Dimensional Hotel
Chapter 403: Deep Underground

Chapter 403: Chapter 403: Deep Underground

The silence of the Great Sage cast a stifling atmosphere over the palace hall, but the high-ranking Tech Monk standing closest detected a layer of complex emotion beyond the anger on the Great Sage’s gloomy face—one interwoven with doubt and grave contemplation.

This instinctively made the high-ranking Tech Monk turn around and gaze at the scene displayed in the holographic projection alongside the Great Sage.

It was the last scene seen by the Clone before its death—a woman in a black dress with red eyes hovering in the sky, fingertips brewing a light akin to annihilation.

The entire scene was coated in intense and splendid colors, seemingly a "rendering error" caused by chaotic neurons at the moment of brain death by the recorder of the scene. The blurred female silhouette was sketched in large swaths of black and crimson, with circles of deep purple or dark red contours rippling in the sky as if a colossal shadow was cast from behind her onto the clouds, overlooking the viewpoint’s direction.

"... First report everything that happened here to the Holy Land, including the raw data of these memory fragments," the Great Sage suddenly spoke, "Continue to try to reconstruct the information from these fragments... especially that of this ’Doll’."

The high-ranking Tech Monk bowed deeply: "Yes."

The Great Sage grunted in acknowledgment, then rose from the seat—a multitude of linking cables falling away from him like living tendrils.

He turned and walked toward the depths of the palace hall, pausing as he passed by those cultivation chambers, glancing slightly downward at one of the containers.

A low and subtle buzzing came from the tubular container fixed slantwise on the ground, its surface lights flickering rhythmically, indicating that a newly matured Clone was slumbering within, its blank brain awaiting the transfer of a new persona—just as his current body had lain in such a cultivation chamber minutes ago.

The sudden death of the previous shell had disrupted many plans, forcing him to hastily transfer his Consciousness into this new body, an outcome more impactful than he had anticipated—the discomforts of the new body were secondary; more concerning were the intolerable barriers in memory and thought; he still couldn’t fully recall what had previously transpired, only remembering the rain, the uncanny enemy, the renegade Artificial Saintess... and a blinding light.

A stabbing pain and buzzing echoed once more in his mind, prompting the Great Sage to frown and instinctively rub his temples. Whether it was a delusion or not, he felt as if the edges of his vision were dim, like a thin shadow leaping at the fringe of his focus.

The monitoring chip in his brain raised no alarm, nor did his Spiritual Intuition react.

It’s possible that the hasty Consciousness transfer had impaired the nervous system of the current Clone... if the situation remains unresolved henceforth, just replace this shell with a new one—plans are at a critical stage, but unforeseen variables have emerged. Now’s not the time to consider costs; everything with potential risks, including his own shell, must be eliminated.

Chaotic thoughts flashed through the Great Sage’s mind, and he stepped over those cultivation containers, quickly leaving the palace hall and heading deeper into the vast underground labyrinth.

He traversed the corridors and connecting passages surrounding the hall and then passed through a cleft at the edge of the palace—it seemed to be caused by the outer walls’ collapse, yet beyond the cleft connected to what looked like naturally formed caverns and tunnels—advancing in the dimness while cautiously observing changes in the surrounding environment.

Occasionally, shadows appeared in the dark corners on either side—black-clad, eerily masked "Cultivators"—these "Death Warriors" controlled by Yun Qingzi guarded the passageways of the underground caves vigilantly, alert to any stirrings within. Their gazes fell on the Great Sage but quickly shifted indifferently elsewhere.

Yet the Great Sage paid no heed to the gazes upon him, focusing mostly on monitoring environmental changes and safeguarding his Mind.

Because he knew, awaiting him ahead was an ally, yet also a monster—whose recent Self-Control had been waning.

As he proceeded deeper into the cave, the surroundings grew deathly silent, soon, even those black-clad Cultivators were gone, with only the echo of his own footsteps resounding in the seemingly endless tunnels, occasionally illuminated by glowing vines or bizarre crystals embedded along the walls, barely lighting the path ahead.

Gradually, new faint glimmers appeared in his vision, with weak light seeping through the cave’s ceiling ahead. The Great Sage lifted his head, glimpsing the distant starry sky through those rock fractures of various sizes.

Here, deep underground, yet able to see stars invisible from the surface of Lianmo City.

Accustomed to such sights, the Great Sage hurriedly traversed this star-spangled passageway, finally reaching the deepest part of the underground labyrinth—a vast primordial cave.

