Modern World's Martial Dao Human Immortal-Chapter 510 - 496: Great Dao

"Artifact Refining Technique at the Eighteenth Level allows for the forging of top-tier Immortal Artifacts!"

Alkaid was assimilating the rapid advancements in Artifact Refining level and the flood of techniques it brought.

At that moment, he seemed like a Dao Lord, or even an Immortal, granted high privileges, spending an immensely long time, day after day, year after year, researching the crafting and forging of Immortal Artifacts.

He thoroughly studied one Origin Immortal Technique after another.

He completely decoded various essences of the Great Dao.

Even the barriers between Origin Immortal Techniques were perceived by him.

Ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, ten million years...

At that time, time seemed to have become a symbol of little value.

Just as when all one's heart and energy are poured into something, the passage of time is not perceived.

At that time, he was in such a state.

Until one day, he finally understood the essence of the Great Dao...

"It's control,"

Alkaid declared.

"The essence of the Great Dao is rules! And the ultimate purpose of these rules is control! Control over all beings under the Dao, ensuring that the transformations and operations of these beings are within the framework of the Dao, preventing them from straying outside the framework!"

Three Thousand Great Daos formed an unbreakable net from three thousand different directions and dimensions, controlling the life within this scope.

Ensuring that all their life, aging, sickness, death, thoughts, operational modes, and even their destinies, follow the rules within this net.

So-called Dao Lords, Immortals, Immortal Venerables, and Immortal Kings, are just nodes in this control.

Their true purpose is not anything else...

But like fixed fates, they stand in the way of beings who attempt to break through this net, preventing them from breaking the rules.

And the operation of these fixed fates is all about shares.

For those already in high positions, if your share increases, it naturally reduces their share.

In such a situation, unless those at higher positions are willing to sacrifice their own benefits for those below them, or even prepare to be overthrown by them, this situation is unbreakable.

But such a thing will never happen.

It is against human nature.

It contradicts the ultimate purpose of life's existence—survival.

The existence of Immortal Artifacts creates an alternative path.

Not every Immortal King, Immortal Venerable maintains a state of full resonance with the Dao at all times.

When the Immortal Kings, Immortal Venerables do not act, the shares of the Dao are actually in a dormant state.

The essence of an Immortal Artifact is to utilize those naturally formed Innate Materials, which nurture the Dao, to attract unused, unengaged Dao powers, thereby enhancing the combat power of Immortal Venerables, and even Immortal Kings.

Because the Innate Materials used in crafting Immortal Artifacts themselves resonate with the Dao though their control is not comparable to that of Immortal Kings or Venerables.

But even Immortal Kings, Venerables do not have a perfect grasp on the Dao, which provides the basis for the existence of Immortal Artifacts.

The nature of top-tier Immortal Artifacts and Immortal Kings...

It's like banks and depositors.

Although the money belongs to the depositors, the bank can use this money freely when the depositors do not use it.

The only difference is, compared to an Immortal King...

Equivalent level Immortal Artifacts are indeed at a disadvantage.

"No wonder Artifact Refining is called a minor path of the Deviant Path, these methods indeed struggle to demonstrate the Dao, unable to grace the grand hall."

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Alkaid spoke, thinking of his own path as a Human Immortal.

This path now seemed...

To carry some implications of the Deviant Path.

But three Immortal Artifacts replacing Essence, Energy, and Spirit, make a cultivator much more powerful than those on the Deviant Path, allowing them to more easily defeat contemporaries of the same level and, in defeating these contemporaries, obtain more shares to enhance oneself.

Therefore, if the technology of Artifact Refining is sufficient, the path of the Human Immortal at the beginning is definitely smoother than the paths of the Heavenly Immortal, the Deity.

The difference is...

The hopes of becoming a Daoist Ancestor on this path are much lower than the other two paths.

"Before achieving Daoist Ancestor, the five classes of Immortals are without distinction in superiority, only suitability,"

Alkaid gathered his mind, focusing his attention on the Dao Fruit nurtured by Artifact Refining Technique reaching the Perfection of the Sixteenth Level and Seventeenth Level.

"Dao Lord,"

Alkaid glanced at the Dao Fruit given at the Perfection of Sixteenth Level.

Dao Lord.

Nurturing artifacts with the Dao.

Gifting a Dao Artifact to another Dao Lord or Immortal for use, while the artifact in use quickly learns and grows, eventually becoming a top-tier Dao Artifact, a Semi-Immortal Artifact, and even a true Immortal Artifact.

This Innate Divine Ability...

"Seems not very useful,"

he muttered softly.

Then, as if he thought of something.

The Great Dao Golden Book!

Was the Great Dao Golden Book evolving continuously through this process to come close to being an Immortal Artifact today?

Is it because it never had an "Immortal" level master, so it's always stuck at the peak of Semi-Immortal Artifact?

Alkaid guessed that, if he were not a Dao Lord of the Void Path or the Path of Time, with his understanding of these two paths at the Immortal Venerable and Immortal level, just by using the Great Dao Golden Book for several decades or a hundred years, with the foundation of this Semi-Immortal Artifact, it could transform into a true Immortal Artifact.

"If one uses Immortal Artifact materials to craft a top-tier Dao Artifact, over time, this Dao Artifact could transform into a Semi-Immortal Artifact... Which would mean more leverage for future generations, but for me..."

Insignificant.

Alkaid shook his head, his gaze turning towards the Dao Fruit of Artifact Refining Technique at Seventeenth Level Perfection.

With just one look, his expression grew solemn.

"Ritual Path!?"

Using the blood of a Dao Lord to sacrifice and transform a Dao Artifact!?

A common Dao Artifact, after slaying ten Dao Lords, can be transformed into an Immortal Artifact.

