Reborn in Douluo Dalu as Dai Mubai.

In my Spiritual Sea, beneath the Spiritual Earth, there is a book with five major runes floating around it. These five runes together form the Great Talisman Formation.

A blue aura is slowly drawn into the formation, first passing through a Golden Absorption Rune, which spins slowly. This blue energy with a golden tint is then directed to a Blue Storage Rune.

Soon after, the aura is drawn once again, this time toward the next Blue Rune, the Refinement Rune, which spins in the opposite direction to the Absorption Rune. Gradually, a light blue energy emerges from the Refinement Rune and flows toward the Purification Rune.

The Purification Rune, also blue, glows as it receives the energy. Moving closer, a gentle warmth can be felt radiating from it. The blue aura enters the Purification Rune, remaining briefly before transforming into a white energy with a very faint, almost imperceptible, golden tint. This energy then heads toward the center of the formation, filling the empty space within the book.

Above the book, an Automation Rune, also blue, spins slowly from top to bottom, controlling the entire process.

"Yes, everything is stable." I give a pleased nod upon seeing the Great Talisman Formation working perfectly. The only difference compared to memory is that the Absorption Rune is golden, as it used positive energy rather than the natural energy of heaven and earth. Fortunately, this didn't cause any interference.

It took nearly a year to complete this formation, and finally seeing it in action, I can't help but admire this work of art.

According to memory, running autonomously, this formation has the capacity to generate one unit of heaven and earth energy per day. With ten units of heaven and earth energy, the formation can generate one unit of Xiantian energy in up to ten days.

One unit represents the maximum natural condensation of energy; after that, it's necessary to start accumulating a new unit.

Based on the memories tied to the Great Talisman Formation, a typical cultivator can use heaven and earth energy to cultivate, but using a higher energy brings far greater benefits.

If I wait to cultivate using Xiantian energy, this will not only nourish and improve my body and mind, but it might also extend my longevity and keep my body pure, eliminating impurities that can impact cultivation. According to my memories from Douluo Dalu, Soul Masters can only extend their lifespan upon reaching the Titled Douluo level, yet with Xiantian energy, this is possible from the very start. In various novels I read, protagonists often gain some fortuitous opportunity that allows them to purify their bodies; with Xiantian energy, I don't need to worry about these impurities.

Therefore, cultivating with Xiantian energy, even if it takes more time, is far more advantageous than using only heaven and earth energy.

I floated lightly toward the formation and concentrated a bit of energy in the book, which is the center of it. For a time, I sat cross-legged, manually controlling the formation.

This allows me to speed up all the formation's processes, from absorption through to the other stages, so that Xiantian energy forms more quickly.

After some time, I left the formation, feeling a bit drained. Manually using the formation is taxing on the mind.

But fortunately, my effort was worth it. I still haven't formed a complete unit of Xiantian energy, but at this speed, I can generate a unit of Xiantian energy every few days, which is much faster than before, even without further enhancing the formation.

I exited my Spiritual Sea and found myself lying on the bed in my room. Recently, I finally got rid of the cradle.

I sat cross-legged on the bed and gently closed my eyes. I drew the Xiantian energy from the formation out of my Spiritual Sea and guided it gently, infused with positive energy, into my body.

As soon as this energy entered my body, I felt a unique sensation. My body felt slightly uncomfortable as the Xiantian energy circulated instinctively through my organs and veins, without needing direct control. After traversing my entire body, it settled smoothly in the lower part of my abdomen.

This energy that now inhabits my body is different from all others I have handled: heaven and earth energy, Xiantian energy, positive energy. They are no longer "ownerless" energies.

What now resides, I suppose, in my Dantian is no longer ordinary energy; it has become essence – or Soul Power. A power that is entirely mine.

"So, this is cultivation... It's so special. I feel stronger just from using a little Xiantian energy. This is different from anything I did in my past life; no matter how hard I worked, I never felt true progress. But here I know I'm advancing." I gently clench my fist, feeling the slight power it holds. If I wish, I can even manipulate the Soul Power to increase the strength of my fist.

"With this amount of Soul Power, I'm still far from reaching level 1," I say softly, though I can't help but feel happy. If I keep cultivating like this, perhaps when I awaken my Martial Soul, I might achieve 'Innate Full Soul Power' or even more.

"It's a shame I don't have a cultivation technique; otherwise, Xiantian energy could flow through my meridians, increasing my cultivation speed or even opening blocked meridians." I couldn't help but think of Tang San, the protagonist of this world, who possesses a cultivation technique. At this moment, he probably hasn't even left Tang Hao's testicles.

I can't help but laugh at the thought.

"No matter. This is enough for now. Perhaps when I join Shrek, Tang San will share his cultivation technique." Maybe because of the positive energy, I'm feeling overly optimistic.

The days passed slowly. The Xiantian energy grew day by day, improving my cultivation, and three months later, I finally felt close to a breakthrough.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, I controlled the Xiantian energy within my body. The energy circulated through my entire body, and I endured the discomfort. However, today was different from before; the energy stopped just before entering my Dantian.

My body started heating up, but the energy still hadn't entered the Dantian.

"Come on, what's happening?" I resisted the discomfort, but I felt that if the energy didn't enter my Dantian, I could get hurt.

It was as if there were a barrier preventing the Xiantian energy from entering my Dantian, as though the accumulated energy was still insufficient.

With no more Xiantian energy available, I tried drawing a bit of heaven and earth energy into my body, hoping to help the Xiantian energy break through the Dantian barrier. However, the heaven and earth energy barely managed to enter my body before dissipating.

"Heaven and earth energy really doesn't have the same quality as Xiantian energy." I endured the intensifying discomfort. Then, I remembered another energy of equally high quality as Xiantian energy.

I controlled this energy, and unlike heaven and earth energy, it entered smoothly, circulated through my body, and reached the barrier in the Dantian.

A considerable amount of this energy merged with the Xiantian energy, making it larger and more golden. Together, they broke through the barrier and finally entered my Dantian.

As the energy entered, I felt a sort of sublimation, as if something changed within me, as if my very life essence was enhanced. My body glowed with white light, dispelling all the discomfort I had felt, before finally stabilizing.

"This... Did I finally reach level 1?" was the only answer I could have at the moment. "So this is what it feels like to improve cultivation." I couldn't help but smile, though the feeling didn't last long, as this situation made me reflect.

This barrier, from what I know from novels, must be what's called a bottleneck, and without enough energy, it would be impossible to overcome.

However, the energy I used helped forcefully break through this bottleneck. That energy was, in fact, positive energy. All this time, "Good Deed" became part of my daily routine, always performing small good deeds like helping the maids, being well-behaved, and various other minor actions. This helped the amount of positive energy to keep growing daily.

After obtaining Xiantian energy, I ended up neglecting positive energy somewhat, as it didn't seem to directly aid cultivation. I tried multiple times to draw it to the Dantian, but it didn't appear to improve cultivation, only making my body glow golden, temporarily enhancing my physical condition.

But today, I discovered another use for positive energy: it aids in overcoming bottlenecks, which is incredibly useful.

All this time, I accumulated a total of 52 units of positive energy, and to overcome this bottleneck, I used 10 units.

Ten units of positive energy are equivalent to one unit of Xiantian energy. Perhaps it's time to redefine the unit size; currently, one unit of positive energy is the size of a baby's fingernail.

To be useful, it should match the size of a Xiantian energy unit. In that case, I have about five units of positive energy, which could help me overcome up to five bottlenecks. That's remarkable.

I spent the entire following day smiling. The maids couldn't understand why, but seeing young master Bai in a good mood made them all equally cheerful.