Humankind Cultivation Origin

Duan Feng stood at the edge of the village, his gaze cold and impassive. The anxious murmurs of the villagers behind him barely registered in his mind.

Even if Orchid Hill Village was destroyed, it had nothing to do with him. With a final glance at the fearful villagers, Duan Feng turned away, stepping into the fading light. The breeze carried with it a faint, almost imperceptible pulse—like a heartbeat, steady and familiar.


For a moment, he hesitated, a strange sensation washing over him. But just as quickly, he dismissed it and strode forward, vanishing into the dusk.


.....



Shangguan Mingyue sat on the edge of the crumbling well, her gaze fixed on the horizon where the sun dipped low, painting the sky in hues of orange and crimson. The villagers of Orchid Hill Village had long grown accustomed to her solitary presence.


To them, she was the quiet, enigmatic girl who often stared into the distance, lost in thoughts no one could decipher. Some called her strange, others whispered that she was touched by spirits. But Shangguan Mingyue paid no heed to their murmurs.


Her mind was elsewhere, tangled in memories that were not entirely her own. She had been reborn into this world, her soul carrying fragments of a past life she could not fully comprehend.


Shangguan Mingyue was not like the other children in the village. She had awakened her previous memories when she was just ten years old, a flood of images, emotions, and faces that felt both familiar and foreign.


Among those memories was one face that stood out—a man with kind eyes and a gentle smile. ''Duan Feng''.

Her husband in her past life. The man who had loved her deeply, who had stayed by her side even when she could no longer move or speak.


The man who had given her a white bead, a token of their bond. Shangguan Mingyue’s hand instinctively moved to her chest, where the white bead lay hidden beneath her clothes.

It was no ordinary bead. The bead was embedded within her, a part of her very being. She could feel it, warm and pulsating, as if it had a life of its own.

It rotated slowly, almost imperceptibly, as though absorbing something from the world around her. She had tried countless times to understand its purpose, but it remained a mystery.

The bead did not harm her; in fact, she always felt a strange energy coursing through her, a vitality that kept her going even in the darkest of times.

This bead also allowed her to look inside her body, granting her an awareness that others could never comprehend.

She also remembered another bead—one that belonged to her husband in her past life. Unlike hers, his bead was black in color. The memory of it lingered in her mind, a quiet reminder that these were no ordinary beads. They held a significance she had yet to unravel, a connection that transcended time itself.

She had come to Orchid Hill Village two years ago, a survivor of the Black Stone Village massacre. Her village, once a peaceful haven, had been destroyed by the same monstrous beasts that now roamed the wilderness. Her parents had died protecting her, their final act of love etched into her memory.


She had fled with a handful of other survivors, eventually finding refuge in Orchid Hill Village. But even here, safety was an illusion. The beasts were growing bolder, their attacks more frequent. The villagers lived in constant fear, their lives hanging by a thread.


As the sun disappeared below the horizon, Shangguan Mingyue rose to her feet. Tonight, there was to be a village meeting—an open gathering where anyone could attend. Normally, she avoided such gatherings, preferring to remain in the background. But something told her that tonight was different. She had to be there.

As she reached the meeting, there were 30 to 40 people present, some sitting and others standing on the ground. Elder Wang was also there, seated on a chair, his expression solemn. The gathering was mostly composed of men, with only a few women among them.

Amid the crowd, a middle-aged woman called out to her, "Mingyue, come here."

She nodded and made her way over.