This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

"Above the archipelago of the South Sea, the most illustrious sword-casting family is none other than the Dragon Spring's Mo Family.

The swords forged by the Mo Family, each one capable of matching the Sword Qi with Fighting Bulls, are thus widely sought after by Sword Cultivators throughout the world.

For a millennium, the Mo Family had crafted countless famous swords, but thirty years ago, the current Family Head cast a Treasured Sword that even attracted Heavenly Punishment, aiming to destroy this sword.

The day the Treasured Sword came into existence, lightning zigzagged across the sky, and thunder rumbled. A single gesture scattered spirits and specters; thunder and lightning roared moving Heaven and Earth, with hundreds of meters long lightning serpents slithering through the air.

That could truly be described as the Heavenly Thunder lighting up the Qingming in the Nine Heavens, its brilliance shining over the South Sea. The Mo Family exerted all their strength and only managed to preserve this Treasured Sword amidst the vast Heavenly Thunder Tribulation.

Since then, the name of the Mo Family echoed even louder across the South Sea, with their reputation unmatched for a time.

But the world is unpredictable, and thus a sword-casting noble family that had reached its zenith was obliterated overnight twenty years ago! Do you know why?"

Inside an ancient and elegant tea house, tea patrons gathered, and an old storyteller spoke with humor and grace, but he stopped right at the climax, sitting up straight, taking a subtle sip of tea, and teasing the audience with a cliffhanger.

Ahem.

Suddenly, an object flashing with silver light was thrown onto the table in front of the storytelling old man, who, upon closer inspection, was startled to see a full ingot of silver.

"What's this for? Old mister, do tell the tale properly, and if it's good, there's more where that came from," came a gentle voice from a corner of the tea house.

The old storyteller's dim eyes sparkled uncontrollably with joy as he quickly pocketed the silver, while his gaze turned towards the generous patron.

What a handsome young man; from which noble family might this master be!

The storyteller wondered in his heart.

Catching his eye was a tall and elegant youth, uncommonly handsome, with piercing, clear eyes full of spirit, sitting in one corner of the tea house, a smile playing on his lips.

It was none other than Lu Qingshan who had left Zhenjiang Prefectural City!

"Many thanks to the young master for the reward," the storyteller hastened to continue, "Success because of the Treasured Sword, downfall also because of the Treasured Sword."

"The Mo Family once reached the pinnacle because they forged this sword that drew down Heavenly Punishment, but peak inevitably leads to decline, and the Mo Family's downfall was precisely due to this sword as well."

"This sword is called the Three-feet Edge, with a poem saying, 'With the Three-feet Edge in the scabbard on his back, wherever Jiaolong dwells, it shall slash the Jiaolong,' describing the might of this sword, claiming it could drink the blood of the Jiaolong Clan. Though the Mo Family kept silent about it, such rumors still widely circulated."

"But one must know that the sea has always been the domain of Water Demons.

Among the Water Demon Clan, the Jiaolong Clan is the most powerful. When the tale that the Three-feet Edge could slash the Jiaolong spread far and wide, how could the fierce and stubborn Jiaolong Clan tolerate the Mo Family?

Overnight, a thousand Jiaolong stirred the sea, rising waves of horror, and in the blink of an eye, the millennium-old sword-casting family was wiped out, along with the island they inhabited, which sank into the sea."

The storyteller, with ups and downs in his voice, finished this part of the tale in one breath, his eager eyes returning to Lu Qingshan.

Lu Qingshan didn't disappoint him and, with a flick of his wrist, another ingot of silver was thrown out.

Seeing the storyteller receive two hefty ingots of silver in the blink of an eye, other patrons in the tea house felt envious. Immediately, someone tapped their wooden chopstick against their tea bowl, grumbling discontentedly, "Storyteller, do you have anything new? You've told this sword-casting family tale who knows how many times.

This handsome young master is new and finds it fresh, but we regulars won't be so easily amused."

"Indeed, bring on something new; this is getting dull..." the complaints gathered and soon many other tea patrons joined in the grumbling.

