First Summoning Choice

Darkness was like thick ink reeking of disinfectant, heavily enveloping every corner of the hospital room. Only the faint green light of the heart monitor flickered soundlessly yet stubbornly against the cold walls, like the weak heartbeat of a dying beast.

Xiang Yi's eyes flew open. His consciousness, like a cheetah breaking free from an invisible swamp, plunged ruthlessly into the depths of his mindscape with desperate force!

The deep-blue light screen hovered coldly like a frigid pool. The characters drifting across it were the only measures of hope and despair he had left:

[Mental Power (Lv.0): 21/100 (recovering slowly)]

[Energy Points: 0]

21 points!

A night of near-self-abusive cultivation! From 15 to 21! This insignificant yet crushing increase of 6 points was like six weak campfires lit with willpower and pain upon an endless wilderness of despair! The lowest threshold—50 Mental Power required for summoning—was finally no longer a distant star beyond reach!

Without the slightest hesitation, his thoughts became a red-hot branding iron, crashing fiercely and resolutely into the option bound by dim energy chains: [Hero Summoning (Lv.1 Unlocked)]!

Buzz—!

A torrent of information instantly flooded his consciousness:

[Unlock Requirement: Mental Power ≥ 50]

[Summoning Cost: Base Mental Power 50 + corresponding Hero Energy Points (minimum 100)]

[Summoning Process: Lock onto target with intent and maintain focused guidance for 5 minutes without interruption!]

[Hero Pool (Lv.1): [Assassin], [Support]]

His thoughts immediately touched the [Assassin] icon!

The deep-blue light flared violently! A long, narrow phantom scroll, seemingly stained with ancient dried blood, unfurled in his mind! One figure after another, some cold as ice and others alluringly sinister, materialized from illusion. What rushed toward him was not a physical presence, but a razor-sharp aura condensed from pure killing intent, enough to make his soul tremble!

Lanling King (Shadow Blade): His figure had almost completely blended into the flowing, ink-thick shadows. Only a pair of icy eyes pierced through the darkness, like the tips of daggers steeped in deadly poison, stabbing straight into Xiang Yi's soul! There was no emotion in that gaze, only the pure locking-on of prey. Master of Stealth Master of Stealth Intelligence Gathering Intelligence Gathering Fatal Strike Fatal Strike Minimum Cost: 100 Minimum Cost: 100

A Ke (Blade of Faith): Blood-colored daggers silently slashed through the void, leaving fleeting streaks of lethal chill. Her figure flickered between reality and illusion, carrying an aura that was both dangerous and enchantingly seductive. Instant Kill Burst Instant Kill Burst High Risk, High Reward High Risk, High Reward Reaper Reaper Cost: 120 Cost: 120

Li Bai (Lotus Sword Immortal): The outline of his elegant figure was faintly visible, but several energy chains flashing with cold, profound runes wrapped tightly around him, binding him. The other ends of those chains sank deep into the endless void of consciousness! Insufficient Permissions Insufficient Permissions Locked Locked

Nakoruru (Flowing Blade Dance): She was likewise bound by powerful rune chains. Only a vague yet piercing eagle cry faintly echoed, carrying a sharp unwillingness. Insufficient Permissions Insufficient Permissions Locked Locked

Next, the [Support] scroll silently unfurled. Its style was completely different, and profound mystery shimmered through the shifting light and shadow:

Guiguzi (All Things Have Spirit): Countless tiny "mysterious particles," like brilliant stardust, swirled around the phantom figure of an immortal-looking old man. He held a whisk, his eyes so deep they seemed capable of containing the entire cosmic river of stars. An aura of wisdom and composure radiated from him—the wisdom to control the overall situation and perceive all things. Group Camouflage Group Camouflage Vision Control Vision Control Strategic Core Strategic Core Cost: 150 Cost: 150

Ming Shiyin (Soul Divination): The moment phantom soul chains appeared, they were brutally severed by even stronger rune chains! Insufficient Permissions Insufficient Permissions Locked Locked

Zhuang Zhou (Carefree Dream): A hazy phantom of a giant whale silently shattered and scattered beneath the entwining chains. Insufficient Permissions Insufficient Permissions Locked Locked

Cai Wenji (Heavenly Strings): A soft healing glow had barely lit up before cold rune chains mercilessly suppressed and extinguished it. Insufficient Permissions Insufficient Permissions Locked Locked

Four possible choices lay before Xiang Yi, cold and weighty, like four tickets leading to entirely different destinies, waiting for his decision.

"Survival comes first! Intelligence takes priority!"

The rock-solid thought smashed into his heart! The waters of the Marvel Universe ran unfathomably deep. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scrutiny, Hydra's venomous snakes, the shadows of alien invasions—all were everywhere... Without eyes, I'm blind! Without ears, I'm deaf! So what if I know the future? I still can't stop a bullet aimed at my forehead!

