Reborn in Douluo Dalu as Dai Mubai.

"Oh, you finally reached level 20?" Daydream's voice sounded excited in my mind.

"Yes, I finally reached this stage." I smiled, feeling the strength in my fist. My cultivation speed was several times faster than I had expected; I reached level 20 before even turning eight years old.

"Then we can finally find Bing Bing again." The excitement in Daydream's voice was evident. Even after transforming into a woman, she hadn't forgotten her longing for the Ice Empress.

In fact, this eagerness only arose recently. Until that moment, Daydream had never mentioned the idea of obtaining the Ice Empress as a second Soul Ring. It left me confused for a while, but after revisiting everything I knew from the original work, I finally understood the reason.

In the original storyline, Daydream's goal in becoming a conscious Soul Ring was to achieve divinity and escape the heavenly tribulation that all Soul Beasts face every 100,000 years.

However, with me, it was different. Daydream chose to become a conscious Soul Ring to escape the Soul Beasts that had imprisoned her in the Star Dou Forest. Because of this, she hadn't yet witnessed a god's ascension and, consequently, hadn't developed the desire to help the Ice Empress. Moreover, there were still over 10,000 years before the Ice Empress would reach her limit and face the tribulation's backlash.

Even so, I still want to reach the Ice Empress—not just because of the original story, but also due to the needs of my spiritual world.

For the spiritual world to grow, it requires an immense amount of energy. Daydream alone is not enough. Despite the spiritual world having the city formation that creates conditions for life, and even with the items I brought there, it still doesn't qualify as a true world.

This is because, although there are life-supporting conditions, everything depends on the formation, which is powered by energy from external sources—the energy I supply through cultivation. For the spiritual world to truly become independent, it needs to produce its own heaven and earth energy, becoming self-sufficient, and that is still far beyond my current capabilities.

I have no idea how to create heaven and earth energy. Perhaps it would require someone at a divine level, like the Dragon God, who attempted to transform the Douluo Divine Realm into a divine planet. Thanks to the memories of my previous life, I know that worlds can also cultivate in this universe. However, I can't remember exactly how that works. What I know for sure is that my spiritual world cannot yet be considered a true world.

For instance, if I brought a common human into the spiritual world, they wouldn't be able to cultivate. There wouldn't be enough heaven and earth energy for them to reach even level 1 unless Daydream voluntarily provided part of her own cultivation. But that would only be recycling, not production—and eventually, the energy would run out.

After much thought and study of my memories and the knowledge I acquired in the Star Luo Empire and from the two clans, I still haven't found a solution. So, I resolved to continue extracting energy from external sources. If one Daydream isn't enough, I'll bring more and more Soul Beasts until the recycling becomes self-sustainable.

With that in mind, another idea arose: if recycling energy isn't enough, how about recycling bodies and... souls?

There's a type of formation used by evil cultivators that can transform bodies and souls into energy to accelerate cultivation. Wouldn't that be like fertilizer? Just as something dead sustains the growth of another form of life, the body and soul of a living being could sustain the heaven and earth energy in the spiritual world. This energy, in turn, would feed the cultivation of another being, and when that being died, its body and soul would sustain everything again.

In the end, this would create a virtuous cycle. With the inclusion of bodies and souls, the recycling could not only sustain itself but also grow. After all, both the physical body and the soul strengthen over time. This applies to humans and other forms of life.

I shared this idea with Daydream, but she was apprehensive. "Isn't this against the laws of heaven? Won't we attract a lightning bolt to our heads?"

"But isn't cultivation, in itself, already going against the heavens?" I retorted. "Besides, the spiritual world doesn't have its own consciousness. Actually, maybe I'm the spiritual world's consciousness since it emerged from my Spiritual Sea."

Even so, Daydream remained hesitant, especially regarding souls. The formation would destroy the souls to turn them into energy, eliminating any chance of reincarnation.

A chill ran down my spine as I realized this implication. I hadn't thought about that.

