Cao Weining also stretched out his neck to take a look, sighting the completely exposed object in the case. It was indeed an extremely delicate fragment of colored glass only about the size of a palm, glinting feebly under the daylight. Were it not said to be so, who would’ve known that it was exactly this little trinket that incited such great carnage? Yu Qiufeng gulped, then cleared his throat. “Is this really one of the five pieces of Lapis Armor?” he muttered.

“That is the truth,” Shen Shen replied, turning his gaze to Gao Chong after he finished speaking. It was unclear what the expression on Gao Chong’s face was, and it was only after a long moment of silence that he spoke to Deng Kuan at his side. “On the shelf to the left of the door in my study, behind the third tome of the Classic of Rites, there’s a hidden compartment. Open it and fetch the contents for me.”

Deng Kuan accepted the order, not understanding the reason for this. He returned a moment later, a small box having come into his possession. Gao Chong took it, sighed, then opened it up for the crowd; placed side-by-side with Shen Shen’s small case, two pieces of the Lapis Armor from legend thus made a public appearance.

“As things have gotten to this point, this aging old man has to make things clear to you all,” Gao Chong announced. “The Lapis Armor… really does have five pieces altogether, and each of us five was holding one all these years. Brother Lu met his early death a few years back, thus delivering his piece to Warrior Hua, Sect Leader of Tai Shan. Unexpectedly, though… that would actually attract the calamity of death upon him.”

Grandmaster Ci Mu grabbed onto the subject. “Amitabha. This old monk also knows a little bit about that incident.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to this kind-looking, entirely white-haired senior Shaolin monk. “I’m unsure if anyone present here still remembers that martial circle catastrophe of thirty years ago,” they all heard him say.

As soon as that statement came out, the looks on some of the older generations’ faces immediately underwent change. Even Ye Baiyi, who had seemed to be spectating the occasion on the side all this time, lifted his head up slightly.