Dimensional Hotel
Chapter 426: Penetration

Chapter 426: Chapter 426: Penetration

The rain curtain was continuous and seemed colder than usual; disordered winds blew through the buildings, whipping the rain into a tangled mess. The distant neon lights turned into large, indistinct patches of color in the mist, emitting ambiguous illusionary light.

The black canopy boats and Mechanical Flower Boats floating among the pavilions and towers received navigation warnings issued by the control division, and promptly moored beside the nearest building to dodge the worsening weather—a cold air mass was reportedly descending from the north, expected to transform into a cyclone near the Refining Tower, bringing a storm over the entire city.

Through the wide windows, Xuan Che could feel the brewing unrest in the air outside.

Something sensed it... sensed the presence of an unsettling "gaze" within the city.

Xuan Che steadied his mind, maintaining a calm expression as he looked at Mo Ran sitting opposite him.

Mo Ran wore a smile, reporting to him about Mo City’s recent modifications and repurposing projects for surrounding Refining Towers, occasionally turning his head to converse with the unseen "Star Guardian Elder Dao Heng" in the air.

Ten minutes ago, a servant entered the room and paid respects to "Elder Dao Heng."

Xuan Che showed no sign of anomaly.

His Divine Sense scanned the room again, sweeping across the entire City Lord Mansion.

Mo Ran harbored no hostility, nor did anyone here; they were not those "black-clothed cultivators" —even if Mo Ran held malicious thoughts, she wouldn’t use an "invisible Star Guardian" for such a comical act.

Clearly, everyone’s perception here had gone awry.

Xuan Che continued to humor the opposite party for a while before finding a reason to discreetly excuse himself.

Mo Ran and "Elder Dao Heng" saw him off to the mansion’s entrance.

"There will soon be a storm in the city," Mo Ran looked at the nearly deserted street, then turned to Xuan Che with a slight nod, "if the Immortal Envoy isn’t in a hurry, I can arrange for an Immortal Boat."

"No need. A little wind and rain have their own charm," Xuan Che cupped his hands, "It’s rare for Taixu Spirit Hub to witness such weather; I intend to walk around the city—thank you for the hospitality today, Mo City Lord, no need to see me off."

They parted ways, and Xuan Che stepped out of the protective formation of the City Lord Mansion. The wind and rain outside rushed toward him like a pack of predators scenting their prey, yet they were instantly repelled by the Protective Spirit Qi around him, swirling and dispersing, leaving only a trace of chill seeping in, which instead made his mind clearer.

He stepped deeper into the rain curtain, his pace seeming slow yet swift, reaching several blocks away in moments.

A few passersby wearing rain capes and straw hats hurried across the street, with one muttering about the abnormal weather change, while another reassured, saying Mo City’s weather was always like this, and sudden heavy rains were common this time of year.

A drunkard staggered out from a nearby tavern, and the cold wind and rain on the street made him stumble as soon as he stepped out. He looked up at the sky outside and began cursing, weaving and bobbing forward, his barely sustained Protective Spirit Qi wobbling in the wind and rain. As Xuan Che drew closer, he heard the drunkard mumbling to himself: "...Just for a drink...when did it start raining? What bad luck...I wonder how many people will be absent from the mine tomorrow..."

Xuan Che discreetly avoided the drunkard, and in the corner of his eye, he saw a decorated black canopy boat with floating illusionary lights passing low between two nearby high-rises. Faint singing emanated from the boat, and a young woman in a gauze dress stood at the prow—the woman seemed completely unaware of the increasingly strong wind and rain, showing no intention of docking the boat near any building.

Xuan Che narrowed his eyes slightly.

The rain seemed not to fall upon the gauze-clad woman, nor the black canopy boat.

He reached into his robe, retrieving the Lingxi Mirror.

The Lingxi Mirror received a message from Guard-3, where Mr. Yu mentioned the deceitful Crystal Jungle, Yun Qingzi’s demise millennia ago, and the truth buried deep underground.

The unknown Dark Angel possessed the capability to parasitize planets, with Guard-3 being the first victim, and Shuji the second. Its next target could very likely be the Taixu Spirit Hub.

Currently, the Dark Angel could still be concealed somewhere in Shuji—simultaneously, there might also be a "Yun Qingzi replica" under its control hidden on this star, and those black-clothed cultivators commanded by "Yun Qingzi" might have essentially been converted into "followers" of the Dark Angel.

As for those Hidden Monastery believers buried deeper... they might not necessarily target the Taixu Spirit Hub directly, but they would certainly act when the Dark Angel becomes active again...

Xuan Che swiftly perused these messages and discreetly extended his Divine Sense into the Lingxi Mirror, relaying the situation he had just observed and his speculations back to the sect, as well as sending them to the Master Uncle remaining at Immortal Gathering Continent and to Mr. Yu, who had yet to return from Guard-3.

