Chapter 595: Human Evolution History

Xu Zhi paused repeatedly, casting a wide net across many radiation-restricted zones. He performed a second version update for this world, including data balancing and adjustments. He enabled certain special creatures to inherit legacies, providing them with fragmented memories, making them believe they were ancient beings reviving, having lost all their cultivation, and thus beginning to practice anew.

"I have awakened from ancient times!"

"In this era, my cultivation has fallen so low. How long have I been asleep in the divine source?"

After completing these tasks, he felt much more relaxed. His busy period had come to an end; now, he could let things develop naturally and await the flourishing of his grand era. He was naturally a rather laid-back person.

"This way, it's perfect."

Xu Zhi also added the radioactive waste he had collected from the power plant in the restricted zones over the past few days, making the radiation levels more concentrated.

"Allowing the Six Paths to embark on the cultivation path, and also enabling cultivation in the restricted zones... double the cultivation, double the joy. The entire world, under my guidance, is exploring its path, contending with each other, slowly progressing, and re-establishing the glory of the ancient myths of 'old times'."

"Let them fight first; progress only comes with competition."

Xu Zhi was quite fond of this radiation system.

A moment later, Xu Zhi walked out of the restricted zone. He had spent over ten years on this grand design, and now the era felt somewhat different. The Daoist cultivation lineage was flourishing, with the sky filled with Qi cultivators draped in Daoist robes.

Within a sect, a Daoist sat in his dojo, his long hair fluttering casually, radiating ease and contentment, handsome and refined, lecturing from a high platform.

"Cultivators of the Dao cultivate the two energies of Yin and Yang. Taking it a step further, there is a third energy, which is 'One Qi transforming into Three Pure Ones'."

"Furthermore, there is another theory regarding Yin and Yang."

"Yin and Yang are the Two Poles; the Two Poles generate the Four Symbols; the Four Symbols generate the Eight Trigrams... the Bagua diagram." The Daoist gently extended his hand, and a hazy, primordial black and white Yin-Yang fish appeared in mid-air, mysterious and profound.

"Further subdivided, there are sixty-four hexagrams, such as Qian, Kun, Xun, Dui, Gen, corresponding to the abbreviated symbols H, He, Li, Be, B..."

As the Daoist spoke, he slowly drew out a periodic table of elements. Everyone below bowed in reverence.

"The chemistry of the world is all contained within this," someone exclaimed.

Xu Zhi's expression subtly changed; he felt the style was off, but then thought nothing of it. They weren't purely dabbling in chemistry; they used Qi as a vehicle for energy, much like most other systems chose blood as an energy carrier. As for which gases they chose – hydrogen, helium, oxygen – that wasn't particularly important.

"These so-called symbols are merely tadpole-like script... We don't understand the symbols of ancient Daoists or oracle bone script. In a sense, this feels very archaic andud and profound."

They had begun to forge their own path, and upon closer inspection, it truly fit this Xianxia world, China, and its nature as an online game world.

However, Xu Zhi noticed that fewer and fewer people possessed talent. One might not find even one in a hundred. This wasn't a decrease in talent, but rather that with population growth, the number of ordinary people had increased. Many who cultivated Buddhism and Daoism were ordinary, yet talent still provided them with a significant advantage.

"Perhaps in the future, most talented individuals will be Celestials, gradually ascending..." Xu Zhi tapped his chopsticks, listening to his surroundings. Some ancient entities in the dark restricted zones had awakened prematurely and been detected, causing widespread turmoil. Some powerful beings who had been in secluded cultivation also began to emerge.

Many powerful figures appeared in both the Daoist and Buddhist sects. Among the Daoists, the reincarnated Black and White Impermanence had achieved considerable success, becoming one of the leading figures in the Daoist sect. In the Buddhist sect, besides Xu Yingluo, several other Buddhist grandmasters also successively established Buddhist lands, bringing salvation to all beings.

"As for... a certain Li Sansheng?" Xu Zhi's expression grew strange.

