The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

The wheel without words spun without being able to see the potential prizes, there was an almost painful lack of anticipation.

“Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained the Buddhist cornerstone divine skill, ‘Great Strength Vajra Palm’!”

Fangzheng hesitated. “…cornerstone divine skill? Is it very powerful?”

Pa!

A yellow book dropped into Fangzheng’s hands. Upon closer inspection, it was completely yellow in color. The buddhistic symbol of peace marked the book, 卍. It looked like a chrysanthemum flower that was on the precipice of a flourishing bloom.

“So it’s a yellow pornographic book… System, you are well-versed in the essence of the Japanese porn industry! This book’s design is pretty decent…” As Fangzheng spoke, he flipped the book over and the cover had words written with forceful flair: Great Strength Vajra Palm !

Fangzheng flipped open the book and felt his vision go fuzzy. Once it cleared, he was standing on a lotus flower! In front of him stood a monk on a platform with resplendent golden luster. When Fangzheng focused his attention on the monk, he began moving! He pressed his palms together at his chest and was chanting Buddhist scriptures. Then Fangzheng saw a scene so shocking that he couldn’t stop himself from exclaiming, “Holy shit! It’s growing! It’s getting so big! It’s getting thick! It’s getting big! It’s so thick and big!”

Boom!

A massive boulder shattered into smithereens!

Fangzheng applauded calmly. “Awesome. So hard! It’s as hard as steel!”

After the monk struck out with his palms, he retracted them. When his palms were pressed flat together once more he repeated the stance. Fangzheng watched him muster his strength, guiding it to his palm, his forearm swelled and thickened and contained more power than before! His palms that resembled steel steel suddenly struck out with earth shattering force!

With a loud boom a huge boulder the size of a human was reduced to smithereens!

The monk continued repeating the same stance.

After another three examples the monk changed his routine. Each move was demonstrated. There weren’t many variations to the Great Strength Vajra Palm . At its core, it was retaliatory in nature. A move that was only truly viable when an enemy attacked. A palm strike that was thrust and knock down ten full grown men. Regardless of how the opponent reacted a single strike of this palm would tear through their offense with simple brutality!

After he watched the demonstration the scene in front of Fangzheng’s eyes disappeared. Once it vanished he felt an irrepressible itch center itself in his bones. His palms swelled from pain as the scenes in his mind continued flashing. It felt like ten or twenty years had passed. These years were spent by him mastering the set of palm techniques until he could truly call them his own.

Once Fangzheng got up, he realized that in actuality it had all been condensed in a brief moment, a bare few seconds needed in reality although he felt like nearly a century had passed.

As for his comprehension of the Great Strength Vajra Palm , it could only be described as perfected he could now consider himself a true master of the technique.

“Nice, sometimes this System truly is awesome. Within three seconds, it has brought me from an inexperienced man to what could only be called a master.” Fangzheng marveled. He went to the bathroom to take a shower and washed off all the dirt from his body before returning to bed feeling refreshed. As for the knife and pole he had placed beside his bed he put them away. With the Great Strength Vajra Palm , a few wolves were of no danger. Instead, he began looking forward to the wolves’ arrival. Saving a life is better than building a seven-storied pagoda after all!

Even better, he could have another chance at the draw! Which reminded him.

He grinned in anticipation. “Dear system, let’s continue drawing,”.

The wheel reappeared. Fangzheng frowned as he stared at the wheel in distaste. “Forget it. Don’t even bother with your fake wheel. Just give me the reward you already decided on.”

“Ding, congratulations on obtaining the special ability—Beast Communication Skill!”

“Eh, what use does this have?” Fangzheng was stunned. Although he could understand what the words meant, he still could not help asking instinctively.

“Beast Communication Skill: After learning it, you will be able to communicate with every living creature in the world. You will be able to understand them and they will be able to understand you.”

“…” Fangzheng was rendered speechless, then he grumbled, “System, my dear brother, isn’t that rather deplorable? Could it be that you think I’m so lonely on this mountain that I should make some animal friends?”

Of course the system decided not to react.

“Fine, since it’s already been drawn, I’ll use it.” Once he finished the sentence he felt as though a clear stream flowed through his mind. When he followed it, he felt an additional sensation in his head. Although he couldn’t quite put it into words, he could feel it. It was unknown what that clear and refreshing feeling was but it disappeared a few seconds later. Fangzheng seemed to come to a particular realization that he could not fully explain. However, he knew that he could likely communicate with wild beasts.

After the draw, Fangzheng prepared himself for a good night’s sleep. At the same time he made a silent prayer, “Little Wolfie, you should sleep safe and sound too…”

After thinking of his silent prayer he realised that he no longer felt sleepy.

“Sigh. Saving a life is better than building a seven-storied pagoda. Greed is an original sin. F**king hell, I was actually hoping for the wolf to come so I could save them and reap the benefits. Seems I have a ways to go before I’m a true monk…” Fangzheng sat up and cursed softly.

“Meh, It’s never too late to get started, I’m a good person after all. Forget it, I’ll go out and take a look.” He put on his monk robe and left the temple.

The moon hung in the sky, outside the temple a few tents were pitched. The tents circled a fire pit and the youths sat together, chatting about the things they had seen or heard the past few days.

Zhao Datong was bragging with such enthusiasm that his saliva flew in every direction and if one was close enough and didn’t happen to have an umbrella they might even drown from the amount of spittle he was spreading.

Zhao Datong was droning on when Ma Juan suddenly spoke up, “Stop! Something’s there!!”

Zhao Datong turned to look and there truly was something lurking beneath the moonlight! It was already late autumn, the vegetation had yellowed and the wild grass reached the waist making it hard to see what was there lurking in the grass but they could see the tall grass ruffling and hear the rustling.

Ma Juan grabbed Fang Yunjing’s arm and whispered, “Yunjing, do you think it’s a ghost? Or could it be a wolf?”

“N-n-no… P-probably not…” Fang Yunjing did her best to remain calm but couldn’t repress a slight stutter.

Zhao Datong picked up the large wooden stick he had prepared earlier. He ignited the cloth on one end and held up his makeshift torch, “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine even if it is a wolf. Wolves are afraid of fire. We have fire so we should be relatively safe.”

A soft growl emanated, followed by a long snout emerging from the grass. Then fangs, green eyes and gray fur. The wolf had a scar on its face and its eyes were long and slender. Its tail was lowered and its paws softly trampled the grass. The low growl it emitted showed it’s readiness for violence, it was poised to lunge and its eyes were focused on its prey!

“Be careful! It’s a lone wolf! Such a wolf is more dangerous than a pack!” Hu Han yelled in shock.

Ma Juan stared at him, then quickly turned her eyes back to the wolf. “What do you mean!? How can a single wolf be more dangerous than a pack?”

Fang Yunjing propped her glasses up with a shaking hand. “Wolves are social animals. If a lone wolf is encountered it means that it’s been exiled. There’s only a single way for a wolf to be exiled from its pack. It was the former alpha of the pack and it lost the challenge, it’s been replaced so it had to leave. A wolf like that is much more dangerous than any regular wolf physically, mentally and even savagery. Because it must fend for itself, it would risk its life in order to survive! This fire might not be enough to scare it away.”

Ma Juan shook as she hid behind her friend, staring at the wolf in apprehension.