"From this day onward, the Gu will be called Clouded Thoughts Gu." Kao Dao Ji stated.
However just as he stated those words, the Gu dissipated into countless pieces.
"I see. So, this is an expendable Gu…" This lowered his excitement ever so slightly, of course he did not mind this flaw very much.
In fact, he found it quite logical.
After all, if this were not a consumable Gu, and a Random Rank 4 Gu master refined it.
Would he become an undefeated deity, able to kill anybody within the mortal world?
One had not to forget that while he was an Immortal and his mind had been purified and strengthened to the limit, those in the Rank 5 and below were still 'mortals' with inferior minds and bodies.
Of course, there may be a few who Cultivated Wisdom Path and would likely have methods to destroy those thoughts, but even so, every non-wisdom Path Cultivator would be fodder.
Perhaps by then there would be a resurgence, and 9 out of 10 Cultivators would pursue Wisdom Path mainly, whilst the remaining few would at least have methods to deal with brain damage.
That scenario sounded quite interesting in his mind, however.
He regained his focus.
"Whilst expendable the Gu certainly is powerful, or at least it can be very powerful if put together with the right Killer Move."
"To be honest, I do not even need the recipes of this Gu in Rank 5 or even 4, after all as an Immortal I happen to be able to use Killer Moves involving hundreds of Gu's at once.
Still, whilst Rank 4 may be excessive, Rank 2 is too weak for my needs.
Rank 3 would be the perfect sweet spot.
Of affordability, power and cost.
By then, I could easily create a Killer Move and then, use the Gu and the Killer Move to establish myself in the market of Treasure Yellow Heaven."
Such a shame…" He sighed.
"Such a shame that I lack Refinement Attainment to deduce the following recipes."
He sighed to himself.
After his disappointment, he said.
"Well, there is still the chance that those fairyflies can somehow refine this Gu to higher Ranks." Of course, the possibility of this happening was quite low, but was there.
As he reached a conclusion, he turned his eyes towards the other Gu.
"I hope this Gu is just as good as the previous one." He thought.
Once more, he pressed an infinitesimal amount of Immortal Essence into the Gu, which shone like the sun itself.
Then.
Kao Dao Ji opened his eyes widely.
"Huh…I did not quite expect this of a Thought Gu." He said.
His vision turned sharper, far sharper than before.
Not only that but he discovered with joy, that at difference from the previous one this Gu could be used as an ordinary Thoughts Gu." He chuckled visibly.
"Huh, this Gu seems to be able to aid at thinking, and I also feel happier than before.
Could it be that this Gu is identical to Happy Thoughts Gu?"
To check his theory, he once more used the Water Mirror to inspect his own brain.
And what he saw surprised him somewhat.
He saw a few 'bright' thoughts, concentrated like tiny golden needles, that were shoot like rays of light, emitted from the sun.
Those rays made his brain 'shine', of course as they were minuscule in the big scheme of things, only an small subsection neurons was illuminated.
Even so, the intense shine gave Kao Dao Ji plenty of clues.
"While the previous Gu seemed to be focused on creating a 'cloud' blocking the thoughts in a subportion of the brain.
This Gu seems to instead 'illuminate' that portion of the brain.
I wonder if I were to use to use a large amount of those Gu's could I fry the brain of somebody?
Still, that would be buffing my enemies, so is far less practical than Clouded Thoughts Gu."
But then he lowered his eyebrows.
"Wait, now that I think about it I wonder if the light can pierce through the clouds…" As he thought of his hypothesis, he rapidly found another copy of Clouded Thoughts Gu in another fairyfly.
And triggered its effect, then observed its results in his brain.
"As expected, The light truly overwhelms the clouds…"
The current situation was quite funny, just a few moments ago he looked excited about that very powerful Gu, and yet just about now he discovered its natural enemy!
For a moment he thought.
"This…By having both the method, and its counter, I could make a fortune!"
But then, he shook his head.
"No, that is not right. While the gains in the short term would be great, once people discover that their enemies can simply pay their way out of my Gu, nobody will even bother in using it.
Besides, right now I am in a blank state, if it becomes known that I scammed my costumers, it will be very tough to get any foothold in the market.
mmm….I guess, I could sell Clouded Thoughts Gu, and keep Sunny Thoughts Gu under my possession in case somebody tries to attack me with it." That sounded most appropriate.
Upon making this conclusion, he finally said.
"Now that there is this Gu, I guess I should prioritize the development of Fairy Flies in my aperture, also I should probably…"
While he kept thinking to himself.
At the headquarters of the Kao Clan.
There was another development.
"Gentlemen and ladies, I have some news to share regarding the investigation." The supreme Leader said.
"Kao Yun Yun has been investigating everything about that Demonic woman, and we have already found a lot of clues.
For starters, her name is.
Bai Lin Hua.
She seems to be from central continent, belonging to one of the subordinate forces from the great Sects.
Called 'Everchanging Lotus', a minor Sect specialized in combining the might of Transformation and Wood Path.
Her background seems to imply she had a low aptitude possibly B or C.
However, at some point, during her late twenties she seemed to change completely.
The previously mediocre Cultivator became fierce, she took all kind of missions regarding the eradication of enemies, and quickly succeeded, reaching Rank 5 rapidly.
However, soon was found that what she truly was doing was devouring the souls of whoever she hunted.
It was also discovered that many of the people who she had declared had already died by the time she arrived, were actually killed by her!
Due to her countless sins, she was pursued by her Sect.
However, even while outnumbered she broke through and became an Immortal refining 'Cold Soul Gu.'
Of course, even such strength was not enough and she had to flee and move towards white heaven to escape Heavenly Court's pursuit.
