Not everyone in the small city's tavern was well-informed, and someone immediately called out, "Was he not the Seventh Prince? How did he become the Eighth Prince?"
"Could it be that the Great Li Emperor was happy to follow the example of those Tianqi emperors and be made a fool of, and simply adopted the fake prince as legitimate?"
At those words, the tavern erupted in laughter.
The atmosphere, which had been noticeably tense a moment before, immediately lightened.
Without waiting for the young swordsman to answer, someone jumped in, "Whether the Great Li Emperor was made a fool of, I cannot say, but he did later issue a decree changing the Seventh Prince to the Eighth Prince."
"As for the rest, as everyone knows, there is never a shortage of scandalous business in the imperial household. My guess is that nine times out of ten, what the storyteller wants to tell us today is the 'Secret History of the Great Li Imperial Palace.'"
At those words, interest in the tavern spiked at once.
People began calling out for the storytelling elder to get on with it and tell them what improper affairs were happening in the Great Li palace, to give them something to enjoy with their drinks.
The young swordsman who had been speaking found the voices around him drowning him out completely, leaving him no room to continue. He could only purse his lips and fall silent.
At those words, the crowd's curiosity was piqued again, and someone called out to the storytelling elder, "A hundred times more astonishing? No need to put it so dramatically. If what you end up saying is not nearly as impressive as that, old man, are you going to pay for my drinks?"
The crowd took it as a joke, but the storytelling elder on the wooden stage turned toward the person who had said it and slowly gave a nod, "No problem. If what this old one says is not great news, this old one will cover everyone's tab today."
At those words, the entire tavern went suddenly quiet.
A bill for this many people drinking here was no small amount. For the storytelling elder to say this, either he was genuinely confident, or he clearly had no fear of the many martial world figures in this tavern.
In an instant, everyone began to look more carefully at the black-robed elder on the stage, and grew increasingly curious about both the man himself and what he had to say.
"You really are confident, old man. In that case, I am willing to skip today's Tianqi imperial history and hear for myself exactly what earth-shaking event you have to tell us."
The young swordsman finally found his opening, and called out to the storytelling elder with a look of amusement.
The storytelling elder did not mind at all. Instead he raised his eyes to look at the young swordsman, "I can see this young hero is someone who enjoys good company and excitement, and has seen much of the world. Why not let this young hero answer a few questions for this old one?"
At those words, the young swordsman raised an eyebrow slightly, as though the storytelling elder had landed right on his vanity.
He crossed his arms and held a straight face, "Ask away. This young hero will not boast, but there is very little in this martial world that I would not know."
The storytelling elder gave a quiet nod, then spoke, "Since the young hero has heard of the Eighth Prince, I wonder how much the young hero actually knows about him?"
At those words, the young swordsman clearly paused for a moment, and then furrowed his brow, "If you are asking about the exploits of the false prince, I know quite a bit. Not only is the man a genuine martial prodigy, he is also accomplished in both strategy and civil administration."
"Even in terms of results among all the princes who were assigned roles in the six ministries, he quietly ranked first. His reputation inside and outside the court is outstanding, and many in Great Li have privately discussed the idea that he is the most suitable candidate to inherit the Great Li throne in the future."
At those words the young swordsman seemed to realize he had wandered off topic, and quickly shifted, "As for the Eighth Prince himself, I honestly do not know very much. I have only heard that he seemed to have been living in a martial school in some border town before, with no exceptional gifts, and nothing remarkable in his martial ability."
"There is no power behind him either. Even his elder sister, the Grand Princess, appears to have taken the side of the false prince."
At that, the young swordsman shook his head. Apparently his knowledge of the Great Li Eighth Prince ended there, and he had nothing further to add.
The storytelling elder below did not say whether the young swordsman was right or wrong.
He simply narrowed his eyes slightly, then swept a look over the large crowd of onlookers, and spoke in a deep and resonant voice, "Regarding the Eighth Prince, does anyone else have anything to add?"
At those words, several people in the tavern visibly furrowed their brows, and someone started to lose patience, "If you have great news to share, then share it. Why do you keep going on about this obscure Eighth Prince?"
"A prince with no martial talent who fell among the common people, what is there worth discussing? His fate will probably be nothing more than living as a comfortable idle prince, eating well and waiting to die."
