The Demon King, reborn in Japan as a monk

Ishihara Sho handed over a 1000 yen bill, but when he looked up at the convenience store clerk, the sight before him stunned him!

Chapter 3 Test

The person was still the same, but compared to before, the convenience store employee now had a warm, multicolored glow surrounding him, like a special effect, making him look almost divine.

"This is..." Upon seeing this, Ishihara Sho's expression turned to astonishment.

Because he understood that what he was seeing was the key to his cheat code!

He simply didn't know what his cheat system was or what kind of power it possessed.

"As expected, it's something related to people," Ishihara Sho murmured to himself.

"Here's your change, sir." At that moment, the convenience store clerk placed several hundred-yuan coins on the counter.

It also brought Ishihara Akira's mind back to normal.

"Oh." Ishihara Sho gave a noncommittal reply and put the coin away.

"Welcome back next time," the convenience store employee said, going through the motions of farewell.

Ishihara Akira ignored him, simply took his drink, and left the convenience store with a frown.

"If it's a cheat system, why didn't it show up before, but only now? Is it because of the food? Or is that staff member special?" On the way back to the temple, Ishihara Akira pondered these questions.

However, he quickly determined the reason—

It must be a food problem!

Because he encountered pedestrians again on his way back, and like the convenience store employee before, these people were surrounded by multicolored light. Therefore, it can be inferred that it wasn't that the previous convenience store employee was special, but rather that filling his stomach allowed his inherent power to manifest.

Especially after Ishihara Akira encountered a third person who was the same, he became even more certain of this.

It can't be that the convenience store employee is special, the passersby he encountered before are special, and the new passersby he encounters next are also special, right?

There aren't that many coincidences in the world.

"But how do I test my strength attribute and its range of effect?"

You can't just grab a random passerby and expect them to cooperate with you.

"It seems the only solution is to try the believers or Hanako-nee."

Hanako is the cook who comes to the temple regularly to prepare vegetarian meals for Ishihara Sho and the worshippers. She is the daughter of Ishihara Sho's aunt, Fujita Tsubone. She is 28 years old and unmarried, but has a boyfriend of two years. She works at a nearby cram school and has a lot of free time, which is why her mother asked her to take over the temple's food preparation work.

And so, not long after, Ishihara Akira, filled with thoughts, returned to his family's temple—Arako Kannon Temple—and, back in his room, picked up his phone again to search for information related to the Heavenly Demon.

Perhaps, my cheat ability is the power of the Heavenly Demon?

……

"Hanako-nee, could you stay a while after you finish cooking? I have something I'd like to ask you." Around seven in the morning, Ishihara Akira arrived at the temple's kitchen and spoke to the long-haired woman who was busy inside.

"Eh? Oh, that's good. It shouldn't be anything too troublesome, right?" Hanako stopped what she was doing, turned halfway around, and smiled at Ishihara Akira, who was dressed as a monk at the door.

"No trouble at all. Just tell me how you felt at the time, and I guarantee it will be over before you go to work," Ishihara Akira said with a smile.

"Alright, then you go wait in the meditation room first. I'll come and get you when I'm done here," Hanako said.

Seeing this, Ishihara Sho didn't say anything more, returned to his meditation room, and picked up a copy of the Heart Sutra to read.

As a monk, he couldn't possibly be completely ignorant of Buddhist scriptures, could he?

Fortunately, although his writing career in his previous life was a failure, his foundation was still solid. In addition, he had a good memory and a good impression of the materials he had looked up when he was writing in his previous life. Not to mention that Ishihara Sho himself had also studied these Buddhist classics and had the corresponding memories in his mind. Therefore, apart from a few stumbles at the beginning due to language habits, he quickly got through it and memorized the Heart Sutra, the basic practice that the monks of Guanyin temples asked him to practice.

Then Ishihara Akira put the Heart Sutra aside and picked up the Diamond Sutra next to it.

This time, it took even longer to read...

However, before she could finish reading, Hanako's voice came from outside.

"Ah Zhang, come out for dinner."

"You're here," Ishihara Akira replied, closing the book in his hand, standing up, and going out into the dining room, where he found the breakfast that Hanako had prepared.

It's very Japanese indeed: a bowl of white rice, a plate of pickled radish, a bowl of miso soup, and a side of stir-fried vegetables. There's not a single piece of meat in it.

If this were to become his daily diet, Ishihara Akira couldn't guarantee he wouldn't go berserk...

However, he didn't say much at this time. After all, it was only the first day, and he would have to wait and see what it would be like afterward. So he waited until he really couldn't hold back before speaking up. He didn't eat and silently enjoyed the breakfast that Hanako had prepared.

"Why are you eating so little today?" Hanako asked, noticing that Ishihara Sho was eating less than usual.

"I got up early today, so I went out for a walk and bought some fast food at the convenience store, so I'm not very hungry," Ishihara Akira explained.

"Oh, I see. Then I'll come earlier tomorrow so you won't have to go out to buy food," Hanako said.

"No need, I don't get up this early every day," Ishihara Akira refused.

Afterwards, Hanako took the bowls and chopsticks away and then found Ishihara Akira again, sitting down in front of him.

"What do you want me to help you with?" Hanako asked, looking puzzled.

