His [Perception] secret technique was activated, and the surrounding environment condensed into a map projected into his mind, but there was no sign of red light.

It wasn’t a demon, but someone had come to the door...

He thought of that phone call not long ago.

The Su family, are they really making a move?

...

Among the three, one was clearly skilled at picking locks.

The apartment rented by Ethan was as good as defenseless, easily opened.

Once inside, the man in the trench coat at the front whispered, “Be quick about it. Let this Young Master Brooks die without suffering.”

“Young Master Brooks? He never acknowledged his ancestry—how is he a Su family young master?”

Another man with short hair clicked his tongue. “Family feuds to this extent, that’s something. These Su family people are truly ruthless.”

“Just a stupid thing done by the younger generation. Why should we care? As long as we get paid, that’s enough. Too many jobs lately, can’t stay in Dayu any longer. Once this is done, we’re getting out fast.”

The three exchanged words briefly and quickly.

But at that moment, a voice interrupted.

“So, can you tell me—which junior was it?”

“Who else could it be? Of course, it’s his cheap little brother...”

The short-haired man started to answer.

But halfway through, his voice abruptly stopped, his gaze snapping to the study door.

Ethan turned on the light.

The incandescent lamp flooded the room with brightness.

But almost at the same instant he turned on the light, the trench coat man, clearly the leader, pushed off with his toes and lunged forward like a leopard pouncing on prey, instantly crossing the four-meter gap between them. A dagger gleaming with cold light traced a swift, graceful arc straight for his throat.

Ethan didn’t even look at the dagger.

He simply reached out, fingers forming a sword, and jabbed at the man’s throat.

“Thud!”

No change, no flourish.

Fast.

So fast that before the dagger even reached him, his finger-sword had already shattered the man’s throat bone.

The fierce force of his finger not only crushed the throat bone but also sent a shock through the man’s cervical nerves, making him instantly lose control of his body.

In the end, the deadly blade swept past about three centimeters from Ethan’s throat, and the man’s body staggered past him, collapsing to the ground.

Throughout the whole process, Ethan only moved his fingers—his feet never shifted an inch.

Chapter 4: The Merchant

“Cheap little brother? What was his name again...”

Ethan pondered.

He quickly found it in the original body’s memory.

Samuel Brooks.

Charles Brooks was a playboy with as many as six children, but only one son—Samuel Brooks.

That person...

The original body was full of fear toward him?

By now, the two remaining men had snapped out of their shock from the sudden turn of events.

They both retreated rapidly.

One of them immediately pulled a gun from his coat.

In Dayu, firearms are strictly prohibited. Having a gun...

For a killer, having a gun is normal.

Almost at the same instant the gun was drawn, Ethan flicked his hand.

An invisible sword shot out, whistling faintly as it pierced through the man’s gun-wielding right wrist, then, without losing momentum, shot into his brow, hilt and all.

Immediately after, he moved.

“Screech!”

The sudden burst of force nearly split the soles of his shoes.

As he slid across the floor, it seemed a wisp of smoke escaped from the friction.

He appeared almost instantly beside the last short-haired man. Under the man’s terrified gaze, he spread his fingers wide, palm covering the man’s entire face, and then...

Pushed forward violently.

The tremendous force sent the man’s eighty-kilogram body flying sideways.

But just as his toes left the ground by half a meter, his flight was abruptly halted.

The back of his head slammed hard into the wall.

“Bang!”

The wall cracked!

Stone chips flew!

Blood splattered everywhere.

The man’s body, driven by lingering instinct, seemed to struggle, but Ethan’s right hand held him down firmly.

A few seconds.

All struggle ceased.

Ethan let go, and the short-haired man’s corpse slid to the floor.

At this moment, Ethan seemed to realize something.

Looking at the cracked wall, the blood stains, and the three corpses yet to be cleaned up, he frowned.

“Careless. Looks like I really need to find a cleanup crew.”

With that, he began searching the bodies.

There was little cash.

Altogether, only a few thousand.

But among them, a black bank card stood out.

“A bearer card from Terry Bank.”

He guessed why this card was here.

Ethan took the phone from the trench coat man, pried open his eyelids, and used facial recognition.

Then, while the corpse was still warm, he used the man’s fingerprint to unlock the phone and transferred all available funds.

Martial cultivation requires resources.

The ancient tree is like a data search engine connecting all worlds, allowing him to obtain all information related to his profession.

But after obtaining the information, actual cultivation still depended on himself.

This past year, by slaying those demon imposters disguised as martial artists, he had accumulated loot worth no less than ten million, but he had spent it all on cultivation, only managing to temper his body to the human peak in a single year.

Broke.