Modern World's Martial Dao Human Immortal

"""

"Yes."

Zhang Jianlin said gravely, "Under the leadership of the Sect Master, we of the Nine Cauldrons Sect are doing our utmost to unite all the forces we can. There will come a day."

However, not to mention Lu Yuan, Yun Lai, or Wei Yan, even Zhao He didn't pick up on this conversation.

Three hundred years ago, the Limitless Star Palace was already one of the ten great Immortal Sects of the Cangwu Great World. During the war with the Moon Demon Empire, they stayed in the rear, providing sanctuary for numerous fleeing families and acquiring a huge amount of spirit stones, divine skills, secret techniques, and technical talents, rising rapidly in power.

Just sixteen years ago, by obliterating the core member of the Northern Alliance, the Quicksand Sect, in a decisive battle, they stunned the entire Northern Alliance, forcing it to disband.

Today, even the Myriad Beasts Sect, the Alliance Hierarch of the Northern Alliance, is unwilling to oppose the Limitless Star Palace any further...

The Nine Cauldrons Sect, even if it were to return to the glory days of the Artifact Sect three hundred years ago, couldn't hope to stand shoulder to shoulder with the now thriving Limitless Star Palace.

"We need time."

After a while, Zhao He added, "That's why we should stabilize our surroundings as quickly as possible, drive out the Xuanming Sect, and reclaim the East Sea Archipelago... The archipelago has fourteen spiritual power nodes. If we can take them all back, the total production of spirit stones for our sect could increase by at least 30%!
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Then, we wouldn't have to split every spirit stone in half to spend it, or rack our brains over energy-saving measures."

The listeners nodded in agreement.

Zhao He then turned his gaze to Alkaid and asked, "How about it, do you have the confidence to improve the Purple Cloud Twelve?"

"Recently, while rapidly producing the Purple Cloud Twelve, I indeed had some inspiration for its improvement, but..."

Alkaid glanced at Zhao He, "Once our sect and other sects engage in a life-and-death struggle, Great Cultivators are the core. In other words, only Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivators equipped with treasures truly have the power to change the course of a battle.

We can spend numerous spirit stones on purchasing medium and superior grade spiritual artifacts, but these kinds of flying swords don't play a significant role in core battlefields. It's only those small sects that can't produce treasures, and don't have enough spirit stones to purchase them, who would choose to buy medium and superior grade spiritual artifacts for their Great Cultivators.

Therefore, I believe our true research should focus on treasures."

Upon hearing this, Yun Lai, Wei Yan, and Lu Yuan, the Master Artifact Refiners, all looked at Alkaid with a hint of strangeness.

Treasure.

Everyone knows that treasures are the core.

But...

You also need the capability.

"Can you refine treasures?"

Zhao He asked.

"No," Alkaid answered.

Zhao He wasn't surprised.

He didn't have much hope when he asked that question.

So he simply stated, "Purchasing medium and superior grade spiritual artifacts indeed doesn't offer great cost-effectiveness, but sometimes, we can't judge solely based on cost-effectiveness. The life of a high-rank Sword Cultivator is more important than a superior grade spiritual artifact!"

"Sword Cultivators are more important than spiritual artifacts..."

After pondering for a moment, Alkaid said, "I'll give it a try. I'll give you an answer within three months."

"Good, don't feel pressured, you still need to oversee the production of the Purple Cloud Twelve-type flying swords," Zhao He said with a smile. "Wei Yan, Lu Yuan, and their teams will assist you."

Alkaid glanced at the two men.

They both said smilingly, "We'll be counting on the Chief Alkaid's care in the coming days."

"It's an honour for our Purple Cloud Courtyard that the two masters are willing to help," Alkaid responded with a smile.

The reason he mentioned three months was that with the help of these two Master Artifact Refiners and their teams, they could complete the order for three thousand Purple Cloud Twelve flying swords right after that period.

Master Artifact Refiners, such a talent, might total only around ten or eight in the entire Nine Heavens Domain.

Now, the Purple Cloud Courtyard had effectively netted half of them.

Of course, that's assuming he could keep them around.

...

That evening, Alkaid returned to his residence.

"""

Zong Yan and Kong Xuan were busy transporting batches of artifact refining materials inside.

Zong Yan had become the steward, while Kong Xuan served as both assistant and driver.

As for Ji Pingtian, despite being the president of the Charity Association, he was not content to rely completely on Alkaid and planned to venture out into the world.

In response, Alkaid did not insist.

"Holy Master, the materials you requested have arrived,"

Kong Xuan said.

"Hmm."

Alkaid acknowledged with a sound and asked, "Everything went smoothly?"

After a moment's hesitation, Zong Yan reported, "Xie Yushu has sent an invitation, hoping to invite you to the sect's banquet in one month. Half a month ago, during the Nine Cauldrons Sect's disciple assessment, two from the Xie Family were admitted to the sect—one is the steward Xie Yi'er, the other is the official disciple Xie Yushi."

"Xie Yushi? An official disciple?"

Alkaid was somewhat surprised.

"She is a genius that the Xie Family has kept hidden, destined to inherit the family legacy. It's said that at twenty-four, she had already reached the Fifth Layer of Qi Refinement. After being here for over a year, she has stepped into the Sixth Layer. Her talent is considered even higher than Jiang Xuntian of the Red Star.

Moreover, during this assessment, her talent score was 81 points, which, using ancient terms, corresponds to a Superior Grade Spirit Root, hence she was specially recruited as an official disciple,"

Zong Yan explained.

Having heard this, Alkaid nodded.

That the Xie Family had even more talented disciples hidden in the shadows did not surprise him.

"Put aside the invitation for now; I will attend if I have time,"

Alkaid said.

"Yes,"

Zong Yan responded.

Thereupon, Alkaid ascended the stairs and entered his cultivation room.

He began to sense his own condition...

"Martial Path... I've reached the Ninth Layer,"

he contemplated, his Divine Sense circulating in his mind.

"Divine Path, likewise, has reached the Ninth Layer."

Yet he was not in a rush to break through to the Star Master and Primordial Spirit Realm.

He could not solve the bug that prevented businessmen from taking loans, but he could exploit a bug in the area of power.

Once he broke through, it was foreseeable that if he continued to focus on artifact refining to earn Spirit Stones, the "labor cost" would undoubtedly rise steeply.

Originally, breaking through to the "Star Master" Realm and advancing to "Star God" would rake in profits of a few hundred thousand to a million Spirit Stones, but that figure might have to increase to several million.

Given the current relatively stable situation...

There was no hurry.

He then directed his attention to the [Artifact Refining] branch.

At this moment, this branch had surpassed both [Martial Path] and [Divine Path] as the most robust one.

Alkaid estimated the progress...

It was roughly around 93%.

With such progress, not only was improving the Purple Cloud Twelve into a Superior Grade Spiritual Artifact within reach, but enhancing it to rival the performance of a Treasure was also achievable.

"The peace I'm enjoying now, as I earn money, is largely thanks to the safe and stable environment provided by the Nine Cauldrons Sect. If I were in another major sect... given my background from a smaller adjacent world, I'd directly be labeled a spy for the Moon Demon Empire and be forced to refine artifacts day and night..."

Upon reflection, Alkaid made a decision: "First, I'll take orders to improve Superior Grade Spiritual Artifacts. Immediately after, I'll elevate [Artifact Refining] to a whole new realm, possessing the ability to create treasures that represent the world's highest level of quality. Then, I'll concentrate my efforts on advancing the [Martial Path] Realm."

In any case, one must possess enough strength to ensure one's own safety and security.