The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

This sleep of Fangzheng’s was extremely comfortable. When he woke up, it was a brand new day.

Following that, there were the sounds of chopsticks hitting bowls. Having not eaten for two days, Fangzheng was like the reincarnation of a hungry ghost. He swept through almost half a pot of rice. Seeing Fangzheng’s ferocity, Squirrel’s heart ached for the Crystal Rice. With the thought that every amount he ate would be his, while any grain not spared would be Fangzheng’s, he jumped in to join the rice-eating war. Finally, he was carried away by Monkey horizontally.

“With that size of yours, why did you engage in a food eating competition? Can’t you just mind yourself?” Monkey grumbled.

Squirrel yelled angrily, “Didn’t Master say that what matters is an all-encompassing heart!? I have a huge all-encompassing heart!”

Monkey raised his eyelids and asked, “How huge?”

Squirrel brandished his fists in a peeved manner, exclaiming, “Enough to eat a pot of rice!”

Monkey: “…”

After having his meal, Fangzheng felt invigorated. He began swinging his arms and began considering how to cultivate the technique. However, to truly cultivate the Dragon Elephant Body Tempering Art, he first needed to obtain one spirit herb. Logically speaking, Fangzheng now had Buddhistic medicine Spirit Qi, so regardless what herb it was, he could grow it into a spirit herb. However, there were different grades of spirit herbs. Spirit herbs of a higher grade would naturally be more effective. Besides, the medicinal effects of different spirit herbs were all different. If Fangzheng were to do it at random and ended up giving a wisp of Buddhistic medicine Spirit Qi to an aphrodisiac plant, he feared that the monkey, wolf, and child might not escape his demonic clutches that very day…

With that in mind, Fangzheng felt a chill.

With the principle of employing limited resources where they were needed most, Fangzheng finally left the mountain and headed straight for Mt. Tongtian. Then, he thickened his skin to request a tiny ginseng from Perfected Letian.

Perfected Letian had been digging up Frost Bamboo daily to enjoy sumptuous meals, and he felt that he owed Fangzheng something every time he did. As a cultivator, he paid a lot of attention to karma. He sought to recluse himself from the world and not taint himself with karma to lead a carefree life. He felt uneasy if he owed someone something.

However, despite searching through all the things he could offer, Perfected Letian realized that Fangzheng was better off in every respect. Back when they drank the ginseng flower tea, Fangzheng had worn a surprised, but not a covetous expression. It made Perfected Letian realize that Fangzheng had no interest in the ginseng. Thinking that he would be indebted for all of eternity, he never expected Fangzheng to suddenly come to him to ask for precisely that!

Perfected Letian naturally gave Fangzheng a ginseng sprout. After he closed his door, he laughed out joyously. He had repaid the karma, so he felt overjoyed.

When Fangzheng returned to One Finger, he held the ginseng sprout in hand and felt puzzled. How was he to go about this? That was the big question.

Ginseng was not like Frost Bamboo. Frost Bamboo easily grew, and it wasn’t possible to hide its growth. More importantly, a huge swath of Frost Bamboo was pleasing to the eyes, but ginseng was different. Everyone knew that wild ginseng was valuable. If someone were to notice it, the ginseng might end up being dug away by someone.

After lots of consideration, Fangzheng finally planted the ginseng in the backyard, beside Lone Wolf’s kennel.

Lone Wolf had a sharp nose and acute senses. Whoever came would be immediately discovered. Furthermore, Lone Wolf’s kennel was right beside the backyard’s door, and the door was by the kitchen. Monkey and Red Boy lived in the kitchen, so this way, once the back door was locked, even a deity might not be able to steal the ginseng from One Finger Monastery.

Besides, few people came to his backyard. Without anyone knowing that there was such a ginseng in his monastery, trouble would naturally be reduced.

With this in mind, Fangzheng didn’t hesitate to begin digging open a tiny herbal plantation, and he planted the ginseng sprout.

However, too much time had passed en route back. Even when the sprout was planted, it looked droopy and appeared like it would die at any time.

“Master, this thing looks like it’s about to die.” Lone Wolf looked at the plant that was stealing his territory while still requiring him to watch over it with contempt. Lone Wolf couldn’t figure out why Fangzheng had the mood to take care of plants when he couldn’t even take care of his animals well. Is it for me to pee on? But it’s such a tiny thing… It won’t feel as good as stepping on a wall.

Fangzheng didn’t know what was on Lone Wolf’s mind. But if he did, he would probably have neutered him on the spot.

Red Boy also added. “Master, this is ginseng, right? But this is a sprout. To grow it to maturity so that it has any effects will take about a century, right? You will be resting in peace by then.”

Fangzheng raised his hand and slapped. “You will be the one resting in peace. Watch this!”

With that said, Fangzheng raised his hand and tapped at the drooping ginseng sprout. The green grass bangle transformed into a wisp of green aura, turning into specks of green points of light that showered gently onto the ginseng sprout. The next moment, the ginseng sprout seemed to be awakened as it bounced up and stood up straight and erect.

Lone Wolf jumped in fright and exclaimed, “Is this thing in heat?”

Fangzheng rapped Lone Wolf’s head and said, “Mind your words!”

Lone Wolf stuck out his tongue and asked, “Master, what’s up with this thing? Why is it suddenly standing up straight?”

Fangzheng said, “It’s probably too full.”

Just as he finished his sentence, the little sprout began moving. Bit by bit, its branches and leaves began to grow bigger and stronger. Its leaves sprouted out, and the speed at which it grew left Fangzheng dumbfounded. Even Crystal Rice didn’t grown at such a speed! Soon, the leaves withered after they grew to full size before spitting out new sprouts. One leaf, two leaves…

However, Fangzheng knew that one couldn’t determine a ginseng’s age by its leaves. Instead, he had to look at the number of patterns on a ginseng’s body. Yet what astonished Fangzheng was that although the leaves were dropping and growing, they were all growing from the rhizome! This meant that all he could see was the rhizome after the leaves dropped, but he couldn’t see it again when the leaves grew!

Fangzheng was instantly somewhat dumbfounded. The method Perfected Letian had told him about didn’t seem to work with this tiny guy.

Furthermore, the ginseng which Perfected Letian planted was only about ten centimeters and a bit tall. But this guy was already nearly a meter tall! Fangzheng even suspected that Perfected Letian might have given him the sprout of a carrot instead of a ginseng sprout. Thankfully, the color of the ginseng told Fangzheng that it was really a ginseng and not a carrot.

Similarly, this ginseng was quite a proud guy. As it sprouted leaves and shed them, it stood just as erect, strengthening with time. It was lush and full, crystalline like a ruby.

Lone Wolf stared at the ginseng seed and smacked his lips. He asked, “Master, this guy looks rather delicious.”

“If you dare eat the ginseng, I’ll stew you.” Fangzheng glared at the idiot.

Lone Wolf pouted. “It’s so tiny. It’s not even enough to fill the gaps in my teeth. But if it grows bigger, I can use it to pee…” When he said that, Lone Wolf suddenly realized that his proud neighbor seemed to be of a higher standing than he was. If he peed on it, he would probably end up being beaten to death by Fangzheng. Therefore, he intelligently shut up.