Chương 31: Gauntlet, Spars and Provocation
There were few other Martial Soldiers at the scene that truly wanted to go up.
Luo Qiu was a Middle-Stage Martial Soldier, ranked quite highly among the younger generations. His smart way of fighting could easily put him in the top 20 despite his lack of cultivation.
But even he realized that fighting Mo Yangling was a bad idea after seeing his first battle.
This immediately made Mo Mingli quite sick to his stomach. In his mind, he knew that he likely couldn't have beaten Luo Qiu regardless.
His only hope was the fact that he was still quite young, he could claim to be more talented than Mo Yangling... That was if his big brother had been cultivating for a longer time in secret, which at that point many were starting to suspect.
Including Mo Yangling's father, Mo Weisheng. He always knew that his last wife hated cultivation and cultivators by extension. Hell, she had even hated him slightly.
Especially after he took in concubines as was customary for Clan Heads.
'Don't tell me... Mo Yangling likely kept his cultivation a secret all this time to please his mother...'
From then on, it was only natural for everyone to become a bit more wary.
Well, all but one person at least...
"Mo Yangling! Didn't think you'd be making this type of scene today!"
The Monk turned around to see his cousin, Mo Qiao, jumping onto the Stage, her eyes glinting dangerously.
"What the hell is she going to do?" "Isn't she also just a Mid-Stage Martial Soldier? I guess she just wants to get sent flying or something..."
Many in the younger generation seemed to be mocking her instead of applauding her courage, this made the monk raise an eyebrow. But he kept silent about them for now.
He just looked at Mo Qiao and smiled.
"I wasn't trying to cause a scene, I honestly did arrive a little late since this palace is a nightmare to navigate... But all is well."
The Monk took a few steps closer to speak to his cousin so that only she could hear him.
"Heh~ I wouldn't really say that the King or the princes may end up holding a grudge after this..." She seemed quite concerned for her cousin at that moment.
"Bah! The King is strong enough to not take this type of petty shit seriously, and the princes are all weak, no point in even thinking of them."
Guo Zhu, the King, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when hearing the Monk. Those above a certain level of strength had still managed to hear Mo Yangling's words.
The King couldn't help but smile, because the Monk was completely right.
As a King, he couldn't bring himself to give capital punishment to a kid for a stupid mistake. He only wanted to scare him at first
Even the pressure he had exuded earlier was more spiritual and mental than physically harming.
But seeing the composure displayed by that young man got him intrigued. And his way of making things more interesting also made the King smile.
'Only a man like this could ever be worthy to become my son-in-law! That is, only if he still wishes to of course...'
Guo Zhu had already noticed that Mo Yangling hadn't even spared a glance at his daughter. Others would maybe think that he was just doing it on purpose, but the King doubted it. That was not the type of man that could catch his interest.
Still, there were no grudges to be had for the King.
'But to think he'd also be able to disregard my children like this... Seems like my intuition was right...'
The King couldn't help but close his eyes and meditate for a second, before slowly opening them back up to look at the scene unfolding below.
The fight was already starting, and the Monk seemed to be taking his cousin a bit more seriously than before.
Instead, he changed his stance to mimic the one he had kept whilst training with her. A basic horse stance, a basic stance to bolster his stability.
Mo Qiao immediately rushed towards him, her sword pointing at his chest, whilst her scabbard also swung at his neck.
The Monk smiled when seeing her method of approach and stable posture.
In an instant, his hand moved his palm pushing the blade into the scabbard, while his leg shot up like a cannonball.
The young girl was already expecting such a move, having been hit by it so many times before.
Strands of hair floated away in the wind as she leaned backwards, the sheer wind pressure behind the Monk's fist cracked the railing of the viewing platform on the second floor.
But before anyone could even react to that, the monk's leg came down into an extremely heavy stomp.
Mo Qiao already expected it, so she was able to roll away in time, but the entire platform they were fighting on was immediately broken, much to the fear of those in the younger generation.
'S-shit... He's not even using any martial arts, just physical strength and minimal Internal Energy...' The First Prince's eyes widened in fear, for a split second, before he finally got it under control.
It was around that time that many realized it... Mo Yangling was cultivating some sort of External Martial Arts.
'What a shame...' The King also realized it, having felt the wind from the Monk's kick he had a hunch, but now it was all but confirmed.
