In this manner, the two quickly returned to the path they had taken before and continued down the moss-covered path, following the guiding sensations that came from the depths of their beings. It took a few hours thanks to Li Yang's slow pace, as well as the size of the city, but they eventually reached what remained of the city's centre, a flat area covered in crimson mushrooms.

There wasn't a single tree or ruined building in the area, everything seemed to just have been completely flattened. And judging from the very faint warmth that came from beneath the moss, Li Yang guessed that what flattened everything might have been an extraordinarily burst of fire.

The guiding sensation that both of them felt was stronger than ever here in the city's centre, and Mei Kongxu was gritting her teeth harder than ever before to not let out even the smallest yelp. She stretched out her arm and pointed as she spoke, but Li Yang cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"It's just a b..."

"No, it's around here. Is it...over here?"

His brows were furrowed as he moved a bit to the left of the direction that Mei Kongxu pointed, arriving at a small patch of especially crimson mushrooms. He felt something within him push him onwards, his feet kicking aside the mushrooms and unleashing a small burst of Qi into the ground.

His Qi sank into the earth, and that specific patch of earth unleashed a brilliant white light a mere second after his Qi sank into it. Incredibly tiny runes formed in the light, gathering together into lines that formed new runes as an almost impossibly complex array formed in front of the two. And from that array rose a humanoid green light figure that seemed to have a forest-like ecosystem meandering around within him. And upon arising from the array, the humanoid did not hesitate to bend its waist.

"It appears that the promised time has arrived, it is my honour to meet you, Exalted Paragon."

The voice of the humanoid was exceedingly strange, at one moment it sounded like a gurgling stream and in the next it sounded like a flowing breeze, it seemed to change with each second yet still managed to sound understandable. Li Yang looked at the green figure with brows more furrowed than ever before.

"So you already knew that we would be coming here, or at least that I would come here, huh? So I guess that means you ought to know a thing or two about my visions."

He didn't know what a paragon was or why it thought he was one, but the fact that it had waited for him in a place that had very likely ties to his visions meant that it most definitely knew something. And the green figure nodded its head, sounding clearly both pleased and respectful.

"Indeed, I have known about your arrival since the Great Father placed me here to hold onto what's yours. But it seems that you've yet to visit, the six earlier locations and have instead found your way here, so please give me a minute to gather up the earlier remnants."

Li Yang and Mei Kongxu listened to the green figure talk, but Li Yang felt like he was going to get a headache from listening to it. He had just earlier left the old woman who spoke cryptically yet he had already run into someone that was probably just as bad.

"Great Father, earlier locations, remnants, great, who doesn't love to have a bunch of shit just thrown at them. Why don't you just explain things from the top, make it easy for both of us to understand things."

He spoke thusly, but in truth, he wasn't all that certain that there was a way to explain things from the top in a simple manner. But it seemed like this green figure wouldn't even give him the pleasure of properly explaining things even in a complicated manner, bowing apologetically.

"Forgive me, I have been created to only be able to answer questions, please consider it a small test set by The Great Father. But please understand that there are things I am not able to talk about. She is one example, I am unable to say anything about the Abbysal Mother's Paragon, only her own creations are allowed to do so. I am also forbidden from saying much about the Great Father, I can only say that he has chosen you as his Paragon due to your achievements and thus broke a few laws to give you this chance."

If Li Yang wasn't currently carrying Mei Kongxu then he would rub his forehead and his temples in a mixture of exasperation and annoyance. What was the point in creating something to provide answers and then make it so that it didn't give answers if you didn't think about the right questions? Even if he called it a test, it just sounded like the man who set it up was trying to be a pain in the ass.

But he did at least get some answers, even though the green figure said it couldn't provide answers related to Mei Kongxu. They got something that they could use to track down the source of her visions, the Abbysal Mother. He hadn't heard about it before, but a bit of searching would probably uncover something, so he kept his annoyance to a light groan as he asked his first question.

"Great, I'm already starting to dislike this 'great father'. Alright, we'll start simple I guess, what is a Paragon?"

It was a simple question pertaining to their immediate situation, it also happened to be quite far removed from the first question Mei Kongxu expected him to ask. If it was up to her, she would have immediately asked about the visions, it was what they had come for after all. But Li Yang didn't, and the green figure didn't question anything and simply responded to what was asked.

"A Paragon is the chosen warrior, and in the future, they will be the one who inherits the seat of God when the reigning lord decides to abandon that particular seat. As for which seat The Great Father reigns over, please forgive me as that falls under something I cannot answer. But he wants you to know that the seat sits at the highest point in this universe, so it certainly shan't disappoint you."

