The Monk didn't stick around much longer to speak to Guo Zhu after the failed bootlicking attempt.
It was all friendly banter anyway, Mo Yangling had already forgiven the King for his strange intimidation tactic in the beginning.
The King did offer to help the monk, to provide him with some of the rarest materials they had on hand.
But when hearing what the Monk was looking to hunt in the forest, he realised he didn't have anything on hand to help the monk with.
He could only assist in one way... And that was to provide the monk with a good wooden staff from their armoury.
It was not that great, the staff was not commonly used in the Guozhi Kingdom, so it was only a half-decent staff, barely a relic.
But the monk appreciated it regardless.
He wrapped it to his back as he left, and the King returned to his chair, entering a short state of meditation as well.
He had his piece of enlightenment bestowed upon him, and he wanted to ponder on it as he waited for the others to wake up.
'The Jewel is in the Lotus, huh?...'
It felt strange, that a phrase so simple held such a profound meaning at the same time. Yet, when the King repeated it in his mind, it didn't seem to hold the same depth and meaning as when the Monk had spoken it out loud.
'The difference between just repeating something and truly comprehending it... It seems that I too have a lot to learn from Sage Mo.'
It took a day for the first people to wake up in that room. And that was mainly those of the younger generation.
"What the hell was that? My cultivation's improved so much!"
Many young men and women immediately displayed their new and improved cultivation, some had even managed to break through into the next stage.
And one such person was none other than Mo Qiao. She had already been close to a breakthrough, and this was the last push she needed to reach the Late Stage of the Martial Soldier Realm, essentially cementing herself among the top of their Younger Generation.
'Hehe, I knew Cousin Mo Yangling was great, but who would've thought that he'd be able to pull this type of thing off... His words really felt broken out of a forbidden scripture!'
She clearly remembered everything, she hung onto every word of the piece of the Diamond Sutra that had been preached to her.
She wanted to hear more. She needed to hear more. She felt she could grow as long as she stuck around to Mo Yangling's side.
Yet, another thought filled her mind soon after...
'Does... How long does Brother Mo Yangling have to live?'
Guo Shen, the First Prince, and Guo Cuifen, the Third Prince and only Princess also woke up at around the same time.
Neither of them had broken through into the next realm, but they had gained quite a bit.
"It is a gift, to be able to refine Internal Energy with a clear mind..." The First Prince muttered as he looked at the mist-like energy around his hands.
It felt... Purer than usual. It felt like his entire body was purified in fact. But he still had a long way to go.
Guo Cuifen also breathed in and explored her own Dantian, she was now only a step away from the Martial Master stage.
However, her heart still felt conflicted.
'Mo Yangling... What happened to you?'
She no longer knew the man that she had been engaged with for most of her life. She had spent quite some time observing him, getting to know him.
And she knew better than anyone that Mo Yangling from before would never have wanted to cultivate.
'Unless... Did he start cultivating for me...?'
Of course, there were countless explanations for why someone like Mo Yangling would want to start cultivating, many of which would start with his banishment as a reason. But what else would materialise in the mind of a romantic young girl?
She made it clear that she wanted to cultivate and live in the world of immortals. That was why she broke the engagement.
She wanted to get stronger and find someone to match her, someone who would be able to walk the path of immortality alongside her.
To her, Mo Yangling's cultivating was a sign of him still seeking her out.
Alas, her older brother was thankfully there to pour a bucket of cold water on her head.
"It seems Mo Yangling's understanding of the world exceeds ours greatly... Such a shame that he doesn't have too long to live.
Though, it may be that his impending death is what gave him the insight to understand the concept of impermanence to such an extent."
It was only then that the many people in that room remembered what the conversation was about before Mo Yangling imparted wisdom to them.
Both Mo MingXiu and Mingli were in a similar situation. First, they both revelled in their breakthroughs.
Thanks to his big brother, Mo Mingli had also reached the Late Stages of the Martial Solder Realm, and his younger sister was only one step behind him.
When Mo Mingli realized that his older brother's life was likely not going to be very long.
Unlike what he had expected, he didn't feel sadness... He felt relief.
He couldn't help but get filled with disgust at the mere thought of it.
'Relief?! Have I fallen so far that I would celebrate the death of my older brother?! He hasn't even done anything wrong...'
