Regarding the question of whether one thousand lives are enough to beat Honkai Impact 3rd.

Given the severity of the Lawyer's evil intentions, this funeral was already quite grand.

Jizo-myo-tama is dead.

The now empty ground, apart from the still-burning flames and debris, is occupied by a katana whose body is concealed by a black scabbard.

It stood still, the end of its scabbard embedded in the wrecked ground.

The blood-red color covered the hilt, forming a strange yet beautiful pattern. However, if you look closely, you will find that the pattern gradually distorts into a ghostly face that looks like it is both crying and laughing.

This was the prototype of the Divine Key.

With the shell of malice shattered, it finally manifested itself.

As long as Su Qing'an fails to pull the sword from its sheath, the demonic warrior will reappear shortly afterward.

Jizo's Soul is a complete upgrade of the Living Doll; it is not only much stronger than the Living Doll, but also much more troublesome.

The original living doll was only able to barely approach the form of Jizo Mitama thanks to the Honkai energy accumulated over hundreds of years, and it lost the ability to revive.

Jizo Mitama, on the other hand, is a demon that can resurrect infinitely, and is far stronger and more ferocious than Jizo Mitama.

Jizo Mitama doesn't need defense; most of the Honkai energy within its body is condensed on its two katanas. If Su Qing'an had continued fighting it for a little longer, he would have faced an extremely difficult battle.

A boss that only requires you to deal damage without worrying about losing health is no different from cheating, but the resulting weakness in defense is precisely the key factor that allows Su Qing'an to achieve a near-instant kill.

Before attempting to draw his sword, Su Qing'an addressed the sacred mark on his back:

"It's about to begin, Rin."

Without waiting for the girl's reply, the boy placed his hand on the hilt of the knife.

There were no unexpected dangers or difficulties; everything was fine once the skin of my palm touched the texture of the knife handle.

But that's only the surface.

Su Qing'an could clearly feel the constantly changing texture of the knife hilt. That strange sensation was like countless sticky and cold things gradually closing off his consciousness. The touch in his palm made him have an impulse to abandon the knife for a moment.

But reason suppressed the sense of crisis and disgust that came from my intuition.

very dangerous.

The changing patterns represent the evil intent of the Jizo-myoji, which is likely reviving. Before long, that demon will descend again, wielding a giant katana to slash at him.

The fact that Jizo Mitama has not chosen to attack him is evidenced by the fact that his emotions have not fluctuated unexpectedly, his will has not been attacked, and his body has not been eroded by any unusual Honkai energy. This proves that as long as he does not choose to draw his sword, this unfinished Divine Key poses no threat to him for the time being.

But if one wants to end all of this, drawing the sword is inevitable.

Without hesitation, Su Qing'an drew his sword.

In the instant when the hand grips the hilt tightly, as if trying to drag the knife out.

A myriad of phenomena flashed before my eyes.

Evil thoughts.

Evil thoughts as deep as the abyss, as vast as the ocean, as boundless as the sky.

Consciousness, like a small boat, was slapped into another world where only evil thoughts remained.

Countless murmurs swirled around his ears, and chilling delusions grew gently like vines, spreading throughout his body.

As emotions surged, the boy's body was forced to experience incredibly realistic hallucinations.

It felt as if thousands of fine, sharp blades were carefully slicing open the outer layer of skin, and blood was slowly seeping out. In just a moment, a wet, sticky feeling covered the whole body. All of this strangeness stimulated the consciousness, and a hard, unpleasant feeling overwhelmed the softest part of the nerves. The body's senses had already become violently confused.

Su Qing'an couldn't tell for a moment whether it was blood licking her body or evil thoughts entangled her mind.

But this is an illusion.

This is all an illusion, no matter what.

But the boy's heart wavered. This was the Sacred Mark Space. Was the illusion he was experiencing here really just a simple illusion?

Su Qing'an couldn't help but put down his sword sheath and cover one ear with his left hand, trying to block out the auditory hallucinations. This proved that even his willpower was about to reach its limit on such a battlefield.

But this was futile, like pouring countless streams of information into his soul; as long as his other hand was still gripping the hilt of the knife, the medium could not be severed.

This is an unfair battle because the opponent is completely at ease and has endless malice. However, no matter how strong Su Qing'an's willpower is, there is a limit to his endurance. Once he crosses that limit, he will be defeated.

As long as the sword remains undrawn, this unfair battle will never end.

The boy abandoned the pointless act of covering his ears and put his hands back on the scabbard, intending to continue exerting force.

But at this moment, it was also difficult to restrain the instinct to protect oneself. For a moment, Su Qing'an felt extremely weak and could hardly continue to draw his sword.

Blood seeped from his pores, and hallucinations gradually eroded his physical body. The pain of reality and illusion intertwined in a blood-red symphony.

He had heard of cruel punishments like the Ten Great Tortures of the Qing Dynasty in his previous world. Just watching others suffer such punishments made him unable to imagine what kind of hell it would be like to be subjected to such pain.

But now he has tasted it for himself.

