Modern World's Martial Dao Human Immortal

"There are two more shares left."

Alkaid felt somewhat regretful.

Just as he had guessed, the limit for him at this moment was when the share reached 9.9.

After all, he had not yet had the time to completely transform the three semi-immortal artifacts and fully embark on the path of a Human Immortal.

At most, he had walked one third of the way.

"Besides, the Lower Realm probably cannot accommodate the power of an Immortal Level, and with the increasingly strong pull of the Immortal Realm at this time, the moment I deploy the Great Void Technique, I would immediately shatter the Void, and with the two combined... it really would be a slight carelessness that pulls me into the Immortal Realm."

Alkaid said this and thought of those mysterious Dao Venerables.

Many such figures seemingly vanished all of a sudden.

Very few had actually ascended to the Immortal Realm through the Gate of the Immortal Realm.

The same was true for Emperor Yi Dao Venerable, Creation Dao Venerable, and others.

People in the outside world had absolute confidence in their strength, convinced they had ascended, but there were not many who had witnessed it with their own eyes.

Most Dao Venerables, after becoming invincible on the Northern Sea Star, would delve into the universe's starry sky to search for something.

And from then on, they did not return.

People felt that these Dao Venerables must have ascended to the Immortal Realm through other Gates of the Immortal Realm located in the starry sky.

Now that Alkaid had also reached this step, he could see that these Dao Venerables...

Probably couldn't control their power and ascended accidentally.

"The restrictions of the Lower Realm," Alkaid mused inwardly.

Shaking his head, he didn't bother with the two extra Void Shares.

Although these two shares could probably create two Void Dao Lords, if...

he couldn't control them, he could only let them slip away with the wind.

He didn't know which lucky individual would benefit from them.

At that moment, Alkaid started to collect the spoils of war that belonged to the thirteen Dao Lords.

As he inventoried the remains left behind by the thirteen Dao Lords, he quickly noticed something.

Many Dao Artifacts didn't align with their paths of cultivation.

Based on these artifacts...

"These thirteen individuals must have at least killed more than six Dao Lords of other Great Paths, and that's not even considering overlapping cases..."

No wonder the way these thirteen Dao Lords initiated the Hundred Tribulations Realm Refinement Formation to trap him was so adept.

It's likely that those Dao Lords who were fortunate enough to notice the anomaly of this world but didn't understand what was happening became their vanquished souls.

If they were stronger Dao Lords, they would attempt to drag them into their camp to occupy and blockade this Gate to the Immortal Realm together.

And this...

Is also what many Dao Lords would choose to do after discovering a new Gate of the Immortal Realm.

"Considering the blood on these Dao Lords' hands, it was a stroke of luck that the Abyssal Ruins Dao Lord did not have the time to explore this star domain. Otherwise, given his old age, declining strength, and solitary state, he would have had a hard time escaping the fate of being killed by these thirteen Dao Lords."

Alkaid understood this clearly in his heart.

It's not necessarily safe for Dao Lords journeying through the starry sky...

For them, danger doesn't come from the extremely terrible disasters in the universe but rather from other Dao Lords just like them.

No wonder some Dao Lords choose to travel in groups when venturing deep into the universe for their cultivation journey.

Especially on the return journey after gaining something from their cultivation, they would prefer to call on nearby Dao Lords to return together.

To avoid the situation where the resources painstakingly collected over thousands of years of hard cultivation are intercepted by other Dao Lords halfway, resulting in all gains becoming a wedding dress for someone else.

While pondering, Alkaid browsed through some information jade slips inside the Storage Treasures of some Dao Lords.

These jade slips confirmed his guess.

The thirteen Dao Lords did indeed accumulate their power over long ages, and a strict contract ensured they must advance or retreat together.

"The earliest batch of Dao Lords has ascended and it can be traced back to 400,000 years ago... In other words, this Gate of the Immortal Realm was first discovered 400,000 years ago... Over 400,000 years, these powers were passed down from generation to generation, with each era having ten to twenty Dao Lords, and this era indeed only has thirteen."

After viewing this information, Alkaid made up his mind.

With no other Dao Lords posing a threat, his mind turned toward the crystal tree in his spiritual world.

The fall of the thirteen Dao Lords, whether on the [Demon Hunter] or the [Businessman] branches, was adorned with "Experience Points" that could be used for leveling up.

Alkaid's gaze lingered on [Integrate Dao - Void] and [Artifact Refining] for a moment.

"For the thirteen Dao Lords, each one contributes a growth of around 4 points, with a minority reaching up to 5 points. But even with the additional experience gained from the 'Businessman' branch, at most, I could only push my Void Perception to around 65 in progress, elevating from 101 to 166, which might not result in a substantial increase in strength."

Alkaid glanced again at the [Integrate Dao - Time] branch.

Putting all the experience on this branch could indeed allow the Path of Time to take a significant step towards Immortal Venerable.

But...

"Curiosity, huh."

Alkaid mused: "I am very curious to know, when my 'Artifact Refining' breaks through Level Eighteen and reaches the domain of Level Nineteen, what kind of scenery will this world unfold for me?"

Therefore...

His mind immediately focused on the [Artifact Refining] branch.

With a flood of "Experience Points" pouring in, the branch grew rapidly.

The progress soon soared to 51%.

