With considerable willpower, they managed to finish dressing without further distractions—though not without several lingering glances and "accidental" brushes of hands against linen-covered skin. Li Hua arranged her robes with practiced efficiency, grateful that the enhanced fabric resisted wrinkles despite having been rather unceremoniously discarded a few days ago. After a final adjustment to her sleeves, she followed Mo Xing through the doorway and into the grand hall beyond.
The hall stretched before them, its dimensions seeming to shift subtly with each step they took. Columns carved with arrays rose to support a ceiling that appeared both solid stone and somehow translucent, offering glimpses of patterns beyond. At the far end, the swirling portal that had caught Li Hua's attention upon their arrival continued its hypnotic rotation, its surface rippling with colors that shouldn't exist in the visible spectrum.