His gaze flashed like lightning as he rapidly assessed and weighed the only choices that had not been locked:

Lanling King: The uncrowned king of the shadows! Stealth, reconnaissance, and silent lethal strikes! The lowest cost! This was exactly what he needed right now: silent eyes in the darkness and deadly claws!

A Ke: A blood-red rose blooming amid slaughter! Her instantaneous burst power was stronger, but she was more suited to directly reaping the battlefield. Her intelligence-gathering ability was somewhat inferior, and the risks were greater.

Guiguzi: A strategic-level mind! Group camouflage, complete battlefield vision, the ability to guide the course of battle! His value was immeasurable, but he himself was as fragile as glass, and... that cost of 150 points was like an uncrossable chasm!

"150 points! Lanling King only needs 100!" Xiang Yi's soul roared soundlessly. "That difference of 50 points is the gulf between life and death at this opening stage, where survival hangs by a thread!" Guiguzi's immense value required time and a safe foundation to develop, but right now, what he urgently needed was a sharp dagger that could immediately pierce the fog before him and tear open the darkness blocking his survival!

"It's you!"

His thoughts became an icy sword of judgment, carrying the power to cut through all hesitation as they crashed down and locked firmly onto the figure on the scroll shrouded entirely in shadow, with only those poison-soaked eyes visible—[Lanling King]!

Buzz—!

Lanling King's projection suddenly blazed with intense deep-blue light! Those icy eyes seemed to pierce the barriers of the consciousness space, resonating powerfully and chillingly with Xiang Yi's all-or-nothing will to survive! The shadows around him surged violently like living creatures!

[Confirm summoning Hero: Lanling King?]

[This summoning requires: Mental Power 50 + Energy Points 100.]

[Warning: Host's current Mental Power: 21/100, Energy Points: 0. Requirements not met!]

Blinding scarlet words, like dried bloodstains, suddenly burst across the deep-blue light screen! That silent warning scraped viciously against the inner walls of his consciousness like cold metal shards!

Looking at the shocking "0" Energy Points and the "21/50" Mental Power value, an icy helplessness powerful enough to drown everything instantly seized Xiang Yi! He could practically see the shadow blade kneeling on one knee, so close and yet separated from him by an impregnable wall of sighs built from cold numbers!

The bitterness of frustration and his ultimate thirst for power collided violently within him!

At that critical moment, when his emotions churned like boiling water—

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Crisp, precise footsteps approached from afar, piercing through the thin hospital door like the countdown of a funeral bell! Every step was like a heavy military boot, carrying the undeniable authority of rules as it stomped viciously upon Xiang Yi's taut, breaking heartstrings!

The night-shift nurse was making rounds!

All the blood in Xiang Yi's body seemed to freeze in that instant! His consciousness recoiled deep into his body like a startled venomous snake! Every wild fantasy and plan concerning the future was brutally and completely interrupted!

The footsteps stopped abruptly outside the door!

Click!

To Xiang Yi's hyper-sensitive hearing, the sound of the doorknob being pressed down was like the cold, deadly clack of a guillotine mechanism locking into place before the blade fell!

The hospital room door opened a crack!

Swish—!

The cold, glaring fluorescent light from the corridor pierced the thick darkness in the room like a searchlight, carrying a disinfectant-scented chill! It cast a long, deathly white strip of light across the floor, mercilessly exposing Xiang Yi on the bed before this invisible tribunal!

A white figure slipped in sideways, moving as lightly as a feline yet carrying the hospital's uniquely unquestionable sense of order.

Buzz!

Every muscle in Xiang Yi's body instantly tensed, hard as refined steel! His heart hammered wildly inside his chest, its dull impacts like muffled thunder, nearly drowning out the monitor's monotonous beeping! Cold sweat rushed across his back like several icy venomous snakes, and the bone-chilling cold nearly made his teeth chatter uncontrollably!

The nurse's gaze was cold and sharp, carrying the hospital's sterile quality. Like a precise scanner, it first landed on the monitor screen, confirming that the flickering numbers remained within the safe range. Then that gaze, like a tangible probe, abruptly turned and nailed itself to Xiang Yi's face as he pretended to sleep!

Xiang Yi felt as though his soul had nowhere to hide beneath that gaze! It was as if his thin eyelids could not block her scrutiny at all, as though she could peer directly into the deep-blue screen churning in his consciousness and the raging inner storm within him! He mobilized every ounce of strength from the depths of his soul, squeezing out every shred of willpower to suppress even the slightest movement of his eyes and prevent his eyelashes from trembling in the slightest! Time seemed to freeze into solid ice!

