I Became a Monk in Japan and Exorcised Demons of Other’s Housewives

Chapter 14: Realm Breakthrough!

“What a vixen.”

Leaving the villa, Lu Jin rubbed his sore waist.

Even though he had cultivated magical powers, his body was still that of a mere mortal. Performing exorcisms for such a long time inevitably took its toll.

He turned back to glance at the third-floor window of the villa. A woman, draped in a thin nightgown, was standing there, gazing at him with reluctant longing.

Lu Jin shook his head. This exorcism trip wasn’t in vain.

He had purified a malevolent spirit and gained considerable merit.

After absorbing the merit from exorcising Kurosaki Kenji, his internal magical power had increased from fifty strands to seventy.

Besides that, there was also the five million yen reward.

No doubt about it—rich women were truly rich.

A casual payment like that was equivalent to half a year’s income for his rundown temple.

Of course, the most important gain was securing a devoted believer for life.

If he ever needed assistance, he could call Kurosaki Masako to Yakushi Temple for another exorcism.

Offering her physical devotion to a pious believer—this woman would probably be more than willing.

“I still don’t have enough techniques.”

Lu Jin reflected on his current shortcomings.

For purifying spirits, he had a sandalwood wooden fish and a vajra prayer bead. For protective artifacts, his purified robe was enough for now.

If an evil spirit engaged him in direct combat, he could beat the hell out of it with his artifacts alone.

But if a spirit deliberately hid itself, he had no way of detecting it.

After all, aside from these few artifacts, he was no different from an ordinary person—at best, just slightly stronger.

And that was only thanks to receiving two merit-infused blessings from his exorcisms.

“I need to find a way to enhance my strength.”

Suddenly, Lu Jin’s eyes lit up—he thought of a quick way to increase his power.

Since the enhancement system can strengthen anything,

Why not try strengthening myself?

If I can enhance my own body, wouldn’t that mean instant ascension?

Wouldn’t that be way faster than tirelessly chanting scriptures for cultivation?

“It’s worth a try.”

Lu Jin murmured to himself. There was no real downside to failing—at most, he’d just waste an enhancement attempt.

But if it succeeded, the benefits would be immense.

With excitement in his heart, he returned to his temple.

The moment he stepped inside, his expression darkened.

The temple hall was in utter disarray, as if it had been looted by bandits. The offering box was emptied—every last coin of incense money stolen.

Anything even remotely valuable in the temple was taken.

“F**k… His grandmother’s damn legs!”

“Even stealing from a temple?! Aren’t they afraid of falling into the eighteen levels of hell after death?”

Pressing his hands together, he silently reminded himself: He was a virtuous, highly cultivated monk.

He couldn’t lose his temper over something so trivial.

But as the saying goes, ‘The more you endure, the angrier you get. The more you retreat, the more you lose.’

Even someone as composed as Lu Jin was on the verge of breaking down, seeing his temple ransacked.

Though there wasn’t anything particularly valuable in the temple—his key artifacts were on him—this was the first time in his life that he’d encountered scum who would even steal incense money.

This thief must have eaten the heart of a bear and the guts of a leopard!*

[*Meaning: they must be incredibly bold and reckless.]

Even a clay figurine has some temper—let alone a Buddhist master.

Fortunately, the thief must have been feeling guilty about robbing a temple for the first time.

They only took whatever seemed worthless at first glance.

As for Lu Jin’s private stash, since it was well hidden, the thief didn’t find it.

“So, spreading the name of Yakushi Temple has both benefits and drawbacks.”

Sitting cross-legged before the temple’s Buddha statue, Lu Jin pondered.

Had the temple remained obscure, it wouldn’t have attracted thieves.

Gain and loss always come hand in hand—such is karma.

With that thought, his mind gradually calmed.

Still, this kind of thing could only happen once.

He needed to find a way to prevent it from happening again.

Otherwise, if he strengthened all his temple’s items and some opportunists came snooping,

Losing even a single artifact would be heart-wrenching.

To be safe, he needed some kind of guard.

“Raising a dog doesn’t sound like a bad idea?”

The thought flashed through his mind as he gradually entered a meditative state.

His consciousness emptied, leaving only the steady recitation of Buddhist scriptures.

With each verse, his magical power slowly grew.

He chanted all the way till dawn.

As he recited scriptures, his magical power finally surpassed one hundred strands.

Boom!

The moment his power broke past one hundred strands, the scattered bits of magical energy suddenly seemed to attract each other and merged together.

What was once as fine as spider silk condensed into something as thick as a strand of hair.

“That’s it?”

Feeling the changes within himself, Lu Jin’s expression turned odd.

He thought accumulating magical power would lead to something significant.

But in the end, all that happened was his energy becoming slightly thicker and longer?

The quality and strength of his power had improved a little compared to before.

Other than that, there weren’t any obvious changes.

It seemed he still needed to accumulate more—until quantity transformed into quality.

Wait…

Does this count as a breakthrough in cultivation?

The thought randomly crossed Lu Jin’s mind.

Not that it seemed to make much of a difference.

Shaking his head, he didn’t dwell on it.

After all, how long had he been cultivating?

No need to rush—let’s take it slow.