System Binding

"To hell with this! My life! Don't you dare take it from me!!"

"Die? Get lost! I want to live! I want this world to remember my name!!"

This soundless roar, erupting from the deepest depths of his soul, thundered through the ruins of Xiang Yi's collapsing consciousness! It was not a sound, but the final spark of life burning, carrying a savage defiance and unwillingness to be crushed by anything! The cold countdown [Life Countdown: 3 seconds... 2 seconds...] was like the icy gleam of a guillotine above his neck. Rather than severing his will to survive, it completely ignited the ferocity tempered by memories from two lifetimes!

Why?! Why had he only just caught the faintest scent of breaking free from an ant's fate, only to be crushed at the bottom of this cold cliff?! The suffocating office cubicle, the flashing blades that controlled life and death in the canyon, the ashes of billions of lives scattered with a snap of his fingers... All his resentment, longing, and suppressed fantasies became fuel at that moment, explosively igniting the spark of "survival" deep within his soul!

Just as the death sentence of "1 second" was about to fall, and his consciousness was about to sink into eternal darkness—

Buzz—!!!

A torrent of cold, precise, lifeless order surged forth like a steel python forged from absolute zero. Ignoring the raging storm of information and his soul on the brink of annihilation, it pierced through the chaos at the core of his consciousness with the overbearing stance of a superior being, brutally and precisely anchoring itself within that crumbling mental wasteland!

(Core... loading complete...)

(Life support... activated! Energy injection!)

(Vital signs forcibly stabilized... mental power anchored...)

That emotionless mechanical voice drove each syllable into his soul like an icy rivet. What followed was not warm restoration, but cold, scalpel-like utility energy! Like efficient alloy hemostatic forceps, it coldly clamped the artery through which life was draining away; like sturdy metal braces, it brutally propped up his collapsing mental framework! Its purpose was nakedly clear: maintain the bare minimum of "existence" and complete the "binding"! There was no comfort, no healing—only mechanical continuation!

"Urgh—hah!"

Xiang Yi's remaining consciousness convulsed as if struck by high-voltage electricity. The pain suppressed by the brink of death came crashing back like a tidal wave! The agony of his body smashing against rock! The dull, tearing ache at the back of his skull! The suffocation in his chest, as though a massive boulder were crushing him! Even more terrifying were the two uncontrolled torrents of memory inside his head. Forced into confinement by those cold "braces," they were like beasts trapped in a high-pressure furnace, crashing about even more madly! Every impact felt as if his soul were being repeatedly pierced and ground apart by steel spikes!

(Warning! Mental structure on the verge of collapse!)

A more bone-piercing chill, as though it could freeze thought itself, flooded into his core! His burning brain felt as if it had been plunged into liquid nitrogen. The ultimate pain was forcibly suppressed, leaving his thoughts numb and sluggish, as if frozen. His consciousness was stripped of emotion and became a cold "observer."

Under this bizarre "clarity," an immense dark-blue interface with sharp lines and a deep starry vortex as its backdrop was forcibly branded into the center of his mental vision. It was cold and simple, its core information like an icy verdict:

Honor of Kings Summoning System - Basic Permissions

Host: Xiang Yi (Vital Signs: Critical/Forcibly Maintained)

Mental Power (Lv.0): 5/100 (Continuously Draining) | Energy Points: 0

Soul/Consciousness: Multiple Injuries (Suppressed)

Current Functions:

1. Hero Summoning (Lv.1 Unlocked): Consumes mental power and energy points to summon the consciousness projection of a Honor of Kings hero! Projection strength, duration, and abilities are restricted by the host's level, permissions, and universal laws. (Absolute Loyalty!)

2. Basic Meditation (Lv.0 Unlocked): Returning to the Hidden Formula (Basic Chapter) - Increases mental power limit and recovery. (Can Be Learned)

3. System Shop (Lv.1 Unlocked): Spend energy points to exchange for items. (Locked)

4. Quest Module (Lv.0 Unlocked): Issues guidance quests. (Pending Activation)

At the center of the interface, a strange polyhedron formed from countless dark-blue streams of data continuously collapsed and reassembled as it rotated silently, like a miniature model of the universe. It coldly declared: (System Core - Binding Complete).

Immediately afterward, an immense, cold, structured flow of rule-based information descended like a high-speed alloy grinding wheel. Ignoring the limits of what he could endure, it violently ground and carved at the mind that had only just been held together by those "braces"!