Then someone else joined in, "Exactly. Honestly speaking, when it comes to talent and achievement, the real prince has not so much as a fraction of what the fake prince has."
For a stretch, a number of people in the tavern began to grow a little impatient. No one could quite figure out what was wrong with this storytelling elder. Deliberately rambling and stalling, refusing to get to the point.
The storytelling elder paid no attention to any of it. He simply brought the block down sharply, drawing everyone's eyes, and said in a low, firm voice, "If no one has anything more to add, this old one will continue."
He then swept a look over the tavern crowd, "The reason this old one kept asking about the Eighth Prince's history is not because this old one has lost the thread of things. The truth is, the person at the center of what this old one has to share today is none other than the Eighth Prince himself!"
At those words, the brows around the room furrowed even deeper, and everyone was clearly puzzled as to how an utterly unremarkable prince from among the common people had become the main character of anything.
The reaction of the young swordsman was entirely unlike the crowd's, however.
He had gone oddly quiet at that moment, and was simply watching the storytelling elder below, his thoughts unreadable.
At the same time, the storytelling elder took in every reaction in the tavern, but only let out a sigh and went on, "This old one understands why you all think nothing of the Eighth Prince. But in this world, things cannot always be judged by appearances."
"As they say, you cannot judge a person by looks any more than you can measure the sea with a bucket. It was only a few hours ago that this old one learned that the Eighth Prince is in truth the most peerless and genuinely extraordinary figure in this entire world."
"Those so-called Seventh Princes of the world, those so-called martial prodigies of the great sects and thousand-year families, are not even fit to hold this Eighth Prince's shoes."
At those words, the storytelling elder fell suddenly silent.
It seemed as though even knowing the full story ahead of time, speaking of it now still left him lost for words in pure astonishment.
At the same time, the entire tavern went completely silent.
After a brief moment, the crowd broke into a roar.
Everyone had heard what the storytelling elder said, and yet it was as though they had not understood a word of it.
Since when had the Great Li Eighth Prince become the one peerless talent in all the world?
When had any of them ever heard of this?
And moreover, his praise had shot the Eighth Prince straight into the heavens, while dismissing both the fake Seventh Prince and the proud young talents of the great martial world sects as entirely worthless.
Everyone began to privately wonder just how much silver the Eighth Prince had slipped into this old man's hands to have him stand there and tell these outrageous lies.
In the entire tavern, the only one who reacted differently was the young swordsman.
For reasons no one could explain, he had gone utterly still, sitting at his table with a deeply furrowed brow, his expression shifting back and forth across his face.
After a long moment's hesitation, he suddenly stood, looked down at the storytelling elder in the courtyard below, and asked, "Old man, do you have any basis for what you are saying?"
At that point the tavern crowd also looked toward the storytelling elder. Some were muttering curses about him speaking nonsense.
Others were loudly shouting, "Refund! Give me back my money!"
...
And yet, faced with the aggressive and furious crowd, the aged face of the storytelling elder remained completely calm from beginning to end, and the look in his eyes was that of a man watching a group of clowns.
Or perhaps, in the people before him, he also saw something of himself as he had been when the news had first reached him.
In the next instant, the storytelling elder's voice erupted through the entire tavern like a thunderclap, instantly drowning out every voice in the room. An invisible martial aura of pressure radiated outward, stunning everyone into stillness.
"Every one of you, in this very moment, is exactly as this old one was in that very moment!"
The storytelling elder's voice echoed in the ears of the now-silent crowd, and he then turned his head toward the young swordsman who had asked the question, "The young hero asks this old one for a basis. Then this old one has only one question. Are you aware that the Great Li Tianjin Guards has already moved against Falling God Peak?"
"And what does the young hero believe the outcome of that battle will be? Do you think the Great Li Tianjin Guards could possibly defeat Falling God Peak?"
At those words, the crowd that had been stunned into stillness by the storytelling elder all wore shifting expressions, and everyone on every floor turned to watch the exchange between the two of them, clearly drawn in by the conversation.
The fact that the Great Li court had suddenly dispatched the Tianjin Guards against Falling God Peak, one of the four great martial world sects, was something everyone here, living in Lan Province as they did, had picked up at least some wind of.
People had been privately discussing it even beforehand, and the general consensus was that this campaign would not see a resolution in less than ten or fifteen days.
