Cultivating in Honkai!

The battle during the second eruption caused untold damage to Fu Hua's mind. She had to sacrifice the last bit of her memories to unleash Blade Eminence. If not for the Will of Honkai intervening, she would have successfully killed Sirin.

Since then, her detachment from the world increased dramatically. Being awakened by a supposed "friend" (Otto) and having to see her past self's "mind seals" did not help.

The best she can do is to respond to the will etched deep within her mind—to act for the best of humanity. That was the only thing she wouldn't forget.

Her entire existence up to this point depended on it. Fu Hua turned into a machine only slightly worse than Kevin.

Naturally, she saw those memories within the mind seals. But, she could no longer empathize and grow attached to it. They felt foreign. It is the most despairing feeling.

To see but to not see;

To remember but not to remember.

Her mind seals, housing her most precious memories with her friends, turned into worthless scraps.

Only by following her intent to act for humanity did she feel more at ease. She followed Otto's orders, believing him to be humanity's best guardian. She lived a life of solitude, except when she was summoned to do several missions with other valkyrie squads.

She could still "empathize" with the present, but what good would it do?

Her monotonous life ended a year ago.

Enlightened by a sword, Fu Hua regained the ability to empathize.

She can accept those 'memories' as truly hers. The sense of detachment disappeared, replaced by a burst of melancholy.

The damage to the soul done by her damaged [Eminence] mental state was fully recovered. She regained "something" numbed by the sacrifices, tragedies, and helplessness she went through.

Fu Hua has a lot of things to say to the swordsman who enlightened her that day. Unfortunately, it never came true.

A year later, she was dispatched by Otto to Siberia. There, she saw the sword intent buried deep beneath the sea. Fu Hua then realized she was sent to find the same swordsman from a year ago.

A week of search remained fruitless… until now.

Tap.

One simple finger tap to her wrist rendered it paralyzed. A faint trace of spiritual qi tensed her muscles.

Shi Tian grasped her hand. The two were then teleported thirty kilometers away—to the undeveloped area outside the snowing city. Bald trees could be seen all over the place.

To that regard, Fu Hua's martial arts uniform did well.

He removed his hold over her. A talisman appeared between his index and middle finger. It is a peak second grade concealment talisman akin to a concealment technique.

Shi Tian flicked it to the sky. With the input of spiritual qi, it formed an invisible semi-sphere surrounding them.

His spiritual consciousness acted. A brief scan was all it took to identify several hidden microscopic-sized devices on her.

Buzz-!

Bam-!

Fu Hua was startled to see small explosions on the surface of her clothes.

"Now, we can talk. That should be enough to send my message to your employer."

She fell silent as she gradually organized her thoughts.

Fu Hua cusped her fist and bowed her head. Her tied gray hair swayed; her red glasses perfectly matching her face.

"Thank you for your guidance."

"I am not a senior. Please raise your head."

She did not make things harder for Shi Tian, doing what she was told. Fu Hua did not react to his immortal-like appearance, either.

"I know you have a lot of questions. I will answer them all. But..." He paused for a while before continuing, "Can you entertain mine first?"

Seeing her nod, he asked:

"Why cling onto your doubts?"

"Doubts..?"

Fu Hua swiftly fell into contemplation.

One year into the Sword Heart realm. Shi Tian went through it once, and it certainly did not take one year. It did not require Spirit Roots and anything else, merely affirmation and formation of an undying mindset.

The Sword Heart realm requires the practitioner to throw away all doubts; to be unrestrained of it all.

He reached it when he cut down the thunder tribulation. The time, mood, and occurrence allowed him to vent it all. After that, he no longer worried about future prospects. The change in mindset was reflected from his Sword Heart turning into Sword Nurturing Pagoda.

Shi Tian believes in Fu Hua's talent in this regard. All that's left is for her mental state (mindset) to fully change.

"The cultivation of a sword requires one to put all their faith into their sword. Even if it results in meaningless deaths, we sword cultivators fight to the bitter end. It is us who give meaning to our lives. Not our actions. Not our due responsibilities. Not anything else. Us."

Ultimately, Immortal cultivators aspire to seize their destiny, not letting others dictate it. They become stronger until this is possible.

Throughout that journey, they nurture a mental state, in turn giving birth to a "heart". It is the origin of Sword Heart, Spear Heart, Saintly Heart, and so on.

It is a manifestation of their realizations and attitude towards everything.

Bam-!

A sharp aura tore down the surrounding soil. Her Sword Heart is inexplicably called out. Shi Tian doubled down by using the Dao of Enlightenment. Guided by it and his words, Fu Hua fell to an epiphany.

'Fighting for humanity… is not merely a duty. It is a path I chose, built by my own choices every step of the way.'

The realizations she was supposed to reach during the events of Klostern emerged in advance.

Along with conviction lied her heart. The purity of her thoughts reached an all-time high. No longer did doubts cloud her eyes.

In the end, her Sword Heart successfully transformed into the Sword Nurturing Pagoda.

Swoosh-!

Cling-!

Shi Tian did not mind the disturbances she made.

'Shattered Samsara… It's been a very long time.'

Honkai Impact is a bedrock of tragedies. It tells the tale of humans' struggle against the honkai. The people of the Previous Era, in particular, made countless sacrifices to keep humanity afloat.

Fu Hua is one of the characters he liked the most, coming in second. Her betrayal to Kiana at that time came off as shocking, but when he understood more about her, he felt empathetic.

She made countless sacrifices, so much so that during the events of Shattered Samsara, Fu Hua swiftly volunteered to stay behind. It is deeply rooted in her mind as a habit to sacrifice herself first before anyone else.

'Bringing the future forward… is not so bad.'

*****

A/N: The bonus chapter will be uploaded tomorrow.