The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism Review

The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism is worth your time for one thing other system novels don't have: a broke young monk who wants to quit, stuck running a temple the book takes seriously. It's finished in English, it's funny without being loud, and it moves in small episodes rather than one big war. If you need a plot that keeps escalating, it'll feel slow.

What the First Three Chapters Set Up

We read chapters 1 to 3 on Webnovel on October 15, 2026. Chapter 1 opens with Fangzheng under a dead bodhi tree, holding the document that has just made him abbot of One Finger Temple. He's furious: "All I wanted was to renounce my asceticism!" His teacher, Zen Master One Finger, is dead, the temple has no money and no other monks, and Fangzheng packs his bag to leave.

He gets as far as the gate. The chapter stops on the old monk who walked him down the mountain to school every day, and that pause is the book's real hook. Then Fangzheng shouts at the Guan Yin statue, and a voice answers: "You have satisfied the requirements of activating the Buddha System by successfully owning a temple."

Chapter 2 springs the trap. Break the System's terms and "he will perish without any descendants." He swears at it, lightning hits the ground at his feet, and the System sets the rules.

Screenshot: Webnovel, Chapter 2: Buddha System

The first reward is a plaque. The scene we liked best comes right after, when the System rebuilds the temple and the narration stops to explain the Skanda statue at the door. Its pose is a signal: "If one was an experienced devotee, a glance at the Skanda would provide them with the information they needed," meaning how many days a temple can feed and house visitors. That's the kind of detail the book keeps giving you. By chapter 3 the System has handed out a Heavenly Eye that shows a major event in someone's next three days, and Fangzheng is complaining it sounds like "a haggling middle-aged woman at the market."

New to the mechanics this novel runs on?

What Is a System Novel? The Game Menu in the Hero's Head →

The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism: What Readers Say

The top review on the Webnovel listing is a note from CKtalon, the novel's translator. He calls it "not a very action-focused story" that can "touch your heart and make you reflect on life," with "some face-slapping elements when the 'fake monk' proves himself." He also calls it "a modern rendition of Ji Gong, the beggar Buddha."

Screenshot: Webnovel listing, October 15, 2026

Readers mostly back that up. Daoist_Jie, in a Webnovel review, found it "a very calming and refreshing read" and wrote, "I learnt a lot about the structure and politics of temples." One reviewer pushes back hard. Keikokumars calls it "just another face slapping story disguised as trying to be enlightening" and says the early chapters were fine until Korean and Japanese characters started turning up as racists toward Chinese characters. We'd take that second review as the main risk if nationalist plotting bothers you. Chapters 1 to 3 show none of it, so you'll only find out further in.

On Reddit, a 2024 r/noveltranslations thread sorting cultivation sub-genres puts the book in a "modern world cultivator with occupation" group, where the "MC get's a system that pushes him into an occupation or several" and the story "Has funny scenarios, some face slapping and social media wars." That matches what the opening chapters promise.

The Chinese Original and the English Edition

The original is 老衲要还俗 by 一梦黄粱 (Yimeng Huangliang), serialized on Qidian. The English cover renders the pen name as "A Golden Millet Dream".

The English chapter list stops after the third bonus chapter. The fourth and fifth Chinese extras, 刀叉 and 别骂人, have no English counterpart on Webnovel.

Editor's Picks: More Like The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

None of these swap in a monk lead, and that combination is rare enough that this book is the recommendation for it. Each shares one piece of what makes it work.

• A Will Eternal: Er Gen's comic cultivation lead, Bai Xiaochun, inside a straighter sect story. Pick it if the jokes were the draw.
• Warlock of the Magus World: less comedy, more cold long-term planning, for readers who liked the System's rules more than the gags.
• Best Xianxia Novels With a System: a wider list if the System device, not the Buddhist framing, is what pulled you in.

Want another comedic cultivation lead who never takes himself too seriously?

A Will Eternal Review: Er Gen's Funniest Xianxia Novel →

Verdict

The Good

• A rare lead: a bald, reluctant young abbot instead of another young master
• The jokes and the sincere beats sit side by side; chapter 1 earns its grief before the System shows up
• Finished in English, with CKtalon credited as translator and editor
• Temple detail with a point, like the Skanda statue that tells visitors how long they can stay

The Cons

• The System's quests make for episodes, not one driving plot
• Face-slapping returns often enough to feel like a formula
• A Webnovel reviewer objects to its patriotic streak, and that complaint is hard to unsee once you notice it

Our Take

The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism earns its premise. Chapter 1 could have been a single gag about a monk who wants a wife and a normal life; instead it makes you care about the old man who raised him, then hands the joke to the System. Read it in long, easy stretches, the way you'd watch a comfortable sitcom. If you want every arc to raise the stakes, pick something else.

Rating: 8.0/10

How We Checked This

On October 15, 2026 we opened the Webnovel listing and chapter list, read chapters 1 to 3, checked the Qidian page for the Chinese original, and read the r/noveltranslations thread embedded above. We haven't read past chapter 3, so what we say about later arcs comes from the reader reviews quoted here.

Related Reading

• A Will Eternal Review: Er Gen's Funniest Xianxia Novel
• Warlock of the Magus World Review
• Best Xianxia Novels With a System (2026)
• What Is a System Novel? The Game Menu in the Hero's Head
• The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism Reading Guide
• Keyboard Immortal Review: Trolling as a Cultivation Method

References

• The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism on Webnovel
• Webnovel table of contents
• Webnovel Chapter 1: Poor Monk
• Webnovel Chapter 2: Buddha System
• Webnovel Chapter 3: Heavenly Eye
• 老衲要还俗 on Qidian
• r/noveltranslations: Cultivation novel sub genres