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

Himeko's eyes, filled with unwavering will, closed for a few seconds before slowly opening again.

She eventually left Canghai City and did not choose to turn back.

The whaling ship, carrying the will of the entire civilization, has arrived, and no one can stop this process anymore.

79. The mermaid encountered a whaling ship.

Inside the temple of the soul.

Tick, tick.

The chips gained at the cost of emotions are slowly falling like water droplets onto the empty scales.

The process of slowly accumulating chips continues uninterrupted.

The ticking sound, which only a young person can hear, is like a fixed, swaying clock, a testament to the passage of time.

Since it's unclear how much weight is on the other side of the scale, this act of accumulating chips is like playing an invisible game.

On the gambling table lies the will to persevere to the end, and the unpredictable luck that may befall them.

And the reality that you can only confirm whether two people are on the same gamble when you reach the limit of choosing to reveal your hand.

……

……

The electromagnetic force's ability to disintegrate everything was far too domineering; the ground it swept across during the battle had long since been completely erased.

That illogical scene was like a stroke of genius left out by the Creator; the vast emptiness where not even dust existed was awe-inspiring.

If it weren't for the fact that he was already able to use his full strength in the third realm under the [Feather Crossing Dust Critical] state to fly through the air, the fact that there was no place to stand on the ground would have been enough to put him in a desperate situation.

The illusions that Yu Duchen created on their own helped Su Qing'an overcome countless crises. Under this destructive attack that forced out weaknesses, the activation range of the [Holy Mark] became the key reason why the boy was still alive.

Logically speaking, Su Qing'an gradually realized that there might be secrets hidden within the Feathered Dust that he was unaware of.

The fact that it has no divine key adaptability did not change even after entering a high-frequency overlap mode of soul resonance with Yu Duchen.

Those illusions that have no practical significance other than the [Holy Mark] ability are still not things that Su Qing'an can control.

It was Yu Duchen's own initiative in helping himself that allowed the battle to continue until now.

In a wondrous state of perfect mental alignment, Su Qing'an's combat consciousness could be transmitted to Yu Duchen without delay, successfully creating the illusion that the boy had complete control over these illusions.

This seamless teamwork, even though Yu Duchen had previously displayed an incomprehensible spirituality, still left Su Qing'an with a sense of unease.

In the heat of such a battle, these meaningless thoughts were put aside, and accumulating resources and preserving one's life became the priorities.

Unlike the somewhat disheveled Su Qing'an, the girl remained suspended in the same spot, showing no intention of moving.

The ground beneath Sato Yuno's feet became the only isolated island within a radius of dozens of miles. Her clean, fair legs were revealed as her skirt swayed, and her toes, which drooped slightly towards the ground, were adorned with light-colored nail polish.

The girl gazed at the boys fleeing one after another in the distant sky.

The endless crimson illusions continued to be created, like a dance undulating across the sky.

Yuno Sato is like a statue of Tanah Lot Temple in Bali, overlooking the reefs surrounded by seawater as the tides rise and fall.

The girl's purple hair and pure white skirt danced in the wind as she witnessed an endless sunset, her eyes taking in the scene where the afterglow blended with the ocean.

Thus, the hyacinths by the sea were illuminated with a mesmerizing crimson glow.

The purple magma was as deep and vast as the ocean; it tried to hold onto the last rays of the setting sun, but each attempt ended in vain.

After a long five minutes, a streak of black appeared in the boy's snow-white hair.

Although it only lasted for a fleeting moment before returning to its original state, during that brief gap, both the [Stigmata] and the Feather Dust's Honkai energy reserves reached their common limit.

His emotions were completely swallowed up like water droplets on the scales of his soul, which made Su Qing'an unable to sense the fear caused by the approach of death. However, he also came to understand the reality that there are limits to [Feather Crossing Dust O-Critical].

The ease with which he hadn't felt any negative effects during long battles led the boy to wonder if this could become a regular skill like [Thousand Stars].

But reality is often disappointing.

Su Qing'an quickly understood the real reason behind this defect.

The high-frequency overlap of soul resonance is not a state that can be maintained for a long time.

Even just entering this state is an incredible thing. The reason why the boy was able to do this is entirely because there is a connection between Yu Duchen and his own soul.

Even so, it is extremely difficult to maintain this pattern for a long time.

His superior soul essence allowed him to do this without feeling any pressure, and he could even exert all his strength in this state for high-intensity combat.

However, this does not mean that this time has no end. The concentration and mental energy required to fight a life-or-death battle against an opponent of the Herrscher level are terrifying.

Su Qing'an predicted that if the entanglement continued, he would be unable to maintain his [Feather Crossing Dust o Critical] state for at most fifteen minutes.

To truly continue engaging the Third Herrscher without revealing any weaknesses, five minutes is the final time limit.

[Soul Essence: 52.37 (78.2)]

The constantly changing data on the panel helped the boy understand the truth.

This set of values ​​has now become a real countdown; the essence of the soul has been slowly depleting since the moment [Feather Crossing Dust O Critical] was unleashed.

However, unlike the last time when the soul burning caused such a significant and immediate depletion that Su Qing'an fainted, these gradual changes were so subtle that he could hardly detect them during the intense battle.

From the perspective of an ordinary person's soul essence, even if the score drops to 10, it might not be a big deal. However, before falling to that low point, Su Qing'an's reaction speed would already be so sluggish that it would be difficult for him to fight against his opponent.

Moreover, the soul strength required to maintain [Feather Crossing Dust Critical] is far beyond what ordinary people can achieve.

All of this was telling me that I had reached my limit in accumulating chips.

