By now, the resources accumulated in the past were essentially exhausted.
The remaining resources born each year were also controlled by powerful sects, divided directly by the Immortals within those sects as soon as they appeared, never finding their way out.
It became normal for some lesser sects, which fared worse, to possess not even a single Immortal Artifact.
This was because they couldn't find a way to collect those resources.
Even now, a sect possessing Immortal Artifacts could hardly say they would own them for long.
True Immortals all have lifespan limits, and it's impossible for them to exist forever.
Immortal Artifacts naturally have usage lifespans as well.
Once these lifespans are exceeded, the Immortal Artifacts decay.
Or, if fate is less kind, and they don't reach decay, the Immortal Artifacts could get damaged during fights their owners engage in, becoming prematurely scrapped.