The young man was more conflicted than anything, disgusted and disappointed in himself.
Meanwhile, his little sister was heartbroken.
"Brother Li... What they're saying isn't true right... Big Bro Yangling is going to be fine, right?"
She was still young, and immature, everyone among the younger generation heard her words, and their expressions turned quite grim, no one could really look her in the eye.
But her slightly older brother was too caught up in his internal conflicts to pay her any mind, leading to her tears to start flowing seamlessly in that dusty hall.
Mo Qiao's heart also filled with sadness, but seeing as no one else was there to do it, she took it upon herself to comfort the little girl.
She walked over to the sobbing auburn-haired girl and got on one knee in front of her, slowly stroking her head.
"Now now, Little Xia. He is still with us, even if he won't be here long, you can still spend more time with him.
As cultivators, it is our duty to remember those of us who don't make it on the path to immortality... Let us work hard, and remember Mo Yangling as well."
Although her words weren't able to make the little girl stop crying, she still smiled a bit, appreciating the attempt.
Her little beady eyes then looked towards the arena. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes a bit before asking.
"Where is Big Bro Yangling?"
It was only from her voice that everyone's attention focused on the fact that the one who had helped them glimpse into a universal truth was missing.
But before they could look around and start asking questions, a deep voice descended from above, catching all of their attention.
"Seems like most of you have woken up."
Everyone recognized it as the regal tone of the King, Guo Zhu. He looked at all of them, the expressions behind his gaze were unreadable.
But his thoughts were not quite as regal and composed as his outer appearance.
'What the hell are these kids talking about? Do they think that someone who has reached enlightenment and can bestow it upon others would die so easily?
Whatever, let them revere Sage Mo. Rather, let me give them even more reasons to do so!'
To his side, all of the Clan Heads had also woken up.
They all seemed to be just as in the dark as the younger generation below.
The only one who didn't feel any pity was Kong Tingfeng, who was too busy being excited.
The peaceful state of mind had allowed him to break through a bottleneck that had been annoying him for many decades.
The King could feel that the Kong Clan Head was still quite a bit away from the Nascent Soul Realm, but he was still a step closer thanks to Mo Yangling.
To the side, Mo Weisheng, the father of the Sage, was both confused, impressed and regretful.
'M-My son... To think my son would be this accomplished. Yet, to think that his life would be cut so short...
I can't let our relationship deteriorate further! I have to seek him out and speak to him properly! While I still have time...'
To the side, Mo Ling, the Grand Elder of their Mo Clan was still meditating as the King slowly stood up and gave an announcement. One that would shock the entire Kingdom to the core.
"I Great King Guo Zhu, announce to you all with great pleasure and excitement that a fabled, enlightened Sage has appeared within our country, and that is Mo Yangling."
Everyone's gazes were fixated on the king as he walked forward and placed his hands on the railing, addressing all of the people present directly.
"He is the first in this country's history, and the only one currently alive in the world... Therefore, from now on, he is to be known as Sage Mo, to all of you who are present here.
For as long as he lives, be it a short life or a long one, his word shall hold as much weight as my own does within this kingdom."
And just like that, murmurs and shocked gasps erupted throughout the entire hall, as the King finished his message.
"I hereby call this Grand Family Assembly annulled. You all may go and further study the words of our Kingdom's Great Sage."
He then floated up to the ceiling, a cloud of white mist at his feet as the golden doors above opened up just for him.
Though he told them to go and ponder the sage's words further, he wanted to do that himself, which was why he had left in such a hurry.
As for the general emotion that was spreading through the room...
"W-What the hell..." That encapsulated it well enough.
But the Monk both didn't know and didn't care about it. Instead, he was too busy buying barrels of wine for his gigantic turtle brother.
Alas, the streets of the capital themselves weren't always the safest...
"You! Saw you walking around with that stack of bills! Give it to us and we'll let you live..."
"Amitabha... Are we really doing this shit?"
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Hey, just got back home right now.
Really full weekend/week. Yesterday I went to someone's birthday, today I had a holiday where we cut a pig and celebrated at one of my jobs, tomorrow I have two birthdays I have to plan for and buy gifts.
Will get more time to write next week. Till then, thank you all for the support!
If you want to support me and read up to 24 chapters ahead you can find me on Patr_eon by looking up 'VeganMaster'