"Of course I understand that Grandfather has his own reasons, but we're doing this for his own good—for the sake of our Ling Clan."
"I really don't want more of our Ling Clan's people to die at Chu Feng's hands."
"And I especially don't want Grandfather to die by Chu Feng's sword."
"But Chu Feng hasn't done anything wrong."
"We can't even find a reason to ask him to show mercy."
"Grandfather, he…"
"He's truly incorrigible—an old fool."
"A stinking old fool."
"He won't listen to reason, and he even hit me. How infuriating!"
Ling Sheng'er grew more agitated as she spoke, eventually breaking into a roar.
"He really is an old fool."
Ling Mo'er echoed in agreement.
"Who's an old fool?"
But suddenly, a voice rang out, making all three tense up.
When they turned toward the sound, their faces drained of color. There, standing on the lonely boat as though he had appeared from thin air, was the Lord of the Ling Clan.
"Grandfather… how—how did you—?"
Ling Sheng'er and Ling Mo'er grew even more nervous.
Shuang Yu immediately shifted into a defensive stance.
After all, someone of the Ling Clan Lord's stature would not hesitate to strike them down if he so chose.
"Old fool?"
"So this is how you speak of me behind my back?"
The Lord of the Ling Clan fixed his gaze on Ling Sheng'er and Ling Mo'er.
"Of course not—we were just upset."
The two hastily explained.
The Lord of the Ling Clan clearly did not believe them. His aged eyes rolled upward slightly before he asked:
"Are you certain that if you pledge yourselves to Chu Feng in your current capacities, he will accept you?"
"He will."
The two answered in unison.
But Shuang Yu said nothing. Memories of what she had once done to Chu Feng flooded her mind.
She was not certain whether Chu Feng would accept her.
Whoosh—
Suddenly, an ancient transmission talisman dropped into Ling Sheng'er's hand.
"If Chu Feng truly accepts you, then tell him that our Ling Clan is willing to help him."
"As a show of sincerity, if he needs it, our Ling Clan will perform one task on his behalf."
"As long as he does not indiscriminately slaughter the people of our Seven Worlds Holy Palace, nor destroy the possessions of our Seven Worlds Holy Palace, I will agree to whatever he asks."
"When the time comes, simply use this transmission talisman to send me a message."
The Lord of the Ling Clan said.
Upon hearing this, Ling Sheng'er and Ling Mo'er were overjoyed:
"Grandfather, you… you mean it? You've… come around?"
"What else would it mean?"
"Did you expect me to use my authority to announce to the world that our Ling Clan intends to betray Jie Tianran and defect to Chu Feng before you'd believe me?"
The Lord of the Ling Clan asked.
"Of course not. But Grandfather, what made you suddenly change your mind?"
Ling Sheng'er asked with a grin.
The Lord of the Ling Clan had originally intended to tell them about what he had witnessed firsthand—Jie Tianran's sacrifice of two Sacred-level elders and eighty million elites of the Seven Worlds Holy Palace to power the Primordial Divination Technique.
But after a moment's thought, he decided against revealing that.
Because doing so would change the nature of the matter entirely.
It would make it seem as though he was defecting to Chu Feng out of fear that Jie Tianran's blade would eventually fall on him.
And not because he had genuinely listened to reason, not out of true righteousness, not because he had truly seen the light.
So instead he said:
"After careful consideration, I believe what you two said makes a great deal of sense."
"But let me be clear upfront—what I am betraying is Jie Tianran. I remain a member of the Seven Worlds Holy Palace."
"Tell Chu Feng as well: if he needs us to act, we will help him."
"But he must stop the indiscriminate slaughter of the Seven Worlds Holy Palace's people. Every grievance has its source, every debt its debtor. If he wants revenge, he should go after Jie Tianran."
The Lord of the Ling Clan said.
"But Lord Nianqing's death was not carried out by Jie Tianran alone."
"Young Master Chu Feng has done nothing wrong. Many in the Seven Worlds Holy Palace right now deserve to die."
Shuang Yu spoke up at this point.
"At the very least, let there be no more indiscriminate killing of the innocent within our Ling Clan."