The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Fangzheng looked up into the sky. “Then, you will replace the table leg from now on until the monastery has a second table!”

Lone Wolf rolled his eyes as he sprawled onto the ground, like a dog playing dead.

As a result, Monkey laughed gloatingly. Fangzheng turned his head and patted Monkey on the head. “You and Lone Wolf are from the same monastery. You are family and also fellow disciples. Yet, you are kicking him while he’s down and gloating at his misfortune… Heh heh.”

Monkey had an ominous feeling.

“Fetch water with Lone Wolf from tomorrow onwards.” He called out to Squirrel before returning to his quarters to rest.

Outside, Monkey and Lone Wolf stared at each other. Monkey finally had a bitter look as Lone Wolf rolled around amused at Monkey’s predicament. Clearly, his misfortune was well deserved with how the fellow met with misfortune after gloating, he felt a lot better…

“System, what about the mission?” Fangzheng asked anxiously when he returned to his quarters.

“It’s completed. The merit points have been given. You are only short of drawing the prize.”

“Oh… You didn’t even inform me that it’s completed?” Fangzheng felt a string of curses run through his mind. He realized that the System was increasingly less reliable. He had a nagging feeling that the System was not a genuine one. It was likely pirated! Could it be ThePirateBay edition?

“Was there no notice? Alright, you are now being officially informed. The mission was completed successfully. As for your performance during the mission… Look at that expression of yours. Do you want points deducted?” The System dragged out its voice.

Fangzheng stopped rolling his eyes and pulled the corners of his mouth and pretended he was smiling. “How’s this?”

“Your performance was good so you got full marks in everything. The thousand merit points have been given. Do you want to draw now?”

“Yes!”

“Ding! Congratulations. You have obtained the incomplete Divine State of the six Buddhist divine powers. Every time Divine State is used, a corresponding amount of merit will be expended. The lowest expenditure is one point. Note: As the Divine State is incomplete to begin with, it is impossible to specify which divine power is used when casting Divine State. The effects of the divine power is random and only its potency can be chosen.

“Pfft!” Fangzheng nearly spat a mouthful of blood. He was very familiar with the six divine powers. They were the Divine State, Heavenly Eye, Heavenly Ear, Telepathy, Predestination, and Outflow Eradication. Each of the six divine powers had magical abilities that exceeded the capabilities of mortals. And Divine State was no ordinary divine power. It was a amalgamation of divine powers. For example, Cast Beans for Soldiers, Sweat Drops for Rain, Moving Mountains and Rivers were abilities of Divine State. It was a great thing to have such a divine power but what the heck was up with the random effect of the divine power? What use was it if the divine power could not be controlled?

If he conjured a plate of food because he was hungry, only to produce a plate of shit, what was he to do?

Worst of all, casting the divine power cost merit points! Was it easy for him to amass merit? Up till now, he had only a total of 1204 merit points! If he accidentally conjured a potent move, Fangzheng, who escaped poverty through great difficulty, would be shackled by poverty once again. Thankfully, he could still control the potency of the divine power. This also meant that he could indirectly control the expenditure of the divine power.

He recalled the difficulty of amassing merit points. “Persuading a person to do good or fulfilling their wishes gives 1 merit point. Saving a person gives 2 merit points. Making an evil person repent gives 4 merit points.” Fangzheng felt that the casting of a divine power was too extravagant. He could not afford it.

“System, can the incomplete divine power be completed?”

“Yes.”

“How so?”

“Just upgrade it. However, completing a divine power and upgrading it is a different matter. It needs to expend merit points. 10,000 merit points or 100,000 yuan from incense offerings can raise the divine power’s level by one. Every increase in level, the merit and incense offerings required doubles. It attains perfection at level ten, which also makes Divine State complete. How is it? Isn’t it very cheap?”

“Cheap? Heh heh… I want to beat the daylights out of you!” Although Fangzheng’s mathematical skills were lacking, he knew from just a quick mental calculation while ignoring the merit he was lacking, that he needed more than ten million yuan in incense offerings! The merit needed was above a million! With that much merit, what was the point in raising the divine power’s level? He could use it to renounce asceticism! Fangzheng also learned that to renounce asceticism, he could forget it if he lacked the mental fortitude to reject the System’s various temptations and traps.

Regardless, although the divine power was somewhat screwed up, it was generally not too much of a scam. “Forget it. System, give me the divine power.”

A Buddhist light entered Fangzheng’s head the next moment. He felt many strange things appear in his mind as he felt his comprehension increase. He had gained insights into the divine power. The Divine State made human divine and the divine human. A thought to divine manifestation, allowing control over the world! Unfortunately, he was a crippled god…

What pleasantly surprised Fangzheng was that before he cast the divine power, he could see what the random divine power was. That also meant that if he changed it quickly, it was still possible to choose a divine power he needed. Fangzheng was delighted. In that case, it was not too much of a scam.

Lone Wolf happened to hobble in at that moment. Fangzheng smiled and walked over. “Lone Wolf, has the table been fixed?”

Lone Wolf sprawled onto the ground when he heard that. He covered his face with his paws, looking as though he was waiting for a beating.

Fangzheng was speechless. The fellow was rather scary when he acted fiercely but once he transformed into his silly self, it truly rendered a person at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

“Enough of that. Look at yourself. Let’s go and take a look at the table.” As Fangzheng spoke, he came to the table with a chuckle.

“Abbot, what do you plan on doing?” Lone Wolf looked at Fangzheng perplexed.

Fangzheng shushed him before jumping and dancing on the spot.

Upon hearing the commotion in the backyard, Monkey and Squirrel came over. When they saw Fangzheng dancing like he was possessed, they exchanged looks and felt baffled. “What was going on?”

Fangzheng saw the three animals looking straight at him, as though they had seen a retard. He decisively gave up the actions that followed and coughed dryly. “This Penniless Monk was warming up.” That’s right, the idiot believed that casting Divine State with a thought was not cool enough if it happened instantaneously. Therefore, he began mimicking the motions in anime shows by jumping and dancing around. He realized that the motions in animations were cool but in reality, he looked like an idiot.

“Alright. Calm the heart to focus one’s mind. With that in mind, the divine power conjures. Divine State, activate!” Fangzheng muttered as his eyes flashed with a glint. A few large words flew out from deep in his mind, “Grow green vegetables from the head!”

“Darn it. What the heck is this divine power?” Fangzheng cursed subconsciously.

Boom!

A bolt of lightning struck the spot in front of Fangzheng, sending Fangzheng and Lone Wolf jumping to the side in shock. Fangzheng quickly shut his mouth and darted his gaze towards Lone Wolf. He began chuckling.

Lone Wolf had an ominous feeling…

“Lone Wolf, the table cannot be fixed. You will have to prop up the table,” said Fangzheng with a devious smile.

Lone Wolf glanced at Fangzheng suspiciously. He had a nagging feeling that there was a huge conspiracy taking place. It was definitely not as simple as propping up the table.