Kao Zha Ji stared in bewilderment at the letter sent by Kao Dao Ji.
"A cheap method to elevate Gu Masters?" He gripped the letter with his two hands; still, there was some wariness in his expression.
"But is it really 'cheap' or is it one of those methods which enable a breakthrough at a side-effect?"
The Kao Clan had plenty of the latter.
However, they were rarely, if ever, used.
The reason was that it was not worth it!
For example, what was the point in forcing a breakthrough if it lowered the Gu Master's aptitude?
To Immortals, slightly stronger or weaker Gu Masters were hardly worth mentioning.
The purpose of raising their Cultivation was to nurture the next generation of Immortals.
And such seedlings were showered with countless aptitude-enhancing Gu, after all, who would want a shitty D Aptitude Gu Master to try and ascend?
Not only were their chances lower, but their strength would also be bottom-tier.
Only those with B or A Aptitudes were worth having.
Thus, if they 'cheapened' out but ended up lowering their aptitude by 5 to 7%, the only thing they would do would be to, in the long ter,m increase their prices drastically.
At most, employing this method would enable them to locate hidden gems, talented geniuses who were buried by their poor Cultivation, but the Clan had already systems in place to find them.
For example. Any Gu Master who became a 'Master' in their main Path would be fast-tracked to become an Immortal Seedling.
Of course, it aided to those Gu Masters who were stuck in Rank 1 or 2, and who lacked the means to even improve their attainment, but those kinds of hidden gems also required twice as much aptitude-enhancing Gu to become useful.
Other possible side effects were lowering the lifespan, which again was not worth it.
There were also other methods that worked but were greatly dangerous or risky.
Even raw dogging Thunder Rocks was one such method, but it was not worth it either, after all, what if they ended up killing their seedlings just for being cheap?
"Of course. There is still a possibility that this is a flawless method." Kao Zha Ji thought, with a broad mind, he continued reading the letter.
And his expression utterly changed.
As he saw the recorded video of Kao Qian Hangse reaching Rank 5 before his very eyes.
Kao Zha Ji's eyes shone vividly as he read its description.
"The concept is truly novel. He used Water Path to assimilate the lighting Qi, used Cloud Path to contain it, and to create the environmental conditions for the golden drop to remain stable until used, as well as for that self-replicating mechanism.
Finally, through Lighting Path, he smoothed the process over, without a thorough understanding of the three Paths, achieving this much would be impossible."
With just a casual look, he discerned the essence of his Killer Move.
Yet, that discernment only increased its value in his eyes.
In fact.
He was so mesmerized by the novel idea of a self-replicating cloud that his mind went into overdrive.
Countless thoughts appeared in his brain as he enhanced his mind with Wisdom Path Gu.
And before long, he took a deep breath.
He stretched his palm in the air, and a spherical cloud took shape.
He injected his Primeval Essence into it, and the cloud was rapidly inflated.
Before splitting into two halves, he injected more essence, and the process repeated itself over and over again.
After enough repetitions, he finally stopped.
"What a great concept. It will be very useful to me in the future." While the Gu and methods employed were not listed, Kao Zha Ji was a Quasi-Great Grandmaster with just a few key words; he immediately grasped the concept.
Of course, replicating the other parts was a bit more complicated for him.
But he bothered not for such things.
On the contrary, he looked utterly elated.
"Still. Something is a bit odd…" Kao Zha Ji smiled faded.
"Kao Dao Ji, isn't he supposed to be a Land Spirit? One or two achievements could be chalked up to luck, but he consistently keeps surpassing my expectations..." There was a hint of suspicion in his gaze.
Before he shook his head.
"I am just overthinking. If he had used such a miraculous method to cheat death, would Heaven's Will let him be? Reviving oneself already brings the Heaven's ire, let alone whatever the hell one would need to do to achieve this."
Then he shrugged.
"And even if he had, those are good news for the Clan. I would love nothing more than to have an eternal guardian resting in our grounds."
Still.
Despite his words, he felt a growing curiosity regarding his case.
He would be watching Kao Dao Ji's actions more closely in the future.
…..
Kao Dao Ji stood before a wall of countless of gaseous particles. He stretched his palm and unleashed a devastating Mortal Killer Move Lightning attack.
Lighting surged like a tide heading towards the wall of clouds, however.
