Chapter 425: Return to Dust

Many clues finally came together, and many things finally had an explanation.

Although there were still unresolved mysteries, Yu Sheng could now piece together more than eighty percent of the truth of the entire matter—

A thousand years ago, an unknown dark angel appeared in the Feiyu Star Sector in the form of a "crystal meteorite," crashing down on the border world Weishu-3 and attempting to parasitize it. This matter was detected by Yun Qingzi, who was in the border region at the time. The latter stepped in to stop it but did not anticipate that his enemy was an "angel" that could not be defeated through "common sense," leading to his death.

At the moment of his fall, Yun Qingzi refined his last wisp of essence soul, forcibly merging it with a part of the dark angel, attempting to use this method to suppress it deep beneath Weishu-3. This, however, set off a "cycle-iteration" process over the following millennia—the world believed Yun Qingzi had fallen a thousand years ago, never expecting that the last remnant soul of this ancient great power had been entangled with the dark angel deep underground, iterating time and again, reviving again and again, locked in an endless stalemate.

Later, the seal left by Yun Qingzi was breached. The dark angel successfully iterated a "Yun Qingzi copy" under its control and thus escaped the prison of Weishu-3, leaving behind only an "empty shell" and numerous "Yun Qingzis" in a state of chaos on that planet.

The "Yun Qingzi copy" that was taken away was influenced by the angel and essentially became a "vassal" of the dark angel. Whether he realized it or not, his actions began to shift in a direction favorable to the dark angel—and his current mission was to search for something called the "Emperor's Legacy"...

Considering the various traits the unknown angel had shown so far, its goal was highly likely to be finding a new valuable planet to parasitize. It was easy to deduce—the "Emperor's Legacy" that "Yun Qingzi" was looking for was most likely not some "object" at all, but a planet!

Taixu Spiritual Pivot was the most likely candidate!

"Holy shit, Xuance and the others are in deep trouble this time!" Irene exclaimed once this chain of logic became clear. "If that's the case, then that 'bad Yun Qingzi' has already sent people ahead to the edge of Taixu Spiritual Pivot... So they've already completed 'positioning' over there! Doesn't that mean they'll make a move soon?!"

Yu Sheng pulled out his phone and said quickly, "I'll inform Xuance and Yuan Ling about this right away, so Taixu Spiritual Pivot can prepare defenses."

"But even if they prepare, it should only buy them some time. That dark angel thing is practically unkillable under normal circumstances—back then, the Algared people threw in several legions in a preemptive strike and still couldn't take down the 'Beauty Goddess,"" Xu Jiali interjected from the side. Although she wasn't very clear on the situation in the Feiyu Star Sector, she had grasped about seventy or eighty percent of it. "We need to find a way to intercept it in advance, or deal with it like we did with Ank A'ira back then... At the very least, we have to locate it first!"

Yu Sheng had already turned to "Yun Qingzi," who was fused with the Crystal Heart. "Do you know where that 'thing' and the 'Yun Qingzi' it took are hiding now?"

The old man merged within the crystal had once again fallen into a state of dazed muttering. Yu Sheng asked twice before he sluggishly regained clarity, then raised his head and stared straight into Yu Sheng's eyes.

"Your question is strange, Daoist friend..." Yun Qingzi suddenly cracked a smile. "Haven't you already seen it? The 'empty shell' this old man is attached to... its residual instinct has been making it gaze toward Shuji all along."

"Of course, I guessed it was Shuji. But we went to that planet and failed to find 'Yun Qingzi,' nor did we discover any traces of a parasite," Yu Sheng admitted honestly. "They seemed to have hidden themselves using some method. We accidentally broke through their 'barrier' once and found a place near the edge of Mocheng that seemed like a crack, but when we went back to look for it later, we couldn't find that crack anymore."

Yun Qingzi frowned.

"This old man doesn't know what's going on then... That evil thing's oddities are truly hard to count. Especially after it iterated out a 'Yun Qingzi' under its control, it effectively gained the aid of 'intelligence.' Many things that were once purely instinctive have probably now become consciously employed 'divine abilities'... You say you found no trace of the 'parasite' on Shuji at all?"

"Yes, none at all," Yu Sheng nodded affirmatively. "Of course, we didn't spend long on Shuji, nor did we search the entire planet. But Shuji is now a highly developed colony. Even sparsely populated areas are at least monitored and watched, with specialized 'Planet Guardians' patrolling the entire territory regularly. If a parasite really existed on that planet and had been growing for years, there should theoretically be some traces... unless even those 'traces' were hidden."

"...Deceive every pair of eyes on the entire planet?" Irene muttered from his shoulder.

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

Until another cracking sound from the "Crystal Heart" broke the silence.

