you the one creating earthquakes all night?!" Mo Mingli was a bit more hotheaded than his sister, he specifically didn't like being called Little Li, not that would ever stop the Monk.
"Amitabha, I was merely training a bit, nothing too important..." The monk immediately tried to downplay the 100-meter-long crater he had just jumped out of.
It didn't work.
"Training what?! And what Realm are you even in? We thought one of the Elders was training the entire night!" Mo Mingli was quite annoyed to hear his older brother so dismissive of their shock.
In the first place, he didn't think that Mo Yangling would ever be able of such a thing. Mo Mengxiu was similar, it was shocking to see their older brother come out of the flower-filled crater, but they both somewhat refused to believe that he'd be strong enough to do such a thing.
Even if he looked stronger now, and was a lot more dependable(especially in Mo Mingxia's eyes), it felt a bit farfetched for him to have gotten that strong that quickly.
The Monk also didn't want to take the blame for the incident, nor did he want to attract any further attention to himself since he noticed how troublesome it could be thanks to the Grand Elder.
"Oh, but it was an Elder! He was showing me a new technique the entire night! You guys just missed him!" The Monk crossed his arms, lying through his shiny perfect teeth.
"Oh, that makes sense... Can you ask him to do this a bit further away from this place next time? This used to be my favourite hill in the Compound... Now it's more of a flower pit."
Mo Mingxiu sighed as she looked over the scenery. It was still beautiful in a way, but it looked a lot wilder and less tended to than the beautiful flowers that had been planted and cared for by the servants.
"Amitabha, sure thing! I'll inform the Elder to no longer train here! I'm sure he'll comply without much hassle, he doesn't train here normally in the first place..." The Monk smiled as he spoke of the non-existent elder.
"Good, Thank you then, at least we don't have to speak with Father about this... All conversations with him are awkward..." Mo Mingli sighed, his eyes scanned Mo Yangling's shirtless form for a few moments.
His new appearance and relaxed demeanour made the young child feel more comfortable speaking with him.
In the past, Mo Yangling was always more standoffish with them, and more frantic in his mannerisms too. But now there were no signs of that.
'Sis Xia was right, Brother Yangling changed a lot. He's even training with the Elders now! God, Mother isn't going to like this...'
Mo Mingli couldn't help but sigh when he remembered his mother's reaction to their older brother returning. It seemed that she had been praying for his death that entire time.
Mo Mingxiu was a lot less aware of her mother's bad traits, but the slightly older Mo Mingli had been forced to mature faster.
'I am, after all, the one Mother wants to become the next Clan Head...'
That was the expectation that he was born with. Yet he was never considered the next in line directly, as it was usually tradition for the oldest child to go on to become the Clan Head.
Of course, Mo Yangling had always been a special case, he wasn't that much of a threat when he wasn't cultivating, and showed no interest in it at all.
'But now... Now he's become competition.'
"Big Bro! Do you want to come to breakfast with us? Dad said it's supposed to be something between family members..."
"Hoho~ I do remember him being quite specific about that..." The monk just looked to the side awkwardly.
His father always hated having breakfast with his family, it was Mo Yangling's mother, Mo Meixiu, who always insisted on those.
Hell, Mo Weisheng oftentimes skipped over that tradition.
'Seems like he's keeping Mo Meixiu's memory alive in his own way...
Maybe he's not as spineless as I thought. I bet that new wife of his hates this tradition now with passion, especially since she likely knows its origin...'
"Amitabha, thank you for the invitation. But I must refuse." The monk patted the little girl's head, messing up her pigtails with a wide smile on his face whilst Mo MingLi sighed in relief.
"No! Why wouldn't you come!? Spend more time with us..." The Little Girl didn't even let him retract his hand, grabbing onto his wrist with both hands and pulling with all of the strength of a Low-Rank Martial Soldier.
The Monk just laughed, her strength not even registering to him as he raised her up with one hand
"Little Xia, I am not on good terms with either Mo Weishang or your Mother. It would be a bit awkward if I go there..." He patted the little girl's head with his other hand whilst keeping her suspended in the air.
