Chapter 1: Fleeing Heaven

On a day when heavy snow was falling, amidst the cold plum blossoms by the calm lake, faint sounds of arguing drifted from the woods on the west bank, yet in the center of the lake, someone was enjoying the rare leisure of boating and admiring the snow.

"Didn't you say your father was already dead?"

"You're cursing my father!"

On the boat, a man and a woman stood side by side. The man was eighteen or nineteen, broad-shouldered and sturdy with thick brows and large eyes. The girl was no more than fifteen or sixteen, yet she was born with an exquisitely beautiful face, incomparably delicate and charming.

"No, no, no." The man said repeatedly, then muttered in a low voice: "Could it be that I remembered wrong?"

The girl heard every word, her voice melodious yet tinged with a low tone:

"It was my mother. My mother died after I was born; I have never seen her."

"My father is also different from your mother. Every day, he either plays the zither, paints, writes poetry, plants flowers, or he admires the moon and practices martial arts. Otherwise, he tells me stories or loses his temper."

"He can also cook, but he is very picky; he only makes the most delicious things."

Speaking of this, her tone changed.

"But I hate him. I just saw him lock someone up and refuse to let them go. Seeing that person was pitiful and bored being alone, I brought them some good wine and food, and he got angry and scolded me. Now that I've been out for so long, he hasn't come to find me; he must not want me anymore."

"Hmph, I hate him to death."

The man did not understand this kind of maidenly sentiment at all, nor could he discern the meaning behind her words. He said earnestly:

"I still think you shouldn't quarrel with your father, and even less should you hate him. The uncle Daoist who taught me how to breathe, sit, walk, and sleep wouldn't even let me hate my enemies. How can you hate your father!"

The girl suddenly caught sight of what appeared to be a floating corpse on the lake not far away. She stared intently and couldn't help but blurt out:

"Father!"

"Ah! Rong'er, you mean that person floating on the water is your father!"

"No, impossible, his martial arts are so high..." Huang Rong's eyes reddened slightly, and she immediately used the oar to propel the boat, quickly approaching.

Guo Jing was the first to fish the floating corpse out.

Huang Rong examined the face of the corpse carefully, her expression freezing, and a strange look gradually appeared on her pretty face.

This person had an extraordinarily handsome face and a tall, slender build. His features were seven or eight parts similar to her own father's, yet he looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old.

Besides that, although he was wearing a green cloth robe, he was not dressed entirely like a scholar; at his cuffs, he wore a pair of very capable-looking black bracers.

"Rong'er, this is clearly just a little brother not much older than you; he is definitely not your father," Guo Jing said happily.

Zhuang Buran, in a dazed state, vaguely heard the conversation by his ear, and a feeling of shock and uncertainty arose in his heart.

He suddenly opened his eyes and sat up, frowning as he surveyed his surroundings, wondering where he had been sent this time. It was definitely not the East Sea region where he had lived for three years.

Finally, he couldn't help but let his gaze fall upon the exquisitely beautiful girl.

Guo Jing suddenly looked surprised and whispered to the side:

"Rong'er, I've discovered that you two look somewhat alike, especially the eyes and nose; it's as if you were carved from the same mold."

Huang Rong revealed two rows of sparkling, snow-white teeth and said:

"Hey, we saved your life; shouldn't you thank us and tell us your name?"

At this moment, the strange look in Zhuang Buran's eyes grew more intense. Hearing how they addressed each other and observing their appearances, how could he not know who the two people in front of him were? While feeling speechless in his heart, a sentence abruptly popped out:

"Just sixteen, with a fifteen-year-old girl?"

He stood up straight and replied casually:

"Surname Zhuang, no fixed abode. Many thanks to you both for saving me."

"Rong'er, this little brother not only looks somewhat like you, but he also has a Jiangnan accent just like you."

When Guo Jing first met Huang Rong, who was dressed as a little beggar, because his mother was from Lin'an and the six masters who taught him were all from near Jiaxing, he had been accustomed to the Jiangnan accent since childhood. After returning to the south and hearing Huang Rong's native accent, he was naturally overjoyed and felt a sense of closeness.

But Huang Rong turned a deaf ear, as if she hadn't heard. Her heart surged, and she bit her silver teeth:

"Heh heh, full of nonsense. Is this how you treat your saviors? You actually give a fake surname."

"Where does this come from?" Zhuang Buran's expression was calm.

"Hmph, I reckon you should be surnamed Huang, and you've likely lived in the East Sea region since you were small."

When Huang Rong said this, she muttered indignantly in her heart:

"Hateful, I was wondering why Father wouldn't come to find me. So it's this old shameless fellow who has an illegitimate son outside."

Zhuang Buran ignored her and looked at Guo Jing: "May I ask, what year is it today?"

"The sixteenth year of Jiading."

Zhuang Buran calculated silently. From the tenth year of Chunxi to this sixteenth year of Jiading, it had been a full forty years. He then felt a sense of inexplicable emotion:

"Is this not what they call 'darkness under the lamp'?"

A moment later, he leaped up, touched the water a few times with his toes, and reached the shore. He then stepped according to the Eight Trigrams, circulated his internal energy, and while checking his physical condition and drying his wet robes, he immersed his consciousness deep into the center of his brow.

He saw a chaotic-colored divine map, with currents rotating on it, inscribed with a few lines of small characters.