After all, there was no way for a cultivator that young to create such an effect without using martial arts.
The mere thought also seemed to horrify Mo Weisheng, whose gaze seemed more panicked than before.
Mo Qiao had managed to dodge the axe Kick, but she couldn't help but sweat as she perceived her cousin to finally be exerting his full strength.
"You've improved quite a bit, Sister Qiao... Though you still get a bit too close for comfort at times." The Monk smiled as he took another sip of wine, this time leaving only a bit within it so the bet would not be completely meaningless.
'I should get more wine, now that I think about it. Wasn't expecting it to taste that good, honestly...'
"Bah! I didn't get close, you just have long legs... Also, you were holding back a lot during training..." Mo Qiao slowly straightened her back, the cracked ground underneath her almost causing her to lose her footing.
"Naturally, I do not wish to damage the training grounds..." 'Amitabha, more like I didn't want to pay for them, or hurt you too badly...'
"Well then, let's see... I want to at least make you move a step this time." Mo Qiao immediately rushed back in, not losing a step as she almost turned into a blur and zipped past the monk, slicing at his neck from a safe distance.
The monk's hand immediately shot up, flicking the blade away with a finger. The girl was not expecting such a move, and her balance was lost at that moment, and her gaze was covered by her arms for a split second.
By the time she moved them, all she could see was the monk's fist. And she was immediately sent flying outside of the arena.
She flipped a few times in the air and eventually landed on her own two feet among the crowd, blowing some blood out of her nose.
Many were speechless that the Monk had just punched his younger cousin, a girl, in the face, but even more were just laughing at her attempt to fight him.
"Hah! That ended about as expected!" "That was pathetic, that girl should've just given up honestly." "This Mo Yangling guy is also shameless, punching a woman's face like that..."
The monk just shook his head and sighed when hearing their stupid comments and remarks. He was especially pissed off about the ones picking on Mo Qiao.
His cousin herself also seemed to shrink back at them for a bit, clearly not knowing how or if to respond.
"The well is poisoned pretty deep in this Kingdom... I wonder if it even has a future if this is the quality of the youth nowadays..."
This time, the Monk didn't bother hiding his disdain at those around him, only Mo Qiao gave him a shaky smile from the audience.
"C'mon, cousin, I'm doing my best here..."
"Amitabha, this wasn't about you, you dared to step up here knowing of my strength, and this instantly puts you above 99% of the people in this room... I am talking about the rest."
Many wanted to hackle Mo Yangling, they wanted to refute his words, but they couldn't really... No one wanted to get the King's attention either, who seemed to not have liked his words either.
"Hmm? So you are saying my kingdom has no future then?" The King's voice sounded colder than usual, and many of the Clan Heads couldn't help but sweat, especially the Mo Clan's Leader.
"Oh, the Kingdom won't fall in your hands... But it will when in the hands of the next generation this pathetic..." The Monk looked around with a scrutinizing gaze.
There were a few exceptions of people that could be considered decent there, in both temperament and cultivation, but the vast majority was just pitiful.
"Hmph! Spoken like a dirty mortal. We are all cultivators aiming for immortality! Even when the young take over, we will still be there to guide them!" One of the Elders in the audience spoke up, and Mo Yangling immediately glared at him.
"Huh? Amitabha, Elder, you claim to be immortal?! Is your head alright? No one in this room is truly immortal... You will all die one day, and the younger generations you've fostered will take over."
The King frowned when hearing that, and his gaze slowly washed over the elder as well.
'Nothing but trash in the Martial Grandmaster Realm. That kid may be onto something, but the way he said it....'
But before the King could reply to find out more about the Monk's mindset, someone else jumped into the arena.
"That's it! I can no longer take such disrespect to the crown!"
It was none other than the First Prince, Guo Shen, dropping down from the second floor with his fists shaking slightly as they glowed with a bubbling red internal energy.
"Your External Martial Arts can only take you so far, Mo Yangling! I shall be the one to teach you respect today!"
And the Prince rushed in...
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Hey! Managed to sneak off and publish a bit earlier today! Hope you're all doing well ;)
Thanks for the continued support, this story is still very fun to write, at least it lets me relax a bit in between my jobs
If you want to support me and read up to 24 chapters ahead you can find me on Patr_eon by looking up 'VeganMaster'
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