I, the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, am being kept by the state.

At 8 PM, during prime time on CCTV-1.

The special program "Secrets Deep in the Qin Mausoleum" premiered on time.

The host is a top anchor from CCTV, with a steady and powerful voice.

More than two thousand years ago, Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms and established the first unified dynasty in Chinese history.

The camera slowly zooms in, and aerial footage of Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum unfolds on the screen.

"He built himself a unique mausoleum, which contains countless secrets."

The scene shifts to the depths of the underground palace.

Under the dim yellow light, the pure gold dragon head sculpture occupied the entire screen.

The dragon's mouth was slightly open, and every scale was clearly visible, gleaming with a dark golden light in front of the camera.

"These are artifacts discovered by the archaeological team at the deepest part of the underground palace."

The host kept his voice very low.

"Made of pure gold and weighing three tons, the exquisite carving technique exceeds our understanding of the technological level of the Qin Dynasty."

The camera gave a close-up of the dragon's head.

Those dragon eyes seemed to be watching everyone outside the camera lens.

"What's even more astonishing is that the form of this sculpture closely matches that of a certain creature from our legend."

The host paused, but did not say the word "dragon".

"Archaeological experts speculate that this may be the remains of an ancient civilization, or it may be..."

The image freezes on the dragon's eyes.

"Something that we do not yet understand."

The internet exploded less than ten minutes after the program aired.

The Weibo server is lagging.

The top ten trending topics are all related to this topic.

#Mysterious Creatures at Qinling Mausoleum#

#The Truth About the Golden Dragon Sculpture#

#ChineseTotemReappears#

#What is CCTV implying?#

Readership is soaring at a rate of millions per second.

The well-known history blogger "Gujinshuo" posted a long Weibo post.

"Judging from the sculpture's form, proportions, and details, this is not a work of art. Works of art pursue aesthetics and symbolic meaning, but this dragon head pursues... authenticity."

The accompanying image shows a comparison of close-up shots of the dragon's head from multiple angles.

"Look at the arrangement of the dragon scales; it perfectly conforms to the mechanical structure of biology. And look at the direction of the dragon whiskers; each one has its own independent texture. Such detail was beyond the capabilities of Qin Dynasty craftsmen, and it's also beyond the capabilities of modern craftsmen."

The comment section was instantly flooded with comments.

"Holy crap, the more I look at it, the more real it looks!"

"My grandfather was a sculptor, and he said that this kind of craftsmanship can't be replicated even in modern times."

"Stop hinting, just say it—it's a dragon!"

"The Dragon Kingdom has dragons, isn't that normal?"

Some people started searching through ancient books for evidence.

The record of Qin Shi Huang's pursuit of immortality in the Records of the Grand Historian has been unearthed.

The descriptions of dragons in the Classic of Mountains and Seas have been analyzed word by word.

Some people have even found out the feng shui layout of the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum site and argued that "there must be a real dragon here".

......

The moment the program ended, it felt as if a nuclear bomb had been dropped on the entire Chinese internet.

boiling!

"A dragon! It really is a dragon! I cried. I'm a thirty-year-old man, and when I saw that dragon head, I just couldn't stop the tears!"

"Upstairs, my grandpa is eighty years old. He was holding my hand just now, and he kept saying, 'They're back, they're all back!'"

"From today onwards, if anyone tells me that dragons are fictional, I'll fight them! We are descendants of the dragon, and our totem has come back to life!"

An indescribable, burning emotion spread rapidly across the 9.6 million square kilometers of land.

It is a pride deeply rooted in our blood, a cultural confidence that has been awakened.

The phrase "Descendants of the Dragon" carried unprecedented weight on this night.

Across the country, more than a hundred newly built Dragon God Temples were instantly overcrowded.

People spontaneously came, lit an incense stick, and bowed devoutly before the golden dragon statue.

They may not understand what spiritual practice is, or what the power of incense and vows is.

They were simply expressing their respect for their ancestors, totems, and this unknown guardian deity in the most basic way.

Deep in Jinghu Lake.

Li Chen, who was perched at the bottom of the lake, slowly opened his pale golden vertical pupils.

He could clearly "see" thin golden lines, invisible to the naked eye and formed from pure spiritual willpower, rising from all directions of China, crossing mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas, flowing continuously into his dragon body like a hundred rivers converging.

The power of incense offerings and prayers is surging at an unprecedented rate!

The dragon scales, which had become slightly dull due to repeated attacks, are now visibly regaining their brilliance and thickness.

The power that had been consumed within the dragon's body was being replenished rapidly, and there were even... faint signs of breaking through the bottleneck.

"This speed..."

A slight ripple flashed through Li Chen's mind.

"It's more than ten times faster than I expected."

He could sense that if this pace continued, not only would he be able to refine elixirs to strengthen his body, but he might also be able to recover his Nascent Soul stage in no time.

However, just as the whole of China was celebrating...

A piercing noise came from across the ocean.

……

The highest-level confidential conference room in Beijing.

A press conference is being broadcast live on a huge LCD screen.

The background is the familiar blue background with white lettering and the Stars and Stripes.

The White House spokesperson, a blonde, blue-eyed woman, stood in front of the podium with a professional, slightly arrogant smile on her face.

"...Regarding the so-called 'Golden Dragon Sculpture' incident that recently appeared in China, our expert team has conducted a preliminary assessment."

She pushed up her glasses, her tone relaxed, as if she were discussing a farcical play.

"The conclusion is that this was a meticulously planned and impressive political propaganda campaign. It utilized a combination of state-of-the-art holographic projection technology, electromagnetic field induction, and collective psychological suggestion."

As soon as he finished speaking, a flurry of flashbulbs went off at the scene.

The spokesperson paused, seemingly enjoying the spotlight, before dropping the bombshell.

"We respect the myths and legends of any country, but we believe even more in science and facts."

Her voice suddenly rose, carrying an unquestionable tone of judgment.

"In order to uphold the authenticity of global information, and to help the Chinese people burst this beautiful bubble, we hereby formally submit a request to the Chinese government—"

"We will open the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor to the public for an on-site inspection by an 'international joint investigation team' led by us and composed of experts from multiple countries, to verify its authenticity!"

"We believe that under the scrutiny of modern scientific instruments, any 'miracle' will have nowhere to hide."

Snapped.

Zhao Wenjin pressed the remote control, and the screen instantly went black.

The meeting room was deathly silent.

The atmosphere was so oppressive it felt like you could wring water out of it.

Everyone present was a powerful figure who could shake the region with a stomp of their foot, but at this moment, their faces were covered with a layer of frost.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, Wang Yijun slammed his hand on the table and abruptly stood up.

This iron-willed general, who had emerged from the flames of war, had his chest heaving violently, and his eyes were practically spitting fire.

"This is outrageous!!"