# Chapter 1977: A Frog at the Bottom of a Well
Originally, they had thought their own ancestor could completely suppress Zhang Ruochen, but they never expected Zhang Ruochen to be so terrifyingly powerful.
"Gulp~!"
The Mu clan disciples who had mocked and insulted Zhang Ruochen earlier couldn't help swallowing their saliva, their eyes filled with fear as they looked at Zhang Ruochen.
They had actually dared to verbally abuse a top-tier Saint King—they clearly didn't know how to spell death.
Zhang Ruochen took a step forward, his gaze fixed on Mu Xinghe, and said calmly, "You probably haven't traveled outside in a long time, have you? Do you think that with your cultivation at the Rule Grand Heaven realm, you're already invincible under heaven?"
"How long have you been cultivating? How could your strength have become so great?" Mu Xinghe's eyes were filled with disbelief.
Zhang Ruochen let out a light laugh: "Strong? Actually, my cultivation hasn't even reached your level yet—far from the peak of Rule Grand Heaven."
Hearing this, Mu Xinghe's expression changed again. He shook his head repeatedly and said, "Impossible. Your aura is so powerful—how could you not have even reached the peak of Rule Grand Heaven? Even a Dao Domain realm expert couldn't match the aura you're emitting."
"Swish."
Just then, a figure flashed into the hall, reeking of alcohol. It was the Mad Drunkard.
The Mad Drunkard casually found a seat and sat down, looking at Mu Xinghe as if he were an idiot. He sneered, "Old Man Mu, you really are a frog sitting at the bottom of a well. Do you know that since Zhang Ruochen returned to the Kunlun Realm, he's been through several great battles that shook both the Heavenly Court Realm and the Hell Realm? The number of Dao Domain realm, Heaven-Connecting realm, and Approach-Dao realm experts who have died by his hands is countless."
"Just half a month ago, Zhang Ruochen single-handedly broke through the Death Clan's camp established on Mount Xianji in the Northern Domain, annihilating two hundred thousand Death Clan troops. Even several Death Clan divine sons and divine daughters died."
"And a little over a month ago, in the Central Domain's Nether King Sword Grave, Zhang Ruochen wiped out several hundred thousand Undying Blood Clan troops, also killing several Undying Blood Clan divine sons."
"Even earlier, Zhang Ruochen received the Torch of Succession from the hands of the Chen Clan's ancestor, becoming the Eastern Domain King, and defeated the Formation Earth Master, Mr. Shenya."
"With your mere Rule Grand Heaven cultivation and strength, you still wanted to use your momentum to suppress him? Are you trying to make me die of laughter?"
Before the Mad Drunkard had even finished speaking, Old Pine Seed also entered the hall, sweeping his contemptuous gaze over all the Mu clan members present. He snorted, "You say Zhang Ruochen isn't worthy of Lingxi? Don't forget, our Moon Worship Demon Sect worships the Moon God, and Zhang Ruochen is the Moon God's Divine Envoy—how exalted is his status?"
"Even setting that aside, Zhang Ruochen is still the Eastern Domain King of the Kunlun Realm. With such status, how is he unworthy of Lingxi?"
"I truly admire you people. You only know how to guard Phoenix Lake, ignoring everything happening outside, thinking the Mu clan is still powerful now, aren't you? Any random expert dispatched from the Heavenly Court Realm or the Hell Realm could easily annihilate the Mu clan."
Hearing this, Mu Xinghe was left speechless, his heart already churning with stormy waves.
It wasn't just him—the other Mu clan members were also shocked beyond words.
One person annihilating several hundred thousand Undying Blood Clan and Death Clan troops—what kind of glorious and terrifying achievement was that? Ordinary people wouldn't even dare to imagine it.
And the Formation Earth Master—although they hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, they could roughly imagine that it was an extremely powerful existence, one that could almost walk sideways among those below the Great Saint realm.
Yet even such a powerful existence had been defeated by Zhang Ruochen.
Thinking back to what the Mad Drunkard had said—that many divine sons and divine daughters of the Undying Blood Clan and Death Clan had died by Zhang Ruochen's hands—they could no longer imagine just how strong Zhang Ruochen really was.
Zhang Ruochen paid no attention to the Mu clan members' reactions. He slowly turned around, looked at Mu Lingxi, and smiled, "Lingxi, I prepared two gifts for you. I almost forgot to give them to you."
"What gifts?" Mu Lingxi's eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly, then walked out of the hall.
Seeing this, Mu Lingxi quickly followed.
Right behind them, the Mu clan members in the hall also filed out, wanting to see what precious gifts Zhang Ruochen could possibly produce.
Once outside the hall, Zhang Ruochen waved his hand, and two gifts appeared before everyone's eyes.
The first gift was a phoenix, dozens of zhang tall, its entire body radiating a magnificent and dazzling light. The aura it emitted was extremely powerful, no weaker than a Dao Domain realm expert.
The second gift was a stone sphere with a diameter of a hundred zhang, perfectly round, suspended in midair, incredibly heavy, almost crushing the space beneath it.
Most importantly, the stone sphere emitted an extremely terrifying aura, a suffocating pressure. The weaker Mu clan members couldn't help but fall to their knees, as if facing a lofty god.
"Why is there a phoenix? Are there still phoenixes in the Kunlun Realm?"
"What's going on with that stone sphere? Why is it so terrifying?"
"I can't take it anymore. I feel like my sacred soul is about to shatter."
......
All the Mu clan members were horrified. Some who hadn't fallen to their knees were still struggling to endure.
