Before leaving, Li Xiang took the main members of his team out to a large restaurant in the county town for a meal.
It had been a while since their last team-building activity.
He also went to visit Chen Huanhuan.
Chen Huanhuan was doing a great job at the Jade Jewelry Shop in Ji City. Once she gained a bit more experience, Li Xiang planned to promote her to store manager, putting her in charge of her own shop.
The moonlight flowed like water. With a flash, Li Xiang’s figure vanished, creating a faint sonic boom as he transformed into a streak of Black Light, hurtling west.
He cruised at Mach 8 to 9, able to run for over twenty hours without stopping, not even getting flushed or out of breath. It was completely effortless.
At that speed, he could cover over ten thousand kilometers in an hour.
France was only eight or nine thousand kilometers from Li Xiang’s home, and in fact, about 2,500 of those kilometers were within his country’s borders.
If you actually started counting from the western border, it was just over a thousand kilometers to the Middle East (Iran), and then another four thousand-plus kilometers from Iran to France.
Li Xiang set out shortly after four in the morning. By just before five, he had appeared on the streets of Paris.
He saw a bank called Credit Bank, or something like that, and used his Earth Escape ability to slip inside. After locating the vault, he sent out a pulse of Spiritual Power Vibration, and all the surveillance monitors shattered.
He pulled out the Tier Thirty-first Celestial Cloud Sword he’d acquired in Japan, breached the vault with ease, and cleaned out all the cash and gold.
I mean, he was in France and needed spending money. Since he didn’t have any Euros, he just helped himself to some.
Li Xiang only ever robbed the rich; with ordinary people, he always paid his way fairly.
Afterward, he found a secluded spot to surface, retracted the Giant Whale Saint Armor into his body to be nourished within his Spiritual Power Vortex, changed into some casual clothes, and put on a hat and sunglasses before beginning a leisurely stroll.
Although he was an internet celebrity in China with over fifty million fans, he figured not many people in France would recognize him. A hat and sunglasses would be enough; he decided against a face mask. Since Westerners weren’t fond of wearing them, putting one on would only make him stand out more.
As for the language barrier, with the Creation Lotus, he spoke such authentic French that he sounded as if he had lived in Paris his entire life.
The Creation Lotus could generate three blossoms a day, and he had already accumulated several hundred of them.
The Seine River shimmered like silver scales in the morning mist. Li Xiang passed along the cobblestone paths of Saint-Germain Street and stopped in front of a bakery with a copper bell. The caramelized aroma of fermented butter had tickled his nose from a distance.
’Amazing. It smells absolutely amazing.’ The owner of this bakery clearly had excellent, first-class baking skills.
Now that he was in Paris, he naturally had to try the local cuisine.
Li Xiang tapped his finger on the oak counter and said in perfect French, "Three Isigny butter croissants with crushed Peruvian cocoa."
"Just a moment, young man." The owner was an elderly man with white hair, but he was neatly dressed and wore gloves. He methodically placed the croissants in a paper bag and handed it to Li Xiang with a smile. "Nine Euros, thank you."
"Keep the change," Li Xiang said with a smile, handing him a ten-Euro bill.
"A handsome and kind young man like you will surely meet a beautiful, passionate woman here," the old man said with a laugh.
"I’ll take your word for it," Li Xiang chuckled, walking off while eating the pastries.
Paris was the city of romance, and chance encounters were common, but Li Xiang wasn’t interested. He had plenty of that at home—quite a lot, in fact.
Seated on a cast-iron chair at the Cafe de Flore, Li Xiang held a gilt-edged bone china cup, taking a light sip of Guatemalan Geisha coffee.
Once he’d eaten and drunk his fill, Li Xiang set off to start casing the various locations in Paris that housed the artifacts.
He had done his homework before arriving. In Paris, at least six museums housed Chinese artifacts: the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts, the Louvre Museum, the Chinese Pavilion at the Palace of Fontainebleau, the Cernuschi Museum, the Red House in Paris, and the Quai Branly Museum.
As for any other places, Li Xiang was in unfamiliar territory and wasn’t entirely sure.
For these six locations alone, he would have to go inside during the day to get the lay of the land before he could make his move at night.
The Louvre Museum held the largest collection of Chinese artifacts, with approximately 30,000 pieces, consisting mainly of Shang and Zhou Dynasty bronze wares and porcelain.
Notable items included the Gilt Pagoda from the Yuanming Garden (gilt bronze inlaid with emeralds), Dunhuang manuscripts (such as the Heart Sutra of the Treasure Tower and the Great Qin Jingjiao Three Powers Praise), Qianlong’s Imperial Armor (inlaid with Sanskrit, lightweight and bulletproof), and Shang Dynasty Bronze Artifacts (like the Three-Ram-Headed Tripod Cauldron and the Bronze Elephant Vase).
Second on the list was the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts, which held over 20,000 pieces, including Buddhist art, bronze wares, and ceramics.
Notable items there included a Liangzhu Culture Jade Cong (dating back 4,500 years), a Shang Dynasty Bronze Elephant Vase (the centerpiece of the Guimet Museum’s collection and the world’s largest animal-shaped bronze *zun*), Dunhuang Silk Paintings (such as *Amitabha’s Western Pure Land Transformation Map*, plundered by Paul Pelliot), a Western Han Bronze Decorative Plate with Gold Inlay, and the Sui and Han White Jade Statue of Ananda.
Many Western luxury goods, such as handbags and apparel, have borrowed elements from Chinese artifacts. Some have a similarity of up to ninety percent.
When it came to aesthetics and style, China’s ancestors were the true masters.
These artifacts came to be here through roughly three routes. First was colonial plunder, such as the looting by Anglo-French forces who burned down the Yuanming Garden during the Second Opium War (items now in the Palace of Fontainebleau). Second was illegal theft and transport, such as Paul Pelliot taking murals and scriptures from the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang (items now in the Guimet Museum). Third was private trafficking, where merchants like C.T. Loo smuggled artifacts and sold them in Europe (with the Red House in Paris being a prime example).
These priceless artifacts were treasures of the Chinese people, and now that Li Xiang had the power, he was naturally going to take them back.
Otherwise, when the Apocalypse came, it was questionable whether these things would even survive.
During the Apocalypse, Western countries would undoubtedly be far more chaotic than China.
His first destination was the Louvre Museum.
As the midday sun pierced the glass pyramid, Li Xiang suddenly saw a figure. His eyes widened in surprise, and he quickly activated the "Bright Pearl Darkens" technique, concealing his Spiritual Power fluctuations to make himself appear like an ordinary person.
Because that person was an Extraordinary Being, around Tier Two.
After all, since his rebirth, Li Xiang could count the number of Extraordinary Beings he’d met on one hand. Luo Feifei, Jiang Cai’Er, Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, Lei Xiaohui, Lei Jiaming, Xu Xuan, Zhang Youyou, and the trio of Chiba Yuki and her mother and daughter—he had been the one to guide every single one of them into the Extraordinary Realm.
Yaki Toto could be considered half an Extraordinary Being, and it was only with the help of Li Xiang’s Spiritual Medicine and Breathing Technique that he finally stepped into the Tier One Extraordinary Realm.
Then there was the National Martial Arts Grandmaster back in China, who had also only been able to form a Spiritual Power Vortex after buying Li Xiang’s Spiritual Medicine.
Li Xiang had secretly gone to observe that National Martial Arts Grandmaster before. His Martial Arts were truly sublime; he had reached the pinnacle of his craft. Even without Li Xiang’s Spiritual Medicine, when the Apocalypse came and the Mysterious Particles emerged, that old grandmaster would have definitely been among the very first to enter the Extraordinary Realm.
And that went without saying for his little pets. Without Li Xiang, they would have had to wait until the Apocalypse for any possibility of advancing.
And yet, this person was an Extraordinary Being. A "wild" one, with no connection to Li Xiang whatsoever.
Li Xiang was naturally overcome with curiosity and couldn’t help but stare, sizing her up intently.
She was a tall, willowy beauty. Her soft, wavy, golden-brown hair fell to her waist, and the champagne-colored highlights at the ends flowed like satin. She had a graceful figure and alluring curves, but since her back was to Li Xiang, he couldn’t see her face.
But her silhouette alone was breathtaking, enough to spark endless imagination.