Chapter 3 — From Ruins to the Dharma Lord's Throne

Chiêu Tuyết Nhi had never had to wait for anyone to pay attention to her. As the only daughter of Chiêu Bách Uyên, head of the Chiêu family—one of the four famous families sponsoring the Bạch Dực Alliance—she had grown up amid compliments, among professors who always gave her special favors, and among teenagers of the same age who always sought to please her for the sake of family fame.

She awakened her dual Ice-Water spiritual roots at the age of fourteen, an event that caused a stir in the Main District for many months. Since then, three years have passed, and no one in her age group has been able to match her talent and spiritual energy control technique. She was used to standing at the top, used to having all eyes directed towards her with admiration.

So when the news about an orphan from the Te Ban Institute awakening the Spirit Root spread throughout the academy, Tuyết Nhi's first reaction was not surprise, but disbelief.

"Myth," she spoke to her close friends during break time, her voice as cold as the ice she often summoned. "The Primordial Spirit Root has disappeared from this continent for more than a hundred years. A person who has been without roots for three consecutive years can awaken that legendary spiritual root? There must be some mistake, or the academy's awakening formation has failed."

"But I heard that the dean personally confirmed it." One of her friends, the lady of a smaller famous family, spoke up. "They'll even transfer him to the Main District's elite class from tomorrow."

Tuyết Nhi frowned. The fact that someone from the Te Ban Institute was transferred to the elite class, a place reserved only for the best geniuses of famous families, was unprecedented. If true, it would be a huge shock to the academy's inherent order. If it were fake, it would be a shameful farce.

"Maybe it's just a trick to please the headmaster." Another of her friends chimed in, her voice filled with contempt. "After all, an orphan needs a thrilling story to escape the Hospice."

Tuyết Nhi did not respond immediately, just silently looked out at the yard where the afternoon sunlight fell on the towering roofs of the Main Area. She had heard too many stories about people forging spiritual roots to gain entry into the upper class, but something about the way Principal Hầu Đạt Sơn personally confirmed it made her unable to completely dismiss the smoldering curiosity in her heart.

She decided to check it out for herself.

The next day, when Dịch Phàm entered the elite classroom for the first time, he clearly felt the weight of dozens of eyes focused on him. Different from the indifference or contempt he was used to at Te Ban Hospital, the eyes here carried a sharp scrutiny, as if each person was trying to find some loophole to prove that he did not deserve to be here.

"So this is the one who awakened the Chaos Origin Spiritual Root." A clear but condescending voice rang out from the front row. Tuyết Nhi sat there, her chin in her hand, her eyes scanning from head to toe of Dịch Phàm with undisguised appreciation. "It doesn't look like anything special."

A few giggles rang out around. Dịch Phàm did not respond, just quietly found an empty seat in the last row, sat down, looking straight at the board.

The professor in charge of the class that day was a strict middle-aged woman who specialized in teaching the theory of spiritual energy control. After a brief introduction, she decided to organize a small practice test to evaluate the level of the new student — none other than Dịch Phàm.

"Qin Dịch Phàm, try summoning any basic move. We need to know what level you are at to arrange the appropriate curriculum."

The whole class was silent, waiting. Dịch Phàm stood up, walked out into the space in the middle of the classroom designed specifically for practice, feeling the aura around him. This was the first time he had actually tried controlling the Mixed Element Spirit Root since the awakening exam, and he quickly realized one thing: sensing five types of elements at once was completely different from controlling them skillfully.

He concentrated, trying to summon a small stream of fire in his palm — something that normal Fire-type students could do right from the first lessons. But his fire flared erratically, sometimes strong and weak, mixed with strange flashes of other elements, as if the five energy streams in his body were fighting for control.

The result was a small explosion, harmless but enough to create a loud noise and a plume of smoke rising into the middle of the classroom.

Laughter rang out throughout the room. "Look, is this the level of the one who awakens the legendary Chaos Origin Spiritual Root?" Someone quipped.

