Back to a minute earlier, inside Mesa"s mind. ["JARVIS, help me out here! Is there any way to release the Bankai right now?"]
["Yes sir. You can pay 500,000 system credits to forcefully release it. This Bankai release is just a one-time only event and until you have unlocked the Bankai in the way that you should have, you will have to pay 500,000 system credits every time you want to release a Bankai."
["JARVIS, do it!"]
"Not…yet! Ban… kai! Zan… ka… no… Ta… chi!" Whispered a very strained Mesa who was frozen solid. And then, a tornado of energy threatened to explode out of Mesa. But quick use of the Power Stone absorbs all of the energy that exploded out of him and kept the Infinity Gauntlet hidden as much as possible. Without it, everyone on the Profound Sky continent would have the outburst of energy and it would have drawn in the Sacred Grounds like moths to a flame. But everyone at the Mighty Heavenly Sword Villa did feel the enormous outburst of power that came from Mesa and were shocked silent at it. Xia Qingyue, who was at ground zero, even started trembling at the power and the heat that came of Mesa. Everything that was frozen just earlier was now either burned or had all its moisture evaporated. The intense heat was so bad that everyone used their most powerful abilities, just to shield themselves. The Elders of the Four Major Sects and even Ling Kun came down to help with the barrier.
Back at the arena, Mesa had transformed. His left hand was still the Boosted Gear, but now, he wore a shihakushō. But the most eye-catching thing off all, was his clothes and sword. They were both releasing smoke and looked like they were scorched with fire.
Xia Qingyue was looking at Mesa wide open eyes and taking steps back. The amount of heat that he emitted right now, was far greater than anything she felt earlier. All of her ice was being sublimated in front of her and nothing she did could stop it. Raising his sword to the sky with one hand, Mesa looks at Xia Qingyue with a dead look in his eyes as he whispers the name of his attack: "Zanka no Tachi, Kita: Tenchi Kaijin.
BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!
TRANSFER!
And then, he slashed downward. It was a slash of such great power and heat and so incredibly thin, that it slashed through anything in its path.
Xia Qingyue"s instincts were screaming at her to dodge Mesa"s attack. They were screaming at her that this attack would kill her. So in an act of total desperation, she shielded herself using every ounce of Profound Energy she had and put it all in her Ice Phoenix Snowflower Ribbon, that she used as a shield in front of her. And using the Frozen Cloud Asgard"s movement skill, the Frozen Snow Dance Step, she tried to create as much distance as possible between her and Mesa.
But try as she might, Mesa"s slash still arrived and she closed her eyes tightly in an instinctual response. After a second went by and she felt nothing, she carefully opened her eyes and was shocked to see the results. Her Ice Phoenix Snowflower Ribbon was cut in pieces, clearly showing that it did nothing to stop Mesa"s slash. But looking at her body, there wasn"t a single scratch on her. But when she looked to her right, that"s when she saw it. The very ground itself was slashed and this slash continued on for many, many miles. A mountain that stood in the distance was even cleaved in half, vertically. The very fact that the audience were seated in two half circles around the arena with two walkways for the contestants to come to the arena where there was no one, made it a miracle that Mesa didn"t hit anyone.
Looking at Mesa himself, he still held his sword to the ground and was trembling. But he himself was bleeding out of his mouth, nose and eyes, which themselves were bloodshot. With trembling hand, he shakily lifted his sword and pointed it towards Xia Qingyue and said in a very hoa.r.s.e voice: "Come… I still… got more… left."
"I… surrender…" Said Xia Qingyue in a very faint voice, that was barely audible.
Ling Wugou, who was still processing everything that happened, still managed to hear her. Putting his hand in the air and with a loud voice, he announced the results: "Xia Qingyue has admitted defeat, the champion of the Ranking Tournament is…Blue Wind Imperial Family"s Mesa Uchiha!"
As Ling Wugou declared the conclusion of the finals, the ranking tournament was finally over. Shortly after, the atmosphere around Sword Discourse Arena became rowdy. Before the Ranking Tournament, n.o.body had even expected it to end like this. It was impossible for them to expect this outcome. If someone had proclaimed that the overall winner would be from Blue Wind Imperial Family, everyone would regard that person as a crazy r.e.t.a.r.d.
Blue Wind Imperial Family. Originally, this name should have carried majestic might, but it had been ridiculed and insulted in the profound cultivating world. Today, for the first time in history, it had become the champion!
And immediately after the results were announced, Mesa collapsed to the ground and his shihakushō disappeared, leaving him in his regular shirt and pants clothes. His Boosted Gear on his left arm was deformed and these bulging veins formed on his left arm, just above the Boosted Gear. It was even so bad, that he started bleeding from various spots on his body.
Ling Yuefeng immediately sprang into action and had the medical staff take Mesa with them for immediate treatment.
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Later at the Medical Wing of the Mighty Heavenly Sword Villa.
