Chapter 1389: Birth of a Dark Horse

"A contestant has used a power beyond that permitted by the rules, disrupting the proceedings of the Cup. The contestant's qualifications shall be permanently stripped!"

A flash of white lightning split the air and struck the Splitsilver combatant, who screamed in pain as his body dissipated. Before he vanished, he pointed at Zhang Lie. "We're not done here! Five years later, I'll find you in your galaxy and kill you!"

The Splitsilver combatant's body vanished, leaving the audience in stunned silence—then, they began to cheer.

"A dark horse, the biggest dark horse of this iteration of the Cup!"

"To have survived that Splitsilver hack completely unharmed... Do any of you know what race this is, and what galaxy it's from?"

"This is ridiculous—even that invincible combatant couldn't have fared better!"

"I really want to see this dark horse fight against that competitor now..."

Zhang Lie ignored the crowd. A screen appeared before him: Start matching your second opponent?

Zhang Lie checked that his body was still in good shape, that he hadn't expended much energy against the Splitsilver combatant, before tapping Yes. The text on the screen changed: Matching in progress.

A door of light opened wide above him. One alien walked over, his body covered in golden scales, a pair of divine wings to his back, staring at Zhang Lie. He had three eyes, two where a human's would be, and a third, vertical one at the center of his forehead. His aura was immense, so strong it was almost physical.

Zhang Lie found this opponent surprisingly familiar.

The crowds began to cheer in excitement.

"He's Ling Jin, from the spirit race! His talent is astonishing, and he's considered a spirit king!"

"He's the only combatant in the qualifiers who might be able to fight against the invincible one."

Zhang Lie understood why the combatant seemed so familiar now—he was from the same race as in Bu Wentian's trials. Perhaps because of fate, or the mysterious rules of this virtual realm, his opponent was the strongest member of the spirit race of his generation.

"Well met!"

Ling Jin cupped his palms. He was over two meters tall, and his body shone in gold. He had the aura of a martial god, shining with a blazing corona of light whose might could be felt all over heaven and earth.

A huge noise resounded from the impact of fist against fist, as though an explosion had taken place. Ling Jin howled, his golden hair standing on end. His wings forked open and slashed forward.

Zhang Lie released a flurry of palm strikes to resist the golden wings.

Within moments, the two combatants had exchanged dozens of blows. Golden lightning surrounded them; it looked as though two deities were duking it out in the heavens.

Ling Jin's vertical third eye, situated at the center of his forehead, opened. Runes formed a beam of rainbow light, with a deific chant that struck at Zhang Lie's very soul.

No one would be able to avoid such an attack at close range.

"[Ninecarp Transformation: Golden Tiger]!"

The image of a golden tiger appeared behind Zhang Lie's back, and its roar echoed through the air. A golden aura suffused Zhang Lie. A mountain of blades rested atop the tiger's back, and Zhang Lie's body itself underwent a transformation. His hair turned silvery-white, until they became akin to silver needles.

His genetic energy likewise became more honed. Silvery-white genetic energy gathered over his body, and tigers' stripes appeared on his arms. His eyes became those of a tiger's, and steely sharpness erupted from every pore.

He glowed with stellar radiance, like a burning star. Starlight flowed through his body in phantasmagorical colors. Starlight, golden light, and auroras intersected in the air in a combination of beauty and dominance.

Zhang Lie punched forward, his genetic energy solidifying into crystal and shattering the multicolored beam. The beam of light fizzled as the eye shut again.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!"

Concentrated genetic energy solidified into sharp silver crystals. Each crystal seemed to harbor an entire universe within. Stellar light formed auroras in the sky, so beautiful that they dazzled the spectators.

The crystals moved extremely rapidly, piercing through Ling Jin's golden wings in the blink of an eye.

Just then, Ling Gu's left hand glowed with light. A spear of red light manifested over his palm, bearing immense power.

Red light flared across the heavens. In that single moment, everything else seemed to darken, leaving only a shining red spear the color of blood. It was only a meter long, but its light seemed to permeate the world. It shone too brightly to be observed directly.

Zhang Lie simultaneously activated his dragonwolf soulshard. His russet fur seemed to glimmer with stellar radiance, each hair a shining star, as though he were draped with the entirety of the Milky Way. His four limbs were armored with a dragon's scales, each a burning golden sun. The two soulshards' power combined.

A dragon's horns grew out of Zhang Lie's forehead, shining with stellar radiance, surrounded by galactic starlight. To others, he would seem to have the boundless energy of a new galaxy.

Zhang Lie swiped forward with his claws. Starlight flooded forward,

The two forces fought for dominion over the sky, neither willing to relent. The sky was covered up by scarlet light in one moment, and by starlight in the next. Both combatants darted back and forth amidst the clashing energies, exchanging blows in a melee.

Eventually, the energies dissipated. Line Jie was sent stumbling back with the sound of breaking bone. With each step he retreated, he coughed out a mouthful of blood. He had clearly been dealt a severe blow.

The fight between the two combatants was an amazing sight to behold. Ling Jin was stronger than anyone could have imagined, but Zhang Lie, even more shockingly, was stronger still.

Despite his injuries, Ling Jin's aura was as strong as ever. He glowed in golden light, then took an immobile stance, as inevitable and unmoving as a mountain range.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!"

A sea of stars appeared above Zhang Lie's head, shining with crystalline stars. The silver stars fell from the sky, transforming into a rain of meteors.

Ling Jin blocked the falling meteors with his bloody spear. As the battle dragged on, Ling Jin grew more and more wounded, golden feathers torn off his wings, his fresh blood anointing the ground. Even his golden glow seemed to dim.

Ling Jin smiled with his teeth. "I knew I made the right choice in attending the Cup. It was well worth the time to be able to encounter a strong opponent like you."

Zhang Lie condensed his genetic energy. "You're only about as strong as the spirit race combatant I once fought," Zhang Lie replied disdainfully.

Ling Jin seemed simultaneously surprised and curious. "You've fought against another member of the spirit race? Who?"

Zhang Lie thought for a moment. "I've defeated too many opponents to fully remember. If I'm not mistaken, his name was Ling Gu."