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

In ancient martial arts that truly kill, battles are not only about who is superior, but also about life and death. There is no such thing as being despicable or not; only those who survive have the right to talk about dignity and honor.

No matter how despicable the martial arts are, it is still something that happens in a fair and square duel. For a martial artist, losing to such means means that death is a matter of fate, and if they survive, they can only say that their skills are inferior.

Despicable? That's just the talk of a loser.

Therefore, even though the Hokushin Ittō-ryū style is considered a despicable swordsmanship, it is still famous throughout the world and even has the potential to become the strongest swordsmanship in the country.

Su Qing'an clearly knew this, and even his so-called Tai Xuan Liu was not a pure sword technique. Yet this boy, who was not much older than her, was trying to use his weakness to fight against the other's strength.

Such arrogant and boastful words were casually uttered by Su Qing'an, but the displeasure between Raiden Mei's brows vanished in the next instant.

Instead, there was solemnity.

The boy simply pulled out the wooden sword slowly, and Raiden Mei could no longer call him arrogant.

Martial artists can understand. Or rather, Kiana, with her keen intuition, could sense that from the moment Su Qing'an drew his sword, the entire atmosphere of the dojo was dominated by this young man.

The boy's eyes were like still water. He stared directly at Raiden Mei, using the technique "Momentum" from the Taigen-ryu school, which, as the name suggests, is the application of momentum.

In the Tai Xuan style created by Chen Junxuan, even the most basic aura is used to the extreme. People with weak wills cannot even draw their swords under the old man's gaze, and can only be suddenly awakened when their lives are in danger.

In a duel between martial artists, if swords are drawn, even a moment's delay can lead to a fatal blow. By the time the opponent realizes they can control their body, it's too late. They'll only see the blade slicing across their neck before losing their life.

According to Su Qing'an's understanding, this is essentially a rough application of the essence of the soul, and with his unique talent in this area, he is already more terrifying than Chen Junxuan in this move.

Ordinary people, faced with his power, could not move an inch even as they lay on the hilt of their swords until death.

This is like the evil dragon in legends and myths. When faced with the dragon's roar and the dragon's might, being able to move for even a moment is considered a rare act of bravery among ordinary people.

In terms of their nature, Su Qing'an was like a mythical dragon in the eyes of Raiden Mei and Kiana at this moment, and only a legendary hero with an unwavering will could wield a sword against such a dragon.

Raiden Mei, if you can't even draw your sword, then there's no point in learning the Hokushin Itto-ryu style from you.

Never before had Raiden Mei imagined that she would find herself in such a predicament when fighting against her peers.

The other person gave her the feeling of facing a being far superior to herself; just by drawing her sword, just by making eye contact, she was already on the verge of defeat.

That was a much heavier pressure than when she practiced with her master.

However, in the blink of an eye, Raiden Mei froze all her emotions, and the tense muscles in her body relaxed instantly. Her body, which had been intimidated by the "power," returned to its optimal state in an instant.

She drew her knife.

This is a state of mind similar to a still lake, which ancient swordsmen called the "mind's eye." Essentially, it is the ultimate concentration of complete focus. Only in this state can Raiden Mei draw her sword smoothly.

What completely freed her from the influence of "momentum" was the breathing technique inherited from the Hokushin Itto-ryu school. It wasn't anything mystical; it was simply a method for swordsmen to bring their bodies into their optimal state.

Raiden Mei is undoubtedly a genius.

She achieved in half the time what a normal human being might reach by the age of thirty through arduous training.

She felt better than ever before, her body was incredibly light, and the world before her seemed to slow down. Her eyesight and swordsmanship were on a completely different level than before.

Raiden Mei appears to be a pampered young lady who is much happier than most people, but her life is far from smooth sailing; in fact, it has been quite bumpy.

In 1999, my mother passed away from cancer.

In 2004, Mei was kidnapped by a terrorist group. After being rescued, she spent three years recuperating at ME-sha's private facility due to psychological trauma.

Her status as the young lady of ME Company brought her many hardships.

