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

Kiana complained angrily, venting her frustration by roughly ruffling Su Qing'an's soft hair.

Su Qing'an did not resist at all, letting Kiana rub her head angrily. This was not due to Kiana's monstrous strength, but simply the magnanimity of an elder.

"Actually, I'm a chuunibyou too. I was just practicing casually, who knew I would lose my memory? In my restored memories, Kiana, it seems you recently took two months' salary in advance, broke three limited edition Houmu coffee cups, and were late for work five times."

"Sigh, I'm still a bit dazed. How could Kiana have done this? It must be a side effect of her training."

While maintaining a blank expression during the exchange of information and attempts at coercion and enticement, Su Qing'an, whose hair was already disheveled, revealed a kind smile.

"(*｀?з?)ムッ Shopkeeper, please don't practice these weird things anymore. You need to get rid of this chuunibyou syndrome. Look how serious the aftereffects are. They're even throwing mud at me." Kiana silently withdrew her little hand and nodded with a serious expression of deep belief.

Ha, women. Even an idiot wouldn't believe it if I said I was an idiot, but she still succumbed to the power of the salary.

"Haha, okay, I'm not kidding anymore. The ancient books my father left behind are full of mystical stuff, like using heaven and earth as a dantian and controlling Honkai energy. I just wanted to practice it for fun and didn't take it seriously, and this is what happened." Su Qing'an handed the Taixu Sword Qi in his hand to Kiana.

Honkai energy!? How come the shopkeeper's father has anything related to Honkai? Kiana took the ancient book with a puzzled look, flipped through a few pages, and then silently returned it.

"Manager, this is all in traditional Chinese characters, I can't understand it (*￣m￣)."

“I know you can’t understand it, but I’m just showing it to you.” In his opinion, it was already quite good for Kiana, who was only 16 years old, to be able to speak Chinese and understand some simplified characters.

"I tugged at a corner of the page earlier, and it didn't break, which means the things your father left behind are at least made of some special material (*｀?з?)ムッ." Kiana proudly raised her chin and said.

Su Qing'an nodded in agreement. If Kiana's strength couldn't tear a block of iron, that would be understandable; but if it couldn't tear paper, it could only mean that the paper's material was truly special.

9. Escape from Changkong City

2014年3月11日上午9点39分。

There are only seventeen days left until the third Honkai Impact 3rd.

Reason told him that the possibility of cultivating the uncertain Taixu Sword Qi to a level sufficient to resist collapse within seventeen days was infinitely close to zero.

He was never a genius.

Even after experiencing death and merging with that fragment of soul, he still didn't believe he could do such a thing.

His ability to clearly understand himself is what allows him to calmly view the overall situation.

Assuming that the God gave him the Void Sword Qi and Soul Fragments as bargaining chips, then his limits should be within the other party's expectations. For the God, staying in Changkong City and waiting for the collapse to erupt is the rule of the game.

The victory condition is to learn the Taixu Sword Qi, and from this perspective, the Taixu Sword Qi may not be that unrealistic.

But it's not impossible to fabricate a story and hope to see him fall into despair just when he was a tiny bit away from success.

The rules of the game, Su Qing'an murmured indifferently to herself.

That's really doing whatever you want, you motherfucker.

"Since Kiana has already skipped class, would you mind spending a little more time with me?"

"Where are you going?" The girl tilted her head in confusion.

"Let's see the cherry blossoms." Su Qing'an patted her head, ruffling her fair white hair as a small act of revenge, which made Kiana a little irritated.

"Oh (▼皿▼＃)!" The girl puffed out her cheeks, looking incredibly cute and alluring, like a kitten whose mouth was stuffed with dried fish and couldn't bite anyone.

Two hours later, on the tram to the neighboring city.

A man and a woman sat facing each other in the almost empty tram.

The boy had a handsome face and an indifferent expression. His slightly wavy Japanese-style hairstyle gave him a lazy and decadent vibe, but if you looked directly into his dark eyes, you would suddenly feel a sense of coolness.

The store manager... is quite good-looking. It turns out that most people in the world are attracted to good looks, including Kiana.

