Human Race

Biodata

Power Progression

These milestones concern the documented ancestral settlement and its Pioneers, rather than every human settlement in the Ash Fog World.

Background / History

Collective Transmigration

The first arrivals from Earth include specialists in biology, geography, botany, medicine, and the military. A member of the leading group observes that the transmigrators possess unusually high-level professional skills, making their knowledge a potential means of survival 1.

The group later identifies itself as the Pioneers, suggesting that its purpose is to prepare for further arrivals. According to the Parchment, all Earth humanity will cross into the Ash Fog Universe within a millennium, after which Earth itself will merge into that universe. It states that returning to Earth is impossible 3 6.

The settlement’s official history dates its foundation to year one of the Human Calendar. Dozens of Pioneers initially arrive in a forest of purple othershore flowers, but an encounter with a Transcendent leaves only eleven survivors. Those survivors obtain the Human Race Clan Artifact in a Mysterious Palace and begin compiling works such as the Medical Canon, Curious Works, and Agricultural Book 36.

Early Cooperation with the Cat Clan

Humanity’s first contact with the Cat Clan occurs through Lin Shan’s encounter with Shashali. Yan Ruxin establishes communication by exchanging names and racial identities, later teaching visiting Cat Clan members the Huaxia Language 7 8 20 39.

The Cat Clan supplies food, livestock, and information about physiques, potion sequences, and future human arrivals. Its members describe the two races as allies, although Lin Shan warns against unquestioning trust and possible cultural influence 17 18 22.

While Lin Shan leads seven companions out to seek Transcendence, Jin Tianzong, Zhang Zhonghua, and Wu Wang’s early planning distinguishes those leaving from the three fallen-physique Pioneers who will remain to receive newcomers. Large-scale human arrivals subsequently begin under the leadership of the three who stay behind 17 18 36.

War with the Cat Clan

At the beginning of year two, the Cat Clan turns against humanity. The seven newly advanced Pioneers return and establish a defensive front at the border of the clan territory 36.

The conflict is not simply an attempt at extermination. Human leaders suspect that the Cat Clan is keeping the settlement alive to repeatedly harvest its clan fortune. The Cat Clan General’s orders confirm that human fortune is replenishing Cat Clan resources and that killing the Pioneers would damage these returns 37 38.

By year three, approximately 150,000 people have arrived in the ancestral territory, but fewer than 50,000 remain. Nearly 30,000 are serving at the front. Lin Shan returns, recognizes that humanity cannot yet win a direct war, and assassinates the Cat Clan General to create time for withdrawal 36 38.

Migration and Reconstruction

Lin Shan orders the settlement to relocate near the Purple Soul Flower Forest. Around 50,000 people depart on a sixty-kilometer journey, carrying the Clan Artifact so that its protective barrier moves with them 40 41.

Venomous insects, Fallen, anomalies, and a partially manifested Sequence 8 specter attack the procession. Lin Shan holds open an escape route through the specter’s darkness, but the migration ultimately costs more than 11,000 lives 42 43 46.

The survivors establish a new settlement beside a barrier-covered river near the forest. Jin Tianzong presents an urban development plan, and construction proceeds outward from the center. Over the next six months, continued arrivals bring the population close to 70,000 44 46.

Territory and Population

The main Clan Artifact marks the documented settlement as humanity’s ancestral territory. It does not encompass the entire race: human arrivals are scattered across the Ash Fog World, and the Pioneers are told that numerous human settlements will exist among other races 17 18 36.

• Original settlement: The Cat Clan territory lies less than ten kilometers to its south, although the Ash Fog makes such short distances difficult to traverse without guidance 38.
• Relocated settlement: Its center is approximately ten kilometers from the Purple Soul Flower Forest. The barrier reaches a hundred-meter-wide river that becomes its essential water source 44.
• Construction: The new town moves directly from temporary tents toward brick-and-tile housing, with planned broad streets and a three-story Clan Hall 46.
• Clan Hall: The rebuilt hall contains administrative offices, a third-floor library, the Clan Artifact, and rooms for valuables. Lin Shan receives accommodation beside the artifact’s room 46 47.

