Chapter 465: I'm Definitely Keeping This Divine Beast!

"Tengshe!"

Hearing the System's prompt, Ning Fei finally realized that the sound inside the house had actually come from a divine beast of Huaxia!

'Divine beasts really do exist!'

A trace of excitement surfaced in Ning Fei's eyes.

He had never told anyone, but while leafing through the ancient texts back at Qingfeng Temple, he had always been searching for the answer to one question.

Did dragons truly exist?

Why was it that, out of the twelve Chinese zodiac animals passed down for thousands of years, only the dragon lacked a corresponding real-world counterpart?

Back in the era of the Yellow Emperor and Chi You, historical records were exceedingly rare. The ancient accounts of the Yan and Huang Emperors battling Chi You all carried mythological elements to some degree.

Perhaps those weren't myths at all. Perhaps they were real.

Just then, the Tengshe slithered out of the house.

The moment it appeared, every single viewer on the stream froze in sheer disbelief.

What was that?!

"Captain, it appeared! The Tengshe appeared!"

On the wooden boat, the archaeological team was swept up in a frenzy of excitement.

After a century of searching, this was the first time they had ever clearly seen a Tengshe in its entirety.

Though called a snake, the Tengshe's appearance was much closer to that of a dragon.

Its entire body was a silvery-white, but the scales covering it didn't look like snake scales; they were fuller and more robust. Its tail resembled a fish's, forking outward on both sides.

A distinct crest rested atop the Tengshe's head, radiating the domineering aura of a divine beast.

The most astonishing feature, however, was the pair of fleshy wings growing from its back. They looked similar to a bat's wings in texture, but were entirely silvery-white and exceptionally magnificent.

This Tengshe was about three meters long and as thick as an arm. The moment it made its entrance, everyone was dumbfounded.

"Holy shit! A dragon! That's a dragon!"

"What the hell is that thing? What am I looking at?!"

"Is this real? A dragon showed up in Temple Master Ning's stream?"

"That's not a dragon. Dragons don't have wings!"

"Look at it! How is that not a dragon!"

The bullet screen completely exploded!

Since Ning Fei was broadcasting across the entire internet, the popularity of every single one of his live-stream rooms skyrocketed instantly.

This scene was simply too shocking!

Anyone could tell that the creature before them was an absolute divine beast that completely defied modern understanding!

To think that a Tengshe had been hiding inside the Peach Blossom Spring!

"It's a Tengshe. The ancient Huaxia divine beast, the Tengshe!"

Ning Fei's expression filled with excitement as he spoke softly.

"The 'Han Feizi: Ten Faults' recounts the story of the Yellow Emperor gathering ghosts and deities at Mount Xitai, and it explicitly mentions the Tengshe."

"Back then, the Yellow Emperor used his original composition, 'Qingjiao', to summon the spirits. Various ghosts and deities came to pay their respects. Among them, the Tengshe lay on the ground, while the Phoenix soared in the sky."

"Similarly, Guo Pu later wrote: 'The Tengshe pairs with dragons and leaps with the mist.' He classified the Tengshe as a type of dragon, because at that time, dragons were also considered a known type of animal by the people."

"Yet today, we don't even know what dragons truly are."

"Also, in the 'Qimen Dunjia', the Tengshe is one of the Eight Deities, governing firelight, the bizarre, terror, dreams, the demonic, and bewitchment."

"The Tengshe is adept at manipulating water. Its abilities are no lesser than those of Yinglong, and upon surviving its heavenly tribulation, it can soar across the eight wastelands!"

Whenever he brought up information regarding ancient divine beasts, Ning Fei grew noticeably animated.

Everything he said continued to shatter the audience's worldview.

"So it's the ancient Huaxia divine beast, the Tengshe!"

"A divine beast? A type of dragon? Is this CGI?"

"I've never been this excited in my life! My whole body is shaking!"

"Five thousand years of Huaxia history... I can't believe divine beasts actually exist!"

Listening to Ning Fei's explanations, the netizens grew equally thrilled.

On the other side, fearing that the situation would blow up out of control, Lin Tao immediately made a phone call, having Ning Fei's Live-stream Room shut down across the entire internet.

Everyone's screens went pitch black all at once.

"What happened? Where is Temple Master Ning?"

"Why did they ban the stream? Fuck!"

