CHAPTER 97 – The First Clash of Roots
The Root Protagonist's calm façade cracked, replaced by a flicker of irritation, like a perfect formula that had encountered an unexpected variable.
"Arrogance.
You are Chaos, a disruptive force.
I am the stabilizing Principle."
He raised his hand.
From his palm, a beam of brilliant white energy shot toward her—pure Order, the essence of his power.
It was pure logic, intended to impose absolute structure and erase her anomaly.
Xiao Xi didn't flinch.
She simply swept her hand across the air, not dodging, but interacting.
Her Chaos threads exploded outward, a silent, twisting maelstrom of violet energy that caught the beam mid-flight.
The white, rigid light of Order couldn't withstand the sudden, creative twisting of Chaos.
It dissolved instantly, twisting into ribbons of violet and gold light that harmlessly dissipated.
For the first time, the Root Protagonist faltered, his posture momentarily losing its perfect rigidity.
"You—overpowered my stabilization? The Principle of Order cannot be defeated by simple anomaly."
Xiao Xi's eyes glowed fiercely, reflecting the violet light of her power.
She wasn't an anomaly anymore; she was the source of the new normal.
"You're not fighting the Xiao Xi who woke up in a cheap apartment, trying to figure out why the microwave was on fire.
" She took a powerful step forward, forcing him to take one back.
"You're fighting the Root who rewrote entire worlds, learned the rules, and then broke the system to save the one she loves."
He attacked again, quicker this time—a blade of compressed narrative, a concept sharpened into an edge intended to cut her out of the storyline entirely.
Xiao Xi dissolved it with a flick of her wrist, turning the narrative blade into a shower of harmless, glittering sparks, like a burst of static on a dying screen.
His face remained calm, the picture of control, but a definite tremor showed in his silver pupils.
He was calculating, processing the impossible.
Then, he stopped calculating.
He surged forward in a flash of white, stabilizing light, moving with the cold, inevitable speed of fate itself.
Xiao Xi met him mid-air, a sonic boom following their collision,
Chaos pouring from her palms in twin violet torrents.
The world shattered around them as they clashed—
Order versus Chaos.
Stability versus Creation.
Perfection versus Emotion.
The air was torn by their force.
Every impact tore holes in reality, temporary voids that immediately resealed, spitting out shards of corrupted code.
Every collision sent shockwaves across the frozen city, shaking the debris that time had suspended.
Gu watched her, pinned to the ground by his own partial deletion, caught between awe and terror.
"Xiao Xi… she's… stronger than him.
He's all form, she's all force."
Ling Qiuyue, still weak but regaining strength from Xiao Xi's ambient power, whispered, her voice laced with the conviction of a truth finally revealed:
"She's the true Root.
He's… a mistake.
An automated failsafe that thinks it's the master."
And Shen Yichen, his golden aura beginning to glow faintly again, nodded grimly, gripping his fists.
"Then we help her finish this.
The world needs a Root with a heart."