"After reaching the Eighteenth Level, the progress a Dao Lord can provide became even slower than the breakthroughs from 'Integrate Dao'."

Alkaid reflected on this.

Based on past experience, he estimated...

Hunting a Dao Lord should only increase his progress by 3%.

From this, he deduced that after reaching the Nineteen Level, a Dao Lord would probably only account for 1%.

"What's on the Nineteen Level? The top Immortal Artifacts refined at Eighteenth Level actually borrow from shares not mastered by Immortal Kings and Immortal Venerables, but what about Nineteen Level which corresponds to the Daoist Ancestor Level? Daoist Ancestors have already fully mastered a Great Dao, so how could there be any shares left for me to borrow from? Thus, what exactly are the Immortal Artifacts refined at Nineteen Level?"

Alkaid gazed at the 51% progress on his Artifact Refining branch.

While also constantly assimilating the information influx that came with the advancement in progress...

He really wanted to know what changes would occur then.

Unfortunately, the 51% progress in Artifact Refining did not provide any information related to Nineteen Level Immortal Artifacts.

This 51% progress included many traditional methods for refining top Immortal Artifacts and some tips for speeding up artifact refining and improving success rates.

However, these tips were of no use to him since he possessed the "Ritual Path" Dao Fruit.

If this 51% progress was akin to greatly enhancing his scientific research capability and business operation ability, then the "Ritual Path" Dao Fruit Divine Skills were like printing money or outright plundering.

No matter how fast the business or how advanced the research, it couldn't beat the speed of direct robbery.

"At best, I've mastered many top Immortal Artifact refining techniques, but those pertaining to other Great Dao categories are irrelevant to me as I can't use or refine them. Those truly relevant to me are only those of great Voids, the Streaming Light Dao, and the Soul Dao, the Destruction Dao, and others I have partially cultivated."

Alkaid knew in his heart.

The Ten Direction Heavenly Realm had already been refined.

Next, he needed to hasten the metamorphosis of the Endless Tower and the Limitless Sword.

After that...

It would be selecting these three Immortal Artifacts' advancement pathways.

However...

"In the universe's starry skies, materials for Immortal Artifacts have become extremely rare. An ordinary Dao Lord might only find one or two pieces in their lifetime of over a hundred thousand years, and at most just three to five. As for more precious Superior Grade Immortal Artifact materials... up to this point, Time Sands is the only kind I've come across. And even a mere ten or eight Time Sands don't count as Superior Grade materials. They must exceed fifty in quantity and be refined before they can be used to make Superior Grade Immortal Artifacts."

Alkaid sensed the abundant materials collected within his Storage Treasure.

Superior Grade Immortal Artifact materials were already so precious as to be found only through serendipity. There was no point in even contemplating the materials for the pinnacle Immortal Artifacts.

Unless one ascended to the Immortal Realm, they would never find them.

"I'll continue to look. Anyway, with my current expertise, I no longer have to worry about ascending to the Immortal Realm. Even outside of the Gate of the Immortal Realm's opening cycle, I could ascend at any time if I wanted to."

Alkaid suppressed the thoughts of upgrading Immortal Artifacts that arose with the advancements in Artifact Refining progress, took a step into the Void, and arrived at the center of the Formation.

He quickly took control of the Formation, sustaining the seal over this world.

Yet, as he seized control of the Formation, he sensed something.

Shattered Void cultivators were on their way.

Without guessing, he knew this was the power established by the thirteen Dao Lords in this world.

There was no need for communication.

Shao Hua, maneuvering the Dao Artifact warship, had already arrived and took over the task of controlling and modifying the Formation from Alkaid.

Meanwhile, Alkaid had already descended towards the lower regions.

At that moment, more than twenty Shattered Void were approaching.

When they sensed the presence of someone carrying the Great Void Dao, as well as the unique aura that didn't belong to any known Void Dao Lord in their cognition, the Shattered Void cultivators panicked and scattered in all directions.

At such a close distance, these Shattered Void cultivators had already sensed the fall of one Dao Lord after another, realizing that this world had undergone an invasion and a great battle.

Such battles were also recorded in their Sect's archives, invariably ending with victory for their side.

But this time...

It was obviously different.

The one who ultimately entered their world was an entirely unfamiliar Dao Lord.

Alkaid glanced at the dispersing Shattered Void...

After pondering for a moment, he showed no mercy to these Shattered Void cultivators.

Twenty-three Swords of the Void were casually flipped by him, instantly catching up to the scattering runaways.

In an instant, the battle ended.

Immediately after, Alkaid made his way to the expanse above this world.

The rules of this world were more stringent compared to the Northern Sea Star.

The likely reason...

was that the energy and mass of this starry space were too insignificant and too feeble to support a Gate of the Immortal Realm, causing the entire world to be absorbed around the gate.

In other words, entering this world felt like entering deep inside the Northern Sea Star planet—a sense of pressure.

The harsh environment meant that the surface of this world was almost uninhabitable for people, with only thirteen palace complexes floating in the atmosphere.

The beings living within these palace complexes were mainly of the Hollow Void Level.

With a sweep of his Alkaid Divine Sense, he found that the total population of the thirteen palace complexes did not exceed two thousand.

At this level of cultivation and with this number of cultivators...

"This Gate of the Immortal Realm is as good as taken."

Alkaid declared.

Next would be the issues of using and developing it.