The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Panda Novel

He gently pushed open the meditation room. After all, there was no Zen Master One Finger inside, but everything returned to the moment when Zen Master One Finger passed away.

Although the brick bed was in shambles, it was clean. The mattress was neatly folded and placed on the top of the brick bed. There was also a pair of shoes on the floor. It was a pair of cloth shoes that the villagers didn’t want. For convenience, Zen Master One Finger mended it to become a pair of slippers.

Back then, Fangzheng had thought that the shoe had been thrown away by the System. But now, he realized that the System had not thrown it away. All it did was help him stow it away.

The cabinet was still the old-fashioned, red-painted cabinet. When it was opened, it was filled with all sorts of patched monk robes.

Fangzheng smiled when he saw the monk robes. He took it out, draped it over his body, and looked into the mirror. Although it did not have the elegance, splendor, and immortal aura of the White Lunar Monk Robe, Fangzheng had never felt more like a human instead of a god!

“I’m me. This is the real me… After I let go of everything, what I see is the true me.” Fangzheng looked at himself in the mirror and smiled in satisfaction.

At that moment, he felt extremely relaxed. He felt more relaxed than when One Finger Monastery was enjoying its best days of being respected by tens of thousands of people!

“It’s no wonder Zen Master One Finger would rather die of age and poverty up on this mountain. It turns out that he has already seen through everything. He was carefree, so why would he care about all the trash that is just external?” Fangzheng smiled as he flipped through the tattered cabinet that Zen Master One Finger had left behind.

Under the cabinet, Fangzheng was surprised to find a letter!

“System, why didn’t I see this letter before?” Fangzheng looked at the letter. It was for him—written by Zen Master One Finger!

“Back then, I helped you clean up the monastery. All these things were put away at the last minute. Furthermore, I could sense back then, you weren’t suited to open the letter. Now, you can abandon everything to save people. You can also strip all your splendor and return to being simple. You can still enjoy amidst this, so your state of mind has reached the requisite state. Therefore, I’ll put this letter back,” said the System.

Fangzheng nodded and opened the letter.

“Disciple: I believe I’m already gone by the time you see this letter. Oh… You just graduated from high school, so you might not understand what I mean by gone. I should say I’m dead.”

Upon seeing this, a dark cloud hung over Fangzheng’s head. This master of his didn’t forget to insult him even after his dead!

He continued reading.

“My dear disciple, you keep asking me why I can’t bear to leave the mountain.

“I never answered you every time you asked, but now that I’m dead, I have to give you the answer.

“The delicacies of the world, beautiful women as common as the clouds, and being worshiped by countless people—I have experienced it all before. Before I became a monk, I was a wanderer. I traveled the world, and had seen all kinds of human nature. One day I came to an enlightenment and became a monk, giving up everything. I took a path that was different from that of many Buddhists.

“I have always believed that there are no Buddhas in this world. Buddha only exists when many people do good. If people are all Buddhas, there’s no meaning to praying to Buddha. If one has nothing to do, one should introspect and see if they could live up to their conscience. If they can, they should continue working hard. Otherwise, they should change for the better as early as possible. Such a person who loves to cultivate every day will eventually succeed and become Buddha.

“However, this theory was rejected by a few fake monks. Therefore, I fell out with them and came here to build my own monastery, hoping to succeed.

“In the end… I realized that my theory wasn’t well-liked by others. People pursue benefits. Without benefits, they lack the motivation to pursue it. I was confused. Was I wrong?

“After working hard for so many years, I became tired. Therefore, I chose to give up. I stopped preaching and instead became a monk that let things take their own course. I was like the Daoist priest on the mountain next door, a hermit.

“I like this kind of calmness, one without any disputes. I toiled every day until the sun set, and the ancient Buddha statues accompanied me.

“I originally thought that I would be lonely and die without any achievements. However, I realized that after experiencing all kinds of matters in the world, I actually saw things much clearer after coming to the wilderness and calming down. It allowed me to look back from an outsider’s point of view.

“Of course, I don’t wish for you to take the same path as me. After all, no matter how profound and good the theory is, someone who isn’t part of society is meaningless to this world.

“I hope that you’ll be more promising than me. However, I have to remind you that no matter how interesting the outside world is, I hope that you will always have this little rundown temple in your heart! It’s because only here will you be outside the mortal world. That’s where you can look at the world with the eyes of an outsider. You can see it more clearly, and your thoughts will be truer. You will not be bewitched by the mortal world and follow your heart to pursue your dreams.”

