The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

As the moon set, the buzz from yesterday passed with the night, and everything seemed ephemeral.

The mountaintop was still serene and even when the door to the room was pushed open, there was a chill to the air.

Fangzheng stretched his back and sighed. “This year’s winter is probably coming early.”

With the bell and drum sounding, a brand new day was ushered in.

When Fangzheng checked on the growth of the Crystal Rice, the Crystal Rice paddy was already a meter tall. Each ear of rice was filled with rice grains, and just standing close to it made one catch the scent of the unique, refreshing fragrance of Crystal Rice, which whetted one’s appetite. As the morning sun sent its rays down, the Crystal Rice’s husks suffused a unique golden color as though a Buddhistic aura was rising. It was as though Buddhistic phantoms were flashing past. However, this was a fleeting phenomenon which only happened in the morning.

Fangzheng was already accustomed to all of this, but he kept it in mind. He typically wouldn’t allow anyone to come close to the Crystal Rice during this period of time.

He tapped on the wooden fish, chanted the scriptures, and listened to the birds chirping and rooster crowing as his mind enjoyed peace and calm.

After chanting the scriptures, Fangzheng looked up and mumbled. “System, let’s do a draw.”

“You finally plan to do one. You have already accumulated so much merit. You should be able to get something good,” said the System.

Fangzheng smiled. Wasn’t the reason why he had held back for so long exactly this?

“Ding! Alright, are you sure you want to draw now?” The System asked.

“Yes, go ahead!” Fangzheng sounded relaxed, but he was extremely nervous. After all, this was his first draw since the level up!

“Ding! Congratulations, you have drawn Medicine King Bodhisattva’s picture premium gift package. It has automatically been included into the Ten Thousand Buddha plaque. Please verify it.”

Fangzheng was ecstatic when he heard that! After so long, he had finally drawn a fourth Bodhisattva picture! It sure wasn’t easy. Furthermore, the message seemed to imply that the picture was not a simple one, but a premium gift package!

Fangzheng rushed back to the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall and the moment he entered, he looked up and saw the figure of an additional Bodhisattva on the Ten Thousand Buddha plaque! This Bodhisattva wore a crown on his head. His left hand was clenched into a fist and held to his waist. His right hand was bent across his chest, and his thumb, middle, and ring finger held a medicinal plant.

Fangzheng knew that this was the Medicine King Bodhisattva. Few people actually knew of the Medicine King Bodhisattva. Even Fangzheng didn’t know much of him. However, Medicine King Bodhisattva and Supreme Healer Bodhisattva were a pair of brothers. Medicine King Bodhisattva was the elder brother, and his original names were Nakṣatra-ditya and Vidyu-prabhā. As they had provided Bhikkhu monks with all kinds of medicine and done good across the world, they were conferred with the titles of Bodhisattva.

In fact, Medicine King Bodhisattva was more well-known as the Medicine Master Buddha of Pure Lapis Lazuli. After all, most Mahavira Halls would worship that aspect of his. With a powerful Medicine Master Buddha incarnation presiding over a Mahavira Hall, people would naturally not think much of the Medicine King Bodhisattva incarnation. However, that did not lessen the abilities and merits of Medicine King Bodhisattva.

Fangzheng reverently offered an incense to Medicine King Bodhisattva and prayed that there would no longer be any ailments in the world. Then, he left the hall and asked the System.

“System, the Child-giving Guan Yin Bodhisattva allows me to give others children. The Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva allows me to open the Door to Hell, and the Thousand-arm Guan Yin allows me to shower blessings onto others. Then, what divine powers will Medicine King Bodhisattva give me?”

“Ding! The Medicine King Bodhisattva only provides you with one ability. It provides Buddhistic medicine Spirit Qi. This Spirit Qi can be used to nurture herbs. Any herb that lands in your hands can rapidly grow with the aid of the Medicine King Bodhisattva’s powers, increasing its medicinal strength and Spirit Qi. The herbs you nurture will no longer be of the same pedigree as Earth’s normal herbs but will become spirit herbs! Spirit herbs, when used against the correct illness, will rid the ailment immediately upon being used. They can have the effect of bringing the near-dead to life.”

Fangzheng was exhilarated when he heard that. He asked excitedly, “Does this mean I’ll be a godly doctor in the future?”

“Roughly, but you have to take note. You can only obtain a wisp of Buddhistic medicine Spirit Qi a day. This wisp is only enough to promote the growth of one herb,” warned the System.

Fangzheng immediately felt a little dispirited when he heard that the Buddhistic medicine Spirit Qi was not an unlimited source. But on second thought, he could get a wisp a day. If he really wanted to use it to save people, he could save anyone. That was enough. If he saved a person a day, that was 365 people a year. That was still quite a sizable number of people.

With this in mind, Fangzheng was very satisfied with the Medicine King Bodhisattva’s ability. However, he still asked greedily, “System, isn’t there any way to provide me with more Buddhistic medicine Spirit Qi?”

“There is,” the System answered decisively.

“What do I need to do?” Fangzheng asked nervously.

“The incense you receive daily numbers in the tens to about a hundred. There are peak and off-peak seasons too. So you average to about thirty sticks of incense a day. If you can reach a hundred sticks of incense a day on average, all the Bodhisattvas’ abilities will enjoy an enhancement. When the average raises to a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, and so on, you will gain an enhancement with every tenfold increase. So, keep working hard.”

When Fangzheng heard that he could raise the Medicine King Bodhisattva’s ability at a hundred incense sticks, he was immediately ecstatic. This was not something difficult as he knew he could achieve it one day. But when he heard the requirements after that, he immediately fell into despair… A thousand sticks of incense a day? Furthermore, that was on average! Even a middle-sized monastery didn’t enjoy such numbers. And to have ten thousand incense sticks offered a day on average, that meant 3.65 million sticks of incense a year. This meant at least 3.65 million people needed to visit, and everyone had to offer incense! Fangzheng guessed that even China’s most illustrious Shaolin Temple didn’t enjoy that many offerings!

As for a hundred thousand incense sticks, Fangzheng didn’t even dare thinking of it. Unless he abducted all of humanity, it was practically impossible.

Fangzheng said with a bitter smile, “System, to think about having ten thousand incense sticks a day, you sure have bold thoughts. Let’s not talk about achieving it, but if there comes a day when so many people actually come, do you think our tiny mountain can hold that many people?” Although Mt. One Finger was tall, compared to the other famous mountains, there wasn’t much room for people to walk. The mountain path up was only so wide. All of this basically restricted One Finger Monastery’s future developments.

With respect to this, Fangzheng was rather helpless as well…

“It’s not that I have bold thoughts, but on Mount Numinous, this is the basic requirement of ordinary small monasteries. There is quite a huge population on Earth, so all the best. Who knows if it might happen one day? As for the limited land area… If you can reach that step, you will naturally have a solution to it,” said the System calmly.

Fangzheng rolled his eyes. Comparing Earth to Mount Numinous? How was it comparable?

“Are there any other methods?” Fangzheng asked.

“There’s an answer on the table.”