Moonlight Market held a strange event when Crow arrived. It was some kind of talent test and the people running it appeared to be extremely powerful. Although they had their Shields covered, he could sense they weren’t at the Wood or Stone level. How much higher, he couldn’t be sure.

The thing he was sure of was that these people were by no means altruistic. They were searching for people with specific talents, and it was likely that the reason behind it wasn’t simple. Crow didn’t feel any sinister vibes, but he could tell by their disdainful attitudes that they didn’t care about anyone here. In the end, it was every cultivator’s choice to decide. Risk and reward went hand in hand, so if they succeeded with whatever task they asked, they’d most likely benefit. If they failed… it was hard to say.

Regardless, Crow thought the challenge was interesting because it was mechanical. It reminded him of the Clocktower with all the gears, but this setup was closer to a puzzle-based obstacle course. It needed a strange combination of agility, intelligence, and mana control.

Tempted as he was, Crow walked away and found the Darkstar Boutique. After talking to the woman he met several floors below, he discovered his wives had left with Nadia almost two months ago. He didn’t expect Nadia to have joined up with them, but it could explain why Kafe had an unresolvable hatred toward him.

After walking the market for some time, he felt there were only two things left unresolved. First, he needed to find what Mother Danu hinted at. Second, he didn’t know what happened with Corra after he completed the trial. It was something he probably couldn’t resolve for now, but it nagged at him. The reality versus illusionary still bothered him, and he wanted to know more to cultivate the idea behind existence.

The tower lord mentioned existence as if that were the purpose of cultivating. If that was true, his goal was to make his existence more permanent—or maybe it was about giving his Soul more permanence. The cycle of rebirth required a strong Soul or his current life would fade as if this version of Crow never existed. Giving the Soul more permanence would firm up his existence, so even if his Body died and he was reborn, who he was wouldn’t fade. Instead, it’d be sealed until he was powerful enough to unseal it.

Which brought him to the fact that the Body was part of the Soul. Suppose he solidified his existence to a high level. Didn’t that mean even if they destroyed his physical Body, he could regrow it—provided his Soul wasn’t shattered in the process? A Soul could get shattered, but it was impossible to destroy it permanently. The only way to pull a Soul out of the cycle of rebirth was to capture it.

Crow’s knowledge was limited to this much because he met no one that could unseal their past lives. There was a chance that it was all myth, but he trusted the older texts he read in the Triskelion Stacks. It was hard to say what would happen if his current life ended with this much of his existence cultivated. Like the Soul, he doubted anything could permanently destroy any of his existences. Still, it was something he had no confidence in claiming. Instead, he leaned toward an idea of shattered existence—meaning he could piece it together. It’d need time, patience, and probably a hell of a lot of luck.

It didn’t matter overall because something like that required him to reach a level of existence beyond the scope of his current understanding. If he died now, even if his existence was permanent enough to survive a rebirth, he lacked the strength to unseal it. Even reaching the upper realms wouldn’t necessarily give him the power necessary to absorb his previous existences.

“You seem troubled,” a plain-looking woman said from the stall in front of him. He hadn’t realized he’d stopped moving.

“Contemplating my existence,” Crow chuckled. Laughing at himself because he knew it wasn’t something the current him should worry about.

“And what did you conclude?”

“Like the oak, as long as I have roots, then I exist.”

“That’s unexpected,” the woman laughed. “I’m not laughing at you, but what you said was fairly profound. I thought you would give me a supercilious response, but that was very philosophical and deep.”

“What can I do? Life wants me to contemplate these things, so all I can do is decide what existence means to me and stick with it. I’ve realized that all other thoughts would only drive me crazy. As a child, I once told everyone I would be like the oak, strong and proud. I’m still a child in the grand scheme of cultivation, but I’ve realized the oak has a deeper meaning in my Soul.” Crow smiled as if enlightened and suddenly felt something was odd. No one else was around this stall, nor did they approach them. “Thank you, Mother.”

“Your eyes are good, and your thoughts are strong. I’m only here to help settle your mind and point you to the reward promised. You’ll find the first clue on the north side of this hollow tree. The exterior side, not inside, so you’ll have to exit from the south and circle around.”

The emphasis on all that made him pause. It was a warning.

“Is it Unhulde?”

“A certain seductress is watching you. It wasn’t hard for her to find out that you have a strong connection to the woman she wants.”

“What is she after?”

Mother Danu smiled and shrugged.

“You don’t know or can’t tell me?”

“You are smart enough to figure it out.”

“Can I ask you a different question? Like, why are you willing to help me so much?”

“If you think about it, I’m sure you’d figure it out. However, this one I’ll tell you. I’m viewed as the Mother to the Draoidh, which means I favor family and home. A Druid’s beliefs have similarities with shamanism. Studying the natural order, finding balance, and embracing a spiritual connection with the world are all things a Druid strives to do. Sometimes they get caught up in that power and forget that they are also part of this world, as are their families. The power of a family is also part of the ecology of existence. You already embrace this type of thought, even if it’s subconscious. Do you think a singular existence is as powerful as a family? If you do, you will make the same mistakes as Balor, The Primordial God of Chaos.”

“For this wisdom, I give thanks.” Crow put his fist across his Shield and bowed his head. What Mother Danu said opened his eyes and allowed him to see what was always in front of him. The core of his strength came from the desire to protect those he loved.

More than that, the thing that sent ripples through his Soul was the phrase ‘Ecology of Existence.’ Everything had the right to exist, and it was why people like him fought so fiercely for it. But ecology was about balance, which meant that while some things could exist, others needed to cease. It was like the cycle of life and death but on a higher plane of thought.

For some reason, this line of thought made him think about Yggdrasil inside his Soulverse. Why did it exist, and what did it mean now that it had appeared? The answer he felt was important, and through his sensitivity to karma, he could sense a river of blood and tears. A massive change was coming, and Crow felt he was the catalyst.

Mother Danu sighed, giving credence to his thoughts.

“You really have an unparalleled thought process, but you are wrong about one thing.”

“What one thing?”

“You might be the catalyst, but you aren’t the cause. The balance has long been askew, like a scale leaning too far to one side. It was only a matter of time before it tipped over. You just happened to be the one to give it a nudge. What happens next isn’t your fault. It is because of the negligence of the gods. We—I failed to protect the Draoidh, and their downfall brought about changes we couldn’t predict.”

“And I am that last hope?”

“Pfft,” Danu laughed. “No. You are, as you thought, just a catalyst. Did you already forget what I told you before? No singular existence can achieve dominance, even you, my egotistical adherent.”

Crow flushed and realized he had overthought it. “Will I at least be of some help?”

“Depends on how fast you can grow. If you don’t reach the upper realms in the next twenty years, you’ll probably only arrive at the conclusion of it all,” Mother Danu told him, but internally she wished that was true. She had to keep some things from him because the pressure would hinder more than help.

Even if Crow didn’t hear her internal thoughts, he speculated based on what he could feel. Overall, it didn’t matter because all roads lead to the same point—he had to get stronger.