Chapter 11 — From Ruins to the Dharma Lord's Throne

The night before the finals, when the entire arena was silent under the moonlight, a figure quietly moved in the underground corridor leading to the arena's central magic control area - a place containing ancient magical machines used to limit the scope of the competition and ensure the safety of the contestants.

Nhạc Vĩnh Tuyên walked in the darkness, his thin face hidden under a hood, his hand holding a small piece of spirit talisman that emitted a pale red light — something he had received from a secret messenger of the Dark Alliance just a few days ago.

"If that person truly possesses the Primal Chaos Root," the messenger's cold voice still echoed in his mind, "our master will not be pleased if it grows unchecked. It is your duty to eliminate this threat, in whatever form possible, without revealing a trace of its involvement with us."

Nhạc Vĩnh Tuyên has been quietly serving the Dark Alliance for many years, since he was a young elder who was pushed out of important positions of power by the academy council because of his not prestigious enough background. The promise of strength and immortality that Black Flame offered became the only motivation that made him accept to betray the very place where he had devoted his life.

Standing in front of the central formation control machine, he pulled out an ancient parchment scroll containing complex symbols - a sophisticatedly modified formation code, enough to cause the formation that limited the scope of competition in the final match to suddenly transform into a real deadly trap, aiming precisely at Dịch Phàm's position without harming his opponent.

"Sorry, boy," he muttered as he finished modifying the formation, his voice not carrying any guilt at all. "But this is the price to pay for being born with powers that shouldn't exist."

The next morning, the arena was more packed than ever, as news of the final match between Tần Dịch Phàm and another genius from the continent's second-biggest house spread everywhere. Dịch Phàm stood in the waiting area, feeling both nervousness and excitement rising in his heart, completely unaware of the plot that was waiting for him.

"Are you okay?" Tuyết Nhi asked, standing next to him, her eyes carefully observing his expression.

"I'm fine," Dịch Phàm replied, taking a deep breath. "Just a little nervous."

Bạt Sơn, Tịch Dao and a few other students also gathered near the waiting area to cheer, even though they had not officially become Dịch Phàm's teammates. Their appearance made him feel warmer, like a reminder that he was no longer alone like he was during his years at Te Ban Hospital.

"Don't worry too much." Tuyết Nhi smiled encouragingly. "You have improved a lot in recent times. Regardless of the result, you have proven your mettle."

The final match began amid enthusiastic cheers from the audience. Dịch Phàm stepped out into the middle of the arena, facing his opponent - a calm teenager with a strong Water spirit, the poise of someone accustomed to the spotlight.

The whistle blew and the match officially started. But just a few seconds after the two began exchanging their first attacks, Dịch Phàm felt something unusual - the range-limiting formation, which only had the effect of preventing moves from going outside the arena, suddenly began emitting a strange stream of energy, concentrating more and more densely around the position he was standing on.

"Something's wrong," he muttered, feeling the Mixed Origin Spirit Root in his body react violently to the strange energy surrounding him, a feeling similar to when he encountered the evil energy of the Evil Wolf Rock Armor in the ruins, but this time it was much more subtle and purposeful.

Suddenly, that stream of energy exploded into a pillar of red light, not a normal effect of a limit formation, but a real attack aimed directly at Dịch Phàm. He only had time to react in a split second, pouring all his remaining spiritual energy into a multi-element protective shield, but the destructive force of the light pillar still caused him to be thrown far away, crashing hard against the edge of the arena.

The stands suddenly fell silent, then erupted into panic. Dịch Phàm's opponent also stood frozen, clearly unaware of what had just happened, completely unrelated to the match.

"Dịch Phàm!" Tuyết Nhi screamed, rushed out of the contestants' stands, despite the strict rules about not interfering in the ongoing match, running straight to where he was lying.

Fortunately, thanks to the timely protective shield and the special ability to restore spiritual energy of the Mixed Spirit Root, Dịch Phàm only suffered minor injuries, although his body was still sore and dizzy. He forced himself to stand up, supported by Tuyết Nhi on one side. His eyes scanned the arena, trying to find out the cause of the recent incident.

Principal Hầu Đạt Sơn and the professors rushed to check the central array control machine, and it didn't take long to discover traces of intentional intervention - a strange array code had been delicately implanted into the system, completely different from the original structure.

"This was not a random incident." An elderly professor announced, his voice filled with indignation. "Someone intentionally interfered with the formation to harm one of the two contestants."

The eyes of the entire academy council, including Nhạc Vĩnh Tuyên who was trying to keep a calm expression, turned towards the control machine. But at this very moment, Tuyết Nhi, with the acumen of a dual-system mage familiar with analyzing complex spiritual energy structures, walked closer to the machine and gently touched the strange code.

"This trace of spiritual energy..." she frowned, feeling each layer of remaining energy. "It smells very similar to the evil aura I felt when researching reports related to the Dark Alliance in the family library."

That statement shocked the entire academy council. If the evil spirit of the Dark Alliance is truly related to the incident, it means that there are insiders operating right inside the academy, a possibility that no one wants to believe is true but cannot deny the clear evidence in front of them.

"So can you determine exactly who tampered with the machine?" Principal Hầu Đạt Sơn asked, his voice filled with worry.

Tuyết Nhi shook her head, looking disappointed. "Traces of spiritual energy only tell us the origin of the evil energy. We cannot name the person who used it. This person was very careful and deliberately erased most of his personal traces before leaving the scene."

"Then we must increase surveillance of the entire academy's formation control area." Another professor suggested. "At the same time, I think we should limit sensitive information related to Tần Dịch Phàm to avoid any more leaks." Hầu Đạt Sơn nodded in agreement, but his eyes still could not hide his anxiety as he glanced towards Nhạc Vĩnh Tuyên standing quietly in the corner of the room.

Dịch Phàm, even though his body was still sore, clenched his fists, his eyes flashing with new determination. If this is indeed a plot by the Dark Alliance to harm him, it only proves that he is on the right path to finding his parents — and that, somewhere in this very academy, there is a traitor secretly acting for the benefit of his enemy.

The final match was postponed to allow the academy board to conduct a thorough investigation, a decision that disappointed many audiences but also received widespread consensus given the seriousness of the incident. Dịch Phàm's opponent in the final match, even though he did not know anything about the plot, also proactively visited him and expressed sincere sympathy.

"I hope you recover soon," he said, sounding somewhat embarrassed. "No matter what the outcome of our match is, I don't want to win this way."

Nhạc Vĩnh Tuyên stood silently in the corner of the council meeting room, observing all developments with a carefully practiced calm expression, but inside, he knew clearly that he was walking on a thin wire. If Tuyết Nhi or anyone else were to find a trail that led directly to him, all the plans of many years would collapse in an instant. He needed to be more careful, and perhaps, needed to report the situation back to Hắc Diễm as soon as possible.

That night, when everyone in the academy had fallen asleep, Nhạc Vĩnh Tuyên sneaked out of his room and found a hidden corner on the plateau beside the cliff. He activated the secret communication talisman. "The plan failed," he whispered into the spirit talisman, his voice trembling. "That child is lucky to be alive, and the academy has begun to suspect an inside job. We need more time."

A cold voice rang out from the spirit talisman, without any emotion. "You've had enough time, Yue Vĩnh Tuyên. Don't let your master disappoint you again."