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

Because we are not strong enough, we must make the most of even the slightest bit of power.

The movement of bones, the flow of muscles, the speed of blood—humans need skills precisely because they are weak enough. At this moment, Su Qing'an, relying on the Still Water Realm, has squeezed out dozens of times more power than usual, surpassing most martial artists in the world.

And all of this was captured in a single sword strike.

He drew his sword.

In the living doll's angry roar, "How dare mortals blaspheme against the gods?"

Amidst the deafening roar.

Amidst a tremendous roar of light and heat.

The sword sliced ​​everything in two.

Sato Yuno felt a sense of disorientation. In a brief hallucination, she saw the boy unleash a sword strike that severed the roar, separated light and heat, and cut through the world.

That sword strike was imbued with strong emotion, and it was this intense atmosphere that caused Sato Yuno to hallucinate.

That is momentum.

Combining the martial intent that Fu Hua spoke of, Su Qing'an incorporated the amplified spiritual will into this sword strike in a way that was far more sophisticated than when he fought Raiden Mei.

This sword strike, named "Time Cut," is the culmination of all of Su Qing'an's efforts to date, and it is the strongest sword strike he can currently unleash.

The roar of the living puppet stopped abruptly before the sword light arrived, the chaotic heavy sounds disappeared, and it seemed to be in a daze for a moment, even the flying body was shaken.

Immediately, [Calming the Waves] cleaved the living puppet in two.

As the light and heat continued to ferment and release, a black line cracked open on the living doll's body, and the trembling sword waves disappeared into the shrine ruins without a sound.

A hot wind blew, and the living doll was split in two, the cuts smooth and clean.

The remaining Honkai energy intertwined into fine sword threads, pulverizing the last remains of the living doll into dust.

Su Qing'an silently sheathed his sword. Looking at the lifeless puppet, whose remains were nowhere to be found, he abruptly said:

"It's not dead yet, have you found it?"

Sato Yuno sensed that the Honkai energy mist around her had not only not dissipated but was becoming even denser, and frowned as she said:

"Not yet. If we still can't find that thing after the burning and explosion, I'll have to come back and thoroughly plow this place again."

The two tacitly avoided discussing the possibility that such a thing might not exist.

If that's the case, this battle will be more troublesome than expected.

"It could come back to life at any time, so keep an eye on your surroundings."

"How did it feel when you chopped it?" She nodded, indicating she understood, and then asked.

"It's not the same as the defense you mentioned before. If it were just a normal sword strike, I would have a hard time breaking through its defense. It should have the defensive strength of a Temple-level Honkai Beast's shield. If an ordinary B-rank Valkyrie were to face this mission, she would almost certainly die."

"It's a good thing it wasn't Kiana and the others who accepted this mission. But if Mr. Kanbara had added the requirement of playing the young lady to the mission information, then Mei might have been chosen instead."

The two chatted casually, but the surrounding fog began to grow increasingly hazy.

In the distance, shrouded in mist, the figure lying on the ground trembled slightly at the fingertips.

31. Kagura Dance

Sword waves were constantly generated and unleashed in the void as the will progressed, annihilating the approaching mist.

Su Qing'an frowned and remained silent. The environment was becoming increasingly unfavorable for them. Although the special nature of the Taixu Sword Qi meant that he didn't need to worry about the Honkai energy reserves, his energy was undoubtedly being gradually worn down.

Moreover, unless absolutely necessary, Su Qing'an actually dislikes using Honkai energy; he prefers using his sword to Honkai energy.

It's one thing to develop a psychological aversion and resistance after being killed twice by a purely chaotic environment.

On the other hand, Su Qing'an himself, while leaning towards pragmatism, also believes that using the power of Honkai to defeat Honkai is an impossible task.

Using Honkai energy was merely a temporary measure; the boy still harbored this naive idea.

Sato Yuno glanced at the boy's expression and said:

"Don't use Honkai energy to dispel the fog yet. The Honkai energy environment here is probably the result of accumulated over time. The so-called festival day is once every ten years. I guess the current environment is caused by the spillover of Honkai energy accumulated over the past ten years."

Su Qing'an understood what Sato Yuno meant. Simply trying to dispel the fog was a futile and useless act, as ridiculous as trying to dry the ocean with your hands instead of swimming when you fall into it.

Sato Yuno quickly understood this with her keen Honkai energy perception, and Su Qing'an could also vaguely guess at it.

Even so, his cautious nature prevented him from knowing what would happen if such a strange mist came into contact with his body.

The withered cherry blossoms and the corroded vines of Yuno Sato symbolize the ominous nature of the fog.

But the next moment, Sato Yuno lightly touched the approaching mist with her fingertips. The mist touched her skin and then slid over silently. The girl breathed in the air tainted by the mist without any hesitation.

There was nothing unusual.

These fogs, which had previously displayed a ferocious nature, now appeared as harmless as ordinary morning mist.

The ability to sense Honkai energy? It's a very useful ability in every sense.

Su Qing'an understood the girl's bold reason: the pseudo-Herrscher had an advantage over humans in the face of Honkai.

It was as if a dragon had returned to the sea; the strange movements and dangers of the deep sea were naturally exposed in her eyes.

“This mist is very similar to the power the shrine maiden displayed that day, but my body tells me it’s not dangerous,” said Yuno Sato.

"But there are definitely still risks involved. However, if this battle turns into a war of attrition, facing such an environment is unavoidable." She added, cautiously observing her surroundings.

The roaring sounds in the shrine area had completely subsided, with only the vines and wood, which were flammable, causing the incendiary bombs to continue burning and making noise.

Sato Yuno controlled the special thick vines to divide the area around it, forming a firebreak in advance to prevent the possibility of the mountain being burned directly.

“It’s started,” she said, looking towards a spot in the mist.

“One minute and thirty seconds is a more complicated resurrection time than I imagined,” Su Qing’an said.

However, such a resurrection time indicates one thing: the living doll's true form is indeed not that body; otherwise, there would be no reason for it to be resurrected after only a minute.

Rather than calling it resurrection, it's more accurate to say that the living puppet was never actually killed.

It was merely a reproduction.

The first thing to appear was the beautiful yet terrifying head of the living doll. The smile on that pretty face remained, and the dark hair grew out of the pores of her smooth scalp at an extremely rapid pace, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

The head floated in mid-air, its hair dancing lightly in the mist like seaweed.

This scene resembles the Flying Head Demon from ancient Chinese legends—frightening and eerie.

The only difference is that the Flying Head is a long-necked monster in legend, while the Living Doll is even more terrifying because she only had one head when she was first resurrected.

Those empty eye sockets stared at the two of them, like a vengeful ghost seeking death.

Su Qing'an chose to attack directly.

Having just slain a living puppet, he was naturally not easily intimidated. Su Qing'an's will remained unshaken, and he had no intention of uttering any more words. After drawing his sword, [Calming the Waves] unleashed a wave of sword energy, and his body rushed towards the living puppet.

Compared to when he needed to carefully calculate before unleashing his sword wave to escape in Changkong City, Su Qing'an has now gradually come to regard this as a regular attack method.

This also reveals the difference between having the ability to control Honkai energy and not. In gaming terms, it's like a character with longer arms and legs being able to attack the opponent first, which is a huge advantage.

If you rely solely on physical strength, it's simply a pipe dream to unleash a powerful sword aura.

The living puppet dodged the sword wave; its head traced a strange arc in the air to evade the attack, a movement that didn't resemble a simple dodge.

If it wanted to dodge, it could simply fly upwards. However, the living doll's head bounced comically and strangely in mid-air in a rhythmic manner, thus avoiding the capture of the vines controlled by Sato Yuno and several sword energies.

The body beneath the head of the living doll was created out of thin air at a speed visible to the naked eye within seconds. The smooth body was incredibly lifelike, and its core was an empty darkness.

The overly alluring snow-white skin and curves were exposed to the air, and the hazy mist obscured the obvious artificial traces on the doll's joints. The scene was too magical. As the doll's body was perfected, its movements were no longer as comical as before.

The surrounding mist and the doll's strange dodging movements began to surge and ripple together, and the two could even feel a strange sense of rhythm contained within it.

As her bare feet grew to full size, the wide kimono covered her naked body.

The fog churned violently like a sea of ​​clouds in the sky, and then the fire ignited.

Warmth, brightness, and the flames of hope filled their vision.

Several campfires illuminated the dark world after dusk.

A cacophony of sounds reached my ears.

In the blink of an eye, the two stood on a high platform in the center of hundreds of people.

The hundreds of people below the platform wore joyful smiles and performed the exact same actions as the live puppets.

It was an illusion. The mist swirled, and soon the world before their eyes transformed into what it was now.

This is the risk of contact with the fog, but for some reason, Sato Yuno understands that the fog's limit is just that; this illusion can't even conceal the existence of a living doll.

The two finally understood what the strange movements of the living doll were.

It's dancing.

So the villagers of Kambara Village started dancing along with it.

The living dolls, revered as incarnations of gods, dance the dances of the gods.

The villagers below the stage were naturally performing Kagura, a dance meant to please the gods.

The body began to feel heavy; it was an extremely subtle change, yet it was real. Su Qing'an, who possessed the Still Water Realm, noticed this earlier than Sato Yuno.

If he lets it dance unchecked, his sword will soon slow down.

On the battlefield, if your sword slows down, you will die.

Although the physical strain in the short term might make him reluctant to use that sword strike, the balance of power between offense and defense had shifted.

Then we can't hesitate any longer.

Hesitation leads to defeat.

The sword is drawn.

[Time Cut]

Immediately, the world was divided in two.

32. What else could it be but a magician?

The man scrambled to his feet, his movements initially stiff and mechanical, but soon becoming agile and natural.