"My friend could never share the same ideals as someone like you. You can abandon that notion right now."
Master Liangqiu spoke with absolute certainty.
His words were laced with undisguised contempt and disdain for the old Taoist.
"Oh, you're truly judging a gentleman by the heart of a petty man. You're not that brother — what gives you the right to say he and I can't become friends?" the old Taoist retorted, clearly unconvinced.
But upon hearing those words, Master Liangqiu's face twisted with fury, and he snapped coldly:
"Who are you calling a petty man?!"
Seeing that Master Liangqiu had genuinely lost his temper, and fearing the two might erupt into a full-blown argument, Chu Feng quickly interjected:
"Senior, where is the Mirror Heart Land? Since we've already come out, we should go inform Senior Zhu."
"You want to enter the Mirror Heart Land? Kid, don't even dream about it."
"You couldn't even endure the Gate of Death — what qualifies you to enter the Mirror Heart Land? Even I can't get in there."
Upon learning that Chu Feng intended to visit the Mirror Heart Land, the old Taoist shook his head dismissively.
"Master Liangqiu, is that place extremely dangerous?" Chu Feng asked, turning to him once more.
"It is indeed exceedingly perilous. But Chu Feng, don't worry too much — Brother Zhu's abilities far surpass my own."
"He said he needed seventy-nine days. Within that time, he should be able to come out on his own, and he asked that we not disturb him during those seventy-nine days," Master Liangqiu explained.
"But what if, after seventy-nine days, Senior Zhu still hasn't come out on his own?" Chu Feng pressed.
"If he hasn't come out on his own..." Master Liangqiu's expression grew troubled, but seeing that Chu Feng clearly wouldn't let the matter drop without a straight answer, he continued:
"Then it would mean he has run into serious trouble."
"He also said that if, after seventy-nine days, he still hasn't returned, I should tell you to go find him."
"He said that if anyone could save his life, it might be you," Master Liangqiu said.
"Save his life? Going to the Mirror Heart Land wouldn't be saving anyone — it would be walking straight to your death."
"Chu Feng, whatever you do, don't go. Even if you did, you couldn't save him. You'd just be throwing your own life away," the old Taoist urged.
His words were, naturally, anything but comforting.
Yet Master Liangqiu and Gu Mingyuan merely cast sharp, knife-like glances at the old Taoist without offering a rebuttal.
In truth, they shared the same opinion. Even if Chu Feng went, the chances of him making it back alive were slim.
After all, that elder named Zhu had been able to enter the Mirror Heart Land and leverage the power of the formation's eye to weaken the Gate of Death.
His strength could be described as heaven-reaching and earth-penetrating within the Ancestral Martial Star Domain.
Yet even a being of his caliber couldn't safely emerge from the Mirror Heart Land.
With Chu Feng's current level of cultivation, entering that place would be genuinely life-threatening.
So even though both Gu Mingyuan and Master Liangqiu felt deeply indebted to that elder surnamed Zhu, they still didn't want Chu Feng to take that risk — if, after seventy-nine days, the old man truly hadn't returned.
"Senior, is the Mirror Heart Land far from here?" Chu Feng asked.
"Not far, actually. It's hidden deep beneath the Clear Mirror Sea. If you want to go, it would only take a few incense sticks' worth of time," Master Liangqiu replied.
"Then I understand." Chu Feng had already made up his mind.
No matter how dangerous the Mirror Heart Land might be, if Senior Zhu hadn't returned after seventy-nine days, Chu Feng would go to save him.