The Eight Empresses Betrayed Me, Only to Deeply Regret It After Being Reborn

"Trash! Utter trash!"

From the demon race side, complaints and curses erupted nonstop.

They had their own means of tracking the life signs of fellow demons—and the results were horrifying. The deaths among their ranks were nothing short of catastrophic.

The much-anticipated Duan Jianmo had already died long ago, and droves of other demon Heaven’s Chosen had perished in batches. The scale of loss was truly chilling.

But now—finally—the tide was about to turn for the demon race.

Because this time, three of their most terrifying Heaven’s Chosen had arrived at once.

Tu Wuying, the master of shadow stealth and one-kill assassinations.

Xing Ye, a powerhouse with apocalyptic might.

And Ye An, the son of the Heavenly Demon Emperor himself.

These three represented the pinnacle of demonic talent. Even if they couldn’t dominate the entire battlefield, their presence alone was enough to make every major force uneasy.

The demons' morale soared. Their confidence exploded. Demonic qi surged, rolling into the sky like a black tide.

The glory of the demon race was about to return.

Ye An was the first to step through the teleportation portal, entering the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield.

His gaze swept across the land—and the first thing he saw was Lu Ye, standing calmly with a sword in hand.

He froze slightly.

Human?

Wait, what? What was this supposed to mean?

Why was this human standing here, alone?

What was he trying to do?

Tu Wuying stepped through second.

Just as Ye An was about to speak, a brilliant sword light suddenly ignited the space around them.

In Ye An’s eyes, the heavens and earth vanished. In that moment, only that single sword light existed in all creation.

His body trembled ever so slightly. Every hair on his body stood on end. The hand gripping his weapon felt suddenly powerless, as if it no longer belonged to him.

Fast!

Precise!

Deadly!

A breeze gently swept across his face, ruffling Ye An’s hair.

Tu Wuying’s figure split in half right before him. In his eyes, there was still confusion.

Who am I?

Where am I?

What am I doing?

Wait... You’re not killing the Heavenly Demon Emperor’s son—you’re killing me?

What grudge? What hatred? Have we even met? You waited here just to kill me? I only just arrived through the teleportation gate!

Bro, who can understand this? I just ran into a total psycho who slaughtered me on sight.

In the blink of an eye, Tu Wuying was dead. Lu Ye simply gave Ye An a calm glance—and didn’t attack him.

Even though doing so would’ve been quite easy.

Lu Ye’s figure flickered and vanished, already reappearing thousands of meters away.

Huge beads of sweat streamed down Ye An’s forehead. That one glance from Lu Ye... made him feel as though death had been right beside him.

Close enough to touch.

The third demon Heaven’s Chosen appeared through the portal. Xing Ye still wore a casual, eager smile—until the metallic scent of blood filled his nose.

He looked over—and froze as if struck by lightning.

"Tu Wuying is dead?" Xing Ye exclaimed in disbelief.

What kind of bullshit was this?

He had been just a few seconds behind Tu Wuying. Five seconds at most—and by the time he arrived, Tu Wuying was already sliced in two.

Ye An stood dazed, his eyes vacant, clearly questioning the very nature of reality.

"Ye An! How did Tu Wuying die? Don’t tell me you killed him?"

There was no one else present—only Ye An. So naturally, the assumption was that he had done it. But... why?

What reason could Ye An possibly have for killing Tu Wuying?

"A... a human."

Ye An inhaled deeply, forcefully suppressing the fear and shock in his heart.

He had been genuinely terrified.

Had that sword turned toward him instead of Tu Wuying, he would’ve died without question.

Had there been a second strike after Tu Wuying fell, aimed at him—he would still have died without question.

"A human!"

Xing Ye cried out in alarm.

"Where is he?"

Ye An pointed in the direction Lu Ye had left, his voice dry and hoarse.

"I think... I finally understand why the demon race is dying so miserably."

One by one, demon race Heaven’s Chosen arrived—only to be struck dumb the moment they set foot on the battlefield.

What the hell—he killed Tu Wuying, and right in front of the Heavenly Demon Emperor’s son? And in such a short ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) span of time?

