Two hours before the upheaval at the Pill Tower.
The setting sun was blood-red. Ling Haonan, the Spirit Clan's Supreme Elder, stood alone in the courtyard, watching the descending sun, a trace of reluctance surfacing in his eyes.
Ling Yu quietly arrived behind Ling Haonan. Seeing the Supreme Elder like this, he did not dare interrupt his thoughts lightly.
"Is everything ready?" the old man suddenly asked, his voice like withered leaves scraping across stone steps.
"Thirty-six Spirit Guards and eighty clan members have all assembled. We await only the Supreme Elder's command!" Ling Yu replied with bowed head.
"Good." Ling Haonan withdrew his gaze from the sunset over Holy Pill City and looked at Ling Yu, who stood nearby awaiting his orders. "Ling Yu, leave."
Hearing this, Ling Yu abruptly raised his head. The moment he met Ling Haonan's gaze, he understood the Supreme Elder's meaning. He then heavily kowtowed, his forehead striking the bluestone with a dull thud that echoed through the twilight. "Supreme Elder, Ling Yu does not know what he has done wrong."
"You have done nothing wrong. Since letting you live was the request of your elder brother, Ling Luo, I wish to grant it."
Ling Yu was startled, then threw himself to the ground and pleaded earnestly, "Great Elder, none among the Spirit Guards fear death. Please give me a chance."
Ling Haonan forced out a smile. A violent headache was constantly tormenting him. In the end, he slowly walked over and helped Ling Yu up. "Of course I know you do not fear death. Not one of the Spirit Guards I personally trained fears death. It is simply that the Spirit Clan's circumstances are no longer what they once were."
Upon hearing this, Ling Yu completely understood Ling Haonan's intentions. Tears streamed from