In just three days, Wang Wu absorbed the chaotic spiritual qi from fifteen different space rifts using the Heaven and Earth Shield, including the smaller rifts themselves.

Yes, space rifts can be smoothed over, filled, or even eradicated.

This used to be considered a fantasy, but once Wang Wu's resistance to the Three Calamities reached its peak and their evolution achieved the perfect state, everything fell smoothly into place.

For the Three Calamities can evolve into heavens and earth, can evolve into spaces.

Not only limited to evolving Creation Fire Spirit Pill from Yin Fire or Wind Spirit Pill from Evil Wind.

Now, everything can evolve.

Thus, for space rifts longer than a meter, he was reluctant to waste his Three Calamities, indeed unable to fill them.

But for those smaller than a meter, he purged the chaotic spiritual qi and filled them effortlessly.

In this way, while securing a total of twenty trillion points of spiritual qi, he also cleared out five safe zones for himself, like a set of Russian dolls.

One space rift connected to another, after filling most of the small rifts and blocking the key rift nodes, it was as if he had created a small world out of nothing.

"This should grant me five hundred years of safety."

Wang Wu mused, chaotic spiritual qi is endless to purify, the overarching chaos of the collapsed Cultivation Realm is not something he can manage.

His Heaven and Earth Shield isn't that powerful.

He merely hopes for a temporarily disturbance-free retreat space.

Because next, he will upgrade the Foundation Establishment Array from Tier Four to Tier Five.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that having maxed out his Three Calamities resistance and achieving perfect Three Calamities evolution is merely a significant step toward the half-step Daluo status, but not singularly defining, nor once-and-for-all.

He needs to deploy the advanced Tier Five Foundation Establishment Array to complete this historic progression.

At that moment, Wang Wu pointed to the void, and the Heaven and Earth Shield took flight on its own, scattering bits of starlight, which transformed into dazzling lines, coming together to form a grand curtain.

Once the curtain gathered to sixty-four pieces, a nearly identical Great Wilderness Sin Prison Tower took shape.

It's indistinguishable from the former Great Wilderness Sin Prison Tower.

At least functionally and effectively, it is the same.

The only difference is its duration of three hundred years; it will collapse and disappear after three hundred years.

Because Wang Wu evolved it.

Rather than crafting it with real materials.

Though theoretically, it can reach such a level, achieving a stable effect through evolution with the Three Calamities.

But the required resources are far beyond Wang Wu's capacity.

Indeed, he now has twenty trillion points of spiritual qi, but if the Heaven and Earth Shield were truly turned into a Heaven and Earth Tower, the required resources would need to be multiplied by a thousand times or more.

This realization made Wang Wu deeply aware that the closer he gets to half-step Daluo, to Daluo, the more resources he needs, though Daluo doesn't need many; without resources, Daluo is unattainable.

The temporary Sin Prison Tower he evolved, valid for only three hundred years, already consumed ten trillion points of spiritual qi.

Next, Wang Wu did not dare delay, he slipped into the temporary Great Wilderness Sin Prison Tower, with a casual gesture, a clear and majestic Yin-Yang Qi penetrated it, similar to the Yin-Yang Qi within the Cultivation Realm or the Yin-Yang Qi proven by Dubhe Old Man.

"This is the guiding beacon ahead!"

Wang Wu contemplated, understanding more strongly and urgently that in the future, he must find a way to refine a true, enduring Heaven and Earth Tower, then form a small world within, nurturing billions of mortals, creating a tiny Cultivation Realm. Not for anything else, just for the chance of nurturing an Astronomer Prophet.

Because when needed, it is truly invaluable!

The illumination by Yin-Yang Qi is extremely important.

Wang Wu even suspects that even Daluo at times need such direction.

Now, bathed in the illumination of Yin-Yang Qi, Wang Wu's enlightenment surges like a tide, his every thought becomes comprehensible, every idea extraordinary and sparkling.

It is so alluring.

However, he does not need those low-tier, intermediate, or even advanced enlightenments now, these enlightenments theoretically concern understanding of knowledge, comprehension of the world, not only related to cultivation but material understanding in general.

It's no exaggeration to say that under direct illumination by Yin-Yang Qi, even a mortal fool could, over time, become the most outstanding mathematician, physicist, chemist, biologist, writer, historian, astronomer... everything, effortlessly.

As long as bathed by Yin-Yang Qi, they will grasp all mountainous ocean-like knowledge if their small minds can store and run it.

Therefore, Wang Wu understands this; such knowledge isn't useless, it's helpful, and he can see different paths from it, including the path Earthlings take, mechanical ascension, digital information, etc.; it's all possible. If he wanted, he could, within a few hundred years, build a massive celestial fleet.

And he can walk the path of blending machine and flesh, or the path of void, forsaking the flesh, merely letting the soul exist in multidimensional information form, becoming incarnate deity...

And so on and so forth.