Hoping to accumulate enough experience to be truly confident was an unrealistic expectation, and even the fact that it has been dragged on until now is based on a series of coincidences.

The game between the two sides began the moment the distance between them widened.

The fact that the Third Herrscher remained in one place slowed down the transmission of the electromagnetic force decomposition phenomenon, and the accuracy of her long-range offensive operations became less than satisfactory.

This is one of the reasons why Su Qing'an has survived to this day.

The reason why the Honkai consciousness did this was simple: it did not want the boy to have the opportunity to get close to Sato Yuno, and at the same time, it wanted to test Su Qing'an's limits by simply squandering its power.

Using one's powers to squander the endless Honkai energy is a painstaking and cost-free endeavor, and such caution aligns well with the current situation.

Therefore, the boy, who saw through the other party's obvious intentions, tried his best to appear as if he was in complete control.

This is to prevent the Honkai consciousness from truly knowing its limits.

Once the boy entered a state of complete rationality, he wouldn't do anything unnecessary. The harsh words he uttered earlier were meant to make the other party think twice before speaking.

Su Qing'an now understands that this limit has been reached, and soon the facade she has barely managed to maintain will no longer be able to deceive the Honkai consciousness.

But once the moment of being seen through arrives, that's when the Third Herrscher's true colors will be revealed.

The essence of the soul is one's last resort, and the possibility of initially burning away the remaining irretrievable details to make up for insufficient resources was also Su Qing'an's earlier plan.

However, the essence of the soul is now constantly depleting in order to maintain the state of [Feather Crossing Dust O-Critical]. If this drags on any longer, even if the chips are accumulated to the absolute limit of perfect time, the outcome will still be unacceptable in terms of the margin for error.

All these factors necessitate that Su Qing'an seize the initiative by attacking before the other party notices, directly converting his chips into corresponding power to attempt to sever that link.

All these decisions were made in the very second after the black hair turned snow-white again.

It's difficult to get close.

The current Honkai consciousness has been forced to reduce the threat posed by its offensive in order to prevent itself from getting close.

The difficulty of actually landing a physical sword blade on the Third Herrscher is now completely different from the initial challenge.

Judging from the current situation, forcibly breaking through to a distance of three kilometers is the limit that the dual cores of [Holy Mark] and Feather Dust can withstand.

Every step beyond three kilometers would be an insurmountable minefield, but these were not within Su Qing'an's concerns.

The reason is simple.

The strike that severs the link does not require close proximity; the transmission of the essence of the soul is different from anything else.

In terms of the results, within a fixed range of propagation, neither the nearest nor the farthest edge will cause a weakening or strengthening of the force that only the boy himself can measure.

As long as it is within the visible range, the invisible soul can interfere with the Third Herrscher's setting of coordinates to ensure that all the power exchanged for the chips is accurately struck on the equally invisible Honkai Link.

However, before actually exchanging the chips, in order to avoid being directly killed by the power wave at the same time, Su Qing'an had to find an opening to completely release all the Honkai energy inside Yu Duchen and the [Holy Mark].

The construction principle and ingenious concept of 【Thousand Stars】 have meant that the true limit of this skill has not been revealed since Fu Hua taught it to her.

All limits are essentially boundaries caused by the child's own insufficient physical abilities, which hinder the upper limit.

And the same is true today.

【Thousand Stars】’s speed was always at the normal limit without harming its body, but in order to get rid of the endless lightning paste that carried the electromagnetic force decomposition phenomenon for a short time, Su Qing’an could not care about these details that would not endanger his life for a short time.

Just like what was done in the battle of the Holy Mark Space.

The internal and external circulation structure has been reconstructed into a completely new form, which is an extreme micro-management approach that squeezes the body's durability and Honkai energy to the limit.

But at the cost of bleeding from his skin and signs of Honkai energy erosion in his bones and internal organs, the boy's figure seemed to be extracted from a frame of a video, directly shaking off the pursuit of the lightning plasma.

Su Qing stood in the vast sky, free of clouds, gazing at the relentlessly pursuing lightning bolts, and gently shook the [Calming the Waves] in his hand.

This blade, formed from bones and power, obeyed his will and instantly disintegrated into billions of independently rotating three-dimensional particles.

Using the original proportions of the "Calming the Storm" as a template, they were forged into a void blade based on points and lines by using Honkai energy as a link to remotely extend the distance.

Holding the only remaining sword hilt, the boy gazed at the distant, thunderous sea that seemed to turn back, and with that, he slashed out a myriad of phenomena.

Based on all martial arts, using inspirational memes to distort the limits, and finally linking all the Honkai energy of the [Stigmata] and the Feather Crossing the Dust, when using the skill knob to unleash the ultimate power, the power of the Third Herrscher is reproduced once again.

The purple light traced the path of the sword blade, leaving only points and lines.

After the sword hilt gently fell, billions of particles accelerated their rotation and slashed down in a highly regular and obedient manner.

By borrowing the opponent's strength and using his own skills as an aid, compared to the previous full-force [Time Cut], this nameless sword strike reached the true limit of using the opponent's strength against them by making the most of the dual-core Honkai energy reserves.

The skeleton and the sword of power were completely annihilated by the impact of the high-heat explosion and the decomposition of electromagnetic force. Su Qing'an looked at the lightless sea that had been separated and fell, and silently adjusted the chips on the scales of the soul to begin a transaction.

This will be the only chance.

After that, whether successful or not, it will be impossible to so easily exploit information asymmetry to manipulate the Honkai consciousness again.

This lucky event of winning big with a small investment is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Therefore... even if it means giving up some small things and becoming someone who is no longer like yourself.

The boy couldn't allow himself to face defeat.