If it's a top-tier Dao Artifact or Semi-Immortal Artifact made from Immortal Artifact materials, under the sacrifice of a Dao Lord, the time for this top-tier Dao Artifact or Semi-Immortal Artifact to transform into an Immortal Artifact would be greatly reduced.

"This is... the Evil Path!"

Alkaid felt a chill in his heart.

"Using a Dao Lord as a sacrificial artifact, if this isn't the Evil Path, then what is?"

However, he soon thought of the Dao Lord's cultivation...

A Dao Lord can only ascend by killing other Dao Lords or by waiting for other Dao Lords to die to take their share and elevate himself.

How is this different from the Evil Path?

So it can be said...

The entire cultivation system of the world, starting from the Dao Lords, has already twisted.

"Ritual Path."

Alkaid looked at this Divine Skill Dao Fruit, his expression somewhat complex.

After a while, he turned his gaze towards the Human Emperor Sword.

With his Artifact Refining Technology now at the eighteenth level, he could immediately identify the crude method used in refining this top-tier Dao Artifact.

With just thirty or forty years of slight reshaping, he could transform this top-tier Dao Artifact into a Semi-Immortal Artifact.

If he supplemented it with some more materials and spent another one to two hundred years, elevating the transformed Human Emperor Sword to an Immortal Artifact Grade was not beyond hope.

Now, he...

Had the ability to do just that.

But...

If he used the Ritual Path Method...

Just one or two Dao Lords would almost suffice to complete the transformation of this Dao Artifact into a Semi-Immortal Artifact.

To transform it into a true Immortal Artifact...

Six or seven more Dao Lords would be needed.

Moreover, there was no need to kill an Origin Dao Lord; any Dao Lord would do.

Because...

The Three Thousand Great Daos form an intertwined net that constructs the whole world, inherently possessing commonality.

After a while, Alkaid suppressed the many distractions in his heart and patiently began to refine this Dao Artifact.

If it involved a Dao Lord who had offended him...

Like the ten factions of the Divine Race or the Six Sect of the Demonic Dao, he would not show mercy under his sword.

But to hunt down other Dao Lords deliberately for the sake of refining the sword...

Now, he still couldn't get past this mental barrier.

"Many people fail to climb to higher positions not because they lack the ability but essentially because of their kindness,"

Alkaid viewed the issue calmly, "But there's a trade-off: those who maintain their kindness achieve peace of mind but suffer physical tribulations, while those who lose their conscience and stop at nothing enjoy physical pleasures but can hardly escape the torment of their conscience... It's just about choices, there's no right or wrong, nor any distinction between good and evil."

In the end, there is no such thing as perfect in this world.

At the moment, Alkaid started to refine the Human Emperor Sword anew.

And he planned to refine the Limitless Sword, the Endless Tower, and the Eight Desolates Heavenly Territory once again.

...

Time, gradually passed.

A hundred years flickered by in an instant.

A hundred years ago, the Northern Sea Star had already seen a growing strife among cultivators, and it had intensified.

However, with Alkaid's invincible manner killing four Divine Venerables of the Divine Race and seven Dao Lords of Path of the Void, the Northern Sea Star strangely calmed down.

It was only four to five hundred years until the Gate of the Immortal Realm opened, theoretically, the Dao Lords should act to settle scores and grievances to avoid being sabotaged at a critical moment.

But instead...

The Northern Sea Star turned out to be unusually serene.

Over the hundred years, apart from a few Dao Lords who fought a few times, unaware of the actual state, there was almost no life-or-death struggle between Dao Lords.

Even those fierce battles among the Dao Lords were merely begun and not yet fought with True Fire before they were dissuaded by other Dao Lords.

The methods of those Dao Lords were also quite simple...

They detailed the glorious exploits of Alkaid and Penglai Dao Lord over the years.

Immediately, those who wanted to show off their Dao Lord might on the Northern Sea Star all simmered down.

...

"The Human Emperor Sword is complete,"

Alkaid announced.

Looking at the Semi-Immortal Artifact that could draw more Origin Power, he felt quite at ease.

With an Artifact Refining Skill at the eighteenth level combined with nearly Immortal Level cultivation and a genuine Immortal Venerable Realm, refining these more complex than top-tier Dao Artifacts felt almost like a leisure activity.

Rather than saying he was refining artifacts, it felt more like he was giving himself a holiday.

Even though in this century he had not only upgraded the Human Emperor Sword and the Limitless Sword to Semi-Immortal Artifacts, but also refined his three great Semi-Immortal Artifacts again, enhancing their ability to pave the way for the path of Human Immortals.

However...

Despite accomplishing many tasks over the century, Alkaid didn't feel much relief in his heart.

Because...

The terrifying entity that loomed at the end of the Great Void Path still existed and hadn't left.

"A hundred years,"

Alkaid remarked, "And not a hint of movement."

What he worried about now was that the concept of time for these Immortal King Level beings might differ from his.

Just like the recent century for mortals meant almost four or five generations, for Golden Core Cultivators it was a significant fraction of their lengthy lives, but for those in the Hollow Void, a hundred years was just a relatively long span.

As for the Dao Lords...

Even the travel time for their starry sky training might exceed a hundred years.

Dao Lords were so, and it was said that once in the Immortal Realm, seeking eternal life, how about the Immortals, Immortal Venerables, and Immortal Kings?

Not to mess it up, a hundred years for an Immortal King might just be equivalent to a few hours or even minutes in a mortal's understanding.

Then, if he stayed here for a few hundred years, a few thousand years, or even tens of thousands of years, it might be nothing out of the ordinary.

If that was the case...

"To ascend to immortality, I'd have to avoid him,"