As the cracking sound rang out, Yu Sheng noticed that even "Yun Qingzi's" body suddenly developed numerous fissures. The life force in the crystallized old man's eyes visibly began to recede.

Irene grew anxious. "Hey hey, old man, why are you fading so fast..."

"Not fast, not fast—it's already longer than this old man expected," Yun Qingzi slowly smiled. As another round of cracking sounds arose, his decline accelerated further. With each passing second, his expression grew stiffer, closer to a lifeless mineral. "You little girl, gloomy as can be, yet you know how to care about people."

Ordinarily, if Irene heard someone teasing her, she would immediately start listing their family tree and go on the offensive. But now, she acted as if she hadn't heard Yun Qingzi's words at all. Instead, she immediately turned and shook Yu Sheng's head. "Hey hey, think of something! Aren't you supposed to be all-powerful..."

Yu Sheng didn't speak. He just reached out and pressed Irene's arm, then walked up to Yun Qingzi.

"Daoist friend, is there anything else you want to ask?" Yun Qingzi slowly lifted his head. All the life force in the crystal cave had now converged on that "heart." Yet even so, only the part of the crystallized old man above his chest could still move, and his voice grew increasingly stiff and slow. "This old man's mind can still stay clear for a while, I can manage a few words."

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

"I've asked everything I wanted to ask," he said. "But you—if there's anything you want me to do, you can tell me. I may not be able to accomplish everything, but I'll do my best."

"You've thrown a hard problem back at this old man," Yun Qingzi thought for a moment, then laughed. "The real Yun Qingzi died a thousand years ago. The ones left here, each and every one, are nothing but empty shells born from the cycle of obsessions. The shell before you is the same. What wishes do I have? Even if there were anything worthy of being called a wish, after a thousand years of erosion, it should have lost all meaning by now. Enough, enough. This old man isn't that sentimental either.

"However, if you, Daoist friend, truly have the chance to turn the tide, if you truly have the chance to see that 'Yun Qingzi' who has fallen into the claws of the evil thing..."

His voice grew lower and slower. The cracking sounds from the Crystal Heart had gradually spread to its surface. The faint light inside the crystal flickered chaotically, like a candle on the verge of extinguishing. As the first crystal shard fell from the "heart," Yu Sheng heard the old man—who could no longer clearly be called "Yun Qingzi"—entrust him:

"...Don't hold back."

The last wisp of light representing life faded from the crystallized shell's eyes. The ashen pallor of death spread from the Crystal Heart, rapidly covering his exterior. Along with it came countless cracks of all sizes.

At the very end, "Yun Qingzi" turned to look at Hu Li—with a smile on his face.

"Wonderful. This old man could still have this moment of humanity at the last..."

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

The Crystal Heart collapsed.

The faint light within the crystal faded completely. The power that had maintained its crystalline integrity dissipated along with the complete termination of the "cycle." With a series of crisp cracking noises, the enormous crystal crumbled into countless fine fragments, collapsing from between the pillars and crystal branches. Then, throughout the entire cave, even the entire underground cavity structure, a dense succession of collapse sounds began to ring out.

This entire underground space had been supported by the omnipresent "crystal branches." Now, with the disappearance of all life force, the cave system, lacking support, could no longer hold.

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

Lingdang exclaimed, then immediately ran behind Xu Jiali. The mechanical ball in her hand lit up, instantly forming a psychic barrier. But in her vertical pupils, aside from a hint of tension, there was more of an inexplicable excitement—

"Next up is a thrilling cave escape? Like last time when we blew up the Katosh Hive? Start running now, right? Run, run, run?"

The "Jipiro girl" had just gotten excited when she saw Yu Sheng casually open a shimmering gate on the other side, revealing the surface scenery beyond.

Hu Li and Luna immediately ran through the gate to call Engineer Sun, who was still conducting excavation work on the surface, to lead the people to safety. Yu Sheng turned back to look at Xu Jiali and Lingdang. "What are you two standing there for? Get moving—go up and get Engineer Sun and the others. I'll open another door for you directly to the Special Affairs Bureau. Deliver the collected samples first."

Xu Jiali snapped out of it and hurried toward the gate. Lingdang stared wide-eyed from behind. "...Ah, no, at a time like this you should... Hey! Boss! Wait for me, meow!"

Everyone returned to the surface through the gate, leaving only Yu Sheng and Irene standing in the collapsing cave. Before stepping through the gate, Yu Sheng turned back one last time to look behind him.

Yun Qingzi—the hundreds of Yun Qingzis over this thousand years—had ultimately returned to dust.

"Let's go," he exhaled softly, turned, and stepped through the gate. "There's still plenty to do."