The clouds stopped the advancement of the lightning; not only that, but they also rapidly inflated themselves and took a harder shape akin to that of a shield.
Kao Dao Ji observed this with a tiny smile in his face.
"As expected, it can be used like this too…" While he created the concept as a way of transforming Lighting Qi into those golden drops to nurture Gu Masters, he realized that his Killer Move had other possibilities.
The easiest one to fulfill was as the perfect counter to Lighting Path Gu Masters!
"As long as their offense does not overwhelm my defense, I can, little by little, stockpile a larger and larger number of micro clouds. I guess I could also prepare them before a battle begins, but for that, I would need intel of my opponent." He analyzed the properties of this derivative Killer Move.
"While I am not sure yet, I guess I could try to develop similar countermeasures for other paths.
Fire Path, Light Path, and Qi Path seem like top-tier candidates.
After all, my Micro Cloud Killer Move works by using 'fuel', stable sources like Metal or Earth Path would do for a lousy fuel. But those Paths are rather efficient. Others, like Strength Path, I lack enough relevant information to know how hard it would be to use them.
Of course, to achieve this, I would need to elevate my comprehension regarding those Paths."
Kao Dao Ji shrugged.
While he did not mind taking tangents from time to time, he was not as scattered-brained as to waste his time in 3 unrelated Paths just for that singular purpose.
Still, there was no harm in making some mental notes.
Who knows when this knowledge could prove useful?
…
His lips curled up.
"Oh well, the routine test is over. Is time to move towards something more interesting."
He summoned another Gu from his aperture.
'Rainy Thoughts' Gu.
The Gu looked grey and even slightly blue pale, it had the shape of a cloud, but it looked wrinkled, especially in its upper face, which looked like a frown.
And a saddened expression.
Together with rain that slowly flew out from its body from two orifices that looked like eyes.
The origin of this Gu was the same as that of Sunny Thoughts Gu.
A derivative of Clouded Thoughts Gu, but this one seemed to be made during intense rain sessions.
The effect of the Gu was a bit odd.
It brought a similar sense to Sad Thoughts Gu, but it was more of…Melancholy.
Its effect was to slowly bring out memories of a better, forgotten past.
The effect of this Gu varied depending on the individual; for example, if the Gu Master is at the peak of their life, like Kao Qian Hangse, whom he had tested the Gu recently, the Gu would show barely any effect.
But against people who were in a downtime in their lives, the Gu's effect would be improved.
In other words, it worked by using the 'regret' in their hearts, as well as remorse, and feelings of nostalgia.
Of course, this kind of Gu would be useless if facing the kind of person who never regretted a thing or delved in the past, but against a more sentimental person, it would be top-tier.
"Critical damage against Red Lotus, absolute garbage against Fang Yuan." Kao Dao Ji concluded.
Regardless.
Kao Dao Ji raised his arm, summoning his Cytocloud Killer Move.
And injecting upon it Rainy Thoughts Gu.
Followed by which, after, he triggered 'Rain of Ideas.'
Immediately, there was a resonance.
The originally meek rain of ideas was shot like a bullet towards the target, growing visibly larger and stronger than on every other occasion.
Kao Dao Ji nodded at this.
"As expected, there is synergy between both Killer Moves. But there's plenty of room for improvement."
He squinted his eyes.
He discarded the previous form of the cloud, realizing the resilience of Rainy Thoughts Gu; it took the shape of a more traditional cloud.
From which intense raining befell, mixed among it, there lay countless of Rainy Thoughts Gu.
Not only mixed themselves perfectly, but they also strengthened the force of the rain slightly.
Observing this, Kao Dao Ji nodded.
"I think I can improve this further, with a bit more practice, but for now."
"Let's call this Tears in the Rain."
After saying those words, he finally settled.
"My Cultivation is progressing quite handily, with Big Cloud Surprise, I already filled the gap in offense and storage methods, whilst I also have unorthodox offensive means through my Clouded Thoughts Gu and its family.
My movement speed is also rather great. Whilst my defense is already halfway there.
My investigative means are rather bad, but that is relative.
Inside my aperture, my perception is rather sharp, and at the moment, I cannot even take a step outside.
So, I guess it's not that bad?
Only my Healing Methods are rather lackluster.
But how do I solve this?" Kao Dao Ji pondered.