Lu Da

Lu Zhishen passed away amid the roar of the Qiantang tide. He had fought those who needed fighting and saved those who needed saving. He went out content, scattering into nothing. Yet he returned. It wasn't that he himself couldn't let go. Those who had died beneath his monk's staff resented him, while those he had saved from the edge of a blade remembered him. The resentment and gratitude of millions wound around him, gathering and solidifying the breath that had already dispersed, shaping it into a human form and casting him into another world. There was no war or famine there. Everyone aspired to become a god: those who combined virtue with martial prowess ascended to the Floating Lands, where they gained absolute freedom, free from birth, aging, illness, death, and sorrow. Lu Da had no desire for that. In his previous life, he had never sought a better place to go. What he sought was nirvana and final release. The gods of this world lived on the Floating Lands, worshiped by people and issuing decrees in their dreams. How could that be liberation? Only when he had no choice but to ascend did he witness the truth no one dared to speak aloud. Three people deemed unworthy ascended with him: a martial fanatic whose qi only flowed outward, a flickering candle who could see through every flow of qi, and a young woman called the Stone Womb. He had gone to the Floating Lands intending to die completely. In the end, he stood firm against the calamity poised to crash down. He never attained the nirvana he wanted. He carried millions within him, and he could not let them go...