...

"Shuji’s ’Star Guardian’ is highly likely to have met with misfortune, possibly disappearing decades ago... From the records checked from the City Lord Mansion, Elder Dao Heng only had close interactions and regular private communications with major cities on Shuji initially after taking office, but soon became a recluse...

"In the records, the ’Star Guardian’s’ performance was very consistent, perhaps even too consistent, and aside from activities required of a Star Guardian Elder, Mo City’s documented materials almost never mentioned anything else concerning ’Elder Dao Heng.’

"Mo Ran herself had a clear mind, conversing naturally, the issue is with her cognition.

"Everyone’s cognition seems off, everyone."

Master Yuan Hao frowned, looking at the message just received from Xuan Che on the Lingxi Mirror, and fell into contemplation.

Moments later, he walked to the window and casually pushed it open.

The wind and rain from outside surged in together but were instantly blocked by the protective barrier of the hotel building, leaving only traces of cool dampness blowing into the room.

On this Colonized Star, developed from a wild region, most buildings have this built-in environmental protection design, which is a "special tradition" for many developing planets—it’s often strong enough just to block wind, rain, and temperature extremes.

Master Yuan Hao gazed at the rain curtain for a while, then pulled out two jade-like... bricks from his pocket and casually flung them out the window.

Zheng Zhi, on the side scrolling short videos on his phone, happened to look up and see this scene, got startled, almost believing this handsome immortal was throwing objects at a person’s glass—only to see the two rectangular pieces fly up into the rainy night, emitting misty spiritual light, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Master Yuan Hao watched those flying "bricks" with an increasingly solemn expression.

"Zheng Dao You," the old handsome man suddenly turned back, looking at Zheng Zhi who was getting up from the sofa, "Have a look toward that Refining Tower... do you see anything unusual? I feel something’s not right, yet I can’t perceive what’s going on over there."

Perplexed, Zheng Zhi got up and went to the window, squinting his eyes to look outside.

His gaze pierced through the misty rain curtain, focusing for a long while.

Then he suddenly widened his eyes.

In the pale backdrop mingled with bizarre gray-black crystalline substances, like huge indescribable "branches," rising from the edge of the city, currently entangling the Refining Tower—while the Refining Tower itself, has somehow transformed into a pitch-black shadow, as if... a rift piercing through the sky and earth, vertically splitting the city’s edge.

They didn’t just appear now.

It seems they’ve always been there.

Zheng Zhi was shocked, instinctively stepped back two steps, but just as he was about to tell Master Yuan Hao what he saw, the frightening scene at the end of the rain curtain vanished without a trace.

But his abnormal behavior had already been captured by Master Yuan Hao’s eyes.

"Zheng Dao You, what did you see?"

"Gigantic structures looking like tree branches, entangling around the Refining Tower—appearing to be some kind of crystal..."

Zheng Zhi licked his lips, somewhat startled, and said, but as soon as he had finished speaking, he suddenly felt a piercing chill.

It was as if an invisible gaze, previously wandering blindly around, suddenly noticed him, casting an eerie glance in his direction.

"It" saw him.

The next second, mutation arose suddenly!

The warned storm arrived, the rain curtain outside the window transformed into a violent storm in an instant, with cold winds howling and the dense rain like knives, effortlessly tearing open the weak protective barrier outside the Immortal Gathering Continent building.

The wind and rain rushed into the living room, instantly drenching everything near the window, and the rain seemed to carry a weird power of devouring and erosion, all things tainted by the rainwater were seemingly cut away by invisible blades, quickly disappearing into thin air—but then restored as if nothing happened, even the wind and rain flowing into the room rolled back out the window.

The street outside the window vanished and reappeared, towering buildings were sliced in half and then instantly restored to their original state, a mechanical flower boat tilted and flew out of the rain curtain, alert lights flashing on its sides, and the colossal vessel crashed into the nearby hotel rooftop like a stone falling into water, splashing an astounding wave—within the wave, flowers bloomed furiously, and the flower boat reversed and flew back, perfectly intact.

Melodious music came from the flower boat, dancers with graceful figures danced elegantly at the window, a girl with a terrified expression appeared at the boat’s railing, seemingly wanting to escape from the just-crashed ship, but just as Master Yuan Hao was about to intervene, the entire ship vanished into thin air amidst the wind and rain.

The whole city started emitting a low sound, like a giant beast awakening.

"Knowledge Barrier?" Master Yuan Hao’s face turned solemn, then suddenly turned to look at Zheng Zhi, "Zheng Dao You..."

Beside him was emptiness, Zheng Zhi’s figure had long disappeared from the room.