Government and Society

Seven-Department Co-Governance

The Human Race has no emperor. Major development decisions are made through a vote among seven departments, and the system remains subject to revision as the settlement grows 48.

• Agriculture Department
• Industry Department
• Commerce Department
• Revenue Department
• Military Department
• Police Department
• Education Department 48

Officials hold six ranks, in descending order:

1. Minister
2. Deputy minister
3. Division chief
4. Deputy division chief
5. Section chief
6. Deputy section chief 48

Registration and Wartime Authority

• Newcomers register their name, occupation, and special skills at the Clan Hall and receive instruction in the Human Calendar 35.
• Work is assigned according to skills and specialties; limited industry makes manual labor necessary throughout production 36.
• During the Cat Clan war, each arriving family must send one member to the front within two days as a condition for the others remaining in the rear 36.
• Wartime administrators threaten immediate execution for actions that undermine military morale 36.
• During the migration, authority remains concentrated in the Pioneers’ hands, supported by trusted Pseudo-Transcendent subordinates. Ordinary people have no effective means of resisting their power 42.

Production and Knowledge

• Staple crop: A flour-like food grows underground, resembles peanuts in its growth habit, is easy to cultivate, and yields one harvest per season 41.
• Mining: Iron ore production supplies equipment to the war front 35.
• Textiles: Cat Clan-developed Azure Silkworms provide silk. Ordinary individuals can spin a new cocoon monthly over a ten-year lifespan 21.
• Lighting: Yan Ruxin and Minister Jin develop a Spirit Energy Lamp 47.
• Imported knowledge: Lin Shan brings back Cat Clan technology and documents concerning spirituality and Ash Fog exploration 41 47.
• Local arrangements: The developing settlement uses grain barter, organized work assignments, and land taxation 48.

Abilities & Skills

Sequence-Based Transcendence

Human advancement follows the wider sequence system, in which Sequence 9 through Sequence 1 represent nine tiers of life. Pseudo-Transcendent beings exist below Sequence 9 15.

• Sequence potions grant abilities determined by their particular pathway 6 17.
• Advancement beyond Sequence 9 requires full digestion of the previous potion; the time required varies by individual 19.
• Successfully taking a sequence potion resets lifespan according to the ability obtained. Heart Light grants a two-hundred-year lifespan, representing the soul’s duration rather than guaranteed survival 15.

Life Physique

A life physique is identified by white-glowing pure spirituality. Its potion sequences use natural treasures as their principal ingredients 17.

• Supports varied spiritual powers, including offensive and support abilities 17.
• Heart Light can form weapons and practical tools; Lin Shan uses it in both combat and construction 14 22.
• Lin Shan enables seven fellow Pioneers to attain Transcendence by providing the necessary ingredients and preparation guidance 23 36.

Fallen Physique

A fallen physique is identified by gray-glowing pure spirituality. Its potion sequences use Fallen as their main ingredients 17.

• Grants transformation into Fallen and exceptionally powerful bodies 17.
• Primarily supports a warrior role rather than the varied spiritual roles available to life physiques 17.
• The three fallen-physique Pioneers initially remain in camp while the others pursue Transcendence because a suitable sequence has not yet been secured 17 18.

Exceptional Specter Physique

Lin Shan’s Specter Physique is bestowed by the Parchment and is not an ordinary human racial trait. It allows him to carry a second pathway alongside his life physique 6.

• He acquires Blood Wing in addition to Heart Light, gaining blood manipulation, flight, and spatial jumps of up to one thousand meters 34.
• His Specter Physique can survive the destruction of his flesh, but rebuilding his body consumes essence and may leave him unable to revive again until it recovers 33.
• Prolonged activity in that state risks loss of consciousness and transformation into an instinct-driven supernatural entity 33.

