Even though Perfected Taichu was thinking this way, he also knew that to figure out this slender Big Fireworks' attack pattern, he would have to pay a price.
After all, if Perfected Taichu wanted to find the attack pattern of the slender Big Fireworks, he had to take a few more hits before he could figure out how the Big Fireworks attacked.
If Perfected Taichu managed to dodge every single strike, that would prove he had already grasped the slender Big Fireworks' attack pattern, and there would be no need to keep probing it.
But right now, Perfected Taichu was also a bit worried—worried he himself wouldn't be able to withstand many more of this slender Big Fireworks' attacks.
Speed is power, after all. The slender Big Fireworks' attack speed was extremely fast, and with that speed came a huge amount of kinetic energy, blasting straight toward Perfected Taichu.
Although Perfected Taichu didn't understand what "kinetic energy" was, he did understand that speed could boost this slender Big Fireworks' attack power.
And the extra attack power this slender Big Fireworks gained wasn't just a little—it was rising in a geometric progression.
Besides, the base power of this slender Big Fireworks' strikes was already high; add in the increase brought by speed, and it directly led to Perfected Taichu's tiger's mouth splitting open when he took the next attack.
Even though a split tiger's mouth was only a surface wound, the fact that it was enough to tear Perfected Taichu's skin proved just how strong the slender Big Fireworks' attacks were, to the point that even he was having trouble parrying them.
Perfected Taichu could pop a pill right away and mend the torn flesh, but he knew he couldn't keep doing this forever. He had to find the attack pattern of this slender Big Fireworks, or his pills would eventually run out; and once Perfected Taichu's pills were gone, what awaited him would be injury on top of injury.
This time, Perfected Taichu blocked yet again and succeeded, but the price he paid was a complete comminuted fracture of his right arm—the arm holding the Carefree Sword.
Although this kind of bone injury wasn't considered too serious—two pills would be enough to fully heal it—it would still take time to repair.
And what Perfected Taichu lacked most right now was time, because the attacks of this slender Big Fireworks were continuing without pause.
Right after those two strikes, Perfected Taichu vaguely felt he had caught the attack pattern of this slender Big Fireworks.
Perfected Taichu didn't know if this slender Big Fireworks was copying him, but he had discovered that the angles of its attacks seemed to be the same as the angles he had used when attacking it earlier.
Of course, he couldn't say they were one hundred percent identical, but they were extremely similar, because Perfected Taichu could see traces of himself in those attacks.
Perfected Taichu pondered: if the attack angles of this slender Big Fireworks were imitated from him, then he felt he should have grasped some kind of pattern—but what worried him was that this slender Big Fireworks might possess its own will, or its own instincts.
The instinct of the slender Big Fireworks might make this Big Fireworks change its attack angles.
Although Perfected Taichu was only suspicious, he had no choice but to think more, because if he made even one mistake, what would greet him would be a storm of strikes—and these were attacks he would have no way to dodge or block.
He would only be able to take them all head-on. Perfected Taichu believed that if he took all of those attacks, he'd be lucky to survive with half his life. In fact, keeping half his life would already be generous; there was a very real chance he'd die outright, and Perfected Taichu thought that possibility was quite high.
So Perfected Taichu felt he needed to observe a few more rounds. For now, he could use the pattern he had just deduced to dodge, and while dodging, heal his arm, all the while maintaining his highest level of vigilance.
If, during his evasions, this slender Big Fireworks changed its attack pattern, then Perfected Taichu, being on full alert, would at least be able to dodge in time.
Otherwise, if Perfected Taichu took a direct hit, he could forget about doing anything else—because by then, it would be too late to even think about dodging. The only thing awaiting him would be death.
Perfected Taichu hurriedly swallowed two pills to repair his arm—the comminuted fracture plus the ripped tiger's mouth—then focused all his attention on the slender Big Fireworks.
At that moment, Perfected Taichu noticed the figure of the slender Big Fireworks starting to fade, and he immediately knew that this slender Big Fireworks was about to move.
Following the pattern he had just observed, Perfected Taichu urgently dodged to the side, clutching the Carefree Sword hard in his left hand. If anything went wrong, or if this slender Big Fireworks changed its attack angle, Perfected Taichu would be able to use the Carefree Sword to block in time.
Next, Perfected Taichu saw a scene that gave him some relief: this slender Big Fireworks was attacking exactly the way he had predicted—using his angles.
It had only attacked three times, but Perfected Taichu had already relaxed by half, because this slender Big Fireworks really was mimicking the angles he had just used to strike it. However, right after that, Perfected Taichu's heart tightened again.
Because Perfected Taichu suddenly thought of something: since this slender Big Fireworks was following his attack angles—essentially copying him—that meant its learning ability was very strong. It had only been hit a few times, and already it could copy him like tracing a gourd from the model.
Perfected Taichu couldn't help wondering: would the way he was dodging now also be copied by this slender Big Fireworks?
If his current evasions were also imitated by the slender Big Fireworks, then it would become very difficult for him to injure the slender Big Fireworks later on.
Only now did Perfected Taichu realize that he was stuck in a dilemma—whether he dodged or not, it was bad. If he didn't dodge, he would keep getting hurt. If he did dodge, he worried this slender Big Fireworks would imitate him; if it copied his evasion techniques, then he might no longer be able to land a hit on the Big Fireworks.
This was the plain truth. At the moment, Perfected Taichu still had Phantom Swordsmanship activated, so his evasion skills were quite advanced. If those were learned by this slender Big Fireworks, then maybe Perfected Taichu would still have a chance to injure it.
But as for anyone else, they shouldn't even dare to think about it. Even now, they might not be able to hit this slender Big Fireworks at all.
Once this slender Big Fireworks mastered Perfected Taichu's evasion techniques, everyone else's hope would be completely gone.