In the world of Genshin Impact, there is a city by the sea called Liyue and it is filled with quests. One of these is the quest chain Of the Land Amidst Monoliths, which is in Act 1 and is part of the Archon Quests. These will take the player through the mountains of Liyue, looking for the Custodian of Clouds or the Cloud Retainer.
The Search for the Cloud Retainer in Genshin Impact
Updated May 28, 2021 by Mina Smith: This puzzle is a difficult one to figure out, even with the help of a guide and a video. This article has been updated for clarity, hopefully making this hard puzzle a little easier to complete.
The Cloud Retainer is an NPC that is an integral part of the Archon Quests, not to be confused with the Archon's Rivals quest chain. In order to find this elusive character, players will have to find recipes, cook food, and solve puzzles. The Traveler seeks this Adeptus, looking for help after the murder of Rex Lapis, the God of Contracts.
First Steps
The first thing players will have to do is to find the mountain on which the Adeptus lives. The Cloud Retainer is located on Mt. Aozang, which is located northwest of Jueyun Karst. There is a Statue of the Seven nearby as well as a Waypoint that can players to the right spot. Make sure to have Amber in party because there are some puzzles coming up that will need her arrows' fiery precision to complete.
Most of the top of Genshin Impact's Mt. Aozang is a pond, and players will find everything needed to complete this part of the quest chain right around this mountain-top body of water.
Remains of Foods
Once players visit the round table at the center of the pond, they will be able to search for the remains of foods that have been left as offerings. In order to proceed, players will need to find these three Genshin Impact recipe locations, make one of each, and then offer them on the altar to move to the next section. Each recipe can be found near the altar, and all the ingredients too.
Three Recipe Locations
The first recipe is Matsutake Meat rolls, which require two Raw Meat and two Matsutake to make. Matsutake Meat Rolls can be purchased for 1,775 Mora from Verr Goldet in Wangshu Inn, or the recipe can be cooked up right by the altar. The second recipe is Mora Meat, which takes one Raw Meat and one Flour to create. It can also be purchased for 430 Mora from either Su Er'niang or Mr. Zhu. The third recipe is Jewelry Soup, which is made from two Snapdragons, two Tofu, and one Lotus Head. This is the only recipe that players can't buy from any vendor and have to make themselves. The locations of these recipes are starred in red on the map below:
Next Steps in Custodian of Clouds Quest
After laying these three dishes on the altar, players will hear the Cloud Retainer speak to them.
"One knows not why you have come, though the sincerity of your offering is clear... Hence, you shall be granted an opportunity. Find your way through mine abode, and you shall receive an audience with the adeptus whom you seek."
Now players will have to complete a series of puzzles to get through to the Cloud Retainer's lair.
The Puzzles
If players are lucky enough to have either Keqing or Venti unlocked and in their Genshin party, they can skip the puzzles by using Skyward Sonnet or Stellar Restoration to launch themselves to the center platform. However, if neither are available, make sure to bring Amber along for her fire arrows.
- Step 1 - Using Genshin Impact's Amber, activate the Pyro Monument. Players will have 2 minutes to kill 10 Slimes.
- Step 2 - Go to the control panel on the platform. It will rotate the platform in front of the player, allowing them to cross the see-through bridge. Rotate either clockwise or counterclockwise. On the next platform, kill the hilichurls. There will be another rotating platform to the left; rotate it clockwise once to connect the player to the chest challenges.
- Step 3 - With Amber, watch and recreate the fire's patterns on the totems to get a Common Chest. This can be repeated two more times to unlock an Exquisite then a Precious Chest. This will unlock a wind tunnel for Step 5.
- Step 4 - Go back to the hilichurl platform, rotating the last platform once more. Now when players head off of the hilichurl platform, they should be able to head to the right instead of the left, where the Step 3 fire puzzles were.
- Step 5 - Glide up the wind to the next platform.
- Step 6 - Continue up the platforms and bridges until another fire puzzle appears. This one is fairly simple; every other fire totem is lit, and every fire totem will either light or extinguish itself and the ones to the left and right. So players need to hit one of the extinguished totems with one of the Genshin Impact Pyro characters, then every other totem until all the pyre are lit. This will unlock a chest and the next device to rotate the next platform.
- Step 7 - Walk down to the next platform until a cutscene begins. Players have now found the Cloud Retainer.
Genshin Impact is available for mobile, PC, PS4, and PS5, with a Switch version in development.
Source: GenshinFandom, NeoSeeker