Dịch Phàm stood in the middle of the smoke, his face red with embarrassment but not flinching. He knew clearly that possessing a rare spiritual root did not mean that he knew how to use it proficiently. He needed time, needed guidance, needed training — things that the famous geniuses around him had available since he was young.

Tuyết Nhi sat in the front row, arms crossed, the corners of her lips curling up into a slight ironic smile. "I already told you. Perhaps the Mixed Origin Spirit Root was just a mistake in the awakening formation." But when the professor asked Dịch Phàm to try again, there was something that made Tuyết Nhi frown and observe more closely. This time, although the fire in his palm was still unstable, he knew how to restrain it from exploding into another accident. Instead, the fire flickered, weak but continuous, and around it, Tuyết Nhi — with the sharp eyes of a dual-system mage — could sense other energy streams quietly operating, supporting, balancing each other in a way she had never seen in anyone.

It's not a properly taught technique. It's pure instinct, an ability to sense and coordinate energy at a deep level that even geniuses trained since childhood can't get right on the second try.

The class professor could not hide her surprise, although she tried to maintain her professional composure. "Very good, Qin Dịch Phàm. I will acknowledge that you need a separate curriculum, more suitable for the characteristics of Mixed Origin Spirit Root." She turned to the whole class, her voice serious. "You should also remember that strength comes not only from background, but also from perseverance. Don't let yourself be carried away by hasty prejudices."

No one in the class dared to refute the professor's words, but the judgmental eyes on Dịch Phàm had not completely disappeared, they were just now a little more cautious, a little more reconsidering.

After class, when Dịch Phàm was packing his things and preparing to leave class, Tuyết Nhi suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking the way.

"Let me ask," she said, her voice still a little arrogant but no longer quite as contemptuous as before. "Where did you learn that energy balancing technique? I've never seen any academy textbooks that teach how to coordinate multiple streams of spiritual energy at the same time."

Dịch Phàm raised his head, a bit surprised by her sudden change in attitude. "I didn't learn from anywhere. I just... felt that they were fighting with each other, so I tried to make them give in to each other."

Tuyết Nhi was silent for a moment, her eyes scanned his face, trying to find signs of boasting or lies. But she only saw simple sincerity, without any coloration.

"That's interesting," She finally spoke, her voice a little softer. "Perhaps you are not as completely useless as I first thought. But don't be complacent. The road from someone who has just awakened his spiritual roots to a true magician is still very long, Tần Dịch Phàm."

"I know," Dịch Phàm replied, his eyes determined. "But I will go all the way, no matter how long it takes." Tuyết Nhi looked at him for a moment longer, then nodded slightly, turned and walked away, the edge of her emerald green cloak passing by like a cool breeze. But before leaving the classroom, she stopped, didn't turn around, and just said one sentence back.

"Training session tomorrow afternoon, at the East training ground. If you really want to learn how to control spiritual energy properly, I can show you a few basics. After all, someone who possesses a Mixed Origin Spiritual Root and doesn't know how to use it is a waste."

Then she disappeared behind the door, leaving Dịch Phàm standing there, a strange feeling rising in his heart - not necessarily joy, but a faint ray of hope that, perhaps, the road ahead of him would not be as lonely as he thought.

On the way back to the girls' dormitory, Tuyết Nhi wondered why she blurted out that suggestion. She has never proactively taught anyone, much less someone from a lowly background like Dịch Phàm. But the image of the weak yet steady flame in his palm, the image of five chaotic streams of energy gradually finding a harmonious rhythm after just one failed experiment, lingered in her mind. During her three years as a genius praised by the entire academy, nothing had ever made her so curious.

"Maybe," she whispered to herself, "that orphan will make the boring days at this academy a little less boring."

Outside the window, the afternoon sunlight dyed the tower roofs of the Main Area yellow, and somewhere far away, the Tinh Quang plateau still quietly kept in its heart many secrets of the past, waiting to be opened.