Li Sansheng's Karma Fire talent was among the weakest, only slightly stronger than that of an ordinary person. Although his combat ability was poor, it was still extraordinary as he could remember past reincarnations. Yet, even with Zhang Xiao's help, in this life, relying on combat instincts, he only reached a mid-tier level. He couldn't even keep up with the beginning of this flourishing era, having just died of old age.

"He'll have to wait for his next life."

Xu Zhi stood up, paid, and then vanished from his spot. He planned to visit the Celestial Path, because in the past ten years, Shangguan Man had also reincarnated and secretly visited the Celestial Path. This was because an era of chaos was approaching on the Celestial Path.

The Celestial Path.

A terrifying piece of news arrived. Emperor Yun, Lord of the Clouds, and other Celestial Emperors, after cultivating the new Buddhist and Daoist system, saw their strength greatly increase, soaring to mysterious realms. However, they could not resist the erosion of time and began to decay. Unwilling to die and reincarnate in the Underworld, they studied the divine source amber and devised a method of self-sealing slumber. They utilized a specific frequency of benign Buddhist radiation to significantly reduce bodily decay and aging, thereby achieving a state of self-induced dormancy.

The streets were orderly. Palace maids in goose-yellow long dresses, rosy-cheeked maidens, approached carrying palace lanterns. The slumber ceremony was about to begin.

The two game IDs, Xuebaixue and Baixiaojun, were quite fitting. They were currently muttering in a magnificent street palace complex.

Xuebaixue whispered, "Did you check online just now?"

"Huh?" Baixiaojun hadn't reacted yet. They had been sent to the Celestial Path to attend this ceremony, as their seven children already held some power there.

Xuebaixue chuckled, "It's quite lively online now. As expected, the emergence of the Four Spiritual Monkeys proves the truth of our human evolutionary history!"

Baixiaojun: "???"

What does the emergence of the Four Spiritual Monkeys have to do with our human evolutionary history? That's completely irrelevant!

Xuebaixue looked around and carefully whispered, "You're young! There are already experts online who have analyzed this. According to the inherited memories obtained by the Six-Eared Macaque, it originates from the Human Ancestor of two eras ago — Emperor Tianming."

Baixiaojun nodded. This was already a well-known worldview. The previous era was Jue Wushen's. Two eras ago was Emperor Tianming's. Now, it's unknown how many eras the Immortal Path has been broken, but it feels like at least three or four. The very beginning was the Chaotic Ancient Era, when the Immortal Path was first severed.

Xuebaixue coughed twice. "Who is Emperor Tianming? He's the Human Ancestor of the ancient ape tribe in the contemporary Six Paths of Reincarnation. Current humans are no longer those of the primeval era; it's highly probable that all people from that period went extinct. Modern humans evolved from the ancient ape tribe of two eras ago, specifically the branch that Emperor Tianming led and developed. In the memories obtained, these ancient apes had Four Spiritual Monkeys. What is Journey to the West? It also talks about these Four Spiritual Monkeys. If you connect the dots, it's estimated that Emperor Tianming's prehistoric ape era, two epochs ago, precisely corresponds to the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty when Journey to the West originated on our Earth. And according to analyses by experts on Zhihu, Journey to the West happens to be about Emperor Tianming's ancient ape era. The evolution of monkeys into humans is actually the origin of human evolutionary history, our China's Darwinian theory of evolution!"

*Gasp*

Baixiaojun gasped sharply. Journey to the West, seemingly about the eighty-one trials, is actually about the origin of human evolution? An origin from two eras ago? This is the truth hidden by ancient people in history, which we are only now realizing.

"No way, Journey to the West..." Baixiaojun was somewhat disbelieving.

Xuebaixue said, "How did people in Emperor Tianming's era gradually become human from the ape tribe? Through cultivation! And what did they cultivate? Radiation! Radiation caused hair loss, and radiation led to mutation and evolution, only then did they become human."

Baixiaojun's eyes widened in surprise, and he put down his teacup. "What? So, the early ancient 'programmer apes' studied hard, went bald, and only then evolved into humans?" He suddenly recalled those previous words about Buddhism.