And the idea that the Tianjin Guards alone could bring down Falling God Peak was simply impossible. The most likely outcome was a decisive defeat for the Great Li Tianjin Guards, who would slink away with their tails between their legs.
After that, the Great Li court would probably not dare make another move against the martial world for quite some time.
This whole affair had in fact struck many of the martial world figures present as rather good news for the martial world. With less court interference after that, those of the martial world would be able to go about their business more freely.
At that moment, the young swordsman narrowed his eyes at the storytelling elder's question.
He did not answer, because any martial world figure in the room could have answered it the same way.
He simply looked at the storytelling elder and said, "So, what connection does the battle between the Great Li Tianjin Guards and Falling God Peak have to do with the Great Li Eighth Prince?"
At those words, the storytelling elder did not mind being answered with a question instead of an answer. He seemed to have already known what the young swordsman would say, and gave a nod, "The young hero is sharp indeed."
Then he slowly swept his gaze across the now-silent tavern, "I imagine all of you believe that with only the Tianjin Guards at its disposal, the Great Li court could absolutely not shake Falling God Peak, one of the four great martial world sects."
"But this old one is here to tell you, you are wrong. Deeply and entirely wrong."
At those words, the storytelling elder brought the block crashing down and sighed, "You all think that with just the Tianjin Guards alone, how could they possibly bring down Falling God Peak? But what none of you know is who was actually leading the Tianjin Guards in this campaign."
"And who gave the Great Li Tianjin Guards the courage? The courage to step into Lan Province and into Falling God Peak's own territory, knowing full well it could mean their deaths."
At those words, someone in the crowd finally could not hold back and instinctively called out, "Who was it?"
And at that moment, the young swordsman's brow furrowed sharply, and he looked at the storytelling elder with a mix of shock and uncertainty, asking cautiously, "You cannot be suggesting... it was the Great Li Eighth Prince?"
At that moment, the entire tavern had its eyes on the storytelling elder.
The elder looked up at the young swordsman on the second floor, and slowly gave a nod, "The young hero is indeed sharp."
Then the storytelling elder's voice paused for a moment before dropping into a low and steady tone, "That is correct. That person was the Great Li Eighth Prince!"
"And what this old one has to share today concerns Falling God Peak, the Great Li Tianjin Guards, and that Eighth Prince."
At those words, the storytelling elder fell briefly silent before letting out a slow breath, "Friends, listen carefully!"
"Falling God Peak has been destroyed."
...
At those words, the entire tavern went so quiet that a pin dropping would have been audible.
This deathly silence held for quite a long while before the crowd one by one began to shake loose and come back to themselves.
"Falling God Peak has been destroyed?"
"This... how is that possible?"
...
In an instant, no one in the crowd could bring themselves to believe what the storytelling elder had said.
And at that moment, the storytelling elder spoke on, his resonant voice filling every ear in the room.
"Just last night, the Great Li Tianjin Guards divided into four columns and attacked the Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth Peaks of Falling God Peak simultaneously."
"By all reasoning, the four-column assault should have been a prolonged campaign. In all likelihood the Great Li Tianjin Guards would at best have taken one or two peaks before hitting their limit."
"But all of this was rewritten by an Eighth Prince whom no one had noticed."
The storytelling elder spoke as he paced, his voice filled with feeling, "The world knew only that the Eighth Prince had just had his identity recognized by the Great Li Emperor, and assumed he must still be in Shangyang City."
"But in truth, the Eighth Prince had long since left the imperial capital at some unknown point, and arrived personally at the Falling God Peak sect last night."
"He ascended the peak alone. First he killed the Hundred Refinements Peak Master Zheng Yunfeng, and then with a single gesture ended the life of one of the four great honored elders, the supreme existences of Falling God Peak, the Scarlet Fire Honored Elder."
At those words, the storytelling elder paused briefly, then went on, "After that, the Falling God Peak grandmaster personally stepped in, joining forces with the three remaining honored elders to intercept the Eighth Prince."
"And the Eighth Prince faced all four of them alone. With martial power that could rival a Martial God, he cut down all four of them, turning the tide of the battle and sealing Falling God Peak's fate."
As those words fell, the storytelling block crashed down, jolting the audience back from where they had drifted.