The reason why Raiden Mei was able to surpass her previous limits here is because the hardships she had suffered in the past and the ups and downs of this period had truly tempered her mind, turning them into resources for her progress. That's why she was able to enter the state of mind's eye under Su Qing'an's deliberate pressure.

The girl began to feel glad that she hadn't refused Su Qing'an's challenge. Without such pressure, it was unknown how long it would take for a genius like her to gain access to the Mind's Eye.

This one gain alone makes the trip worthwhile.

In return, Raiden Mei is determined to give it her all.

31. Winner or Loser

The skill 【Momentum】 may sound overly powerful, but such moves are typically designed for human-specific attacks and are only effective against humans with average willpower. For people with strong willpower, three seconds of mental distraction is the limit, and for swordsmen who can achieve the state of mindless concentration, it is even less than a second.

Regardless of the type of martial art, Chen Junxuan created it all for the purpose of dueling with others.

So to put it bluntly, this means I can strike hard against humans, but I can only cower before the Honkai.

Most of the techniques of the Tai Xuan style become meaningless when faced with the size of Honkai Beasts.

In fact, this is a common problem with most martial arts. When facing the Honkai, both Destiny and Anti-Entropy use a combination of methods built upon the foundations of previous civilizations and their own technology.

Martial arts? It can only be said to be a product of human infighting. Even if Su Qing'an learns very quickly in the face of the Honkai, to the point that he can master all the martial arts in the world in a month, the limit he can reach cannot exceed Chen Junxuan by much.

Therefore, Raiden Mei may be shocked by Su Qing'an's strength.

But he himself knew exactly how weak he was.

Assuming Bronya is monitoring Raiden Mei nearby, it wouldn't be too difficult for her to kill herself at this distance.

But the boy didn't care about these distractions at the moment. With a light step, he drew his sword completely and slashed out like lightning!

Unlike swords in China, Japanese swords are all referred to by the same name. Japanese swords and scabbards have a certain curvature, and the art of drawing the sword uses this curvature to create an instantaneous burst of power, which is far greater than swinging the sword directly in the air.

At this moment, Su Qing'an was using the sword-drawing technique integrated from the Tai Xuan style.

Soon, despite it being just a wooden sword, Mei felt a sharpness and danger comparable to a real sword.

With such force and speed, even a wooden sword could be fatal to a vital part of the body.

What was supposed to be a friendly sparring session turned into a life-or-death struggle for Raiden Mei.

In her mental state, she could clearly see the exact point where the opponent's sword was about to fall. At that moment, the girl drew the sword halfway out and then fully unsheathed it.

Taking the initiative, Raiden Mei's sword strike was faster than Su Qing'an's.

The Hokushin Itto-ryu is a pure killing sword technique. Its sword-drawing technique is far faster, simpler, and more dangerous than that of the Taigen-ryu.

Compared to the complex and chaotic Taigen-ryu, the Hokushin Itto-ryu, which focuses solely on swordsmanship, is undoubtedly far superior to Taigen-ryu in terms of swordsmanship.

However, Su Qing'an also sincerely believed that there was no school of thought more suitable for him than the complex and chaotic Tai Xuan style.

Only a martial art as complex as Tai Xuan Liu can fully utilize its unique advantage: combining and integrating the martial arts of others to quickly summarize combat techniques specifically for dealing with Honkai Beasts.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The sounds of wooden swords clashing against each other echoed continuously in the dojo.

Kiana stared intently at the two people who had drawn their swords and were showing no mercy.

She seemed to see unparalleled beauty in the clash of their swords, the tentative steps they took, and the intricate techniques they used to wield their blades.

Even though they were only using wooden swords, the girl felt as if they would be separated by life and death the next time they swung their swords.

This was the first time she had ever seriously observed other combat techniques, aside from the gunfighting techniques her father had taught her.

Compared to her interpersonal skills, Kiana's combat talent is undoubtedly far superior.

However, even Kiana, who has been fighting Honkai Beasts for many years, is not confident that she can defeat anyone on the field in close combat.

This is the result of the different emphases of the martial arts techniques practiced by the three individuals.

At the same time, those who can master martial arts to this level are already a very small minority.