However, in the process she was discovered by Kao Yun Yun."
The immortals there sat there listening silently, nodding a few times.
They assessed her strength.
"I see…So based on what you are saying, her Cultivation must not be too profound, right?
After all, even though Soul Path counters us, living beings.
Is not a big deal against real Tribulations." An Immortal nodded.
Kao Yu Hun nodded.
"That does seem to be the case; however, we still don't know her methods.
How do we deal with her?"
Kao Zha Ji chuckled.
"Her methods are quite formidable, with a mere glance she can directly hit your soul, 'freezing' it, once you are struck by her method you will be unable to move or conjure Gu's temporarily.
She can do the same by using her ice crystals, however their effect is far weaker.
At the same time, while her paralyzing methods are strong, they do not do any real harm, as long as we have another immortal to protect them when they recover, the situation should be fine."
As he explained, the remaining worries in the heart of the Featherman vanished without a trace.
However, one of them wondered.
"Dealing her does not sound very difficult, but capturing her?
That is a completely different story. Supreme Leader, do you have some plans?"
All the eyes turned towards the Supreme Leader who nodded slowly.
"I do, yes…Based on my reports she seems rather desperate to find living souls to target.
She has been crazily selling Gu's related to Soul Path, as well as precious materials and information regarding soul path.
All for the sake of purchasing souls.
Her desperation was actually the reason why we have been able to uncover many of her details so quickly."
"I see, so we want to bait her. But how do we do that? Humans are devious and clever, if they even find the slightest clue of a trap, they will immediately uncover it."
In that second, the Supreme Leader chuckled.
"Humans may be cunning, but they are also incredibly greedy.
Too greedy that their rationality may be affected!"
Immediately, from his aperture he summoned a Gu, which immediately transformed into a map.
Then, he put his finger in a little dot.
"Just some time ago, we had our greatest seedling both succeed and fail in his attempt for Immortality and ended up becoming a Land Spirit.
While the news have not leaked yet, I am sure the other Clans are already suspicious because we no longer have shown him publicly, is only a matter of time before they figure it out." His smile turned wider.
"Of course, they may figure out the truth even quicker if we let out a flaw or two."
Then, he laughed as he added.
"And that's not all! By now, the other Clans must have figured that Kao Dao Ji's Cultivation Path was a bit weird, and that is why we didn't let him undergo his ascension in our Grotto Heaven.
What if we 'accidentally' leak that he was Cultivating Soul Path?"
The expressions of everyone changed.
Before they had the chance to add anything, the supreme Leader added.
"Once Bai Lin Hua discovers this, she will likely be very tempted!
After all, Demonic Cultivators tend to be ruthless and reckless, not only that, but annexing a newly established Soul Blessed Land is simply too precious of an opportunity.
Because not only newly established blessed lands have a great amount of Dao Marks, but they also do not skip a single Tribulation, they are the perfect target!"
However, one of the other Immortals frowned.
"While the rewards are plentiful, will she really risk it?
After all no matter how you look at it, both sides are newly ascended Immortals.
Hell, Kao Dao Ji has the advantage, because he can use his Heavenly Power to block most of her Killer Moves."
But the Supreme Leader chuckled.
"While this is indeed true, there are also other factors.
For example, while usually Land Spirits tend to be stronger than before their deaths, they also have the fatal weakness of not producing essence.
And Kao Dao Ji died too quickly!
Thus, in this sense he's likely very inferior to her.
Not only that but he died, while she survived her Tribulation!
And that is without considering their circumstances, Kao Dao Ji was an Immortal seedling aided by one of us during his ascension, not only that but he's also a variant human.
And because Variant Humans are blessed by the Heavens, the Tribulations we undergo tend to be easier.
In comparison, not only was her Tribulation harder, but she was also surrounded by enemies and yet, she still lived while he died.
From her perspective, the gap between their strengths is simply too high.
Furthermore, even if she's unable to subdue Kao Dao Ji quickly, she can always create another opening in his aperture and escape.
Thus, no matter how you look at it, in her eyes dealing with Kao Dao Ji is not really that dangerous."
…
Everyone stared at the Supreme Leader surprised in his ruthlessness.
A newly Immortal muttered.
"That does not feel right, even though Kao Dao Ji is now a land spirit, he's still one of us."
But Kao Zhao Ji shook his head, while stating.
"Do not worry, his position is not as bad as it seems like.
After all, she does not know that the Tribulations he underwent, were actually far tougher than average.
And the number of Dao Marks he received is greater too.
Furthermore, I refuse to believe that he was not given any Immortal Essence stones by his father, he also received an Immortal Gu from him.
Also, if you have not forgotten Land Spirits lack a 'Soul Core', due to this most Soul Path Killer Moves are worthless against them.
Even those which work, are at least half as weak.
Finally, if that is not enough, I will also send a men of mine to act as an informant.
By placing him secretly, a thousand Kilometers away, he will be able to observe the situation carefully.
Once he detects somebody entered Kao Dao Ji's aperture, he will immediately go to aid him.
In truth, Kao Dao Ji only needs to survive for 20 minutes before help arrives.
And once he survives, we will simply compensate him for the trouble with a hundred or so Immortal Stones."
But one of his subordinates frowned.
"And what if he does not survive?"
Kao Zhao Ji snorted coldly.
"If he does not survive despite his advantages then he's truly useless!
He may as well die now, and spare us the trouble.
After all, if he's so incompetent in dealing with enemies, how is he supposed to deal with his Tribulations, or manage his aperture?"
Then, he added.
"Besides even if he dies, he can still injure Bai Lin Hua by detonating his aperture.
Either outcome is acceptable to me."