Under the illumination of Yin-Yang Qi, endless possibilities exist.

However, Wang Wu did not want to take risks, nor was he interested. The reason was simple: many paths that seemed groundbreaking might have already been traveled by predecessors.

There were once many abandoned Sin Prison Towers in the Cultivation Realm without owners, existing for who knows how many ages. He hadn't calculated it exactly, but there were thousands of them.

And now he understood the resources and the level necessary to build a Sin Prison Tower—it required at least a Half-step Daluo.

But where are those Half-step Daluo, or even the Daluo, now?

Is it because the time passed was too long, and they all died of old age?

This is a possibility, but Wang Wu thinks there is a greater possibility that they explored different paths, many, many paths, because before reaching Daluo, there were too many paths that appeared very brilliantly powerful at first glance.

Then, when they embarked on this path, perhaps they succeeded and reached a larger, broader, higher-dimensional world.

Perhaps, as they walked, they simply vanished.

Walking the path of Cultivation, proceeding along the only true path, then organizing the Yin and Yang Qi, the Three Calamities Evolution, the Five Elements Creatures, the Nine Extremes as Tribulation, the Twenty-four Solar Terms into a safe road.

This was probably forged by countless predecessors through continuous exploration and setbacks, using their lives.

It can't be said to be the most powerful, but it's definitely the safest.

And it certainly has the highest cost-effectiveness ratio.

In any case, Wang Wu definitely would not take a new path.

At this moment, within the three sequences, three Foundation Establishment Arrays were slowly operating. Under the illumination of the Yin and Yang Qi, he calmly proceeded with deployment and upgrading, as Spiritual Qi was being consumed in vast amounts as he made his arrangements.

After a long while, he suddenly paused the Five Elements Dog and Five Elements Bird, the two Foundation Establishment Arrays, because he realized he could not upgrade all three Foundation Establishment Arrays to Tier Five at once.

One trillion points of Spiritual Qi only sufficed for upgrading one array.

It was even somewhat stretched thin.

Wang Wu had to streamline various aspects, gather various resources, and even draw resources from the Heaven and Earth Shield, reducing its original three hundred-year maintenance to just fifty years in a single go.

Only in this way was he barely able to complete the deployment upgrade of the Five Elements Cat Array, bringing it to a level where it synchronized with the Three Calamities Evolution, reaching the same Tier Five Foundation Establishment Array standard.

And at that moment, he finally caught up and got infinitely close to a Half-step Daluo.

Or perhaps one could say, he was a 'small-step' Daluo.

A beggar-version Half-step Daluo.

Because he was poor.

And in the instant the Five Elements Cat Array's deployment upgrade was complete, the Heaven and Earth Tower also collapsed and dissipated simultaneously; the Yin and Yang Qi disappeared along with it, truly a close call, almost interrupted.

It wasn't easy!

Wang Wu smiled slightly, feeling he should be proud too—reaching this step had taken him fifty thousand years.

The Five Elements Cat Array slowly operated, naturally exuding a distinctly different sensation. With ease, he smoothed out that space crack dozens of miles away with a wave of his hand, and then with a casual pull, the space crack formed again.

At this moment, he became very clear and certain that the previous multidimensional state in the Cultivation Realm was artificial.

He also suddenly understood the Half-step Daluo, and even partially comprehended the actions of those twelve Daluo.

"This world doesn't need too many Daluo. It'd be best if there were only me."

Wang Wu pondered. Next, he did not continue to collect Chaotic Spiritual Qi but instead turned toward that suspected Daluo's Tomb.

When those terrifying Sword Qi slashed over, he didn't use the Heaven and Earth Shield to block but allowed these terrifying Sword Qi to strike him.

In a flash of light, not only was he uninjured, but he instantly transformed and absorbed these terrifying Sword Qi.

At this time, he didn't need Spirit Essence Perception to identify the nature and origin of these terrifying Sword Qi.

"These should be called Three Calamities Radiation Sword Qi, waves of radiation stirred up by the most perfect state of Three Calamities Evolution material. Because they are exceedingly sharp, they appear like Sword Qi, naturally, if it were me, I too would prefer to regard them as Sword Qi."

Wang Wu advanced slowly, absorbing all the Three Calamities Sword Qi.

This was much more cost-effective than absorbing the quintessential Chaotic Spiritual Qi.

Absorbing a single Three Calamities Sword Qi was equivalent to absorbing one trillion points of regular Spiritual Qi.

In just half a tea's time, he completely absorbed a hundred and eight Three Calamities Sword Qi. Under the operation of the Tier Five Cat Array, this was indeed a light and effortless task.

And now, the situation within this Daluo's Tomb finally became clear.

Last time when he was here, he felt this place was deathly silent and overly eerie, so he didn't dare advance.

Now it seemed he was right.

Because without absorbing the hundred and eight Three Calamities Sword Qi, it would have meant not dismantling the mechanisms, proceeding recklessly would be a death wish!