Chapter 566: What is the Middle Stage!

As Zhang Nuo's true cultivation level was revealed, everyone in the great hall could not help but be shocked; even Gongsun Jun, who was rolling on the ground, felt a secret pang of regret for his own carelessness!

A smile hung on Tianyi Laodao's face, and he felt greatly vindicated in his heart. Over these years in the Wuliang Dao Sect, because the Yangtian Hall lineage had withered in talent, it had been despised by the other two halls. As time passed, even the high-level cultivators in those two halls no longer held him, the Hall Master, in any regard!

Due to his status, it was not appropriate for Tianyi Laodao to argue with these people, yet none of the disciples in his hall were their match. He had suppressed this frustration for several hundred years, but today, Zhang Nuo—a lad who could be considered to have just joined the hall—had vented his anger and disgust fiercely!

At this moment, Gongsun Jun, who was rolling on the ground, finally felt a bit better. He forced his body to stand up, his face filled with murderous intent; he truly wanted to strangle Zhang Nuo! To suffer such a great loss in Yangtian Hall—if this were to spread, he would surely be laughed at by his fellow disciples in Chitian Hall! "You brat! How dare you ambush me!"

Gongsun Jun's expression turned cold as he gritted his teeth and spoke.

Zhang Nuo, however, gave a disdainful laugh:

"I say, Fellow Daoist Gongsun, I really must ask you about this. You were the one who released your Divine Sense to attack me first. Could it be that the people of Chitian Hall are all this overbearing? Are you allowed to set fires in Yaoshan, but I am not allowed to light a lamp in my own house?"

His figure slowly walked in front of Gongsun Jun, and Zhang Nuo spoke quite bluntly. At the same time, that aura of Evil Qi on his body rose abruptly, causing even Gongsun Jun's heart to turn cold! It was clear that the cultivator before him was a minor realm lower than himself, so why did he feel a sense of fear toward Zhang Nuo in his heart?

Staring fixedly at Gongsun Jun, Zhang Nuo showed not a hint of cowardice; instead, a flash of Spirit Power appeared between his fingers, looking as if he were about to unleash some Magic Treasure!

"You... what are you trying to do?"

As he retreated rapidly, Gongsun Jun's expression changed drastically. His whole body shook, and surging Spirit Power gushed out from his body; at the same time, two strange Flying Swords were instantly unleashed by him!

"What am I trying to do? I should be the one asking what Fellow Daoist Gongsun is trying to do. You've brandished your Magic Treasure—could it be that you intend to deal with a fellow disciple of the same sect?"

Questioned like this by Zhang Nuo, Gongsun Jun suddenly felt as if he had been set up. Just now, Zhang Nuo had only flashed a bit of Spirit Power between his fingers and had not made any further moves, yet he himself had been the first to unleash his Flying Swords, directly becoming the party that initiated the trouble!

"How dare you play me for a fool!"

His face flushed red with anger, Gongsun Jun roared! Tianyi and his disciple, who had been standing in the hall without a word, almost laughed out loud. This Gongsun Jun had suffered a huge loss this time. If he dared to strike first, then Zhang Nuo would have sufficient grounds to retaliate. Regardless of the outcome, the Yangtian Hall side would always hold the moral high ground. Even if this matter were brought to the Old Sect Master, Chitian Hall would have no excuse!

From beginning to end, it was all Gongsun Jun picking fights, while the Yangtian Hall side merely parried the blows.

"Do you dare to have a real contest with me?"

"Fine! Zhang happens to have the same intention! But let's get this straight first! Fellow Daoist Gongsun, don't go crying and complaining to others just because you lost to me!"

With his hands behind his back, Zhang Nuo was full of smiles. His expression while speaking was more like he was talking to a small child! This made Gongsun Jun even more furious. When did such a person emerge in Yangtian Hall! He actually dared to talk back to him!

"You are courting death!"

After squeezing these three words through his teeth, Gongsun Jun could no longer hold back. He hadn't even blinked when facing a million demonic beasts back then, let alone a mere Integration Early Stage cultivator before him!

With a shift of his Divine Sense, the two strange Flying Swords in front of him flashed with light and slashed toward Zhang Nuo! The sound of piercing through the air rang out instantly, and the two Flying Swords arrived in front of Zhang Nuo in the blink of an eye like two streaks of light! Tianyi Daoist and his disciple behind him exclaimed in shock. In their view, even if Zhang Nuo had won the war of words for a moment, his cultivation was what it was—having just advanced to the Integration Stage, how could he compare to Gongsun Jun, who had been fighting for over a hundred years!

Facing the slashing Flying Swords, Zhang Nuo still wore a smile. Just as the swords were about to strike his body, a flash of Golden Light appeared on his hands. With a flip, he grabbed Gongsun Jun's two Flying Swords with two 'claps', and then his five fingers exerted force!

With a crisp 'Crack!' sound, the two Flying Swords were directly crushed into several pieces by Zhang Nuo! He threw the broken swords onto the ground and said indifferently:

"If you have any other Magic Treasures, bring them all out!"

Swish! The Yangtian Hall suddenly went quiet, and Gongsun Jun even stopped breathing! He could not believe his eyes. These two Flying Swords had followed him to slay countless demonic beasts, yet in Zhang Nuo's hands, they were like they were made of dough; the other party had destroyed them without any effort!