The letter ended here.

Fangzheng felt rather poignant when he read it. He sincerely said to the System, “Thank you.”

The System didn’t say a word.

The reason why Fangzheng thanked the System was that the System had given him the letter at a suitable time. If Fangzheng had read it back then, the letter wouldn’t be of much use to him. He wouldn’t be able to understand it. It was likely that he insisted on entering the mortal world. Only after encountering all kinds of setbacks would he be able to reconsider the value of the letter once again.

However, things were different now. Fangzheng had also experienced being famous, the honor of shocking the entire country. As long as he was willing, he could return to the peak at any time, or one that surpassed the peak.

However, there was no need for that. Fangzheng suddenly lost interest in such matters. Doing good deeds was something a person should do. He had done it too high-profile in the past, making it seem like he was trying to outshine others.

After all, there were six billion people in this world. There were countless things that happened every day. And the person who could really help most people survive was not Fangzheng, but countless nameless heroes.

Fangzheng’s high profile made countless people focus their attention on him and neglect the nameless heroes beside them. This was not a good thing.

Therefore… Fangzheng decided that from today onwards, he would keep a low profile—an extremely low profile…

“Ding! Congratulations. You performed well during the earthquake. You saved a lot of people and are rewarded with one try at the lucky draw. In addition, you saved a total of 30,000 people’s lives and helped 1.3 million people escape. You gained a total of 1,390,000 merit points! At the same time, your performance has been broadcast across the entire world, and your reputation has already reached a certain level of influence overseas. However, when you made it seem like you were leaving permanently, everyone imagined that you had left. Hence, your reputation has been completely zeroed.”

Fangzheng was taken aback when he heard that. “1.39 million merit points? There’s still a draw?”

“That’s right. That’s why, although you’ve lost a lot this time, you still didn’t lose everything.” The System chuckled.

Fangzheng was amused when he heard that. As for reputation? Since Fangzheng had already let such things go, why would he care about his reputation?

Hence, Fangzheng smiled. “Alright, I’ll do the draw. A total of 1,390,000 merit points. System Bro, you won’t give me something too bad, right?”

The System said, “The merit used this time is too high. I can’t help you. What you get depends on your luck.”

Fangzheng nodded. He was no longer as concerned about the prizes he received as he was in the past. Instead, he took on an attitude that obtaining something was his luck, and not getting anything was his destiny.

Fangzheng waited quietly.

“Ding! Congratulations on obtaining the Buddha treasure, Mountain Moving Treasure Wheel!”

Fangzheng was taken aback. “Mountain Moving Treasure Wheel? What’s that?”

Fangzheng asked subconsciously, but he immediately checked the information on the Mountain Moving Treasure Wheel.

Mountain Moving Treasure Wheel: One of the three thousand Buddha Treasure Wheels. It comes with its own Mountain Moving divine powers. There is no need for Dharmic powers. As long as you lock onto a mountain, you can randomly move the mountain to other random locations. If you have Dharmic powers, you can move any mountain to any location you wish. Additional effect: Protection. Under the treasure wheel’s protection, you are immune to all evil and impenetrable.

Fangzheng was dumbfounded when he saw that. “Heavens, System, this thing is a little sick!”

The System said, “To your world, it’s indeed a little sick. However, you don’t have any Dharmic powers, so all you can do is move a mountain away. Of course, if you are willing to sacrifice your life to turn it into Dharmic powers so as to move other mountains, there’s nothing I have to say.”

Fangzheng hurriedly shook his head. “I haven’t lived long enough…”

With that said, Fangzheng chose to receive it. In the next moment, there was an earthen-yellow wheel in front of him. Fangzheng reached out his hand and grabbed it, causing it to fly to the back of Fangzheng’s head. Fangzheng looked into the mirror and saw a vertical halo behind his head. It was yellowish-brown in color and looked a little earthy. However, Fangzheng knew that it was a good item, so he did not mind it at all.

“System, isn’t having a wheel behind me too obvious? Can it be hidden?” Fangzheng asked.

The System said, “The introduction you read is only the main function’s introduction. It has many minor spells. You have to figure it out yourself. If you communicate with it, you will realize that everything you lost before is worth it!”

