557: Chapter 492: The Evolution of the Kinship, the First Manifestation of the Chinese Human Race

When Lin Zhou walked down from the Wall of Heroes, a layer of fine, shimmering dust had settled on the stone steps at the base of the city wall.

It was not dust, but embers from the river of civilization.

He crouched down, pinched a small amount of the shimmering dust with his fingertips, and watched it linger on his fingertips for about three seconds before slowly dissipating.

As he walked out of the gate of the Iron Wall Fortress, Su Yueyao was standing on the steps outside the gate waiting for him. The moonlight had dispersed, leaving only a faint, silvery-white luster shimmering on the hem of her skirt.

She turned and glanced at him.

"Something happened at the school. It's not a bad thing, it's a good thing. You'd better go and see for yourself."

On the threshold of the Jixia Academy, the Literary Heart Elves were lining up.

Previously, their posture had been loose, but now they were as quiet as a row of saplings, their gazes fixed in the same direction—inside the threshold, an elderly elf was slowly sitting down, supporting himself against the doorframe.

His name was Elder Qing Ye, and he was the oldest among the Literary Heart Elves.

Three days ago, his hair had been dark green, but now it had completely turned black.

Not just black, but that kind of glossy black, like mountain stones that had just been drenched in rain.

Elder Qing Ye extended his hand, his palm glowing with a faint golden hue.

He clenched his fist, then released it, repeating the motion several times before saying, "I can feel my Bloodline flowing. Before, it was only Spiritual Qi moving through my Meridians, but now..."

He looked at his own palm, where golden veins were spreading beneath the skin, "Now, it is my blood that is moving."

The Tiangong Dwarves stopped their hammers at almost the same time.

The piece of metal on the Anvil was still warm, but no one continued to strike it.

The dwarf standing at the very front put down his hammer, extended his right hand, and looked at his fingers.

Originally, his knuckles were thick and short, with metal shavings permanently embedded under his fingernails.

Those shavings were still there, but his fingers were becoming longer and more agile.

He repeatedly clenched and opened his fist, as if confirming whether these hands still belonged to him.

"I'll have to whittle my hammer handle again."

His voice was muffled compared to usual, but no one responded.

All the dwarves were looking down at their hands; their stature was growing taller, and their facial features were narrowing.

The originally sharp, rugged lines were softening and elongating, revealing a skeletal structure closer to that of the Human Race.

The changes among the Law Fishmen were quieter.

They did not make any sound, merely stopping before the stone steps leading to the Law Enforcement Hall; fish scales were falling from their necks, not in whole pieces, but slowly fading away like water vapor evaporating from the surface of a lake.

The first fishman to complete the transformation raised his hand and touched his newborn skin.

He opened his mouth and uttered a syllable; it was no longer a mix of guttural sounds and bubbles, but a clear, inflected "Ah."

He stood there, stunned, and tried again: "Ah..."

From the distance came the fragmented sounds of other fishmen testing their voices, like a group of people who had not spoken for a long time practicing how to talk.

All these changes happened on the same day.

The three vassal races were simultaneously converging from their original forms toward the same direction, not catalyzed by external forces, but growing spontaneously from within.

Lin Zhou stood on the stone steps in front of the Jixia Academy, watching those faces gradually become both familiar and strange.

The pointed ears of the Literary Heart Elves were shortening, the stature of the Tiangong Dwarves was rising, and the scales of the Law Fishmen were fading away.

They were drawing closer to the same form—not a degradation, not a convergence, but a deep-seated Bloodline memory being awakened.

He himself did not know what it was; he just stood in the distance, watching quietly, as if watching a wilderness turning green again.

The oldest Literary Heart Elf, Elder Qing Ye, turned his head to look at Lin Zhou outside the door, his voice carrying a very slight tremor: "Legion Commander, we are 'becoming' humans."

Lin Zhou did not deny it.

"Your Bloodline was originally branched off from the Huaxia Human Race. Now, it is simply returning."

Elder Qing Ye did not ask any further. He lowered his head, looking at the golden veins in his palm.

Those veins were slowly spreading, extending from his palm to his fingertips, then turning back from the fingertips to merge into his wrist pulses.

He sat back down quietly on the threshold, waiting with the others for the process to end.

Seven days later, the Evolution was complete.

The original three vassal races now remained as only one ethnic group.

They walked out of the school and workshop one after another, standing on the plaza below the Wall of Heroes.

They were similar in stature and face, though traces of their original forms still remained in their gestures—some walked with the lightness of elves, some retained the solidity of dwarves when standing still, and some still had the watery sound of fishmen in the tail of their speech.

But those traces were fading day by day.

[First Generation Huaxia Human Race · Data]

- Origin: Fusion of Literary Heart Elves, Tiangong Dwarves, and Law Fishmen Bloodline

- Form: Humanoid, height 1.6 - 1.9 meters

- Average Potential Rating: S+

- Average Rank: LV60

- Trait 1: Hundred Schools of Thought Affinity + 500% (Innate understanding and affinity for the Hundred Schools of Thought)

- Trait 2: Learning Speed + 500% (Any skill, knowledge, or craft)

- Trait 3: Significantly increased probability of self-created skills

- Trait 4: Bloodline Memory (Fragments of subconscious memory from the Old Universe era)

Wang Meng stood on the city wall, watching the people on the plaza as they talked and confirmed the changes in their bodies.

After a long while, he said, "They look like humans now, but they are not entirely ordinary people."

"Because they still carry the habits of their original tribes."

Lin Zhou did not look away.

"In a few more generations, those habits will slowly fade away, becoming personality traits rather than physiological characteristics."

Wang Meng was silent for a moment.

"Then, will they remember in the future that they changed from elves, dwarves, and fishmen?"

"They will remember. Bloodline memory will retain a portion of subconscious memory. They might not actively recall that they once had scales or pointed ears, but at certain specific moments—such as seeing water, touching Ore, or reading text about forests—a vague thought might flash through their minds."

"But that is not necessarily nostalgia; it is more like... remembering where they came from."

Lin Zhou walked down from the city wall and crossed the plaza.

Upon seeing Lin Zhou, the Huaxia Human Race members who had just completed their Evolution stepped aside, clearing a path.

It was not out of fear, but a subconscious respect.

He walked to the front of the Jixia Academy, where that stone was still in its original place.

It had grown a second leaf; the leaf was wider than the first, and its veins were golden, the same color as the water of the river of civilization.

Su Yueyao walked over from the direction of the Wall of Heroes and stood beside the stone, the moonlight gently brushing over the leaves.

"It is growing."

Lin Zhou did not speak; he simply crouched down and reached out to touch the new leaf.

The texture of the leaf was smooth and warm, as if it had just been baked by the sun.

The wind blew from the direction of the gate, causing the new leaf to sway gently before settling down again.

Lin Zhou stood up and looked back at the crowd walking on the plaza.

They were still adapting to their new bodies; some walked unsteadily, while others repeatedly examined their palms.

Their transformation had only just begun, and the road ahead was still long.