The sun had barely risen over the jagged silhouette of the Sky-Breaking Mountains, casting faint golden rays upon a valley wrapped in ancient mist. Dew shimmered on terraces carved into the hillside like a giant's staircase. The wind carried a fresh, earthy scent as bamboo wind chimes whispered in quiet harmony.
In the secluded folds of this world lay a peaceful village known as Green Mist—hidden from empires, unclaimed by sects, untouched by war.
There, in the heart of a rice field heavy with morning breath, a young man worked barefoot in the mud. His worn straw hat cast a lazy shadow over his sun-bronzed skin, and his hands moved with the kind of rhythm only time and repetition could teach.
He was called Li Yuan—a name whispered with warmth by elders and teased with affection by children.
To the world, he was a simple farmer.
But to the universe… he was once known by a name that could fracture space and end reality itself.
---
A World of Cultivation
This was the Azure Fracture Realm, one of the many realms floating in the river of the multiverse. Here, life was not measured in time, but in power. Mortals sought to defy fate through the sacred path of cultivation—honing body, mind, and spirit to ascend beyond humanity, even beyond death.
Sects ruled the mountains. Cultivators flew on swords, tamed spirit beasts, and cast divine flames with a flick of their fingers. The strong became immortal, the weak were trampled.
And beyond even that, there were whispers—of those who surpassed gods, who challenged the Multiversal Law itself… but those were myths, buried under aeons of silence.
The known cultivation levels were:
1. Mortal Body Stage – Physical refinement.
2. Qi Gathering – Harnessing ambient energy.
3. Foundation Establishment – Laying the path to eternity.
4. Core Formation – Cultivating an inner core of spiritual energy.
5. Nascent Soul – The spirit leaves the body, gaining astral presence.
6. Spirit Ascension – Moving beyond the earthly realm.
7. Void Merging – Unity with cosmic laws.
8. Heaven Seizing – Challenging fate itself.
Above that? Nothing was known. Nothing was spoken. Those who dared to climb higher vanished… or became something else.
---
Green Mist Village
Tucked away in a forest-cradled valley on the outer edge of the Azure Fracture Realm, Green Mist Village was a world unto itself. It had no guards, no cultivators, no sects claiming dominion over it. Travelers said the land was "cursed," while villagers believed it was "blessed."
The soil here was unnaturally rich. A single stalk of rice fed a family for days. Crops grew faster. Illness was rare. Time itself felt slower. Children born here cried less. The wind never howled in anger.
> "The heavens watch this place," old men would say.
But the village elder, Granny Xue, often muttered while feeding birds:
> "No child… the heavens avoid this place."
---
Li Yuan
Li Yuan had lived here all his life. Or at least, he believed so.
He had no memory of parents, but the villagers said he was brought here as a baby during the Red Moon Year—a year when the sky had burned crimson and an earthquake swallowed half a mountain.
He was raised by Granny Xue, taught to till, to plant, to live simply. He had never held a sword. Never trained in qi. Never meditated under a waterfall or hunted a beast in the wild.
Yet strange things happened near him.
Once, a blight struck the valley, turning crops black—except for his fields.
A child who tripped off a cliff landed safely on a strange cloud... that vanished when Li Yuan blinked.
Bandits once entered the village. They reached his field... and turned around without explanation.
He never questioned it. Perhaps, deep down, he didn't want to.
He just wanted to farm.
Until today.
---
The System Awakens
As the morning sun scattered golden flecks across the flooded paddies, Li Yuan stood mid-strike, hoe raised, about to dig a row for a new batch of Spirit Rice—a sacred plant known to enhance cultivation.
He never questioned why such a rare seed could grow in his field. He simply planted it.
But as his hoe struck the soil—
> [DING!]
He froze.
The sound came not from around him, but inside him—like a bell struck deep within his bones.
A glowing panel appeared before his eyes, transparent but pulsing with living light.
---
> [Heavenly Farming System Initialized]
[User Identity Confirmed – Soul Fragment Match: 99.9998%]
[Initializing Path of Reclamation…]
[Daily Quest: Plant 10 Spirit Rice Seeds]
[Reward: Spiritual Root Awakening – Level 1]
> [Warning: Forbidden Soul Signature Detected]
[Codename: Xiao Tianmie]
[Classification: Multiversal-Level Threat]
[Initiating Suppression Protocol. Do NOT speak the name.]
---
Li Yuan fell to one knee, clutching his chest as if the words had weight.
> "Xiao... Tianmie?" he whispered.
The sky trembled slightly. A cloud dissolved unnaturally fast. The nearby wind chime cracked.
Then, the screen dimmed.
---
The Forgotten Name: Xiao Tianmie
Long before Li Yuan, before Green Mist, before even the Heavenly Crown Sect's founding... there was Xiao Tianmie.
A name that the world had purged.
A name that was not meant to be remembered, for remembering it threatened the very fabric of existence.
He had ended wars between gods. He had killed beings whose existence spanned galaxies. He had burned heaven's libraries, slayed time dragons, and cracked the edge of fate.
His final act had been to seal his name, soul, and memories—reincarnating into pure mortality.
That act should have buried him forever.
But the system had endured.
And now... it had awakened.
---
Across the Realms
In distant temples, old bells rang for no reason.
In the Heavenly Crown Sect, a celestial seer fell to her knees, trembling.
In the Voidhowl Tribes, the stars blinked out one by one—only to return.
And far in the west, an ancient sealed tomb cracked open slightly, whispering:
> "The Sky-Ender… walks again."
---
Back in Green Mist
Li Yuan sat in the middle of his rice field, holding his wooden hoe like it was the only real thing in the world.
The panel shimmered one more time.
---
> [Quest Active: Plant 10 Spirit Rice Seeds]
[System Guidance: Nurture life, and power shall awaken. Seek not war—yet be ready when it comes.]
He looked down at the seed in his hand.
> "A system... a hidden name... and a past I don't understand."
He planted the first seed.
> "I'm just a farmer."
But somewhere, deep beneath his feet, the earth itself stirred.
> "Aren't I?"