"Aaargh—!!!"

A soul-deep scream exploded soundlessly! Every rule was like a red-hot branding iron, carrying unquestionable truth as it was ruthlessly seared into his fragile consciousness fibers!

Mental power was the foundation!—With every imprint, his soul convulsed and burned! Consumption! Depletion meant death! Lifeline!

Energy points were the source!—With every imprint, his sea of consciousness felt struck by a hammer! Advanced functions! Shop! Currency! Desire!

Hero summoning!—With every imprint came tearing agony and warped ecstasy! Loyalty! Projection! Cheat! Spear!

Permission levels!—With every imprint came cold shackles! Restrictions! Unlocking! Power! Goal!

These core concepts were like red-hot steel nails, carrying soul-annihilating pain as they were forcibly hammered into the depths of his consciousness! The finer details of other rules—cooldowns, experience—were like fragments flying from a grinding wheel, bringing ceaseless torture beyond his limits! He felt like an empty shell forcibly stuffed full, ready to explode at any moment!

(Newbie guidance complete. Forcibly interrupted.)

The cold notification was like a final verdict. The bone-chilling cold that had kept him "awake" receded. The agonizing pain and dizziness that had been suppressed all this time, like ferocious beasts lying in wait, instantly dragged what remained of his consciousness back into an endless abyss of darkness.

This darkness was thick and tangible. Cold rock. Dull pain everywhere, seeping into his bones. The heavy, lingering stench of blood. And... the dark-blue interface branded into the bottom of his consciousness like a parasite attached to bone, along with the cold [Mental Power: 5/100], formed the entire backdrop of his descent.

(Life support continuously injecting... estimated time until out of critical condition: 6 hours 47 minutes...)

The notification sounded like cold medicine dripping into his veins, bringing mechanical continuation rather than the warmth of life.

The sounds of the outside world were distorted and muffled, as though he were separated from them by a thick glass jar filled with filthy water. The jolting stretcher churned his shattered body. The ambulance's piercing siren stretched and warped into the wail of a dying monster. Blinding red lights—roof lights? Surgical lights?—cast thick, pulsing blood-colored blotches across his tightly closed eyelids.

His body could sense only eternal cold and dull pain, like a battered plaster statue being casually carried away to await disposal.

Until—

A sobbing voice, suppressed to its limit and broken as a leaking bellows, pierced through the darkness of his descent again and again like tiny ice picks:

"Xiao Yi... my child... please... open your eyes... look at Mom..."

That voice carried the despair of shattered glass, yet stubbornly clung to a tiny light that refused to go out. It pierced through the cold system and endless pain, stabbing fiercely into the deepest part of Xiang Yi's consciousness!

"Hai Shan! Doctor! He... he moved! His finger moved!"

That cry, carrying a faint spark bursting from despair, was like a red-hot fuse that suddenly ignited the last reserves of strength in the depths of Xiang Yi's sinking consciousness!

His eyelids felt welded shut by ten thousand tons of ice! Every shred of will he used to try lifting them tore at pain that felt like his skull was splitting apart! His vision was a whirlpool of blood-red and blinding white light frantically churning together.

His throat was clogged with the metallic sweetness of blood. Every attempt to make his vocal cords vibrate felt like tearing apart red-hot iron.

But he fought! He squeezed out the final remnants of his soul! That call was no longer a sound from his throat, but the most instinctive, most intense torrent from the depths of his consciousness. It carried the yearning for "mother" from both his past and present lives, the ultimate terror of surviving catastrophe, piercing guilt toward the tearful woman, and the rawest greed for "life" itself that had just been tempered by the system and death—it burned, roared, and desperately pierced through the shackles of flesh and the chaos of his consciousness!

At last, this storm of intent painfully and faintly forced out a thread of air amid the tremors of his soul, barely making his shattered vocal cords vibrate:

"...Mom..."

"...Don't... cry..."

That nearly imperceptible thread of air was like a faint yet unstoppable thunderbolt from the soul, striking fiercely into Lin Wanqing's lake of despair!

Having spent that final shred of strength, he was instantly swallowed by deeper darkness and cold.

But before he completely sank away, the number [Mental Power: 5/100] on that cold dark-blue interface at the bottom of his consciousness twitched ever so faintly upward—

[Mental Power: 5.01/100]