The Shaolin Abbot Born in the 1980s

Chapter 2: Iron Head Technique

Although it was called a temple, the Shaolin Temple at that time was astonishingly poor. It was a small, dilapidated temple, drafty on all sides, with a pair of couplets hanging at the entrance. The upper couplet read: “Cultivate and uphold yourself; do not say this place is not the other shore.” The lower couplet read: “The mind is Buddha; know that the Eastern Land is Western Heaven.” The horizontal inscription had long since vanished. In the center of the entrance stood a Buddha statue, depicted in the posture of the Buddha holding a flower. Before the statue was an incense altar with an incense burner on top; it was completely empty, and it was unclear how long it had been since incense had last been offered. To the left was the old abbot’s room; to the right were the quarters of the three fellow monks; and in the back was a dining hall and two mu of vegetable plots—this was the entirety of the Shaolin Temple’s holdings. Huo Yuanzhen was well aware of this situation. He knew that to return to lay life, he would not only have to master the “Child’s Art” but also revive the Shaolin Temple—yet for the moment, he had no clear plan and could only begin by studying the abbot’s system. Having become the abbot, Huo Yuanzhen didn’t hesitate to take over the old monk’s room. He went straight to the room on the left, closed the door, and found inside a wooden bed, a meditation cushion, a portrait of the Buddha, and a sutra. All of the old monk’s other belongings had been buried with him. Huo Yuanzhen sat down on the bed, but after a moment found it uncomfortable, so he simply lay down to carefully examine the Abbot System within his body. He’d been too preoccupied with dealing with Yikong earlier to look closely, but now that he did, Huo Yuanzhen was stunned. The system featured a roulette-style wheel with thirty-six symbols; upon closer inspection, he discovered that each symbol was unique. Just like the slot machines or fruit machines used in gambling in later generations, each symbol was labeled with various items: martial arts manuals, sect-building tokens, sutras, Buddhist paraphernalia, silver, and even miscellaneous items. Huo Yuanzhen had to set the symbols spinning and then randomly select an item—whatever the wheel landed on, that was what he would receive. Of course, it wasn’t an unlimited spin; the system stipulated that he could spin it only once a month. “That’s really generous! I knew it—everyone else who time-travels gets a big gift package or something. My luck can’t be that bad, right? I’ve always had great luck spinning these slot machines!” Huo Yuanzhen immediately perked up, rubbing his hands together in anticipation as he prepared to spin. There were thirty-six symbols: six were martial arts manuals, six were sect-building tokens, six were sutras, six were magical artifacts, six were silver coins, and the final six were miscellaneous items. Scriptures were, in theory, essential. Although Huo Yuanzhen wasn’t particularly interested in them, they were, after all, the foundation of the Buddhist faith. It wouldn’t make sense for a temple not to have any scriptures—he wouldn’t have anything to teach his disciples once he recruited them. However, Huo Yuanzhen didn’t want to draw a sutra either. What he urgently needed right now were martial arts manuals, sect-building tokens, or silver—Buddhist ritual implements were a secondary concern. Among those Buddhist ritual objects were robes, meditation staffs, prayer beads, prayer wheels, incense burners, and even a large cauldron. The six sect-building tokens are: the Bell Tower Construction Token, the Mountain Gate Construction Token, the Hall of the Heavenly Kings Construction Token, the Muren Alley Construction Token, the Damo Hall Construction Token, and the Scripture Hall Construction Token. The martial arts manuals include Tiger-Subduing Fist, Plum Blossom Pillar Footwork, Iron Head Technique, Light Body Technique, Mighty Vajra Palm, and the Sutra of Bone Marrow Purification. The sutras include the Lotus Sutra, the Great Peacock Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Earth Store Sutra, the Lankavatara Sutra, and the Lengjia Sutra. Silver is divided into six tiers: one tael of silver, ten taels of silver, fifty taels of silver, one hundred taels of silver, a gold leaf, and a gold ingot. The miscellaneous items were a bit of a jumble: a ceremonial knife, a broom, an oil lamp, a horse, an eagle, and three glowing dots arranged in a “pin” character formation. These items left Huo Yuanzhen dazzled. He knew that the martial arts manuals, sutras, ritual implements, and sect-building tokens were not a complete set—they were likely assigned at random. Take martial arts, for example: the Shaolin Seventy-Two Supreme Techniques encompass far more than what was listed here, and there are even more profound martial arts that aren’t included in the Seventy-Two Supreme Techniques at all. Moreover, martial arts manuals vary in level of mastery. Take the Tiger-Subduing Fist, for instance—it’s merely an introductory Shaolin form that both Yijing and Yikong know, though neither has mastered it thoroughly. The *Washing the Marrow Sutra*, however, was undoubtedly the finest item among them—a profound internal cultivation technique. Since he already possessed the *Child’s Art*, he wondered if he could practice both simultaneously should he draw the *Washing the Marrow Sutra*. Among these six categories, Huo Yuanzhen was most interested in martial arts. Of these six martial arts manuals, the *Washing the Marrow Sutra* was considered a top-tier manual, the *Mighty Vajra Palm* was intermediate, and the remaining four were all basic Shaolin techniques. Huo Yuanzhen had originally hoped that something like the *Muscle-Transforming Classic* or the *Tathagata Divine Palm* might appear, but none did—which shows that the more profound the martial art, the lower its probability of appearing. Construction tokens are also very important. With a single construction token, one can erect a building from the ground up. The Shaolin Temple has so many structures—at least