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

"You're going to follow me?"

Lu Ye opened his mouth and asked.

The Dao Comprehension Tree emitted a faint consciousness, expressing affirmation.

"Pretty smart, I’ll give you that. Fine, I’ll take you with me."

Lu Ye extended his hand. The Dao Comprehension Tree began to emit a hazy glow. The entire tree started to shrink, eventually becoming palm-sized, and landed in Lu Ye’s hand.

With one hand, Lu Ye formed a seal. A rune condensed and flew toward the Dao Comprehension Tree, merging into it.

A faint connection formed between the man and the tree.

The Dao Comprehension Tree merged into Lu Ye’s skin.

Cultivation was Lu Ye’s primary path forward. Now that he had reached a stage where he couldn’t progress further, it was time to continue searching for resources.

The treasures in the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield were generally not of high grade.

However, some were extremely valuable even in their sapling stage. Once matured in the future, they would be worth a fortune.

Lu Ye knew exactly what held the most value—and where to find it.

For example, on the fifth-level battlefield, there was a Fusang sapling. A single Fusang Fruit could drive countless powerful cultivators into a frenzy.

If one pursued the Dao of Fusang, they could be counted among the strongest in the fire element.

Wherever Lu Ye passed, those who recognized him quickly gave way.

Those who didn’t know him were casually slain by him.

Tyrannical and overbearing—these four words now described Lu Ye perfectly.

But soon, Lu Ye slightly furrowed his brow.

He had noticed that many of the supreme treasures had already been taken in advance.

If it had been just one or two, that would’ve been normal. Everyone had their own fate and encounters. But for the majority of things that had caught Lu Ye’s eye to already be gone?

That was not normal.

Who could it be?

Until Lu Ye arrived [N O V E L I G H T] at Mount Wanzhong.

This mountain resembled a giant bell. When the wind blew through it, the sound of Dao reverberated.

In truth, this was a spiritual treasure.

Because its master had perished, over time it had merged with the mountain itself.

In this world, treasures were clearly categorized: magical tools, magic treasures, acquired spirit treasures, innate spirit treasures, acquired supreme treasures, innate supreme treasures...

In the First Heaven, the sect-guarding treasures of most major sects were acquired spirit treasures. Innate spirit treasures were already incredibly rare and powerful.

When Lu Ye arrived at Mount Wanzhong, the entire mountain was trembling.

Large swathes of rock fell away, revealing the bronze-colored metallic luster beneath.

A figure clad in black robes was forming hand seals, extracting the Dao Bell.

Lu Ye looked at the figure in black robes.

Didn’t recognize them?

Impossible!

His palm gently swept across his eyes, and his pupils turned golden. Looking again—

Shangguan Huanling!

Shangguan Huanling sensed a fluctuation of aura and turned her head. The moment she saw Lu Ye, her expression changed drastically.

Lu Ye had already sent a slash of sword energy flying toward her.

Stealing my treasure? Then you’ve already chosen the path of death!

The sword qi sliced through the air with a terrifying howl.

Shangguan Huanling didn’t dare to be careless in the slightest. No one knew better than the eight of them just how terrifying Lu Ye truly was. In an instant, Shangguan Huanling turned into a mist of blood.

"Boom!"

A crimson flash vanished with a speed comparable to teleportation.

Lu Ye: ???

Well, well, well. Demonic Blood Transformation Escape.

Didn’t even dare take one hit from my sword...

That decisiveness in using the Demonic Blood Transformation Escape left Lu Ye speechless.

Who starts a fight and immediately uses such a self-harming technique that heavily damages one’s essence, energy, and spirit?

Now he understood why so many of the treasures he’d been seeking had vanished—they had mostly been taken in advance by Shangguan Huanling.

He didn’t give chase—he wouldn’t be able to catch her anyway unless he used the Demonic Blood Transformation Escape himself.

Even if he used it, it’d be hard to control the direction.

But this Dao Bell, at least, should be his now.