Ling Jiumi, the doctor of the Mighty Heavenly Sword Villa and the mother of Ling Yuefeng, was checking on Mesa"s condition. Ever since he had collapsed, he hadn"t woken up.
"How is his condition?" Asked Ling Yuefeng as he walked in to the room where Mesa was being treated by Ling Jiumi.
"Bad. This last crazy stunt of his had caused all of his Profound Energy to disappear. He put so much stress on his Profound Veins that they are no longer able to hold on to any Profound Energy anymore." Said Ling Jiumi to the shock of Ling Yuefeng.
"Seriously?! So he crippled himself!" Said Ling Yuefeng as he looked over at the unconscious Mesa.
"So, can you help him in any kind of way?"
"I will try. But I cannot make any promises. And besides, this weird thing on his left arm is what I am really worried about. Ever since he came in, the veins had been bulging nonstop and this growth has been getting bigger and bigger. If I knew anything about it, I might have been able to help him. But I have no idea what it is or why it"s growing like that. But one thing I am sure is that thing will consume him, sooner or later." Said Ling Jiumi seriously.
"But he has an instant healing ability. Why isn"t it able to heal him right now?!" Asked Ling Yuefeng.
"My theory is, because he put so much stress on his Profound Veins, his instant healing ability has been overburdened and now it can"t work anymore. It is already an incredible miracle that his Profound Veins haven"t been destroyed. There is nothing that I can do for him. All we hope, is for him to wake up and for his body to recover on its own I am afraid." Said Ling Jiumi.
"Is that so?" Asked Ling Yuefeng sadly, to which Ling Jiumi nodded to.
"The least I can do for him is let the Princess inside. She hasn"t moved from that door ever since he was brought in. Grandmother Jiumi, let us go and give her some s.p.a.ce." Said Ling Yuefeng as he and Ling Jiumi walked out of the room. Just outside the room, Cang Yue was sitting on a chair and staring in front of her with dead eyes. Hearing the door to Mesa"s room open, she wakes up and rushes at Ling Yuefeng.
"Villa Master, please tell me everything is going to be alright with Mesa?! Please?!" Begged Cang Yue. Deciding to be truthful to her, Ling Yuefeng told her everything Ling Jiumi told him earlier. Hearing this made Cang Yue lose strength in her legs and she almost collapsed on the floor, until Ling Yuefeng caught her. Helping her out, he brought her next to Mesa"s bed and then left the room.
After a few minutes of silence, Cang Yue turns her head to the door and carefully listens for any kind of noise. After making sure that she was the only one here left with Mesa, she turned to him and her distraught face turned into a smirk.
"Alright Mesa, you can wake up now. Everyone is gone now. There"s no need to keep faking this." Said Cang Yue in an amused tone.
A few seconds after Cang Yue said that, Mesa"s eyes opened up and he started laughing softly in self mockingly way: "Dear oh dear. I knew I couldn"t hide this from you. What could have possibly given me away?"
"Oh, its"s very simple. I wasn"t born yesterday. After seeing you do all those overly dramatic shows multiple times, I knew you were planning something with this latest one. There was no way that Xia Qingyue, even though she is incredibly talented and strong, could beat you or push you so hard. So I knew you were planning something, but I had no idea what it was. All I knew is that this was all an act and that I had to play along with it to make it more convincing. So tell me, what are you planning now?" Said Cang Yue with a smirk.
"It"s very simple. During this tournament, I have been showing off a LOT! So I knew that those so called "righteous sect people" would come after me. During this entire tournament, they would be either hate me, be very jealous of me or their greed towards me would be immense or a combination of those. And the best chance they have to do it, would be during the Heaven Secret Basin Realm. So, using the most elaborate illusion of all, I made it look like I was seriously hurt and using my ability to control my own level of strength, I kept my strength to zero. And now, with Ling Jiumi haven told Ling Yuefeng how serious my condition is, those "righteous sect people" will find out about it and they will jump at this opportunity to kill me and take all my treasures." Said Mesa as the Boosted Gear disappeared.
"If that"s the truth. Than who are these people?" Asked Cang Yue.
"Oh, you know. The Burning Heaven Clan and the Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Sect who absolutely hate and desperately want to kill me after everything I did to them. And the Xiao Sect. During this tournament, I could practically taste their jealousy and their greed at everything I had and everything I was capable of. I am sure that every one of them would come an attack me, in order to take everything from me if they had the chance. But during this whole tournament, I showed them that I was no pushover and that I would fight back, even if it was someone from the Four Major Sects. And that is why I did what I did. Using Ling Yuefeng to spread the rumors of me being crippled, they will be absolutely ecstatic at this "opportunity" to kill me. So, I will "wake up" shortly before the Heaven Secret Basin Realm opens up in four days and demand, that as the tournament winner, I have the right to explore it. And of course, I will accept the risks that come with me exploring that place while being "crippled". And once, those people try to attack me, that"s when I will show them that it was all an act and that they fell into my trap." Said Mesa with a malevolent smile.