Three weeks later.
Kao Do Ji, like before, stood before the horizon.
Observing calmly.
However, the sight ahead of him was quite different from before.
Tiny steel-like threads could be seen, extending like a myriad of tentacles, aiming towards the heavens, coming from a few of the grey clouds.
In those threads, lighting kept falling.
One could see that those threads withstood the intermittent lighting, merely trembling with vibrant colors and producing thunderous sounds, yet remaining fine.
Such was the solution Kao Dao Ji concocted to slowly split the cloud into smaller segments, which he would then harden with several Killer Moves.
Whilst generally they would be used as weapons or armor, they were a useful tool for such purposes.
Hell, if he willed so, he was sure that just like he could build a lightning rod, he could build a bridge or anything else if he so willed it.
Of course, doing so was inefficient after all, sustaining that shape required maintenance; if he did not, the cloud structure would eventually crumble and shatter like glass.
Though such 'weakness' was conveniently very helpful right now.
After all, he wanted to get rid of those annoying clouds and lightning.
Thus, he used the clouds to withstand the thunder, and the thunder to destroy the clouds.
Of course, this was a long-term plan.
At his current pace, it may take over two decades before he gets rid of those clouds entirely.
In the meantime, however, he could at least get rid of that pesky lighting to create a more productive environment.
Observing the scene, and noticing no peculiarities, Kao Dao Ji turned his sight towards the middle-layer clouds, those which ranged from the 3rd to 6th layer.
Those were the most useful layers of clouds, in which the density of the clouds was neither too high nor too low.
Such an environment was perfect for his short-term plans.
From his aperture, he summoned a Storage Gu.
'Swallowing Cloud Ant Gu.'
The Gu looked quite simple; it looked like a tiny black ant. However, once it opened its tiny mouth, one would see a cloud-like pattern inside.
The insect spat a portion of the cloud, which expanded a hundredfold. From it, a few packs appeared.
Those packs carried a pair of names in them: 'Cloudy Dandelion' and 'True Sunflowers.'
Two rare kinds of materials that could grow in rare environments.
Cloudy Dandelions were a rare breed of plant that could actually grow and nurture itself on top of clouds.
Not only that, but its effects were quite good too, as their bodies were quite nourishing for living organisms; they also had another peculiar function.
Which was that those who touched them would feel a touch of sadness, and would even have the urge to cry!
That, of course meant that those plants belonged to the realm of Wisdom Path and could be nurtured to produce Wills albeit, they were rarely used for such a purpose as there were plentiful of better materials.
True Sunflowers were another rare type of plant, which devoured and eat nothing except for water, and even that could be attained by absorbing it from the air.
The only thing it truly needed was a stable flux of Heaven and Earth Qi to grow.
The flower would, upon receiving enough Qi, begin to float, and if kept long enough, it would even begin to produce light.
Its effect of floating amidst the skies and producing intense light made it look like the actual sun, hence the reason why it had that name.
And that was not all, just like the sun could nurture plants and speed their growth, True Sunflower could do this to a lower extent.
Adding those two plans, his development strategy finally began.
Kao Dao Ji floated amidst the clouds, spreading from them enough of those dandelions, whilst also carefully putting a single True Sunflower every few kilometers or so, to ensure they would not damage anything.
The ratios were completely different; for every 5 or 6 thousand dandelions, he merely put a single sunflower, but it could not be helped, the sunflower's might was simply too huge.
Regardless.
He spent the following days continuously managing his aperture and spreading those materials everywhere.
While he was busy nurturing his aperture, in the headquarters of the Kao Clan, there was a meeting.
"Gentlemen, I think you all must be curious why I have called you here." A Featherman said.
The man looked very handsome, though slightly aged, with a few white strands of hair in his beard, plus some other signs of age.
Regardless, those signs of age only gave him a deeper charm of maturity rare among Featherman.
Furthermore, his gaze seemed piercing and profound, his eyes shone with intense light, and his eyebrows were long.
"Could it be because of the Heaven and Earth Ascension ceremony?" A woman named Kao Mu Ji asked.
She was a Featherman with long golden hair and wings; her face looked quite innocent for one of an Immortal.
"What is that?" A newly promoted Immortal said.
"So, you don't know? As expected of a newbie…" A man with a round face suddenly said with a chuckle.
"Don't tease him, after all, this is a secret we have managed to keep so far due to our caution…" An old woman suddenly said, then with a mysterious smile, she added.
"Of course, we don't want this secret to spread, so if you desire to know so badly, you will have to sign an agreement to never share this."
The youth named Kao Dan Zi nodded repeatedly, the two made the bow, and then she proceeded.
"Alright. Now that you are clear, let me tell you:
For generations, our Clan has remained stable and very often has produced Rank 8 Cultivators.
That is despite the harassment we suffer from other variant human forces and the occasional daredevil human.
Why is that?
The secret is this ceremony." She let out a long pause.
Staring at Kao Dan Zi, whose expression was one of impatience.
"Come on, tell me the rest!" He exclaimed after a minute of silence.
The old woman chuckled in response, clearly baiting for that answer.
"Alright, alright.
The reason for this is that during this ceremony, we use a Gu House named 'Condensed Steamy Cloud.'
