<h4>Chapter 1554: Who''s the Strongest</h4>


    This fight was far beyond their realm. Zhang Lie and the man in dark green robes were chaining ultimate techniques together like they were nothing, drawing out their full potential in a disy of skill and strength.


    The members of Team Zenith watched the fight carefully, unwilling to miss even the slightest detail or risk the slightest moment of inattention. Being able to observe such a fight was perhaps their greatest takeaway from the Cup.


    They marveled at how the two cultivators had gone so far down their respective paths of cultivation.


    Trying to improve further would require them to step off their paths and pave their own entirely.


    Clearly, both cultivators before them were pioneers.


    Zhang Lie stumbled back, frowning. His organs ached.


    The man in dark green robes did the same. He looked down at his palm, which was bruised and bloody. Bone was showing; it was no light injury.


    The two cultivators, wounded, both retreated and eyed their opponents.


    Energy surrounded them both, erupting like a flood. Their auras grew stronger as they charged at each other once again. Their blood zed in incredible light.


    They fought each other tooth and nail. The images of avians and divine beasts rose from them as theyunched a series of incredible techniques.


    In the end, the man in dark green robes had to face reality: there was a cultivator of the younger generation whom he couldn''t suppress even with his experience. At most, all he could do was fight on equal footing with him.


    He couldn''t allow this situation to continue. Why was he here?


    He had to take down his opponent as quickly as possible for his n to go smoothly.


    In that one moment, the man''s aura changedpletely. Energy surged from him. His eyes shone silver and transformed into runes. A formless aura surrounded him as rubble on the ground floated into the air, orbiting around him before exploding into pieces.


    His aura was incredible, as though he were a deity who had been reborn in the mortal world.


    The moment he lifted his arm, light zed. Lightning shed. Divinew shrouded him, rendering him near-invincible.


    "I''ll admit that you''re strong enough to fight me on equal footing," he said coolly.


    If the mercenaries under his employ hadn''t been eliminated by Team Zenith and were still present, they would have been astounded. This was the first time he had given someone such an evaluation since his participation in the cup. Even when he ruled the realm, there had been a scant few whom he had praised so highly—and all those cultivators had be legends of their generation in their own right, or who had left an indelible mark in history.


    Zhang Lie replied calmly, "You''ll understand who''s stronger among us soon enough."


    "There''s no need. I don''t have time to waste with you. It''s time to end things."


    He shot forward in a haze of rosy light and arcs of lightning. He formed divine seals with his hands; the visage of a legendary deity appeared before him.


    If anyone from the fifth realm were still around, they would immediately recognize that this technique was one that only past Immortal Kings of the Hall of Immortals had ever managed to master, and that it was the hardest among such techniques.


    "[Seal of Deific Descension]!"


    The deity had a solemn, stately appearance, though its features were blurred and indistinguishable. Fog surrounded it; the aura it gave off was incredible.


    The man in dark green robes had summoned a deity!


    "In an actual fight, I would have taken you down within moments."


    The blurry visage grew more and more solid. It sent a rapid palm strike at Zhang Lie, causing the entirety of the ancient hall to quake. The altar almost split apart.


    "I think not!" Zhang Lie radiated with light as he drew Hanguang and shed the visage of the deity in two.


    "[Syzygy]!"


    A pitch-ck sun appeared behind Zhang Lie, and a blood moon by his feet. His aura was magnified tenfold, and a halo of ck sun appeared above his forehead. Naturalw seemed to warp around him. Runes likewise appeared on the bloody moon by his feet, forming an intricate array.


    The man''s energy was drained as Zhang Lie''s was magnified.


    "What''s this?"


    There were arge number of glowing lights dancing across the surface of the man''s body, in runes mysterious and sinister. Lightning zapped around his flesh, forming runes that seemed almost like armor. The runes shattered the blood-colored moonlight and immunized him against its effects.


    Zhang Lie crossed his twin des. The blood moon resonated with the de in his left hand, and the ck sun with the de in his right.


    The ck sun''s mes strengthened Zhang Lie''s attacks and burned away his opponent''s. As the realms of reality and illusion inverted, Zhang Lie simultaneously shed forward with both des, forming a huge celestial web.


    Lightning crackled as the deity''s palmnded.


    The man''s [Seal of Deific Descension] had activated in full. A frightening aura filled the air.


    The blurry palm struck Zhang Lie''s lightning web without a spectacr explosion. Rather, palm and web grew dark as they annihted each other.


    Zhang Lie was shocked. The man had to be incredibly strong in order to defend against one of his strongest attacks.


    The man was likewise astounded by Zhang Lie''s abilities. He had used an ultimate technique, one heralded as invincible, only for it to have been blocked. Just who was his opponent?


    "Kill!" the man shouted. He donned the armor of Divine Embrace, causing him to float higher up into the air and give off a luminous, holy radiance that caught the eye.


    Without a doubt, he was at the pinnacle of all cultivators in the Cup, like a child of heaven itself.


    Zhang Lie wasn''t shocked to see the armor. He had previously guessed that the man could well havee from the Hall of Immortals, but was yet uncertain as to what status he possessed within it.


    "I''ll kill you!" the man roared.


    "Dream on! Show me everything you''ve got now, or you won''t have a chance to do so," Zhang Lie retorted.


    The man reformed a [Seal of Deific Descension].


    Unlikest time, he held nothing back. He infused it with all his strength to ensure that he could turn Zhang Lie into nothing more than meat paste, to ensure that Zhang Lie wouldn''t be able to defend against his blows.


    A frightening aura surged as another deity made an appearance, face obscured but radiating such strength that everyone felt a visceral need to submit and bow down.


    The seal was finished quickly. The deity shot forward, prepared to kill Zhang Lie.


    The man''s Divine Embrace glowed with light, giving him a holy sheen. Blinding light illuminated heaven and earth.


    "[de of the Heavens: the Sea Swells]!"


    Zhang Lie stared at his opponent, his eyes cold. Energy poured out of him in waves, honing the edge of his de. The pulses of energy struck the realm like a tsunami, devouring everything within.


    "Die!" he shouted.


    The deity struck his de in an ear-splitting crash. Incandescent light radiated from the impact like a supernova, forcing the cultivators to avert their gaze.