Picking Up Fragments - Chapter 350: "Goodbye"

This year, Ji Jingqiu is 16 years old.To survive, he envisions the Fire House Buddha Prison, plants a bodhi treasure tree, and embarks on the path of martial arts.Many years later,A brilliant light arises, illuminating endless darkness.A towering ancient tree, with emerald green leaves and a canopy like a pavilion, rises with glass-like clarity into the sky, supporting a divine realm of pure land, spanning countless ages, illuminating the three realms and ten directions.On this day,All martial artists under heaven look up to it, like mayflies seeing the blue sky.......“Within there is a bodhi tree, which I planted when I set foot in martial arts, and now it has grown to provide a canopy.”“I see everything in the world, and nothing is like me.”“That year, I scoured history books, this history without era, I looked horizontally and vertically, and saw those characters – ‘The world’s storms come from us.’”...— Excerpt from the autobiography of Ji Jingqiu, the proud sun of the martial arts world of today.

Lucan Ironfist came from a noble family, but he wasn't the eldest son. When his brother became the head of the family and he turned 18, Lucan would become a commoner. A strange rule, but that's how it was. So Lucan began to think of a way to live a peaceful life.As he was considering this, his mother arranged for him to become a priest in another city. A priest didn't have to worry about food or housing, and all he had to do was watch over the temple and the statue.It was easy work, so he agreed and arrived at the city. One day, as he was watching over the temple and the statue, a poor-looking girl came to pray. When she prayed to God, light gathered around her body.Lucan was surprised and suddenly remembered the plot of a certain game. Originally, Lucan was from Earth and had traveled to this fantasy world. When he was on Earth, he played a game with a plot where a merchant family's illegitimate daughter, bullied by her family, awakened the power of a saint.Lucan decided to keep this secret and train the saint so that in the future, he could have an easy life and save himself from any crises.

“M... Marissa! Are they my kids?” Rafael's eyes weren't moving away from the adorable kids' faces.“No, Rafael. They are not,” Marissa said with a fake smile, “They aren't yours. Remember?” she batted her lashes quite dramatically, “We were never married!”Marissa Aaron’s elder sister Valerie Aaron jilted her blind boyfriend on her wedding day and ran off. For face-saving, Merissa's family pleaded to her to marry Raphael Sinclair.The irony? She was not allowed to tell her blind husband that she was not Valerie but Merissa Aaron.On the day of Raphael's successful eye surgery, Marissa got to know that Valerie was back to take her rightful place as Sinclaire’s daughter-in-law.Marissa tried explaining to her husband that she was the one married to him, but he did not believe her. Instead of any more convincing, heartbroken Merissa decided to leave the city without telling him, her secret.Raphael Sinclair was the classic definition of drop-dead gorgeous and was the only heir of the Sinclair group of industries.What would he do when he came to know that all this time the woman who offered him, her love and her body was not Valerie but her younger sister Marissa Aaron?How would he react when he came to know that he was the father of the babies Marissa was carrying in her womb?Would he go after Marissa and win her back?And the million-dollar question!Would Marissa ever be able to forgive him and love him again?

It was understood that this was a capitalist country, where the possession of the greatest amount of capital determined to whom the nation effectively belonged.The smile that had been resting on William Sheffield’s face was abruptly erased as his expression turned cold. In a tone laced with determination, it was demanded by him that the police be contacted immediately so that they could crush those who stood in their way. The reasoning behind his words seemed clear: if such actions had been taken before by someone like Rockefeller, then why should it not also be possible for Sheffield?A sense of irony hung in the air as the sentiment was expressed—this was America, where each day seemed to unfold as though it were part of an ongoing shootout, with battles fought not just with guns but with power, influence, and wealth.