Fangzheng was rendered speechless when he heard that. Although the Mountain Moving Treasure Wheel was amazing, it wasn’t that useful in his present world. However, since the System had said so, he naturally had to study the treasure wheel. He wanted to hide it.

The wheel disappeared the moment he received it. Fangzheng rubbed the back of his head, but there was nothing.

When he thought about it, the treasure wheel appeared again. He reached out and touched it, but his hand passed through it. It looked more like the combination of light effects, nothing corporeal.

However, when Fangzheng wanted it to be touched, the treasure wheel immediately turned clear. It was cold to the touch, and he didn’t have much of a feeling when touching it. He took it off and played with it for a while. Fangzheng realized that there were a total of nine beads on the treasure wheel. They were of nine different colors. He gently caressed them with his hand as information flashed in his mind.

“Water-Repelling Bead. Unobstructed when entering water.”

Fangzheng’s eyes lit up as he hurriedly touched the next one.

“Dust-Repelling Bead. Stainless and untainted. It will never be covered in dust.”

Next.

“Fire-Repelling Bead. Myriad fires without harming the body.”

“Earth-Repelling Bead. Enter 1,500 kilometers into the ground with a single thought.”

“Wind-Repelling Bead. All wind is formless.”

“Cold-Repelling Bead. Immunity to coldness.”

“Eye-Repelling Pearl. Allows obstruction of vision as you wish.”

“Poison-Repelling Bead. Immune to all poisons.”

The last two beads were black and white. However, Fangzheng didn’t get any information when he touched it. Fangzheng experimented a few times before confirming that the two beads either did not have powers, or he was unable to activate them.

Even so, Fangzheng was already satisfied. He summarized the abilities the treasure wheel had. Basically, with the treasure wheel, there was no need for him to be afraid even if the sky collapsed. He wouldn’t die!

Secondly, it didn’t matter what clothes he was wearing. After all, he would be untainted. And he could eat anything since he wouldn’t die of poison…

More importantly, the Eye-Repelling Bead provided him with an obscuration spell. In other words, as long as Fangzheng wished, he could transform into anything. No one could tell who he was!

Fangzheng was relaxed, but the world was not peaceful.

What Fangzheng had done was too much. To cover a few cities with golden lotuses that they resembled a sea was detected by the satellites clearly!

Coupled with the photos taken by the people present, countless photos spread like wildfire online…

All of a sudden, China was drowned in cries of surprise…

Although many people in foreign countries were suspicious, some people accepted it. Some even went to China to obtain all kinds of evidence to testify…

No matter how the foreign netizens debated the matter, the media collectively fell silent. They were dumbfounded and didn’t know how to report. The other was because they received a notice from the government that they were not allowed to publish any comments or reports before they were approved.

On the other hand, the internal departments of the various countries were in an uproar. No one knew what they were arguing about.

In short, on the second day, a large group of countries submitted their diplomatic applications to visit China.

At the same time, some of China’s projects that had been paused were suddenly approved for continuation. Everything seemed out of place, but everyone understood that it was only natural.

To be able to resolve a huge earthquake, this monk was practically a human-shaped super nuclear weapon! He could fly and run, completely intelligent.

Who would be able to handle such a thing if he wanted to help China deal with others?

Although Fangzheng seemed to have left, who knew if the mysterious eastern country had another Fangzheng.

Furthermore, they were unsure if Fangzheng had really left…

This time, even America fell silent and joined the diplomatic event.

The tense world situation eased overnight because of a monk.

Only China knew that although the monk’s divine power was terrifying, with his personality, he probably wouldn’t help anyone to deal with any other country. However, if any country wanted to wage war against China, they had to ask the monk.

At the same time, they looked at the various reports from the various technology labs. These were all energy technologies that had been reverse engineered from the armor Fangzheng had sent over. Upon seeing this, the Chinese brass laughed. They still needed some time, but when the time came, they were confident that any foreigner who came to China would sit down quietly and listen to them!

While the countries were in their own hooha, the people reacted differently.

After the cheers, all sorts of sighs were heard.

“Has Abbot Fangzheng left?”

“I think he left.”

“Does that mean we will never see Abbot Fangzheng again?”

“Has Abbot Fangzheng abandoned us just like that? I still have a picture with him. Why did such a good person fly away?”