If Kiana uses a gun, her chances of winning in a life-or-death battle are undoubtedly much higher.

Raiden Mei's breathing had begun to become erratic; she was nearing the limit of how long she could maintain her peak combat power.

The Hokushin Ittō-ryū style is not a martial art suitable for prolonged battles; its most energy-efficient use is to kill people with the fastest speed and power in a short period of time.

Even though she could swing her knife faster than her opponent, aside from the first few strikes where her opponent struggled to block, each subsequent strike became increasingly effortless for him.

Raiden Mei understood that it was not that her strength and speed had decreased in a short period of time, but that her opponent had adapted to her sword style and speed.

His physical strength and reflexes were truly terrifying. She had heard that Chen Junxuan had never taken on any students, but now she seemed to understand why he would.

The boy's sword swings became faster and faster, completely reversing the balance of power between the two. Raiden Mei felt that her mastery of Mind's Eye before the battle and the increased strength of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū style was already an exaggerated feat.

However, Su Qing'an's progress completely shattered her worldview. The trajectory and technique of the boy's sword strikes towards her, and even the skill of muscle exertion, were closer to the true Hokushin Itto-ryu style in the next strike.

Unbelievable, incomprehensible, this action is already challenging Raiden Mei's basic understanding of martial arts.

There is no need to practice or develop muscle memory.

In just three minutes of fighting, the boy learned most of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū style that she had practiced for nearly ten years. How could there be such a person in this world?

She fully understood why Chen Junxuan took this boy as his student; only someone with such learning ability could perfectly inherit and master the incredibly complex Tai Xuan Liu.

She didn't know how long Chen Junxuan had been teaching Su Qing'an, but judging from the guy's current learning speed, it shouldn't have been very long.

Raiden Mei herself is a genius. She can master most of the skills that ordinary people have to work hard for a long time to barely grasp.

With exceptional talent, she obtained the complete mastery of the Hokushin Itto-ryu style at a young age and developed her own understanding of swordsmanship.

Even though her master once said that his talent in the Hokushin Ittō-ryū style was not as good as hers, Raiden Mei, for the first time in her life, understood the mindset and perspective of ordinary people when looking at geniuses.

It was anger and bewilderment, along with intense resentment, from feeling that years of hard work had been unwittingly insulted and mocked.

But soon, she calmed down.

Swing your sword! No matter how powerful or unreasonable the enemy may be, as the successor of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school, and as a swordsman, I cannot allow my mind to waver.

Swing your sword with all your might, without needing to think about anything else.

"Bang!" It was an even more muffled sound than before; the wooden sword in the girl's hand broke.

Su Qing'an's final strike severed the wooden sword; given the level of combat required, it was to be expected that the wooden sword would break.

"Let's call it a draw," he said, putting away his wooden sword.

"I lost." She looked at the broken sword on the ground, then looked directly into Su Qing'an's eyes and said frankly.

Raiden Mei's feelings were complicated. This was the first time in many years that she had lost to someone her age in kendo. She knew that this battle was undoubtedly her defeat. Putting aside her opponent's terrifying learning speed, the disadvantage in physical strength alone was enough to determine the outcome of the battle.

Therefore, her somewhat proud nature and identity as a swordsman did not allow her to deny her defeat.

Losing is losing, there's nothing to be ashamed of.

However, if one is unwilling to even admit their own failure, that is a complete and utter defeat.

"But it wasn't Hokushin Ittō-ryū who lost, it was Raiden Mei." After saying this, the girl flicked her ponytail and walked away without looking back.

Raiden Mei's meaning was clear: she was saying that Hokushin Ittō-ryū was far more than that, and that losing to Su Qing'an was not because Taigen-ryū was stronger than Hokushin Ittō-ryū, but simply because her own skills were not up to par.

This also means one thing. Raiden Mei's will has not been broken. Even after witnessing Su Qing'an's terrifying power, she still believes that she has a chance to win back later.

True martial artists and swordsmen are all people with such unwavering determination and indomitable spirit.

Raiden Mei's will lives up to her identity as a successor of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū.