Humanity created robots, built bases on the Moon and Mars, and began experimenting with raising human children on planets beyond Earth.
This was merely a research project. Children raised on other planets had to return to Earth within ten years to ensure their right to life.
Humans were not the only ones to change after creating robots. Life on Earth began showing signs of atavism, and many mutated animals became mythical beasts described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
The humans returning from Mars not only had to adapt to life and the environment on Earth, but also learn to fight these strange beasts.