Heaven and Cloud Path.
Those two Paths had a deeper connection than Kao Dao Ji initially believed.
Yet.
There were still many differences.
Just how could he come to unify the two for a Killer Move?
Once Kao Dao Ji asked himself this question, an answer arrived.
Heaven Path could be said, as previously stated, to be about the Heavens themselves, Heaven's Will, Secluded Domains of Heaven and Earth, and…
Apertures.
His eyes shone brightly.
If there was one thing he truly excelled at, even surpassing mighty Rank 8 figures in this world, it was on one thing.
Control over his own aperture.
While his understanding may be shallow, the sheer sense of control he had over his aperture was truly excessive.
Thus, with this realization, he concluded.
"If there's a Heaven Path Killer Move which I can create, it must use as its core my own aperture, and employ the abilities I as a Land Spirit possess."
With this idea, he then pondered.
"Alright, with the tools I'll use settled, now I need to ponder. For what exactly will I use those abilities for? What are my greatest needs?"
He frowned.
"If I were to say, I have three main weaknesses as a Land Spirit.
One, my Rank will remain stagnant forever.
Two, my aperture cannot produce essence.
Three, I am unable to move myself freely; I am stuck within my aperture."
With that realization, he then pondered.
"The first main weakness is one I have not felt yet; I have much more immediate needs, besides, remaining stagnant in Rank is not without demerits, so obviously I will not try to solve this."
"The second one, well. As a Land Spirit, I lack a 'Soul Core' within me.
To be able to generate essence, I would need to create a new soul core, and I would need to produce a full living body.
Needless to say, this is currently outside my scope of ability."
He shook his head.
"Of course, even if I cannot generate essence within my aperture, there are other ways, like using Gu to produce Immortal Essence and whatnot.
But that is just sidestepping the issue altogether; refining Immortal Gu is too difficult."
He frowned.
"With that settled, the third seems to be the easiest by far. In the novel, several methods were shown that could move apertures along.
Besides, Cloud Path seems to be useful for achieving that very thing."
He thought of his Cytocloud Killer Move, which was able to drag thoughts alongside a cloud.
Before chuckling.
"A world inside a cloud."
While not the five regions themselves, an aperture could still be called a small world all on its own.
Besides, who was to say he could not elevate this Killer Move to greater heights someday in the future?
Still.
Kao Dao Ji analyzed deeply, except for 'Cultured Makes One Wise', which was currently unusable, he employed all the other Wisdom Path Gu's and Killer Moves he knew.
Before an approximate model came to his mind in how he could come to achieve this.
First.
He would purposefully erode the walls surrounding his aperture, little by little, creating gaps which would blur the difference between the 'real' world and his aperture.
This, of course, was very dangerous.
One misstep and he could easily bring out winds of assimilation into his own aperture and end up dying tragically, but to prevent this, the following step came to be.
Using his Immortal Essence, he would create a 'cloud' which would fulfill similar purposes to that of the Immortal walls.
But instead of being completely rigid and solid like an egg, isolating the world completely.
This one would be far vaguer and nebulous, enabling a tight connection with the main world.
Once the situation stabilized, he would then expand the 'cloud walls' surrounding his aperture until they stretched further beyond the reach of his own aperture.
Which would then be shrouded by clouds; those clouds would be able to drag the aperture.
Finally, once he reached his destination, the cloud walls would slowly recede, and he would repair the original walls surrounding his aperture.
Returning everything to its rightful order.
Kao Dao Ji touched his own forehead, which was boiling hot.
Product of using Sunny Thoughts for deduction during the past hours.
He let out a soft sigh while muttering.
"While the concept is sound, I do not have the capabilities just yet to bring it to life. My understanding of my own aperture walls is too shallow; who knows what may happen in reality if I were to try anything like this.
Furthermore, for my Cloud to be able to fulfill the needs of my aperture walls, I would need to mimic Heaven Path; to achieve this, Grandmaster Attainment is the bare minimum."
