Chapter 103: Ascending to Godhood

As a dragon whose body is inhabited by a human soul, possessing a powerful and mysterious heart capable of storing electricity, the Black Dragon is well aware that there is clearly some secret surrounding its existence—perhaps a grand destiny, a significant mission, or a massive conspiracy.

Perhaps one day in the future, it might truly be able to condense a divinity and become a god. However, the Black Dragon does not hold much expectation for this, as in its view, becoming a god may not necessarily be a good thing.

As their primary rival and future adversary, the Xia Academy of Sciences has never ceased its research into those native gods. From what they have gathered, gods are by no means omnipotent; they function more like a profession, burdened with numerous limitations and shackles. It is not necessarily more relaxed or carefree than being a dragon.

Researchers also suspect that the interaction between gods and their believers is likely mutual. While gods can influence the thoughts of their followers, the thoughts and prayers of the believers can just as easily affect the gods!

Take the Goddess of Love, Freya, for example. The reason she suddenly ganked the Black Dragon was likely because she couldn't take it anymore and was seeking help. After all, she is merely a native deity of weak divine power. When she suddenly discovered she had tens of millions of Xia citizens as believers, her first reaction would certainly not be surprise, but terror.

Believers are not created equal; there is a matter of quality and the cost of cultivation. It takes long periods of indoctrination and numerous trials to harvest a single pious, high-quality believer. However, these tens of millions of Xia citizens clearly do not fall into that category. Most of them are not even casual believers. They operate on a simple, pragmatic spirit, trying to worship her just to see if they can wring any tangible benefits from Freya before considering anything else.

Even more terrifying is that Xia citizens live in an information-saturated society. The complexity of their thoughts and the degree of their insatiable desires are at least ten times higher than those of native residents abroad! If it weren't for the fact that Xia is currently isolated by a barrier, the terrifying tide of consciousness generated by these tens of millions of casual believers would absolutely cause the Goddess of Love, Freya, to crash, or even descend into collapse and madness!

This is likely why Freya went to such great lengths to find the Black Dragon; as a lowly deity, her operational capacity is limited, and she simply cannot cope with the tens of millions of fake fans from Xia!

...

"...So, working for someone else is absolutely out of the question, even if it offers a divine position!" the Black Dragon muttered to itself. It reckoned that Freya's situation likely applied to other gods as well—the more believers, the more trouble!

At the thought of becoming a god and facing the endless prayers of countless believers every day—"Help me get stronger," "Help me kill someone," "Help me show up to hold the fort"—the Black Dragon couldn't help but shiver.

Of course, the Black Dragon could learn from certain high-power deities and completely extinguish its own humanity, processing believers' problems mechanically without any personal emotional color... But if it did that, would the god still be Huang Ze?

...

With the time for ascension drawing near, and uncertain if any complications might arise, the Black Dragon felt anxious about the progress of its student, the Phoenix. It decided to pay a visit to check on its studies and update its learning plan.

The Phoenix's math is as abysmal as ever, and its enthusiasm for learning has clearly waned, as it spends all day cooped up in its nest. Fortunately, the books it likes to read are mostly about myths and strange legends rather than cliché romances. As a teacher, the Black Dragon supports this interest; after all, books are the ladder of progress, and this type of reading is very helpful for improving cognitive ability and broadening horizons—provided, of course, that the material is decent.

"...Have you decided on a name for yourself yet?" After reviewing the Phoenix's disastrous homework, the Black Dragon sighed and asked the question again.

In fact, as early as their first lesson, the Black Dragon had asked the Phoenix to choose a name. While a name is just a symbol, it serves a positive role in distinguishing oneself from others and stabilizing self-awareness. However, the trouble is that the Phoenix seems to have quite a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder; even after wearing out a dictionary, it still hadn't settled on a name.

"Mo You..." the Phoenix said flatly.

"How is there still none?" The Black Dragon found this quite hard to understand. "It’s just picking a name, is it really that difficult?"

"..." The Phoenix was silent for a few seconds before saying, "I mean, my name is Mo You."

"..." The Black Dragon felt a vein twitch. "Mo You... what kind of name is that?"

"Mo You (None), no friends, no family... I have nothing!" the Phoenix replied. "Doesn't that fit me quite well and vividly?"

"..."

*Hiss...*

The Black Dragon narrowed its eyes. It truly hadn't expected this little one to be moody, wondering if it felt the teacher hadn't spent enough time with it. But what could the teacher do? With so much going on, being able to spare the time to visit once a week was already quite good.

...Still, constant one-on-one tutoring and letting it study alone did have certain drawbacks for the formation of its worldview.

The Black Dragon fell into deep thought. One of the great characteristics of humanity lies in its unique social nature, which often grants humans powerful cohesion, creativity, and empathy. As a bird, the Phoenix inherently lacks sociality and already lags behind humans in many aspects. If it continues to be left to its own devices, it likely won't help its learning or the development of its values.

"You really should change your learning and living environment and make some new friends..." the Black Dragon mused. "How about this: come back to Xia with me. Xia is currently planning to establish schools specifically to help illiterate native intelligent residents. You can choose a school that interests you to study and live in."

"...I cannot leave the Flame Tree for too long or go too far." The Phoenix couldn't help but roll its eyes. "If my home gets robbed in the meantime, can you afford to compensate me?"

"..." The Black Dragon felt helpless. "No wonder your Phoenix clan hasn't developed; you are all too homebound. Always thinking about your bird's nest—what kind of future can you find that way?"

