His father Cao Lin begged Sun Quan for Jiangxia Huang Zu and was killed by his ancestor Gan Ning. Ling Tong, 15, robbed his father's body and returned it. After that, Gan Ning surrendered to Sun Quan, counterattacked and killed Huang Zu, and Sun Quan rewarded him. Ling Tong thought of killing his father and wanted to assassinate him at the banquet, but Sun Quan caught him. Sun Quan named Ling Tong Cheng Lie as a captain, so as not to miss the past. However, Ling Tong couldn't stop thinking. He often hated this. Soon, Ling Tong and Zhou Yu attacked Coss in Nanjun. At that time, Gan Ning was in Yiling, surrounded by other troops of Coss. Zhou Yu used the plan of staying in Lingtong to refuse Coss, and Zhou Yu divided his forces to save Ning and turned defeat into victory.
After that, Ling Tong went to Hefei from Sun Quan and served as the right-hand man of the army. When the whole army went out, the front line had already been launched, but General Zhang Liao of Wei suddenly appeared in the north of xiaoyaojin, and Sun Quan was besieged. Ling Tong led nearly three hundred riders to protect Sun Quan. Ling Tongfu was still fighting, and all the soldiers left and right were dead, and he was also injured. He fought indomitable until Sun Quan had nothing to give back. Soon, the two armies fought again, and Ling Tong successively fought with Wei generals Zhang Liao and Le Jin, regardless of the outcome; However, Cao Xiu shot down the mount with an arrow behind his back and was killed by Le Jin several times. Thanks to Gan Ning for his rescue. The two men then resolved their grievances and became friends.
In 237, Ling Tong died on February17 at the age of 49. Hearing this, Sun Quan sat up in bed and cried. He reduced his diet for several days in a row. Everything he said about Ling Tong made him cry, which made Rizo write an inscription on it.
Ling Tong had two sons, Ling Lie and Ling Feng, who were several years old at that time. Sun Quan grew up in the palace and loved them as if he were his own son. When the guests came to see him, Sun Quan shouted, "This is my tiger." When the second son was eight or nine years old, Sun Quan ordered Ge Guang to study and to ride a horse on the 10th. Also recorded Ling Tong Gong, sealed Ling Lie's pavilion and gave it back to his veterans. After Ling Lie was guilty, he was free to sit on the ground, and Ling Feng attacked Jue and led the troops out.