Chapter 3915 — A Pyrrhic Victory

This also proved that the thing before him was at best a mimicking puppet, and by no means any true mirror image—otherwise, if it really were a replicated mirror, the strongest Blazing Fire Eight Trigrams Palm would long since have been brought out against Wei Zhao himself.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After a burst of dense, muffled impacts of fists and feet, the two figures, following the mirror puppet's Blazing Fire Fist, Form Twenty-Three, touched and instantly sprang apart.

"Not bad, not bad—to be able to fight the mirror to such a standstill, you are the first. Because I deliberately set the mirror's strength a whole grade above the original's, most people are crushed one-sidedly. This is getting more and more worth watching." The ghostly voice offered its praise.

Since the mirror puppet and the original used the same martial techniques and abilities, there was no distinction of superior or inferior between them; once the opponent's strength was raised by a grade, even if only slightly, it would ultimately result in one-sided domination.

This kind of same-nature suppression was even more intractable and unsolvable than an innate suppression like fire overcoming wood, because whatever you could do, your opponent could do as well—and do it better.

Even if the opponent was not a true mirror but merely a fabricated mimicking puppet, every time one martial technique was used, the opponent would instantly imitate it, and more powerfully at that.

This mimicking puppet would also keep growing stronger throughout the fight; once the original went all out, it would become an existence utterly transcending the original—flawless and impregnable.

Wei Zhao had seen through this early on, which was why he had not rashly used his trump card, the Blazing Fire Eight Trigrams Palm; once the mirror puppet grasped his strongest card, he would fall completely at a disadvantage.

The ghostly voice saw through Wei Zhao's intent and cackled strangely: "Not planning to use any stronger moves? That is a good thought—of the ten people who come here, perhaps three can think of it, so I must commend you. But even among those, very few succeed in the end."

Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. Before he could think further, the ghostly voice continued: "The Millennium Tree Crystal may not be anything important in my eyes, but it is a rare bargaining chip after all. If I gave it away so easily, no one would be left to while away my loneliness. So, do you have that resolve—the resolve to obtain the Millennium Tree Crystal from my hands?"

"Resolve?" Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow, then sneered: "What a thing fond of playing the profound. The resolve you speak of is nothing more than whether I have the confidence to defeat you head-on, is it not?"

"Ho ho, you have even thought that far? Your comprehension is truly astonishing! To be honest, I am beginning to appreciate you more and more. I hope your performance to come will not disappoint me." The ghostly voice laughed strangely.

As the words fell, the mirror puppet suddenly executed Butterfly Subtle Steps, erupting with unprecedented speed as it lunged straight at Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao clenched his fists expressionlessly. The moment he had understood the mirror puppet's ability, he had already realized that today's battle was bound to be an unprecedented bitter struggle.

This mirror puppet surpassed the original in every respect; the odds of defeating it were infinitesimal. Especially if he revealed every card in his hand, there would be no chance of victory at all.

The mirror puppet's mimicking ability doomed it to constant evolution. Once the original exhausted his full strength and it had comprehensively mastered the original's abilities, no one could be a match for another version of oneself that transcended oneself in every aspect.

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