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

"I know." He accepted it all so calmly, and continued:

"Huh, there are always some people in the world who will still be so ungrateful even if they are hurt and bleeding. I am one of those people. I believe that before I die, all the struggles are not meaningless."

He understood long ago that what he couldn't do was simply impossible.

This is a principle that only children cannot understand.

But if you are truly at your wit's end and have nothing left, then even if you know that moving forward will lead to death, and you know that there is no hope ahead, you will understand that the so-called hope is nothing but a mirage.

And then what? Will you just give up like that?

Maybe.

But at least Su Qing'an wouldn't; he's more stubborn than anyone else.

"I understand." Fu Hua didn't say anything more. Humans are not absolutely rational beings. Just like how she knew that Su Qing'an had almost no chance of learning, she still chose to teach him.

Having made that choice myself, I no longer have the right to advise him on this matter.

If he wants to do something reckless, I'll just have to stay with him.

Having secretly resolved to take responsibility, the girl continued:

"Simply put, the Honkai energy technique I'm going to teach you can greatly increase your physical abilities for a short period of time. I currently maintain it for eight seconds."

"You must have used Honkai energy to enhance your physical abilities before. Essentially, this technique is similar to this method, only more precise, difficult, and efficient."

"Hua... Can I ask the name of this move?" Su Qing'an couldn't help but show a strange expression.

The girl answered seriously:

"A name? I named it 'Thousand Stars'."

51. A mirage.

【Thousand Stars】? If I could learn that, could I cosplay as the White Night Butler?

Such a thought subconsciously arose in Su Qing'an's mind, but he immediately suppressed it.

In such a world, there is not much room left for oneself to think about these things.

Hua was going to teach her something that was definitely not easy to learn. When she heard the name "Thousand Stars," Su Qing'an knew that it was something that was definitely not easy to learn.

Fu Hua continued:

"Well, if you can learn it, I will also teach you a set of martial arts centered around [Thousand Stars]."

“Actually, it wouldn’t be impossible to teach you this martial art directly, but without the cooperation of [Thousand Stars], the special characteristics of this martial art cannot be brought into play, so there would be little point in teaching it.”

"But no matter how much I talk, it's better to demonstrate it first."

After the girl said this, she took action.

In a fraction of a second, her body transformed into a bizarre and wondrous realm.

The wind is flowing, and the light is sweeping.

To the naked eye, one could only see inexplicable swirling air currents twisting and tangling around the girl's body, but could not discern the faint radiance within.

Besides that, there's a sense of disconnect.

At that moment, Su Qing'an's keen intuition told him that the girl was in a completely different time and space from his own.

It was something strange and unusual, mysterious and incomparably powerful.

"This is [Thousand Stars]." Her clear voice was ethereal, as if she were floating on clouds. The girl's fingertips lightly touched his forehead, and the cool touch made him dazed.

When is it

The girl's terrifying speed, exceeding the limits of his retina and nerve reflexes, was something he hadn't fully grasped yet.

But then Su Qing'an discovered something even more shocking: the two of them were no longer in the center of the training field.

Su Qing'an was standing behind the training ground wall. He instinctively took a step back but found there was nowhere left to retreat.

The girl's fingertips touched his forehead. Her beautiful face was adorned with a faint smile, like a captivating lock that bound him completely, leaving him nowhere to escape.

Unlike the brilliance of all colors in the spectrum that vanished into nothingness, and the distorted winds that dissipated, the girl emerged from another realm. She seemed to have returned to this world that felt more real. Her voice was no longer ethereal but carried with it clear breaths, falling into Su Qing'an's ears, somewhat cloying.

"Soon, right?" she said.

"It's a speed that's completely impossible to react to," Su Qing'an admitted frankly.

If I had to use something to describe it, it would be...like light.

In this state, even Fu Hua's own [Time Slash] is just an ordinary sword strike, unable to even touch the hem of her clothes.

With the amplification of [Thousand Stars], she personally explained to Su Qing'an what speed is power.

She also told Su Qing'an something: if he could really learn this, he would definitely become stronger.

He could even use this brief step to reach a level he couldn't reach before.

"Do you want to learn?" Fu Hua asked.

"Okay." Su Qing'an nodded obediently.

“Then I’ll teach you,” she replied, her words full of seriousness and certainty.

Thus began the long and arduous training.

Su Qing'an began chasing a light he might never catch in his lifetime, reaching out his hand again and again towards the moon reflected in the lake.

The girl stood behind him, accompanying him through his repeated futile efforts, and witnessing Su Qing'an's unwavering and pure will despite such setbacks.

【Thousand Stars】is not a skill that normal people can learn. To put it bluntly, no one except Fu Hua herself has ever learned this ability.

