Kao Dao Ji smirked widely.
"Big Surprise Cloud!" He stretched his palm, from which a tiny swirling cloud slowly took shape.
The spherical cloud, upon reaching its target, a wooden dummy, exploded into a deep blue mist.
From which.
Countless of Fire Path artefacts slowly unfurled, exploding into countless of pieces, producing a thunderous sound.
Kao Dao Ji observed this scene in awe.
"What a great move!" He shouted.
Of course, this Killer Move was not his own invention; it was made by one of the many geniuses of the Kao Clan.
Kao Ji Shou.
Kao Ji Shou was a Rank 8 Gu Master from the Kao Clan, who specialised in Cloud and Fire Path, and the very move he had just used was the very foundation of his fighting strategy.
Which, in simple terms, consisted of spreading clouds with those so-called pocket dimensions, in which he would store abnormally strong fires which could be as massive as tall mountains or wide rivers.
All within a limited space, and all without affecting the overall speed of movement of those clouds.
But in the moment of hitting their target would explode and reveal their contents.
"Of course, whilst he used fire, nothing stopped him from using water, poison or even dream path.
This Killer Move of his was too flexible." In a way, this Killer Move could be considered an 'upgraded' version of the Cytocloud Killer Move he had invented.
There were quite a few flaws, however.
"Clouds are already quite ethereal on their own; furthermore, unlike solid ground, is quite hard to differentiate the outside from the inside.
In other words, the pocket dimension is rather unstable, which is also why once it hits something, it automatically explodes.
But that is not the only thing, at every passing instant, the Gu Master must exercise restraint to keep it contained; if they let loose for even a tenth of a second, the thing will explode right in their faces.
In other words, one needs deep focus and profound attainment of at least a Master's in Cloud Path to manage each individual of those clouds, for even half a minute.
I do not think I could last for over 3 minutes.
It also uses up a bit too much essence, not quite as much as an Immortal Gu, but it is still quite huge for my purposes.
Finally. Another flaw is that it is extraordinarily weak against space attacks; in fact, Kao Ji Shou was slaughtered by a peak Rank 7 Gu Master in space path who basically hard countered his fighting style."
Despite those flaws, Kao Dao Ji did not look too bothered by such factors.
"Of course, this logic only applies because he overdid it. Multiplying the volume within by over 100,000-fold is overdoing it.
With a mere 100 factor or even a 50 factor, I would be more than satisfied.
And downscaling is far easier than anything else." Upon analysing the Killer Move, Kao Dao Ji nodded, completely satisfied.
While the version he had received was but the outdated mortal version of the Killer Move, which employed no Immortal Gu, and which had been ditched out by Kao Ji Shou in his later years, it was still a hundred times more profound than anything he could have ever conjured.
"Even if I were given a century, I do not think I could have created a Killer Move as good as this one." Kao Dao Ji praised endlessly.
Then. He frowned.
"In fact, now that I think about it. A pocket dimension, too, especially one as thorough as this, should contain some aspects of Heaven Path." He touched his chi,n pondering.
"While shallow, it's the best hint I've gotten. Perhaps, once I become a Grandmaster, I should put some attention on this aspect too."
"But enough stalling, I need to jump right onto it."
He closed his eyes.
Took a deep breath, and then opened them.
Immediately, he activated a Killer Move, 'Culture Makes One Wiser.'
His eyes shone with intense colours; powerful inspiration bombarded his brain.
He raised his hands.
Countless of micro-clouds took shape before his eyes.
He summoned a few Thunder Rocks.
And pressed them inside those microscopical clouds, which, despite being dozens of times larger, were absorbed by those pecks of what seemed to be dust.
Intense lighting flickered before settling.
Powerful lights surged.
And Kao Dao Ji seemed to be in a trance.
…
18 days later.
Kao Dao Ji stared at a singular speck of dust floating on the ground silently.
With cold sweat on his forehead.
He knew that if his deductions had been correct, the Killer Move would soon take shape.
The singular speck of dust, which looked so plain and simple to the view, had taken everything out of him.
From the simplest knowledge he held to the deepest reservoirs.
As of now, it remained in hibernation.
A state of minimal energy consumption.
However.
He carefully slid a low-grade thunder rock near the speck of dust.
As if in resonance, the speck of dust resonated it trembled.
And begun to rapidly expand in size.
Devouring in the surrounding air, growing bigger and bigger.
Until it looked utterly inflated.
Then.
It is split into two halves.
Kao Dao Ji laughed heartily as he saw this.
His deductions had finally led him to the right conjecture!
Refining each micro-cloud was a process of utmost effort.
Furthermore, the energy each could hold was minute, like a single grain of rice could not feed the stomach of a man, a singular micro cloud could not aid in the breakthrough of a Gu Master.
Of course, he could raise the amount, but the amount of time required was beyond words.
Months upon months of hard work just for a single Gu Master.
By this point, why would he even bother with that method?
When there were already established methods to force a breakthrough for Gu Masters, yes, they were expensive, but they were there.
But this method was utterly different.
He could simply force in a few thousand of low-grade Thunder Rock, let those clouds freely multiply for a few hours, and the breakthrough would be ready.
Finally, once the process was complete, he would simply discard the surviving cells, keeping only 4 or 5 in a standby, feeding them just enough so they would not starve.