They had expected a Paragon to be a rather high status, but the actual truth was far removed from any of their expectations. The chosen successor of a god, the overlord of a particular law, which could be considered the highest status in the universe? It was quite a shocking revelation, but it also sparked a faint suspicion in Li Yang's mind. Why would a god want to abandon their seat and hand it over to someone else? He could ask the question, but he was already starting to tinker around with a different plan, so he simply moved on with more normal questions.

"Alright. Next question, what exactly are you and what is your purpose? You can include those six other locations and remnants in your explanation."

It was clearly supposed to provide answers to him, but it was also supposed to serve as a small test, or so it said at least. And it also said that it wasn't the only one, which fit into Li Yang's guess that there were multiple sources behind his auditory visions. The green figure responded promptly, and its words reminded Li Yang of the first vision he had seen.

"Very well. I am a guardian created by The Great Father and placed here to safe keep the memories of the man you now know as the Pristine Tyrant. Normally I would be placed at the spot where he perished, but his self-detonation as he fell was so powerful that it erased even the parts of his soul that didn't descend to Naraka. As such, I was placed here where he lost a majority of his soul. The six other locations are the places where the six past lives of the Pristine Tyrant fell, the other remnants are the memories of those six lives. They were set up separately so that you could gain a benefit no matter which location you reached first. Ah, but there are two more locations, one for the eighth and one for the ninth reincarnation."

Any being that could reincarnate multiple times would be a terrifying entity, especially when it was a being that seemed like it could reincarnate nine times. And Li Yang had in fact read about such a being before, he had searched for it in the archives after seeing his first vision, when the old man said he had spent nine lives doing nothing but failing.

"Multiple reincarnations, huh? So the Pristine Tyrant was a Nine Hells Fox, correct? Or is there a way for even people to reincarnate that many times?"

Nine Hells Fox, a variant Divine Beast that would be reborn with an extra tail after each time it died, growing a bit stronger every time. It would have nine tails during its ninth life, and that would be when it was at its most powerful, and it was after it died in this life that it would leave behind its greatest treasure.

If the source of his visions, his possible ancestor, was such a being, then there was a reasonable explanation behind the illusory tail he could summon. Of course, thanks to the information this green figure had provided so far, a new theory that Li Yang had previously thrown aside as mostly impossible was starting to resurface.

"Humans can reincarnate multiple times with some aid, but the man who became known as the Pristine Tyrant was indeed a Nine Hells Fox. But I only know about his life up until the point where the Pristine Tyrant fell, I know of the eighth and ninth lives, but only that they happened and not what happened in them."

Li Yang guessed that this aid was probably tied to the people who held a seat of god, he really couldn't imagine any other being that could help others reincarnate multiple times. Once or twice might be possible for a strong cultivator, but anything beyond that and the universe would start to interfere to maintain a certain balance, at least that was what the oldest records in the sect stated. Li Yang took in what the green figure said and gathered his thoughts for a bit to clear up his own plans, finally moving on to what was definitely the main question.

"Alright, next question. How am I and the Pristine Tyrant connected, and how do my visions factor into it?"

Even Mei Kongxu perked her ears up when Li Yang finally asked the main question, because the answer he received here was likely closely tied to the answer she would find when she reached the truth. It might even be the same answer, just with different people. The green figure bowed respectfully once more and started to explain the truth, and source, of the vision.

"You and the Pristine Tyrant are one and the same, the same soul, just repurposed one final time. The Great Father was pleased with what you achieved at the end of your ninth life, so he stole away your soul the exact second it was about to be fully cleansed and sent back into reincarnation to become a new existence. He sent your soul back down to this planet in secret so that you could be reborn once again to become his Paragon."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

It sounded outlandish, but if it really was tied to a man holding the seat of god then it could be somewhat explained. And with the green figure explaining things, Li Yang started to also piece together things on his own. The first thing was the true nature of this Great Father.

In the vision Li Yang had seen when he blacked out once, he found himself observing two people in a wilderness, the woman whose eyes he saw whenever he closed his eyes and the person who was probably the ninth life of the Pristine Tyrant. The man died, but just as he vanished, an ethereal voice said that he spent nine lifetimes to conquer death, nine lifetimes of failure. But just at the end, the man apparently birthed the seed of creation.

If the Great Father really was pleased with what the man achieved at the end of his ninth life, then that was likely the birthing of that seed. He did ask to strike a deal after all. And if Li Yang really was the reincarnation of that man, and the paragon of that unearthly voice, then the Great Father might actually be the man who holds the seat of the Creation God, which was likely in a whole other realm compared to normal gods, it was a peak law after all.

And with all that in mind, and keeping Mei Kongxu's own visions in mind, he felt like he had a reasonable guess as to what the source of her visions was, and what that black aura she released earlier was. Of course, whether or not his guess was true was something he would only learn when they reached places that would provide Mei Kongxu with the truth. For now, Li Yang tossed the thoughts to the side of his mind, continuing to listen to the green figure's explanation.

