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

Seeing this, Su Qing'an realized that the "magic trick" was working well.

Although it's a simple trick learned from Yuno Sato specifically for coaxing children, and hasn't been significantly modified, it remains as effective as ever for innocent children in every sense.

Su Qing'an landed in the vast snowfield in a few steps. He put the little girl in his arms down and handed her the bouquet of brightly colored roses.

Celine, still half-asleep, hugged the soft, fragrant bouquets.

She lowered her eyes, somewhat dazed.

This is the first time I've received something that can be considered a gift.

The delicate white petals, adorned with snowflakes like dewdrops, gently brush against the dark green branches and leaves, whispering softly and delicately, as if a fairy tale has come to life, offering a warmth distinct from cruelty.

But... no one can escape their past.

As the chaos in her brain gradually receded, those memories, like the tides of time, began to fill the missing gaps, replaying a life so thin it was beyond calculation. The nightmarish, pitch-black swamp was worse than the bitterest snow, almost swallowing her up completely.

Mom, Elena, Loca, and the other friends...

The god who gave him the spear.

The boy who stripped the gods and the spear.

Her mind was in turmoil, heavy emotions underpinned by a blank, bewildered state, blending together vast expanses of loneliness and fear. She was at a loss, and could only hold the soft bouquet of flowers, letting tears continue to flow from her eyes, her lips pressed together, unable to speak.

Su Qing'an glanced silently at the mountain of demon corpses piled up nearby.

—These are the friends that Celine considers her to be.

He patted her head and sighed:

"Don't cry."

"Want to get your friend back? I can help you."

Xilin sniffed. This rare comfort and caress inexplicably made her eyes redder. It was as if a container full of bitterness in her heart had been suddenly overturned, and even her deep breaths could not control the surge of emotions.

She asked:

"Who are you?"

Su Qing'an did not answer the question. He simply looked at the silicon-based corpses that could not be called ordinary organisms and stretched out his palm.

The power of the Black Abyss White Flower was projected once again from within the Hall of Souls, emanating waves of light that spread outwards from the material world.

Theoretically speaking, Honkai Beasts that exist purely in silicon-based form can still be resurrected by the powers of the Herrscher of Death.

Ultimately, fusion warriors are products that have reached another path of life by using Honkai Beast genes. Their form of existence is different from carbon-based life, but they can still be identified and classified into the corresponding authority map by the powers of the Herrscher of Death.

If Su Qing'an had been able to directly use the powers of the Herrscher of Death back then, Xiao Bai wouldn't have needed to undergo the near-death transformation surgery to survive to this day.

Now, based on Sirin's memories, classifying and comparing the remaining piles of shredded flesh will make it not difficult to eventually resurrect them in their entirety.

And so, through the girl's tear-blurred vision, the mangled corpses gleamed in the wind and snow, as if slowly retracing the passage of time, gradually weaving familiar figures in the howling wind.

Whether it was the snow fox, the white wolf, the bear, or the other animals, all of them were transformed from cold corpses into vibrant living beings under the reshaping power. They let out their own different howls and rushed over like big dogs, crowding around the girl, rubbing against her face and calves, radiating an unsettling warmth.

Xilin was somewhat bewildered. The bouquet of roses in her arms was knocked away by a cheerful snow fox. She hurriedly caught the fox, and the soft touch she felt was so familiar and incredible that it gradually dissipated the sadness that had been weighing on her chest.

She stroked the animal's head and whispered:

"Elena?"

But this snow fox was clearly not as clever as before. It just yelped and its dark eyes were both intelligent and bewildered, but it was still very affectionate towards Xilin, like a pet that had been raised for a long time.

The other animals also shed their silicon-based life forms, losing their pale armor and scales. The dense fibrous threads between their cavities transformed back into flesh and blood, and their originally mutated, enormous shells shrank, completely returning to their state before being corrupted.

The girl sobbed but smiled through her tears. She stroked the bear and the white wolf and whispered:

"Loca, Bell, you've both turned back into normal little animals."

Looking at this harmonious and heartwarming scene, Su Qing'an said softly:

"Yes, magic has a time limit."

"So even if you resurrect your friends, they will all revert to their original state and will not be as intelligent as before."

"But...they're still here."

39. Do you think Mei is still alive?

But... they're still there.

That's enough.

Whether from Xilin's perspective or considering the limits of Su Qing'an's abilities, this is the best outcome.

The reason why these Honkai Beasts, which she named, developed intelligence was essentially due to the guidance of Honkai consciousness.

However, this guidance itself is not pure.

If Su Qing'an wanted to imbue an empty shell with intelligence, he would use the world's mechanisms to create a unique soul map.

However, the Honkai consciousness is different; it has no need to go to great lengths for a boring drama that has a limited lifespan.

The animals' previously displayed high level of intelligence was similar to the results of previous negotiations and research on the habits of Honkai Beasts. They were merely advanced AIs with more permissions, and could not be considered to have spontaneously acquired self-awareness and intelligence.

The reason He resembled several spiritual animal personalities was that He added various elements that could move Sirin.

The ultimate goal, however, was merely to plunge her into an even deeper abyss.

Therefore, from a basic logical point of view, even if Su Qing'an revived it, he would not be able to recover this "intelligence". Choosing to painstakingly revert it to its original animal form is a last resort.

To prevent the collapse of consciousness from easily making a comeback, the Manas consciousness has completely severed the connection and erased all remaining links.

Under these circumstances, even if they were resurrected as demons, all they would find would be dozens of cold puppets that obeyed individual Herrschers, and there is a possibility that they would be used as tools by the Honkai consciousness a second time.

On the contrary, directly reviving them into their original animal forms would allow her to retain their affinity for Sirin through the subtle manipulation of the Manas consciousness, enabling her to bid farewell to them smoothly and preventing the original psychological trauma from continuing to escalate.

At least for now, the results are indeed quite good.

Su Qing'an could sense with her Manas consciousness that Xilin had gradually shaken off her original shadow. The joy and happiness of regaining what she had lost had once again filled the space in her chest with Garan, causing her tendency toward extreme personality to gradually reverse. The negative emotions that had given the collapsing consciousness an opportunity to take hold had also been mostly eliminated.

Yes, the biggest obstacle to the plan to restore the little angel to its original form has been removed.

After that, the only psychological trauma for this child probably stemmed from his deceased mother.

Unaware of what others were thinking, the girl simply hugged her friends, who had once been her pillars of support, and rubbed their heads, whispering the names she had given them in the snow, as if she were giving a solemn farewell, earnest and devout, reluctant yet joyful.

Magic has a time limit.

Xilin believed Su Qing'an's response without a doubt.

It's like the little girl in the fairy tale who lights the last match; the beauty she sees and the warmth she feels have a clear time limit. Once that spark is completely extinguished by the cold wind, the happiness she once held in her arms will vanish like smoke.

Perhaps Elena and Loca are the same.

The gentleness and wisdom they possess, which are beyond the reach of ordinary animals, all stem from a magic spell with a time limit. This is why they can suddenly appear in the vast, snow-covered forests, like mountains and seas, when the wind is coldest, to fill the void left by their mothers' departure and offer comfort and warmth.

This is a gift from heaven, but also a dream from which we will eventually awaken.

So when Celine saw these friends who had lost their original spirituality and could no longer communicate as vividly as before, she no longer felt sad.

She did indeed feel a faint sense of melancholy welling up inside her.

But the joy of being resurrected from the dead, bestowed upon her by a stranger, ultimately overwhelmed this emotion with the sheer happiness of regaining what she had lost.

Although the girl's naive views remained unchanged after experiencing the machinations of a broken consciousness, her emotional resilience passively increased significantly, making her quite mature for her age.

She was able to set aside her emotions, understand that she had done bad things in the past, and realize that now that she had been discovered by outsiders, she could no longer stay in this snowfield. She also knew that for these animals that had once turned into strange forms, being separated from her and no longer attracting attention was a good thing.

So... a proper farewell is the only thing we can do.

Su Qing'an understood Xilin's thoughts, but he didn't intend to clarify directly. He could learn from raising his own little girl. Spoiling and indulging her would only make her more arrogant. Giving her love and benefits indiscriminately would not be conducive to shaping her values ​​and mindset.

Su Muxi's consciousness is already a special case. After all, she has the records of two people, so even if she goes astray, she can't go too far astray.

However, for normal children, education is not something that can be done casually, but rather a discipline that requires careful consideration and management.

Su Qing'an could certainly say that Xilin was innocent, could immediately tell her that she had not caused much substantial damage, and could also describe what a bright future she would have.

But... for a child who holds power in the world, reflection and self-examination are a necessary process, a path that cannot be bypassed or avoided.

This is the direct reason why the Herrscher's core was taken away.

Whether it's to prevent Sirin's future path from being too winding, or to ensure Kiana's birth, this is an essential step.

However... Sirin's previous fusion with the Herrscher core was too terrifying. Just as Joyce's bloodline could flow with the power of the Star of Eden, she could theoretically reproduce some of the Herrscher of the Void's powers now. In addition, with Honkai energy immunity comparable to that of the Herrscher, this level of threat is indeed objectively real and cannot be ignored.

Therefore, this child is still difficult to be treated normally.

Under these circumstances, psychological guidance and the cultivation of values ​​become essential.

This is also to prevent the collapse of consciousness from making a comeback in the future. If something unexpected happens then, even with Su Qing'an's abilities, he may not be able to handle it perfectly. It is of utmost importance to plan ahead and lay a solid foundation for defense.

Celine was completely oblivious to the motherly concern of the others. She simply bid a reluctant farewell to the last adorable squirrel, stroked the snow fox that was still clinging to her arms, squatted down to release it, and watched the animals disappear completely before turning to the strange stranger and whispering:

"Will I be locked up in a very, very dark place in the future?"

Su Qing'an looked behind her, where order had been restored and soldiers were heading towards the military supply depot. She glanced at the girl's rosy cheeks and replied:

"Why do you say that?"

Xilin stammered:

"Because... Mom said that whether you're an adult or a child, you have to be punished for doing something wrong. I just did something very bad."

At the same time, a lingering shadow emerged from his chest.

She lamented her own weakness and incompetence; mocked the idea that wrongdoing should be punished; denounced those who had clearly committed crimes but remained at large; and described the injustice of the law and the system, the contrast between morality and reality…

These are all things that the little girl subconsciously wonders about, doesn't understand, and can't accept, but the ideas and education her mother instilled in her before were enough to suppress and ignore them in normal times.

But it does indeed exist.

Su Qing'an understood this perfectly. He knew that these were things that needed to be guided slowly to gradually change their extreme thoughts. For now, he simply patted the little guy's head and said softly:

"I managed to rebuild the snow and rocks on that mountain. Neither the military supply station nor the distant white tower suffered much damage; only some equipment was damaged."

"Of course, you have your own guilt to bear, but the existence that led you to do that is the real culprit."

Xilin nodded blankly and said nothing more.

However, she ultimately knew nothing about the Honkai, and still had some doubts in her mind, unable to directly regard the "god" who bestowed the [Spear] at the crucial moment as an enemy or a bad guy.

From the little girl's perspective, it was because she couldn't control her emotions that she abused that magical power.