My Arms Can Turn into Blades-Chapter 44 - 38: Giant Ant

Time rolls back a little.

At the same time Chen Lusi, Wu You, and Xia Panqiu began their training.

Eastern Jingchu.

Amidst the mountains.

Ah Yue led the head of the security team, Old Li, to the highest nearby peak. He gazed at the basin between the mountain ranges to the northwest and asked, "Is that the spot?"

"..."

Old Li was silent for a moment before replying, "Yes... Ah Yue, even though there are no residents nearby, I hope you won’t make too much of a scene, or else it’ll be hard to clean up."

"I know."

Ah Yue nodded, "It won’t be too much of a disturbance."

"... What is the point of this."

Old Li still felt uneasy and helplessly said, "That man named Zhang is almost at death’s door, and yet you’re still tangled up with him."

"Precisely because he’s almost dead, I’m tangled up with him."

Ah Yue responded casually, "He possesses great power now but is burdened by a frail body. He’s experienced what it’s like to stand at the pinnacle, and he still longs for that feeling, so he’s not willing to accept it."

"If it were merely unwillingness or reminiscence, I could understand and might even visit him. But he shouldn’t seek to regain his youth, he shouldn’t help Lu Hao for selfish desires, and he shouldn’t think of living forever. It doesn’t work that way."

"He’s like a race car with a decayed exterior but an intact engine, on the verge of losing control. I don’t want him to go wild one last time before he dies."

"His body has reached its limit, so dust should return to dust, and earth to earth. He needs to accept this fact."

"..."

Old Li heard these words, knowing that Ah Yue was determined, and could only say, "Then try to keep it under control."

"Alright, just say there was an earthquake nearby."

Ah Yue stretched his body, stepped forward before Old Li could react.

"... Earthquake!?"

Old Li immediately tried to call out to stop Ah Yue.

But he didn’t finish his words.

Xia Yue soared upward, and in the blink of an eye, his figure vanished.

Old Li was momentarily stunned, unable to react.

A massive sonic boom... suddenly echoed through the mountains!

In the distance.

A white line of an unidentifiable object suddenly burst through the clouds, descending from the sky, and in the blink of an eye, plunged into the basin.

The moment the white line fell.

Among the mountains, it was as if all sounds had disappeared.

Then.

Half a second later.

A circular shockwave violently exploded, sweeping outwards.

The tremendous sound reached Old Li’s ears.

He witnessed with his own eyes the basin between the distant mountain ranges collapsing in an instant, forming a massive crater, as if hit by a meteor!

The mountains trembled!

A powerful shockwave struck.

Old Li stumbled and fell to the ground.

He struggled to his feet, gazing at the grand scene in the distance, feeling the ground beneath him still shaking.

He was silent for a long time.

It really was... an earthquake.

Until Ah Yue reappeared beside him, and he regained his composure, gritting his teeth, "I believed your nonsense..."

"Relax, the shaking will stop soon and won’t spread too far."

Ah Yue supported him, guiding him down the mountain, saying, "Let’s go, it’s time to head back... I owe someone a thank you."

"..."

Old Li resignedly looked back one last time, taking in the sight of the deep crater in the center of the basin, the size of a football field, and couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

Giant Ant...

Truly the purest form of authority.

But the problem is... how to explain this.

He let out a wry smile, turned back, and gazed at Ah Yue.

Ah Yue pretended not to notice his gaze.

The two gradually faded into the distance.

And behind them.

Within the basin, in the deep crater.

Countless swirling black mists began seeping from the earth.

But these black mists seemed unable to linger in the open air for long. As soon as they emerged and touched sunlight, they twisted as if alive, then evaporated and disappeared.

This process continued for seven or eight minutes.

Finally, the land stopped seeping black mist and the trembling mountains returned to calm.

But in the next second.

From the center of the deep crater that Ah Yue had smashed open... the previously compacted soil suddenly split like tofu cubes, flying into the air.

Then a figure staggered up from within.

It was an aged, emaciated elder, reduced almost to skin and bones.

He was hunched over, his eyes murky and dull, devoid of any hint of life, exuding an aura of decay.

Like a... living corpse.

"You won’t even let me eke out a living?"

The old man looked in the direction Ah Yue had left, trembling as he asked.

As expected.

There was no response.

So the old man slowly raised his hand, aiming in the direction Ah Yue had gone.

But soon... he lowered his hand again.

Ah Yue was too young.

And he... too old.

This time Xia Yue chose to shatter his last life-linking Yellow Springs Eye... essentially showing him that he either needed to fight or enjoy his remaining time and then die peacefully.

And he was afraid...

Afraid he wasn’t a match for the young man, afraid to die.

"Why..."

The old man slowly lowered his head, looking at his withered arm, a look of agony on his face, "Why... am I afraid?"

Indeed.

Why was he afraid of a young upstart in his thirties?

Clearly, the spirit within him was still surging!

Clearly, he had never been this powerful before!

But why... why was he aging so rapidly? Why was his body giving out first?

The old man stared at his withered arm, his face shifting from pain to resentment. He looked up again, suddenly shouting, "Xia Yue! I may not have merit, but I’ve worked hard too! Why won’t you help me! Why won’t you let her help me!! You even want to exterminate me!!!"

"Celestial Strategy! Celestial Strategy!! Before the Celestial Strategy Mansion was founded, who do you think maintained order! Who, do you think!!!"

His not-so-loud voice echoed.

Yet still, there was no response.

"..."

The old man, breathing heavily, suddenly calmed down.

He slowly straightened his hunched back, closed his murky eyes, muttering, "Peng City... Peng City... Xia Yue, since you won’t give, then I’ll take it myself."

...

"So verbose... you’ve lived so many years, don’t you understand that life and death are normal? Is being an old ghost fun? And who was maintaining the order before the Celestial Strategy Mansion was established, would Celestial Strategy Mansion even be needed if not for you old relics?"

Ah Yue impatiently glanced back, his tone growing slightly irritated, as though he wanted to head back down.

Old Li noticed the sign and quickly held him back, "Don’t, don’t, don’t, we’re too close to densely populated areas, think of those people."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Ah Yue took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, "Fine, let’s go."

"Yes, don’t concern yourself with old relics."

Old Li let out a sigh of relief, then looked at Ah Yue, speaking softly, "You’ve worked hard."

The current balance can be maintained.

The aging of the old era is one aspect.

A powerful presence in the new era holding them in check is another.

Both aspects are indispensable.

And one man confronting the entire old era.

From any perspective, it’s not easy...

"What are you talking about, Old Li."

Ah Yue heard this and couldn’t help but smile, "Since when did you become so sentimental?"

"It’s nothing..."

Old Li shook his head and gazed forward again.

Hopefully, nothing unexpected will happen next.