The storyteller joyously pocketed the silver and, with a clever spin of his eyes and a smile plastered on his face, addressed the crowd, "Don't rush, don't rush, I've got a fresh one for you."

He wasn't a fool; such lucrative generosity from patrons was clearly a rare occurrence, and he still relied on these regulars in the tea house for his livelihood--he couldn't afford to offend them.

After a bit of thought, the storyteller gently waved his fan and began to narrate anew, "They say that within the Boundless Sea Area, there exists an Eternal Whale Species, of massive size and a fondness for slumber, floating on the sea's surface, where a single sleep could last an age. Unmoved by wind or rain, it gradually evolved into an island..."

"Whale turned island? Storyteller, we asked for something fresh, and if you don't have any substance, stop babbling and pulling the wool over our eyes!" the patron who spoke up earlier immediately expressed dissatisfaction.

The storyteller's eyes widened, "How can you so groundlessly tarnish someone's reputation..."

"Reputation? The Eternal Whale becoming an island—just how enormous must that whale be? Go on, tell me. If you do a good job, I might not be as lavish as this young master here, but I can still reward you with a bit of money, even if it means getting a scolding from the wife back home," the tea drinker said loudly.

The storyteller hemmed and hawed for a long time but failed to come up with an estimate.

The tea drinker seized on the storyteller's words, "As expected, it's all nonsense. You can't even make it sound plausible before being exposed!"

The storyteller's face instantly turned red, with veins popping out on his forehead as he argued, "Artistic embellishment can't be considered fabrication... embellishing! Can the tales of a storyteller be considered nonsense?"

The crowd couldn't help but burst into laughter, and the teahouse was suddenly filled with a merry atmosphere.

After a while, the laughter of the tea drinkers quieted down, and the storyteller's complexion gradually returned to normal. He waved his hand, "Enough, enough. This time I'll tell you all something absolutely fresh."

Another round of laughter erupted in the teahouse.

"Have you heard about the events at Zhenjiang Prefectural City in Qing State?" the storyteller asked with a solemn face.

"I've heard a bit of news. It seems that about three months ago, a major upheaval happened there. The casualties throughout the prefecture were severe, and Zhenjiang City itself was reduced to ruins..." said a well-informed tea drinker.

Gasps!

At those words, the other tea drinkers all sucked in a breath of cold air.

"The Prefectural City turned to ruins?"

"How is that possible? How many people must have died?"

"..."

One comment stirred up thousands of waves.

Lu Qingshan hadn't expected that so far from Zhenjiang Prefectural City, he would still hear news of it.

The storyteller was clearly very pleased with the reaction of the tea drinkers, shaking his paper fan proudly as he said, "You heard right. Over three months ago, Zhenjiang experienced an unprecedented upheaval. Of the more than four million people in Zhenjiang City, only about one million survived after the catastrophe."

"What's more important is the aftermath that this incident brought about." The storyteller paused, took a sip of tea to catch his breath, and then continued with animation, "Great Xia has held on to the era name of Chang'an for a whole twenty thousand years.

However, after the turmoil in Zhenjiang Prefectural City, the Grand State Preceptor, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion Master, performed a heaven-defying act and stole a glimpse of the heavenly secrets.

It is said that this glimpse of the heavenly secrets predicted that our Great Xia would fall into an unprecedented turmoil, with Zhenjiang Prefectural City being just the beginning.

And thus, after twenty thousand years of Chang'an, Great Xia changed the era name to 'Tianyuan'!"

At the end of his story, the storyteller gently struck the clapper.

"Tianyuan? Old sir, are you saying the new era name is Tianyuan?!" Surprised by the storyteller's tone, the generous young gentleman stood up and asked in amazement.

The storyteller was somewhat puzzled, but he nodded, "Yes, young master. Three days ago, Great Xia already announced to the world that the new era is named Tianyuan."

Tianyuan!

Lu Qingshan was extremely shocked in his heart.

According to the original plot development, the new era name should be Immortal Martial.

How did it change to Tianyuan?!