Chapter 62: Nine Layers Fully Open

"This time, no traitors, right?"

At a high-level meeting, the God Clan leader, named Guang Wuyu, opened with a line dripping in sarcasm.

It was obvious who he was referring to.

The Tiger Clan’s Husheng glared with wide eyes.

"What do you mean by that?"

Guang Wuyu smiled faintly. "What could I possibly mean? I’m just worried that everything will be going according to plan, and then right at the critical moment, someone suddenly switches sides and helps the enemy escape. Wouldn’t that be utterly disgraceful?"

Husheng, upon hearing that, smashed the stone in front of him into powder with a single claw.

"Who the fuck are you talking about?"

"When you throw a rock and a dog barks, the one barking the loudest is probably the one who got hit."

A monk in a kasaya didn’t waste words. He stood up and prepared to leave.

Ye An quickly stepped forward to stop him.

"Du’e, where are you going?"

Du’e’s expression was calm.

"The races gathered here harbor different intentions. This plan is bound to fail. So what would a poor monk stay for? Better to return and recite a few more scriptures—more useful that way." Du’e spoke bluntly.

"Different intentions? There’s no such thing. Everyone’s gathered here for one purpose—to eliminate Lu Ye. Kill that bastard before the human race even has a chance to react."

"Guang Wuyu, Husheng, can you two behave yourselves? Or do you think that just because Lu Ye hasn’t yet clashed with you, he never will in the future?"

"Once he’s grown, and you run into him again, that’s when you’ll understand what it means to regret."

"Are we joining forces or not? Say something, the both of you. If we’re going to join forces, then no one should utter another word of nonsense. If not, then let’s disband right now!" Ye An’s voice was stern.

The atmosphere in the cave was oppressive.

The firelight flickered.

Guang Wuyu and Husheng both fell silent.

"Join forces."

Guang Wuyu finally spoke.

"Hmph!"

Husheng let out a cold snort.

Ye An roared, "What are you snorting for? Are you in or not?"

Husheng’s face was grim, his tiger claws clenching and relaxing.

In the end, he nodded.

"Join forces!"

"Good. Then everyone, listen to me carefully."

"The final three levels of the Ancient Battlefield of Heaven’s Chosen are opening. When the elite of all races arrive, don’t do anything else—the first priority is to gather every strong cultivator we can and surround and kill Lu Ye!"

"This is the most important matter. Nothing is more important than this!"

"Remember—kill him with everything we’ve got!"

"Approach it as if it were the last battle before your race’s extinction!"

"All of you must use every means necessary to persuade your strongest warriors. Don’t let a single link in the chain break!"

...

Time passed, minute by minute.

Suddenly, Lu Ye looked up.

"Boom!"

A thunderous roar erupted from the skies.

Clouds swirled, winds surged, and the heavens stretched out even more vastly than before.

Light twisted and shadows flickered. The world was split into layer after layer.

The final three levels of the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield had officially opened. The faint sense of shackles that had been binding everyone’s bodies vanished entirely.

One enormous vortex after another appeared in the sky above.

These vortexes were especially massive.

Lu Ye’s eyes lit up, and his figure vanished.

He charged straight toward the Cliff of the Sea of Blood.

Almost all Heaven’s Chosen—be they human or of foreign races—rushed toward the seventh layer of space.

Because the powerhouses arriving now were already extremely formidable, and even though the foreign races were farther from the battlefield...

Once the human race’s elites appeared...

The top warriors of each race began appearing one after another.

Formidable auras filled the air.

Void Refinement Realm!

Void Refinement Realm!

The powerhouses entering this time—no matter the race—any one of them pulled out at random would already be at the Void Refinement level.

If you hadn’t reached Void Refinement before the age of a hundred, you didn’t qualify to be called Heaven’s Chosen.

Ye An was the first to step forward.

