Chapter 82: The Underachiever

Every few days, Black Dragon would secretly return to his homeland. First, to recharge his body; second, to exchange insights with the scientific research team and accumulate experience for his body modification plan; and third, to receive psychological counseling to avoid any loss of humanity.

“Mr. Huang, is something troubling you?” This time, upon his return, Ding Xuewen noticed that Black Dragon was obviously in low spirits and quickly inquired with concern.

“Sigh... it’s just too much for me.” Black Dragon plopped down on the ground with a heavy sigh. “I never imagined that the Phoenix would turn out to be such an academic failure!”

“I’ve been teaching it day and night for almost a month now, yet it can’t even memorize a simple multiplication table. It’s truly disappointing!”

After resorting to the ultimate threat—reporting to its elders—the Phoenix had become much more obedient, at least no longer resisting or refusing to learn. But its intelligence... was hard to describe.

It couldn’t be called stupid, exactly. With the help of Black Dragon’s artificial heavenly thunder, the Phoenix had successfully evolved into its adult form. While not completely transformed, its intelligence had indeed improved by leaps and bounds.

Previously, it couldn’t even master a single syllable of the Summer language. Now, after a month, it had already learned several hundred words and could even look up words in a dictionary on its own, tackling classics like “Journey to the West” and “Classic of Mountains and Seas”!

So, in terms of language, the Phoenix’s performance was actually quite impressive, and Teacher Black Dragon didn’t deny this. He even rewarded it with little red flowers as encouragement.

But when it came to mathematics, it was utterly hopeless—“undeveloped cerebellum” would not be an exaggeration!

It was as if there were some cognitive block. The Phoenix’s mathematical talent was abysmally poor!

It could recognize numerals like 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, understood the symbols for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and could read and write them individually without issue. But once they were put together, it was completely lost—even a simple calculation like 5 x 6 left it stammering for ages.

Why?

Because multiplication couldn’t be counted out on its claws or toes; this far exceeded its brain’s computational abilities!

“I just don’t understand. It’s an extraordinary creature—how can it fail to grasp even simple arithmetic?” Black Dragon lamented in both pain and confusion.

After all, many supernatural beings possess inherited memories. They don’t need systematic education; as long as they reach a certain age, their brains automatically unlock relevant knowledge and memories!

Compared to humans, who learn bit by bit, hundreds or thousands of kilobytes a day at most, inherited memory is undeniably a more advanced and efficient method!

In a matter of seconds, hundreds or even thousands of gigabytes of knowledge and memories could be transmitted to the next generation’s brain! In terms of efficiency, it utterly outstrips what humanity has achieved.

Black Dragon had even considered whether there might be a way to acquire the technology for inherited memory in the future. If so, Summer’s education system could get a massive boost, dramatically reducing the time and resources needed to cultivate talent, thus enhancing the nation’s overall strength.

But to his surprise, without inherited memory, the Phoenix’s performance was so poor it could not even compare to an ordinary first-grader!

“Ha, Mr. Huang, there’s no need to take it to heart.” Academician Ding shook his head with a smile. “It’s actually not surprising that the Phoenix is like this.

“First, their species has always been beset by hardship, and their inherited memory is nearly extinct. There’s a significant intellectual deficiency.

“Second, mathematics, though it seems mundane, is actually the most important tool for understanding and analyzing the world. Those gods may have deliberately tampered with their cognition, making it normal for native intelligent creatures to face obstacles in this area.”

“Perhaps...” Black Dragon nodded thoughtfully, letting go of his frustration, then asked about something else. “By the way, how is Yu Xiaomin doing? I haven’t seen him around lately.”

“He...” Academician Ding instinctively glanced around to make sure there were no outsiders before replying cautiously, “He’s fine. It’s just that he has started believing in a ‘new deity,’ and since he refuses to reveal information about it to the organization, he has to undergo a period of isolation and review.”

“A new deity...” Black Dragon muttered, realizing Ding’s explanation was meant to cover for him.

It seemed that even after a month, Academician Ding still believed it best not to let the secret of Black Dragon’s ability to produce golden dragon blood be exposed.

Black Dragon was more than happy with this arrangement. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that trading gold and a heart for dragon blood was a dangerous bargain—one misstep, and it could spiral out of his control, leaving him with nothing.

“So, Yu Xiaomin’s body has completed its transformation. Does that mean his cells and DNA are now inaccessible as well?” Black Dragon continued to ask.

“Yes,” replied Academician Ding with a nod. “Just like the followers of other deities, Yu Xiaomin’s body is now completely sealed off at the sub-micron level.”

Knowing what Black Dragon wanted to ask, Ding continued, “From our current research, the ‘new deity’ Yu Xiaomin worships doesn’t seem to differ much in power from the other gods...”

No difference? What did that mean?

Black Dragon was stunned, his mind racing—could it be that his heart truly possessed divine power... or that it was, in fact, a fragment of divinity itself?

No, I’m not! Stop guessing!

As if sensing the brain’s suspicions, the heart immediately issued three consecutive denials.

Well then, what exactly are you?! Black Dragon asked, somewhat exasperated.

“...”

The heart feigned death once again, refusing to respond no matter how many times Black Dragon’s mind tried to make contact.

You wretched thing! Black Dragon was so furious he nearly lost his composure. If he’d already found a new employee or a new heart, he’d have found some way to kick this traitor right out of his body!

He had originally planned that, if Yu Xiaomin’s situation turned out fine, he would bring back a couple of drops of golden dragon blood for his parents as well, to help them complete their own transformation.

But seeing how the heart was reacting now, Black Dragon felt a vague sense of unease. What if there really was something hidden within the golden dragon blood, some secret program...

Wouldn’t that allow this cursed thing to use his parents against him in the future?

So Black Dragon could only set aside the idea for now. His understanding and control of the heart were still too limited, and his trust in it was far from sufficient. He dared not take such a risk lightly.

After a moment’s thought, Black Dragon asked a crucial question, “Academician Ding, has Yu Xiaomin shown the same kind of reverence or worship towards his ‘god’ as the others?”