"Wait a moment..." Ishihara Akira focused his attention slightly, staring intently into Hanako's eyes, silently reciting hypnotic words to her...

"Why are you looking at me like that? It's making me feel awkward." But Hanako was not affected by Ishihara Sho's thoughts and turned her head to the side, jokingly.

"Don't you feel anything?" Ishihara Akira asked, frowning.

"What does it feel like?" Hanako asked curiously.

Ishihara looked at her, but in the end shook his head without explaining.

But I also understand that hypnosis may be out of the question, so let's try something else.

For example, mind reading.

However, the result remained the same; Ishihara Shou was unable to hear any of Hanako's true feelings from her...

"What are you looking at?" Hanako asked helplessly as Ishihara Sho remained silent and kept staring at her.

"How are you feeling right now?" Ishihara Akira didn't answer, but asked Hanako again.

"Mood? Very good." Hanako tilted her head and thought for a moment before replying.

“I mean something more specific, like happiness, frustration, excitement, sadness,” Ishihara Akira corrected.

Chapter 4 Fierce as a Tiger

"No, it's just a very normal feeling. I'm not particularly happy, but I don't feel sad either," Hanako said, shaking her head.

To put it simply, it's just the everyday mood of an ordinary person.

“I see…” Ishihara Akira nodded and looked at Hanako in front of him again.

However, it wasn't to test his hypnotic or mind-reading abilities—after all, he had already tested those before and didn't have them, or rather, he didn't have those abilities for the time being. So, Ishihara Akira's purpose this time was to test whether he could influence the aura surrounding Hanako through his thoughts...

However, the result still left Ishihara Sho somewhat disappointed. Although the orbs of light did seem to tremble twice under his gaze, showing signs of being controllable, he didn't know if it was because he had just awakened or because his Heavenly Demon cultivation was insufficient. In any case, he couldn't activate them and could only watch helplessly, unable to even figure out what the colors of the orbs of light meant.

"Ah-Zhang, what are you doing? You're just staring at me without saying anything," Hanako asked curiously, feeling a little uncomfortable being stared at again by Ishihara Akira.

"Well, I feel that my recent Buddhist practice has yielded good results, and I've awakened some rather special abilities, but I don't quite understand their effects and functions, so I wanted you to help me confirm them," Ishihara Akira explained vaguely after a moment's thought.

"Awakened an ability? What ability did you awaken?" Hanako asked with a strange expression.

Real-world cities aren't like the world of anime or novels; how could ordinary people possibly awaken special abilities?

You're not a teenager with chuunibyou (middle school syndrome).

"So I need you, Hanako-nee, to help me confirm this," Ishihara Sho said, shrugging.

"Alright, how else do you want me to help you?" Hanako rolled her eyes, looking rather uninterested.

After all, he was her younger brother, and she was naturally willing to help Ishihara without spending much of her own money.

"Hanako-nee, you just need to sit there and answer my questions," Ishihara Akira said.

“Okay, you can start,” Hanako agreed.

Then Ishihara Sho propped himself up, moved in front of Hanako, and reached out to touch the colorful floral patterns around Hanako's body—mainly around her head...

I don't feel anything at all!

This immediately extinguished Ishihara Sho's last bit of spirit; his body slumped, and he sat back down.

"What's wrong?" Hanako asked Ishihara Sho with a strange expression.

"It's alright, the test is over, Hanako-nee, you can move around now," Ishihara Akira said, looking disappointed.

"Didn't it work?" Hanako didn't get up and leave immediately upon hearing this, but instead asked with a hint of concern.

"Yes." Ishihara Akira nodded.

"Don't be discouraged. Maybe your ability hasn't been developed yet because your training isn't enough? If you train for a little longer, you might be able to awaken it successfully." Hanako gently comforted the dejected Ishihara Sho.

"Maybe," Ishihara Akira replied noncommittally.

However, deep down, he actually agreed with Hanako's statement.

After all, he had only been reincarnated for a day, and even the ability to see strange orbs of light appeared after he had eaten and drunk his fill. So who knows if there are other limiting conditions besides this? Only by unraveling them can he truly understand the value of this power?

Moreover, the concept of cultivation is indeed an objective possibility!

Unfortunately, he was a self-proclaimed Heavenly Demon and did not possess any cultivation techniques for Heavenly Demons. Therefore, even if he wanted to improve, he did not know where to begin.

"We can't exactly look for it in Buddhist scriptures, can we?"

Although many of the materials I found when I was a loser in my past life mentioned that Buddhist scriptures contain methods of cultivation, just like the Taoist canon records the true techniques of cultivation, but because no one can guide them, they cannot be manifested. There may also be similar hidden meanings in Buddhist scriptures, so if you really want to cultivate, perhaps starting from Buddhist scriptures is a good way.

Fortunately, he is now a professional monk and has a fundamental need for the practice of Buddhist scriptures.

Hanako didn't say anything more after that. She ruffled Ishihara Sho's bald head, stood up with a smile, and turned to leave the meditation room where Ishihara Sho was.

……

After seeing Hanako off, Ishihara Akira didn't hesitate. He took out his phone again, logged onto the domestic network, and, following his habit of typing and researching in his previous life, began searching for things related to cultivation.

Regardless of whether it's Buddhism or Taoism.

After all, compared to Buddhist teachings, Ishihara Sho was more interested in Taoist teachings.