"But the cleansing leaves the soul very weakened and rather unstable, so he couldn't return all your memories straight away since that would end up shattering you. But luckily, he snatched you away before you were fully cleansed so he could take advantage of the dirty specks that remained in your soul. Thanks to the memories stored within them, the specks became visions, in one form or another, and they would push you to travel to learn the truth, and it would bring you to us so that the truth would finally be revealed to you."

Just like they had started to guess earlier, the visions were indeed memories. But they weren't memories inherited thanks to a bloodline, they were memories stored in the depths of the soul, flashes of past lives to push him, and likely Mei Kongxu as well, ever onward. The green figure seemed to finish his explanation with that, its feature-less face wriggling slightly as it exclaimed joyfully.

"Ah, the gathering has completed."

The green figure stretched out its hands, the array beneath it glimmering brightly seven times as seven streams of energy rushed up. The energy settled between the outstretched hands of the figure, a golden and crimson crystal that would snuggly fit in Li Yang's palm rapidly forming.

"Please accept this, Exalted Paragon. Your soul has stabilized so it will be able to handle the memories now. Just sink your mind into it and you will regain all the memories of your first seven lives, you will instantly remember all your skills, techniques, secret abilities, laws, grievances, loves, everything will be laid bare to you once more. I imagine that it will take you no more than a few months at best to return to the peak that the Pristine Tyrant once occupied. At that point, it will be much easier for you to head to the eighth and ninth resting places."

The laws were the basis of all cultivation, the necessary Qi was one step, but the laws would be the basis, they were what you used to draw the runes after all. Once he acquired the memories about his past lives laws then it would indeed only take a short while to drastically increase his cultivation.

Li Yang altered Mei Kongxu's position a bit, leaning the side of her chest against his while placing his left arm beneath her thighs, holding her in a way quite reminiscent of how you would carry a child. She squirmed to get down, but he simply rocked his arm a few times to destabilize her position so that she would cease resisting.

Even now, when he was faced with the chance to regain the memories of what was apparently his past lives, he refused to stop teasing her like this. He accepted the crystal with his now free right hand, weighing the faintly warm gem in his hand a few times. But he didn't immediately sink his mind into it, raising his gaze back towards the green figure.

"Those resting places, do you know where they are?"

He didn't know where the seventh resting place was, but a small guess was already formed when he learned that the Pristine Tyrant self-destructed. He also had a slight guess as to where the ninth resting place might be, but hearing it to confirm his guess would still be nice.

"I do indeed. The eighth one is located within the Leviathan's Heart sect dojo that is built on the Burning Eye planet situated at the other end of this galaxy, and the ninth is located within the heart of the Cloud Wilderness."

The green figure spoke of the places very casually, but Li Yang couldn't help but click his tongue, even Mei Kongxu caught off guard. The Leviathan's Heart sect was the uncontested strongest sect on this planet, its hands stretched out beyond even this galaxy and into the wider universe. And the Cloud Wilderness was a place that not even this Leviathan's Heart could fully explore, so there really was only one thing to be said about those resting places.

"Those really aren't easy places to reach, he must have had a fondness for dying in strange places. Tell me, this crystal, it really contains all the memories of my? seven previous lives? Absolutely everything?"

He halted slightly during his final sentence, thinking of the Pristine Tyrant and such as his own past lives was still a bit strange after all. But he also had his own thoughts on the matter, so he didn't let it bother him too much. The green figure bowed once more, its ever-changing voice audibly quivering softly in anticipation.

"Yes, from birth to death, every joy and tragedy you know, you will recall it all so that you can avenge your grievances and repay your gratitude. So please, Exalted Paragon, I eagerly await your return to your peak."

The green figure didn't have eyes, but Li Yang could practically envision its eyes shining brilliantly. Li Yang was chosen by its creator, so it probably viewed him with nearly the same reverence as its Great Father. But Li Yang still didn't sink his mind into the crystal, weighing it a few more times while uttering another question.

"...That Pristine Tyrant and his other lives, what were their actual names?"

The seventh life had obviously gotten the title Pristine Tyrant, not even the archives in the Deepsea King sect knew his actual name. But the other lives probably didn't have the same title, they certainly had a name they actually used to refer to themselves. And so they did, the green figure clearly already aware of it.

"The name you chose for yourself was Fang Dao Jun, it stuck with you through all nine of your lives."

Fang Dao Jun, it was a name Li Yang had never heard, but he had never searched for it so it wasn't overly strange to not have heard of it. The name might seem pointless, but if his past lives and the source of Mei Kongxu's visions were connected then the name might point them towards a clue.

Li Yang nodded his head after receiving the answer, taking in the name for a second. He then closed his hand around the crystal and clenched it tightly, exerting all his force on it. And the gem turned out to be surprisingly brittle, or perhaps it was only so in his hands, but it fell apart into tiny fragments that fell through the gap between his fingers. Not just Mei Kongxu started at this, even the green figure jumped, but Li Yang cut it off before it could even finish talking.