dozens of different types—and these are indispensable for becoming a major sect. As for the “Miscellaneous” category, there were some excellent items as well. He hadn’t expected to find living creatures among them—such as that horse, with its chestnut coat and majestic build, clearly a fine steed. But what Huo Yuanzhen wanted most was that “pin” character-shaped glowing dot. Based on his past experience playing slot machines, this glowing dot must be the jackpot. If the reel stops here, he might get three chances—which is why this is the best reward of all. Huo Yuanzhen meditated there for half a day before deciding to go ahead and draw it. “No small amounts of silver, no sutras—I want martial arts, I want construction tokens, I want the jackpot, I want the jackpot…” Huo Yuanzhen kept muttering to himself there until he finally made up his mind to pull the lever. The moment the thought crossed his mind, a cluster of light appeared on the roulette wheel and began spinning rapidly. The specks spun at an incredible speed, and Huo Yuanzhen’s eyes followed them, darting back and forth as if wound up like a clock—a truly comical sight. The speed of the light gradually slowed down. Huo Yuanzhen held his breath for what felt like an eternity, trying to calculate where the light would come to a stop. The oil lamp… passed by. One liang of silver… passed by. The Washing the Marrow Sutra… oh no, that passed by too. The construction order for Muren Alley—it passed by again. A monk’s robe… that passed by too. The speed is slowing down; based on estimates, the light spot should stop within the next five or six patterns. The first six patterns were, in order: the *Lengjia Sutra*, fifty taels of silver, the *Great Cauldron*, the *Mountain Gate Construction Order*, the *Iron Head Technique*, and the sixth was the “Pin” character light spot. Huo Yuanzhen’s face turned bright red as he held his breath, waiting for the result. The light spot reached the *Lengjia Sutra* and seemed about to stop. Huo Yuanzhen waved his hands frantically, pleading with the light spot not to stop—though the *Lengjia Sutra* was certainly needed, it wasn’t an urgent priority. Finally, it passed that item and moved on to the fifty taels of silver. Fifty taels of silver—that’s acceptable. Huo Yuanzhen was fairly satisfied with this; the Shaolin Temple was currently penniless and in dire need of silver. But it moved on again. Great Cauldron, Great Cauldron—though the Shaolin Temple needs you to maintain its prestige, could you please just move on? I want the Mountain Gate Construction Order. Huo Yuanzhen longed for the Mountain Gate Construction Order. What’s most important for a martial arts sect? Its facade, of course. Imagine if someone saw your sect’s low, dilapidated gate—wouldn’t they turn and walk away immediately? This represents both popularity and strength; it’s something that absolutely cannot be lacking. This light spot actually held its own; it finally made it past the great cauldron and reached the icon for the Mountain Gate Construction Order. “Stop! Huo Yuanzhen shouted from inside the room. Outside, Yikong, who was reading scriptures, and Yijing, who was practicing martial arts, both froze in surprise. Who was he calling? “Damn it! It didn’t stop again!” The light moved forward another step, as slow as a snail, and came to rest on the “Iron Head Technique.” The Iron Head Technique is considered a foundational martial art—and foundational martial arts are actually very important, especially the Iron Head Technique, which not only offers superb defense but can also be used to ram into opponents. But Huo Yuanzhen had no interest in the Iron Head Technique. As the Abbot of Shaolin, high martial arts proficiency was a must. Hadn’t he watched all those TV martial arts dramas? In every single one, the Shaolin Abbot was a master—perhaps not the best in the world, but certainly among the very best. Moreover, Huo Yuanzhen’s ultimate goal was to return to lay life. To do so, he not only had to make Shaolin the number one martial arts sect in the world but also become the Alliance Leader of the martial arts world. How could the Leader of the Martial Arts World get by with mediocre martial arts skills? He’d be laughed out of the room. But the Iron Head Technique is really unsightly to perform. He’s already bald, and if he were to ram people with his shiny skull, he’d look just like an old ox no matter how you look at it. Just thinking about it makes Huo Yuanzhen feel embarrassed. Ideally, he’d like to advance to the next level and win the grand prize of the “Pin” character light points. The light point trembled slightly, as if it were about to move. Beads of sweat broke out on Huo Yuanzhen’s bald head, and he could barely hold his breath. One more step forward, and that would be the grand prize. He prayed desperately in his heart. At that moment, he didn’t even care that he was a monk; he implored every god and Buddha under the heavens, begging the light dot to muster one last bit of strength and take one more step forward—that would mean three chances to draw. Perhaps because Huo Yuanzhen’s faith wasn’t devout enough, none of the gods and Buddhas in the heavens came to his aid. The light finally came to a halt, settling on the “Iron Head Technique.” An ancient, thread-bound book appeared before Huo Yuanzhen, bearing the words “Iron Head Technique.” Huo Yuanzhen felt utterly dejected. Although drawing a martial arts manual from among the thirty-six items wasn’t bad, it was a shame that he’d missed the grand prize by a hair’s breadth and failed to secure three chances. He sheepishly picked up the “Iron Head Technique” manual, weighed it in his hands a few times, and let out a long sigh. Now that he had become the Abbot of Shaolin, Huo Yuanzhen had fully embraced his new role. Before returning to lay life, he had vowed to uphold world peace and become a benevolent, righteous, and wise monk—one of literary and martial virtue, whose legacy would endure for ages and who would unify the martial arts world… But as things stood, it seemed the first step toward this grand ideal would have to begin with his bald head.