"...What can I do!" the Phoenix said angrily. "The Flame Tree and our Phoenix clan have a symbiotic relationship. Without the Flame Tree, let alone breeding the next generation, we would quickly become weak and aged ourselves."

"Alright..." The Black Dragon could not argue with this reason. Perhaps this was a genetic flaw of the Phoenix clan, and it was hard to be too harsh on the student.

"Is there really no way to solve this problem?" the teacher pondered. "After all, the Flame Tree cannot move. Once discovered by a mortal enemy, they will surely harass and sabotage it over the long term. Given that your clan is so isolated, I fear it will be destroyed sooner or later."

"Is that the reason why your Phoenix clan has fallen to its current state?"

"..."

*Caw! Caw!*

The Phoenix let out an angry cry in its native tongue and began pecking at the Black Dragon.

"Hey... I'm just stating the facts. Can you be reasonable? You need to face existing problems and find solutions. What's the point of just venting your anger like this?" The Black Dragon quickly pushed it away with its claws, feeling a bit annoyed. If the bird's rear wasn't so un-round, it would have surely exerted its authority as a teacher and given it a good spanking!

"It's not that I want to lecture you... but you really need to change this foul temper. This kind of impotent rage not only fails to solve the problem, but often makes things worse!" the Black Dragon said earnestly. "We are trying to solve your problem here... How about this: give me some seeds, branches, or roots of the Flame Tree, and I'll see if I can cultivate new ones back home?"

Hearing this, the Phoenix became even angrier and struggled violently. The Black Dragon had no choice but to use its ace: summoning a bolt of lightning to give it a good shock, which finally made it behave. The Black Dragon couldn't help but suspect that this silly bird was always picking fights with it just to get shocked.

"Can we talk properly now?" the Black Dragon said crossly. "I am respecting you by discussing this and asking for your opinion. Otherwise, I could have just secretly taken some branches and roots, and you wouldn't have been able to stop me, right?"

"...It's useless." Calmed down by the electrotherapy, the Phoenix said flatly, "The branches and roots of the Flame Tree cannot be transplanted at all. As for seeds... I have never seen it bear seeds since I was born."

"Is there really no way at all?" The Black Dragon pondered for a while. "I've heard that some powerful trees possess their own consciousness and can move on their own."

"Logically, a Flame Tree of this size should have awakened its own tree spirit. Even if not, couldn't we find some Druids or Treants to perform some rites?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, the Phoenix started glaring again, though it didn't use its claws this time. It just huffed, "I will absolutely never allow any Druid or Treant near my Flame Tree!"

"..." The Black Dragon didn't quite understand why the Phoenix was so worked up again, but it had heard that Druids and Treants, as forest-dwelling intelligent races, didn't have the best reputation. They were basically extremist and fanatical environmentalists, and their relationship with Xia was quite poor.

"So there's really no way?" the Black Dragon said. "Mo You, you shoulder the heavy responsibility of the great revival of the Phoenix clan. You must study more, work harder, and see more of the outside world. Don't narrow your path just because of one tree!"

"If this Flame Tree were small, it wouldn't matter; you could carry it with you to school. But it's clearly over a thousand meters tall and weighs tens of thousands of tons. How could you carry that..."

"..."

The Phoenix was silent for a while, perhaps realizing that the teacher was indeed thinking about its future and the future of the entire clan. It said, "The Flame Tree does indeed possess its own consciousness and can move autonomously. However, it is my elder, and it may not listen to what I say. If you really want it to move, you will have to talk to it yourself."

*Good grief, so you really do have parents!*

The Black Dragon was somewhat surprised. Although the thousand-meter-tall Flame Tree looked miraculous, the Black Dragon had visited many times and had never felt its consciousness. It must have been hiding well or sleeping soundly.

"How do I talk to it?" The Black Dragon was eager to try. This tree had clearly lived for many years; perhaps it could learn something about the heavens or the material plane from it.

"Follow me." The Phoenix, having recovered from the electric shock, hopped down from the tree and led the Black Dragon to the base. It pecked at a root, causing crimson tree sap to flow out.

"Lie on it and drink a few mouthfuls. It will sense your presence... then it depends on whether it's willing to talk to you."

"...Is it that simple?" The Black Dragon felt it was quite magical. After a moment of thought, it asked, "What is its name? Since we're meeting for the first time, how should I address it?"

"Even I, a bird, didn't have a name before. Do you think a tree would name itself?" the Phoenix said impatiently. "As for how you address it, anything is fine—just don't call it 'Mom'!"

"Why?" the Black Dragon couldn't help but ask.

"Because it is my mom, and you cannot steal my mom!"

"Wait... you were actually born from a tree?" The Black Dragon widened its eyes. While there are many creatures in nature with strange developmental processes, the fact that a tree could give birth to a bird truly shocked the Black Dragon.

"You're the one born from a tree!" the Phoenix said indignantly. "Why are we called Phoenixes? Because our 'immortality' trait is extremely powerful. Even if our form and spirit are destroyed, we have a chance to resurrect."

"My mom passed away shortly after giving birth to me, and her soul merged into the Flame Tree to sleep."

"Hmm..."

As expected of an extraordinary race that had seen better days, their talent was truly unique! The Black Dragon suddenly felt a sense of melancholy. Perhaps it was because they were too powerful that the Phoenix clan was targeted.

The Flame Tree's sap clearly contained immense energy; even the Black Dragon could feel its appetite whetted just by the scent. It was just a pity it didn't know the efficiency, output value, or safety of the sap. Otherwise, it could consider developing it to replace oil...