Self-Attachment

Several years later.

Xu Kingdom, Lesser Sage Academy.

Xu Kingdom had once been a small nation, struggling to survive between the cracks of stronger states.

But because of the Lesser Sage Kou Zhun, the powerful nations on all sides dared not invade, and Xu Kingdom had instead retained a rare peace in an age of great strife.

A plaque still stood at the academy gates, inscribed: "Establish a heart for heaven and earth, secure a life for the people, carry on the lost teachings of past sages, and open an age of peace for ten thousand generations!"

Throughout the courtyards, the sound of students reading aloud filled the air.

Behind the academy, on the mountain, stood a small house. Fallen leaves covered its courtyard in a sea of gold.

A withered leaf drifted down and was caught by a hand mottled with wrinkles and age spots. Its owner held it in his palm and studied it closely.

"Though it is but one leaf, I know autumn has come—"

Kou Zhun looked like an ordinary man in his dotage, his hair entirely white and nearly all his teeth gone. Yet his tongue remained remarkably nimble.

Beside him stood a swordsman in a bamboo hat, holding his sword in his arms.

Had this swordsman not willingly guarded him all these years, Kou Zhun might have been able to kill most cultivators with a single utterance, yet local thugs would have beaten him to death—

"Fellow Daoist Ruo, you have protected this old man to this day. I am deeply grateful for your kindness."

Kou Zhun looked toward the cloaked swordsman and said earnestly, "Now this old man has one foot in the grave. I intend to devote all the noble spirit I have cultivated in my life to opening an age of