"A hundred-thousand-year ancient sacred medicine, and in beast form, with such a fierce and violent aura. Once the seal is lifted, even I'm afraid it could tear me to pieces." Mu Xinghe gasped heavily, his eyes filled with deep fear.
Even a hundred-thousand-year ancient sacred medicine that Zhang Ruochen had taken out was far more powerful than him—this was truly demoralizing.
When Phoenix Lake had first awakened, although it had also produced a few hundred-thousand-year ancient sacred medicines, none of them had any offensive power. They were completely different from the beast-form ancient sacred medicine Zhang Ruochen had brought out.
In comparison, refining this beast-form ancient sacred medicine would yield far better results than ordinary hundred-thousand-year ancient sacred medicines.
If it were given to him to refine, he might even have a chance to condense a Dao Domain.
This phoenix-shaped hundred-thousand-year ancient sacred medicine was something Zhang Ruochen had obtained from the War God Star in Luo Water. It was related to that starry sky giant crocodile that had been nailed to death, and its origin was extremely significant.
Precisely because it resembled a phoenix, Zhang Ruochen had deliberately kept it to give to Mu Lingxi.
In his thinking, Mu Lingxi, who had awakened her Ice Phoenix bloodline, would gain tremendous benefits from refining this ancient sacred medicine.
"This is a Divine Throne Planet, isn't it? Good heavens, you can even get your hands on a treasure like this." The Mad Drunkard said, extremely surprised.
"What? A Divine Throne Planet?"
Everyone present changed color dramatically, including Mu Lingxi. They hadn't expected that this inconspicuous stone sphere would actually be a legendary Divine Throne Planet.
This Divine Throne Planet before them was something Zhang Ruochen had taken from Wang Xu. Originally, there was a faint wisp of divine star soul within it, but he had asked the Moon God to refine it away. Now anyone could control it.
Everyone knew very well how precious a Divine Throne Planet was. It was a star manifested in the universe by a living being after they cultivated to become a god, capable of reflecting heaven and earth. Once a god fell, the Divine Throne Planet would dim, making it very difficult to find in the vast universe.
One could say that the two treasures Zhang Ruochen had taken out were both rare and extraordinary, rarely seen in the world.
Zhang Ruochen reached out and gently smoothed the scattered strands of hair from Mu Lingxi's forehead, revealing a warm smile. "Lingxi, put them away. I know you don't lack anything, but this is my feeling for you."
Hearing this, Mu Lingxi nodded gently, stood on tiptoe, and quickly kissed Zhang Ruochen on the cheek, her face full of happiness and sweet smiles.
With a wave of her hand, Mu Lingxi put away both the beast-form ancient sacred medicine and the Divine Throne Planet.
In truth, she didn't care whether the gifts were precious or not. As long as they were from Zhang Ruochen, she would love them.
With the pressure from the beast-form ancient sacred medicine and the Divine Throne Planet gone, all the Mu clan members let out long sighs of relief. Those who had fallen to their knees were able to stand up again.
Even those who hadn't knelt were drenched in sweat, their clothes soaked through as if they had just come out of the water.
"Lingxi, take me to meet the saints of the Guanghan Realm." Zhang Ruochen took Mu Lingxi's jade hand and said softly.
Mu Lingxi smiled sweetly. "Let's go. I believe Bu Ji and the others will all be very happy to see you."
Without further delay, the two left the Mu clan's large estate.
The Mad Drunkard and Old Pine Seed glanced at Mu Xinghe and the others, shook their heads, and quickly followed Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi.
At this moment, Yun Zheng was already dumbfounded. He had wanted to give Zhang Ruochen a good show of force, but he never expected things to turn out like this.
This reminded him of a few years ago, when Zhang Ruochen had known that Wuding Mountain was a dragon's pool and tiger's den, yet he had still come without hesitation, forcefully ascending the mountain. That confidence had earned the admiration of countless sect disciples.
If not for the Empress returning as a god, Wutong Qiuyu would have been sacrificed alive by Zhang Ruochen back then, and the sect would have suffered who knows how many casualties.
Years later, Zhang Ruochen was still just as domineering. Even though their Mu clan ancestor had returned, he could only look up to Zhang Ruochen.
For a moment, Yun Zheng's heart was filled with bitterness. What was the point of him repeatedly provoking Zhang Ruochen like this?
If he weren't Mu Lingxi's father, Zhang Ruochen would probably have crushed him like an ant long ago.
"I'm going to leave for a while. You all manage the Mu clan well and absolutely do not provoke Zhang Ruochen again." Mu Xinghe looked up at the sky, somewhat melancholy.
"Ancestor, where are you going?" Mu Qingtian quickly asked.
Mu Xinghe said, "I want to see what the Kunlun Realm has become now. Feng Zuisheng is right—I am just a frog at the bottom of a well. If I don't go out and see the outside world, I might never be able to condense a Dao Domain."
Without waiting for anyone else to speak, Mu Xinghe soared into the air, transforming into a streak of light, and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Seeing the ancestor leave, many Mu clan members present looked at each other in dismay. They had truly lost all face this time. From now on, whenever they encountered Zhang Ruochen, they would probably have to take a detour.
"Don't worry. As long as Zhang Ruochen likes Lingxi, he won't make things difficult for the Mu clan. But from now on, we absolutely cannot provoke him anymore." Mu Qingtian said very seriously.
Even if Zhang Ruochen had a good temper, if he were truly angered, no one would have an easy time of it.
(Chapter End)