"You?! Exalted Paragon, I don't und..."

"I'm not your exalted paragon, nor am I the Pristine Tyrant or Fang Dao Jun. I am Li Yang, the one and only. And that is who I will remain. Thank you for telling me about the source of my visions, but you can keep the memories, I'm not interested in anything that such a boring person left behind."

Li Yang wasn't someone great, not yet at least. Right now he was just little old Li Yang, and that was just fine with him. He was who he was, the man who laughed at the boring seriousness of the world, unique and unmatched, that was all he was. The green figure bent over to look at the shattered fragments, but Li Yang didn't even glance at them a second time and instead turned his gaze onto Mei Kongxu.

"You interested in continuing to search around here, or are you ready to leave?"

She had reacted rather violently when they approached this city, but they still didn't know if it was because something here was tied to her or if it was because of the connection Li Yang's past lives may have had with the source of her visions. She was still in shock over Li Yang simply discarding the memories like that, but she still managed to gather her thoughts relatively quickly.

"...No, I'm ready to leave, it already started to settle down after he appeared."

Her meaning was clear, since her state started to settle down the moment the green figure appeared, her reaction to this place was most likely due to her relation with Li Yang's past lives. Li Yang simply nodded his head and turned around, walking away without even looking back at the green figure, which was desperately trying to put the crystal back together.

Mei Kongxu looked at Li Yang's face from the side, she just so happened to be very close to him thanks to the way he was carrying her right now. And she was clearly still extremely shocked at his actions, to the point that she even forgot to squirm in an attempt to slip out of his grasp.

"You really aren't interested in reclaiming those memories? I don't think he was lying when he said you could return to the Pristine Tyrant's peak in an extremely short time."

She honestly couldn't understand it, if Li Yang's intention was to laugh at all of existence, why would he not accept the memories to quickly ascend to a higher realm? It was perfectly in line with his goals, or so she thought. But Li Yang simply looked at her somewhat questioningly, raising an eyebrow.

"Tell me, what do you think makes a person, what creates their path?"

It was a rather philosophical question, one Mei Kongxu's thoughts were too jumbled and confused to properly think over at the moment. Li Yang also realized this, so he didn't keep her hanging for long before he gave the answer, or at least what he considered to be the answer.

"Memories and experiences, those are what I think make up a person and the path they walk. You become who you are based on the memories you have and the experiences you've gone through, and all that forms the path you use to traverse life."

There were countless answers to this question, countless paths that could be walked down. But this was his, it was the answer he had come up with on his own and the answer he would entrust his heart to. But since there were so many different answers, it was only to be expected that not everyone would understand each answer.

"I'm not following."

Mei Kongxu really didn't. And it wasn't just that she didn't understand why he was speaking about this now, she was still not able to wrap her head around him rejecting those memories. After all, she had been striving to find the truth behind her visions practically from the moment she was born, she burned to know the truth.

But in that single-minded search and thought-process, she forgot to consider one important fact. Li Yang had found the answer already, it didn't matter whether or not he accepted the memories, he had found the answer, the source. But that was something she wouldn't understand until her thoughts settled down somewhat, and Li Yang didn't explain it either and instead spoke about why he didn't accept the memories.

"If I had accepted those memories, sure I would have gotten my hands on a bunch of techniques and new laws, and I probably would have managed to return to the peak that the Pristine Tyrant reached. But would that have been me? All those memories, all those experiences that aren't mine, would I still be me after I took in all those, or would I just be Fang Dao Jun?"

If your memories and experiences paved your path, would Li Yang still be Li Yang if most of the memories he held belonged to Fang Dao Jun? He judged that he wouldn't, the mere existence of those memories and skills would turn him into Fang Dao Jun, he would just be a continuation of that boring existence. And that wasn't good enough for him.

"I am Li Yang, not Fang Dao Jun, that is how I'll live and how I'll die. It will be my own two feet that bring me to the peak, it will be my own abilities that pave the path for me. Any peak reached with some expert's memories and laws is worthless. In the end, it is I, not Fang Dao Jun who will stand and laugh at all creation."

The peak would only be worth it when he walked there himself, it would only be worth it if it was he who laughed at all existence. And that path was one he would pave with his own skills and techniques, that was his conviction and belief, it was the all-encompassing arrogance he would take with him all the way to the seat of god, and beyond.

He entered the forest with questions and curiosity, but he left it with answers and conviction, a mind and heart free of all shackles. Next, he would take that freedom to what he guessed was the burial ground of the Pristine Tyrant, there might be some clues to Mei Kongxu's visions there. And hopefully, the answer she came to when she found the truth would be one that wouldn't bore him.