Some demons began glancing up at the teleportation vortex overhead. Maybe... just maybe... they should turn back now?

This trip to the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield seemed a hell of a lot more brutal than any previous one.

After killing Tu Wuying, Lu Ye felt an overwhelming sense of ease.

In his past life, Tu Wuying had plagued him endlessly—especially with the endless string of senior brothers and sisters who died right before his eyes. Lu Ye had etched that bastard into his memory.

Killing him once wasn’t enough.

Only killing him again made things feel right.

From the fourth layer, Lu Ye surged all the way toward the sixth.

He was fairly familiar with this territory. He circled around the trickier areas—many places here simply weren’t worth exploring.

The middle three layers held no treasures that Lu Ye needed. He would return during the final three-layer opening to claim a different treasure: the Immaculate Blood Sea Pearl. That was a key artifact for condensing, beyond his natal life, a second soul—a third life, essentially.

For now, he needed to stay beneath the Enlightenment Tree.

He just hoped no one would disturb him.

Otherwise, he’d have to fight again—and that was such a bother.

In this life, he always treated people kindly... well, that didn’t include demons, ghosts, gods, or devils.

Up ahead, a verdant green tree came into view.

Lu Ye stepped forward. A phantasmal figure suddenly appeared in front of him. Without waiting for it to speak, Lu Ye swung his sword.

The illusion was instantly obliterated.

The Enlightenment Tree swayed gently. Its jade-green leaves shimmered with specks of light as illusion after illusion began to materialize around it.

"Three Thousand Dao Swords!"

With one sword strike, three thousand sword cries rang out.

Dozens of phantoms were all shattered on the spot.

Lu Ye walked beneath the Enlightenment Tree and looked up.

Enlightenment Tree...

Wisps of light cascaded gently down toward him, and in that moment, Lu Ye’s heart and mind fell into utter stillness.

It was like a mirror-smooth lake without a ripple, wrapped by the heavens and earth—utterly serene.

"Begin enlightenment."

Ding. Enlightenment activated.

To comprehend the Dao beneath the Enlightenment Tree—this dual enlightenment made Lu Ye question for a second whether he was even human anymore.

But just as that thought arose, it was instantly erased. Gone without a trace.

Dao.

Only the Dao.

......

All races flooded into the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield.

Those arriving now were far more powerful. The first batch had been of the younger generation, mostly fluctuating around the Nascent Soul level. The stronger ones might have reached the third or fourth layer of that realm at best.

But this new wave—even the weakest among them were already at the sixth or seventh layer of the Nascent Soul stage.

Some had even reached the threshold of Spirit Severing.

Technically, within the First Heaven, the Dao Integration Realm was already considered the pinnacle of power. Those who had reached Spirit Severing were arguably no longer just "Heaven’s Chosen"—but considering the nine-layered heavens, and how the First Heaven was merely a starting point, or even a form of protection for the weak, it wasn’t too outrageous for Spirit Severing cultivators to still be considered Heaven’s Chosen.

In the Ninefold Heavens, one could ascend—but never descend.

That rule had been established by the ancient Nine Heavens Saint Sovereign, who once grieved for the weak who had no place to stand in the world. So he created the Ninefold Heavens, with an iron law: ascendable, but never descendable.

Of course, the Nine Heavens Saint Sovereign was long dead. Certain powerful factions now had their own methods to temporarily descend.

The human race began to regroup.

This new wave of human cultivators had just arrived, and when they saw that the lower three layers of the battlefield had been completely dominated by the human race—they were stunned.

What the fuck? Were the new-generation brats really this fierce?

Meanwhile, powerhouses from the other races could barely find signs of their own people. They were so pissed their noses were practically crooked.

Alliance. They had to unite—immediately!

The Buddhist faction also began calling for their disciples. Thankfully, though their performance had been mediocre, it hadn’t been catastrophic.

They breathed a sigh of relief.

With that, the Buddhist disciples began calling for action.

The Enlightenment Tree!

The Buddhist sect had to seize the Enlightenment Tree first, then set up formations to fully protect it.

Once they did, their cultivation in the Dharma would surely skyrocket!