What Do You Want Your Sword to Be Fast Enough to Do? Fast Enough to Sever Time.

From the moment the boy grasped the sword, he never stopped practicing his swordplay.

The reason for practicing swordsmanship is simple.

Since Chen Junxuan gave him a sword, he can practice swordsmanship then.

To him, swords and knives were merely tools for killing something.

The shape and appearance of the tool itself are not important.

As long as it's sharp enough and powerful enough, it doesn't matter if it's any other tool.

A person like him, even if he unleashes a sword strike that could be hailed as a masterpiece by martial artists, would not bother to name it.

"What do you want to call this sword strike?"

But when he first unleashed that godlike sword strike, the girl who usually only practiced her fists in silence asked him this question.

Why do we need to name our children?

He thought that if it were an anime, there wouldn't be much to worry about when choosing a name; as long as it looked cool and sophisticated, that would be enough. But in reality, it would be ridiculously childish and meaningless.

"Martial Intent. The name of a move embodies the martial artist's own vision. If a sword strike has no specific name, it is difficult to perform each strike with one's whole heart. But after giving it a name, it is like implying that you must do things that cannot be done in an ordinary sword strike."

Su Qing'an understood. It was like Sasaki Kojiro calling his sword technique "Swallow Return," and then one day during his solitary training, he actually managed to cut down a swallow flying in the sky.

Of course, he might have unleashed that godlike sword strike before even having a name, just like Su Qing'an, but Su Qing'an could understand the general principle behind it.

"Simply put, it makes it easier to push your limits. It might not be necessary for the average person, but it could be more useful for you."

"What is your vision? Your sword strike was very fast. If you had the specific skills to control Honkai Energy and the support of the Valkyrie armor, perhaps one day in the future you could even use this sword to cut down a building."

She asked, as if in a joking tone.

It was just a casual conversation between friends, but at that moment, as Su Qing'an looked at the girl with a faint smile under the moonlight, she felt a little lost and lonely for some reason.

She was teaching him martial arts and patiently instructing him in principles.

The distance between them is not physical, but a place far beyond the mountains and rivers that are difficult to measure with footsteps.

Even if you were to use a sword, fast enough to cut through a tsunami or break a continent, you still couldn't reach that distance.

Because what separates them is 50,000 years.

So if I absolutely must talk about a vision...

"Almost there, enough to sever time itself." He blurted out this incredibly cheesy statement without thinking.

But what kind of sword can sever such an invisible concept as time?

That's a skill that you could never reach the end of even if you spent your whole life on it.

If someone could truly unleash such a sword strike, they would be almost on par with a god.

"Okay. Let's call it [Time Cutter] then." Without mockery or doubt, the girl thought it over and said it to him seriously.

Just like...

She truly believed that one day he would be able to sever the ties of time.

Su Qing'an drew her sword.

Unlike the sword strike he delivered that day, which relied solely on his physical abilities, this time he used Honkai Energy.

It's not particularly surprising that Su Qing'an knows how to manipulate Honkai Energy. He simply broke down and understood the Honkai Energy techniques in the Void Sword Qi, and then added his own insights and experiences.

The final result was a sword strike that far surpassed Fu Hua's initial assessment.

Before the boy's sword was even drawn, the Honkai Energy of heaven and earth followed him in an instant, forming extremely subtle sword energy that swirled around him, creating a whirlwind.

The hem of his tuxedo was torn, and his wrists were cut by the wind, leaving fine, shallow wounds. This was because his control over Honkai Energy was not precise enough. Even with the transplant of Artificial Stigmata, his body's adaptability to Honkai Energy could not be compensated for by a single Void Sword Qi.

If Satou Yunona could manipulate Honkai Energy as easily as breathing, Su Qing'an's attempt to control Honkai Energy was like having his limbs broken and being thrown into the deep sea.

The Void Sword Qi merely provided him with a respirator, enough to keep him alive.

But that's alright, Honkai Energy is just an auxiliary function.

As the muscles surge, the most suitable posture for exerting force is naturally and perfectly adjusted.

Whole-heartedly.

No, it must be an extreme focus that goes beyond that.

Because we are not powerful enough, we must make the most of even the slightest bit of strength.

The workings 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 State of Still Water, has squeezed out dozens of times more power than usual, surpassing most martial artists in the world.

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

He drew his sword.

In the Living Doll's angry roar, "How dare mortals blaspheme against the gods?"

Amidst a deafening roar.

Amidst a tremendous roar of light and heat.

The sword sliced everything in two.

Satou Yunona 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 Satou Yunona to hallucinate.

That is [momentum].

Combining the Martial Intent that Fu Hua spoke of, Su Qing'an incorporated the amplified [momentum] of his 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 Cutter], 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 Doll abruptly ceased before the sword light even arrived, the chaotic heavy sounds vanished, and it seemed to be in a daze for a moment, even its flying body trembled.

Immediately, [Calming the Tempest] cleaved the Living Doll 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 Living Doll, whose remains were nowhere to be found, he abruptly said:

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

Sensing that the Honkai Energy mist around her had not only not dissipated but was becoming even denser, Satou Yunona frowned and said:

"Not yet. If we still can't find it after the burning and explosion, I'll have to come back and thoroughly clear 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 moment, 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 Temple-class Honkai Beast's great 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 task. But if Mr. Kanbara had added the requirement of playing the young lady to the task information, then maybe they would have chosen Mei instead, since she would have been so suitable."

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

In the distance, shrouded in mist, the figure collapsed to the ground, its fingertips trembling slightly.