A blood-red Buddhist Prayer Bead turned into a black crow and flew into the night, disappearing beyond the windswept, snowbound frontier.
Then the scene changed.
Flames soared into the sky over White Camel Ridge. Some of the defensive formation cores were destroyed, and tens of thousands of Dao Army troops instantly lost part of their protection! This was precisely the formation barrier connected to Yuantan!
Many Great Jin cultivators died gruesomely under the barbarian soldiers' onslaught.
Pei Xuance's expression instantly darkened.
Behind him, the Border Army generals' eyes grew bloodshot, their killing intent almost impossible to suppress.
Qing Chen said evenly, "In this battle, Great Jin's White Camel Ridge defensive line was attacked for three days. Of the forty thousand cultivators in the Front Army's First, Second, Third, and Fourth Divisions, more than eight thousand seven hundred died. Great Jin's histories recorded it as a night raid by the Golden Tent's poison barbarians, but made no mention of an insider."
"And this eminent monk Yuantan returned to his temple after the battle and entered seclusion for five years. When he emerged, his cultivation had instead advanced greatly!"
"His śarīra is still enshrined in the śarīra pagoda behind Faneng Temple."
Inside the temple gates, the monk soldiers, who had shared a common hatred of Qing Chen for surrounding their temple, finally broke into an irrepressible stir.
Some were bewildered.
Some were furious.
Some instinctively looked toward Chan Master Faneng, hoping their abbot would immediately refute these absurd accusations.
But Chan Master Faneng did not speak at once. He merely stared blankly at the projection. Every detail matched; even fabricating it would have been difficult.
Still, he said gravely, "The truth of events so long past is difficult to determine. This may have been fabricated by an enemy nation. A single