Alien Hotel.

Chapter 425 Returning to Dust
Many clues finally came together, and many things were finally explained.

Although some mysteries remain unsolved, Yu Sheng can now piece together more than 80% of the truth of the whole affair.

A thousand years ago, an unknown dark angel appeared in the Flying Feather Starfield in the form of a "crystal meteorite," crashing onto the border garrison-3 and attempting to parasitize it. However, Yun Qingzi, who was in the border region at the time, noticed this and tried to stop it. But he did not expect that his enemy was an "angel" that could not be defeated by "common sense," resulting in his death.

At the moment of his fall, Yun Qingzi refined his last wisp of soul and forcibly merged it with a part of the Dark Angel, attempting to suppress it deep underground in Garrison-3. However, this initiated a "cycle-iteration" process that would last for thousands of years. Everyone thought that Yun Qingzi had fallen a thousand years ago, but they never expected that the last remnant soul of this ancient powerhouse had been entangled with the Dark Angel deep underground, iterating and resurrecting time and time again, in an endless stalemate.
Afterwards, the seal left by Yun Qingzi was broken, and the Dark Angel successfully iterated out a "Yun Qingzi copy" under its control, thus escaping the cage of Garrison-3, leaving only an "empty shell" and a large number of "Yun Qingzi" in a chaotic state on this planet.
The "Yun Qingzi copy" that was taken away has been influenced by the angels and has essentially become a "familiar" of the Dark Angels. Whether he is aware of this or not, his actions have begun to shift in a direction that benefits the Dark Angels—and his current action is to search for something called "the Emperor's Relic"...

Considering the various characteristics that the unknown angel has already exhibited, its purpose is most likely to find a new valuable planet to parasitize. Therefore, it is easy to deduce that the Emperor's Relic that "Yun Qingzi" is looking for is likely not an "object" at all, but a planet!
The Great Void Spiritual Pivot is the most likely candidate!
"Damn it, Xuan Che and the others are in deep trouble this time!" After figuring out the logic, Eileen exclaimed in surprise, "If that's the case, then that 'evil Yun Qingzi' has already sent people to the vicinity of Taixu Lingxu in advance... so they've actually completed the 'location'! Does that mean they'll be making their move very soon?!"

As Yu Sheng took out his phone, he quickly said, "I'll tell Xuan Che and Yuan Ling about this right away, and tell Tai Xu Ling Shu to be on guard."

“But even if they take precautions, they can only delay them for a while. Under normal circumstances, the Dark Angels are practically indestructible—back then, the Algladians attacked first and then sent in several legions, but they still couldn't take down the ‘Goddess of Beauty’,” Xu Jiali, who was standing to the side, understood most of what was going on in the Feathered Starfield, even though she wasn't very clear about the situation. “We need to find a way to stop it in advance, or like we did with Ankaela back then… at least we need to find it first, right?”

At this moment, Yu Sheng turned his head to "Yun Qingzi," who was fused with the Crystal Heart: "Do you know where that 'thing' and the 'Yun Qingzi' it took away are hiding now?"

The old man, now encased in the crystal, had once again fallen into a dazed state of muttering to himself. Yu Sheng asked him twice before he slowly came to his senses, then raised his head and stared straight into Yu Sheng's eyes.

"Fellow Daoist, that's a strange question..." Yun Qingzi suddenly grinned. "Haven't you already seen it? This 'empty shell' that I'm inhabiting... its remaining instincts keep it looking towards Shuji."

“Of course, I guessed it was in Shuji, but we went to that planet and failed to find ‘Yun Qingzi’ or any trace of the parasite,” Yu Sheng frankly told us. “They seem to have hidden themselves in some way. We accidentally broke through their ‘barrier’ and found a place that looked like a rift on the edge of Mo City, but when we went back to look for it, we could no longer find the rift.”

Yun Qingzi frowned.

"I don't know what's going on... The strangeness of that evil thing is too numerous to count, especially after it spawned a 'Yun Qingzi' under its control. It has essentially gained 'intelligence' to assist it. Many things that were originally done on instinct have now become 'supernatural powers' that are consciously used... You said you didn't find any trace of the 'parasite' in Shuji?"

“Yes, absolutely not,” Yu Sheng nodded firmly. “Of course, we haven’t been active in Shuji for long and haven’t searched the entire planet, but Shuji is now a highly developed colony. Even sparsely populated areas are at least looked after and monitored, and there are dedicated ‘star guards’ who regularly patrol the entire territory. If there really is a parasite on that planet, and it has been parasitizing and developing for many years, theoretically there should be some traces… unless even these ‘traces’ have been hidden.”

"...To fool every single eye on the planet?" Eileen muttered on his shoulder.

For a moment, no one could answer the little doll's mutterings.