【Thousand Stars】 is never a gentle gift prepared for the weak; it is the crown of the strong, and those without certain qualifications do not even have the ability to touch it.

If you had to describe how difficult it was for Su Qing'an to learn [Thousand Stars], it would be like playing StarCraft with your eyes closed and becoming the world's number one.

If Su Qing'an were a cat, then this cat is now forcing itself to learn how to breathe underwater through its mouth and nose.

See, this is such a nonsensical thing.

Even Tom the cat in the comedy cartoon suffers from being submerged in water, let alone Su Qing'an?

Honkai energy doesn't like him; rather, it hates him, just like the artificial stigma that was transplanted that day. That utterly resistant attitude almost killed Su Qing'an.

Even the Honkai energy controlled by the Taixu Sword Qi would involuntarily choose to harm him.

Therefore, he bleeds when he uses the [Time Cut].

Using [Thousand Stars] will result in death.

February 28, 2014, afternoon.

Unlike a normal training room.

Accompanied by flashing red lights, mechanical electronic sounds filled the room.

"Warning, warning, student number 6276 has been forcibly removed from the virtual environment."

The boy, dressed in special clothing, stepped out of the forcibly opened virtual pod. Even though his senses had just been shattered by Honkai energy, his control over the Realm of Still Water still made his steps steady.

"Take a rest," the girl said with a worried expression, her brows furrowed as she looked at his pale face.

A week has passed since that day, and [Thousand Stars]'s training has all been put into virtual battle scenarios due to Su Qing'an's terrible Honkai energy adaptability.

Normally, entering a virtual scene like this, where no combat needs to be arranged, only a device the size of a helmet is needed. However, because this skill requires extremely high precision, if Su Qing'an can gain some experience in controlling artificial holy marks using such a device, then it would be meaningless on [Thousand Stars].

Therefore, Fu Hua applied for a virtual pod and a set of equipment to enhance the sense of motion for Su Qing'an. According to her idea, if she could use the [Thousand Stars] 100% in it, then the real-world training could begin.

The realism inside has become incredibly close to reality thanks to advancements in equipment, including the sensation of pain.

The principle behind 【Thousand Stars】 is to use Honkai energy to form a small circulation within the body and then create a large circulation around the body that resonates with it, thereby greatly enhancing physical abilities.

What is needed is constant and close contact between Honkai energy and the body.

For Fu Hua, Honkai energy can flow naturally within her body, and she does not reject Honkai energy from the outside world.

Therefore, [Thousand Stars] is just a slightly complicated and difficult technique for her.

Even so, her safe usage time is only a brief eight seconds.

The rapid flow of Honkai energy within the body can cause some damage to the physical form, but precise control can make this damage almost negligible.

Beyond this time, the Honkai energy cycle inside and outside the body will become increasingly unstable, and the minor damage accumulated in the previous eight seconds will expand to a point that cannot be ignored.

If the time exceeds the fixed duration for too long, it may even cause irreversible and fatal damage.

In just one week, Su Qing'an had been eroded and killed a total of seventy-eight times by the chaotic Honkai energy, which eroded him from the inside out and from the outside in.

After his seventeenth death, he was finally able to successfully construct two cycles within his body and around his body, but in the next second, Su Qing'an died before he could even use a complete [Thousand Stars] technique.

The dozens of deaths that followed were all the same; it seemed that his limit was only this extent.

Each time he is killed in the virtual environment, the virtual pod that detects his body will forcibly eject him.

The result was the same this time.

Even someone like Fu Hua, who is used to intense training, had absolutely nothing to say about Su Qing'an's training over the past week.

Sometimes she really wanted him to rest for a bit, that he would be fine in a little while.

Looking at the stubbornness in those eyes that transcended all suffering, the girl could only remain silent in the end.

It's just like my original self...

For some reason, Fu Hua suddenly felt that if she stopped Su Qing'an, it would be as if she were denying her distant past self.

That naive yet stubborn Hua was rejected.

"One time is enough, let's do it again, Hua." His voice was a little hoarse.

When he suffers pain in the virtual scene, Su Qing'an in reality will subconsciously let out a roar to vent his emotions, causing his throat to become increasingly hoarse.

In fact, at the moment of defeat, Fu Hua, who was outside the palace, could have forced Su Qing'an to escape, preventing him from suffering unnecessary pain before death.

However, he rejected the suggestion himself. With the will that gradually overcame the pain, Su Qing'an found something elusive in the irregular erosion fluctuations of Honkai energy amidst repeated deaths.

It was utterly illusory, like a hazy reflection in a mirror or the moon's reflection in water.

But if he could seize it, he would have hope beyond his limits.

Yes, it's possible to use [Thousand Stars].