Chapter 3915 — A Pyrrhic Victory
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Conversely, if certain ultimate abilities were deliberately concealed and left unused, keeping the mirror puppet a mere half-finished product from beginning to end, then perhaps there might still be a sliver of hope.
In Wei Zhao's eyes, if the opponent could use the Blazing Fire Eight Trigrams Palm as he did, then because it was the limit of his strength and he could not wield it with consummate mastery, he would naturally have no confidence in using it to defeat this mirror puppet that was a notch stronger.
But if he refrained from the Blazing Fire Eight Trigrams Palm and instead relied on the most ordinary fists and feet, Wei Zhao, being able to master them completely, would actually stand a fighting chance against this mirror puppet.
This was still only Wei Zhao's conjecture—the sole countermeasure he could devise in this brief moment.
Yet this strategy offered only a possibility, a single crack found in a sealed chamber with no blind spots; but to escape alive, he still needed the strength to smash that crack open—and that was the resolve of which the ghostly voice had spoken!
Wei Zhao and the mirror puppet flashed back and forth like lightning, colliding again and again; apart from the Blazing Fire Fist, Form Twenty-Three, and Butterfly Subtle Steps used at the outset, all the rest was the most basic fists and feet.
Through relentless tempering since childhood, Wei Zhao's mastery of the fists and feet he excelled in had long since reached its pinnacle, and because it lay entirely within his capabilities, he could display his understanding of them without the slightest reservation.
By contrast, the mirror puppet, though likewise imitating Wei Zhao's fighting style of fists and feet, was imitating on the fly; even if the power of its every punch and kick could exceed that of Wei Zhao, the original, by a notch, it was utterly incapable of the consummate mastery that Wei Zhao possessed.
This was precisely the mirror puppet's sole flaw.
This great battle of fists and feet lasted a full hour, ending at last with Wei Zhao beating the mirror puppet to pieces with his bare hands, at the cost of one left leg, one right arm, three ribs, and countless bone fractures all over his body.
It was a victory through and through—a pyrrhic one—yet for Wei Zhao, it was no less than a resounding triumph.
Such an opportunity to cross hands with oneself was something one could only encounter by chance in any cultivator's career; not only could it temper one's skills in a battle fought to the fullest, but more crucially, it allowed one to recognize oneself all the more profoundly.
Only an enemy is the creature that understands you best, and when you become your own enemy, that understanding is bound to come more directly and deeply. This was an unprecedented perspective, and naturally it brought unprecedented rewards.
Such was Wei Zhao at this moment: after this mirror battle, the transformation that had remade him was something even he, a party to it, could clearly feel taking place within himself.
Wei Zhao felt that he was now at least thirty percent stronger than before. When he had faced Yu Jiang of the mid Foundation Establishment stage earlier, he had exhausted every scheme and trick to laugh last; but with his present self, a complete victory over such an opponent would be no trouble at all. R1152