Clan Artifact and Important Items

Human Race Clan Artifact — Jade Tome

The Jade Tome is the main body of humanity’s Clan Artifact, not a projection. Its possession is the basis for the settlement’s ancestral status and a reason Shashali believes the Human Race will be difficult to wipe out 18 39.

• Protection: Disperses the Ash Fog within a golden barrier. The barrier moves with the artifact, which must remain at its center 18 44.
• Limit: It has no known offensive ability in the early settlement period 18.
• Guidance: A golden thread directs the seven newly advanced Pioneers back to the clan territory 50.
• Historical record: Displays Pioneer names and records major deeds when a name is touched. Lin Shan’s entry covers his Transcendence, assistance to other Pioneers, resistance to the Cat Clan, relocation, and acquisition of foreign knowledge 47.
• Public access: Opportunities to read it are offered as rewards to people striving to improve 47.
• Clan fortune: Its protection and the race’s fortune are central to territorial development; the Cat Clan exploits human fortune to replenish its own resources 38 44.

Other Significant Items

• Red Lantern — A Spectral Object described as friendly toward the Human Race unless its attack mechanism is triggered. Lin Shan uses it for Ash Fog visibility, combat, and protection during migration 11 41 44.
• Parchment — Exchanges information for Lin Shan’s lifespan and supplies potion formulas, ingredient locations, and navigation. Lin Shan suspects a connection to humanity’s Clan Artifact, but the precise relationship remains uncertain 6 19 33.
• Spirit Markers — Navigation aids used by human explorers in the Ash Fog 49.
• Foundational books — The Medical Canon, Curious Works, and Agricultural Book preserve knowledge compiled during the Pioneers’ early settlement period 36.

Relationships

• Lin Shan — Humanity’s first and strongest known Transcendent during the Cat Clan war. He enables seven further advancements, assassinates the enemy general, and leads the relocation, while leaving routine administration to the other Pioneers 37 38 41 44.
• Zhang Zhonghua — Pioneer and Minister Zhang; helps coordinate settlement affairs, prepares the migration, and entrusts the Clan Artifact to Lin Shan for the journey 40 41 48.
• Jin Tianzong — Pioneer, Minister Jin, and author of Curious Works. Contributes practical inventions, settlement planning, and the Spirit Energy Lamp 18 37 44 47.
• Yan Ruxin — Pioneer who establishes communication with the Cat Clan, cares for children in Lin Shan’s former home, and contributes to technological research 8 20 40 47.
• Zhao Xiao An — Transcendent Pioneer and General Zhao. Fights on the front and later seeks to join an Ash Fog expedition despite efforts to dissuade her 37 39 48 49.
• Si Zhennan — Pioneer involved in the rebuilt Clan Hall’s administration; reports population growth and arranges Lin Shan’s accommodation 46 47.
• Chen Liyun — Explorer whose name is added to the Clan Artifact’s Pioneer list. Lin Shan gives him potion ingredients and instructions for possible advancement 47 49.
• Cat Clan — Initial ally and supplier, later an enemy that slaughters humans to exploit their clan fortune. Its political divisions prevent treating every faction as identical 22 36 38 39.
• Shashali — First Cat Clan contact and supplier of humanity’s early aid. Claims that her faction never slaughtered humans and proposes eventual subordinate-clan status if humanity becomes strong enough; Lin Shan promises only to relay the proposal 39.

Unresolved Historical Connections

• Early Pioneers discover human remains, but cannot determine their age in the unfamiliar environment 2.
• A terrifying nonhuman entity declares, “Human Race... ancestral land... intruders die!” near the Purple Soul Flower Forest. Lin Shan questions whether it is connected to an earlier Human Race, but receives no confirmation 13.
• The Red Lantern’s stated friendliness toward humanity suggests a pre-existing connection, though its origin is not explained in these chapters 11.