The nurse apparently found nothing unusual. After her gaze lingered briefly, she looked away and turned toward Xiang Haishan, who had fallen asleep in the companion chair from exhaustion. She frowned slightly, then softened her footsteps and approached Xiang Yi's bedside as silently as a ghost.

She bent down! She checked the hanging IV bottle and the infusion tube connected to his arm!

Her face instantly enlarged in Xiang Yi's field of vision! Her warm breath, heavy with disinfectant, suddenly washed over the exposed skin of his arm from close range! The sensation was like a scorching current racing through him! Then, her icy fingers touched the edge of the tape securing the needle—extremely lightly, yet with startling clarity!

Buzz!

Xiang Yi felt as though his nerves had been violently shocked! Every eyelash became a steel wire suspended over the line between life and death! He exhausted all his strength and drained the last trace of control he possessed just to barely maintain absolute stillness in his facial muscles and the nearly perfect calm of his disguised breathing rhythm! He was like a real, cold statue stripped of every sign of life!

The examination finished. The nurse straightened up, her gaze sweeping through the room once more like a searchlight. Then she turned and retreated silently, just as she had entered.

Click.

The sound of the door lock closing was like a heavenly bell of absolution.

Only after those footsteps, precise as a stopwatch, had completely vanished at the end of the corridor did Xiang Yi's nerves, stretched taut like steel wires on the verge of snapping, suddenly relax! The immense exhaustion of surviving a disaster swept through his entire body like a raging tsunami! The mental fatigue and depletion even far exceeded the total of the ten consecutive rounds of thought guidance from the previous night! Cold sweat had long soaked through all three layers of his hospital gown, the icy stickiness clinging to his skin and bringing waves of chills.

"Five minutes! A full three hundred seconds of absolute concentration! No interruptions!"

This cold realization stabbed viciously into Xiang Yi's mind like an ice pick steeped in poison! In this hospital room, like a glass cage, every second could be interrupted by an unexpected intruder! Every interruption could expose the earth-shattering secret in his mind to broad daylight, bringing unimaginable and unbearable catastrophe upon him!

"This hospital room is no longer a shelter. It's a prison that could explode at any moment! A Sword of Damocles hanging above my head!"

Leave! He had to leave this place at any cost! He had to find an absolutely safe, absolutely hidden fortress free from all interference!

The intense sense of crisis and his ultimate thirst for power surged and roared through Xiang Yi's veins like molten lava! There was no trace of hesitation or uncertainty left in his eyes, only the madness of staking everything and destroying himself alongside his enemy!

His consciousness sank into his mindscape once more! His thoughts were no longer a drill, but transformed into a red-hot alloy drill spinning at maximum speed! With a reckless, even self-destructive force, he viciously bored into the void between his brows that carried his hope! The thought cycle of the Returning to the Hidden Formula was forcibly accelerated, roaring into operation like an out-of-control engine!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Every savage impact of his thoughts sent violent tremors through his soul!

The severe headache was like red-hot steel needles repeatedly piercing his temples, each stab darkening his vision in waves!

The congestion in his chest became a burning, suffocating ache. Every breath was as difficult as inhaling scorching sand, tugging at his broken bones and bringing tearing pain!

The cold sweat on his forehead no longer flowed—it surged out like a breached stream, instantly soaking his temples and cheeks and spreading large dark wet stains across the cold pillowcase!

His teeth bit through the corner of his mouth, and a trace of rusty, bloody sweetness spread through his mouth, mixing with the salty bitterness of cold sweat!

The Mental Power number, as though crazily whipped by an invisible lash, began spinning and rising across the deep-blue interface in a heart-pounding climb!

21 → 21.8 → 22.6 → 23.5 → 24.3 → 25.1...

In the darkness, the young man's pale face looked as though it had been carved from cold, hard marble, no longer holding even a trace of the innocence that should have belonged to his age. His tightly pressed lips formed a merciless straight line, and the blood seeping out had dried into dark-red scabs at their edges. Between his brows gathered an almost self-destructive obsession, one that would burn everything away. Only the faint green glow of the heart monitor reflected two wildly blazing, never-extinguishing flames of the soul in the depths of his needle-narrow pupils—flames sworn to burn through every obstacle!

The deepest darkness before dawn devoured the entire hospital room like a greedy beast. Yet the silent, frenzied, nearly self-destructive cultivation within the young man's consciousness was like scorching magma surging from the earth's core, violently smashing against and burning through the thick rock layers that imprisoned him and threatened his survival with destructive force! Tiny but fatal cracks had already silently spread and extended through those seemingly unbreakable layers! All that remained was for the power accumulating at its limit to erupt in its final moment, breaking through the earth and scorching the heavens!