Not to mention Gongsun Jun's shock, even Tianyi Daoist and Jiguang had their mouths twitching, unable to utter a word for a long time! Even if Zhang Nuo was a practitioner of Dharma-Body Dual Cultivation, his physical body could not possibly reach such a terrifying level! Those were the Magic Treasures of an Integration Middle Stage cultivator, a strike that even a Ninth-Rank Demonic Beast could not withstand head-on!

"Good brat! I'll fight you to the death!"

Gongsun Jun was thoroughly enraged. With a movement of his body, three more Magic Treasures left his body! But this time, before he could even unleash the Magic Treasures, a purple electric arc flashed on Zhang Nuo's body! After a rumble of thunder, he disappeared from where he stood. The next moment, a slender purple electric arc flashed behind Gongsun Jun, and Zhang Nuo's figure appeared along with it!

"What is the Integration Middle Stage! Even if your Chitian Hall Master came, Zhang would not hold him in any regard! Get out of here!"

Before his voice had even faded, Zhang Nuo pressed one hand onto Gongsun Jun's shoulder and simultaneously threw him out toward the outside of Yangtian Hall!

'Thump!'

Gongsun Jun's body fell heavily to the ground. He felt intense pain in the flesh where Zhang Nuo had grabbed him, as if he had been hooked by five steel hooks!

Having been thrown out this time, he dared not consider it his own carelessness! How much higher must the other party's divine abilities be to be able to do such a thing! To have been approached by an Integration Early Stage cultivator—if this were on the battlefield, he would have lost his life countless times over!

Struggling to climb up from the ground, Gongsun Jun retracted all his Magic Treasures, then looked coldly at Zhang Nuo. In the end, he didn't say a single word and directly turned into a streak of light and flew away!

"Hehe! Fellow Daoist Zhang, it seems this old man did not misjudge you! You can definitely rebuild the former glory of Yangtian Hall!"

Tianyi Laodao came to Zhang Nuo's side with a smile. Today, he felt thoroughly satisfied; the sense of relief in his heart was indescribable! He was the only Integration Stage cultivator in the entire Yangtian Hall, yet he happened to be the Hall Master. Regarding the provocations from the disciples of the other two halls, for the sake of his status, he could only endure and endure. Who told him he had no Integration Stage cultivators under his command?

Zhang Nuo's appearance broke the silence of Yangtian Hall. Just by throwing Gongsun Jun out in one move, no one would dare to underestimate such strength!

Jiguang was still stunned on the spot; he seemed to have not yet recovered from the battle just now!

"You flatter me, Hall Master! If we don't give such people a taste of their own medicine, they will surely find trouble for us in the future! It's just that I have one thing I don't understand and would like to ask the Hall Master for guidance!"

"If you have something to say, just say it! You don't need to be so polite in the future! Aren't we family now!"

If Tianyi Laodao had been polite on the surface before, this time, it was from the bottom of his heart! Because he had seen Zhang Nuo's strength and also seen the hope for Yangtian Hall!

"Why are there so few cultivators in Yangtian Hall, and why have almost none of their cultivation levels exceeded the Integration Stage?"

Zhang Nuo had already learned a little about this in his previous conversation with Tianyi Laodao! However, he still did not understand the details too clearly.

Tianyi Laodao gave a bitter smile, a look of inexplicable sorrow appearing on his face!

"You may not know this, but the Yangtian Hall of the past was also full of talent, not losing to the other two halls at all. It was just that during the last Demon Beast Tide, our Yangtian Hall disciples fought bravely against the enemy, but in the end, eight or nine out of ten of our main force perished. The remaining cultivators naturally could not support Yangtian Hall anymore! Especially since the previous generation's Hall Master also perished in a great battle against the demon beasts, which further exacerbated the decline of Yangtian Hall!"

Zhang Nuo nodded slightly. From Tianyi Laodao's account, it was not hard to hear that the Yangtian Hall of that year could be said to have sent out all its elites to resist the Demon Beast Tide, only to end up with such a fate! Not only were they not made heroes, but they instead became the laughingstock of the Wuliang Dao Sect!

"Did the Old Sect Master not inquire about this matter?"

"What if he did inquire? As the saying goes, when a drum is broken, everyone beats it. Some cultivators who joined the Wuliang Dao Sect, once they saw that Yangtian Hall was so pathetic, would immediately defect to other halls. And within the sect, joining the Three Great Halls is completely voluntary!"

Shaking his head helplessly, Tianyi Zi said with a heavy heart.

"So that's how it is! Hall Master, rest assured! Since I, Zhang, have joined Yangtian Hall, I am a person of Yangtian Hall in life and a ghost of Yangtian Hall in death. I will definitely help you restore the former prestige of Yangtian Hall!"

Zhang Nuo said heroically. He did not feel any disgust because of the decline of Yangtian Hall; on the contrary, he became very dissatisfied with the Wuliang Dao Sect's practice of 'discarding the bow once the birds are gone, and cooking the hound once the rabbit is caught'!

"What big words. This Hall Master would like to see who is being so boastful here!"

Following the voice, several streaks of light landed in front of Yangtian Hall. Tianyi Laodao and Zhang Nuo looked over at the same time and saw an old man wearing white Daoist robes looking toward them with a face full of murderous intent!

"Wang Kaigang, what do you mean by this? Do you intend to bully others by relying on your power?"

Upon seeing the old man who spoke, Tianyi Daoist immediately rebuked him.

Zhang Nuo frowned slightly. Just as Tianyi Laodao called out that person's name, he already knew who had come! It was none other than the Chitian Hall Master, Wang Kaigang!