Countless faint flowing luminescence penetrated the cave’s walls and floor, coursing through the air like rivers, with dense Crystal Clusters piercing through the earth’s surface, amassing and outgrowing throughout the cave. Under the dim glow from both the light flow and clusters, the cave’s center ground protruded upwards, with a cross-shaped fissure breaking open.

Simple stone tables, stone stools, and stone beds were seen around the fissure, alongside the Pill Furnace, Sword Platform, and other items commonly used by Cultivators, yet all appeared abandoned long ago, collapsed, shattered, and covered in dust.

The Great Sage stepped straight up to the cross-shaped fissure.

An unsettling friction noise emerged from the fissure, and in the next instant, an unusual Crystal Cluster, interspersed with gray and black, abruptly "grew" out from the fissure. Rapidly sprouting and expanding in the air, it quickly amassed over a man’s height, then its surface began to writhe and reshape as if alive, with the seemingly hard crystal melting and recrafting into a smooth "mirror," wherein the dignified figure of an elderly man materialized.

"You encountered trouble?" The elder emerging from the crystal furrowed his brow and spoke casually.

"It’s trouble for all of us," the Great Sage said seriously, "A group of unknown individuals suddenly appeared in Mo City, and my previous clone died at their hands."

"Oh, no wonder your body looks so fresh, it really is a new replacement," Yun Qingzi laughed, as though not at all concerned by the other’s grave tone, "And what does that have to do with me?"

"They might have been drawn here because of you!" The Great Sage’s expression was displeased, evidently dissatisfied upon seeing the other’s attitude, "You should know that because of your sudden loss of control last time, our risk of exposure has increased significantly! More and more people are being affected by you, even beyond Shuji—now many eyes are already on this planet."

"That wasn’t a loss of control; it was a necessary means to search for the Emperor’s Legacy," Yun Qingzi said calmly, "If I truly lost control... you should know what it would look like."

The Great Sage frowned tightly. Though the other’s attitude wasn’t great, he knew these were truth, so after a moment, he suppressed his unhappiness and spoke somewhat sullenly: "So what? With such a commotion, did you find it?"

"Of course, I found it."

"Where?"

"The Taixu Spirit Hub."

Hearing Yun Qingzi’s reply, the Great Sage was silent for two seconds, then his voice broke the silence in the cave: "That’s it? We already know it’s the Taixu Spirit Hub—from the beginning, clues pointed to that planet, yet you caused such a big disturbance..."

"The Taixu Spirit Hub itself is the Emperor’s Legacy."

The cave fell silent once more, and this time it was even quieter than before.

The astonished expression on the Great Sage’s face lasted for at least half a minute.

"You mean, that entire planet..." After a while, the Great Sage seemed to awaken suddenly, speaking with an incredulous expression, "Wait, if that’s the case, doesn’t it mean the ’Emperor’s Legacy’ isn’t something that can be ’taken’? So how do you plan to obtain it?"

"You don’t need to worry about that. I have my own plans—for now, that ’Emperor’s Legacy’ won’t be of much use to you anyway," Yun Qingzi said offhandedly, "Before acquiring the Emperor’s Legacy, my cooperation with you will continue as usual."

The Great Sage silently watched the elderly figure projected in the crystal, then exhaled gently and nodded: "I understand. We will continue to help suppress the influence of the ’Inference Star Body’—but in return, please at least notify us in advance if you plan any ’big moves’ in the future. We’re already facing enough trouble as it is."

"No problem," Yun Qingzi laughed, then seemed to remember something suddenly, saying, "Ah, by the way, you mentioned an unknown group just now? And they killed you once? Do elaborate? I have time to listen now."

Great Sage: "..."

...

What could be more anxiety-inducing than hearing about an ancient power that has gone insane with madness appearing?

There is indeed something more.

And that is, when you hear that this ancient power is likely right at your doorstep, or worse, already causing trouble in your home.

Upon hearing Xuan Che’s account of "Yun Qingzi," and learning that recent major events at the Taixu Spirit Hub and disturbances in Shuji might be related to that "Yun Qingzi," Mo Ran’s expression was evidently uneasy.

This elegant and dignified City Lord was instantly engulfed in an aura of "I’ve had enough of this damn job," akin to hearing from your superiors that a nationally notorious criminal has appeared in your jurisdiction just as you were about to report your work, yet you knew nothing about it.

Of course, you could omit the "akin"...