"No! It's more fun if you come along!" The Little Girl immediately started kicking into his abdomen, like any child throwing a tantrum.
Each one of her kicks seemed to pack a bit of power, raising some dust behind the Monk, but not one of them left even the slightest mark on his abs.
The sight of that made Mo Mingli's brows furrow.
'He's... A lot stronger than me as he is now...'
The 12-year-old child was always groomed to be the next clan head ever since he could walk. Anything less than perfect would've been deemed unworthy by his Mother.
But it seemed that Mo Yangling had already surpassed him in a short time. A thought that he found quite infuriating.
'No, he must just be practising an External Art! He's not even using Internal Energy to block her kicks, so that's the only explanation! I'll still win in the long run...'
"Sister Xia, give up. You won't be able to convince him! You know Mother doesn't like us being late..." Mo MingLi immediately stepped up and grabbed his sister, dragging her away whilst she was just skulking and kicking towards the Monk continuously.
"I'll make you come with us one day! You can't escape me forever Big Bro!"
The little girl's shouts got further and further away as her brother continued heading for the Main Clan's Compound.
The Monk just smiled as he turned and walked in the other direction.
'The Gathering of Families... What day was it on again? Ah, whatever, I can go ask that old guy, Grand Elder whatever. He seemed pretty funny.
But I'll go to the forge first, this monk needs some prayer instruments!'
The monk immediately decided on his direction, dashing towards the Forging Pavilion, another large structure.
The Mo Family was well-known for its blacksmiths, their techniques somewhat went hand-in-hand with the forge.
It was a talent that was discovered after the founder's era, but the Mo Family had still become the greatest Blacksmithing family of the Guozhi Kingdom.
'From the weapons I've seen, the stuff this Mo Clan makes is of high enough quality... I also happen to have the money to spend... Hehe, this monk shall pamper himself today!'
He managed to get to the Pavilion quickly enough, entering it without even looking at the guards at the door, uncaring of the incredulous looks they gave him.
Now, the Blacksmith's Pavilion was a sight to see.
A gigantic pit of Lava stood in the middle of the room, going all the way up to the roof of the Pagoda, a wall of specialized glass holding it up.
It took up all of the middle space of the Pavilion, and dozens of forges were built all around it on all floors.
The beginner Blacksmiths practised their craft on the first floor, and they got more and more experienced the more they climbed.
Of course, Mo Yangling went straight to the top.
No one was there to stop him, as anyone could request a weapon so long as they had the means to pay for it.
Clan Members were of course always given items for free, but the Monk wasn't expecting such courtesy.
"Hmm? Who are you, brat? Did you make an appointment or something?"
The Monk smiled when a voice greeted him at the top floor.
There was only one person on the top floor. The Master Smith, a Martial Grandmaster in the Latest stage.
His name was written boldly on his chest, 3 black stars right near it. Mo Feng, 'Three Star Blacksmith Master'.
The Monk didn't know the significance of the stars, nor did he care to ask. He instead used his caveman brain to deduce what they symbolised.
'More star mean more skill! Monk happy!'
Mo Feng was a short and heavily muscled old man with a thick white beard. His big nose and ears made him stand out a lot.
He was wearing a sleeveless black robe, which covered anything but his burly arms.
He was also holding a long smoking pipe, filled with either the devil's lettuce or tobacco... The monk assumed it was the devil's lettuce from the smell though.
"I have no appointment, but I am willing to compensate for the inconvenience." The monk smiled and immediately took out a stack of paper bills, fluttering them around.
"Hah, what bullshit! Payments here are only in Gold Tales! Literally every kid your age that comes up here unprepared says tha-"
"50 Million. Up front. Right now."
"I'm doing it."
"... Amitabha, I haven't even said what I nee-"
"I don't care! I'm doing it!"
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
VeganMaster
VeganMaster Heyoo, here's today's chapter!
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