My reaction seemed to reassure her. At least we agreed to keep looking for a solution. We decided to search for more Soul Beasts to help. If the spiritual world is successfully completed, the Soul Beasts residing in it would no longer have to fear the heavenly tribulation.

Additionally, there's plan B: achieving divinity. If a mortal can't find a solution, perhaps a god can. The only problem is that the method created by Daydream to become a conscious Soul Ring only works for 100,000-year-old Soul Beasts. Also, we still haven't discovered a way to preserve the Soul Beast's soul while binding everything else as essence.

If only the necromancer had been present when I acquired Daydream, perhaps he would have had a method to achieve this.

---------------------

A few days later, I informed everyone about my departure once again. Jiangqi was surprised, as I had already visited all the cities in the Star Luo Empire.

I simply gave a mysterious smile and said, "This time, it will take a bit longer."

Jiangqi, always sharp, deciphered my meaning and tried to stop me. It was a fierce battle of wills, one I lost. I ended up promising to return whenever possible.

Although my initial goal was only to reach the Extreme North, the promise significantly slowed my journey as I created teleportation formations in each city.

This, however, didn't affect my cultivation. Even stuck at level 20 without acquiring a new Soul Ring, I could continue cultivating and strengthening my spiritual essence. It's just that my energy wouldn't condense to the next level until I obtained the required ring.

I then set off for the city nearest the Heaven Dou Empire border: Soutuo City.

Soutuo City was known for having the richest granary in the Balak Kingdom and a massive military garrison. Not to mention, Shrek Academy was located in one of the villages near the city. It was the perfect place to create a teleportation formation, although I had no intention of interacting with the academy for now. After spending a few days in the city, I moved on to my next destination.

During the journey, I passed through several important cities: Heaven Spirit City, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire; Silvers City; Jade City; and finally, I arrived at the city closest to the Extreme North, Dragon City.

A few months passed during this journey, during which I turned 8 years old. I can now say I've become an expert traveler. The positive energy accumulated from Good Deed during the journey also left me feeling quite energized.

Dragon City was very close to the Extreme North, and the temperature there was significantly lower than in any city I had visited so far. Because of this, it took me longer than usual to build the teleportation formation, but I considered it good preparation before heading into the true cold of the Extreme North.

From Dragon City to the Extreme North was approximately an 8-hour journey.

The Extreme North was a forbidden zone for humans. A constant glacial era made it impossible to live there, and the region was home to countless powerful Soul Beasts. For humans, it was one of the most terrifying places on the continent.

The closer to the center, the harsher the temperature. Even with Sister Daydream's protection against the cold, the strong winds made the journey increasingly difficult.

"Food usually turns to ice… Luckily, I have my Spiritual World." I sighed in relief, sipping on a warm tea while resting inside an improvised igloo.

I wondered how Huo Yuhao managed to reach the center of the Extreme North at only 12 years old and without a beast-type Martial Soul.

"Alright, little Bai, let's begin." Sister Daydream's eager voice echoed beside me.

"Wait, let me finish my tea." I made a gesture to stop her. "I know you're excited to meet your Bing Bing, but you need to be patient, Sister Daydream." I sighed as I saw my words only made her more anxious.

"Alright, let's begin." I placed the tea cup aside. "I can hold out here for at least 20 minutes."

Sister Daydream nodded. "I'll need to leave your body and use all my power in the Spiritual World, alright?"

I nodded firmly. We had discussed this beforehand.

A slight dizziness overtook me. Inside my Spiritual World, the lake surrounding the small island began to disappear.

Outside my body, my Soul Ring shone intensely, soon turning golden, representing a 1,000,000-year ring. Gradually, the ring deformed until it took the shape of a fully golden human figure, resembling a golden statue. The appearance was notably similar to mine but more mature.

A voice different from the one I was used to hearing from Sister Daydream echoed, very similar to the first time we met. "Ice Empress, I know you feel my presence. I, Tian Meng, have returned for my revenge! Do you dare face me?"

Daydream's aura expanded in all directions, filling the space with an oppressive power.

I watched calmly, activating the Sharingan and Byakugan to follow every detail.