The Demon Clan cultivators, upon seeing Ye An, gave slight bows. This was the son of the Heavenly Demon Emperor—though still young, he was a peerless prodigy of the Demon Clan. Both his status and potential deserved respect.

"Greetings, Prince Ye."

At the head of the demon clan stood a figure clad in pitch-black armor. His entire body radiated oppressive killing intent. A pair of bull horns emitted waves of malevolent energy, and his towering, muscular frame was as imposing and unshakable as a mountain.

"Xi Mie, I have something important to tell you."

Xi Mie nodded. "Please speak, Prince Ye."

"A peerless Heaven’s Chosen has appeared among the human race. He bears the potential to become an ancestral emperor. If we don’t eliminate him today, he’ll become a great calamity in the future."

"I’ve already contacted the demon clan, ghost clan, god clan, the Buddhist sect, and the spirit clan. We’re just waiting for your side. Join us to kill this man together!"

"Will you listen to my command?" Ye An asked.

Upon hearing this, Xi Mie’s eyes surged with murderous intent.

"Is he truly that powerful? What realm is he at now?"

"Likely... Void Refinement."

"Good. Please lead the way, Prince Ye. I will kill him!"

"Not just you—the entire force of the demon clan must join this battle. We must not leave him a single breath of life!"

Xi Mie nodded. "Understood!"

That was the demon clan’s side.

Elsewhere, the same was happening. Husheng found the strongest from the yao clan this time—his name was Hua Qianshi.

The Buddhist sect summoned Huijing, a higher-generation monk from the Du character lineage.

The ghost clan gathered Yin Xiayi.

The spirit clan found the Illusion King.

The god clan called upon a Divine General.

...

Bai Qiulan entered the Heaven’s Chosen Ancient Battlefield.

"Master!"

Yue Hongling immediately rushed up to her.

Seeing that Yue Hongling was unharmed, Bai Qiulan let out a small breath of relief.

"Where’s your senior brother?"

Bai Qiulan asked.

Yue Hongling’s eyes were already turning red.

"Master!"

Her voice was already thick with sobs.

Bai Qiulan’s heart sank. What had happened?

Yue Hongling threw herself into Bai Qiulan’s arms—only to shiver from the freezing chill.

"Master!"

Yue Hongling looked up with teary, reddened eyes. "Why are you so cold? What happened to you?"

"It’s nothing. After breaking through, the Taiyin Divine Power hasn’t fully stabilized. It will be fine in a while," Bai Qiulan replied.

"And you? Why do you look so heartbroken?"

Yue Hongling couldn’t hold it in anymore. Tears like pearls fell in heavy drops.

"Master, I misunderstood Senior Brother. I misunderstood him so badly!"

Bai Qiulan: ...

"Feng Wuxie—it was a trap from the start. Senior Brother walked into it without hesitation, just for me. He gave up his life because of it!"

"And I still hurt him, Master. I wronged him so deeply. I can never make up for what I did. I deserve to die, Master, wu wu wu..."

Yue Hongling sobbed in anguish.

Her weeping was heartbreaking.

Bai Qiulan couldn’t help but close her eyes.

Another one. Another one who misunderstood.

Why did it have to turn out this way?

Everything they had done, in such a short span of time, had turned into irreversible mistakes.

Sun Ruowei’s ears were practically standing straight like antennae.

She pretended not to care, but every single word ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ Yue Hongling uttered—she heard it clearly and carefully dissected it in her mind.

She recognized every character, but put together, why couldn’t she make sense of it?

Senior Brother—referring to Lu Ye.

Feng Wuxie—who the heck was that?

Lu Ye gave up his life?

Doesn’t everyone only have one life?

Does that mean... Lu Ye died?

Oh my god, no way, right?

No, no, no—if Lu Ye died, how could Yue Hongling still be asking for forgiveness?

Then what is this? What? What? Huh??

"Strange. Why are all the various clans suddenly converging toward one location?" muttered a young elder from the Grand Dao Sect, holding a compass in hand.