Looking at the boy's face and the scenery passing by behind him, Kiana thought of the phrase "picturesque scenery," with the boy at the center of this painting.

The awkwardness and shyness of traveling alone with a peer of the opposite sex for the first time should have intensified after realizing how attractive the other person was, but Kiana, who is rather carefree and oblivious, completely forgot about it.

She truly deserves the title of "Queen of the Harem".

"We're almost out of Changkong City." Su Qing'an looked at the map app on his phone, a mix of emotions tightening around his heart as they drew closer to their destination.

Tension, fear, terror, anger, excitement—a myriad of emotions resonated within my soul, like the prelude to touching a taboo.

Su Qing'an understood that he was challenging the rules set by the God, and it was not surprising that the price was death.

As the saying goes, it's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. Even if staying in Changkong City is destined to lead to the end, it can still give you a dozen more days to live. The most normal choice would be to stay in Changkong City and use the Taixu Sword Qi to try to find a way out.

But he didn't.

Even though he had a deep understanding of the terror of death, he didn't.

Are you kidding me? It feels like he's been eating braised chicken rice alone for a month straight, and then suddenly some thugs corner him, hold a knife to his neck, and say, "Su Qing'an, you can't eat braised chicken rice tomorrow. Go eat dumplings instead, or I'll slash you and you'll be dead."

Inexplicable, self-righteous, and doing whatever they want.

You can make me travel through time if you want, make me die or live if you want, make me practice the Taixu Sword Qi if you want, and make me stay in Changkong City to face the collapse if you want.

My Lord God. How arrogant you are!

He chose to leave Changkong City not only because he believed the probability of death for those who stayed was close to 80%, but also because he loathed the powerlessness of being arbitrarily controlled, the anger at having his peaceful daily life disrupted, and the arrogant and condescending attitude of the God.

Whether the emptiness and sadness of never seeing Hua again was at play is something no one knows.

"Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, Qingshui City has arrived. Passengers who have arrived at the station, please get off the train as soon as possible..." The sound of the tram arriving at the station echoed in her ears. Su Qing'an looked at the sign indicating that Qingshui City had arrived on the map software and the scenery outside the tram in a daze.

Nothing happened; the feeling of touching a taboo vanished the moment we arrived in Shimizu City.

Just as the gods themselves didn't care that their rules were being broken, everything remained calm and peaceful.

"We're here! What are you daydreaming about, you idiot shopkeeper?" Kiana pulled Su Qing'an out of the tram.

"Nothing, just thinking about some things," Su Qing'an replied. The spring breeze seemed to carry a slight chill, and the wind made his back, which was soaked with cold sweat, much more sober and calm.

"What is this? So mysterious and rambling ヽ('⌒'メ)ノ." Kiana muttered awkwardly.

"Okay, stop being stubborn. Even though it's not summer, I'll treat you to ice cream." Su Qing'an found it a little funny. Kiana is still just a child. His calm and reliable impression when they first met made him subconsciously imagine her to be more mature.

But this isn't so bad either.

"Really! Manager! I want strawberry, but vanilla is also good, and chocolate is delicious too. Hmm, I'm so torn." The girl, beaming with joy, started seriously considering the flavors of the ice cream on her fingers.

He was so straightforward that it seemed almost oblivious to others. The boy sighed and said, "Alright, alright, let's talk about this when we get to a place that sells ice cream. If you really want some, just pick another one."

"Su Qing'an, you're so kind! Let's go quickly!" Kiana took the boy's hand and walked forward quickly.

Unwittingly feeling the girl's fingertips brush against his palm, he suddenly became a little stunned. Su Qing'an?

For some reason, he suddenly remembered the girl's sleeping face under the rain that day and the way she earnestly said her name.

Even though we'll never see each other again, it seems I can't forget that person.

"...Let's go, Kiana."

10. Death Under the Cherry Blossoms

2014年3月11日中午11点23分。

Qingyue Temple is the oldest temple in this area. Even though it has been renovated many times, one can still feel the weight of history when visiting it. The cultural heritage it contains is a treasure of mankind.

The timeless bluestone slabs reflect dazzling arcs of light under the sun, only to be trampled underfoot by pedestrians. Tourists come and go, temples are built against the mountain, and cherry blossoms occasionally fall into the pond. On this clear and sunny day, all these scenes are peaceful and serene.

