After Ethan Carter entered the passage, the modular cabinet rumbled back into its original position.

The passage was very long; the three of them walked for over ten minutes and still hadn’t reached the end.

Perhaps it was because Brian Bolton had been frightened by Ethan Carter’s flying knives—he walked at the front, silent, simply leading the way.

In the pitch-black passage, there were many forks, but Ethan Carter never asked about them. Brian Bolton always led the way at the front, and without needing any instructions, he would choose the path to survival. After all, if anyone was going to die, it would be him first.

Just as Ethan Carter was starting to get impatient, they finally reached the end of the passage, and at the same time, a glimmer of light entered his vision.

“We’re here!” Brian Bolton called out softly from the front.

Looking past Brian Bolton’s body, Ethan Carter scanned the area ahead and discovered that it was actually a spacious hall.

“There won’t be any ambushes inside, will there?” At this moment, a trace of doubt arose in Ethan Carter’s heart. This fire poker was hidden so deeply, they even built a special hall just to store it.

“No ambushes!” Brian Bolton replied somewhat fearfully. “It’s just that all the antiques and cultural relics treasured by our Longhua Group are kept here, so it’s a bit mysterious.”

“All the antiques and relics are inside?” Ethan Carter’s eyes immediately lit up. Rubbing his chin, he muttered to himself, “That should fetch quite a bit of money!”

Hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed across Brian Bolton’s face, and he thought to himself: Could this guy really just be an ordinary robber?

But then, Brian Bolton’s expression quickly shifted to one of nervousness and timidity, changing so fast that Ethan Carter didn’t notice a thing.

The three of them exited the passage, and Ethan Carter looked around, discovering that they were in a circular hall.

And, just as Brian Bolton had said, displayed on the exhibition stands throughout the hall were all sorts of antiques and relics.

At the center of the hall, on the main exhibition stand, lying quietly, was precisely that fire poker once used by the cave man.

“Hurry up and break the barrier, take the Staff of Asura!”

As Ethan Carter’s gaze fell on the black stick, a voice of delight rang out in his mind.

“Barrier?” Ethan Carter’s eyes landed on the exhibition stand. Sure enough, there was a faint yellow shield on top of it—this must be the barrier the system mentioned.

“Doesn’t matter, let’s just get the fire poker first.” With this thought, Ethan Carter began to gather his strength.

Bang!

Ethan Carter threw a charged punch, but it only caused a slight ripple in the yellow shield, doing no real damage. Instead, he was knocked back several steps, his chest aching.

A look of astonishment appeared on Ethan Carter’s face. That punch of his had at least a thousand pounds of force—if he’d hit a rock, he’d have smashed a hole in it. But hitting this yellow shield didn’t even make a dent. Just what is this yellow shield?

……

……

“John Foster young master, the prey has taken the bait. Should we notify the elders of the family right away?” In the darkness of a corner of the hall, a small, thin figure respectfully cupped his fists toward a tall figure.

“No need for now! My little sister is inexperienced in the world—this time, I want to see how she handles things!” The tall figure waved his hand.

“But…” The small figure wanted to say more.

“No buts. If anything goes wrong, I’ll take responsibility.” The tall figure said impatiently, “Besides, the other side is just a first-rank ability user. What could possibly happen? Let’s just sit back and watch the show!”

“Yes!” the small figure replied respectfully.

……

……

Taking two steps forward, Ethan Carter gently pressed on the yellow shield. The shield immediately sank in at that spot, then bounced back, just like pressing on cotton—the amount of force you apply is the amount it rebounds.

“Don’t waste your energy, you’ll never get that thing!” At that moment, Brian Bolton suddenly sneered. The fear on Brian Bolton’s face had completely vanished, replaced by an undisguised arrogance. He chuckled, “With this barrier, there’s no way a first-rank ability user like you could possibly break it. You’d best surrender now!”

As he spoke, Brian Bolton punched a nearby stone, shattering it into pieces.

“This is a trap!” Ethan Carter suddenly realized why he’d felt things were going too smoothly—this was all a setup! He’d fallen right into their trap!

“Impressive acting!” Ethan Carter turned around, his eyes coldly fixed on Brian Bolton. So all that fear and timidity on his face had been an act. No wonder Brian Bolton had dodged his angry flying knife—it wasn’t an accident, it was deliberate.

“Since we’re both ability users, let’s settle this the ability users’ way!” Brian Bolton stepped forward, saying coldly, “I, Brian Bolton, a first-rank martial artist, challenge you!”

“Don’t mind him! Quickly use your psychic power to control the flying knife, break the barrier, and take the Staff of Asura!” An anxious voice sounded in Ethan Carter’s ear.

Ethan Carter ignored the system’s prompt, stepped forward, and shouted, “I accept your challenge!”

Having been toyed with by Brian Bolton, Ethan Carter was already angry. Now that Brian Bolton was challenging him in front of Emily Foster, of course he wouldn’t refuse.