As the earth shook and mountains trembled, Lu Ye stowed the Dao Bell and continued his search.

Inside a mountain cave.

Shangguan Huanling’s face was deathly pale, her aura severely depleted. She quickly pasted one concealment talisman after another at the entrance of the cave, then suppressed her own aura to the absolute limit before finally exhaling in relief.

That bastard wasn’t supposed to still be cultivating under the Dao Comprehension Tree—why did he come out?

This won’t do. She couldn’t keep collecting treasures like this anymore. If she ran into Lu Ye again, she might not make it out alive next time.

Still, the harvest of treasures she’d gathered was already quite substantial.

Time to cultivate!

Numerous treasures appeared, surrounding Shangguan Huanling.

Threads of spiritual light began to flow out from those treasures, flooding into her body.

This cultivation method was called the Origin-Swallowing Heaven Scripture. It could devour the origins of all things.

The treasures she had obtained all had extraordinary potential. The higher the potential, the richer the origin energy, and the faster her cultivation advanced.

In no time, Shangguan Huanling had already reached Nascent Break Sixth Layer.

Nascent Break Seventh Layer!

Nascent Break Eighth Layer!

Nascent Break Ninth Layer!

Then, Shangguan Huanling’s hands shifted in seal technique, and her cultivation realm began to rapidly drop.

Nascent Break Eighth Layer!

Nascent Break Seventh Layer!

Nascent Break Sixth Layer!

Through the repeated rising and falling of her cultivation, her aura became increasingly solid and stable.

When her cultivation session ended, her realm had firmly settled at Nascent Break Eighth Layer—her advancement speed could only be described as astonishing.

“Hmph. Didn’t I say it? Even without you, I can still become an emperor. I might even surpass my previous life!”

Shangguan Huanling felt the powerful fluctuations of true essence within her body and couldn’t help the slight upward curve of her lips.

Maybe some of the others were already regretting betraying Lu Ye, but she definitely didn’t.

Even in her past life, she had always felt that Lu Ye’s so-called help was nothing but a shackle.

She clearly had the ability to reach immense strength on her own, yet Lu Ye stubbornly kept her bound at his side, never allowing her to break free.

She had truly loved Lu Ye.

But eventually, Lu Ye’s love became suffocating.

All treasures would be delivered right to her, without any effort. She no longer had to go through any hardship.

But that kind of life was absolutely not what she wanted.

This freedom now—to roam and gallop across the world as she pleased—was the life she had always longed for.

At last, she was free!

Since her return in this life, these treasures turned out to be far easier to find than she had imagined.

So, what credit did Lu Ye deserve?

Why should he use that credit to keep her chained by his side?

...

Lu Ye didn’t run into Shangguan Huanling again. Between the fourth and sixth layers, many of the truly valuable treasures had indeed already been taken by her.

Origin-Swallowing Heaven Scripture, huh?

It really was a formidable true scripture. Once cultivated, one became like a Kunpeng, able to devour the essence of all things.

Still, there were quite a few treasures Lu Ye managed to collect into his own stash.

“These bastards are being a little too well-behaved.”

While gathering treasures, Lu Ye had encountered the God Clan, Demon Clan, and other foreign races more than once.

Their behavior made Lu Ye feel a subtle sense of unease.

It was too coordinated.

Were they joining forces again?

Lu Ye shook his head. Forget it—it had nothing to do with him.

Judging by the time, the final three layers of the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield were about to open.

It would be in just a day or two.

In his previous life, on the Eternal Heaven’s Chosen Ranking, he had fought his way to thirty-third place.

It wasn’t because he was too weak—but because the names on that ranking were utterly outrageous. The top ten names were entirely cloaked in chaos, unreadable and unclear.

Ranked eleventh was a man named Ye Wudi.

Not many knew this name, but he had another title—Invincible Sword Sovereign. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Master of the Invincible Sword, a monster at the Heavenly Sovereign level.

Ranked eleventh.