Covering an area of ​​140,000 square meters, Qingyue Temple can be said to be a rare large-scale tourist attraction in this country. At this moment, on a stone bridge with few people, Kiana was leaning on the railing of the stone bridge without any elegance. Her fingertips were stroking a pink and white cherry blossom, like a child playing with a toy in her hand.

Those pure, jewel-like blue eyes seemed somewhat dazed as they gazed at the clusters of cherry blossoms nestled together on the branches, occasionally falling in a flurry.

In her short 16 years of life, it seems that she rarely had the chance to go out and play with others like this.

She has no memory of anything before she was eight years old. Her father said her mother had died, and the short four years she spent with her father were the happiest days of her life.

Although Siegfried Kaslana was a man who loved to drink all day and lived a chaotic life.

Although he often returned from battles with Honkai Beasts battered and bruised, causing Kiana concern, she still considered him the best father in the world.

Even though this man left her without a word four years ago, Kiana still believes it.

That stinky old man is probably somewhere in the world fighting against the Honkai.

Hmph, so easily abandoning his lovely daughter.

If I find him later, I'm definitely going to punch him in the face.

Kiana gritted her teeth and secretly made up her mind.

The fingertips that had inadvertently exerted force embedded themselves in the stone railing, causing Su Qing'an, who was standing nearby, to break out in a cold sweat. He seemed to have stroked the white-haired guy's head before.

"Kiana, what are you thinking? If you crush this railing, we can run away right away."

"I'm sorry (ノ○Д○)ノ! I didn't mean to! No, no, it wasn't me."

Hastily withdrawing her strength, the girl quickly covered her hands behind her back like a weasel that had stolen a chicken. Upon seeing the chicken coop owner return, she earnestly covered the bloodstains around her mouth with her paws. However, the blood-stained chicken feathers on her back silently betrayed her.

Su Qing'an glanced at Kiana's "evidence" and was speechless: "Kiana, you idiot, this bridge hasn't been renovated in recent years. I don't know if it counts as damaging a cultural relic if you completely crush it, but at least you'll have to pay for the rest of your life's ice cream."

"...I look so weak and cute (?oo?), if people see me, they'll blame the manager. So, to prevent the manager from losing the money he used to buy me ice cream and pay my salary, let's run away."

Justified and convincing.

With that, Kiana grabbed Su Qing'an's hand and ran forward.

Before he could even speak, he felt himself being pulled by an irresistible force. His intuition told him that if he didn't run, the instantaneous reaction force might dislocate his fragile arm. So Su Qing'an followed his heart and started running.

"Kiana! Where do you think you're going?!" After running for a while, Su Qing'an's lack of exercise made his breathing somewhat disordered.

"I don't know, I'll just go wherever I end up, hahaha."

Kiana inexplicably laughed in the wind, her lips curving into a beautiful arc, her eyes sparkling, and her steady, effortless breathing making one wonder how such vitality could reside in her slender and petite body.

Finally, in an area where the crowds were gradually increasing, Kiana slowed down and stopped.

Gasping for breath, the disheveled boy, bent over and clutching his knees, began to plan his future training regimen. In this world shrouded in collapse, his body, corroded by years of laziness, was undoubtedly unqualified.

Whether you choose to flee or cultivate the Taixu Sword Qi later on, physical strength is an essential factor.

But for now, let's set aside that future, which may be dark or bright.

The fresh air filled his mouth and nose with each breath, the gentle breeze swirled around him, the shadows reflected on the bluestone slabs, the rustling of water scooping up stream water with a ladle, and the girl's radiant smile amidst the perfect sunlight and falling cherry blossoms—all these things brought him peace and joy.

"Do you feel much better now, store manager? When I'm in a bad mood, I like to exercise. Relaxing after physical fatigue makes me stop thinking so much."

"The store manager seems to be preoccupied today. I know there are some things that are hard to talk about with others, but we're friends, so I'll help you if you need anything."

When the word "friend" came up, Kiana, usually so carefree, became uncharacteristically a little hesitant, but she quickly recovered and added: