Although it was called a temple, the current Shaolin Temple was surprisingly poor.
A small dilapidated temple, with wind blowing through all four sides. At the entrance hung a couplet.
The upper line read: "Self-cultivate, self-discipline, do not say this place is not the other shore."
The lower line read: "Mind is Buddha, know that the Eastern Land is the Western Heaven."
The horizontal inscription had long disappeared.
Upon entering, the central hall held a statue of Buddha in the posture of a flower offering, with an incense altar in front, but the incense burner was empty. It seemed it had been a long time since anyone had offered incense.
To the left was the old monk's former room, and to the right were the rooms of the three fellow disciples. Behind was a dining hall with two acres of vegetable fields. This was the entirety of the Shaolin Temple's property.
Huo Yuanzhen knew the situation well. If he wanted to leave the monkhood, not only would he need to practice the Pure Boy Skill, but he would also need to revive the Shaolin Temple. But right now, there was no clear plan, so he could only study the Abbot System first.
Having become the abbot, Huo Yuanzhen naturally took over the old monk's room.
He went straight to the left room, closed the door, and found a wooden bed, a meditation cushion, a Buddha portrait, and a book of scriptures.
The old monk's other belongings had been buried with him.
Huo Yuanzhen sat on the bed, but it felt uncomfortable, so he decided to lie down and carefully examine the Abbot System.
He had been too busy dealing with the empty temple earlier to pay attention, but now that he looked at it, he was stunned. Inside the system was a wheel-like circle with thirty-six different patterns. Upon closer observation, he found that each pattern was unique.
It resembled a gambling slot machine or an Apple slot machine. Each pattern contained various items, such as martial arts manuals, sect construction tokens, scriptures, Buddhist items, silver, and even miscellaneous objects.
Huo Yuanzhen had to get the patterns to spin and randomly select an item. Whatever it landed on, he would get.
Of course, it wasn't an unlimited spin. According to the system rules, he could spin once a month.
"Just like I thought, others who travel through time get all sorts of good things, my luck can't be bad. I've always been lucky with slot machines," Huo Yuanzhen thought as he rubbed his hands and prepared to spin.
The thirty-six patterns included six martial arts manuals, six sect construction tokens, six scriptures, six Buddhist items, six amounts of silver, and six miscellaneous items.
The scriptures were necessary. Although Huo Yuanzhen wasn't particularly interested in them, they were essential to establishing the foundation of the Buddhist sect. Without them, there would be nothing to teach disciples once they were recruited.
However, Huo Yuanzhen didn't want to draw scriptures right now. What he needed urgently was martial arts manuals, sect construction tokens, or silver. Buddhist items were secondary.
The Buddhist items included robes, meditation staffs, prayer beads, prayer wheels, incense burners, and even large cauldrons.
The six sect construction tokens were: Bell Tower Construction Token, Mountain Gate Construction Token, Heavenly King Hall Construction Token, Wooden Man Alley Construction Token, Dharma Hall Construction Token, and Scripture Pavilion Construction Token.
The martial arts manuals included: Tiger Subduing Fist, Plum Blossom Stance, Iron Head Skill, Light Body Technique, Great Strength Vajra Palm, and Marrow-Cleansing Sutra.
The scriptures were: Lotus Sutra, Great Peacock Sutra, Diamond Sutra, Earth Store Sutra, Lankavatara Sutra, and the King of Brightness Sutra.
The silver was divided into six tiers: one tael, ten taels, fifty taels, one hundred taels, a gold leaf, and a gold ingot.
The miscellaneous items were more random: a戒刀 (戒刀), a broom, an oil lamp, a horse, an eagle, and a set of three glowing dots arranged in a triangle.
These items left Huo Yuanzhen dazzled. He knew that the martial arts manuals, scriptures, Buddhist items, and sect construction tokens would be given at random, and not all would be available.
For example, martial arts—Shaolin has seventy-two unique skills, far more than what was shown here. Additionally, some advanced martial arts techniques weren't even part of the seventy-two skills.
Also, martial arts manuals had different levels. For example, the Tiger Subduing Fist was just an entry-level Shaolin fist technique, which both Yijian and Yikong had learned, although they hadn't mastered it.
The Marrow-Cleansing Sutra was undoubtedly the best item here—an advanced internal martial arts manual. But since Huo Yuanzhen already had the Pure Boy Skill, he wasn't sure if he could practice both at the same time.
Out of all the categories, Huo Yuanzhen was most interested in martial arts. Among the six manuals, the Marrow-Cleansing Sutra was the top-tier manual, while the Great Strength Vajra Palm was mid-tier. The other four were Shaolin's basic techniques. Huo Yuanzhen had expected to get the Yijin Jing or the Buddha Palm, but they weren't present, suggesting that the chances of getting high-level martial arts were low.
The construction tokens were also very important. With just one, Huo Yuanzhen could build a structure from scratch. Shaolin had many buildings, and to become a major sect, it needed a strong foundation, which required construction tokens.
As for the miscellaneous items, some were quite useful. He didn't expect living creatures like a horse—red-brown and majestic in appearance, it clearly was a prized steed.
However, Huo Yuanzhen's greatest desire was for those glowing dots arranged in a triangle.
Based on his past experience with slot machines, he figured that these glowing dots represented the grand prize. If the wheel stopped on them, he would likely get three chances to select items, which would be the best reward.
Huo Yuanzhen focused, taking a deep breath, and prepared to make his move.
"Please, no small silver, no scriptures... I need martial arts manuals, construction tokens, a grand prize..." he muttered to himself repeatedly.
Finally, his mind decided, and the wheel began to spin, a burst of light swirling inside his mind.
The wheel spun fast, Huo Yuanzhen's eyes followed the motion, much like a wind-up toy. It sped up rapidly and became extremely dizzying.
The wheel gradually slowed down.
Huo Yuanzhen held his breath, calculating where the wheel might stop.
Oil lamp... passed.
One tael of silver... passed.
The Marrow-Cleansing Sutra... passed.
The Mountain Gate Construction Token... passed.
The robes... passed.
The speed was slowing. According to his calculations, the glowing dots should be within the next five or six patterns.
The first six patterns were: Lankavatara Sutra, fifty taels of silver, a large cauldron, Mountain Gate Construction Token, Iron Head Skill, and the sixth pattern was the glowing dots.
Huo Yuanzhen held his breath and waited, his face reddened as he tried to suppress it.
Finally, the wheel slowed at the Lankavatara Sutra. Huo Yuanzhen frantically waved his hands, signaling the wheel to keep moving. He needed the Mountain Gate Construction Token.
At last, the wheel passed the Lankavatara Sutra and landed on the fifty taels of silver.
"Okay, I can accept that. The Shaolin Temple is poor right now, and silver is badly needed," Huo Yuanzhen thought.
But the wheel continued. It passed the large cauldron and landed on the Mountain Gate Construction Token.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Huo Yuanzhen shouted.
The glowing dots came closer, and his heart raced with anticipation. Just a little more...
Finally, the wheel landed on the Iron Head Skill.
"Not Iron Head Skill!" he groaned inwardly. It was just one of the basic techniques of Shaolin, not what he wanted.
A dusty old book appeared in front of Huo Yuanzhen, with the words "Iron Head Skill" written on it.
Huo Yuanzhen sighed in disappointment. Although getting a martial arts manual was decent, he couldn't help but feel frustrated that he was so close to the grand prize.
Reluctantly, he picked up the Iron Head Skill manual and weighed it in his hand.
Although he was now the abbot of Shaolin, he was still determined to uphold world peace, become a righteous and wise ruler, and restore Shaolin to glory before leaving the monkhood. However, the first step toward that goal seemed to begin with the Iron Head Skill.