Lingjin City, Lingxiao Observatory.
An elderly man dressed in Hundred-Family Garb, his hair and beard streaked with white, stood quietly under a ginkgo tree with a basket of herbs on his back. Though he was old and had spent years wandering, most who came to pray recognized him, nodding in greeting with expressions of deep respect. Clearly, he was a figure of great renown and esteemed virtue.
Though past seventy, he brimmed with vitality. His demeanor was gentle, his complexion rosy, and his black eyes would occasionally flash with a brilliant sparkle. A sharp aura seemed to emanate from him. Like an old steed in the stable that still aspires to gallop a thousand miles, this elder had been a fierce figure thirty years ago, one who roamed the lands and silenced powerful families with his might. Perhaps tired of the constant fighting, he had retreated into the Taoist way and founded Lingxiao Observatory.