Unlike most Gu Houses, this one is not very powerful in many senses; it cannot inspect, it cannot attack, it can barely defend, for it's a cloud.
However, it holds one incredible ability.
Which is that Rank 7 Cultivators who are inside the Gu House can ascend to Rank 8!"
"WHAT?" Kao Dan Zi exclaimed in utter disbelief.
Then, as his shock decreased, he squinted his eyes in suspicion.
"You must be bluffing. If we truly had such a method, why don't we have a dozen Rank 8 Cultivators?"
The woman shook her head.
"Calm down, little one, you did not let me finish.
The way this Gu House works is similar to a pressure builder inside a kettle, in which once the water heats up, the pressure inside increases, as the steam expands and tries to leave.
But instead of 'steam', what is inside the cloud is no other thing than a mixed substance, made of Heaven and Earth Qi plus ginormous amounts of Yin-Yang Clouds.
All those substances are kept together inside the Gu House itself, which retains everything perfectly.
Is during this environment that the Gu House can show its real potential.
Cultivators inside would have their apertures forcefully elevated, due to the forceful nature of their ascension, their aperture itself would be affected.
It will be in a chaotic state of great peril, where the foundation of the Aperture would constantly be drained and where disaster would strike constantly.
Those disasters increase in intensity the longer you stay.
Most Gu Masters can only last for 2 months, but some can reach up to 3 months inside.
Regardless, once they hit their limit, they must leave immediately,y and once they do, their apertures would automatically regress to Rank 7."
Upon hearing those words, most of the amazement of Kao Dan Zi vanished, leaving confusion.
"While I understand how useful it can be to turn a person into a Rank 8, even if temporarily, what is the use of that if they cannot even leave the Gu House?
And even if they want to fight, how would they do it, by dragging the Gu House alongside them?
Even if we assume this could happen, where would they find the strength to fight when their apertures are constantly bombarded?"
The woman shook her head.
"You are not thinking this thoroughly, after all, have you forgotten the two factors that distance Rank 7 Gu Masters from Rank 8 Gu Masters?" She grinned.
The young man stared at her, somewhat annoyed, feeling that he was being underestimated.
Worse still, he was being lectured!
"The main difference mostly comes from Dao Marks and Immortal Essence Quality, as a Rank 8 Immortal Essence Bead is a hundred times more powerful than a Rank 7 Bead."
Suddenly, he raised his eyebrows.
"Wait…Are you saying that during this process, the Gu Master will temporarily produce Rank 8 Essence?"
The woman nodded.
However, the young man remained frowning.
"Even if this is true, is it worth it? After all, there are Gu's in this world that can elevate Rank 7 to Rank 8 Essence with far fewer issues, and if it is because Rank 8 Gu Masters produce more essence, we can simply use Immortal Essence Stones to compensate.
It would be cheaper and more efficient."
Despite his words, the woman kept smiling calmly.
"What you say is true. Did you forget already about the other factor?"
Suddenly, the pupils of the man narrowed as he realized.
"You mean that…?"
"Every single day a Cultivator remains there, their aperture can produce around twenty Dao Marks."
Kao Dan Zi finally realized.
"If a Gu Master remains there for 2 months, they receive around 1,200 Dao Marks; if they remain for 3, they receive around 1,800."
Immediately upon understanding this, he sighed.
"I finally understand…
For most Cultivators, the main way to gain Dao Marks is through Tribulations.
However, the more you advance the harder they get.
They give you 10 times more Dao Marks, but they become 100 times tougher.
There's simply no way to compensate.
As every Tribulation gets tougher and tougher until the Gu Master is finally unable to compensate, they die.
But with this method, we can safely elevate the qualifications of our Immortals time and time again.
Is no wonder you have kept this a secret for so long…" Kao Dan Zi turned his eyes to meet her gaze, but Kao Yun Yun was chuckling.
"So, you finally understand? Let me tell you another thing.
That is not its only usage through this method, Gu Masters can also familiarize themselves with higher concepts, which aids at understanding the Dao.
Furthermore, the Gu House has other functionalities, such as 'converting' the newly gained Dao Marks into those of other Paths.
Such as Water, Lighting, or Wind Path, with only a loss of 10%.
Of course, the loss of Dao Marks becomes far greater if the Cultivator practices further away Paths like Fire or even the more esoteric ones like Space Path.
Still, which other Gu House can convert Dao Marks into other Paths?" There was great pride in her voice as she said those words.
The Quasi-Supreme Grandmaster who had built the Gu House was considered the greatest Cloud Path Cultivator in the Clan's history, and perhaps even the world.
However, suddenly the smile of the old woman faded as she added.
"Unfortunately, there are some flaws in the method still.
Only Rank 7 Cultivators can go in; Rank 6 Cultivators are too weak, whilst Rank 8 Cultivators are too strong to be affected.
Furthermore, the costs are highly prohibitive; we can only afford to do this ceremony every hundred years." The two turned their heads towards the Featherman.
The old woman named Kao Yun Yun bowed her head lightly.
"Sorry for interrupting you, Supreme Leader."
The man waved his hand in dismissal.
"It's fine, he needs to know what it is sooner, or later, even more so considering that this is one of the 3 matters I wanted to speak about today."