The things that give us true strength are unique. Money and power aren’t special and create faulty foundations at best. Understand the reasoning for wanting money and power, and there you’ll find the thing that motivates you for true strength.

~Lugh, God of Battle and Craft

Cia woke up and felt a curious need to copulate. Conall wasn’t about to turn her down, and she climbed on top, pressing him down on the bed.

A few sweaty hours later, she rolled over onto her back and took a few deep breaths to recover. Conall didn’t touch her, knowing that since he got her back, her body was extremely sensitive immediately after a lovemaking session. It made her irritable, so he gave her time to recover. Still, he wasn’t an idiot. Beyond her normal odd behavior, there was something clearly bothering her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Crow.”

“You are thinking about our son while we are doing it?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Cia growled. “He’s involved with Witches.”

“What does that mean?”

“That need for sex came from him, and I know that’s really weird to talk about right now.”

“But?”

“I think he might have become the husband of a coven.”

“That lecherous bastard! I’ll beat the shit out of him next time I see him,” Conall growled.

“You are just jealous because my coven died before I married you,” Cia chuckled. “The problem is our son doesn’t have a wife he fears, so he strays, unlike my reliable lover.”

“That’s emasculating.”

“That’s why I let you do whatever you want to me whenever you want. It’s a fair trade… isn’t it?”

“No—I mean, yes! I—oh gods, be merciful to me,” Connal said, seeing his wife sit up and straddle him with a strange glint in her eye.

“This goddess isn’t going to let you sleep this night.”

***

“Are you sure you know where you are going, tree-man?” Gavin grumbled. The upper realm was challenging on this body, making him feel like he was a child starting martial training all over again. Even breathing was a chore initially. If it wasn’t for Mugna, he knew his body would have collapsed into a puddle of blood and bone.

“Some landmarks never change. Even if they are destroyed, they’ll rebuild themselves because it is the will of the Heavens. Like that one,” Mugna said and pointed into the distance.

Large spires of rock rose into the sky, with a stone cap on top. They looked like giant stone mushrooms or trees. It really looked like a stone forest, but that wasn’t the impressive part. A single stone spire rose high into the sky until it disappeared into a thick layer of dark clouds. Lightning surged through those clouds with a bold occasionally striking down at one of the stone mushrooms.

“Many techniques were inspired by Heaven’s Reach. It has other names, Death Touch, Finger Pierces Heaven, and more, but they all refer to that.”

“And why are you bringing me here?” Gavin asked, not liking the mischievous grin on Mugna’s face.

“This is the place you’ll be reborn,” Mugna chuckled and grabbed Gavin while charging into the stone forest. Even at the edge, they could feel the effects on their body as the statically charged atmosphere sent the volatile Lightning Mana through them. “Get used to this place because we’ll be here for at least a few years.”

“How long?”

“At the very least… until you can come with a hundred kilometers of the base of Heaven’s Reach. It’d be best if you can reach the fifty-kilometer mark.”

Gavin sighed, knowing that Mugna wasn’t going to let him off. Sighed, knowing full well the condition of his body. There was no avoiding it, even if he wanted to. After all, this wasn’t his original body because that was destroyed when he fled the upper realms. A secret that only Mugna knew. If Gavin wanted to help Crow reestablish the Draoidh, he would have to commit to this.

He only hoped that some of those bastards that betrayed him back then were still alive. Gavin wanted to feel their throats turn to pulp under his bare hands. Wanted to rip out the wombs of their wives. Wanted to behead their children. He wanted vengeance for everything he had lost. Remembering holding his dead children caused tears to leak from his eyes but firmed the resolution in his heart. Without fear, he entered the lightning fields until he felt his body nearing its limits. Sitting down, he cultivated, allowing the rampant mana to cleanse his body. Months later, he stood up and walked further in until he couldn’t handle it and repeated the process. Mugna left him there, knowing that Gavin had reached a mindless drive and would be fine for now. He still had other places to go and would be back long before Gavin finished.

***

Hooligan had wrapped herself up tightly once more. Knowing full well that her beauty was asking for trouble. Most people thought she was a man and barely paid much attention to her, but those few that suspected otherwise didn’t attempt to approach her more than once. Some even had nightmares about their encounter that would turn into heart demons in the future.

Absently, she rubbed her stomach because she’d already felt the embryo growing inside her. However, she sealed it using a common method known to most female cultivators. There were even ways to cleanse their bodies right after sex to prevent pregnancy. Regardless, as long as it hadn’t yet developed a heart, the embryo could remain sealed in stasis for at least a hundred years, provided she occasionally infused it with mana and vitality.

No one would risk infusing an embryo for over a hundred years because of all the complications and other chaotic factors. That much mana infused into the embryo could create an anomaly that was bad, more often than not. The only reason some tried was that it improved the chance the child would be born with a unique physique. There was a greater chance it’d burn out the Source or create irreparable harm, which is why most would unseal the embryo long before that happened.

Most only left the unborn child in stasis for fifty years, as that was the demarcation when it changed from low risk and rapidly increased to high. And the other reason was the infusion of mana extended the pregnancy, and the term length grew the longer the child remained in stasis. Ordinary cultivators already took twice as long to birth a child as mortal women. It wouldn’t be strange for an unsealed embryo to take up to a decade to be born.

She felt guilty about doing what she did but worried that other than the Wistman’s Wood, she wouldn’t be able to see Crow. If they couldn’t reach the top of the tower, she’d already decided to give birth to the child inside her.

Sighing, she surveyed the ascension stairs in front of her. Unlike Crow, she was already on the ninth floor and was preparing to undergo the Soul trial to upgrade her Shield.

Looking around her, she saw dozens of people cultivating and contemplating the climb ahead. A zero floor was truly a mysterious event, and those that weren’t mentally prepared would never pass through it. From what she understood, the floor at the top of the stairs in front of her was tiny, like all zero floors. However, they were the most dangerous, and each person had to undergo the trial alone. Once started, the only way to stop was to jump into the Plunge or complete it.

The nine floors before the trial were meant to temper the cultivator to attempt this trial, which is why rushing was dangerous. Comprehension, consolidation, and conviction were the 3 C’s of the zero floor trials. All she had to do was have the courage to climb and face what was coming.

Thinking of Crow, her eyes hardened, and she took that first step, followed by the next. As she was about to reach the top, she held her breath and felt her body sucked away into a private realm.