The Elves' Transformation

Zhou Jun slowly opened his eyes, a trace of complicated emotion flashing through them. "Only when the origin of a race is recorded can it be considered the beginning of civilization?"

"Then what does writing represent?" Zhou Jun analyzed it bit by bit. "Writing is the inheritance of knowledge—but before writing appeared? Oral transmission, murals... In the end, writing is merely another vessel for knowledge!"

"I've heard the legend of Cangjie creating writing, but why are there no legends about murals? Think of the five thousand years of China in my previous life—murals occupied such a vivid place, and were even more important than writing."

Zhou Jun reached out and touched the patterns on the Civilization Stone Tablet, as though feeling the evolution of civilization and the mighty force of time. These were the traces the elves had left behind through the ages. Even if those of later generations could no longer see this era, they could still sense their existence through these patterns.

They could also understand their era through such a mural. A mural could be one person's lifetime, or the lifetime of an age. An unfathomable look filled Zhou Jun's eyes. He withdrew his hand and stood there for a long time before slowly leaving.

"Words can never fully portray the eras within history. Only images can allow people, ten thousand years later, to still witness a scene as if it were right before their eyes. History is like a painting—nothing more than that."

Di Kun walked out of Wuyi Mountain and stood atop its peak, looking toward Mount Zhou. "The weight of history alone is enough to suppress the world, yet it lacks a vessel. If the history of the Primordial Land's origins were depicted, what sort of scene would that be? It truly fills one with longing!"

Mana surged around Zhou Jun as he recreated a video he had seen in his previous life showing the evolution of writing. He studied every moment with incomparable care. Time silently slipped past him, yet failed to draw his notice.

Once civilization had a beginning and history had something to bear it, elven society began to change as well. Their development accelerated, their thoughts became rich and colorful, and their eyes gained a touch of spirit. They suddenly seemed filled with curiosity about the world. More and more beings, such as elves and Dwarves, left the places where they lived.

Zhou Jun's avatar remained hidden in the shadows, quietly watching their development. He no longer carved stone slabs. Once civilization had appeared, they gave the slabs to the elves in their settlements. Zhou Jun no longer needed to intervene in the carving of later slabs.

After leaving their birthplace, some elves explored alone while others traveled in groups. Whenever they encountered something, they would take out leaves and carve upon them. They had gradually discovered this method themselves; after all, leaves were easy to carry, and they could be found everywhere across the Primordial Land.

At times, they encountered other beings as well. Those filled with malice fought them. Though their kindness and innocence caused them to lose many companions at first, the elves had essentially been isolated from the world ever since their birth.

Although they had been allowed to develop in the Primordial Land, they had never come into contact with true Primordial World Beings. Yet through these events, they also came to understand the cruelty of the Primordial World.

As they explored the Primordial Land, news of them spread. After all, they were inherently different from Primordial World Beings. They somewhat resembled innate Dao bodies, yet were not quite the same. Like Primordial World Beings, they also needed to transform. Aside from Tree Folk, tree spirits, and Stone People, most others preferred quietness and had never considered transforming, continuing to move about in their original forms.

Some races wanted to capture them for study or enslavement. In the eyes of Primordial World Beings, the elves could plant crops, harvest fruit, and craft items and weapons—all of which brought benefits. Greed was unavoidable.

Other races loved peace and chose to communicate and trade with the Elf race. Some weaker races even begged for the elves' protection.

Throughout this process, the elves' development and transformation improved enormously. Because of war, the elves' combat capabilities and weapons advanced. Because of exchange, they came to know a far broader world.

These changes caused the elves to stop blindly offering kindness to everyone. They gradually became steadfast and brave, and came to realize the importance of strength.

Thus, some elves and Dwarves began to worship strength. Through communication and exchange, they created offensive spells and divine abilities. It could be said that they had embarked on the path Zhou Jun had hoped for—the development of a branch of the Earthly Dao.

Zhou Jun's Earthly Dao was too vast, encompassing all things. Thus, Zhou Jun merely maintained a balance, developing every aspect to some extent, while its primary purpose remained connecting the entire earth.

Zhou Jun had not shared this with others, because he needed the earth to bear his Earthly Dao and allow his Great Dao to develop more quickly. The cultivators below could develop the other directions.

Who knew how long had passed before Zhou Jun awoke from the evolution of writing and received the information concerning the elves from this period. After sorting through all of it, a flash of understanding passed through his eyes.

"The development of civilization cannot be achieved by shutting oneself behind closed doors. That was my oversight. Otherwise, they might have developed even faster. I had forgotten the century of humiliation—China in my previous life stood at the pinnacle of the world not only through its own development, but also because of external threats."

"Conflict is also a necessary process. Thinking about it this way, the Dragon-Phoenix-Kirin were able to contend for supremacy in the Primordial Land not because they were inherently powerful, but because they fought their way out from among countless races. Only then could they gain the recognition of the other races."

"The human race was able to occupy the position of protagonist of heaven and earth after the Witch-Demon era. Perhaps it was not merely because heaven and earth designated them as such, but also because they possessed the power to subdue all races." Zhou Jun's eyes shone brightly.

"To see the essence through the phenomena—the secrets behind the human race of the Primordial Land are likely far from small. Perhaps the Human Emperor was also able to contend against the Primordial Land's races alone because humanity's might overwhelmed heaven and earth, which was why the Saints set the Investiture of the Gods among humanity."

"To weaken humanity's strength and destroy the Human Emperor's inheritance—perhaps other human inheritances were involved as well. Cangjie creating writing was likely passed down because writing was simply too important."

"And murals bear history. Perhaps some things could only be carried through murals. The Investiture of the Gods Calamity's scheme against Tongtian was likely also a scheme against humanity. The earth shattered, and all the strong perished. Aside from the people of the Three Teachings who were invested as gods, not a single other inheritance remained."

"They likely wanted those inheritances to vanish. The shattering of the earth was probably meant to erase those murals and books containing inheritances. And whatever was not destroyed was likely buried during the reshaping of the Primordial Land, or used to repair it."

Although these were Zhou Jun's conjectures, his intuition told him they were eight or nine times out of ten correct. Though he did not know what the Saints feared, it was likely Hongjun who feared it. The Saints were merely chess pieces in his hand.

He hid behind the scenes and plotted for heaven and earth, while all the good reputation belonged to him. Truly, not a single rumor that could damage his image as the Ancestor of the Dao had ever appeared. Zhou Jun snorted softly, disbelief filling his eyes. No one was perfect. Aside from saying that he had fought Yang Mei once, Hongjun had never had anything happen that harmed his reputation or influence.

Even Yang Mei might have been something Hongjun deliberately invented. After all, no one had ever seen Yang Mei. By saying so, he proved that there was still a path forward in the Primordial Land, giving all beings something to hope for—a goal.