This was a torture comparable to slow slicing, but the boy's face remained unchanged. Blood beads slowly oozed from his pores, and the nerves in his eyes suffered excruciating pain as if they were being sliced ​​off. The black pupils and the whites of his eyes were covered with abnormal blood vessels, creating a chilling scene like that of a vengeful ghost.

But he remained quiet and composed, his eyes wide open.

His gaze was fixed on everything before him, yet it seemed as if nothing concerned him.

Perhaps, the Su Qing'an of today is already a far cry from the Su Qing'an of the past.

In his previous world, he was a seasoned international master of backing down, avoiding things whenever possible and shirking his responsibilities whenever he could. He was afraid of and hated pain, and disliked and hated making an effort.

That same man has become what he is now.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Perhaps by quietly escaping into the world of the past, he will eventually come to some realizations and mature a little one day.

He will then reconnect with the outside world, build bonds, get married and have children, and live an ordinary life without war.

Instead of repeating the same cycle of constant fighting and struggling to survive.

He hated fighting, hated the cruelty of not being able to escape, hated the apocalypse and tragedy, hated the high and mighty gods, and hated the so-called Honkai.

He really, really hates this world.

Even in this world that he hates, there is a reason for him to live.

This also gives Su Qing'an the reason why he is now risking his life for it.

The boy drew his sword, overcoming the corrosive and tormenting thoughts of evil, and tried to draw it once more.

A state of still water cannot stabilize the probing questions from the soul, but it can stabilize the lower limit of skill.

With a twisting force, ignoring the blood constantly seeping from the pores of his palms, Su Qing'an gripped the knife handle tightly.

Once again, draw your sword!

The result was that it remained completely still; the blade seemed to be rusted inside the sheath, and the force was like a surge into the deep sea without causing the slightest ripple.

Su Qing'an smiled.

He knew that his counterpart from another world had extremely poor Honkai energy adaptability and resistance, so hoping to possess the so-called Divine Key adaptability was undoubtedly a pipe dream.

Su Qing'an absolutely cannot remove the Jizo Soul.

This is fate, this is the limit, this is an ending that was foreseen.

What cannot be done, simply cannot be done.

Just as he absolutely cannot use [Thousand Stars] without activating the Stigmata, the same applies to trying to pull out the Jizo Mitama.

Without the Divine Key Adaptability, he was not qualified to draw it.

But perhaps Su Qing'an hasn't changed. He's still the same stubborn person, still so stupid and foolish.

look.

Even though he knew that [Thousand Stars] was such a demanding skill that it could never be used without burning one's life force, he still went and learned it.

It's probably true what Nishikujo Sara said: you can't just listen to those things like "you won't be satisfied until you've hit a brick wall." Su Qing'an is clearly the kind of idiot who wouldn't give up even if he crashed into a wall.

"Big brother...you've already tried your best."

It was Rin speaking; the girl's voice seemed ethereal and distant in the boy's consciousness, as if she were offering comfort.

Su Qing'an pulled out the knife, his body was like a wet towel being wrung out, blood gushing out like a prisoner desperately escaping from a cage, but his back remained straight and his steps were still steady.

When a man is fighting for his life, he can't afford to look so pathetic, right?

Men are sometimes creatures who care about strange things, and Su Qing'an was no exception. He thought he must look bad enough now, and it was a real pity that he couldn't look handsome when he was working so hard.

Every time it's the same mess, but maybe this is the last time.

The boy's back gradually hunched over. He was still human, and even with his extraordinary physique, the massive blood loss eventually led him toward weakness.

The pool of blood beneath him caused him to slip, and the boy scrambled to his feet, managing to steady himself in a half-kneeling position, his hands never leaving the hilt of his knife.

It's just that when you're working hard, it's really hard to look cool.

Strange thoughts flashed through the boy's mind, which was beginning to descend into chaos. The Taixu Sword Qi reconnected with the Honkai energy cycle of the outside world. As his consciousness was about to disappear, the erosion of evil thoughts seemed to have temporarily left him.

Su Qing'an spoke softly to the girl within the sacred mark:

"It's okay, it's not over yet."

Yes, it's not over yet.

85. A doomed defeat.

Su Qing'an once asked Fu Hua about the principles behind [Thousand Stars]. It involves a great deal of complex and extensive knowledge of the human body, biology, and the details of Honkai energy construction, and even requires subtle adjustments based on an individual's physique and physical data.

The [Thousand Stars] technique that Su Qing'an is currently cultivating was personally tailored to him by Fu Hua, and the records of his deaths in the virtual space were also part of the data collection process.

Overall, the current Honkai energy circulation rate is the safest and most cost-effective state.

However, being the safest also means that if safety considerations are completely disregarded, it can become even stronger.

“Su Qing’an, I know you’re the kind of person who’s willing to risk your life to be brave in critical moments, but [Thousand Star] is a double-edged sword. So in this process, I hope you can cherish your physical condition.”

In the boy's hazy consciousness, the girl's words in his memory melted into his heart like delicate, cool snowflakes.

I'm sorry, Hua.

But I had no other choice.

Five seconds is the limit for the body to remain unharmed, and ten seconds is the absolute red line for the body to avoid irreversible disability.