The silence was broken by another cracking sound coming from the "Crystal Heart".

As the cracking sound rang out, Yu Sheng noticed that even Yun Qingzi's body suddenly developed cracks, and the vitality in the old man's eyes began to fade at a visible speed.

Eileen suddenly panicked: "Hey, old man, how could you be so quick..."

“Not fast, not fast, it’s lasted longer than I expected,” Yun Qingzi slowly laughed. After another round of cracking sounds, his decay accelerated once again. With each passing second, his expression became more rigid, more like a lifeless mineral. “You little girl, you’re so gloomy, yet you care about people.”

Normally, if Eileen heard someone teasing her, she would immediately compile the other person's family tree and start ranting. But this time, she seemed not to hear Yun Qingzi's words at all, and immediately turned around and shook Yu Sheng's head: "Hey, hey, hurry up and think of a way! Aren't you supposed to be all-powerful...?"

Yu Sheng didn't say anything, but simply reached out and pressed Eileen's arm before coming to Yun Qingzi's side.

"Fellow Daoist, is there anything else you wish to ask?" Yun Qingzi slowly raised his head. All the life force in the entire crystal cave had now converged on that "heart." However, even so, the crystallized old man could only move his upper body, and his voice became increasingly stiff and slow. "My mind is still clear for a while, and I can say a few words."

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head. “I’ve asked everything I wanted to ask,” he said. “As for you, if there’s anything you want me to do, you can tell me—though I may not be able to do it all, I can do my best.”

“You’ve really thrown this problem at me,” Yun Qingzi pondered for a moment, then laughed. “The real Yun Qingzi died a thousand years ago. Those who remain here are nothing but empty shells formed from the cycle of obsessions. The body before you is no exception—what wishes do you have? Even if you do have any wishes, they should have lost their meaning long ago after a thousand years of time… Never mind, I’m not one to fuss over things like that.”

"However, if you, fellow Daoist, truly have the chance to turn the tide, and truly have the chance to see that 'Yun Qingzi,' who has already become a henchman of evil..."

His voice grew lower and slower, and the cracking sound emanating from the heart of the crystal gradually spread to its surface. The faint light within the crystal began to flicker chaotically, like a candle flame about to go out. As the first crystal shard fell from the "heart," Yu Sheng heard the old man, who could no longer be considered "Yun Qingzi," entrust him with something:

"...Don't hold back."

The last glimmer of life faded from the eyes of this crystalline body, and the deathly gray spread from the crystal heart, quickly covering its surface, along with countless cracks of all sizes.

In the very end, "Yun Qingzi" turned to look at Hu Li with a smile on her face.

"It's good that I can still retain this moment of humanity in my final moments..."

The next second, the smile shattered and fell to the ground.

The Crystal Heart has collapsed.

The faint light within the crystal faded away, and the force that maintained its crystallization integrity vanished with the complete termination of the "cycle." Accompanied by a series of crackling sounds, the enormous crystal shattered into countless fragments, collapsing from between the pillars and crystal branches. Immediately afterward, dense sounds of collapse began to emanate from the entire cave, and even the entire underground cave structure.

This entire underground space was supported by the ubiquitous "crystal branches," and now that all life has disappeared, the cave system, without support, can no longer be sustained.

"Boss! This place is going to collapse, meow!"

Lingdang exclaimed in surprise and immediately ran behind Xu Jiali. The mechanical ball in her hand quickly lit up, erecting a psionic barrier in the blink of an eye. However, besides a hint of tension, her vertical pupils held an even greater sense of inexplicable excitement.

"Next up is a tense and exciting cave escape? Like when we blew up the Katos hive last time? Shall we start running now? Run, run!"

As soon as the "Gipro Girl" got excited, she saw Yu Sheng casually open a virtual door, and on the other side of the door was the scenery on the ground.

Hu Li and Luna immediately ran across the gate to call on Sun, who was still digging on the surface, to quickly lead his men to a safe area. Yu Sheng turned around and glanced at Xu Jiali and Lingdang: "What are you two standing there for? Get out of here quickly, go up and call Sun and the others. I'll open a door for you directly to the Special Service Bureau. You can send the collected samples back first."

Xu Jiali then realized what was happening and hurriedly headed for the door. Lingdang, watching from behind, widened her eyes in disbelief: "...Ah, no, we should be here now...Hey! Boss! Wait for me, meow!"

Everyone returned to the surface through the gate, leaving only Yu Sheng and Eileen standing in the collapsing cave. Before passing through the gate, Yu Sheng looked back one last time.

Yun Qingzi—over the course of a thousand years, hundreds of Yun Qingzis have returned to dust.

“Let’s go,” he sighed softly, turned and stepped through the door. “There are still many things to do.”

(End of this chapter)