Chapter 013: The Ruins of the Heavenly Palace

"This is..." Despite their mental preparation, disappointment was etched on the faces of the group.

Influenced by these individuals, others also looked up at the starry sky and soon discovered the fact that two moons hung in the sky. "How could this be?" Many couldn't help but exclaim. Their last hope of returning home was shattered; they would never see their loved ones again. Many female students burst into tears, and everyone realized that they were truly far from Earth and unable to return.

"Mars... has two moons, equivalent to... the moon... seen on Earth..." Kade muttered in halting Chinese, then quickly spoke a lot in English, engaging in conversation with Li Xiaoman.

Over the past few decades, several space probes have sent back to Earth a wealth of valuable information about Mars. The two moons orbiting Mars are very small celestial bodies, and due to factors such as their distance from the ground, if observed from Mars, Phobos appears to be about half the size of the moon as seen from Earth. Deimos is even smaller but brighter than other stars and is a miniature moon.

After those who knew about Mars shared this information, everyone was deeply disappointed. It seemed that there was no way home now, and the primary task at hand was to find a way to survive.

They had already left the multicolored altar six hundred meters behind and were much closer to the faint light source, which now seemed to be no more than five hundred meters away. Without delay, the group continued to move forward.

Under the night sky, a gentle breeze brought a slight chill.

After another hundred meters, they were even closer to the light source. It was then that someone screamed in alarm, discovering a collapsed structure that appeared to be an ancient pavilion, which had crumbled under the erosion of time.

"A man-made pavilion, there must be humans on this desolate planet; we must be able to find a way to survive."

"Is this really Mars? Why are there human structures? The air, temperature, gravity, and everything else are not much different from Earth, it's just like a desert on Earth."

Although filled with endless disappointment, the group had not lost hope; they had many questions.

"We've even seen dragon carcasses; these don't mean much. Maybe this is a special region on Mars."

"Perhaps. There's a grand multicolored altar here, capable of receiving the nine dragon carcasses and the bronze coffin. It's not impossible to say that this is a land sealed by the gods."

"If our guesses are true and this is just a special region on Mars, then our space for survival may not be very large."

These words caused a moment of silence among everyone.

"If this is just a small piece of pure land on Mars, then what hope do we have?!"

The group's emotions were in turmoil; this concerned their life and death and future, and no one could remain calm.

"Ah..." A female student suddenly screamed, the sound echoing far into the night sky.

"What's wrong?" Everyone's expressions changed as they hurriedly asked.

"A skull, a human skull!" The female student's face turned pale, her body trembling uncontrollably, retreating step by step.

Not far from the collapsed pavilion, half a white skull was exposed in the sand and gravel, which the female student had stepped on, no wonder she was so terrified.

All the male students gathered around, and Pang Bo kicked the skull out of the sand with his foot. It was clearly an adult's skull, which had existed for many years and was almost weathered away. The bone was no longer smooth, and there were many rough cracks on it.

What was astonishing was that there was a very regular round hole in its frontal bone, about the thickness of a finger, as if pierced by a sharp instrument, with a very smooth edge around the hole.

"It seems that this place is full of unknowns and variables. Although this is a dry bone left from many years ago, we should still be careful."

The unfamiliar environment and uncertain factors filled people with a sense of dread.

"What are those ahead?"

Under the dim night sky, the stars and moons were not very bright, and only a vague outline could be seen ahead, like a series of connected piles of rocks, uneven and jagged.

When they approached, everyone was stunned; this was a ruin, and what was blocking their way was just a small part of it, with a much larger ruin stretching horizontally into the distance.

Broken walls and debris, as if telling an unknown past. Under the moonlight at night, this place seemed particularly desolate. In the past, this should have been a continuous and magnificent palace, but now it was a desolate scene.

This was a vast ruin, covering a large area, with solid foundations all made of piled-up giant stones, one could imagine the grandeur and vastness of this palace back then.

And the light source was at the end of this ruin, behind a broken wall.

"Are we... really on Mars? Was there once a magnificent palace here?"

"How many people would it take to complete such a massive project?"

"What caused this place to become ruins, with all the tall and grand buildings collapsed?"

Almost forgetting their fear, the vast ruins before them amazed everyone. If they were indeed on Mars, all of this was too incredible.

Ye Fan calmly said, "Actually, it's nothing. We've experienced a lot today, things that should not happen according to common sense. Even if someone told me that this vast ruin before us is a site of the Heavenly Palace, I would not be surprised."

Pang Bo sighed, "The ruins of the Heavenly Palace... this could really be possible, after all, we've even seen dragon carcasses."

Hearing these words, everyone was taken aback. The ruins of the Heavenly Palace, this might not be a fallacy!

The light source was ahead, gently rippling out from behind the broken wall, creating a faint halo there, indescribable in its haziness and sanctity.

"What exactly is that?"

The light source flowed at the end of the ancient ruins, making the broken walls and debris seem even more desolate, naturally making people feel incredibly mysterious.

"Crunch, crunch, crunch..."

The sounds of the group stepping on the debris echoed far into the empty night sky. Passing by the collapsed palaces, they finally traversed the vast ruins. Ahead, the broken wall, though partially destroyed, was still four to five meters high, and one could not help but wonder how magnificent it must have been back then.

"We must see what that light source is!"

The group cautiously made their way around the massive broken wall and reached the end of the ruins, where they were immediately enveloped by a refreshing aura. It was as if a divine radiance had pierced the darkness and filled their vision.

The group had completely walked out of the ruins and appeared behind the broken wall, seeing the light source clearly for the first time.

Fifty meters ahead, an ancient temple sat quietly there, with a dim light like a bean, in front of the temple, an ancient Bodhi tree was vigorous like a dragon, its entire body withered, with only five or six green leaves sparsely dotted two meters off the ground, each crystal clear, shimmering with green light, like jade divine jade.

In front of the ancient temple, a Bodhi tree stood strong and ancient, its trunk gnarled like a coiled dragon. Although the tree was mostly withered, five or six green leaves adorned it about two meters off the ground, each leaf translucent and radiant, glowing with an emerald luster, akin to jade imbued with divine power.