"Hahaha…"
But seeing Chu Feng's resolute expression, Lu Long suddenly burst into laughter.
"Not bad, not bad. You really are a man of backbone, unlike the others."
Lu Long looked at Chu Feng with a beaming smile, and his expression was clearly one of pure admiration, with not a trace of hostility remaining.
And the oppressive aura that had been pinning Chu Feng down had been withdrawn entirely.
"What's this?"
Chu Feng reacted quickly. He had already realized that Lu Long had not truly been intending to make a move against him just now.
It had been more like… a test.
"Junior Brother Chu Feng, please forgive me."
"I had no ill intentions. I simply wanted to see whether you were the same kind of person as those others — someone who bullies the weak and fears the strong."
"No wonder even someone like Junior Brother Li holds you in such high regard. You really are one of a kind."
After hearing Lu Long's words, Chu Feng was now certain that Lu Long had only been testing him.
He hadn't misjudged the man. Lu Long was no villain.
"Senior Brother Lu, so it really was Li Muzhi who sent you to find me?" Chu Feng asked.
"It was indeed Junior Brother Li who asked me to look for you."
"Actually, Junior Brother Li originally wanted to come find you himself."
"But he was too tied up with other matters, so he asked me to go find you in his place," Lu Long said.
"I wonder what he's busy with? If it's inconvenient to see me now, I can pay a visit another day," Chu Feng suggested.
"It's fine — you've already come this far. Just come with me," Lu Long said, seeming to very much hope that Chu Feng would accompany him.
"I'll trouble you then, Senior Brother Lu."
As for Chu Feng, he was also quite eager to see Li Muzhi.
Of course, what Chu Feng wanted even more was to learn about Yu Ting's situation from Li Muzhi's own mouth.
If he could confirm that Yu Ting was safe and sound, then a great weight would be lifted from his heart.
Following Lu Long's lead, Chu Feng arrived outside a mansion in the East Dragon Courtyard.
This mansion was no ordinary place.
The front gate alone had been exquisitely carved and stood a full thousand meters tall.
And the walls flanking either side of the gate rose even higher than the gate itself, reaching ten thousand meters into the sky.
At first glance, they were truly walls of copper and iron, and within those walls pulsed the power of a barrier formation.
Above the mansion's gate hung an enormous plaque bearing just two characters: Li Residence.
This gate and its walls projected an overwhelming sense of grandeur.
Standing before the gate, Chu Feng looked incredibly tiny — calling him an ant would not have been an exaggeration.
And stationed before the gate were a full ten people, arranged in two rows like guards standing watch.
If they had been ordinary disciples, that would have been one thing, but these ten were all elders of the East Dragon Courtyard.
Though they had not released any aura, the way they carried themselves made it clear that none of them were ordinary figures.
This made Chu Feng inwardly marvel at just how powerful Li Muzhi's status truly was.
It was one thing to have a mansion like this, but to have East Dragon Courtyard elders guarding his home?
Could this be the treatment afforded to a Wo Long disciple?
And beyond the gate, what greeted the eye was not red-brick walls and magnificent buildings, but rather lush mountains and lakes brimming with greenery.
As far as the eye could see, the landscape stretched on endlessly, with no end in sight.
With such vast expanse, how could this possibly be a single mansion?
Calling it a small kingdom would not have been an exaggeration.
"Junior Brother Chu Feng, once we're inside here, watch what you say."
"It's not only Junior Brother Li Muzhi who lives here — Lord Li Fengxian resides here as well," Lu Long warned after they entered.
This told Chu Feng that the Li Residence was not merely Li Muzhi's personal mansion but rather the estate of the entire Li family.
No wonder it covered such an enormous territory.
Setting aside everyone else, just Lord Li Fengxian alone was one of the Wo Long Elders.
A person of that standing was indeed entitled to such special treatment.
Even though they had entered the Li family's domain, as they journeyed deeper, grand buildings remained scarce.
Aside from the barrier walls that marked the estate's perimeter, all along the way there was nothing but relatively pristine natural scenery.
The place was alive with birdsong and fragrant flowers, and wild animals were abundant — there were even quite a few demon beasts and Fierce Beasts.
This place had already formed a complete ecosystem.
Before long, they passed through a dense stretch of jungle and emerged before an ocean.
But this ocean was no ordinary body of water.
Because the anomalous phenomenon shrouded the sky, there was no sunset or dying light of day to be seen, yet the seawater was golden.