Then, once they were needed again, he would merely feed them increasing amounts of Thunder Rocks again so they would multiply again, and repeat the process all over again.
What was most impressive was that, unlike most other method,s his did not depend on Supreme or High-Grade Thunder Rocks to elevate Rank 4 Gu Masters to Rank 5.
Just enough of the 'garbage' would work just fine.
It was akin to refining a Rank 5 Gu using purely Rank 2 Materials; it was too effective!
Kao Dao Ji breathed heavily.
As he considered the ratio of benefits he could gain with this method.
Immediately, his eyes turned bloodshot red as he turned his gaze towards the horizon.
His wings flapped in the air, and he vanished.
Kao Qian Hangse turned his eyes in horror.
As he felt an overwhelming presence draw nearer.
Before he had the time to process it.
Kao Dao Ji appeared before his eyes.
"Heya." He waved his hand.
"Huh…Sir?" Kao Qian Hangse muttered in confusion.
"Didn't you want to become a Rank 5 Gu Master?"
"Ah?" Kao Qian Hangse raised his eyebrows.
"Ah, yes, yes of course, grand lord, I'd love nothing more than-"
"This is your chance." Kao Dao Ji lazily replied.
Before grabbing him by the collar and dragging him towards his laboratory, which, like most things, was flying amidst the deep clouds.
Kao Qian Hangse's eyes spun around.
The speed had been overwhelming, and he felt dizzy.
He even had the urge to vomit.
But he resisted.
"This must be one of the trials Kao Dao Ji is putting on me…I cannot show weakness, not before my immortal opportunity!" He gritted his teeth.
And stared at Kao Dao Ji, who merely smiled in response.
"Good."
"Now, strip from the chest to above."
Kao Qian Hangse nodded, as quickly as he could manage to, he took off his clothes.
"Good. Now remain still." Kao Dao Ji waved his hands.
From which a wave of particles slowly floated towards him in a spiral.
Slowly drawing nearer and nearer to his aperture.
Once they got near enough.
The nearest clouds suddenly exploded, revealing a singular golden drop.
"Quickly, absorb it!" Kao Dao Ji commanded.
Of course, Kao Qian Hangse obliged.
He focused intently on it and slowly drew in towards himself.
"Good. Now we will pick up the pace. Focus on shattering the walls, whilst I will replenish your Primeval Essence."
Kao Qian Hangse nodded.
His Primeval Essence inside his aperture walls was drawn in at full force, hitting the walls of his aperture.
Tiny cracks appeared, which were rapidly refilled.
With his aptitude, he had no chance to naturally reach Rank 4, let alone 5.
Only by grasping countless of opportunities in his life has he been able to reach his current level.
And he was not planning to stop today.
Especially because the energy was too abundant.
In mere seconds, 1%, then 2%, then 3% of his Primeval Essence was destroyed as countless of golden drops appeared like rainfall.
Until suddenly.
Many hours later.
There was a cracking sound.
The golden walls surrounding his aperture exploded.
And the aperture was made anew, as light purple energy took its place.
Kao Qian Hangse's heart was beating faster and faster.
He could not believe it had been this easy.
He turned his head to praise and bow before Kao Dao Ji, the one who had given him such a great opportunity.
Literally falling from the sky.
However.
His expression froze as he saw the uncanny smile on Kao Dao Ji's face.
"Hahah…It actually works!" Kao Dao Ji muttered to himself.
"Huh?" Kao Qian Hangse's eyes widened as he realised he had been a test subject.
However, Kao Dao Ji did not notice this.
His focus was completely on his achievement.
"I did it! I actually did it! I managed to create a method to force Gu Masters to ascend, and it's so cheap too…" His smile widened.
"I can become so rich ha ha-ha-ha!" He laughed heartily.
But then.
His expression froze.
"Wait. No...
I did not consider this..." He muttered while touching his chin.
"While my method is good, it literally self-replicates. If I were to sell it on the market, the only thing that would happen is that everyone would buy a few and then pirate my product.
The only other way would be to sell this at a sky-high price, but while I have some reputation now, I do not think it is enough to convince people to waste their fortunes in this."
Immediately.
He felt a bit awkward.
He had been so focused on his research that he had failed to take into account something so basic.
However, he rapidly recovered.
"The only way I have is to bring in those Gu Masters to my aperture to ascend, before kicking them out."
While the idea sounded crazy, it was not so much; in reality, it was quite simple.
They could simply sell a few Mortal Gu Masters, then he would bring them to his aperture, before reselling them back to their previous owners.
"No. I cannot do that. Bringing outsiders into my aperture is too much of a security risk.
They could use their memories to deduce my location; furthermore, while my perception as a Land Spirit is great, is not absolute. What if they use a Gu that bypasses my senses, and secretly use it to track my location?
Furthermore, I have already made great waves in Treasure Yellow Heaven in the past months. I do not think it is a good idea to keep pushing my luck."
After a long consideration, he paused.
"The Clan. The Kao Clan is the only reliable place I know; the supreme leader has no incentive to scam me. While the benefits I offer are plentiful enough."
…
Kao Dao Ji turned his gaze towards Kao Qian Hangse, who had been blankly listening to Kao Dao Ji talking to himself for a long time.
"Huh….Alright, you've heard enough." With a wave of his hands, he sent the man flying.