Since it was Chen Nan’s first time in Chuliang City, he was completely unfamiliar with it.
He took out his phone, opened the navigation, found the location of Tianying Hotel, and then used Qinggong to rush there at high speed.
The national treasure represents not only its intrinsic value but, more importantly, the country’s reputation.
If it is stolen within Huaxia and successfully taken abroad, then for a long time, the entire Huaxia Nation will become a laughing stock on the international stage. A great nation unable to handle a few thieves, if such a thing gets out, all Huaxia people will feel ashamed.
The reason Xuan Tianji assigned this task to Chen Nan and the other young individual was first to give them an opportunity to gain experience, and second, due to face considerations. If he, as an elder master, were to deal with a few thieves, it would be beneath his status.
Having the two young individuals take action to reclaim the national treasure was also a way to prove to the world that Huaxia people are not to be trifled with.
Chen Nan moved quickly, mostly leaping over rooftops, and arrived near Tianying Hotel in just a few minutes.
Standing on the street, Chen Nan glanced at the Tianying Hotel sign and walked in with large strides.
As soon as Chen Nan entered, the receptionist immediately looked over.
"I’m looking for someone."
Chen Nan threw down these words and walked straight to the elevator.
After reaching the sixth floor, Chen Nan walked directly towards room 612. The door was tightly closed, and Chen Nan pressed the doorbell.
After waiting a few seconds without any response, Chen Nan no longer hesitated and kicked the door hard. With a loud "bang," the lock broke, and the door, with a gust of wind, was flung inside, crashing against the wall.
However, at the same time—
Machine gun fire rang out, countless bullets shooting towards Chen Nan like a swarm of locusts.
If he were in the Qi Dao Realm, Chen Nan might still be cautious of bullets, but now that he was in the Five Heavens of Sovereign, his True Qi had condensed into tangible Gang Qi, making his defensive power incomparable.
Covered in dark Demon Gang Qi, Chen Nan charged inside with big steps.
Numerous machine gun bullets swept towards him, all deflected by Chen Nan’s Protective Gang Qi, making "ding-ding-dang-dang" sounds as they fell to the ground.
The person inside firing the gun was a yellow-skinned middle-aged man, exuding an unusual energy fluctuation, which Chen Nan guessed was one of the Japanese ninjas among the thieves.
Seeing that Chen Nan was actually a Master Realm expert, the ninja’s face changed dramatically.
He knew very well how strong the Gang Qi of a Master Realm was, machine gun bullets couldn’t penetrate it. He exclaimed in panic, hurriedly dropped the machine gun, and turned to flee.
But ultimately, he was a step too late.
Because at this moment, Chen Nan’s Protective Gang Qi vibrated, and three bullets shooting towards him instantly bounced back.
One hit the ninja’s arm, and the other two hit his back.
The ninja let out an extremely shrill scream, hurriedly grabbed a wooden box from the table, and threw it towards Chen Nan, saying in very poor Mandarin, "The Jade Seal is yours, I don’t want it anymore."
As he spoke, he charged towards the window, clearly intending to escape for his life.
Chen Nan caught the wooden box and didn’t bother with the escaping ninja, hastily opening the box to verify its authenticity.
But the moment he opened the box—
The sound of a fuse being pulled reached his ears, and the next thing he saw was a grenade installed in the wooden box.
Chen Nan was shocked, immediately throwing the wooden box away.
However, at the instant he let go, a deafening "boom" rang out. The grenade exploded half a meter away from Chen Nan.
The fire wave rolled, and the violent air blast instantly blew Chen Nan away, crashing through the wall and flinging him out of the hotel building, plummeting towards the ground. Luckily, a car was conveniently parked below, and he landed right on its roof.
Chen Nan cursed, clutching his chest.
With his current cultivation, though the grenade was powerful, it couldn’t shatter his Protective Gang Qi.
The explosion merely churned up his internal energy and vital blood, and the high fall shook his internal organs severely, causing only minor injuries.
Chen Nan jumped off the car, ignoring the surrounding onlookers, and began searching for clues.
Since the ninja was bleeding profusely due to the bullet wounds, Chen Nan soon found the blood traces on the ground and followed them, taking out a satellite phone to connect with Qing Ying: "The intelligence had problems; the opponent seemed to know we were coming. I was almost blown up by those bastards."
"I was almost blown up too," came Qing Ying’s helpless voice.
Chen Nan was speechless for a moment. What kind of crappy intelligence was this? It was utterly unreliable.
Qing Ying sighed helplessly and said, "There’s no new intel for now; we have to follow the clues and continue the pursuit."
"Alright, let’s do that. Inform me immediately if there’s any new information," Chen Nan said.
After ending the call, Chen Nan followed the blood traces quickly in pursuit.
After pursuing five miles, Chen Nan had reached the outskirts, and beyond lay a forest.
But at this point, the blood traces on the ground disappeared.
"That bastard must have found a way to stop the bleeding," Chen Nan murmured as he scanned the area ahead. Although there was no blood on the ground, the opponent was still heavily injured, inevitably leaving traces in the forest where he passed.
Following these hard-to-detect traces, Chen Nan continued his pursuit.
After going about three miles deeper into the woods, Chen Nan heard faint sounds of fighting up ahead. He quickly flew up and rushed towards the sound.
Without needing to search for clues meticulously, his speed increased several times.
Two miles ahead, Chen Nan saw three martial artists surrounding the ninja he had seen at the hotel.
This ninja’s cultivation was not high, at best only at the Qi Dao Ninth Heaven. However, he excelled in speed, forcing the three, who were slightly weaker than him, to surround him on three sides to prevent his escape.
Chen Nan knew that these three were certainly Jianghu forces drawn by the news.
Although they were Huaxia people, their goal was also to seize the national treasure, not to assist.
"You guys can leave; this prey is mine."
Chen Nan unleashed terrifying Yu Dao Gang Qi, and in a flash appeared in front of everyone.
The three martial artists sneered, "We trapped him first. What right do you have to make us leave?"
Chen Nan raised his hand and released a Light Palm, slapping the speaking martial artist to the ground, coldly saying, "Is that reason enough?"
The three finally realized Chen Nan’s strength.
The three stammered in fear and fled in panic.
Chen Nan glanced at the ninja and indifferently said, "Hand over the Jade Seal, and I will leave you with a whole body."
[PS: Chen Nan looked at the heroes of the world and shouted, "Even that lazy bum Zhishui is erupting with four updates today. Isn’t that awesome? Hurry up and vote for the monthly ticket, will you!"
Ye Yiyi flew in and asked, "Senior brother, how do you vote for the monthly ticket?"
"Install the QQ Reading app on your phone, search for the book’s name, and open the page to vote. Or you can use a computer to visit Chuangshi Chinese Network to vote. Note that the QQ Reading in the QQ app only lets you read books, but cannot vote."]