He shook his head reluctantly, but not too disappointed.
"As expected, solving a problem of this magnitude is not so easy.
Yet, at least now I have an idea, as long as my attainment keeps increasing at the same pace, it should not be long before I can bring it to life."
As he said those words, he clenched his fists.
And then, he laughed heartily.
During those deductions, he felt the limits of his own attainment being stretched further and further still.
He had a vague premonition that it would not be long before he became a Quasi-Grand Master in Cloud Path.
Of course, most of it had to do with the fact that his predecessor had an ample attainment, having reached Master level decades ago.
Still, his own efforts and talent were not to be underestimated.
They were so great that even he felt somewhat amazed.
"I always considered myself somewhat smart.
But not a genius, like Eistein or any other known figure.
Just 'smarter than average.'
Similarly, whilst Kao Dao Ji was a genius seldom seen even in his Clan's history, his talents were not as terrifying as the ones I've shown.
Creating a Wisdom Path Killer Move, reaching Master in Water Path, and now even touching the threshold of Quasi-Grandmaster in Cloud Path, all within three years.
Those feats are so unbelievable that I am starting to think that when I transmigrated into this body, not only were our memories mixed, but also our talents.
But that cannot be it, right?"
He let out a long sigh.
Sometimes he wondered what truly had happened.
Was his reincarnation truly a coincidence, or were other factors at play?
Yet. No matter what he pondered, he could not find any answers.
"If I were truly brought back by another being, why would they write the novel? Are even the contents within the novel real, or were they altered somehow? Who knows, maybe Spectral Soul is actually a good guy." He chuckled.
Well, that last one was probably not true.
"If I were an eldritch being trying to scheme something, most likely I would lie on the details, not on the broad strokes, which means that perhaps some crucial details were either omitted or purposefully wrong." He frowned.
For a moment, he felt regretful of the letter he had sent to Le Tu several months ago.
But he shook his head.
What was done was done.
If he wanted to evade a terrible outcome, he would need to make further preparations.
"Now that my Heaven Path deduction came to a dead end, I guess I could move to Human Path. Of course, this time I should be less ambitious.
Something I can do with my current abilities, or at least I am close."
He touched his chin while pondering.
"The essence of Human Path, or at least what I've managed to grasp, is of creating an isolated body, which nonetheless remains stable on its own.
In the same way humans can persist for decades without dying by simply eating some food, to grasp the essence of Human Path, any Killer Move I create should be as stable as this.
In other words, by providing a 'fuel' it should be able to last for years, even without outside maintenance."
Then, he added.
"Of course, I cannot just create a piece of junk that does nothing forever; I can already find quite a few pebbles on a random street that accomplish the same function.
No, only if it can remain stable on its own, without requiring external replenishment or maintenance, and can achieve a task autonomously, can this experiment be called a success." As he muttered this.
He soon chuckled.
"It almost feels like I am trying to create a Factory Path Killer Move and not a Human Path one, but eh. If it works." He shrugged.
"Speaking of which. I think I have an idea…" He wandered towards his own aperture and recalled a certain valuable product within it.
Thunder Rocks.
"While I am not so sure, if my experiment is about creating a thing that can sustain itself by giving it a fuel.
What better thing than to use Thunder Rocks as its fuel?
If I use Immortal Essence, I would be learning nothing; my Gu's already work on their own by giving them fuel, only by creating an alternative source would there be any meaning in this.
As for its purpose?
mmm… Some of my subordinates seem to be having problems absorbing those thunder rocks.
Would it be possible for me to create a method to extract the energy within those thunder rocks, in a safe manner, so it could be transferred to the Gu Master?
Then, that same energy could be used to sustain and maintain the Killer Move I already set.
If I do this, I could create a method to strengthen my subordinates, whilst also pushing my mind further.
If I am lucky, I could even reach Quasi-Grandmaster along the way."
Once he had this idea, it could no longer be suppressed.
His heart stirred further as he began his next project.