aircannonsinc Chapter 36 The First Enlightenment Movement for Soul Beasts
Chapter 36 The First Enlightenment Movement for Soul Beasts
After several days of literacy lessons, Di Tian felt like he was going crazy!
He told himself to proceed step by step; perhaps words were too abstract for them, and numbers should be simpler.
In front of the assembled soul beasts, Di Tian remained in his dragon form. If he were in human form, these guys would have enraged him so much that his mental energy would have gone berserk, and he wouldn't even be able to maintain his human form.
Di Tian tried to make his tone sound calmer.
"Today we'll start by learning about numbers and the simplest calculations. This is crucial for future resource allocation and territory planning."
Upon hearing that they wouldn't have to learn those convoluted symbols anymore, the spirit beasts perked up slightly.
Di Tian used his claws to carve Arabic numerals from one to ten onto the bluestone.
"Look, this is 1, which represents one unit; this is 2, which represents two units... and so on, up to 10."
Di Tian pointed heavily at the straightest "1" with the tip of his claw: "Now, say it with me—1 (yī)."
He hoped to hear a unified, even if uneven, recitation.
However, he was met with an eerie silence, interspersed with the rustling sound of Xiong Jun scratching his belly and the yawning of one of the heads of the Red King.
Di Tian frowned and emphasized, "Read it! 1 (yī)!"
Startled by his roar, Xiong Jun instinctively opened his blood-red maw and let out a deep roar: "Awooo—!"
"It's not 'Awoo'! It's '1' (yī)!" Di Tian felt his blood pressure rising again.
This time, the Red King's three heads were focused on the same goal. The middle head tried its best and let out a short "Huh?"
The dog on the left, thinking it was asking a question, barked "Woof?"
The head on the right, however, felt the voice was provocative and growled, "Ugh..."
Di Qiu was the most earnest. She looked at Di Tian and tried her best to repeat after him in her childish but clear voice: "One!"
At this moment, Di Tian felt that Qiu'er was radiating wisdom and was the only hope in this chaotic classroom.
My son is amazing!
He desperately wanted to lift Qiu'er high with his claws, show her to the soul beasts, and announce, "Look, the Star of Hope!" But he held back.
He gave Qiu'er an approving look and decided to ignore the other soul beasts' cacophony and continue.
"Okay, next one, this is 2 (èr)." Di Tian's claw moved towards the number 2. "Say it after me, 2 (èr)!"
Having gained some "experience" this time, Xiong Jun immediately roared, "Er!" His loud voice shook the leaves of the trees around him, causing them to fall in a rustling sound.
The Demon King croaked, "You...you...?"
The Red King's three heads fell into chaos again, the middle head asking, "Hungry?"
Left side of the head: "Son?"
Right side of the head: "Achoo!" (sneezes)
For a time, the forest echoed with all sorts of strange sounds such as "Awoo, Eya, Yi, Woof, Yi, Er, Er, E, Er, Achoo," but there were very few standard "1" and "2."
Di Tian stopped them, took a deep breath, and calmed himself down.
Then he pointed to the number "1" and said, "This is one, just as we have only one beast god here, which is me."
Xiong Jun glanced at the "1", then at Di Tian, and roared as if suddenly realizing something:
"Oh! I get it! This stick standing upright is you!"
Di Tian's lips twitched slightly, suppressing the urge to correct him, and he pointed to "2":
"That's two. For example, you and the Demon King together make two."
Xiong Jun and Wan Yao Wang exchanged a disdainful glance, but seemed to reluctantly accept this explanation.
Seeing that the initial results were effective, Di Tian decided to strike while the iron was hot and conduct the simplest hands-on teaching.
He plucked a few fruits that exuded a faint spiritual aura and placed them on the bluestone.
"Look closely, there are three spirit fruits here."
Di Tian arranged the three fruits in a row, pointed to them, and then carved the number "3" next to them.
"This represents three."
The spirit beasts' eyes were all drawn to the spirit fruit, especially Xiong Jun, whose throat bobbed involuntarily.
"Now, if I bring two more fruits..."
Di Tian placed two more fruits, leaving a small distance between them and the previous three.
"So, how many are there in total? Three plus two, that makes five."
He carved the number "5" next to it and pushed the five fruits together.
"This is called addition; three plus two equals five. Do you understand?"
The scene was very quiet for a moment.
Xiong Jun was the first to impatiently yell, "Why don't you just say who gets these five fruits? All this adding and subtracting is such a hassle!"
The Demon King asked in confusion, "This fruit contains wood-attribute energy, which is slightly different from that fruit. The superposition of energy is not a simple addition of quantities. Does it involve the mystery of energy fusion and the mutual generation and restraint of attributes?"
The Red King's three heads began to disagree once again.
Left head: "Eat!"
Middle Head: "Countless!"
The person on the right: "They're all mine!"
Only Di Qiu and a few other soul beasts were making an effort. Di Qiu used its little paws to dig at the soil, seemingly trying to shape it into the shape of a fruit, but it clearly couldn't understand the concept of "addition".
Di Tian felt a wave of powerlessness. He pointed at the fruit and repeated in the slowest possible voice, "See, all done!"
Three, fruits, plus two, fruits, one, two, three, four, five!
There are a total of five!
Three plus two equals five! Is that so hard to understand?!
Xiong Jun shrank back, startled by the shout, and muttered, "Why not just count to five? Why count to three first and then two..."
Di Tian completely abandoned hands-on teaching, wiping away the fruit on the bluestone (to avoid distraction) and leaving only the numbers.
"Alright, let's not look at the fruit. Just listen to the question: Mr. Bear, what is four plus three?"
Xiong Jun's eyes widened as he tried to count by prying open his enormous claws, "Four...three...uh..."
He'd been holding it in for ages, his neck practically bulging, when finally, in a fit of desperation, he yelled, "Who cares what it equals! It's not as big as my fist anyway!"
Di Tian then looked at the Demon King: "Demon King, tell me, what is five minus two?"
The Demon King pondered for a moment, then said leisurely, "Reduce? This is the principle of waxing and waning, profit and loss."
Two out of five remain, leaving three. However, the two that were removed were not annihilated, but returned to heaven and earth. It seems to be reduced, but in reality, it flows endlessly. This is the Great Dao...
"Stop!" Di Tian quickly interrupted his philosophical speech, looking at the Crimson King with his last glimmer of hope. "Crimson King, you can answer with just your head! What is one plus one?"
The Red King's three heads looked at each other, seemingly holding an internal vote.
After a moment, the middle head hesitated and whispered, "Two?"
A faint glimmer of hope had just appeared in Di Tian's eyes.
The head on the left of the Red King immediately objected: "No! It's a whole bunch!"
The head on the right of the Red King also objected: "It's zero! Because they'll all be destroyed in a fight!"
The three heads immediately started fighting amongst themselves again over what "one plus one" equals.
Di Tian: "..."
He silently turned around, looked up at the sky above the Lake of Life, his back view appearing extremely desolate and bleak.
If this continues, he's not far from going insane.
He should go and check if the water level of the Lake of Life has risen.