"Once you have arrived here, there is no going back. There is only forward."
The old man's voice drifted through the chamber, calm and utterly indifferent, as though he were stating a truth that had governed existence since the beginning of time. His expression remained unchanged, his pale eyes fixed upon Liam with an almost unsettling stillness.
Liam lowered his gaze for a moment. He stood there quietly, allowing the man's words to settle in his mind before slowly raising his head again. A faint clicking sound escaped his tongue.
"Tch."
He looked at the old man, then briefly toward the magnificent golden palace behind him. Something had been bothering him since their conversation began, and he was beginning to see a connection that he had initially overlooked.
"Let me get this straight," Liam began. "That man who came here fifteen years ago, Eldric, sacrificed his cultivation because it was the thing he treasured most, but he still wasn't allowed to enter the palace?"
