The Original Ending

"Too late."

The black-clad Spirit Master's expression darkened. The Spirit Hall token at his waist gleamed coldly in the night, yet he did not step forward immediately. On the other side of Stone Bridge, the gray-robed elder likewise did not retreat. Hundreds of direct knights remained blocked behind the cracked bridge deck, and both sides' gazes fell almost simultaneously on Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan stood in the middle, Return-to-Ruin Spear in hand, while the line of Gray Text before his eyes had yet to fade.

[Predetermined Result: Failure]

Qian Renxue had already changed too many things. Yet even at this point, the Eye of Destiny still gave him this result. That could only mean that the thing truly deciding victory and defeat had yet to appear. He looked at the Spirit Hall Spirit Masters and asked directly, "Whose order?"

"Papal Hall."

"The Pope's personal edict?"

The leader did not answer directly. Instead, he said in a deep voice, "The Young Lord advanced the Tiandou Plan without authorization and has already violated the original deployment. Our task is to make her halt her actions immediately and await new orders."

Lu Yuan glanced at the token on his waist and asked again, "Does the Grand Pontiff know?"

No one answered this time. That brief silence was enough to explain everything. Lu Yuan did not press further, merely raising the Return-to-Ruin Spear slightly. "Then take the order back with you."

The black-clad Spirit Master frowned. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"I do." The Return-to-Ruin Spear in Lu Yuan's palm trembled lightly. Icy-blue and dark-red patterns slowly lit up along its shaft. He glanced at the Imperial City hidden in the distance beneath the night, his voice low. "She has waited for more than ten years. Tonight, she does not intend