The glowing string guided him through the ruined palace. Crumbling pillars loomed like the broken spines of giants, shattered walls sagged under centuries of neglect, and the cracked stone floor whispered of a time when this place was resplendent with glory.
He halted before a colossal statue of a goddess. Though half-destroyed, its face eroded beyond recognition, but a faint sense of benevolence and purity lingered, as if even ruin could not erase her divinity.
Zhao Li Xin spared it only a brief glance before pressing on, following the thread of light deeper into the heart of the palace.