The stream erupted into a chorus of wails and complaints.

Ning Fei looked at the Tengshe before him. According to the ancient texts, the Tengshe could ride the mist and take to the skies.

And the Tengshe right in front of him was doing exactly that—flapping its white wings and hovering in midair, staring at him with cautious eyes.

At that same moment, Ning Fei felt the Qilin Pendant on his neck, the Phoenix jade pendant at his waist, and the Zouwu Hand Beads on his wrist all simultaneously begin to emit pulses of energy.

This sudden reaction completely caught Ning Fei off guard!

'Are they... communicating?'

Ning Fei muttered to himself as he sensed the changes in his accessories.

The Tengshe also sensed the auras radiating from Ning Fei.

Its initial attitude of caution and fear slowly began to soften.

It stared at Ning Fei closely, the confusion in its eyes growing deeper.

Ning Fei knew what was at stake, so he immediately shut off all of his live-streams. Of course, he had no idea his streams had already been temporarily banned.

Ning Fei stood his ground. The System's quest was to subdue and protect the Tengshe.

Subduing it seemed much easier than he had expected, but what did it mean by protect?

What did he need to protect it from?

Ning Fei slowly walked forward.

The appearance of this divine beast had truly taken him by surprise.

He had never believed divine beasts actually existed before. He had only read about them in ancient texts and found himself deeply fascinated by the lore.

That was, until the Tengshe showed up.

The Tengshe slowly flew toward him.

It beat its wings at a leisurely pace, yet each flap carried immense power, churning up gusts of wind beneath its body.

The Tengshe was incredibly majestic. Just looking at its head, it strongly resembled the Night Fury, Toothless, from 'How to Train Your Dragon'.

The auras of the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, and Zouwu radiating from Ning Fei grew increasingly intense.

Sensing these auras, the Tengshe seemed to grow agitated and excited, flapping its wings faster and faster.

"Follow me from now on. I'll take you somewhere else,"

Ning Fei said softly.

He reached out his hand, wanting to touch the crest atop the Tengshe's head.

The Tengshe did not stop him.

When Ning Fei stroked it, he was surprised to find that the Tengshe's crest actually felt warm to the touch.

It wasn't a cold-blooded animal!

As a divine beast, the Tengshe was completely shrouded in mystery.

"Are you hiding from something here?" Ning Fei asked in a low voice.

The Tengshe let out a low cry, carrying a hint of a fawning and affectionate tone.

The intelligence of this creature was roughly on par with a sheepdog, though its bloodline was extraordinarily unique.

Through its cry, Ning Fei could feel the Tengshe's panic.

It was terrified of humans.

Furthermore, using the Thought Transmission skill, Ning Fei could sense from it that humans had begun hunting for it a very long time ago.

"Ding! Detected that the host has completed the quest. Reward obtained: Invisibility Card x1."

"Ding! Detected that the host has subdued the divine beast Tengshe. Reward obtained: Classic of Mountains and Seas Encyclopedia."

"Classic of Mountains and Seas Encyclopedia: Obtains the attributes, characteristics, and other information of divine beast-type animals."

The System's voice rang out in Ning Fei's mind.

The System's rewards arrived just as promised. The Invisibility Card was fine enough, but this Classic of Mountains and Seas Encyclopedia was exactly what Ning Fei needed to better understand the Tengshe.

Without missing a beat, Ning Fei scanned the Tengshe's attributes:

"Tengshe: Huaxia divine beast. Capable of flight. Possesses formidable physical constitution and strong aerial capabilities. Average lifespan is around 1,000 years."

At the same time, Ning Fei also saw that this particular Tengshe was 100 years old, which was equivalent to 10 years old in human terms.

"So it's still just a baby Tengshe."

Ning Fei nodded and said with a smile.

The Tengshe nodded obediently, as if agreeing that it was merely a 100-year-old baby.

'It must have trusted me because it sensed the auras of the Qilin, Vermilion Bird, and Zouwu from me.'

'Or perhaps, it felt something else from me.'

'It was almost a bit too easy to subdue it.'

'But that works too.'

Ning Fei thought to himself.

Immediately after, Ning Fei looked at the Tengshe before him and said with a smile, "Don't worry. As long as you follow me, I'll protect you."

"There's no law against picking up a divine beast. I'm definitely keeping it."