【When the false is taken as true, the true also becomes false; where there is nothing, there is something, and the true returns.】

【Because of the half-Dao Fruit of the Saha Pure Land Arhat stolen initially, its fate and luck were intercepted, leading to his prying. Now, after more than two thousand transmigrations through various worlds, I have finally arrived at this parallel world, shaking off his pursuit.】

"Crossing the heavens, landing in a box every time, after two thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine times, like a torture of being sliced by a thousand knives—I thought that becoming the thirteen-year-old Huang Yaoshi would be safe and sound, but I never expected that after only three years of peaceful days, I would be inexplicably sent here again."

Zhuang Buran's eyes were deep:

"At the end of stealing the Dao, who is the peak? Once you see the True-Returning, the Dao becomes empty. Only when my realm is equal to that of the Saha Pure Land Arhat will I be detected. Who said that sentence back then?"

【When stealing the Dao Fruit, the consumption was too great, leaving a flaw. It has now been repaired. To ensure safety, I have come to this parallel world.】

The divine map was quite spiritual, manifesting a line of small characters.

Zhuang Buran was silent for a long time and said:

"At first, I just wanted you to use your existing maximum ability to help me lie flat and reach the sky in one step."

"Who would have thought that you would manage the killing but not the burying, leaving behind so many troublesome matters? I really brought this upon myself."

【Remember: The Map Master stole half a Dao Fruit from a Saha Pure Land Arhat and has fallen into an endless Dao struggle.】

【He is one of the three thousand Buddhas chosen by the Saha Pure Land. To be pure in the six senses, ignorance and afflictions have been severed; he has transcended life and death and attained Nirvana as an Arhat. Among the three thousand Buddhas, he ranks eighty-seventh and is also a candidate for the future World Honored One.】

"In that case, besides the Dao struggle with him, there is also the struggle of the three thousand Buddhas?"

【The Map Master can perform the act of stealing the sky and changing the day to compete for the position of World Honored One of the Saha Pure Land.】

"What are the benefits?"

【The World Honored One of the Saha Pure Land can use wisdom and other methods to break the unwholesome methods of greed, anger, and ignorance, extinguish the suffering of life and death, attain supreme enlightenment, and should manifest Buddhism to save all living beings.】

"A top-tier beast of burden!"

Zhuang Buran did not hesitate at all:

"Can I give it up?"

【According to the principles of Buddhism, all phenomena are generated or destroyed based on the principle of cause and effect, so there is absolutely no such thing as giving up.】

"I don't know when it started, but I hate hearing about involution and corporate slavery the most."

Zhuang Buran's voice was low:

"I didn't expect that even after encountering a miraculous opportunity, I still couldn't escape the fate of a beast of burden."

【In addition, the Map Master must remember that to repair the flaw, the consumption was too great again. At this point, there is no remaining strength; only the basic abilities of concealing heavenly secrets and crossing the heavens remain.】

"How to recover?"

【When the Map Master reaches the realm of the Saha Pure Land Arhat, you can begin to nourish it and slowly recover.】

Seeing this line of small characters, Zhuang Buran's mouth twitched. He didn't know why he had become accustomed to the unreliability of the True-Returning Map. To be sealed forever after one use—it was truly as pit-like as ever.

With a slight movement of his mind, the divine map dissipated, manifesting an ethereal and illusory half-body Arhat statue. It vibrated with divine sound:

"You are the Great Compassionate Wuxin Arhat. To attain the Bodhisattva fruit, you decided to imitate the sages, attain the Dao in a dream, and are now in a deep sleep, wandering through three thousand worlds."

Zhuang Buran looked indifferent: "Great Compassionate what Arhat?"

The half-body Arhat statue's voice was ethereal: "Great Compassionate Wuxin Arhat."

"What Wuxin Arhat?"

"Great Compassionate Wuxin Arhat."

"Great what Heart Arhat?"

"Great Compassionate Wuxin Arhat."

"This half of the Arhat Dao Fruit is still the same as before—an ignorant and senseless retard."

Zhuang Buran gave a low shout:

"You're crying at the wrong grave, get lost!"

"You wander through three thousand worlds and can manifest your Dharma Body, Response Body, Mind Body, etc." The half-body Arhat statue's voice was ethereal, without any emotional fluctuation:

"Seek supreme Bodhi with wisdom, save all living beings with compassion, practice the Bodhisattva path in the heavens and myriad worlds, and you can retrieve the fruit you have attained."

"The Vajra Merit fruit has now been retrieved. May you not forget your original intention and attain the Bodhisattva fruit."

The divine sound emitted by the half-body Arhat statue gradually disappeared, and its figure also vanished without a trace.

As soon as Zhuang Buran heard about the Vajra Merit fruit, he thought of his previous life as Huang Yaoshi and, associating it with the origin of his martial arts, he had the desire to seek the martial arts of the Xiaoyao Sect.

Later, on the way, he used lime and poison made according to pharmacology to kill many bandits. He didn't expect that the half of the Arhat Dao Fruit would have a spiritual response and bestow retribution.

Perhaps it was because he inherited Huang Yaoshi's luck that he really obtained the remnant scrolls of the Xiaoyao Sect's various martial arts. He then came to the East Sea, found Peach Blossom Island, and closed his doors to practice martial arts for three years.

Just as he had achieved some success, he was struck by a whim and was practicing boxing amidst the waves of the river and sea when he was caught off guard and brought to the parallel Legend of the Condor Heroes world forty years later.

"Rectifying the evil and dispelling the wrong, eliminating the treacherous and punishing the wicked, saving the world with compassion—the half of the Arhat Dao Fruit will bestow corresponding retribution. It was finally not in vain to carry a debt."

Suddenly, a trace of melancholy appeared on his face, and he murmured softly:

"Truly fleeing Heaven's will, avoiding karma, all manner of shackles trap the true self."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 2 =====