Hair absorbs our brain's nutrition! Hair causes our brain development to atrophy!

No wonder the biggest difference between monkeys and humans lies in their fur. So, people in this era of Six Paths of Reincarnation evolved from ancient apes through mutations from ancient nuclear wars. But of course, they must have also suffered from the torment of these radiation-restricted zones back then. He had indeed seen some mutated apes from the radiation-restricted zones that were severely bald, had albinism all over their bodies, and not a single strand of hair.

Xuebaixue nodded, "So what does Journey to the West talk about? A monkey enduring hardships, eighty-one trials over eighty years, and obtaining Mahayana Buddhism. It very likely represents the arduous process of evolving into a human! This is evolution theory! It was pointed out long ago; our Great China was centuries ahead of Darwin!"

Baixiaojun also fell silent for a moment, sighing with understanding, "So that's how it is." There are indeed many experts online, able to analyze things to such a depth. And there's no doubt, because it matches perfectly. The timeline... radiation in restricted zones causing hair loss... both sides having the Four Spiritual Monkeys... Emperor Tianming also led apes to evolve into humans. Journey to the West might truly correspond to Emperor Tianming's ape era.

Xu Zhi sat at a nearby tea table, sipping his tea, and fell silent for a moment.

"Cough, cough, cough. The internet is in a frenzy, with some even digging into other similar historical accounts... But all this is just game lore," Xuebaixue chuckled, dismissing it. "After all, this is the human evolutionary history within the game's Six Paths of Reincarnation, involving nuclear radiation and Buddhist cultivation for evolution... Our even more ancient Earth humans probably didn't have this 'treatment'."

After speaking, he changed the subject. "By the way, the rulers have gone into slumber. Why were the two of us called up here?"

"Who knows? We'd go anywhere anyway, wouldn't we? Probably just to observe the ceremony."

Xuebaixue rested his chin in his hand. "Emperor Yun and Lord of the Clouds, those two monsters, have also cultivated both Buddhism and Daoism. They are unfathomable, possibly truly half-step Saints, perhaps even comparable to Dao Changsheng and Emperor Qi of yesteryear, who could easily overpower a dozen peers."

"Who knows? But their talents were originally such that they could crush a dozen peers. Especially Emperor Yun, with his area-of-effect passive 'kneel' ability, who could withstand him? With such heaven-defying talent combined with Buddhist and Daoist cultivation, they might truly be comparable."

"Hmph, so what if they're strong? They're about to be sealed in the divine source. It's said they paid a heavy price to be frozen inside and won't easily revive later. The Celestial Path is about to descend into chaos... Fentian and Fengtian will probably rebel against Yun Tian."

"Indeed. For Yun Tian Sacred Land, Emperor Yun and Lord of the Clouds can only serve as their ultimate trump cards. If they bring out these Saints, they might not have enough reserves to re-seal them into the divine source later. They might just die of old age, which would be quite amusing."

Xu Zhi listened quietly. The Celestial Path was indeed on the verge of great change. Although Zhang Xiao had reincarnated on the Celestial Path, he was in the Fentian region. Even if he didn't remember his past life, he might not continue to pledge allegiance to Yun Tian.

"Fairy Man is here!"

"Fairy Man is here to sell delicacies!"

"Truly delicious food."

"Wearing a veil, concealing her devastating beauty."

Suddenly, a gasp erupted from below the teahouse. From the crowd emerged a charming and stunning woman, wearing a white veil that revealed half of her cold and flawless delicate face. Her figure was perfectly curvaceous, and her jade-white, slender, and rounded legs were like the finest, most pristine porcelain.

Xu Zhi's gaze swept over. Shangguan Man had also reincarnated. She was now seventeen or eighteen years old, a renowned Celestial Xi Shi of cuisine, famous far and wide. A bowl of her "soul-bewitching soup" would leave men utterly disoriented. Despite being a famous beauty, she was always self-conscious, possessing a unique aesthetic view that made her believe she was incredibly ugly, too hideous to be seen, and thus always wore a veil over her face.